The OECD forecast that the pandemic will cause a global economic slump of 6% this year, based on a scenario of the virus continuing to recede. A second wave, which the OECD said is an equally likely scenario, could mean a 7.6% contraction. The European Commission blamed China and Russia for spewing out false and misleading online information about Covid-19. Sweden’s top health authority said it will stop holding daily briefings on the virus infection rate and death toll amid a furor over the country’s pandemic strategy.
Anthony Fauci, the director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said the pandemic is his “worst nightmare” and warned that the deadly outbreak is far from over even as U.S. infections rose at the slowest daily pace since March.
Key Developments:
- Virus Tracker: Cases pass 7.2 million; deaths exceed 411,000
- How London transport is preparing for life after lockdown
- Pandemic has everyone ditching coal — except Asia
- U.K.’s Sunak urged to treat virus borrowing as war debt
- Virus pushes nations to solve global food problem