Tuesday Morning Briefing: Europe braces for second wave of COVID-19

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August 4, 2020 Reuters News Now What you need to know about the coronavirus today Europe braces for second wave Germany is already contending with a second wave of the coronavirus and risks squandering its early success by flouting social distancing rules, the head of the German doctors’ union said. The number of daily confirmed coronavirus cases has ticked up steadily in recent weeks, with health experts warning lax adherence to hygiene and distancing rules among some of the public is spreading the virus across communities. A study shows Britain faces a second wave of COVID-19 this winter twice as widespread as the initial outbreak if it reopens schools without a more effective test-and-trace system in place. France’s top scientific body said a second wave of the coronavirus was “highly likely” this autumn or winter as the country grapples with a marked increase in new cases over the past two weeks. Poland reported another record daily increase in cases, with 680 new infections and six deaths, after a spike driven by outbreaks amongst miners and after public gatherings. Military helps enforce Australian isolation rules A group of 500 military personnel will be deployed to enforce COVID-19 isolation orders in Australia’s Victoria state, with anyone caught in breach of those rules facing hefty fines as high as A$20,000 ($14,250). The only exemption will be for urgent medical care. Nearly a third of those who contracted COVID-19 were not home isolating when checked on by officials, requiring tough new penalties, Victoria state Premier Daniel Andrews said on Tuesday. Australia has closed the national park that is home to its revered indigenous site of Uluru after some in the community blocked an access route for fear that visitors could carry in coronavirus infections. “Some progress” in U.S. aid talks Top White House officials and Democratic leaders in the U.S. Congress will try again to narrow gaping differences over a fifth major coronavirus-aid bill to help stimulate the economy and possibly dispatch new aid to the unemployed. “We’re making some progress on certain issues,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer told reporters after Monday’s talks. “There are a lot of issues that are still outstanding.” Chicago Federal Reserve Bank President Charles Evans on Monday urged Congress and the White House to agree to more federal spending to help the economy, which has seen tens of millions lose their jobs. Classes without a teacher One overcast morning in a farming village in western India, a group of schoolchildren sat in socially distanced spots on the mud floor of a wooden shed for their first class in months. There was no teacher, just a voice from a loudspeaker. The recorded lessons form part of an initiative by an Indian non-profit organization that aims to reach 1,000 village students denied formal classes since the coronavirus pandemic forced schools to close four months ago. It reaches children who are usually the first in their families to go to school, with content covering part of the school curriculum, as well as social skills and English language lessons. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned on Tuesday that the world faces a “generational catastrophe” because of school closures amid the coronavirus pandemic and said getting students safely back to the classroom must be “a top priority”. Special Report: The soaring number of COVID-19 cases in the United States has far outstripped many local health departments’ ability to trace the contacts of those infected, a step critical in containing the virus’ spread. Breakingviews - Corona Capital: Zoom, Diageo, Agnellis’ solace. Read concise views on the pandemic’s financial fallout from Breakingviews columnists across the globe. Reuters reporters and editors around the world are investigating the response to the coronavirus pandemic. We need your help to tell these stories. Our news organization wants to capture the full scope of what’s happening and how we got here by drawing on a wide variety of sources. Here’s a look at our coverage. Are you a government employee or contractor involved in coronavirus testing or the wider public health response? Are you a doctor, nurse or health worker caring for patients? Have you worked on similar outbreaks in the past? Has the disease known as COVID-19 personally affected you or your family? Are you aware of new problems that are about to emerge, such as critical supply shortages? We need your tips, firsthand accounts, relevant documents or expert knowledge. Please contact us at coronavirus@reuters.com. We prefer tips from named sources, but if you’d rather remain anonymous, you can submit a confidential news tip. Here’s how. U.S. A U.S. judge late on Monday ordered all local boards of election in New York state to count “thousands” of absentee ballots received the day after a congressional primary held last June 23 but previously disqualified because of postmark problems. According to the ruling by Judge Analisa Torres of Federal District Court in Manhattan, the absentee ballots are to be counted “without regard to whether such ballots are postmarked by June 23.” Kansas arch-conservative Kris Kobach and prominent Michigan progressive Rashida Tlaib are on the ballot Tuesday when five U.S. states hold primary elections for Congress. The outcomes in Kansas, Michigan, Arizona, Missouri and Washington state will set the stage for Nov. 3 elections to the House of Representatives and Senate that will determine the balance of power in Washington. All day long, as Air Force nurse Major Pinky Brewton cares for patients struggling to breathe in California’s COVID-19 ravaged San Joaquin Valley, fears for her family simmer underneath her cool exterior. Once back in her Stockton hotel room, seeing her seven-year-old on Facetime, the relief is overwhelming. “He’s breathing!” Brewton said. “That’s the first thing I see as a nurse. How well is my son breathing?” COVID Science Engineered decoys trap virus before it can enter cells The new coronavirus enters cells by attaching to a protein on the cell membrane called the ACE2 receptor. Scientists have now developed a decoy version of ACE2 that lures the virus and traps it, preventing it from infecting human lung cells in test tubes. "We have engineered our ACE2 Trap to bind 100 to 1,000 times tighter to the virus than normal ACE2 that is on victim cells. This provides even more potent blockage that is comparable to neutralizing antibodies," Dr. James Wells of the University of California at San Francisco told Reuters. COVID-19 risk high in frontline healthcare workers Healthcare workers in the United States and Britain with direct patient contact - particularly those who are Black, Asian, and other ethnic minorities - report higher rates of positive COVID-19 tests than individuals in the general community, even with adequate personal protective equipment, new data suggest. Follow the money Clorox won't have enough disinfecting wipes until 2021, its CEO says Grocery shelves won’t be fully stocked with Clorox’s disinfecting wipes until next year, CEO Benno Dorer told Reuters, as the world’s biggest cleaning products maker struggles with overwhelming pandemic-led demand for its top product. 3 min read U.S. teachers protest school reopenings, coronavirus cases down in South, West Teachers at dozens of school districts protested from their cars over plans by some U.S. governors to resume in-class instruction during the coronavirus pandemic, while Arizona, Florida, California and Texas saw declines in new cases. 5 min read UK COVID lending to businesses tops 50 billion pounds Banks’ lending to businesses under a government-backed COVID-19 loan scheme has exceeded 50 billion pounds ($65 billion), while the cost of supporting furloughed workers has increased to 33.8 billion pounds, weekly finance ministry figures showed. 1 min read Top Stories on Reuters TV Hundreds still at large after Afghan jail siege World   1:20 BP halves dividend after record loss in Q2 Business   0:59 Real news for busy people More Newsletters Reuters News Reuters TV               © 2020 Thomson Reuters. 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