Monday 22 June 2020

Monday Morning Briefing: South Korea says it is battling 'second wave' of coronavirus

What you need to know about the coronavirus today

South Korea’s second wave
Health authorities in South Korea said for the first time the country is in the midst of a “second wave” of the coronavirus infections focused around its densely populated capital. The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had previously said South Korea’s first wave had never really ended. But on Monday, KCDC director Jeong Eun-kyeong said it had become clear that a holiday weekend in early May marked the beginning of a new wave of infections focused in the greater Seoul area, which had previously seen few cases.

Training an “army”
Europeans are enjoying the gradual easing of coronavirus lockdown measures, but in hospitals they are already preparing for the next wave of infections. Some intensive care specialists are trying to hire more permanent staff. Others want to create a reservist “army” of medical professionals ready to be deployed wherever needed to work in wards with seriously ill patients.

Antibody levels fall quickly
Levels of an antibody found in recovered COVID-19 patients fell sharply 2-3 months after infection for both symptomatic and asymptomatic patients, according to a Chinese study, raising questions about the length of any immunity against the novel coronavirus. The study highlights the risks of using COVID-19 "immunity passports" and supports the prolonged use of public health interventions such as social distancing and isolating high-risk groups, researchers said.

Israeli company has high hopes for mask fabric
An Israeli company expects a fabric it has developed will be able to neutralize close to 99% of the coronavirus, even after being washed multiple times, following a successful lab test. Sonovia's reusable anti-viral masks are coated in zinc oxide nano-particles that destroy bacteria, fungi and viruses, which it says can help stop the spread of the coronavirus.

Dog days for Chinese fair?
China’s annual dog-meat festival has opened in defiance of a government campaign to reduce risks to health highlighted by the coronavirus outbreak, but activists are hopeful its days are numbered. The coronavirus, which is widely believed to have originated in horseshoe bats before crossing into humans in a market in the city of Wuhan, has forced China to reassess its relationship with animals, and it has vowed to ban the wildlife trade.

From Breakingviews: Corona Capital - China e-commerce, Diageo, Campari. Chinese e-commerce has a growth spurt and Diageo’s results extend past closing time. Catch up with the latest financial insights.

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U.S.

A public viewing for Rayshard Brooks is planned for Monday at the city’s Ebenezer Baptist Church, with a private funeral to follow the next day. Brooks’ June 12 death at the hands of officers who were called to the scene because he had fallen asleep in his car further heightened tensions over police brutality and racism in American policing that had been burning since the killing of George Floyd in police custody in Minneapolis in late May.

NASCAR has launched an investigation after a noose was found in a garage stall at Talladega belonging to Bubba Wallace, the only Black driver competing in its top Cup series. “Late this afternoon, NASCAR was made aware that a noose was found in the garage stall of the 43 team,” NASCAR said in a statement on Sunday. “We are angry and outraged, and cannot state strongly enough how seriously we take this heinous act.

A New York police officer was suspended on Sunday after a video posted online appeared to show him putting a Black man in a chokehold during an arrest. "After a swift investigation by the Internal Affairs Bureau, a police officer involved in a disturbing apparent chokehold incident in Queens has been suspended without pay", New York City Police Commissioner Dermot Shea said in a tweet on Sunday

Seattle police said they were investigating a reported shooting inside the Capital Hill Organized Protest zone in what would be the second such incident there in the past 48 hours. In the earlier shooting, a teenager was killed and another person wounded on Saturday in the part of the city occupied by activists protesting.

Emerging from lockdown

International music and film stars will headline a globally televised and streamed fundraising concert on Saturday to help fight COVID-19 as part of a joint initiative by the advocacy group Global Citizen and the European Commission. The initiative, called “Global Goal: Unite For Our Future,” is aiming to raise billions of dollars in private and public donations to help lessen the impact of the pandemic on marginalized communities.

A weekly coronavirus testing regime using a “no-swab” saliva test is being trialed in southern England and could result in a simpler and quicker way to detect outbreaks of the virus, the British government said. “Saliva testing could potentially make it even easier for people to take coronavirus tests at home, without having to use swabs,” said Health Secretary Matt Hancock.

China’s capital will see a “cliff-like” drop in new cases in a recent outbreak of the coronavirus by the end of this week with efforts to cut chains of transmission underway, a disease control expert said. The city of more than 20 million people reported its first case of a new spike in infections on June 11, linked to a sprawling wholesale food center.

Follow the money

Pandemic propels old-school bond traders towards an electronic future

The mammoth bond market has long been the old-school bastion of the financial world, but the COVID-19 pandemic has cast a light on its future - and it looks electronic. Well, mainly.

8 min read

Global dollar crunch appears over as central banks rely less on Fed backstop

A global crunch for U.S. dollars that was a hallmark of the early moments of the coronavirus crisis appears to have passed, the latest milestone in a remarkable turnaround in financial conditions engineered by the Federal Reserve and other top central banks.

6 min read

Global stocks shrug off fresh virus wave fears, dollar slips

World stocks reversed earlier losses and the dollar slid as investors shrugged off worries that rising coronavirus infections in parts of Europe and the United States over the weekend could scupper a quick economic rebound.

4 min read

Wirecard says missing $2.1 billion never existed, rips up earlier accounts

Wirecard said that $2.1 billion missing from its accounts was likely never there and it was looking at the sale or closure of parts of its business as it sought to avert a looming cash crunch. Bank of the Philippine Islands Chief Executive Cezar Consing said it was clear that a certificate purporting to be for a Wirecard deposit was “spurious” and reiterated that no cash from the German payments firm had entered the bank.

6 min read

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