Thursday Morning Briefing: "A long way to go"

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May 21, 2020 Reuters News Now What you need to know about the coronavirus today "A long way to go" The World Health Organization is starting to raise the alarm bell about the rising number of new coronavirus cases in poor countries, even as many rich nations emerge from lockdowns. The global health body said on Wednesday 106,000 new cases had been recorded in the previous 24 hours, the most in a single day since the outbreak began. "We still have a long way to go in this pandemic," WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said. Global coronavirus cases have surpassed 5 million, with Latin America overtaking the United States and Europe in the past week to report the largest portion of new daily cases. Track the spread of the virus with this state-by-state and county map. Vaccine: high hopes and a reality-check The United States said it will pump up to $1.2 billion into developing AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine and confirmed that it would order 300 million doses. U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said he hoped the first doses of the vaccine, which is being developed with the University of Oxford, would be available by October. AstraZeneca meanwhile stressed it was still awaiting results from an early stage trial to know if the vaccine worked at all. China fur and traditional medicine trade to continue? China's parliament is preparing new laws to ban the trade and consumption of wildlife, following on from a temporary move in January after exotic animals traded in a Wuhan market were identified as the most likely source of COVID-19. However, local action plans published this week suggest the country's fur trade and lucrative traditional medicine sectors will continue as usual. Sports and sleep wear over suits and ties The new best sellers at Marks & Spencer are sports wear, sleep wear and bras, while sales of suits and ties are down to "a dribble", as the lockdown transforms shoppers' priorities, Britain's biggest clothing retailer said on Wednesday. What customers are buying is "completely different from what it would have been a year ago," M&S chairman Archie Norman told reporters, after the 136-year-old group published annual results and its response to the pandemic. Along with surging sales of jogging pants, hoodies and leggings, an emphasis on home comforts and family needs has boosted bedding sales by 150%. From Breakingviews: Corona Capital - Walmart, Insurers, Whitbread Read concise views on the pandemic’s financial fallout from Breakingviews columnists across the globe. Reuters reporters and editors around the world are investigating the response to the coronavirus pandemic. We need your help to tell these stories. Our news organization wants to capture the full scope of what’s happening and how we got here by drawing on a wide variety of sources. Here’s a look at our coverage. Are you a government employee or contractor involved in coronavirus testing or the wider public health response? Are you a doctor, nurse or health worker caring for patients? Have you worked on similar outbreaks in the past? Has the disease known as COVID-19 personally affected you or your family? Are you aware of new problems that are about to emerge, such as critical supply shortages? We need your tips, firsthand accounts, relevant documents or expert knowledge. Please contact us at coronavirus@reuters.com. We prefer tips from named sources, but if you’d rather remain anonymous, you can submit a confidential news tip. Here’s how. Life under lockdown A top U.S. scientist said on Wednesday that governments should not count on a successful vaccine against COVID-19 being developed anytime soon when deciding whether to ease restrictions imposed to curb the pandemic. William Haseltine, a groundbreaking researcher of cancer, HIV/AIDS and human genome projects, said the better approach now is to manage the disease through careful tracing of infections and strict isolation measures whenever it starts spreading. British healthcare workers will on Thursday begin taking part in a University of Oxford-led international trial of two anti-malarial drugs to see if they can prevent COVID-19, including one U.S. President Donald Trump says he has been taking. Your bubble is ready: plastic pods offer solution for COVID dining. For restaurant owners worrying how they can welcome back customers but keep them safe from COVID-19, a French designer has created a cylinder of transparent plastic that hangs from a cable on the ceiling, much like a lampshade. COVID Science Monkeys who survive coronavirus infection immune to reinfection. Two studies in monkeys offer some of the first scientific evidence that surviving COVID-19 may result in immunity from reinfection, as well as a positive sign that vaccines under development may succeed. On breezy days, staying six feet (two meters) away from other people may not be enough to avoid saliva droplets containing the new coronavirus, according to two papers published on Tuesday. New studies show that the nose may hold the answers to why children seem less vulnerable to infection with the new coronavirus, and why loss of smell is a COVID-19 symptom. In addition fewer patients are showing up at hospitals with heart attacks and strokes, and doctors worry people are staying away from emergency rooms because they fear COVID-19. Follow the money Wanted: New head of WTO. Must thrive under global pressure and conflict Against the backdrop of a global pandemic, steep recession, intensifying U.S-China tensions and rising protectionism, the WTO needs to name a leader. Only the resilient should apply. 6 min read Sellers beware: Price collapse triggers bartering over oil and gas deals The collapse in oil prices to 21-year lows has led potential buyers of oil and gas fields to try and renegotiate deals already agreed at higher prices, with the first examples emerging of sellers having their hand forced. 4 min read Backlogs, second wave of layoffs keeping U.S. weekly jobless claims high Millions more Americans likely filed for unemployment benefits last week as backlogs continue to be cleared and disruptions from the novel coronavirus unleash a second wave of layoffs, pointing to another month of staggering job losses in May. 4 min read While U.S. economy slides, heartland auto dealers cry out for more trucks Jerry Bill is worried the novel coronavirus could hurt business at the Des Moines auto dealership he runs, but not because of a shortage of buyers for the big Ram pickups on his lot. 4 min read Top Stories on Reuters TV SCOTUS blocks disclosure of unredacted Mueller report U.S.   1:02 Deadly cyclone kills at least 14 in India and Bangladesh Asia   1:15 Real news for busy people More Newsletters Reuters News Reuters TV               © 2020 Thomson Reuters. 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