World Coronavirus Dispatch: Facing third wave, Hong Kong shuts schools

US marines infected at Okinawa base, UK drones to deliver Covid-19 tests to Scottish Islands, two art gallery shows to explore from home and other pandemic-related news across the globe

Walt Disney World Resort has begun reopening in Florida despite a coronavirus surge across the US state: The site's Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom opened on Saturday. Epcot and Disney's Hollywood Studios are expected to follow from July 15. Visitors will be required to wear masks and adhere to other safety measures across the complex in Orlando. Read more here

Let’s look at the global statistics



Total Confirmed Cases: 12,720,798


Change Over Yesterday: 254,461


Total Deaths: 565,189


Total Recovered: 7,005,950

Nations hit with most cases: US (3,247,771), Brazil (1,839,850), India (849,522), Russia (719,449) and Peru (322,710)

Source: Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Research Center

US marines infected at Okinawa base: Dozens of US Marines at two bases in the southern Japanese island of Okinawa have been infected with coronavirus in what is feared to be a massive outbreak, Okinawa’s governor said Saturday, demanding an adequate explanation from the US military. Read more here

UK to use drones to deliver Covid-19 tests to Scottish Islands: London-based drone company Skyports is working with the National Health Service to deliver tests and other medical supplies to Scotland, including islands off its west coast. This is under a joint programme with the European Space Agency. Read more here

New infections in US climb to more than 68,000, a seventh record in 11 days: The US on Friday reached 60,000 new cases for the first time, and the number ultimately soared to more than 68,000 — setting a single-day record for the seventh time in 11 days. Read more here

Facing third wave of virus cases, Hong Kong shuts schools: Hong Kong has closed schools and tightened social-distancing requirements after a resurgence in locally infected coronavirus cases in the Asian financial hub. Secondary and primary schools as well as kindergartens would be suspended starting on Monday. Read more here

Brazil sees over 1,000 new coronavirus deaths, cases top 1.8 million: Brazil, the world’s No. 2 coronavirus hotspot after the United States, recorded 1,071 new deaths from the outbreak on Saturday, with a total of 1,839,850 confirmed cases. Read more here 
 

Thailand plans November human testing for potential coronavirus vaccine: Thai researchers at Bangkok’s Chulalongkorn University plan to begin human trials of a potential vaccine for the new coronavirus in November and are preparing 10,000 doses,, aiming for a vaccine that could be ready for use by late next year. Read more here

Specials

Yonex, Nike and sporting good peers prep for post-Covid-19 world
 

Tokyo-based market research company, INTAGE, surveyed more than 800 people in mid-May and found that just under 60 per cent of them said insufficient exercise and physical weakness were problems that emerged from staying at home. Therefore, iIt seems the potential demand for sporting goods is increasing. Many sporting goods and apparel companies had been performing well until 2019. That was driven by clothing at the office becoming more casual as well as the "athleisure" trend, in which sports clothes are incorporated into everyday wear. Read more here

Scientists calculated how much longer you can live with a healthy lifestyle: Women who reported satisfying four or five of the healthy habits lived on average 34 more years without those diseases after age 50 compared to 24 years for women who said they did not follow any of the healthy habits. Men who reported fulfilling four or five of the lifestyle habits lived on average 31 more years free of disease after age 50 while those who adopted none of them lived on average 23 more years after age 50. Here’s a run-down of the healthy habits

Leisure
 

Two art gallery shows to explore from home: Galleries and museums are getting creative about presenting work online during the coronavirus crisis. Here are two shows worth viewing virtually.