09/06/2020
COVID-19 UPDATE
JUNE 9, 2020 @ 7:42 AM
* French economy to return to normal 'by mid-2022' (BBC)
France's central bank has said the country's economy will only return to pre-coronavirus levels by mid-2022.
The French economy will shrink about 10% this year and unemployment is likely to hit highs of above 11.5% halfway through next year, the Bank of France said.
Phase two of France's lockdown easing began on 2 June, including an end to a 100km (62-mile) travel limit. Many bars and restaurants have reopened outside.
*New Zealand cuts research in Antarctica to keep it virus free
New Zealand's research institute in Antarctica is scaling back the number of projects planned for the upcoming season, in an effort to keep the continent free of coronavirus.
The government agency, Antarctica New Zealand, told the BBC it was dropping 23 of the 36 research projects.
Only long-term science monitoring, essential operational activity and planned maintenance will go ahead.
The upcoming research season runs from October to March.
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* As more Americans head out, 22 states are seeing jumps in new coronavirus cases (CNN)
While states lift more restrictions and more Americans go out to socialize or protest, almost half of US states are seeing higher rates of new coronavirus cases.
But the situation would have been much worse had states not shut down, a new study says.
More than 1.9 million Americans have been infected, and more than 116,000 have died in just over four months, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
Nationwide, 22 states are seeing upward trends in coronavirus cases. About 20 states have seen decreases in recent days, and eight states are holding steady.
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*While Asymptomatic Spread of Coronavirus Can Happen, the WHO Now Says It's "Very Rare" (YAHOO!LIFE)
Young people meet in quarantine outside on the city street wearing face protective mask to prevent Coronavirus and anti-smog
Previous concerns that asymptomatic coronavirus patients could spread the disease is partly the reasoning the CDC recommended social distancing. While some people with COVID-19 will experience a high fever, cough, and shortness of breath, David Cutler, MD, a family medicine physician at Providence Saint John's Health Center in Santa Monica, CA, told POPSUGAR in a previous interview that many people who are infected experience no symptoms at all, and could unknowingly be spreading the virus.
But on June 8, the World Health Organization (WHO) stated that while asymptomatic people can still spread the coronavirus, they're not the main ones transmitting the virus. American infectious disease epidemiologist, Maria Van Kerkhove, PhD, who is the head of WHO's emerging diseases and zoonosis unit, said at a news briefing from the United Nations agency's Geneva headquarters, according to CNBC.com, "From the data we have, it still seems to be rare that an asymptomatic person actually transmits onward to a secondary individual."
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*Lockdowns saved many lives and easing them is risky, say scientists ( REUTER)
Lockdowns imposed to curb the spread of COVID-19 have saved millions of lives and easing them now carries high risks, according to two international studies published on Monday.
"The risk of a second wave happening if all interventions and all precautions are abandoned is very real," Samir Bhatt, who co-led one of the studies by researchers at Imperial College London, told reporters in a briefing.
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