[ad_1] Peter Wells 7/31/2020, 3:25:16 PM Florida reports record jump in deaths for four days in a row Florida reported more than 250 coronavirus deaths on Friday, setting a state record for the fourth day in a row. A further 257 people died from the disease, the state’s health department reported on Friday morning, edging past yesterday’s peak of 253. Nearly 1,000 deaths have been reported by Florida health officials over the past five days, which has pushed its average rate over the past week to a record 171 a day. The total number of resident and non-resident fatalities in the state since the pandemic began is 6,966, the seventh-highest…

[ad_1] Peter Wells 7/28/2020, 3:04:22 PM Florida reports record jump in deaths Florida reported its biggest one-day jump in deaths on record, but reported fewer than 10,000 new cases for the third day in a row. A further 191 people died, the state’s health department reported on Tuesday, from a two-week low of 77 yesterday. The latest tally topped the previous daily record from July 23 by 18. Florida health officials revealed a further 9,230 people tested positive for Covid-19 over the past 24 hours. That was up slightly from Monday’s 8,892, which was the smallest one-day increase in nearly three weeks. Figures on Monday tend to be lower due…

[ad_1] With just over three months to go until November’s presidential election, Donald Trump is trying a new tactic: humility. With more and more national opinion polls giving Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, a widening lead over Mr Trump, the president returned to the White House podium last week for his first coronavirus press briefing in nearly three months with a markedly different tone. Mr Trump, who has repeatedly downplayed the severity of Covid-19, said on Tuesday that the outbreak, which has already killed more than 140,000 Americans, would “get worse before it gets better”, and encouraged people to wear face masks if they were unable to socially…

[ad_1] Mamta Badkar 7/22/2020, 3:27:31 PM Christine Lagarde says women leaders outperformed in pandemic Martin Arnold in Frankfurt Women leaders have outperformed in the pandemic, European Central Bank president Christine Lagarde said, citing the better communication and decision-making by female heads of state in Germany, Taiwan, Belgium and New Zealand. “Women tend to do a better job,” said Ms Lagarde. “It’s quite fascinating actually, when you look at those countries that were led by women and the path they took and the policies they adopted and the communication style that was in play was quite stunning.” Speaking on a video interview with the Washington Post on Wednesday, Ms Lagarde praised…

[ad_1] The writer is chairman of Fulcrum Asset Management The relentless rise in the number of new US Covid-19 infections, which is being followed by increased hospitalisation rates and fatalities in the worst affected states, suggests that Anthony Fauci of the White House coronavirus task force was justified when he recently described the deteriorating situation as a “perfect storm”. So far, the US policy response has been muted, certainly compared to nationwide lockdowns in other countries in March. And markets remain surprisingly relaxed, reportedly because investors are optimistic that an effective vaccine from the Oxford university or Moderna trials may be “within sight”. Those trials are highly encouraging. But even…

[ad_1] Peter Wells 7/16/2020, 2:47:57 PM Florida reports record increase in deaths Florida reported its biggest one-day increase in coronavirus deaths on Thursday and almost 14,000 new cases. A further 156 people died from Covid-19 since Wednesday, the state health department revealed this morning, edging past the previous record from July 14 of 133. A total of 4,782 people there have died since the pandemic began. The number of confirmed cases jumped by 13,965 compared with 10,181 on Wednesday. It is Florida’s second-biggest one-day jump, trailing the 15,300 on July 12 that is also a record for any US state. Almost 316,000 people in Florida have tested positive for Covid-19…

[ad_1] Coronavirus latest: Middle East recession heightens threat of social unrest, IMF says

[ad_1] Australia faces little cross-border risk, says top medic One of Australia’s top doctors said on Thursday there was little chance of the Victoria coronavirus outbreak crossing the border into New South Wales in large numbers, despite the issuance of 125,000 interstate travel permits in recent days. “With those [new infection] numbers being low and our ability to test, trace and isolate, that is exactly what will stop … spreading within the community,” said Nick Coatsworth, one of the country’s deputy chief medical officers. The focus is on Albury-Wodonga, sprawling border towns on the Murray River, which separates Victoria from NSW, where three people tested positive yesterday, one of whom…

[ad_1] Percentage testing positive in US hits highest since May 8 Peter Wells in New York The US reported more than 47,000 new cases of coronavirus on Monday, as the percentage of people testing positive for coronavirus hit its highest in two months and hospitalisations continued to rise. Although the national increase was below recent record jumps of more than 50,000 a day, California, the most populous US state, reported a record increase of more than 11,000 cases. Based on the nearly 518,400 tests conducted over the past day, the positivity rate for the US jumped to 9.1 per cent, the highest since May 8, from 6.5 per cent yesterday,…

[ad_1] The US Navy has sent two aircraft carrier groups into the South China Sea for the first time since 2014 as China conducts exercises the contested waters.  The USS Nimitz and the USS Ronald Reagan were conducting dual carrier operations and exercises in the South China Sea to support a free and open Indo-Pacific, the US Navy said on Saturday. China’s People’s Liberation Army is conducting a five-day drill around the Paracel Islands, a disputed archipelago. Vietnam and the Philippines have protested against the exercise, which Washington has criticised as counterproductive to easing regional tension. Beijing’s actions would “further destabilise the situation in the South China Sea,” the Pentagon said…