The Latest on the Covid-19 Pandemic

Latest Developments

• The total number of Covid-19 cases recorded around the world rose to more than 63 million this week. On the positive side, the sharp increase in the number of new cases being found came to an end, for now. Nevertheless, the rate of new cases being recorded remains at nearly 580,000 per day. twice the level from two months ago.

• Meanwhile, the number of worldwide fatalities from the Covid-19 pandemic rose to nearly 1.5 million. Unfortunately, the number of deaths linked to the virus continued to rise at a faster pace, with more than 10,000 fatalities being recorded on a daily basis over the past week.

• More than 1.1 million new cases of Covid-19 were recorded in the United States over the past seven days alone, but the number of new cases did trend downwards in recent days. Overall there have been 13.8 million recorded cases of the virus in the US.

• The strict lockdowns put in place in many European countries appears to have had the effect of significantly reducing the number of new Covid-19 cases in that region. However, there are fears that these lockdowns will lead to a double-dip recession in Europe.

• The number of new Covid-19 cases recorded in Turkey rose dramatically in recent days, threatening to force the government there to enact new lockdown measures at a time of great economic uncertainty.

Vaccine Developments

• Vaccine Rollout: Both Pfizer and Moderna have applied for emergency authorization for the distribution of their new vaccines for Covid-19. If approved, vaccines could begin to be given to health workers in the United States in the coming weeks, and in Europe by early 2021.

• Concerns About the Oxford Vaccine: There were concerns that the recent trial results of the Covid-19 vaccine that was developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca were not as positive as initially reported due to a number of irregularities in the testing that was conducted.

Trend to Watch

Popular anger against lockdown restrictions and social distancing measures appears to be rising in most areas of the world, and could worsen significantly if these measures last long into 2021. This could lead to violent protests in many parts of the world.

The Coming Days

There are fears that the Thanksgiving holiday in the United States could lead to an even greater increase in the number of new Covid-19 cases in that country. This is the case, even as Thanksgiving gatherings in the US were far smaller than in previous years.