COVID-19 Alert - 14 October 2020

14 October 2020

This alert was created automatically by our award-winning intelligence product Silobreaker Online. Story selection is determined by an algorithm and based on queries initially set by a Silobreaker user. Contact us here for more information.

Actions by Governments

Around the world in 80 seconds: Cristiano Ronaldo tests positive for Covid-19, a WWII bomb explodes in Poland, & more (CNBC)
As the UK adopts new measures to tackle coronavirus surge, what is happening in the rest of Europe? (Telegraph)
Coronavirus infections surge in Argentina (Deutsche Welle)
Denmark culls 2.5 million mink amid outbreak on dozens of fur farms (The Independent)
Effective mitigation strategy in early stage of COVID-19 pandemic in China (Prevention Web)
First death from Covid-19 reinfection reported in the Netherlands (Telegraph)
India set to open schools, cinema halls even as nearly 7.2 million infected with Covid-19 (The Straits Times All News)
LATEST: Friday could bring new coronavirus restrictions to Belgium (Politico.eu)
Mark Rutte announces shops closures as Netherlands goes into partial lockdown (Mail Online UK)
Mexico’s coronavirus death tally rises to 84,420 (NationalPost.com)
New awareness campaign in India to fight pandemic fatigue (The Straits Times All News)
Norway to provide COVID-19 vaccine free of charge (Mail Online UK)
Russia: 239 people die of coronavirus past 24 hours (Kuwait News Agency)
Saudi Arabia pioneering coronavirus research (Gulf News)
Schools Reopen in Argentina (Bloomberg)
South Africa has now lost more than 18 000 people to the pandemic (Comaro Chronicle)
Teacher stuck in a Covid quarantine in Italy is allowed to return home (itv.com)
The latest numbers on COVID-19 in Canada (NationalPost.com)
UK – Boris Johnson has split from his top scientists on coronavirus (CNN)
UK – Boris Johnson jokes virus restrictions will spare public Christmas with the in-laws, report claims (The Independent)
UK – Incompetence and political misjudgements still jeopardise Boris Johnson’s strategy (The Independent)
UK – Matt Hancock dismisses possibility of Covid-19 herd immunity (Mail Online UK)
UK – Under-fire test and trace system is envy of the world, Matt Hancock claims (The Independent)
US – 10 counties improve in California’s COVID-19 opening tiers. Little change for other 48 (Fresno Bee)
US – 25-year-old Nevada man first in US to contract coronavirus twice (The Independent)
US – COVID-19 hospitalizations up 80% in Michigan (Detroit Free Press)
US – Colorado in “third wave” of COVID-19 as hospitalizations reach highest level since May, state health director says (Denver Post)
US – Coronavirus in Wisconsin: Third prison in Wisconsin reports virus outbreak (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)
US – Daily coronavirus updates: Connecticut reports highest positivity rate since June (Hartford Courant)
US – Humanigen’s lenzilumab selected for COVID-19 study initiated by NIH (Seeking Alpha)
US – Indiana virus hospitalizations jump as mask order step nears (star-telegram.com)
US – Laurie Garrett says lack of CDC briefings during this pandemic is ‘staggering’ (Washington Post)
US – McConnell promises U.S. Senate vote on stripped-down coronavirus relief package (NationalPost.com)
US – Ohio virus numbers continue to increase, DeWine warns (Dayton Daily News)
US – Positive virus tests, hospitalizations surge in Colorado (Washington Times)
US – The Trump administration’s race to get a coronavirus vaccine means Americans may not know which treatment works best (Business Insider)
US – U.S. government signs deal to make more COVID-19 vaccine components (Reuters)
US – Utah officials announce new pandemic strategy, mask mandates (Washington Times)
Verheul ready to take on Portugal (Germiston City News)
Virus curfews in effect in Germany (France24)
WHO’s latest situation report (WHO)

