ISA Coronavirus Update: (20th of April)
Daily Summary
The number of diagnosed cases of the coronavirus (Covid-19) continued to rise steadily in recent days, reaching more than 2.4 million cases worldwide. Meanwhile, the number of global fatalities that have been attributed to this pandemic rose to nearly 166,000.
The death toll from the coronavirus crisis in Europe surpassed the 100,000 mark last weekend, with that region now accounting for at least 60% of all worldwide fatalities. Three-fourths of these deaths come from just four countries (Italy, Spain, France and the United Kingdom).
The United Kingdom continued to see its number of cases rise at a rate of around 5,000 per day, while the number of daily fatalities in that country has averaged nearly 750 over the past two weeks. The UK now has one of the highest fatality rates in the world.
Some of the highest rates of increase in the number of coronavirus cases have been found in countries such as Turkey, Russia and Brazil, three countries’ whose leaders were skeptical about the impact of this crisis on their countries. These countries now rank #6, #8 and #16 in terms of the number of active cases of the coronavirus within their borders.
Key Developments
A Year to Forget for the Global Economy: According to our latest forecasts for the global economy in 2020, 17 of the world’s 20 largest economies will shrink this year, with the largest declines expected to occur in Italy, Germany, France, Spain and Mexico.
Oil Prices Continue to Collapse: Despite the agreement between OPEC member states, Russia and other oil producing countries earlier this month to cut oil output by 10%, oil prices have continued to fall sharply, particularly in the US, where they fell to their lowest level in two decades.
Trend to Watch
Tensions are rising between the segment of the global population that wants restrictions on travel and public gatherings to be maintained for the foreseeable future, and those that want most of these restrictions to be lifted as soon as possible.
The Coming Days
An increasing number of health experts are warning against plans to hold any type of major international event before that latter part of next year, claiming that bringing together people from different parts of the world will threaten to prolong the pandemic.