|
 Such
is the appetite in financial markets for good news of any sort that
prices across the board are jumping on hopes of a gradual re-opening
of the U.S. economy and a media report of a possible COVID-19
treatment.
President Donald Trump's guidelines released on Thursday recommend a
staggered, three-stage approach - somewhat in contrast to the "big
bang" restart he once called for but enough for some to see light at
the end of the tunnel.
Separately, medical news website STAT reported that the University
of Chicago hospital trial treating COVID-19 patients with the Gilead
antiviral medication remdesivir is seeing rapid recoveries.
UChicago Medicine, also in an email, said "partial data from an
ongoing clinical trial is by definition incomplete and should never
be used to draw conclusions".
Despite the caveat, that and the Trump plan cheered the pan-European
STOXX 600 index to gains of 2.6% earlier on Friday.
"Manageable again"
That positive tone was echoed in a statement of Germany's health
minister on Friday as he described national efforts to combat the
pandemic.
"The outbreak has - as of today - become controllable and manageable
again," Jens Spahn said, adding that the local health care system
had "at no time been overwhelmed".
Germany has had proportionately fewer fatalities than other
countries hit by the outbreak but has always urged caution. The new
language marks a more upbeat mood.
Wuhan toll revisited
China's Wuhan city, the epicentre of the global coronavirus outbreak
that has now caused more than 143,000 deaths globally, said it had
revised up its total death toll by 50%, addressing incorrect
reporting, delays and omissions of cases.
That would take China's total deaths to over 4,500.
The revision comes as U.S. and other officials question the accuracy
of China's tallies - but also as those countries hit hardest by the
pandemic have widely varying methodologies for counting their dead.
The World Health Organization in Geneva has so far not commented on
the Chinese revision.
[to top of second column] |
(For an interactive graphic tracking the global spread, open https://tmsnrt.rs/3aIRuz7
in an external browser.)
(For an interactive graphic tracking how coronavirus spread from Wuhan through
China, click https://reut.rs/2XDMFmp)
In India, distrust undermines efforts
Efforts by health workers to identify and track cases have been a source of
suspicion in India where there is a deep-rooted distrust of Narendra Modi's
Hindu nationalist government.
The doubts have been fuelled notably by a new citizenship law that critics say
discriminates against Muslims and a crackdown by India in the Muslim-majority
territory of Kashmir.
Some Muslims believe health workers are secretly collecting data for a proposed
database to identify illegal immigrants, according to community leaders and
interviews with residents.
A spate of viral videos carrying false information depicting Muslims attempting
to spread the virus by spitting or blowing their noses with currency notes is
inflaming the situation.
From cramped dorms to cruisers
Singapore is considering placing recovered migrant workers on cruise ships for
their safety after COVID-19 cases surged in sprawling housing complexes where
the foreign labourers live.
Cruise ships have been the centre of some mass outbreaks, including the Diamond
Princess, which was quarantined for over a month in the Japanese port of
Yokohama with more than 700 people becoming infected.
"Cruise ships are being considered as they have readily available rooms and
en-suite toilets to minimise person-to-person contact," Singapore's tourism
board said in a statement on Friday.
(Compiled by Karishma Singh and Mark John)
[© 2020 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2020 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content. |