Actions by Companies

‘Uncertain times’: BHP warns trade tensions adding to COVID-19 pain (TheAge.com)
ADIB sees high adoption and usage of digital banking services since onset of COVID-19 (Zawya.com)
ASML Expects Low Double-Digit Growth Next Year, Resumes Buybacks (Bloomberg-Quint)
Amazon’s German workers launch Prime Day strike over pandemic pay (Fortune)
Bunzl sees stronger second-half growth as Q3 revenue rises (Shares Magazine)
Clover strike ‘should not interrupt operations’ (Citizen.co.za)
Controversy over free ‘nowhere’ flight in Hong Kong for influencers amid looming Cathay Pacific job cuts, environmental backlash (Yahoo! Singapore)
DNB More Leveraged Than Other Nordics To Healthy Ongoing Commercial Loan Demand (Seeking Alpha)
FirstRand’s Chairman on the effects of Covid-19 and fixing SA’s economy (567 CapeTalk)
Garmin teams up with Children’s Mercy Kansas City to keep children active during COVID-19 (Ariva.de)
How to send money abroad in minutes with Standard Bank’s MoneyGram (IOL)
Hugo Boss Wants To Break $8.3M Lease In NYC Due To Virus (Law360)
J&J exec on coronavirus vaccine study pause: Will let science dictate how we proceed (FOX Business – Video)
JPMorgan Chase Stock Down After Earnings — What Can Lift the Stock? (TheStreet.com)
JPMorgan posts earnings beat during Q3; coronavirus credit losses smaller than expected (Yahoo! Canada)
Jet2, Ryanair, easyJet and Tui latest updates on flights and cancellations (Liverpool Echo)
Johnson & Johnson Posts Earnings Beat, Lifts 2020 Guidance (TheStreet.com)
Johnson & Johnson interrupts COVID-19 vaccine studies (Agência Brasil)
Johnson & Johnson pauses trial of COVID vaccine on same day U-M announces partnership (Detroit Free Press)
Johnson & Johnson’s Covid-19 vaccine trial could resume shortly, company executives said—but first outside research… https://t.co/tGlo7JEsC2 (WSJ – Twitter)
Korean Air extends paid leave until December on pandemic (Korea Herald)
Maersk to lay off 2,000 in major revamp (Business Times Singapore)
Nippon Steel considers sale of two U.S. plants in global restructuring (Japan Times)
Nippon Steel eyes sale of 2 US plants in global restructuring (Mainichi JP)
Nothing unusual about Johnson & Johnson halting Covid-19 vaccine trial – experts (The Star SA)
Petrobras Hits Record September S-10 Diesel Despite Coronavirus (Zacks.com)
Rabobank: “Where We Stand Today In The Battleground States Is Almost Exactly Where We Were In 2016” (Zero Hedge)
Regeneron’s Coronavirus October Surprise (WSJ.com Opinion)
Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken’s Reliance On Healthy Corporate Activity Is A Risk Factor To Watch (Seeking Alpha)
SoftBank Resumes Buybacks With Modest $380 Million in September (Bloomberg-Quint)
SoftBank restarted buybacks in September (Today Online)
Tencent Plans to Lift Stake in Vivendi’s Universal Music (Bloomberg-Quint)
Thailand to make and supply AstraZeneca COVID jab (The Phuket News)
Wipro resumes guidance, approves ₹9,500 crore share buyback (Livemint.com)
Wipro resumes guidance; expects to clock 1.5-3.5% growth in Q3 (Business Today India)

Drugs, Treatments & Vaccines

COVID-19 in New Zealand and the impact of the national response: a descriptive epidemiological study (Lancet)
Chief scientist behind Operation Warp Speed ‘extremely worried’ over politicization of coronavirus vaccine (FOXNews.com)
Doctor: Pauses of COVID-19 clinical trials are routine (CBS News)
First wave of COVID vaccines ‘unlikely to end pandemic’ (Sky News Latest)
Johnson & Johnson pauses coronavirus vaccine trial following ‘unexplained illness’ in participant (FOXNews.com)
More than 500 Dorset residents to take part in coronavirus vaccine research (itv.com)
Nightlife clusters of coronavirus disease in Tokyo between March and April 2020 (Epidemiology & Infection – Cambridge Core)
Oral coronavirus vaccine candidate enters clinical trial (FOXNews.com)
Pfizer will enroll children as young as 12 in its COVID-19 vaccine trials (Mail Online UK)
Positive coronavirus test followed by negative antibody test is not proof the virus is a lie (Reuters)
Trials for EIi Lilly’s coronavirus antibody treatment paused (Mail Online UK)
Vaccine trial paused as Covid-19 cases surge in US (CNN)

Societal & Economic Impact

“Global economy’s recovery hinges on stimulus, virus battle”ChannelAfrica.co.zaGlobal finance leaders said the world economy had escaped a coronavirus-triggered collapse so far, but warned that failure to conquer the pandemic, maintain stimulus and tackle mounting debt among poor nations could crush fragile recovery. At the…

After two lost decades, U.S.’s weakest local economies may face worse from pandemicYahoo! Singapore__

Anti-mask coronavirus protests sweep across Europe, posing steep challenges for Western democratic leadersFOXNews.comAcross Europe , large groups have amassed in staunch refusal to wear cloth coverings as recommended to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus , igniting anxieties from the top brass over a rise in cases. This week, French President Emmanuel…

Big banks confident the US economy is not facing a pandemic spiralTheAge.comTwo of the biggest US banks are growing encouraged that the pandemic won't send the economy into a calamitous slide, even if they see a long path back to growth.

