World Coronavirus Dispatch: Employment drops sharply in the US this month

From Italy's extra spending to boost the economy to China aiding Latin America and Caribbean in getting vaccine access

The US labor market’s rebound is increasingly at risk after a survey showed employment dropping sharply this month. The number of employed Americans declined by about 6.7 million from mid-June through mid-July, including a 4.1 million plunge from the first to the second week of July, according to the Census Bureau’s weekly Household Pulse Survey published Wednesday.

The figures add to signs of a worsening employment picture as a coronavirus surge across the South and West forces officials to pause or reverse re-openings, while business closings multiply. Read more here

Let’s look at the global statistics: 

                                   

Total Confirmed Cases: 1,52,39,805

Change Over Yesterday: 2,80,774

Total Deaths: 6,23,658

Total Recovered: 86,56,734

Nations hit with most cases: US (39,70,908), Brazil (22,27,514), India (12,38,798), Russia (7,93,720) and South Africa (3,94,948)

Source: Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Research Center 

Italy approves $29 billion extra spending to save economy: Italy’s government has approved a proposal for about $28.9 billion in extra spending to rescue the economy from the coronavirus outbreak, the cabinet said. The extra money will be used to help businesses with temporary layoffs and liquidity, and provide subsidies to local and regional authorities. Read more here

Australia reports highest coronavirus deaths in three months: Australia reported five deaths of coronavirus on Thursday, the highest in three months, as new infections continued to climb in its second most populous state, Victoria. Total death toll currently stands at 128. Read more here

China to give $1 billion loan for Latin America vaccine access: China will provide a $1 billion loan for Latin American and Caribbean countries to have access to its Covid-19 vaccine, Chinese foreign minister said. The announcement comes amid rising tensions between the U.S. and China, which is increasingly competing for influence in a region historically linked to American foreign policy. Read more here

Tokyo sees single-day record cases: Tokyo found 366 new coronavirus cases on Thursday, a jump in infections that was a record for a single day as a four-day holiday weekend got started in Japan. Officials said the cases are increasing among people in their 40’s and 50’s. The city’s running total has topped 10,000. Read more here

Arab economies to shrink by 5.7 percent amid virus fallout: A UN report says the pandemic will exact a heavy toll on Arab countries, causing an economic contraction of 5.7 percent this year, pushing millions into poverty and compounding the suffering of those affected by armed conflict. Another 14.3 million people are expected to be pushed into poverty, raising the total number to 115 million. Read more here

Specials

How Covid-19 changed consumer behaviour

For many, survival necessitated wholesale changes, like the fitness instructors who shifted classes online or the restaurant suppliers starting home delivery. Others made smaller tweaks that might end up being meaningful, such as the car retailer delivering keys via drone. Meanwhile, everyone forced to work, live and school from home is picking up new skills and behaviours that aren’t going to disappear when the virus fades. Now, understanding to what degree the virus has changed how we buy, sell and communicate is essential to all businesses—from the largest corporation to the self-employed. Read more here
 

How to stay productive in this gloomy time

Some of these tips will focus on people with access to technology while they work—those of us who work in front of screens all day also have access to a tool to offload our brains a bit and remind us when we need to do a thing, like take a break or get a glass of water. But even if that thing is just a phone in your pocket or a timer on your watch, there’s a lot of things you can do to try and both accomplish your goals and care for your personal well-being. Read more here

Podcast

The science of school re-opening

Around the world, safely reopening schools remains one of the most daunting challenges to restarting national economies. While approaches have been different, no country has tried to reopen schools with coronavirus infection rates at the level of the US. Listen in as hosts explore the risks and rewards of the plan to reopen American schools this fall.