COVID-19 Deaths Explode In Russia, Mexico And Brazil As Global
Cases Top 6.5 Million: Live Updates Tyler Durden
Thu, 06/04/2020 – 08:50
While investors have been too distracted by the violence and
unrest unfolding in the streets of the US (and now several European
cities, with more unrest expected in Hong Kong) to care much about
the coronavirus outbreak. We suspect this shift in focus has helped
fuel the market’s astonishing rally over the last two weeks.
There’s no question that the US has been transfixed by the
tumult sparked by the police murder of George Floyd, even as the
violence and looting has mostly hurt black communities and
black-owned small businesses, while the legal system has dutifully
proceeded with the prosecution of all four officers involved in the
killing.
Investors ignore these developments at their own peril: because
over the last few days, a surge in new cases and deaths reported in
Russia, Brazil and Mexico has breathed new life into the
international outbreak, even as many Americans speculate
that perhaps President Trump had a point when he said the virus
might run its course by the summer, lockdown or no
lockdown.
More experts cast doubt on Russia’s figures as its case total
hit 441,108, as St Petersburg recorded 1,400 more deaths than
average in May, according to official statistics cited by
the Times of London, which which suggest that the government
may have deliberately suppressed the true number of deaths.
Officials say 177 people died last month of Covid-19 in St
Petersburg, Russia’s second-biggest city. The majority of the
“excess” deaths were likely to have been a result of pneumonia
caused by coronavirus, even though many were labeled simply as
pneumonia.
Globally, coronavirus cases topped 6.5 million as of Thursday
morning, while deaths neared 400k, at 386,464.
According to figures released Thursday morning, Russia’s total
number of infections passed 440,000 cases, while deaths continue to
mount. The coronavirus death tolls in Brazil and Mexico have soared
to new daily records,with 1,349 and 1,092 confirmed deaths
reported over the past day, even as the countries begin to ease
lockdown restrictions. Brazil now has more than 32,000
deaths, while Mexico ha more than 11,000.
NBC News reports that the jump in deaths in Brazil has been
driven by Brazil’s indigenous populations, through which the
virus is spreading quickly, with deaths caused by the disease
increasing more than five-fold in the past month.
At least two US senators have accused China of hiding
potentially critical data from the WHO, data that could have
changed the course of the outbreak abroad,
even as a Chinese officias deny reports about the WHO’s
frustrations with prying early data from Chinese experts.
As backlash to the hydroxychloroquine backlash intensifies, a
new study published by the NEJM claimed the drug “proved
ineffective” for that purpose in a study that tested people who
were “in close contact with the disease”. We’re not sure what that
means. However, the Lancet’s decision to retract a warning about
hydroxychloroquine elicited a triumphant editorial from
WSJ, which outlines the history of how bias appears to have
tinged the world’s interpretation of these studies.
France’s Bastille Day military parade is set to be replaced by a
ceremony on the Place de la Concorde square in central Paris,
President Emmanuel Macron’s office announced on Thursday, angering
millions of French citizens, who enthusiastically celebrate the
dawn of the first French Republic every year.
China appears to have turned the other cheek after the US
officially barred the return of Chinese airlines running flights in
the US, China’s aviation authority said that 95 foreign airlines
that have suspended services to China can now apply to resume
flights.
While the UK continues to resist pressure to start reopening its
borders, Spanish Tourism Minister Reyes Maroto said that all
restrictions to border crossings with France and Portugal will be
lifted beginning on June 22.
Hong Kong confirmed five new cases on Thursday, all of which it
claimed were imported. But that number belies the alarm that
prompted the evacuation of some tenants from a Sha Tin building
after six people living in the building had tested positive
“preliminarily”. We’re waiting to hear more on that.
Pakistan, meanwhile, registered its highest single-day rise in
coronavirus cases for the third consecutive day on Wednesday, with
4,801 new cases taking the country’s total tally to 85,264.
