ISA Coronavirus Update (6th of July)

Daily Summary

There are now more than 11.5 million known cases of the coronavirus worldwide, 4.5 million of which are still classified as active cases. Meanwhile, the death toll from the coronavirus pandemic has now risen to more than 537,000.

The number of new cases of the coronavirus being diagnosed around the world has continued to trend upwards in recent days, and there are concerns that this trend will continue as lockdown measures are eased and as major outbreaks in the United States, Brazil, India and elsewhere continue.

The number of new cases of the coronavirus in the United States continued to rise at an alarming pace over the past week, with the total number of coronavirus cases in the US now standing at nearly three million.  Worse, there are fears that last weekend’s Fourth of July holiday, while muted in comparison with normal years, could lead to an even greater spread of the virus in the coming days.

Australia was forced to close the border between that country’s two most populous states, New South Wales and Victoria.  This was due to a new outbreak of the coronavirus in Victoria’s largest city, Melbourne.  A number of districts in and around that city have been put on lockdown.

The Spanish government was forced to enact lockdowns on two separate parts of the country this week, one in Galicia and one in Catalonia, due to new outbreaks of the coronavirus in those areas.

Key Developments

African Economic Slowdown: A number of African countries released their GDP growth figures for the first quarter of this year and they revealed that the region’s economy was already slowing in early 2020. A lack of growth could lead to a major increase in poverty levels in Africa this year.

No Masks for Bolsonaro: Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro watered down a law that makes wearing a mask in public in Brazil mandatory by vetoing provisions that would have made mask-wearing mandatory in shops, schools and churches.  He is rarely seen in a mask himself.

Trend to Watch

The World Health Organization (WHO) was accused by a group of 239 scientists of underestimating the threat posed by the airborne transmission of the coronavirus. The WHO has claimed the measures to stop airborne transmission were largely unfeasible.