The Latest on the Covid-19 Pandemic

The Latest on the Pandemic

The number of recorded Covid-19 cases around the world is expected to pass the 50 million mark this weekend, while the number of fatalities attributed to the pandemic is likely to surpass 1,250,000 at the same time. Since late August, the number of worldwide Covid-19 cases has doubled. In contrast, the number of fatalities has risen at a much slower pace over the same period.

In the meantime, the number of new cases of Covid-19 being recorded on a daily basis has surpassed 500,000 for the first time, having risen by more than 60% over the past month. Furthermore, new case numbers are expected to continue rising in the coming days.

The largest increase in the number of new cases continued to be found in Europe, with countries such as France, Italy, Poland and the United Kingdom leading the way. At the same time, the number of new cases of Covid-19 recorded in the United States surpassed 100,000 per day for the first time this week.

Global fatalities, which had once been concentrated in just a small number of countries, are now much more evenly distributed. In fact, no single region now accounts for more than one-third of all global fatalities. At the same time, emerging markets are now accounting for a higher share of new fatalities linked to the pandemic.

Key Developments

The United States Election Goes On: As expected, the Covid-19 pandemic had a major impact on this week’s elections in the United States. Most notably, a much higher-than-normal share of the vote was done by mail-in ballots, resulting in severe delays in vote counting in a number of states.

Fourth Quarter Economic Concerns: While third quarter economic results have been relatively strong in the United States, Europe and a handful of other economies, all signs are pointing to another slowdown in the fourth quarter, especially in those countries that have gone back into a lockdown.

Trend to Watch

More European countries are expected to impose lockdown measures in the coming days as the number of Covid-19 cases continues to rise in that region. In some places where lockdowns have already been imposed, new cases numbers have stabilized.

The Coming Days

If United States President Donald Trump loses the presidential election in the US, as looks increasingly likely, his administration will still be in charge of the US’ response to the worsening Covid-19 pandemic in that country for the next eleven weeks.