We begin this week with 23.6 million coronavirus cases worldwide. Of those, 5.8 million are in the United States, where the number of new infections is finally on the decline, with only 32,000 new cases registered yesterday. Brazil has 3.6 million Covid-19 cases, of which 23,000 were discovered on Sunday.
The United States and Brazil are so far holding steady around these daily numbers. The situation remains more serious in India, where the number of new Covid-19 cases confirmed daily remains above 60,000, and the total number is at 3.1 million, catching up to Brazil’s digits fast.
In addition, the coronavirus is making a return in Europe as well, with countries like the United Kingdom, Germany, France, and Spain seeing their biggest daily spikes since April.
Nevertheless, today the stock markets are reacting well due to hopes that a cure for Covid-19 will be available soon. The United States officially permitted the use of blood plasma from patients that have already survived the virus in the treatment of active cases.
The country also backed the vaccine currently in development in the United Kingdom. These decisions come after the Food and Drug Administration was criticized by Donald Trump for delaying the approval of new drugs for the virus.
Several vaccines are in the late stages of clinical trials at the moment and the WHO hopes that at least one functional vaccine will be available by the end of the year.
Meanwhile, oil prices are once more on the rise, this time due to two storms affecting the Gulf of Mexico. A hurricane and a tropical storm, both named Marco, are expected to hit dangerously close to oil extraction and processing facilities in the gulf. Thus, the Brent crude climbed to $45.25, while the WTI reached $42.86 per barrel.
In other news, the Republican convention is about to begin in the United States. President Trump will be formally accepting the nomination as the party’s candidate to run in the November elections and deliver a speech outlining his goals for the next term.
