CORONAVIRUS CRISIS:
Ø Total confirmed cases: More than 3,646,871
Ø Total deaths: At least 252,442
Ø The coronavirus COVID-19 is affecting 212 countries and territories around the world and 2 international conveyances: The list of countries and territories and their continental regional classification is based on the United Nations Geoscheme.
Ø US cases: At least 1,212,955 (+120) and deaths: 69,925 (+4)
Ø Thailand cases: At least 2,988 (+1) and deaths: 54
- Germany to reopen all shops, allow soccer matches: sources
Germany’s state premiers will agree on measures to further ease coronavirus restrictions in a teleconference with Chancellor Angela Merkel scheduled for Wednesday, two people familiar with the preparations told Reuters on Monday.
The state premiers are expected to give the green light for large shops to reopen, probably from May 11, the sources said.
- New Zealand recorded no new coronavirus cases for a second day in a row on Tuesday, and Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the outcome of her discussions with Australia on a travel bubble between the two countries would be announced later in the day.
- Global coronavirus deaths exceed quarter of a million – Reuters tally
As per Reuters tally of official government data, global coronavirus deaths reached 250,000 on Monday after recorded infections topped 3.5 million. Even so, the news suggests that the rate of fatalities has slowed.
”North America and European countries accounted for most of the new deaths and cases reported in recent days, but numbers were rising from smaller bases in Latin America, Africa, and Russia.
Global fatalities grew at a rate of 1-2% in recent days, down from 14% on March 21, according to the Reuters data.
- A newly revised coronavirus mortality model predicts nearly 135,000 Americans will die from COVID-19 by early August, almost double previous projections, as social-distancing measures for quelling the pandemic are increasingly relaxed, researchers said on Monday.
The ominous new forecast from the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) reflect “rising mobility in most U.S. states” with an easing of business closures and stay-at-home orders expected in 31 states by May 11, the institute said.
The IHME projections are presented as a statistical range of outcomes. The latest forecast predicts the cumulative number of U.S. deaths from COVID-19 will run from as few as 95,092 to as many as 242,890 by Aug. 4 - with 134,475 lives lost representing the most likely, middle ground.
By comparison, the previous revision issued on April 29 put the middle-case figure at 72,400 deaths, within a range between 59,300 and 114,200 fatalities.
· The dollar handed back a sliver of recent gains to commodity currencies on Tuesday as oil prices bounced back, but hung on against the yuan as traders weighed optimism about a coronavirus recovery in China against fears about rising Sino-U.S. tensions.
The Australian dollar inched further up over 64 cents at $0.6454 after the Reserve Bank of Australia left its targets for the cash rate and three-year government bond yields unchanged at 0.25%, but forecast the economy would suffer its largest ever contraction in the first half of the year.
Public holidays in Japan and China lightened trade, while caution on the global growth outlook capped further moves.
The yuan rose to 7.1195 per dollar in offshore trade, recovering from a six-week low of 7.1560 hit in the previous session, but well below the range where it spent last month.
· Elsewhere, the euro was pressured by a court challenge from German academics to the European Central Bank’s bond buying programme.
A ruling is due later on Tuesday and while outright rejection of the German Bundesbank’s participation in the asset purchases appears unlikely, anything less than a clear-cut defeat of the challenge could hit the single currency.
The euro last sat at $1.0906, close to a week-low hit overnight. The pound was rangebound at $1.2461.
· ECB’s government bond purchases partially violates the law, top German court says
However, the overall ECB stimulus program has not violated the law, the court said.
· EUR/USD Forecast: Pressure mounts, about to challenge 1.0880 support
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