US overtakes China with 82,000 Covid-19 cases; toll crosses 2,000 in Iran

It is, however, important to note that the US has been testing people at a much larger scale, when compared with other countries that have been affected by the coronavirus pandemic

United States has now surpassed China in the number of Covid-19 cases around the world, with at least 82,404 people are known to have been infected with the deadly coronavirus, the Johns Hopkins University real-time Covid-19 tracker said on Thursday. It is, however, important to note that the US has been testing people at a much larger scale, when compared with other countries that have been affected by the coronavirus pandemic.

“We now have 370,000 tests that have been done. The majority of those — over 220,000 in the last eight days, which, those of you who have been tracking the South Korea numbers, put us equivalent to what they did in eight weeks that we did in eight days,” Dr Deborah Birx, the White House’s coronavirus response coordinator, told reporters on Thursday. Although the US has surpassed China’s 81,782 mark, the Covid-19-related death toll in the country is still lower than China, with 1,178 Americans having died as opposed to the 3,291 Chinese fatalities. At least 160 million Americans have been ordered to stay home as schools are closed, restaurants and bars have been closed in hope of the curtail spread of the lethal virus, The New York Times reported.

New York City is among the worst-hit cities as the number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in the city has reached 38,000 and 281 have died. On Wednesday, US Senate leaders and Trump Administration had reached an agreement regarding a $2 trillion package to rescue the economy from the coronavirus wrath, paving the way for swift passage of the legislation from both the chambers of Congress. Meanwhile, the number of coronavirus-related deaths worldwide exceeded 20,000, according to the World Health Organization (WHO)

US overtakes China with 82,000 Covid-19 cases; toll crosses 2,000 in Iran

It is, however, important to note that the US has been testing people at a much larger scale, when compared with other countries that have been affected by the coronavirus pandemic

United States has now surpassed China in the number of Covid-19 cases around the world, with at least 82,404 people are known to have been infected with the deadly coronavirus, the Johns Hopkins University real-time Covid-19 tracker said on Thursday. It is, however, important to note that the US has been testing people at a much larger scale, when compared with other countries that have been affected by the coronavirus pandemic.

“We now have 370,000 tests that have been done. The majority of those — over 220,000 in the last eight days, which, those of you who have been tracking the South Korea numbers, put us equivalent to what they did in eight weeks that we did in eight days,” Dr Deborah Birx, the White House’s coronavirus response coordinator, told reporters on Thursday. Although the US has surpassed China’s 81,782 mark, the Covid-19-related death toll in the country is still lower than China, with 1,178 Americans having died as opposed to the 3,291 Chinese fatalities. At least 160 million Americans have been ordered to stay home as schools are closed, restaurants and bars have been closed in hope of the curtail spread of the lethal virus, The New York Times reported.

New York City is among the worst-hit cities as the number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in the city has reached 38,000 and 281 have died. On Wednesday, US Senate leaders and Trump Administration had reached an agreement regarding a $2 trillion package to rescue the economy from the coronavirus wrath, paving the way for swift passage of the legislation from both the chambers of Congress. Meanwhile, the number of coronavirus-related deaths worldwide exceeded 20,000, according to the World Health Organization (WHO)

Coronavirus impact: GDP likely to fall to a three-decade low, say analysts

Total loss in output is estimated to be around Rs 6 trillion based on estimated GDP at current prices for FY20

With the nation under a lockdown because of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, analysts suggest that the impact on various Indian industries could cost the economy around 3 per cent of GDP. There has been around 40 per cent decline in economic activity after the lockdown, as only essential manufacturing (food & pharma) and services (grocery trade, health & public services) are functioning. This, analysts say, could shave-off 1.5 per cent from India’s projected economic growth in financial year 2020-21 (FY21).

India’s GDP growth at constant prices is now likely to be at a three-decade low of 3.5 per cent in FY21. In January, World Bank lowered India’s GDP growth to 5 per cent in FY21 from earlier estimates of 6 per cent. The calculation is based on industry or activity-based gross value added for FY20 as presented by Central Statistics Office (CSO). Total loss in output is estimated to be around Rs 6 trillion based on estimated GDP at current prices for FY20. According to CSO, India’s GDP was expected to grow at 7.5 per cent at current prices in FY20 to Rs 204 trillion. “The base case scenario is a minimum 30-35 per cent decline in economic activity with many estimates putting loss at around 50 per cent. Anyhow we are staring at a significant downgrade in GDP growth estimate for June 20 quarter (Q1FY21) and FY21,” says Devendra Pant head economist India Ratings.

For example, in the manufacturing sector, output is expected to decline by about 70 per cent as only food-processing, and drugs and pharma industries are allowed to operate while other segments, such as engineering and metals, have shut operations. Food, beverages and tobacco, however, only account for 10 per cent of manufacturing output. Machinery and equipment — which includes automobiles, consumer durables and capital goods — is the biggest component of manufacturing, and accounted for around 20 per cent of the sector in FY19, and 3.7 per cent share in overall GDP. Overall, manufacturing accounted for 16.1 per cent of country’s GDP in FY19…Read More

Trump allies Giuliani, Pompeo, Barr drawn deeper into impeachment focus

The rapid-fire developments expanded the potential scope of the House’s inquiry, which began last week after revelations of Trump’s call with Zelensky

Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, his Secretary of State Michael Pompeo and Attorney General William Barr were all drawn deeper into the House impeachment inquiry after new details of the administration’s foreign contacts emerged on Monday.

Three House committees said they had subpoenaed Giuliani for records of his dealings with Ukraine on Donald Trump’s behalf. And Mike Pompeo was among those listening in on a July 25 phone call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, according to a person familiar with the matter. That conversation is central to the impeachment investigation.

Barr has asked Trump to contact “other countries” for help with a probe into the origins of the Justice Department’s investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election, department spokeswoman Kerri Kupec said in an email. The prosecutor leading the investigation, U.S. Attorney John Durham, “is gathering information from numerous sources, including a number of foreign countries,” she said.

The New York Times reported that Trump recently asked Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison to assist Barr in his probe, and the Washington Post reported that Barr has held meetings overseas with foreign intelligence officials to seek their help….