COVID-19: What you need to know about the coronavirus pandemic on 1 October
New York's schools have reopened. Image: REUTERS/Carlo Allegri
Explore and monitor how COVID-19 is affecting economies, industries and global issues
![A hand holding a looking glass by a lake](/uplink.jpg)
Get involved with our crowdsourced digital platform to deliver impact at scale
Stay up to date:
COVID-19
Listen to the article
- This daily round-up brings you a selection of the latest news updates on the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, as well as tips and tools to help you stay informed and protected.
- Top stories: The impact of schools reopening; vaccine distribution software; 1,000 additional deaths in Brazil.
1. How COVID-19 is affecting the globe
Confirmed cases of COVID-19 have now passed 33.9 million globally, according to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center. The number of confirmed deaths stands at just over 1 million.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has pledged $100 million to help developing countries access a COVID-19 vaccine.
The Czech government has announced a state of emergency from next Monday to tackle a rapid rise in COVID-19 cases.
Iran's COVID-19 death toll has risen above 26,000, according to state media.
Retail sales in Germany rose much more than expected in August, while unemployment fell further in September, raising hopes for a stronger economic recovery in Europe's biggest economy.
The UAE has seen its highest daily total of COVID-19 infections since the start of the outbreak.
The prevalence of COVID-19 infections is much higher in England than at the end of August, but there are signs growth is slowing, according to an Imperial College study.
Brazil has registered over 1,000 new coronavirus deaths, bringing its total to 143,952. There have been more than 4.8 million confirmed cases in the country.
2. Schools and a COVID-19 surge?
A new study has examined the impact of school reopenings on rising coronavirus cases, finding generally no clear link between the two.
“It’s been assumed that opening schools will drive infections, and that closing schools will reduce transmission, but the reality is much more complex,” said Randa Grob-Zakhary, Founder and Chief Executive at Insights for Education, the organization that conducted the analysis.
The Geneva-based educational foundation said lockdown closures would leave a "pandemic learning debt" of 300 billion missed school days, of which 84% would be lost by children in poorer countries.
Grob-Zakhary said: "The key now is to learn from those countries that are reopening effectively against a backdrop of rising infections."
What is the Global Alliance for Social Entrepreneurship?
3. Salesforce adapts software
Salesforce.com has said it has adapted some of its business software for healthcare organizations and governments to help them distribute future COVID-19 vaccines.
Work.com for Vaccines will help cities, states and healthcare groups track inventory, build online appointment portals and monitor patients after vaccination.
“All these vaccines have various levels of quality and efficacy. We all know that they’re not all the same,” Salesforce.com Chief Executive Marc Benioff told Reuters in an interview. “And so technology will be really critical in separating the wheat from the chaff in the vaccine.”
Don't miss any update on this topic
Create a free account and access your personalized content collection with our latest publications and analyses.
License and Republishing
World Economic Forum articles may be republished in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License, and in accordance with our Terms of Use.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.
The Agenda Weekly
A weekly update of the most important issues driving the global agenda
You can unsubscribe at any time using the link in our emails. For more details, review our privacy policy.
More on Health and Healthcare SystemsSee all
Shyam Bishen and Oliver Eitelwein
September 3, 2024
Michael Purton
September 2, 2024
Shyam Bishen
August 30, 2024
Shyam Bishen
August 30, 2024
Shyam Bishen
August 23, 2024
Simon Torkington
August 21, 2024