June 8 coronavirus news

Canada announced Monday that it would relax some border restrictions for immediate family members of Canadian citizens and permanent residents, including some who have been trying to enter from the United States.

Despite the change, a 14-day mandatory quarantine for anyone entering the country remains in place. 

Trudeau acknowledged that this has been a hard time for some families kept apart because of the pandemic. 

"This is an incredibly difficult time to be apart from a spouse, a child, or mom or dad," Trudeau said. 

Nonessential travel into Canada is currently restricted, and that includes travel across the US-Canada border. 

That mutual border agreement is set to expire June 21 but Trudeau has indicated that "stronger measures" to contain the virus might be needed even if the border reopens to discretionary travel. 

The World Bank predicts global economic growth this year will shrink the most since World War II due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Economists at the World Bank say Covid-19 has triggered the deepest recession in decades. They expect the global economy in 2020 to shrink 5.2% — nearly three times as steep as the global recession in 2009.

In its more than 200-page report on the global economy, the World Bank said it envisions a moderate recovery of 4.2% in 2021. However, it also said an “even worst scenario is possible” if the health crisis takes longer than expected to bring under control.

The World Bank also said the pandemic is taking a heavy human and economic toll on the poorest countries, and that “those already in extreme poverty could descend further into destitution.”

There are at least 1,950,023 cases of coronavirus in the US, and at least 110,689 people have died, according to Johns Hopkins University's tally of cases in the United States.

The totals includes cases from all 50 states, the District of Columbia and other US territories, as well as repatriated cases. 

On Monday, Johns Hopkins has reported 7,660 new cases and 175 reported deaths. 

The National Bureau of Economic Research declared Monday that the coronavirus recession began in February.

The economy collapsed so rapidly that NBER wasted no time in announcing a recession, a stark contrast to previous downturns when the body took a year to declare what most people already knew.

Social distancing requirements imposed to fight the pandemic have crushed broad swaths of the US economy, from airlines and cruise ships to restaurants and Broadway shows.

More than 42 million Americans have filed for unemployment benefits. Major companies including JCPenney, J.Crew and Hertz have filed for bankruptcy. And economists are predicting GDP imploded at an annualized rate of 40% during the second quarter.

The pandemic marked an end to the mediocre but long recovery from the Great Recession. In July 2019, that expansion officially became the longest period of uninterrupted growth in US history dating back to 1854. It spanned 128 months, easily breaking the prior record of 120 months set between March 1991 and March 2001 during the dotcom boom.

Coronavirus is in retreat across the United Kingdom, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said Monday.

He said the government's scientific advisers estimate the virus reproductive rate is currently below one in all regions.

However, Hancock warned that where there are individual “flare ups and outbreaks” the government will take local action.

"The epidemic in care homes is coming under control... the latest figures shows an almost 50% fall in the number of new care homes reporting an outbreak," Hancock said.

No Covid-19-related deaths were recorded in London hospitals or across Scotland on Sunday, he said.

However, although Sunday's official UK death toll of 55 was the lowest daily rise since lockdown began on March 23, the figures do tend to be lower at weekends because of delays in reporting, Hancock cautioned.

Vermont Health Commissioner Dr. Mark Levine said more than 1,000 people have turned out for testing after they first reported an outbreak in Winooski Friday. As of last night, there are a total of 62 cases that are believed to be associated with the outbreak — 48 Winooski residents, nine Burlington residents, and five people from other towns in Chittendon County tested positive for coronavirus, Levine said.

Of the cases, 38 are adults and 24 are children, Levine said.

“The age range is from 1 to 64 with a median age of 21,” Levine said, adding that there have no reports of hospitalizations and no deaths associated with this outbreak.

The state is experiencing an overall uptick in cases but the positivity rate remains low, Levine said. There are 1,075 cases of coronavirus in Vermont, at least 895 people have recovered, and the death total, which hasn’t changed in several weeks, is 55. 

The health department epidemiology team is working to determine whether the cases in Burlington are linked to the Winooski cases, or if there is the possibility of unrelated transmission in Burlington. They will continue to offer testing every day in Winooski and Burlington and Levine says he expects the number of cases to rise over the coming days.

Levine said that many of the people who tested positive did not know they were affected and about one in five people reported they have symptoms. This could be because they were told very early on and haven’t had symptoms yet or it could mean they are asymptomatic, Levine said. 

Israel will “hit the emergency brake” on its reopening plans as the number of coronavirus cases rises sharply, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday during a meeting of the coronavirus cabinet.

“There has been a very steep increase in morbidity. It could be that we are already seeing the doubling of the rate of infection within ten days. I very much hope not, " Netanyahu said during the meeting.

For the past eight days, Israel has seen approximately 100 new infections a day, up from approximately 20 new infections a day a week earlier.

According to the Ministry of Health, 298 people have now died as a result of coronavirus in Israel.

Netanyahu said that Israel would freeze further reopening measures that were supposed to take place in the coming days, reevaluating the situation in one week.

Though schools, malls, and restaurants reopened under certain health restrictions, the resumption of train service and the reopening of theaters, music halls, and other cultural venues will now be delayed.

As massive protests over George Floyd’s killing continue all across New York City as the coronavirus pandemic persists, Gov. Andrew Cuomo urged protesters to get tested.

He announced that 15 testing sites around New York City will prioritize testing for protesters.

Cuomo reminded people that one person is capable of spreading the virus to dozens of people. “We’ve seen it," he said.

New York City will perform 35,000 tests a day and monitor the data for any signs of a spike, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Monday.

Cuomo asked all protesters to get a Covid-19 test, highlighting 15 testing sites around NYC that are prioritized just for protesters. 

The Governor said there are more than 240 testing sites in New York City. The city entered phase one of reopening today.

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