Virus outbreak: news and analysis from July 6, 2020

Photo credit: Bing Guan / Bloomberg

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The World Health Organization reported up to one day in global coronavirus infections over the weekend, while Iran and Indonesia reported their deadliest days so far.

Mexico overtook France with the fifth deadliest outbreak, while India was poised to overtake Russia with the third highest number of cases. Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel is in a state of emergency, and a second region in Spain went into closure.

Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike scored a landslide victory in a second-term election, as the city tries to keep a new outbreak under control. President Donald Trump said a “vaccine or therapeutic solution” for the coronavirus will be ready before the end of the year, without offering any details.

Key developments:

• Global Tracker: cases exceed 11.3 million; Deaths exceed 532,000
• The world economy that caused the elevator to fall face down steep stairs again
• Markets divided between robust economic data and virus surge
• The WHO is reluctant to say that the viral particles floating inside are infectious: NYT

Subscribe to a daily update on the Bloomberg forecast team virus here. Click VRUS on the terminal for news and facts about the coronavirus.

Trump to host an outdoor rally with encouraged masks (7:33 am HK)

Trump will hold an open-air demonstration in New Hampshire on July 11 in which it is “strongly recommended” to cover his face, a change of tone after months of skepticism about the value of wearing masks to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

Cases in the US Rise 2%, Close to 2.9 Million (6AM HK)

Coronavirus cases in the US increased by almost 56,000 since Saturday, a 2% increase that exceeded the average daily increase of 1.8% over the past week, according to Johns Hopkins University, which updated its tracking website Sunday after more than five hours without new data. With a total of 2,874,396 cases in the U.S., deaths increased by 269 to 129,870, an increase of 0.2%.

California reported 5,410 new cases, an increase of 2.1%. Florida reported 200,111 cases, 5.3% more than the previous day and equal to the average increase of the previous seven days. Arizona reported 3,536 new cases, an increase of 3.7%, pushing the total to 98,089. The most affected state has an average of 4.1% in seven days for new infections.

UK invests $ 2 billion in arts (5:35 pm NY)

The UK will spend £ 1.6bn ($ 2bn) on theaters, museums and music venues in a bid to rescue the arts and culture sector from collapse in the wake of the coronavirus blockade. “The show must go on,” Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak said Sunday night.

Funding includes £ 880 million grants and £ 270 million in repayable loans, the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport said in a statement. Galleries, heritage sites and independent cinemas will also be eligible for grants.

Democrats seek annulment of WHO funds (5:15 pm NY)

A Democratic House spending bill will set aside $ 10 billion for the coronavirus response and will require the US to send funds to the World Health Organization, an agency led by President Donald Trump for its management of the pandemic.

The bill, released Sunday, would require the United States to send $ 200 million to the WHO, despite Trump’s decision, citing China’s influence over the United Nations agency, to cut US funding for the group. . Spending for the Covid-19 response would cover a variety of emergency funds and would be exempt from spending limits, according to the bill.

Record number of deaths in South Africa (5:10 pm NY)

South Africa reported a record 173 deaths, totaling 3,199. The number came after four consecutive days of record increases in cases. Cumulative infections increased to 196,750 with 8,773 new cases in the last daily report.

Gauteng province, South Africa’s economic hub that includes Johannesburg and Pretoria, had the highest number of deaths.

Protests added to Miami-Dade cases: mayor (2 pm NY)

Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Giménez said protests over the death of George Floyd contributed to the rise in infections in South Florida, but were not the only trigger.

“Our people, our residents, I think they let their guard down and started socializing,” Giménez said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.” “That also had to do with it. So it’s all of the above. I’m not saying it’s just that, it was a contributing factor. “

Giménez rejected Trump’s characterization in his July 4 comments that 99% of cases are harmless noting an increase in deaths of people who contract the virus: “The virus is not harmless. Not absolutely not. “

Houston needs order to stay home, says boss (12:45 pm NY)

The affected Houston area needs more restrictions, but the state government has blocked local officials from acting to limit the spread of the virus, Harris County Chief Lina Hidalgo said. Governor Greg Abbott’s order last week to wear face covers helps, but it doesn’t go far enough, he said.

“As long as we do as little as possible and hope for the best, we will always be chasing this,” Hidalgo said on ABC’s “This Week.” “People need to stay home and I need the authority to enforce it.”

Phoenix Mayor Blames FEMA for Evidence (12:30 pm NY)

Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego said the city opened too early and needs more testing, but her requests to expand community-based assessments have been rejected, including by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

“We are in a crisis related to the tests,” Gallego told ABC “This Week.” FEMA said “they are moving away from that, which feel as if they were declaring victory while we’re still in crisis mode. “

“We had discos full of people handing out free champagne, without masks,” he said.

UK cases continue to rise (12:14 pm NY)

The Department of Health and Social Care reported that the UK had another 516 positive cases on Saturday, up from 624 the previous day and bringing the total to more than 285,000. There were 22 new deaths from the virus.

Too early to tell if RNC Florida events are safe (10:28 am NY)

FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn told CNN that it is too early to know whether it is safe to host part of the Republican National Convention next month in Florida.

Originally scheduled to take place in Charlotte, the nomination convention, including Trump’s acceptance speech, partially moved to Jacksonville, after North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper, a Democrat, disagreed with hosting the event. August 24-27 on a large scale. concern about the spread of the virus.

Second declared Spanish blockade (10 am NY)

A closure was ordered for a region of Galicia in northwestern Spain, which restricts travel in and out of A Marina for some 70,000 residents. The five-day measure was ordered after cases began to emerge from two different outbreaks.

Spain put an agricultural region with more than 200,000 residents under an indefinite blockade on Saturday. The number of cases in the Segria region of 210,000 has soared 20% in the past two weeks to 3,312. Four of the nine outbreaks that authorities are currently monitoring are associated with companies that harvest and process fruits and vegetables.

New York Case Increase 0.1% (9:20 am NY)

The number of new cases in New York increased 0.1%, less than the seven-day average. Less than 1% of the tests performed were positive.

On Monday, New York City officially begins. “Phase three ”of reopening, paving the way for legions of beauty businesses (nail salons, tanning studios, and tattoo parlors) to open their doors to clients for the first time in months.

– Assisted by Steve Geimann