COVID-19: What you need to know about the coronavirus pandemic on 20 November

Nov 20, 2020

A worker wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) sanitizes seats inside the Inox Leisure movie theatre ahead of its reopening, amidst the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Mumbai, India, October 13, 2020. REUTERS/Niharika Kulkarni - RC2NHJ9WXDTJ

Confirmed cases in India have passed 9 million. Image: REUTERS/Niharika Kulkarni

Joe Myers

Writer, Forum Agenda

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Global Health

This daily round-up brings you a selection of the latest news and updates on the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, as well as tips and tools to help you stay informed and protected.
Top stories: India passes 9 million confirmed cases; Grim milestone in Mexico; new restrictions in the United States.

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1. How COVID-19 is affecting the globe

Confirmed cases of COVID-19 have now passed 56.9 million globally, according to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center. The number of confirmed deaths stands at more than 1.36 million.

South Australia's six-day lockdown will end early on Saturday. The lockdown was triggered by a man who tested positive and a lied to contact tracers about the circumstances, authorities said today.

California and Ohio have both ordered nightly curfews in an attempt to slow a coronavirus surge, both running from 10pm to 5 am.

The World Health Organization panel has said that remdesivir is not recommended for patients hospitalized with COVID-19, regardless of how ill they are. The panel said there was no evidence it improved survival or reduced the need for ventilation.

The EU must lift coronavirus restrictions slowly and gradually to avoid another wave, Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission said yesterday.

The G20 must help close a funding gap to buy vaccines, drugs and tests to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, a letter from South Africa’s president, Norway’s prime minister and the heads of the World Health Organization and European Commission have said.

Hospitalizations and cases in France have fallen again, but Health Minister Olivier Véran warned that the "the lockdown is not over."

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What is the World Economic Forum doing to manage emerging risks from COVID-19?

The first global pandemic in more than 100 years, COVID-19 has spread throughout the world at an unprecedented speed. At the time of writing, 4.5 million cases have been confirmed and more than 300,000 people have died due to the virus.

As countries seek to recover, some of the more long-term economic, business, environmental, societal and technological challenges and opportunities are just beginning to become visible.

To help all stakeholders – communities, governments, businesses and individuals understand the emerging risks and follow-on effects generated by the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, the World Economic Forum, in collaboration with Marsh and McLennan and Zurich Insurance Group, has launched its COVID-19 Risks Outlook: A Preliminary Mapping and its Implications - a companion for decision-makers, building on the Forum’s annual Global Risks Report.

The report reveals that the economic impact of COVID-19 is dominating companies’ risks perceptions.

Companies are invited to join the Forum’s work to help manage the identified emerging risks of COVID-19 across industries to shape a better future. Read the full COVID-19 Risks Outlook: A Preliminary Mapping and its Implications report here, and our impact story with further information.

2. India's confirmed cases pass 9 million

After reporting more than 45,882 new infections, India has passed the milestone of 9 million confirmed COVID-19 cases. It is the second country in the world to do so, after the US.

Recorded deaths stand at 132,162, behind the US and Brazil.

Officials are warning that the country could see another spike after recent Diwali celebrations.

India cumulative confirmed COVID-19 cases

Case increases have slowed in recent weeks - but officials fear a post-Diwali spike. Image: Our World in Data

3. Mexico passes 100,000 deaths

Mexico has also passed a grim milestone, reporting more than 100,000 COVID-19 deaths.

It comes just days after the country crossed 1 million confirmed cases.

“Mexican society had no prior antecedent of an acute, infectious disease that could cause such rapid spread and affect the lives of so many,” Hugo López-Gatell, the public face of the government’s efforts to contain the virus, told reporters.

The government has said the confirmed count is probably only a fraction of the real death total.

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