Chinese economy continues to rise despite coronavirusDeutsche WelleAs COVID-19 continues to cause chaos in much of the world, it's a very different picture in China. The country is reporting very few new infections while its economy is starting to power toward pre-pandemic levels.

Missouri outsources contact tracing in coronavirus battleTacoma News TribuneST. LOUIS Missouri is outsourcing contact tracing to private companies as part of the effort to contain the spread of the coronavirus. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported Tuesday that the state this week approved contracts with nine companies to help…

Pandemic Travel, With Another Family or Maybe 3Tacoma News TribuneSeven months into the pandemic, the recommended rules for families are clear: Safety first means safety in low numbers. Learning pods are small. Social bubbles are guarded. The “quaranteam” lines … Click to Continue »

Report finds 30 per cent of B.C. residents unable to pay bills during pandemic recessionVancouverSun.comNearly a quarter of British Columbians are struggling to pay their bills during the pandemic recession, according to the MNP Consumer Debt Index report….

Suicide rate rises in JapanDeutsche WelleThe number of suicides in Japan has increased significantly over recent months. The coronavirus pandemic is likely to take a toll in other countries, too. This year, Japan's news headlines have been increasingly dominated by celebrity suicides: On…

The impact of COVID-19 on climate change and disaster resilience funding: trends and signalsPrevention WebThis briefing paper documents current trends and signals in international CCA and DRR finance since the emergence of Covid-19 in early 2020, and proposes four key recommendations to ensure that funding for CCA and DRR is maintained in the immediate…

Geopolitical Impact

A $250 billion opportunity: How India can replace China as world’s factoryBusiness Today IndiaI started my career in the electronics industry in 1984. Those were heady days for the industry, colour transmission was being rolled out across the country and colour television manufacturers were importing kits and assembling TVs to cater to…

American farmers weather rough 2020 after pandemic, storms and trade warCNBCFarmers have faced a tough year, yet despite the difficulties, farmer support for President Trump is higher than it was in 2006. CNBC's Jane Wells reports on how farmer incomes are expected to be up amid the economic difficulties.

Budget 2021: €5.5bn set aside due to Covid-19 and Brexit uncertaintyIrish TimesVaradkar insists contingency funds needed as ‘we don’t know what’s going to happen’ The Government has set aside €5.5 billion across two different contingency funds due to the “unbelievable uncertainty” facing the State, Tánaiste Leo Varadkar has…

Business groups welcome Budget 2021 amid ‘twin threats’ of Brexit and Covid-19Irish TimesLack of urban recovery plan, failure to extend 21% VAT among ‘missed opportunities’ Business groups have broadly welcomed the measures in Budget 2021 , saying the package of supports will help many businesses cope with the worrying double whammy posed…

China accuses India of ramping up infrastructure development along border causing tension between two sideszeenews.comA day after Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated bridges in Ladakh and Arunachal Pradesh, China on Tuesday took offence and targetted India. China said that India has been ramping up infrastructure development "along the border and…

China poised to attack TaiwanWashington TimesANALYSIS/OPINION: Taiwan is about to be attacked by China. America’s enduring policy of strategic ambiguity about the Sino-Taiwan dispute has failed. The bitter fruits of that failed program are about to be harvested by China — all at a time when…

Cuba, China, Russia elected to UN Human Rights Council; US brands it a ‘mockery’FOXNews.comCuba, China and Russia on Tuesday were elected to the U.N. Human Rights Council — a move that the U.S. branded a “mockery” of the body's intended purpose and as proof that Washington was right to leave the council in 2018. The three countries, all…

Don’t write off Big Oil: The geopolitics of energy and securityChristian Science MonitorI’m a sucker for maps. The art of cartography, past and present, is an act of storytelling, a visual guide to a narrative or its point of departure. And when it comes to the global hunt to locate, extract, and transport the far-flung fossil fuels…

Northern Ireland Border town ‘hollowed out’ by Covid and BrexitBelfast TelegraphA picturesque border town has been “hollowed into a shell” by coronavirus and Brexit, a publican said. cut in VAT on food and extra support for businesses in Tuesday’s budget provided little cheer at a relatively deserted Taaffes Castle Bar in…

