World coronavirus dispatch: Aviation sector stares at worst year in history

From Zara's first ever loss to China 'angrily' rejecting study tracing Covid-19 origins to last summer, and the slowing of new infection rate in the US - read these and more in today's world dispatch

The coronavirus pandemic has not spared even the most powerful and wealthy. Softbank’s $100-billion Vision Fund is preparing to offload 80 employees, about 15 per cent of the workforce, according to Bloomberg sources. The cuts, likely to be announced this week, might come on the heels of last quarter’s reported operating loss of $13 billion from write-offs in WeWork and Uber valuations. Read more here

Let’s look at the global statistics

• Total confirmed cases: 7,238,768
• Change over previous day: 119,032
• Total deaths: 411,279
• Total recovered: 3,371,823
• Nations hit with most cases: The US (1,979,850), Brazil (739,503), Russia (484,630), the UK (290,581)