World Coronavirus Dispatch: Qantas not only survives virus, but flies high

JP Morgan warns it may need staff to get vaccinated, over 2 million adults in England have had long Covid, and other pandemic-related news across the globe

One airline is set to emerge stronger than ever from Covid

While other airlines were pounded by the pandemic, Qantas not just survived the biggest crisis in aviation history, but became almost unassailable in its home market Australia. While losses at airlines globally from coronavirus are set to surpass $174 billion by the end of 2021--wiping out half a decade of profits--Qantas has become one of the most financially secure carriers anywhere in the world. Its stock has surged 120 per cent from a March 2020 low--almost double the return of the Bloomberg World Airlines Index--and its market value has swollen to $6.7 billion. Qantas says net debt has peaked and it’s on track to deliver an underlying profit for the year ending this month. Read here

Let's look at the global statistics

Global infections: 179,606,727

Global deaths: 3,892,076

Vaccine doses administered: 2,731,761,934

Nations with most cases: US (33,577,714), India (30,082,778), Brazil (18,169,881), France (5,824,127), Turkey (5,387,545).

Source: John Hopkins Coronavirus Research Center

JP Morgan warns employees of mandatory vaccination

JP Morgan, Wall Street's biggest bank, said it may require employees to get vaccinated against coronavirus and has ordered staff to fill out a questionnaire on their jab status by the end of this month, according to Bloomberg report. Employees who don’t respond will be contacted by managers until they do. “We need you to enter this information so that we can properly prepare for and manage returning to the office,” the CEO and others wrote to staff in a memo. For now, the executives said, all US employees, including those who aren’t vaccinated, should plan to start regular office schedules July 6. Read here

Scientist finds early virus sequences that had been mysteriously deleted

About a year ago, genetic sequences from more than 200 virus samples from early cases of Covid-19 in Wuhan disappeared from an online scientific database. Now, by rooting through files stored on Google Cloud, a researcher in Seattle reports that he has recovered 13 of those original sequences—-intriguing new information for discerning when and how the virus may have spilled over from a bat or another animal into humans. The new analysis bolsters earlier suggestions that a variety of coronaviruses may have been circulating in Wuhan before the initial outbreaks linked to animal and seafood markets in December 2019. Read here

More than 2 million adults in England have had long Covid for over 12 weeks: study

More than 2 million adults in England have experienced coronavirus symptoms lasting over 12 weeks, government data suggests–twice the previous estimate for long Covid. The study, one of the largest to date, found that people with ongoing symptoms tended to fall into two categories: those with respiratory symptoms, who often experienced more severe illness when they first got sick, and a second group with fatigue-related symptoms. Like previous studies, it found that women were more commonly affected and that the prevalence of ongoing symptoms increased with age. Researchers described the findings as “alarming”. Read here