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Germany Reports Biggest COVID-19 Tally In 3 Months As Outbreak Spreads “All Over The Country”: Live Updates

Courtesy of ZeroHedge View original post here.

Summary:

  • Germany sees new cases hit 3-month high
  • 6% of England has been infected
  • Rural Indians grow weary of wearing masks
  • Philippines joins Brazil, UAE etc in planning Russian vaccine trials
  • South Korea sees cases hit 1-month high
  • Oxford-Astrazeneca vaccine produces “immune response” in test subjects

* * *

As schools reopen in Berlin and elsewhere, Germany has reported another day of 1,000+ COVID-19 cases and the biggest single-day reading in three months, with the health minister warning of outbreaks across the country, blaming the spread on partiers and holiday travelers.

In the country of 83 million, the number of confirmed coronavirus cases climbed by 1,226 to 218,519, according to data from the Robert Koch Institute. That’s the biggest daily increase since May 9. Meanwhile, the number of deaths remained relatively low, increasing by six to a total of 9,207.

Chancellor Angela Merkel and the 16 state governments decided in May to start gradually easing coronavirus restrictions, a balancing act to allow public life and business activity to recover while trying to keep the infection rate low. Though the rate remains low relative to the US and other countries struggling with raging outbreaks, keeping cases at a manageable level requires a careful balancing act.

“This is, no doubt, very worrying,” said Health Minister Jens Spahn during an interview with Deutschlandfunk radio. He added that Germans must remain “very cautious” to avoid spread of the virus.

The fate of the European economy could very well hinge on a V-shaped rebound that economists say might be possible if another round of damaging lockdowns can be avoided. In Spain and the UK, local measures have been favored, like ‘partial lockdowns’ in parts of Manchester and in Catalonia, efforts that the WHO has applauded.

In other news out of Europe, the FT reports that roughly 6% of people in England have been infected already, which is roughly 1/10th of the minimum level of penetration experts believe would be necessary for ‘herd immunity’ to slow the virus.

About 6% of people in England had the virus by the end of June, equating to roughly 3.4 million, a study by Imperial College London found. London was found to have the highest rate of infection in the UK, at 13%, while the South West had the lowest, at 3%. The findings were part of the REACT study, commissioned by the Department of Health and Social Care.

That study incorporated antibody test results from more than 100,000 Britons. The data was roughly in line with surveillance data published by the ONS, which showed that 6.8% of people in England received antibody tests. In Black, Asian and minority ethnic people were 2-3x as likely to have had the virus than white people.

Early data from trials of three potential vaccines showed promise of fighting COVID-19 without serious side effects, while leaders in the United States and European Union pushed for massive stimulus to cushion the economic blow from the pandemic. Coronavirus cases in Spain have risen three-fold over the last three weeks as authorities struggle to contain a rash of fresh clusters. Sweden is changing its contact tracing guidelines to make more of the information gathered self-reported by the infected.

In India, where antibody testing run in the slums has, in at least a few instances, turned up positivity levels north of 50%, many in rural areas, where the virus has largely died out, are growing weary of social distancing requirements like wearing masks, creating a parallel to the mask debate in the US.

In two dozen small towns and villages visited by Reuters reporters in recent weeks, people have largely given up on social distancing and masks after months of sticking to the rules, believing the virus is not such a serious threat.

Here’s more from Reuters:

Harmahan Deka doesn’t wear a mask anymore to avoid the novel coronavirus nor does he try to keep a safe distance from others.

For the 25 men and women he works with in his construction materials business near the small town of Baihata Chariali in India’s Assam state, life is more or less as it used to be, Deka says.

“The virus can’t attack me, it’s weakened,” the 50-year-old diabetic said. “I often hang out at a busy neighbourhood grocery store – without masks, nothing. Both the store owner and I are fine. Maybe we’ve had it already without symptoms.”

In two dozen small towns and villages visited by Reuters reporters in recent weeks, people have largely given up on social distancing and masks after months of sticking to the rules, believing the virus is not such a serious threat.

Though incidence rates are low, the virus remains a threat, and the poor health infrastructure in the countryside makes following social distancing rules all the more critical, the public health officials said.

The change in behaviour in rural India – where two-thirds of its 1.3 billion people live, often with only the most basic health facilities – has come as infections in the countryside have surged.

Health officials are exasperated.

“Sometimes people take it too lightly, as if nothing will happen to them just because they’re breathing fresh air and eating fresh vegetables,” said Rajni Kant, a member of a rapid response team of the state-run Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) set up to fight the pandemic.

“Health infrastructure is poor in rural areas, that’s why they have to strictly follow social distancing norms, wear masks, avoid crowded areas and keep washing hands. Otherwise they’ll suffer.”

As we reported earlier, the Philippines has joined a growing list of countries preparing to hold clinical trials for the Russia-approved COVID-19 vaccine developed by the world-renowned Gameleya Institute. As news about the Russian vaccine dominated headlines this week, the usual patter of updates from Western companies working on their own candidates has continued. Here’s a rundown of some recent vax news courtesy of Reuters:

  • An experimental vaccine being developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University against the new coronavirus produced an immune response in early-stage clinical trials.
  • German biotech BioNTech and U.S. drugmaker Pfizer Inc said data from an early-stage trial of their experimental coronavirus vaccine showed that it prompted an immune response and was well-tolerated.
  • A vaccine developed by CanSino Biologics Inc and China’s military research unit has shown to be safe and induced immune responses in most of the recipients who got one shot.

Finally, moving east, China and Hong Kong have seen infection numbers continue to decline following flareups earlier this month, but in South Korea, health officials reported 47 new locally transmitted cases, a one-month high amid concerns about a new batch of potential clusters.

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