Health and Healthcare Systems

COVID-19: What you need to know about the coronavirus pandemic on 23 October

An aerial view of people waiting in their vehicles for COVID-19 tests at a drive-thru testing site in the parking lot of Miller Park as the coronavirus disease outbreak continues in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S., October 21, 2020. Photo taken with a drone. REUTERS/Bing Guan     TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY - RC28NJ9AN9P4

Getting a coronavirus test can mean a long wait. Image: REUTERS/Bing Guan

Joe Myers
Writer, Forum Agenda
  • This daily round-up brings you a selection of the latest news and updates on the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, as well as tips and tools to help you stay informed and protected.
  • Top stories: Europe reports 200,000 new cases in a day; Eurozone economic recovery at risk; permanent work from home set to double next year.
Have you read?

1. How COVID-19 is affecting the globe

Confirmed cases of COVID-19 have now passed 41.7 million globally, according to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center. The number of confirmed deaths stands at over 1.13 million.

France has extended a 9pm to 6am curfew, which now covers 46 million out of the country's 67 million people.

Australia has said it will slightly increase the number of citizens and permanent residents allowed to return home each week. It's been limited to reduce the risk of COVID-19 spreading during mandatory 14-day quarantines in hotels.

Indiana, North Dakota, Illinois, Montana, Oklahoma, Utah and Ohio have all reported record daily increases in COVID-19 cases, as the virus continues to spread in the United States.

Britain has increased its COVID-19 restrictions in three more areas to "high", meaning people will not be able to mix outside their household. Several cities are already in the "very high" category.

Using the blood of recovered COVID-19 patients as a potential treatment has little benefit in helping hospitalized patients, according to the results of a study in India.

Slovakia is set to shut most of its schools and require people to stay home – apart from work, essential shopping and nature trips – in a partial lockdown.

The percentage of workers globally who are permanently working from home is set to double next year, according to a survey from US-based Enterprise Technology Research.

Greece has announced a night-time curfew in areas most affected by COVID-19.

Coronavirus cases COVID-19 confirmed global
New daily confirmed cases remain high across many countries. Image: Our World in Data

2. Europe reports 200,000 daily infections

Europe reported more than 200,000 infections in a single day for the first time yesterday, according to a Reuters tally.

It comes as the region's reported coronavirus cases have doubled in just 10 days, with many countries reporting their highest single-day increases in cases in the past week.

As a region, it's reporting more daily cases than India, Brazil and the United States combined. Although, increased testing compared to the start of the pandemic is likely impacting the figures.

Discover

What is the World Economic Forum doing to manage emerging risks from COVID-19?

3. Eurozone recovery at serious risk

These rising cases are putting the Eurozone's economic recovery at serious risk, according to a Reuters' poll of economists.

Nearly 90% of those surveyed said that there was a "high" or "very high" risk that the resurgence of the virus across the region would halt a Eurozone economic recovery.

“The initial rebound from the lockdown was always going to run out of steam but the second wave threatens to push some countries into another recession and will place the Eurozone recovery on hold,” said Andrew Kenningham, chief Europe economist at Capital Economics.

“There is a growing risk of more severe lockdowns in the near term; these would cause a double-dip recession, although any contraction in GDP would not be as deep as in the first wave.”

Loading...
Don't miss any update on this topic

Create a free account and access your personalized content collection with our latest publications and analyses.

Sign up for free

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.

Stay up to date:

Global Health

Share:
The Big Picture
Explore and monitor how Global Health is affecting economies, industries and global issues
A hand holding a looking glass by a lake
Crowdsource Innovation
Get involved with our crowdsourced digital platform to deliver impact at scale
World Economic Forum logo
Global Agenda

The Agenda Weekly

A weekly update of the most important issues driving the global agenda

Subscribe today

You can unsubscribe at any time using the link in our emails. For more details, review our privacy policy.

COPD kills more than lung and breast cancer combined. It's time to change that

Nitin Kapoor

November 22, 2024

A historic leap in cancer vaccines – here’s what you need to know

About us

Engage with us

  • Sign in
  • Partner with us
  • Become a member
  • Sign up for our press releases
  • Subscribe to our newsletters
  • Contact us

Quick links

Language editions

Privacy Policy & Terms of Service

Sitemap

© 2024 World Economic Forum