Daily Update - April 30th I write a daily newsletter with verified statistics & interesting news about Covid. We only show data related to death tolls; data is provided by the John Hopkins University. My background is in statistical analysis & political science. Important note on today's statistics: the UK has revised its official death toll to include deaths in care homes & the wider community, hence the spike in UK & global death toll.



If you like this email, take a second to forward it to people who would like it ( sign up here ) , or give us feedback by replying to it! 🗞️ SUMMARY ANALYSIS 🗞️ 🌎 Yesterday, the global death toll from Coronavirus reached 227,000.



The UK coronavirus death toll has jumped to 26,097 after the Government started counting deaths in care homes and the wider community for the first time. Previously, the Government only counted people who had died in hospitals after testing positive for coronavirus. Yesterday, the official figure on hospital deaths stood at 21,678 – some 4,419 lower than today’s figure.



Critical study of Gilead’s Covid-19 drug shows patients are responding to treatment, NIH says. A government-run study of Gilead’s remdesivir, perhaps the most closely watched experimental drug to treat the novel coronavirus, showed that the medicine is effective against Covid-19, the disease caused by the virus. This goes directly against the previous study ran on the same drug - interesting to see how it will evolve.



France and the US officially fall into recession. The bad news is consumer spending. In France, consumer spending fell by almost 18% last month, INSEE reports, despite a rise in food spending. The expected drop was around 6%. Meanwhile, the U.S. economy shrank at a 4.8 percent annual rate in the first quarter of this year: This is the biggest contraction since the 2008 recession. Half of all Americans say they or someone in their household has either lost hours or a job because of the coronavirus, according to a new poll. Trump says China wants him to lose 2020 election. In other US news, Donald Trump said that coronavirus has “upset very badly” the US trade deal with China, and that China “will do anything they can to have me lose in 2020” in an interview with Reuters. Vaccine studies are ramping up: Pfizer said Tuesday that the company will begin testing its experimental vaccine in the U.S. as early as next week. This comes after Oxford University researchers said on Monday that their vaccine candidate could be available for emergency use as early as September.



'So what?': Bolsonaro shrugs off Brazil's rising coronavirus death toll. On Tuesday night Brazil’s president shrugged off Brazil's death toll. “So what?” Jair Bolsonaro told reporters when asked about the record 474 deaths that day. “I’m sorry. What do you want me to do?" Bolsonaro’s 11-word response – the latest in a series of remarks belittling the pandemic – sparked immediate fury. Spain and Germany deal blow to hopes of tourism revival. Spain has ruled out any early reopening of its tourism sector and Germany is set to extend a travel warning for all leisure trips outside the country until mid-June, casting further doubt on when would-be holidaymakers will be able to venture abroad again.



South Korea reports no new cases for first time since the 29th of February. The KCDC reported four new infections, all imported cases, taking the national tally to 10,765. The death toll rose by one to 247.



China’s Forbidden City will reopen on Friday. Three months after it closed due to the coronavirus crisis, Beijing’s sprawling Forbidden City will reopen, in the latest signal that the country has brought the disease under control.



South Africa’s virus cases jump past 5,000 after highest daily rise. The number of coronavirus cases in South Africa surged past the 5,000 mark on Thursday after it saw the largest single-day jump to date, health ministry figures showed.

📊 WORLD STATISTICS 📊 💡 GRAPH OF THE DAY 💡 Global production of critical minerals within a single country (%) In the late 1970s, the industry was boosted by China’s “reform and opening” policies, and since then, China’s mining outputs have increased enormously. A large number of Chinese mining companies also invest in overseas mining projects. China’s “going out” strategy encourages companies to move into overseas markets. This has led to China to become the leading producer of many of the world’s most important metals while also securing a commanding position in key supply chains. As an example of this, China is the world’s largest producer and consumer of rare earth materials. The country produces approximately 94% of the rare earth oxides and around 100% of the rare earth metals consumed globally, with 50% going to domestic consumption. China’s scale of influence over critical minerals means that it could artificially limit supply and move prices in the global clean energy trade, in the same way that OPEC does with oil. This would leave nations that import their mineral needs in an expensive and potentially limiting spot - especially in the context of a global pandemic. Source: Link to full visualisation 🔥 MUST READS 🔥 Why the Coronavirus is so confusing. Beyond its vast scope and sui generis nature, there are other reasons the pandemic continues to be so befuddling—a slew of forces scientific and societal, epidemiological and epistemological. What follows is an analysis of those forces, and a guide to making sense of a problem that is now too big for any one person to fully comprehend.



