German Chancellor Angela Merkel proposed closing bars and restaurants for a month and French President Emmanuel Macron prepared to announce tougher restrictions that may include a lockdown as hospitals fill up across Europe. Belgium’s hospital admissions soared to a record, surpassing the level reached at the height of the pandemic’s first wave. In a rare admission, U.S. President Donald Trump acknowledged that coronavirus cases are rising in “certain areas” of the Midwest. Covid-19 hospitalizations have risen at least 10% in the past week in 32 states and the nation’s capital. South Africa’s president is in self-quarantine.
Key Developments:
- Global Tracker: Cases top 43.9 million; deaths exceed 1.16 million
- East Europe fights for its life against virus it thought crushed
- City locked down for three months has bleak lesson for the world
- Can you get Covid twice? What reinfection cases mean: QuickTake
- Vaccine Tracker: Vaccine trials restart, providing hope
Subscribe to a daily update on the virus from Bloomberg’s Prognosis team here. Click CVID on the terminal for global data on coronavirus cases and deaths.
Belgian Hospital Admissions Top First-Wave Peak (3:18 p.m. HK)
Belgian hospital admissions soared to a record 689, surpassing the peak reached on March 28. There are now 5,554 Covid-19 patients being treated in Belgian hospitals and 911 in intensive care units. The country has a total ICU capacity of about 2,000 beds.
EU Looks to Buy Antigen Tests to Speed Virus Tracking (3:00 p.m. HK)
European Union officials will seek to convince the bloc’s leaders to buy millions of antigen tests to help track down cases and battle the pandemic’s resurgence.