Bhinneka News Online: Wednesday Morning Briefing: Tokyo declares coronavirus red alert

Wednesday, 15 July 2020

Wednesday Morning Briefing: Tokyo declares coronavirus red alert

What you need to know about the coronavirus today

Red alert in Tokyo
Tokyo raised its coronavirus alert to the highest “red” level on Wednesday, alarmed by a recent spike in daily new cases to record highs, with Governor Yuriko Koike describing the situation in the Japanese capital as “rather severe”. The resurgence of the virus could add to the growing pressure on policymakers to shore up the world’s No. 3 economy, which analysts say is set to shrink at its fastest pace in decades this fiscal year due to the pandemic. “We are in a situation where we should issue warnings to citizens and businesses,” Koike told a press conference, urging residents to refrain from unnecessary travel.

Vaccine has positive Phase 1 results
Moderna’s experimental vaccine for the coronavirus showed it was safe and provoked immune responses in all 45 healthy volunteers in an early-stage study, U.S. researchers reported. Moderna’s shot, mRNA-1273, uses ribonucleic acid - a chemical messenger that contains instructions for making proteins. When injected into people, the vaccine instructs cells to make proteins that mimic the outer surface of the coronavirus, which the body recognizes as a foreign invader, and mounts an immune response against.

‘A tale of two cities’
A few blocks from the Miami Beach Convention Center, where an emergency field hospital stands ready to treat a potential tidal wave of COVID-19 patients, it’s party-on along the resort city’s famed Ocean Drive. In recent days, social media has shown maskless revelers dancing in the street, jammed into cars turned into ad hoc nightclubs, and crowding shoulder-to-shoulder, with drinks in both hands, in the outdoor seating areas of restaurants.

Catalans return to lockdown
Some 160,000 people in the Spanish region of Catalonia returned to confinement on Wednesday as authorities scrambled to control a fresh surge of coronavirus infections in the area. A judge finally approved the regional government’s stay-at-home order for residents of the city of Lleida and six nearby towns on Tuesday night after several days of legal wrangling and political tensions over the issue. Under the new rules, people may leave their homes only for essential activities like working or buying supplies, while hotels, restaurants and bars will close except for food pick-up or delivery.

Masks and Mickey
Disneyland Paris welcomed back visitors on Wednesday after a four-month closure due to the coronavirus outbreak. Masks were mandatory and advance booking required. Visitors to the park, which has imposed a limited capacity, were told to keep a meter away from others, and hundreds of sanitizing-gel and hand-washing stations were scattered around. No tickets were sold at the entrance and rides where social distancing is difficult have not yet reopened. Playgrounds and make-up workshops also remained closed.

From Breakingviews - Corona Capital: Trench coats, Chinese movies. Burberry learns the limits of China’s Covid-19 recovery, and Wanda Film faces a messy sequel as a new wave of contagion in Hong Kong threatens more lockdowns. Catch up with the latest financial insights.

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