ISA Coronavirus Update (2nd of June)

Daily Summary

For the past six days, there have been more than 100,000 new cases of the coronavirus (Covid-19) diagnosed around the world each day, bringing the total number of cases worldwide to nearly 6.4 million.  

Meanwhile, the number of fatalities linked to this outbreak has continued to trend downwards in recent weeks, despite the higher number of cases.  Overall, the total number of worldwide fatalities stands at more than 377,000.

South America has emerged as the current epicenter of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.  Brazil remains the hardest hit country in the region, with more than 529,000 cases and 30,000 fatalities.  However, a number of other countries in the region, such as Peru (170,000 cases), Chile (105,000 cases) and Ecuador (40,000 cases) have also suffered badly as a result of this pandemic.

There was more evidence that Russia was dramatically under-reporting the number of fatalities linked to the pandemic. For example, Moscow’s local government announced that the death toll from the virus in that city was more than double the figure that was previously announced.  Nevertheless, that city’s lockdown measures were eased this week.

A recent report from the United States’ Department of Defense suggested that it believed that at least 50% of Afghanistan’s security forces had been infected with the coronavirus.

Key Developments

India’s Economic Nightmare: The impact of the coronavirus on the Indian economy led to a major slowdown there in the first quarter of this year.  Moreover, the situation is forecast to worsen dramatically, with India’s economy potentially shrinking by more than 30% in the second quarter.

Opening and Closing: With more countries easing their lockdown restrictions, people have been attempting to return to the lifestyles they had before the pandemic.  However, many countries have been forced to reintroduce restrictions in recent weeks as new outbreaks emerged.

Trend to Watch

The number of new coronavirus cases being found in Iran has risen sharply in recent days, raising concerns that Iran is in the midst of the beginning of a second wave of the pandemic.  This led Iran’s government to call for more social distancing measures.