The number of coronavirus cases worldwide today has reached 38.4 million, with over 1 million deaths. The general trend of the pandemic is upward, showing that new cases in September and October are higher in volume than at any other time this year. The daily death rate has remained stubbornly above 5,000 since March.
The United States, which has over 1 million Covid-19 cases, is also seeing an increase in the daily number of local infections compared to the below 40,000 digits it was seeing in early September. Other countries with massive daily increases include India, Brazil, Russia, and Argentina.
The United Kingdom registered its second biggest daily record of new coronavirus cases yesterday, confirming more than 17,000 new infections. This is the second time the UK hits this number in one week.
Elsewhere in Europe, Spain, France, Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands are also seeing a massive increase in Covid-19 cases. The Netherlands in particular is seeing an outbreak that is at least seven times worse than its short bout with the coronavirus in March-April. This might make the financially conservative country a bit more willing to agree to further stimulus in this week’s European Council meeting.
In other news, Apple remains in the focus of stock traders. Yesterday’s launch event for the iPhone 12 brought down the value of the company because the novelty of the new models lies in their 5G capabilities, which won’t actually be of use all that much as of yet since most countries don’t have comprehensive 5G networks yet. In addition, the new devices are priced lower than is typical of Apple, which is raising concerns about the company’s profitability.
Investors are also bracing for a bunch of reports from the International Monetary Fund, who is to hold its annual meeting soon. The IMF has forecasted that the pandemic will have a serious impact on developing countries and that China will likely be the only major economy to actually grow in 2020.
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump claims he has recovered from the coronavirus and is back on his campaign trail. As tomorrow’s debate was canceled due to Trump’s refusal to participate in an online event, both him and Joe Biden will be holding individual town hall-style events at the same time on two different channels.
