COVID Flare-ups Across The Globe
While the United States struggles with the pandemic, hotspots continue to occur in other countries, including Mexico, Italy, England, Spain, Lebanon and Kazakhstan.
Reuters:
Mexico Set To Surpass Italy's Coronavirus Tally As Death Toll Nears 35,000
Mexico’s death toll from the coronavirus pandemic is poised to overtake Italy’s and shoot above 35,000 on Sunday, with the Latin American nation set to post the world’s fourth highest deaths total, according to Reuters data. (7/12)
CIDRAP:
Italian Study Finds COVID-19 Symptoms Persist In Many Patients
A small study by Italian researchers found that more than 87% of patients who had recovered from acute COVID-19 still had at least one symptom 2 months after illness onset. (7/10)
Reuters:
More Than 70 Workers Test Positive For COVID-19 On An English Farm
Around 200 people employed to pick crops at a farm near Malvern in England’s West Midlands region have been told to self isolate after 73 of them tested positive for COVID-19, Public Health England (PHE) and Herefordshire Council said on Sunday. (7/12)
AP:
Catalonia Tightens Lockdown After Virus Outbreak
Regional authorities in northeast Spain have tightened a health lockdown and confined over 140,000 people to only leaving their homes for work and other essential activities. (7/12)
CIDRAP:
Deadly Pneumonia Reported In Kazakhstan
Mike Ryan, MD, head of the WHO's health emergencies program, said the WHO is aware of reports based on Chinese embassy social media posts about a surge of pneumonia in Kazakhstan that is deadlier than COVID-19. He said the country has reported a big spike in lab-confirmed COVID-19 cases, more than 10,000 over the past 7 days. Ryan said atypical pneumonia cases can arise anywhere in the world, and though WHO officials are keeping an open mind, most cases are believed to be COVID-19. (7/10)
Reuters:
Lebanon Records New Coronavirus Infection High With 166 Cases
A Lebanese waste management company is quarantining 133 Syrian workers who tested positive for the coronavirus, the company manager said on Sunday, as the country recorded a new daily high for infections. The health ministry said a total of 166 new cases had been confirmed in the last 24 hours. (7/12)
The Washington Post:
Bolsonaro Coronavirus: Brazil’s President Defied Health Guidelines Before Testing Positive For Covid-19
For months, even as the coronavirus pandemic grew into a debilitating national crisis, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro did everything he could to downplay it. He called on people to return to normal. He waded into crowds of supporters. He repeatedly described it as nothing more than a little flu. (Cahlan, McCoy, Samuels and Traiano, 7/11)
Reuters:
With Masks And Gel, Spaniards Vote Amid New Outbreaks Of Coronavirus
Voters in northern Spain protected themselves with face masks and hand sanitizer before voting on Sunday as Galicia and the Basque Country held regional elections despite new localised outbreaks of COVID-19. (7/12)
In other global developments —
CIDRAP:
H1N2v Flu Infection Reported In Brazilian Slaughterhouse Worker
Brazil has reported a variant H1N2 (H1N2v) influenza infection in a 22-year-old woman from Parana state who worked in a swine slaughterhouse, the World Health Organization (WHO) said yesterday. The woman's flulike symptoms began on Apr 12, and after seeking medical care a few days later, health workers obtained a respiratory specimen as part of routine surveillance. She was treated with oseltamivir, wasn't hospitalized, and has since recovered. (7/10)
Stat:
Germany Law Offers A Cost-Saving Model On Cancer Drug Prices
After Germany revamped its approach to purchasing medicines a decade ago, the prices negotiated by the government for cancer treatments were more closely aligned with clinical benefits, a new study finds. Moreover, the effort led to a 25% drop in prices one year after product launches, prompting the researchers to suggest U.S. policymakers should consider Germany as a cost-saving model. (Silverman, 7/10)
The Washington Post:
Japan Sees Surge In Online Matchmaking During Pandemic Isolation
Japan's matchmakers faced a dilemma: how to make those matches during the social distancing of the pandemic? Gone were group gatherings, one of the common icebreakers held by Japan's popular agencies for people seeking a mate. Also called off were the one-on-one introductions arranged by dozens of Japan's matchmaking companies, which can charge monthly fees as high as $200 for the many in Japan who don't want to go solo into the online dating world. (Denyer and Kashiwagi, 7/12)
