New Delhi: The novel coronavirus pandemic continues to devastate countries across the world — the latest count being above 3.7 crore cases and more than 10 lakh deaths.
Women-run businesses in Australia are facing the brunt of the pandemic. People in the US find themselves suffering from ‘brain fog’ after recovering from Covid. And Turkey’s health minister has said that the country will finally declare asymptomatic cases of Covid-19 as well.
ThePrint brings you the most important global stories on the coronavirus pandemic and why they matter.
Women-owned businesses bear brunt of pandemic
Research from the University of Sydney and the University of Melbourne has found that even though businesses owned by men “suffered worse” in the first wave of Covid-19, women’s businesses are now facing the brunt, reports The Sydney Morning Herald.
Researchers claim stress due to economic disruption, increasing domestic work and anxiety is causing a “triple whammy” for women amid the pandemic.
It was found that “women were feeling more anxious about finding future work than men, were more worried that they would not have enough money to retire, were sleeping worse and feeling more physically unwell”, says the report.
“The proportion of men in states other than Victoria who were “extremely worried about not having enough money to retire” fell from 30 per cent in May to 28 per cent in September, while for women it shifted from 41 per cent to 39 per cent,” the report notes.
Australia has recorded 27,295 cases of Covid-19 and 898 deaths.
Covid survivors in US suffer from ‘brain fog’
‘Brain fog’ is affecting the daily life of many in the US who have recovered from the novel coronavirus, reports The New York Times.
This feeling includes symptoms like dizziness, difficulty in grasping words, inability to focus, memory loss and confusion.
The report quotes Dr Igor Koralnik, Chief of Neuro-infectious Disease at Northwestern Medicine in Chicago, who said, “There are thousands of people who have that” and added “The impact on the work force that’s affected is going to be significant.”
The US has reported 79,91,998 cases of Covid-19 and 2,19,695 deaths.
Also read: Twitter flags Trump’s post about being ‘immune’ to Covid now for ‘misleading’ information
Czech Republic looks at second lockdown
The Czech Republic may be looking at introducing a second lockdown after it recorded a surge in Covid-19 infections, making it the country with ‘fastest growing outbreak’ in Europe, reports The Guardian.
According to the European Centre for Disease Control and Prevention statistics, the country has recorded 451.2 cases per 1,00,000 people in over 14 days.
“A new peak of 8,618 cases was recorded on Friday in the country of 10.7 million, up more than 3,000 on the previous day and significantly more per capita than any other European state,” says the report.
The Czech Republic has reported 1,17,110 cases of Covid-19 and 987 deaths.
Turkey to declare asymptomatic Covid cases in coming week
Turkey’s health minister Fahrettin Koca has said the country will declare asymptomatic Covid-19 cases from 15 October onwards, reports Hurriyet Daily News.
“At a news conference on 30 September, Koca said that Turkey was only sharing the number of Covid-19 positive cases with symptoms. He had said that since most who tested positive for the novel coronavirus did not show symptoms, not all cases were patients,” the report notes.
Turkey has recorded 3,35,533 cases of Covid-19 and 8,837 deaths.
Lebanon shuts down bars, imposes night curfew
As the number of average daily Covid cases touches 1,500, the Ministry of Interior in Lebanon has shut down bars, cabarets and nightclubs, reports Arab News.
Night curfew has been imposed across the country from midnight till 6 am. More than 169 towns were also declared to be isolated.
“The decision on isolated areas coincide with a move by the Ministry of Education and Higher Education to reopen schools for intermediate and secondary school in stages, in all regions except for isolated towns,” says the report.
Survey reveals Hong Kong residents more afraid to lose jobs
A survey has found that residents of Hong Kong are more scared of losing their jobs in light of the pandemic, in comparison to people in other countries, reports the South China Morning Post.
“Of the 500 people polled this time around in each of the four markets, between 11 and 13 September, 73 per cent of respondents in Hong Kong feared being made redundant, compared to 51 per cent, 38 per cent, and 36 per cent in the US, Australia and Britain respectively,” says the report.
This study was conducted by C|T Group, a research and campaign consultancy firm based in London.
Hong Kong has recorded 5,183 cases of Covid-19 and 1-5 deaths.
What else we are reading:
How Singapore helped with US President Trump’s Covid-19 treatment: The Straits Times
Drawn to serve: Pandemic sees spike in number of ADF recruits: The Sydney Morning Herald
Also read: Biggest cluster in months ends China’s Covid-free streak