Here’s what you need to know about the coronavirus right now:
G20 PLEDGES TO KEEP MARKETS OPEN, SUPPLIES FLOWING
G20 trade ministers pledged to keep their markets open and ensure a continued flow of vital medical supplies, equipment and other essential goods. They stopped short, however, of explicitly calling for an end to export bans that many countries, including France, Germany and India, have enacted on drugs and medical supplies.
As air freight capacity plunges and lockdowns mean that businesses are struggling to find labourers, truck drivers and shipping crews, supply chains are backing up, and all eyes are on possible disruptions to food supplies.
US SPIES FIND IT HARD TO CHART SPREAD
US spy agencies are finding serious gaps in their ability to assess the spread of coronavirus in China, Russia and North Korea, hindering US and international efforts to manage the crisis.
“We want to have as close an accurate, real-time understanding of where the global hotspots are and where they are evolving,” said Jeremy Konyndyk, an expert at the Center for Global Development thinktank, who led the Office of US Foreign Disaster Assistance from 2013 to 2017.
“The world is not going to get rid of this thing until we get rid of it everywhere.”
Producing vaccines before safe and effective ones available
The US government has cut deals with Johnson & Johnson and Moderna Inc and said it is in talks with at least two other companies to prepare them to produce massive quantities of coronavirus vaccines, even before safe and effective ones become available.
No vaccine is expected to be ready for use until at least 2021, as they must still be widely tested in humans before being administered. J&J said it will begin human testing in September.
THE SPREAD
More than 777,000 people have been infected across the world and over 37,500 have died, according to a Reuters tally at 0200 GMT on Tuesday.
A total of 56,966 new cases of COVID-19 and 3,592 deaths were reported in the previous day. France recorded its worst daily coronavirus death toll on Monday, taking the country’s total to more than 3,000 for the first time. The US death toll climbed past 3,000 on Monday, the deadliest day yet for the country.
AUSTRALIA REPORTS A SUSTAINED SLOWDOWN IN INFECTIONS
Australia reported a sustained fall in the rate of new coronavirus infections on Tuesday. Health Minister Greg Hunt reported there were about 4,400 coronavirus cases nationally, with the rate of growth in new infections slowing from 25-30% a week ago to an average of 9% over the past three days.
Still, he stressed that social distancing measures were crucial and that it was too early for any sense of relief.
RESETTING THE OLYMPICS CLOCK: ONLY 479 DAYS TO GO
Within hours of Olympic organisers confirming that the rescheduled Games would start on July 23 next year, Tokyo’s main countdown clock had been reset to show that 479 days remain until the opening ceremony.
Problems have already become apparent in the planning for venues, although organisers have yet to be told that they can’t use any venue, Tokyo 2020 CEO Toshiro Muto told a news conference.
