An increase in coronavirus cases in the US USA And Brazil, and new outbreaks in Germany, where the disease’s rate of reproduction has increased substantially, worry global health experts, but international financial markets don’t seem too concerned.
The largest single-day increase in global coronavirus cases was on Sunday, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), after more than 183,000 new cases were reported worldwide.
Brazil, with almost 55,000 new infections, saw the highest number of reported cases, followed by the United States, with more than 36,000 new cases reported on Sunday. Meanwhile, India saw more than 15,000 new infections, the WHO said.
It should be noted that increases in the number of coronavirus cases could be due to increased and more extensive testing, and also to anomalies in data collection. Brazil’s big increase in cases on Sunday, for example, was due in part to a delay in reporting from three states (Bahia, Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo) that made up two-day data, the WHO noted.
However, the increase in cases does not appear to be unique. In the USA In the US, more than 30,000 new cases of coronavirus were reported on both Friday and Saturday, and infections increased in the southern, western, and midwestern states.
Germany’s ‘R’ rate increase
Even Germany, a country that has been billed as a poster child for its coronavirus strategy, saw its breeding rate jump to 2.88 on Sunday.
The closely watched “R” rate refers to the number of people an infected individual infects on average. Germany’s current R rate means that 100 people infected with the virus, on average, would infect 288 people. Experts want to keep the number of reproduction, or the rate of R, below one to decrease the spread.
Data from Germany’s public health agency, the Robert Koch Institute, are a 4-day moving average, reflecting infection rates about a week or two ago, he said. The R rate “reacts sensitively to short-term changes in case numbers, such as those caused by individual outbreaks. This can lead to relatively large fluctuations, especially if the total number of new cases is small.” noted the RKI.
The country’s rising R rate and new infections (687 were reported Sunday) reflect localized outbreaks in nursing homes, among various religious communities and schools, as well as an outbreak at a meat processing factory, where more than 1,000 employees tested positive for Covid-19, the RKI noted.
The data from Germany is sobering given that it has been praised for its coronavirus strategy. It implemented the tracking of early contacts and managed to keep the death toll low compared to other countries. It has reported 8,895 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University, despite 191,272 confirmed cases of the virus, a much lower death rate than its Western European peers. France, for example, has recorded a similar number of cases, at just over 197,000, but its death toll is 29,643.
Economic concerns
The increase in cases seen around the world comes after many countries lifted a series of restrictions imposed on public and commercial life during the blockades.
The International Monetary Fund warned last week that the global economy was on its way to a more significant contraction than the 3% it estimated in April.
However, economists are watching the global numbers closely, weighing their potential impact on a global economic recovery.
“Could an increase in new infections force advanced economies to re-impose blockages that are so harsh and widespread that they would destroy confidence and disrupt the nascent economic rebound? Four months after the virus began to hit Europe severely, that it remains the key risk for keep an eye on the economic outlook as well as the financial markets, “Holger Schmieding, chief economist at Berenberg, said in a note Monday.
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