COVID-19 | Daily Update

Sunday, June 21st | COVID-19 Daily Update

CURRENT OUTLOOK

In Portugal, two more deaths and 292 new people infected with COVID-19 were registered in the last 24 hours, according to the  Portuguese General Directorate of Health (DGS) daily epidemiological bulletin. 

The revealed data shows that the number of fatalities increased from 1,528 to 1,530 (+0.13%), while confirmed cases increased from 38,841 to 39,133 (+0.75%). 

There are now 25,376 people who have recovered from the infection, 470 more than yesterday (+1.93%). 

Of the 292 confirmed cases, 225 are in Lisbon and the Tagus Valley.

 

PANDEMIC IN PORTUGAL

The numbers of cases of COVID-19 recorded in the last week place Portugal with the second-worst ratio of new infections per 100,000 inhabitants among the ten European countries with the highest number of contagions, just behind Sweden.

Just before going to a concert in Lisbon, Prime Minister António Costa commented on the reported situations about illegal parties in the Algarve and Carcavelos, repeating the warning that, “if necessary”, the authorities will take “steps back” in the deconfinement. 

The President of the Republic raised awareness among the youngest people to combat COVID-19 and called on them to set an example, remembering that the pandemic is not over and that “the virus is still among us”.

In Lisbon, without tourists or Portuguese on the streets, the owners of the bars in Bairro Alto ask that at least the terraces may be reopened. There is still “a lot of fear of entering restaurants”, they say.

PSP (Portuguese police) has compulsorily closed 34 bars, cafes, and restaurants in Queluz and Belas. The municipality proposal was accepted by the DGS, which ordered the compulsory closure. 

In Braga, the PSP had to intervene during the night to disperse a group of about two hundred people concentrated in the city center. 

In Porto, the PSP was called to intervene to disperse a crowd that gathered last night in downtown.

The State, through the Service of Intervention in Addictive Behaviors and Dependencies, will distribute, starting in July, thousands of pipes to crack addicts to prevent the spread of the pandemic.

Nuno Marques, who runs the Algarve Biomedical Center, which has been at the center of combating the pandemic, says that the likelihood of a second pandemic wave in winter, “is very high”, so “we have to be very attentive” and “continue to prepare”.

 

PANDEMIC IN EUROPE AND THE WORLD 

In the US, Donald Trump said he asked health authorities to slow down the pace of testing for COVID-19 due to the increase in cases diagnosed in the country, the most affected in the world by the pandemic, on a day when 568 deaths were recorded in the last 24 hours, bringing the number of deaths to 119,654 since the beginning of the epidemic in the USA.

Brazil recorded 1,022 deaths associated with the new coronavirus and 34,666 new infections. The country is about to reach 50,000 deaths and has now over 1 million infections.

In Europe, Spain today reopened its borders to some countries of the Schengen Area, but with Portugal, the reopening will only happen on July 1st, as established by Lisbon and Madrid governments.

According to the latest data released by the Robert Koch Institute, Germany today registered 687 more cases of infection. The number of deaths recorded was 8,882, meaning one less death than yesterday. 

According to Reuters news agency, no explanation was given for this. It was also reported that a series of local outbreaks in Germany caused the reproduction of the new coronavirus to rise sharply, with the transmission rate standing at 1.79.

The death toll in Africa due to COVID-19 has risen to 7,925, 232 more than yesterday, in more than 297,000 cases, according to the most recent data on the continent’s pandemic.

It was announced today that China has diagnosed, in the last 24 hours, 26 new cases, including 22 in Beijing and one from abroad.

 

MEDICAL PROGRESS

A study by the Spanish Society of Pharmacy concludes that the use of corticosteroids reduces mortality by COVID-19 by up to 50%. Antivirals “don’t seem to work.”

In Spain, there are 25 drugs that the Spanish Ministry of Health believes are essential for treating COVID-19. The Government of Spain published the list in the “Official Gazette of the State”.

 

ECONOMIC IMPACT

The European Parliament approved a resolution presented by the Social Democratic Party, which calls for urgent measures to support the relaunch of tourism, such as the creation of a health certification seal.

The demand for tourism units that allow the social distance imposed by COVID-19, on the national market, has triggered reservations in the district of Porto, in touristic units that offer an experience of greater confinement.

Receiving an event such as the European football Champions League at a time when the economy is showing no encouraging trend and abrupt declines are something to be happy for in Portugal. That is the opinion of Daniel Sá, executive director of the Portuguese Institute of Marketing Management who anticipates a positive revenue. “I would say that surely the value of ten million euros is the minimum of the minimum”, he added.

Fuel prices have been rising for seven consecutive weeks, with the gradual deconfinement of the economy around the world driving up oil consumption and prices in international markets. Since May 4th, when small businesses reopened, gasoline prices have increased by 10%.

 

FINANCIAL MARKETS

As the world prepares for a possible second wave of COVID-19 infections, the stock market is pricing a booming global economy, the bonds point to a prolonged slowdown, and exchange rate volatility is increasing.