Coronavirus Watch

Global Statistics

Worldwide coronavirus cases have surpassed 20 million and more than 13, 6 million have recovered, and more than 751,000 have died.

There are at least 5,360,302 cases of coronavirus in the US, and at least 169,131 people have died. For three consecutive days, the US has reported fewer than 55,000 new daily cases of coronavirus. The average number of daily new cases in the US is now more than 54,000 — down from more than 65,000 per day in mid- to late-July. However, average daily Covid-19 deaths, have hovered above 1,000 for more than two weeks. The country had been below that level for seven consecutive weeks before that.

Brazil reported 58,081 new Covid-19 cases as well as an additional 1,164 deaths in the past 24 hours, the country’s health ministry said Wednesday. São Paulo records around a quarter of the total number of Covid-19 deaths registered in Brazil. Brazil still ranks as the second country in the world when it comes to the total number of cases and deaths from the virus.

France has recorded its biggest jump in daily Covid-19 cases since around the time it began to ease its lockdown. The French health ministry on Wednesday reported an increase of 2,524 Covid-19 cases in 24 hours. This is the biggest single-day increase in coronavirus cases since May 6, five days before France eased lockdown restrictions.

Five European countries have recorded a drop in Covid-19 cases even as most nations in the continent grapple with rising levels of infection, according to a report by the European Centre for Disease Control (ECDC).

Portugal, Sweden, Croatia, Latvia and Slovenia have all recorded a decreasing trend in the number of new infections in the past two weeks, while the rest of the continent has seen an uptick in reported cases per 100,000 people

In South Africa, the Covid-19 death toll has hit 11 010, while the number of cases now sits at 568 919. The total number of recoveries is now 432 029 – a recovery rate of 75.9%.KwaZulu-Natal is recording new Covid-19 cases at a higher rate than any other province –  but the national average of new daily cases is on a slight decrease.

18 more deaths due to Covid-19 have been recorded between Thursday last week and Tuesday this week after tests during post-mortems, taking the total death toll to 122. Mutare and Gweru have been seen as the epicentres of the pandemic in Manicaland & Midlands Province.

 75 new cases were reported and all were local except a single returning resident from South Africa, taking the total to 4 893 confirmed cases with 3 740 of these being infected within Zimbabwe. There have been 1 620 confirmed recoveries but with the Harare total on just 76.

Here’s which masks and face coverings are most effective, according to research 

Duke University professor Warren S. Warren and a group of researchers conducted a test to analyze which masks and face coverings are most effective in combating the coronavirus. Using a laser to see droplets when people speak, Warren and his team concluded that standard cotton masks “really do a pretty good job,” but other designs are not as effective, he said on CNN’s “New Day.”

“My rule of thumb would be if you can see a light through the fabric stretched out the way you’re normally wearing it, it probably isn’t doing a very good job protecting you,” Warren said.  Based on the Duke University research, these are the types of masks that work best:

    N95 masks, three-layer surgical masks and cotton masks

And these are the types that do not work as well:

    Neck fleeces (gaiter masks), bandanas and knitted masks

CNN’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta says his review of different mask research was similar to Warren’s findings, and cautioned people to not let up on mask-wearing.  “It’s amazing to me that so many people still don’t wear these properly, or they’re potentially constantly touching the outside of the mask, getting their hands contaminated and then potentially infecting themselves by touching their eyes, nose or their mouth … You want to wear the right material and make sure you’re doing it properly,” Gupta said.  He also advised people to continue wearing masks indoors as well.CNN

Metal Prices Asia/Europe/NY market

13/08/2020

 (Source: Kitco)