
For the coming weeks, Worldcrunch will be delivering daily updates on the coronavirus global pandemic. The insidious path of COVID-19 across the planet is a blunt reminder of how small the world has become. Our network of multilingual journalists are busy finding out what's being reported locally — everywhere — to provide as clear a picture as possible of what it means for all of us at home, around the world. To receive the daily brief in your inbox, sign up here.
SPOTLIGHT:
For the first time in most peoples' lives, no matter where we are, we're living our days amid a swirl of statistics and news flashes that leaves us waking up the next morning with the same question. How big will it get?
So how is it that we can't, with the brainpower of all the virologists, biologists and public health officials around the world, figure out what COVID-19 will mean for our future?
Well, part of the problem is just that: the whole world. Experts are dealing with a sample size spanning all of humanity in which much of the information is missing, confusing or unreliable. In Iran, a clerical regime known for its opaqueness is believed to severely understate the already high number of 1,100 deaths — and the same now goes for Russia, with an equally dark record of state censorship, where only one death has been reported so far — a suspicious figure considering the country ranked 116th last year in the Global Health Security Index for "detecting" pandemics. But even in more open societies like the U.S. and Italy, overloaded institutions and slow rollout of diagnostic tests have blurred both the actual figures and geographical scope of the spread.
The hard truth is that even with more accurate numbers, we're missing many pieces of a puzzle that keeps multiplying: How strong is the immune response to a novel infection? How does the virus react to warmer weather? And how fast can it mutate? For now, we are left to stay at home, wonder, and wash our hands for longer than we're used to. At least that number we can be sure of: 20 seconds.
THE SITUATION - 7 THINGS TO KNOW RIGHT NOW
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Toll: Total number of deaths worldwide tops 10,000, with Italy now having passed China as nation with most fatalities (3,405). Nearly 250,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases around the world.
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Shutting India + California: Prime Minister Narendra Modi urges all citizens (1.37 billion) to observe self-imposed curfew on Sunday. Governor of California announces statewide lockdown (40 million). Meanwhile, Florida officials struggle to get young spring breakers off the beach.
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Markets bounce back: Investors reassured as governments inject huge relief packages into the world economy.
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Treatment hope: A drug used for decades to treat malaria, called chloroquine, is being hailed by a number of doctors around the world as a highly effective treatment of COVID-19. (See details below from France)
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Whistleblower justice: The martyred doctor in Wuhan who first signaled the novel coronavirus, and was silenced by local officials, gets posthumous vindication from Beijing.
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Off or On? Cannes film festival postponed. Tokyo Olympics (slated to start July 24) still on — for now.
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Royalty not spared: Prince Albert of Monaco tests positive.





