Thursday, 18 June 2020

Thursday Morning Briefing: 'Super-spreader' fears for Trump’s Tulsa rally

What you need to know about the coronavirus today

“Super-spreader” fears for Trump’s Tulsa rally
Several U.S. states including Oklahoma reported a surge in new coronavirus infections, days before a planned campaign rally for President Donald Trump in Tulsa that would be the nation’s largest indoor social gathering in three months.

An uptick in coronavirus cases in many states over the past two weeks, along with rising COVID-19 hospitalizations, reflected a troubling national trend that has seen daily U.S. infection numbers climbing after more than a month of declines.

WHO hopes for hundreds of millions of vaccine doses
The World Health Organization hopes hundreds of millions of doses of coronavirus vaccine can be produced this year and 2 billion doses by the end of 2021, chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan said on Thursday.


Track the spread of the virus with this state-by-state and county map.

Rush for tests in Beijing
China's capital has mandated coronavirus tests for hundreds of thousands of people as it widens measures against a new outbreak of the disease that has sent anxious residents flooding to clinics for voluntary tests, putting a strain on the system.

Crowds of masked people waiting for tests have become a common sight in recent days across Beijing, which has tested more than 350,000 people, with many more expected.

Fresh case rattles New Zealand
New Zealand recorded its third new case of the coronavirus this week as quarantine breaches and other failures undermined public confidence days after it declared itself among the first countries in the world to be free of the virus.

EU in vaccine talks with Johnson & Johnson
The European Commission is in advanced talks with pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson to reserve or buy up-front doses of its COVID-19 vaccine under development, two officials familiar with the talks told Reuters. Johnson & Johnson plans next month to start human clinical trials for its experimental vaccine.

'Sesame Street' tackles pandemic
Elmo, Cookie Monster and Muppets from Asia and the Middle East are joining forces for a special episode of “Sesame Street” aimed at helping kids cope with a world turned upside down by the pandemic.

From Breakingviews: Corona Capital - HK property, Digital tax, Insurers
Read concise views on the pandemic’s financial fallout from Breakingviews columnists across the globe.

Reuters reporters and editors around the world are investigating the response to the coronavirus pandemic.

We need your help to tell these stories. Our news organization wants to capture the full scope of what’s happening and how we got here by drawing on a wide variety of sources. Here’s a look at our coverage.

Are you a government employee or contractor involved in coronavirus testing or the wider public health response? Are you a doctor, nurse or health worker caring for patients? Have you worked on similar outbreaks in the past? Has the disease known as COVID-19 personally affected you or your family? Are you aware of new problems that are about to emerge, such as critical supply shortages?

We need your tips, firsthand accounts, relevant documents or expert knowledge. Please contact us at coronavirus@reuters.com.

We prefer tips from named sources, but if you’d rather remain anonymous, you can submit a confidential news tip. Here’s how.

Top News

Months before election, Trump finds himself at odds with most Americans' views. The temporary fences that separated protesters from the White House have come down. But its occupant, President Donald Trump, appears to be more isolated than ever.
Recent opinion surveys, including a poll from Reuters/Ipsos this week, continue to show Trump trailing Democratic challenger Joe Biden significantly with just over four months until the Nov. 3 election.

Trump asked China to help him win in 2020, offered 'favors to dictators,' Bolton says. In a withering behind-the-scenes portrayal, President Donald Trump’s former national security adviser John Bolton accused him of sweeping misdeeds that included explicitly seeking Chinese President Xi Jinping’s help to win re-election.

Atlanta police officer charged with murder in shooting death of Rayshard Brooks. An Atlanta police officer was charged on Wednesday with murder for the shooting death last week of Rayshard Brooks in a fast-food parking lot, while a fellow officer facing lesser charges has agreed to testify against his colleague.

Macron visits London to mark de Gaulle's WW2 resistance call and talk Brexit. French President Emmanuel Macron visits London on Thursday for a ceremony to mark the 80th anniversary of General de Gaulle’s call for wartime resistance, and also to discuss Brexit and the COVID-19 pandemic with Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

Vera Lynn, the singer who became a symbol of hope in Britain during World War Two and again during the coronavirus pandemic with her song “We’ll Meet Again”, has died at the age of 103.

COVID Science

A cheap and widely used steroid called dexamethasone is the first drug shown to save the lives of severely ill COVID-19 patients in a study researchers hailed as a "major breakthrough" in the coronavirus pandemic. Results from the trial announced on Tuesday showed dexamethasone reduced death rates by around a third compared with a placebo in severely ill hospitalized COVID-19 patients.

U.S. doctors remain skeptical of the reported COVID breakthrough.
“We have been burned before, not just during the coronavirus pandemic but even pre-COVID, with exciting results that when we have access to the data are not as convincing,” said Dr. Kathryn Hibbert, director of the medical intensive care unit at Harvard’s Massachusetts General Hospital.

Scientists at Regeneron Pharmaceuticals have determined a combination of two antibody drugs may be the best approach for attacking the new coronavirus. The drugs, known as monoclonal antibodies, are among the most commonly used type of biotech medicines.

Follow the money

U.S. weekly jobless claims remain high, second wave of layoffs blamed

A second wave of layoffs amid weak demand and fractured supply chains is likely keeping new U.S. applications for unemployment benefits elevated, supporting views that the economy faces a long and difficult recovery from the COVID-19 recession.

4 min read

Massive spying on users of Google's Chrome shows new security weakness

A newly discovered spyware effort attacked users through 32 million downloads of extensions to Google’s market-leading Chrome web browser, researchers at Awake Security told Reuters, highlighting the tech industry’s failure to protect browsers as they are used more for email, payroll and other sensitive functions.

5 min read

Lloyd's of London to pay for its 'shameful' sins in Atlantic slave trade

The Lloyd’s of London insurance market has apologized for its “shameful” role in the 18th and 19th Century Atlantic slave trade and has agreed to fund charities and organizations promoting opportunities for black and ethnic minority groups.

4 min read

Sharp learning curve for bosses as WFH goes global

Before the new coronavirus began spreading, just 2.9% of the world’s employees were working exclusively or mainly from home, according to the International Labour Organization, a Geneva-based UN agency. Within weeks, that figure exploded as social distancing forced companies to launch telework schemes.

5 min read

Top Stories on Reuters TV

Defectors prepare packages to send to North Korea

Asia   2:17

Mexican musicians bring melodies to the streets

Culture   1:14
at