Sweden model no more, pandemic highlights gap between ravers and boomers & other Covid news

As the Covid-19 pandemic shows no signs of letting up, ThePrint highlights the most important stories on the crisis from across the globe.

A healthcare services sticker in Stockholm instructs people to follow the two-metre rule during the Covid crisis | Representational image: Jonathan Nackstrand | Getty Images via Bloomberg

New Delhi: The novel coronavirus pandemic continues to devastate countries across the world — the latest count is more than 20 million cases and more than 7.34 lakh deaths.

The US President’s executive orders on the pandemic are leading to confusion and frustration. There is no Sweden model anymore, and Australia recorded its worst Covid day with 19 deaths, though the number of new infections is down. Meanwhile, Covid has highlighted an intergenerational difference between boomers and millennials.

ThePrint brings you the most important global stories on the coronavirus pandemic and why they matter.

Trump’s pandemic executive orders leaves everyone confused

The US President Donald Trump’s decision to sign an executive order to disburse Covid relief without any approval by the country’s legislature (Congress) has left businesses, state officials, Democrats and citizens confused and frustrated, reports The Washington Post.

Another report in The New York Times notes that Trump’s executive orders cover four areas: “extending supplemental unemployment benefits, suspending some payroll taxes, extending relief for student loan borrowers and offering eviction relief.”

Over the past few weeks, the Republicans, Democrats and the White House have quibbled over the right size and scope of the second relief package. The first one had been passed earlier in the pandemic.

“Because Congress controls federal spending, at least some of Mr. Trump’s actions will almost certainly be challenged in court. They could also quickly become moot if congressional leaders reach an agreement and pass their own relief package,” adds The New York Times report. Moreover, experts think the amount of legal complexity in the orders might make them vastly less effective.

Deaths cross 1 lakh mark in Brazil

On Sunday, Brazil reported that it had crossed the 1 lakh death mark, the world’s second highest death toll after the US, and the pandemic has shown no signs of slowing down in the country, reports the BBC.

“The virus killed 50,000 people in three months, but that number doubled in just 50 days. There have been more than three million confirmed cases so far. The pandemic is yet to peak but shops and restaurants have already reopened,” says the report.

“The health ministry is being led by an army general with no experience in public health. Two earlier ministers, both physicians, left the job after disagreeing with the president over social distancing measures,” it adds.

Sweden model no more

After months of resisting compulsory social restrictions and incurring a much higher fatality rate than its European counterparts, the Swedish government has imposed restrictions stricter than those in Austria and France, and succeeded in bringing the rise in infections under control, reports the Financial Times.

This shift marks Sweden’s departure from its infamous “Swedish model”, which had relied on guidelines recommending social distancing as opposed to compulsory ones, and had led to fierce debate across the world regarding its efficacy and risks.

“The number of cases per capita fell by 86 per cent in the month from the end of June, although they have risen slightly in recent days and are still relatively high by European standards,” says the report. “Much of the recent decline has to do with the fact that Sweden all but closes down for a month after the midsummer holiday at the end of June.”

The country’s death rate has also fallen from about 100 a day in April to about 1 per day over the past week. The country has recorded over 82,000 cases and 5,763 deaths.

Australia’s deadliest day, but new infections falling

Grappling with its second wave of Covid-19, Australia recorded its deadliest day with 19 deaths, but the number of new infections seems to be slowing down, reports the BBC.

“Nineteen deaths were reported in Victoria — of which Melbourne is the capital — on Monday. Victoria has now seen about two-thirds of Australia’s total 314 deaths and approximately 21,400 infections,” notes the report.

On Monday, Victoria reported 322 new cases as opposed to 725 just five days ago. According to experts, this suggests that the reimposing of lockdown in Victoria seems to be working.

Southeast Asia lives on, dangerously

Southeast Asian countries never used the good times to carry out reforms that would have made their economies more competitive, and now, as the pandemic ravages the region’s economies, those mistakes are coming back to haunt the countries’ leaders, argues journalist William Pesek in the Nikkei Asian Review.

The Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore — every single one of these countries has seen a dramatic fall in economic growth this year. But, Pesek writes, “There is a common thread: a complacency that is rapidly coming back to haunt many of the globe’s most promising economies.”

He conrends, “Making generalizations about Southeast Asia can be a fool’s errand. All too many governments used the rapid growth of recent years as an excuse to shelve efforts to increase competitiveness and incentivize innovation. Booming exports convinced many leaders that the job was done.”

China, Russia join hands to limit use of US dollar

In a financial alliance of sorts, Russia and China are partnering to reduce their reliance on the US dollar for purposes of trade and investment, reports the Nikkei Asian Review.

“In the first quarter of 2020, the dollar’s share of trade between Russia and China fell below 50% for the first time on record, according to recent data from Russia’s Central Bank and Federal Customs Service. At the same time, the euro made up an all-time high of 30%, while their national currencies accounted for 24%, also a new high,” says the report.

Back in 2015, about 90 per cent of Russia-China bilateral trade used to take place in the dollar. While that number had been coming down due to the China-US trade war, the pandemic and the backlash against China seems to have further exacerbated it, the report adds.

Pandemic and the real split between ravers and boomers

Much before the pandemic struck the world, the phase “OK Boomer” had become a symbol of how millennials and Gen-Z saw the middle aged. But the pandemic has highlighted a real inter-generational difference between the ravers and the boomers, reports The Guardian.

“Beyond anecdotes of careless twenty somethings and unsympathetic pensioners, there was evidence of real difference between generations on adherence to lockdown,” notes the report. “Compliance has been lower among 18- to 30-year-olds than older adults,” the report quotes a researcher as saying. “And when we look at complete compliance, that’s only 20% to 30% of the youngest age group, against 50% of older respondents.”

What else we are reading:

Hong Kong to offer free Covid-19 tests to all residents: Straits Times

Pandemic aid is exacerbating US inequality: Financial Times

Chinese companies rush for US IPOs ahead of new restrictions: Nikkei Asian Review

What we are learning about Covid-19 and kids: The Guardian