🔥Meet the 101-year-old who was born on a ship during the 1918 flu pandemic and just beat coronavirus. A story of life, against the odds. Angelina Friedman survived cancer, miscarriages, internal bleeding, sepsis and now not one, but two pandemics. More than 100 years after living through the 1918 influenza pandemic, the 101-year-old woman just beat coronavirus. Beyond its vast scope and sui generis nature, there are other reasons the pandemic continues to be so befuddling—a slew of forces scientific and societal, epidemiological and epistemological. What follows is an analysis of those forces, and a guide to making sense of a problem that is now too big for any one person to fully comprehend. Link to article A story of life, against the odds. Angelina Friedman survived cancer, miscarriages, internal bleeding, sepsis and now not one, but two pandemics. More than 100 years after living through the 1918 influenza pandemic, the 101-year-old woman just beat coronavirus. Link to article 📚 GOOD READS 📚 China’s domestic aviation recovery is good news for the world’s airlines. In the past two months, domestic air travel within China has doubled: As of April 22, according to data from travel and analytics company Cirium, domestic capacity was down only 33% year-on-year, compared to a peak drop of 71% on Feb. 24. China has slowly returned to work since the end of March, after nearly two months of curfews and lockdowns, starting in early February.



📚 Elon Musk tweets protest against US coronavirus lockdown. Elon Musk, the founder and chief executive of electric car company Tesla, has joined those protesting against the coronavirus lockdown of the US economy, tweeting: “FREE AMERICA NOW”.



📚 Clean air in Europe during lockdown ‘leads to 11,000 fewer deaths’. Link to article



📚 Jimmy Kimmel Knows Why Mike Pence Didn’t Wear a Mask at the Mayo Clinic. Kimmel and his fellow late-night hosts blasted the vice president for failing to cover his face while visiting coronavirus patients at the nation’s top hospital.



📚 In the US, a ‘Shark Tank’-like initiative to accelerate Covid-19 testing. The agency said the effort relies on a “national Covid-19 testing challenge” in which scientists and inventors developing coronavirus tests across the country will compete for a share of a $500 million pool earmarked for diagnostic development.



📚 Dr. Fauci says second wave of coronavirus is 'inevitable'. "If by that time we have put into place all of the countermeasures that you need to address this, we should do reasonably well," Fauci told CNN in an interview. "If we don't do that successfully, we could be in for a bad fall and a bad winter."



📚 How One Ex-Googler Managed to Buy Millions of PPE From China for US Hospitals. Link to article



📚 Poll: half of Americans are financially affected by Coronavirus. Link to article



📚 Coronavirus forces White House to send Amazon millions in new business. Link to article In the past two months, domestic air travel within China has doubled: As of April 22, according to data from travel and analytics company Cirium, domestic capacity was down only 33% year-on-year, compared to a peak drop of 71% on Feb. 24. China has slowly returned to work since the end of March, after nearly two months of curfews and lockdowns, starting in early February. Link to article Elon Musk, the founder and chief executive of electric car company Tesla, has joined those protesting against the coronavirus lockdown of the US economy, tweeting: “FREE AMERICA NOW”. Link to article Kimmel and his fellow late-night hosts blasted the vice president for failing to cover his face while visiting coronavirus patients at the nation’s top hospital. Link to article The agency said the effort relies on a “national Covid-19 testing challenge” in which scientists and inventors developing coronavirus tests across the country will compete for a share of a $500 million pool earmarked for diagnostic development. Link to article "If by that time we have put into place all of the countermeasures that you need to address this, we should do reasonably well," Fauci told CNN in an interview. "If we don't do that successfully, we could be in for a bad fall and a bad winter." Link to article Copyright © 2020 Daily Corona Virus Update, All rights reserved.





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