Six months after the World Health Organization declared a global emergency, the novel coronavirus has infected more than 17 million people worldwide. Apple profits rose eight percent to $11.2 billion, Amazon meanwhile said profits nearly doubled to $5.2 billion and Facebook said its profits doubled to $5.2 billion compared with the same period last year. Global daily cases are now approaching the 300,000 mark, with the curve showing no sign of flattening — it took just 100 hours for one million new cases to be recorded. And the country also recorded another grim milestone: the death of Buddy, the first US pet dog to test positive for the virus. Sweden, whose controversial softer approach to curbing coronavirus has received worldwide attention, said it would encourage people to keep working from home into next year where possible, as the country passed 80,000 recorded cases.

Source: Manila Times July 31, 2020 03:45 UTC