Coronavirus Global Updates, 19 June: China reports 37 new cases; Trump says virus will ‘fade away’ even without vaccine

Global Coronavirus (COVID-19) Cases Updates: The coronavirus pandemic has claimed 453,987 lives across the world and as many as 8,489,675 people have been infected so far. The number is increasing on a daily basis with some countries witnessing s second-wave.




Coronavirus Global Updates: The coronavirus pandemic has claimed 453,987 lives across the world and as many as 8,489,675 people have been infected so far. The number is increasing on a daily basis with some countries, which experienced a significant drop in Covid-19 infections in April and May, witnessing a second-wave. The most notable resurgence has been in China’s capital Beijing, which reported over 150 infections on June 11.

Country-wise, the United States continues to remain the worst-hit with 2,191,052 cases and 118,434 deaths, followed by Brazil (978,142 cases, 47,748 deaths), Russia (560,321 cases, 7,650 deaths), and India (3,80,532 cases and 12,573 deaths). Also, more than 4.1 million people (4,155,247) have recovered.

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Meanwhile, as countries are continuously trying to develop a vaccine to fight the pandemic, the World Health Organisation’s chief scientist, Dr Soumya Swaminathan, has said that the agency is optimistic and hopeful that the COVID-19 vaccines could be available before the end of this year. On Thursday, the WHO had said that clinical trials have now definitively shown that anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine does not have an impact on preventing deaths from COVID-19.

Here are the top developments from around the world:

Coronavirus will ‘fade away’ even without vaccine: Trump

The coronavirus pandemic will “fade away” even without a vaccine, but researchers are close to developing one anyhow, President Donald Trump said.

“We’re very close to a vaccine and we’re very close to therapeutics, really good therapeutics,” Trump said Wednesday night in a television interview with Fox News. “But even without that, I don’t even like to talk about that, because it’s fading away, it’s going to fade away, but having a vaccine would be really nice and that’s going to happen.” Trump’s comments come as the U.S. continues to see 20,000 new daily cases.

China reports 37 new cases; Beijing implements wartime measures

China has reported 37 new coronavirus cases including 25 in Beijing where 183 patients are undergoing treatment, with the city implementing wartime measures to arrest the COVID-19 spread, health authorities said on Friday. The National Health Commission (NHC) said that 32 new confirmed COVID-19 cases were reported in the country on Thursday of which 28 were domestically-transmitted and four were imported. Of the domestically-transmitted cases, 25 were reported in Beijing, two in Hebei province and one in Liaoning province, it said in its daily report.

No deaths related to the disease were reported on Thursday, according to the commission. As new cases continued to emerge, Beijing has implemented wartime measures to contain the spread of the coronavirus, it said.

Solidarity or frugality? EU leaders discuss coronavirus plan

As they brace for the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, leaders of the European Union’s 27 member states are set to discuss the bloc’s future long-term budget and a multibillion-euro post-coronavirus recovery plan during a video summit Friday that is aimed at paving the way for a compromise later this summer. Friday’s Council meeting is just the first step in intense discussions that could culminate with a deal in July if member states overcome their differences. The 750 billion-euro ($825 billion) rescue fund proposed by the EU’s executive arm to help member states’ economies cushion the impact of the coronavirus is far from being unanimously welcomed.

UN seeks urgent funding for pandemic aid transport

The United Nations food agency warned Thursday that without immediate funding its global transport system will stop delivering thousands of tonnes of masks, gloves and other critical equipment to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic to 132 countries by the third week of July. Amer Daoudi, the World Food Program’s director of operations and COVID-19 response, told a video press conference that its aircraft have also transported 2,600 humanitarian and health workers free of charge to 40 destinations across Africa, Asia and the Middle East since the pandemic began, and that service will also come to a halt. “As the virus continues to accelerate across many parts of the world, as we are seeing, these services become more and more vital and important,” he said.

UN: Venezuelans, other refugees face huge pandemic hardships

The head of the UN refugee agency expressed concerns Thursday about impact of the coronavirus pandemic from Africa’s Sahel region to Latin America and beyond, warning that millions fled upheaval at home and could face hardship abroad among lockdowns and other restrictive measures to fight the outbreak. UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi said 164 countries have either partially or totally closed their borders to fight COVID-19.

COVID-19 patients with high stress hormone levels at greater death risk: Lancet

COVID-19 patients with extremely high levels of the stress hormone cortisol in their blood are more likely to deteriorate quickly and die, according to study led by an Indian origin researcher in the UK. The study, published in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology on Thursday, provides the first data to show that cortisol levels are a marker of the severity of the illness. The researchers, led by Professor Waljit Dhillo from Imperial College London in the UK, suggest they can be used to identify those patients who are more likely to need intensive cover.

Scientists call for retraction of study claiming coronavirus spread is mainly airborne

More than 40 scientists have signed an open letter calling for the retraction of a study which made “extraordinary claims” that airborne transmission could be the dominant mode of spread of COVID-19. The study, which was published last week in the journal PNAS, compared COVID-19 case counts and measures enforced in China’s Wuhan city, Italy, and New York City in the US, and noted that wearing of face masks in public corresponds to the most effective means to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

In the open letter, scientists including Noah Haber from Stanford University in the US, said the PNAS study had methodological design flaws and made “easily falsifiable claims.” According to the open letter, the main conclusions of the study are based on the comparison of disease control measures, case count trends within and between Wuhan, Italy, and New York City (NYC).

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