- In the DM world, the US recorded its largest daily increase so far last Friday, at 66,672 new cases. On Saturday, there were 61,352 which marked the 4th consecutive day of more than 60,000 daily cases. Sunday’s values surprisingly dropped to only 25,624. Deaths have also been on the rise recently, with Friday’s fatalities reaching almost 1,000.
- Last month brought the US at Brazil’s level in terms of cases per capita, departing from other hard hit nations (see first chart).
- Florida registered 15,299 new cases on Sunday which is now the largest one day jump since the beginning of the pandemic, surpassing California’s previous record of 11,694. Despite this, Disney World Florida has just reopened after four months, albeit with mandatory masks and social distancing restrictions.
- Texas reported a local level record of 10,351 new infections. It currently has more Covid-19 hospitalizations than any other state in the US, at 10,083.
- Testing has recently stalled in the US, even if cases are continuing to break new records, according to COVID Tracking project data.
- New York City has cancelled all large events until at least September 30.
- A recent study published by Yale School of Public Health modelled a variety of testing strategies on a hypothetical group of 5,000 US students. The conclusion is that universities might need to test students every two days in order to control an outbreak.
- In the UK, 826 cases were reported on Saturday and 650 on Sunday. Cases haven’t yet visibly deviated from trend amid last week’s easing of lockdown restrictions. According to data published by Public Health England (PHE), the rate of infection is falling in all five areas with the highest number of new cases. However, a recent study by King’s College London suggests that Covid-19 immunity could disappear within months. Researchers repeatedly tested 96 patients and healthcare workers at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS foundation trust and found that the levels of virus-fighting antibodies peaked about three weeks after symptoms started, then rapidly fell away.
- Australia experienced large increases over the last three days. On Friday, there were 475 new cases, in line with the peaks of the first wave experienced there. The state of Victoria was the most affected. To contain the outbreak, Australia will no longer allow unlimited entry of citizens and permanent residents into the country. A cap of 4,175 people per week will be imposed and people will need pay for their mandatory 14-day quarantine in a hotel. It will no longer be government sponsored.
- Japan’s cases were also on the rise this weekend. Saturday and Sunday brought 386 and 409 new cases, respectively. However, Tokyo’s governor believes the Olympics must go ahead next year.
- In EM, India has been registering new daily records for six consecutive days. On Sunday, it reported 28,637 new cases, bringing its total number of infections to almost 850,000. Deaths have also been on the rise this weekend, standing north to 500 per day.
- In Latam, there was a single day record in Colombia with 6803 new cases. Bogotá will impose lockdowns in some of its neighbourhoods today. Brazil, Argentina, and Mexico also had a high number of cases over the weekend and inched towards their previous single day records.
- For more perspective, we also include our quadrant charts too.
Bilal Hafeez is the CEO and Editor of Macro Hive. He spent over twenty years doing research at big banks – JPMorgan, Deutsche Bank, and Nomura, where he had various “Global Head” roles and did FX, rates and cross-markets research.
Stefan Posea is a Research Analyst at Macro Hive. His research interests lie in macro-financial interactions and monetary policy analysis. Stefan graduated with an MSc in Economics at Birkbeck, University of London and previously held roles in M&A and the Public Sector.
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