World Coronavirus Dispatch: 97,000 US kids test positive in two weeks

France's economic recovery loses steam, Red Cross Training for North Koreans, How Covid-19 changed everything about the 2020 US polls, and other pandemic-related news across the globe

Europe’s National budget rules to remain suspended next year: EU restrictions on national budgets, which were suspended because of the Covid-19 pandemic, will not apply again until 2022 at the earliest, the EU's economy chief has confirmed. Brussels took the unprecedented step of activating an escape clause in the bloc's budget rules in March, effectively suspending countries' obligations to work towards the eurozone's debt and deficit targets. 

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Let’s look at the global statistics:


Total Confirmed Cases: 19,863,850


Change Over Yesterday: 838,270


Total Deaths: 731,374


Total Recovered: 12,117,346

Nations hit with most cases: US (5,044,864), Brazil (3,035,422), India (2,215,074), Russia (885,718) and South Africa (559,859)

Source: Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Research Center

97,000 US children test positive for coronavirus in two weeks: At least 97,000 children tested positive for Covid-19 in the final two weeks of July and there's been an estimated 338,000 cases involving kids in the US since the pandemic began, a new report finds. There have been many reports about the virus spreading through schools and summer camps. Read more here

Australia borders to stay shut as Covid-19 daily deaths reach record: Australia recorded its biggest one-day rise in deaths on Monday although a slowdown in new cases gave hope that a second wave of new infections may have peaked. With about 21,000 cases and 314 deaths, Australia has still recorded fewer infections and fatalities than many other developed nations. Read more here

France’s economic recovery loses pace after initial surge: The pace of France’s economic recovery is slowing, the country’s central bank said. The Bank of France said economic activity was 7 per cent below normal levels in July after a 9 per cent gap in June. Indicators for August suggest a similar shortfall as last month or only a slight improvement. Read more here
 


Britain and France to hold Channel migrant talks: Britain and France will this week discuss a plan to disrupt the flow of migrants in small boats across the English Channel, as UK defence secretary considered a request for naval assistance. Chris Philp, immigration minister, said this week had seen an unacceptable increase in numbers crossing the sea from the continent. Read more here

Red Cross gives thousands of North Koreans Covid-19 training: The Red Cross has trained 43,000 North Korean volunteers to help communities fight the coronavirus and provide flood assistance, an official with the relief organization said. Kim Jong Un had declared an emergency last month and imposed a lockdown on Kaesong, near the inter-Korean border, after a man who defected to the South in 2017 returned to the city showing coronavirus symptoms. Read more here

Specials

Tips for getting back to office: 
“People crave some ‘normalcy’ by this point in the pandemic,” says Andy Yap, professor of organizational behavior at Insead Business School, who says he recently taught in-person classes in Singapore for the first time in months. “The experience was odd,” he says. For all those who crave a change of scenery and a return to the office, there’s a vast, emerging cohort of workers who either don’t intend to return to life as it was, or whose employers won’t ask them to. There is an active debate about whether such places as London, New York, and Tokyo—which thrive on tides of commuters who sweep in and out every day—can ever be the same without office workers. Here’s what you should know before you plan your return back to office.

JPMorgan report reveals ‘dramatic’ Covid shift to electronic bond trading

The coronavirus crisis has ushered in a “dramatic” shift in the world’s largest bond market away from traditional trading by phone towards electronic execution, according to a report by JPMorgan Chase. The figures from the Wall Street bank, one of the biggest Treasury dealers, suggest that a gradual drift towards electronification of the market for US government bonds was accelerated by the impact of the pandemic as many of the bank’s clients — who found themselves suddenly working from home in a volatile market meltdown — preferred to transact based on prices quoted on a screen rather than picking up the phone to negotiate with a human trader. Read more here

How Covid-19 changed everything about the 2020 US election 

The Democratic Party has just nominated Joe Biden and his running mate at its mid-July convention in Milwaukee, while Republicans are gearing up to renominate Donald Trump in Charlotte, N.C. But in the 2020 that’s actually happening, the Covid-19 pandemic has changed everything–from how the campaign is conducted to how we vote to what we value. It has canceled conventions, relegated fundraising and campaigning to the digital realm, and forced many states to rapidly change how people get and submit their ballots, with unpredictable and potentially disastrous results. Read more here