- In the DM world, the US registered 70,702 cases on Wednesday. It is the second consecutive day with more than 70,000 cases and third overall since the pandemic began.
- California reported 12,807 new cases, pushing its total to 413, 576. It is now the US state with the highest number of cumulative cases, surpassing New York’s 408,886. New York’s cases now stand at 705. The two states differ on deaths. California’s fatalities stand at 7,870 which is low compared to New York’s count of more than 25,000.
- Overall, deaths are believed to b fewer compared to the first wave because of improved knowledge on treatment and increased access to ventilators and protective equipment. The increased number of cases among young people is also thought to be a reason.
- On Wednesday, broader mask-wearing requirements were issued by governors from Indiana, Minnesota, Ohio, and Oregon, as well as mayors of Washington, Baltimore, and Maryland.
- In the UK, new cases continued on last month’s trend, standing at 563. Health Secretary Matt Hancock declared that care homes will be allowed visitors but “local knowledge and circumstances for each care home” will have to be taken into account.
- In Australia, new cases stood at 408 on Wednesday which is around half of Tuesday’s record of 813. The Sydney suburb of Fairfield is now considered a Covid-19 hotspot and as of Monday the state of Queensland will impose travel bans to anyone who has been there.
- In EM, Latam topped 4mn cases. On Wednesday both Brazil and Argentina had single day records for case increases, at 67,860 and 5,782, respectively.
- India had 37,724 new cases on Wednesday. It is the fourth day in a row with more than 37,000 cases.
- South Africa reported 13,150 new cases on Wednesday, just 450 below the daily record.
- Hong Kong’s 112 new cases was also a fresh daily high.
Bilal Hafeez is the CEO and Editor of Macro Hive. He spent over twenty years doing research at big banks – JPMorgan, Deutsche Bank, and Nomura, where he had various “Global Head” roles and did FX, rates and cross-markets research.
Stefan Posea is a Research Analyst at Macro Hive. His research interests lie in macro-financial interactions and monetary policy analysis. Stefan graduated with an MSc in Economics at Birkbeck, University of London and previously held roles in M&A and the Public Sector.
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