Bhinneka News Online: Friday Morning Briefing: As millionth case looms, COVID tears through France faster than in spring

Friday 23 October 2020

Friday Morning Briefing: As millionth case looms, COVID tears through France faster than in spring

What you need to know about the coronavirus today

Infections rising faster than in spring in France, Belgium tightens restrictions, Spanish regions clamor for curfew
The coronavirus is spreading through France faster than at the peak of the first wave in spring, a government scientific advisor said, in one of the starkest alerts yet about the scale of the resurgence engulfing Europe.

Belgium banned fans from sports matches, limited the number of people in cultural spaces and closed theme parks. The country, which has Europe’s second highest infection rate per capita after the Czech Republic, had already closed cafes, bars and restaurants and imposed a night curfew.

The Spanish regions of Castilla and Leon and Valencia were clamoring for the government to impose night-time curfews after authorities failed to reach a decision on nationwide restrictions the previous day.

COVID-19 infections are still rising in 80 countries. Track daily COVID-19 infections and deaths data for 240 countries and territories around the world.

Euro zone economy at risk of double-dip recession
Economic activity in Europe’s single currency zone slipped back into decline this month, heightening expectations for a double-dip recession as a second wave of the coronavirus sweeps across the continent, surveys showed.

German health minister expects COVID-19 vaccine in early 2021
A COVID-19 vaccine could be available for the German population early next year, Health Minister Jens Spahn was quoted as saying, adding that Germany would be prepared to pass on surplus amounts of the shot to other countries.

Don't give up on COVID-19 plasma, experts say, after study finds no benefit
Researchers called for more research into using blood from recovered COVID-19 patients - or so-called convalescent plasma - as a potential treatment, after a small trial of hospitalized patients in India found it was of no benefit.

'Eating rats': Myanmar's second lockdown drives hunger in city slums
After the first wave of coronavirus hit Myanmar in March, 36-year-old Ma Suu closed her salad stall and pawned her jewelry and gold to buy food to eat. During the second wave, when the government issued a stay-home order in September for Yangon, Ma Suu shut her stall again and sold her clothes, plates and pots. With nothing left to sell, her husband, an out of work construction laborer, has resorted to hunting for food in the open drains by the slum where they live on the outskirts of Myanmar’s largest city. “People are eating rats and snakes,” Ma Suu said through tears. “Without an income, they need to eat like that to feed their children.”

From Breakingviews - Corona Capital: UK furlough, Travel, Webjet.
Britain learns the cost of rushing through untested furlough schemes, and fashion brands will suffer from resurgent lockdown woes. Catch up with the latest financial insights.

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

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U.S. Elections

In final Trump-Biden showdown, less chaos but plenty of clashes. President Donald Trump turned in the restrained and consistent performance his advisers said he needed in his final debate with Democratic challenger Joe Biden, but it was unlikely to alter the U.S. presidential race in any fundamental way.

Trump and Biden offered sharply contrasting views on the still-raging coronavirus pandemic at Thursday’s debate, seeking to persuade the few remaining undecided voters days before their November contest.

Here are six takeaways from the debate.

Special Report: Here in the birthplace of American democracy, election officials are scrambling to prepare for a presidential vote they fear could plunge the nation into a historic political crisis. Philadelphia’s Board of Elections plans to move its counting operations to a 125,000-square foot space in the city’s convention center. Dozens of staffers, feeding expensive new machines to open envelopes and process mail-in ballots, will spend days tallying hundreds of thousands of votes - under intense scrutiny from partisan observers.

Trump and Biden begin a sprint through the final 11 days of the presidential race, a day after battling over the COVID-19 pandemic and personal integrity in their second and final debate. More than 47 million Americans already have cast ballots in person or through the mail - roughly eight times the number of early votes cast at about the same point in 2016 - giving Trump, who is trailing in national opinion polls, fewer opportunities to change minds before voting ends on Nov. 3.