New Delhi: The novel coronavirus pandemic continues to devastate countries across the world — the latest count being more than 3 crore cases and above 9.4 lakh deaths.
Covid-19 reinvents grocery shopping in China as people turn to ‘group buying’, South Africa eases lockdown and in Indonesia, diabetes is found to be the biggest comorbidity.
ThePrint brings you the most important global stories on the coronavirus pandemic and why they matter.
Covid changes grocery shopping in China
Since many communities across China are staying at home and using online grocery delivering services to shop, start-ups like Shihuituan and Xingsheng Youxuan are “leading the charge in the community group-buying market,” reports the South China Morning Post.
This group-buying helps members of local communities to get discounts since they are buying in bulk.
“While group-buying is not new in China, services that are focused on the basic needs of local communities — without all the hoopla from live-streaming video influencers — may be ripe for expansion amid continued health and safety concerns across the country,” says the report.
China has recorded 85,223 cases of Covid-19 and 4,634 deaths.
Diabetes biggest comorbidity in Indonesia’s Covid deaths
Indonesia’s national Covid-19 task force chief Doni Monardo said that diabetes has been the most common comorbidity in Covid-related deaths, reports The Jakarta Post.
The next most common comorbidities have been hypertension, heart disease, lung and respiratory disorders.
“Doni said that the government’s first strategy was prioritising the protection of these vulnerable groups. The second strategy is to reduce the number of confirmed Covid-19 cases as well as deaths and increase the recovery rate, while the third strategy is to increase testing and optimise contact tracing,” says the report.
Indonesia has reported 2,28,993 Covid-19 cases and 9,100 deaths.
Also read: 9 out of 10 people don’t want to return to their pre-Covid lives, finds WEF survey
São Paulo enters Covid slowdown for first time
São Paulo in Brazil witnessed a drop in the number of coronavirus cases this week, reports Folha De S. Paulo.
Until Tuesday, the cases in the city had been at a stable level and the increase in cases had been constant. Since Wednesday, the number of cases has seen a reduction.
“The monitoring model used by Folha is based on the evolution of cases in each location and has a period of 30 days as its parameter, with more weight for the most recent period. Thus, the acceleration of the epidemic is measured; This is how the number of new cases increases or decreases,” says the report.
Brazil has recorded 44,21,686 cases of Covid-19 and 1,34,174 deaths.
New Zealand in Covid-led recession
New Zealand has now entered a recession as its economy has contracted 12.2 per cent since the June quarter, reports The Guardian.
Paul Pascoe from Stats NZ revealed that this fall in GDP was “by far the largest on record in New Zealand,” says the report.
“Industries such as retail, accommodation, restaurants and transport saw significant declines; as did construction and manufacturing at 25.8 per cent and 13 per cent respectively,” it notes.
New Zealand has reported 1,809 cases of Covid-19 and 25 deaths.
South Africa eases lockdown as cases reduce
South Africa, which was one of the countries that imposed an early and strict lockdown, has announced that it is set to ease restrictions on movement as the number of new cases per day has reduced to under 2,000 now from around 12,000 in July, reports the BBC.
President Cyril Ramaphosa, in an address, said that South Africa had “withstood the coronavirus storm”. The overnight curfew shall be reduced from 20 September onwards and gatherings will be allowed at 50 per cent capacity.
“The President announced that following consultations with health experts and officials from across South Africa, the country would lower its current alert Level 2 to Level 1 from midnight on 20 September,” says the report.
Copenhagen introduces nightlife restrictions as Covid cases surge
Owing to an increase in coronavirus cases, the Copenhagen government introduced restrictions aimed at nightlife, reports The Copenhagen Post.
Starting from 17 September, face masks have been made mandatory in bars, restaurants and cafes. Also, all establishments have been ordered to shut down by 10 pm.
Denmark has recorded 20,571 cases of Covid-19 and 633 deaths so far.
What else we are reading:
Covid disruption leaves thousands of UK stroke patients disabled: The Guardian
‘Warp Speed’ officials debut plan for distributing free vaccines: The New York Times
Also read: Coronavirus most likely to disproportionately kill children of minorities in US, says CDC