FE Today Logo

Europe rides second wave

October 12, 2020 00:00:00


More than 37.53 million people have been reported to be infected by the novel coronavirus globally and 1,078,549 have died, according to Worldometers tally, report agencies.

Infections have been reported in more than 213 countries and territories since the first cases were identified in China in December 2019.

Countries across Europe are seeing a resurgence in COVID-19 cases after successfully slowing outbreaks early in the year.

The vast majority of countries are declaring more cases each day now than they were during the first wave earlier this year.

France and the Netherlands have reported record highs in daily coronavirus case numbers, Spain has declared an emergency in its capital and Germany is focussing efforts on hotspot cities.

Confirmed coronavirus cases in Latin America and the Caribbean reached 10 million on Saturday. With more than 360,000 deaths, the region is the worst hit in terms of deaths.

More than half the recorded cases in the region have been registered in Brazil, which officially has 5,055,888 cases and 149,639 deaths.

India's coronavirus case tally topped 7 million after it reported 74,383 new infections in the last 24 hours, data from the health ministry showed on Sunday, even as the spread moderated in western states such as Maharashtra.

Deaths from COVID-19 rose by 918 in the last 24 hours to 108,334, the ministry said.

India added a million cases in just 13 days, according to a Reuters tally of government data, and it has the second-highest number of infections, behind the United States which is approaching the 8 million mark.

New cases of COVID-19 in the United States hit a two-month high on Friday with over 58,000 infections of the coronavirus reported and hospitalisations in the Midwest at record levels for a fifth day in a row, according to a Reuters analysis.

Nineteen states have seen record increases in new cases so far in October.

Brazil registered 559 additional coronavirus deaths over the last 24 hours and 26,749 new cases, the nation's Health Ministry said on Saturday. The South American country has now registered 5,082,637 total confirmed coronavirus cases and 150,198 total deaths.

In France, the number of new coronavirus infections jumped over 26,000 in one day for the first time since the start of the epidemic, the Health Ministry data showed on Saturday. The cumulative infection total now stands at 718,873.

In the UK, 15,166 new cases of Covid-19 were reported on Saturday, a rise on the 13,864 cases reported the day before, government data showed. The UK so far has a total of 590,844 coronavirus cases.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to announce new measures to tackle a growing coronavirus crisis on Monday, moving to work more closely with local leaders from England's worst affected areas.

With Johnson reluctant to repeat a national lockdown that would further hurt a struggling economy, the government is trying to contain a surge in cases, as well as growing anger, in parts of northern and central England.

Meanwhile, the widely used BCG tuberculosis vaccine will be tested on frontline care workers in Britain for its effectiveness against COVID-19, researchers running the UK arm of a global trial said.

Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine, used to protect against tuberculosis, induces a broad innate immune-system response and has been shown to protect against infection or severe illness with other respiratory pathogens.

"BCG has been shown to boost immunity in a generalised way, which may offer some protection against COVID-19," Professor John Campbell, of the University of Exeter Medical School, said.

"We are seeking to establish whether the BCG vaccine could help protect people who are at risk of COVID-19. If it does, we could save lives by administering or topping up this readily available and cost-effective vaccination."


Share if you like