U.S. renews calls on S. Korea to join economic security campaign against ChinaYonhap News AgencySEOUL, Oct. 14 (Yonhap) — The United States raised its "Clean Network" campaign against China during senior economic talks with South Korea on Wednesday, officials said, as Washington pushes to ban Chinese technology from global digital and wireless…

WTO rules EU can apply tariffs on US goods as trade war deepensThe GuardianWorld Trade Organization Latest ruling could inflame trade tensions from long-standing Boeing-Airbus dispute over subsidies The EU has been given permission to levy tariffs on US products worth $4bn in retaliation for subsidies given to Boeing, in the…

Young South Koreans turn on China as Hong Kong, coronavirus weigh on mindsSouth China Morning PostA recent Pew Research survey found South Korea stood apart as the only country where youth were more negative towards China than their elders Beijing’s Covid-19 response and the Hong Kong protests are seen as key factors, but some say the influence…

Cybersecurity Impact

ASEAN-India summit focuses on cyber security during COVID-19 pandemicindonesianews.netNew Delhi [India], October 13 (ANI): The 2nd ASEAN-India Track 1.5 Dialogue on Cyber Issues held virtually focussed upon cooperation and security in the digital and cyber domain in the backdrop of cor

EduardKovacs – Finance ministers from the G7 industrialized countries expressed “concern” on Tuesday over the rise in “malicious c… https://t.co/4ImbL4ofDYEduardKovacs – TwitterFinance ministers from the G7 industrialized countries expressed "concern" on Tuesday over the rise in "malicious cyber-attacks" in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, including some involving cryptocurrencies….

G7 Raises Concerns About Rising Cyberattacks Amid PandemicSecurityPhreshFinance ministers from the G7 industrialized countries expressed concern on Tuesday over the rise in malicious cyber-attacks in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, including some involving cryptocurrencies.read more

GossiTheDog – That DNS vuln a few months ago wasn’t a “cyber pandemic”, it was another another chance to keep calm and try to pat… https://t.co/6E4RBUWonyGossiTheDog – TwitterThat DNS vuln a few months ago wasn’t a “cyber pandemic”, it was another another chance to keep calm and try to patch. (It also doesn’t have a public RCE exploit still).

InfoSecHotSpot – Office 365: A Favorite for Cyberattack Persistence Bad actors are leveraging legitimate services and tools within M… https://t.co/HRwEFiwrtQInfoSecHotSpot – TwitterOffice 365: A Favorite for Cyberattack Persistence Bad actors are leveraging legitimate services and tools within Microsoft's productivity suite to launch cyberattacks on COVID-19 stay-at-home workers, new research finds. https://bit.ly/34ZVyZQ…

InfoSecHotSpot – Using Cybersecurity Training to Mitigate Skills Gap Organizations across the globe are facing a shortage of IT secu… https://t.co/1aR26Ar0tYInfoSecHotSpot – TwitterUsing Cybersecurity Training to Mitigate Skills Gap Organizations across the globe are facing a shortage of IT security skills as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, with cybersecurity now the most in-demand te … https://binged.it/314ARL4…

InfoSecHotSpot – Using Training to Mitigate Cybersecurity Skills Gap Organizations across the globe are facing a shortage of IT secu… https://t.co/NXxZehHnm8InfoSecHotSpot – TwitterUsing Training to Mitigate Cybersecurity Skills Gap Organizations across the globe are facing a shortage of IT security skills as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, with cybersecurity now the most in-demand te … https://binged.it/3iNUP2E

Phishing Attacks are on the Rise – Do your Part to Mitigate RiskThreatQuotient Phishing Attacks are on the Rise – Do your Part to Mitigate Risk Aaron Louks div class="et_pb_section et_pb_section_1 et_section_specialty" > It’s October, so it must be …

SecurityWeek – G7 Raises Concerns About Rising Cyberattacks Amid Pandemic – https://t.co/PwJ8P1yX2LSecurityWeek – TwitterG7 Raises Concerns About Rising Cyberattacks Amid Pandemic – https://www.securityweek.com/g7-raises-concerns-about-rising-cyberattacks-amid-pandemic

cybersecboardrm – G7 Raises Concerns About Rising Cyberattacks Amid Pandemic #CyberAttack #cybersecurity #security https://t.co/e3G5rLhvivcybersecboardrm – TwitterG7 Raises Concerns About Rising Cyberattacks Amid Pandemic #CyberAttack #cybersecurity #security…

Although Silobreaker has relied on what it regards as reliable sources while compiling the content herein, Silobreaker cannot guarantee the accuracy, completeness, integrity or quality of such content and no responsibility is accepted by Silobreaker in respect of such content. Readers must determine for themselves what reliance they should place on the compiled content herein.

14 October 2020

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