Covid-19 infects 8mn in US, cases near 40mn globally
UK has had its credit rating cut by Moody’s; eight French senators test Covid positive
The US reported the highest number daily coronavirus infections in two months as temperatures begin to dip across the country. Total Covid-19 cases in the country topped 8 million while the number of infections globally raced towards the 40 million mark.
According to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University and Bloomberg, there were 63,330 cases reported in America on Thursday, the most in more than two months.
Cases nationwide have been rising since mid-September, after a summertime peak as the virus spread through the Sun Belt. The trailing seven-day average of cases rose by almost 9% this week compared to the previous week, illustrating the upward curve faced by the US less than three weeks before the general election.
In Europe, Germany to Italy to Portugal reported record cases as the pandemic’s accelerating resurgence across Europe forced fresh lockdowns. Londoners will be banned from mixing with other households indoors, while residents of Paris and eight other major French cities will be confined to their homes between 9pm and 6am for four weeks.
Pfizer said it could seek emergency-use authorisation for its vaccine in the US by November if the shot is shown to be effective in a large late-stage trial.
The UK has had its credit rating cut by Moody’s. The pandemic has blown a hole in the public finances, with the government spending tens of billions to support jobs and prop up the economy. The credit assessor lowered the nation’s grade by one notch to Aa3, its fourth highest ranking.
Spain reported 6,591 cases, the second day with more than 6,000 infections. Italy posted a record 10,010 cases, compared with 8,804 on Thursday.
Belgium will close restaurants and cafes from Monday for four weeks and introduce a curfew from midnight to 5am, Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said in a press conference on Friday.
Eight French senators have tested positive for Covid-19, the French Senate’s press office said on Friday. One of the senators has been hospitalised, France Info reported earlier, citing anonymous sources. The cases were detected in a testing campaign among 125 of the nation’s 348 senators. The country reported 25,086 new cases on Friday, down from a record of more than 30,000 infections a day earlier.
The World Health Organization (WHO) will revise its guidance on the use of remdesivir in the coming weeks following the results of the Solidarity trial in which it was found not to reduce the risk of death, chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan said. The review will take into account all studies on the drug.
The WHO will only give recommendations on vaccines once it has Phase 3 data about them, Swaminathan said when asked about Russian health authorities approving a second vaccine for public use.