Coronavirus Global Updates: Cases Surpass 30 Million

On Thursday, if we consider coronavirus cases all over the world, it has crossed 30 million. Meantime the number of global fatalities is nearing one million. Based on the report by the World Health Organization, cases are again surging in Europe. Over half of the European counties have experienced a more 10 per cent hike in coronavirus cases in the last two weeks. According to WHO data, coronavirus is also affecting healthcare professionals across the globe.

Considering the global population, health care workers are at least 2-3 per cent. But, they covered at least 14 per cent if we consider reported COVID-19 cases. WHO said, “Over thousands of healthcare workers lost their lives since they are infected with COVID-19.” Thursday, there is a progress toward bringing a promising vaccine. Moderna said, “We are moving up coronavirus vaccine trial results timeline.”They also added that by November, they might have enough clinical trial results for the candidate vaccine. The director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Robert Redfield, released some cautions on Wednesday. He was urging citizens for the use of face masks towards slowing down the spread of COVID-19. Redfield warned “The coronavirus vaccine may not be available until the beginning of next year.”

Other significant developments:

• In North Carolina, in-person classes will be allowed, and elementary schools will start daily classes.
• But, in New York City, the start dates have been pushed back. Dates have been pushed for middle, elementary, and high school classrooms return to daily again.
• After calling lockdown measures, there was criticism by many. Attorney General William Barr drew a criticism that these measures are worst infringement primarily on civil liberties and they are other than slavery.
• Over 790000 Americans have already filed for unemployment insurance. The same is a record number, and they filed insurance last week, based on the data by the Labor Department. The reason was, economic fallout created due to the COVID-19 pandemic mounting up continuously.
• There are six states which have set a new record in the number of cases reported for COVID-19. Other four States have experienced a record number of deaths, based on USA TODAY analysis through late Wednesday.

Wynn in Las Vegas reports 548 COVID-19 cases among its employees. The resort is opened in June, and then onwards, it has logged more than 500 positive cases from its employees. On Thursday, Wynn Resorts revealed that, “The data is revealed by the company’s contact tracing and testing program. The program tests groups of 700 employees and they execute the plan every two weeks. The data is based on the Reno Gazette-Journal, and the Journal is part of the USA TODAY Network. By taking help from University Medical Center, Wynn has conducted over 15051 tests. They are executing the program intending to catch any employee if he is positive for COVID-19 but asymptomatic. Among the tests performed, they were able to report 548 positive cases to date. The same is considered as 306 per cent positivity. Among 548, 497 were reported post-opening, and 51 were reported pre-opening the resort, according to the company.

In the period, Wynn Resort may have hosted over 500000 guests from early June when it is reopened. Only six guests have been tested positive to date, based on company data. Moderna reveals, “Vaccine trial results will be available by November.” Moderna is one of the companies leading the entire effort to develop a vaccine for COVID-19. It announced on Thursday that, “It has done enough clinical trials, and as soon as by November it will confirm the effectiveness of the vaccine.” They will present the results of the effectiveness of the vaccine to an independent committee that reviews the products. Fifty-three people participated in the trial contract COVID-19. They also included 151 and 106 infections. In the clinical trial of the vaccine, half of the participants have given the active vaccine, and the other half are getting a placebo. The vaccine is named as called mRNA-1273.

Moderna’s senior vice president of infectious disease development, Dr Jacqueline Miller, told company investors on Thursday that, “Based on statistic data, if the vaccine is effective at least 75 percent of the time, it is enough to take 106 infections in both these groups when proving the effectiveness.” The results will be revealed in November, and Moderna will be applying for emergency authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration before distributing the vaccine. The FDA says a vaccine should be at least 50 per cent effective, and then only it will win federal approval. The companies involved in vaccine development aim for 60 per cent effectiveness, and they have hopes energy can still be higher. Earlier, Moderna predicted that it might take time until May 2021 to prove the COVID-19 vaccine’s effectiveness. Since the participants joined quickly, they have pushed up their timeline. Around trial sites, the COVID-19 infection rate was high, and hence the company had everything to start the trial earlier than expected.

Historic lows-Flu circulation plunges in the US, as per CDC. As per the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, flu circulation is currently at historical lows in the US. The number is sharply dropping after the implementation of school closures and social distancing along with mask-wearing for curbing the coronavirus spread. The data is based on the agency’s report published on Thursday aimed at Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. The report says, clinical laboratories have reported at least a 98 per cent decrease in the number of influenza activity, and the period is between September 2019 to February 2020 and March to May 2020. Apart from these, many other countries in the northern hemisphere also experienced a significant decline in influenza circulation. In some southern hemisphere countries, even with temperature climates, there was no circulation at all.

From the pandemic has started, eight Chicago school workers have died due to COVID-19. Chicago takes third place among the nation’s largest school district, and it has lost at least eight employees. There were 250 infected from the start of the pandemic. So, half of the number has already paused school operations, as per Chicago Public Schools. Most of the COVID-19 cases among employees are due to community exposure and sick family members. At least 13 per cent of the patients were due to cluster at school, and most of them are affected in spring as per district report.