Header Ads

Has the second wave already hit?

QuickTake
Bloomberg

Greetings, QuickTake readers! In this edition: George Floyd's brother pleads with Congress, Trump nixes changes for Confederate-named bases, and researchers unearth an ancient city without breaking ground.

Second U.S. virus wave emerges

A surge of Covid-19 cases in pockets across the U.S. is raising alarms that a second wave of coronavirus has emerged, even as total infections rose less than 1% this week, the smallest increase since March.

New outbreaks have been observed in 22 states, but health experts say they can't be directly linked to economies reopening, and it's still too soon to tell whether mass protests against police brutality will cause a spike.

Still, evidence of a budding second wave is strongest in:

  • Arizona: The daily tally of new cases has abruptly spiked over the last two weeks, hitting an all-time high of 1,187 on June 2.
  • California: Hospitalizations are at their highest since May 13 and have risen in nine of the past 10 days.
  • Florida: A month into its reopening, officials reported 8,553 new cases this week, the most of any seven-day period.
  • Texas: Reported hospitalizations jumped 6.3% to 2,056, the highest since the pandemic began, and the third consecutive daily increase.

The U.S. has long been bracing for another wave as cases near 2 million and deaths top 112,000, but future outbreaks won't mirror the first, said Emory University public health professor Lance Waller: "It's not snapping back exactly the same, because we're not exactly the way we were."

 $ignificant figures

6%. The OECD forecast the global economy will shrink by that much in 2020 or up to 7.6% under a second wave of coronavirus. The Fed projected U.S. unemployment would reach 9.3% by the end of the year.

11. Nancy Pelosi called for the "immediate" removal that many Capitol Hill statues of Confederate leaders. Meanwhile, Trump said he "will not even consider" renaming military bases honoring Confederate generals.

228,000. At least that many people in south and central China have sought emergency shelter and more than a dozen have died since June 2 due to an onslaught of flooding caused by torrential rains.

Highly quotable

"Stop the pain." Philonise Floyd challenged Congress to "do the right thing" as they consider sweeping police reform legislation, saying his brother George "didn't deserve to die over $20."

"By no means is this over." The WHO said the coronavirus pandemic is still evolving, creating "deep concerns" in many parts of the world. Dr. Anthony Fauci said the crisis has turned into his "worst nightmare."

"Prohibited from all events." NASCAR banned the Confederate flag, which had been a familiar sight at its stock car races for more than 70 years, calling it "contrary to a welcoming and inclusive environment."

This is not normal

Terms of matrimony. Israel's wedding season is slowly restarting, but new guidelines will require venues to check temperatures, allot two square meters of space per guest, and enforce a no-dancing rule for those at risk.

The future is now

Uncovered. Without breaking ground, archaeologists mapped the entire Roman town of Fallerii Novi using ground-penetrating radar, which could help study more ancient settlements in higher resolution than ever before.

What's good

Stunning sight. At least 64,000 endangered green turtles were spotted late last year on Raine Island in the Great Barrier Reef, the largest count observed since researchers began restoring the critical habitat in 2016.

Now that you're caught up... Tell your friends to sign up to receive our newsletter five days a week. Follow QuickTake on Twitter , YouTube , Instagram and Facebook .

BTW: Dwi Rahayu began making transparent face masks to help deaf people communicate during Indonesia's Covid-19 crisis. See her story.

Thanks for reading!
-Andrew Mach

 

Before it's here, it's on the Bloomberg Terminal. Find out more about how the Terminal delivers information and analysis that financial professionals can't find anywhere else. Learn more.

 

No comments