New Delhi: The novel coronavirus pandemic continues to devastate countries across the world — the latest count being over 5.9 crore cases and more than 13 lakh deaths.
Nigeria has slipped into recession after its gross domestic product contracted for the second consecutive quarter. Singapore did not record any coronavirus cases in the community for the twelfth day in a row and Brazil will sign a letter of intent to purchase five coronavirus vaccines.
ThePrint brings you the most important global stories on the coronavirus pandemic and why they matter.
Nigeria in recession over Covid-19 and oil prices
According to official data released by the government, Nigeria has slipped into recession after its gross domestic product contracted for the second consecutive quarter, reports Al Jazeera.
Apart from low oil prices, Nigeria’s economy has been hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Nigeria normally accounts for an average output of two million barrels per day. But the effects of the pandemic and low oil prices have cut production to approximately 1.4 million barrels,” says the report.
Nigeria has recorded 66,383 cases of Covid-19 and 1,167 deaths.
Also read: Astra-Oxford vaccine prevents average of 70% of Covid cases
No new Covid community cases in Singapore in 12 days
For the twelfth day in a row, Singapore did not record a single coronavirus cases in the community Sunday, reports The Straits Times.
This has been the longest period of time that a community case has not been recorded since the first case of Covid was reported in Singapore on 23 January. Community cases refer to cases that emerge through community transmission as opposed to imported cases that can be traced to foreign travel.
Singapore has recorded 58,190 cases of Covid-19 and 28 deaths.
Brazil to sign letter of intent to buy 5 Covid vaccines
Brazil’s health ministry said that it will a sign non-binding letter of intent to buy coronavirus vaccines Sunday, reports Reuters.
Last week, ministry officials met with representatives of Pfizer Inc, Bharat Biotech, Russian Direct Investment Fund, Moderna Inc and Janssen.
“In a statement, the ministry said its legal and technical departments were analysing the documents presented by the given entities and determining the best way to go about purchasing vaccines at ‘the opportune moment’,” says the report.
Brazil has recorded 60,71,401 cases of Covid-19 and 1,69,197 deaths till now.
Also read: Stop harming yourself with cold and flu antibiotics
State-sponsored hackers target Covid-19 vaccine secrets
In what has being described as an ‘intellectual property war’, state-sponsored hackers from China, Russia, Iran and North Korea attempted to steal secrets regarding coronavirus vaccines from across the world, reports The Guardian.
Security experts have accused hackers of trying to access the trial results of vaccines early.
Adam Meyers, senior vice-president at the IT security specialists Crowdstrike, said countries like Russia and China had been trying to hack into western companies and agencies ‘for the past 20 years’.
“What you are seeing here is the latest stage in a long-running intellectual property war, but one where there is much more at stake to those involved. This has become a matter of national pride — who can develop vaccines first,” Meyers said.
Vietnam records positive economic growth despite pandemic
The International Monetary Fund has predicted that Vietnam’s gross domestic product will grow by 2.4 per cent in 2020 after a 2.6 per cent economic boost in the third quarter, reports Asia Times.
Despite a global crisis in trade, travel and investment induced by the Covid-19 pandemic, Vietnam has become one of the few nations across the world to record a positive economic growth in 2020.
“Vietnam’s global trade is already brisk. Exports grew by 1.4% during the first three quarters of the year, compared with the same period last year, whilst its exports to the United States rose by 23% over the same period, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade,” notes the report.
Vietnam has recorded 1,307 cases of Covid-19 and 35 deaths.
Also read: Travel rebound hopes hit by delay in Hong Kong-Singapore bubble
US has many ventilators but not enough specialists to operate them
While US is in the middle of a massive surge, ventilators in hospitals lie unused because there aren’t enough specialists to operate them, reports The New York Times.
“They have enough ventilators, but not nearly enough respiratory therapists, pulmonologists and critical care doctors who have the training to operate the machines and provide round-the-clock care for patients who cannot breathe on their own,” says the report.
In the spring season, medical device makers in the US significantly ramped up their capacity to produce ventilators. More than 2,00,000 critical care ventilators have been produced till now.
The US, which is the worst-affected country in the world, has recorded 1,25,88,661 cases of Covid-19 and 2,62,696 deaths.
What else we are reading:
Egypt sets shop opening hours as second coronavirus wave approaches: Arab News
Pet adoption booming amid pandemic — but workers accuse retailers of abuses: The Guardian
Also read: France plans to ease lockdown in three steps as Covid infections recede