There are now over 1.1 million coronavirus victims worldwide. The cases diagnosed so far are close to 41 million. The United States is the country that has paid the highest price, with about 222,000 lives broken by Covid-19. Followed by Brazil (about 155,000 dead), India (115,000), Mexico (87,000) and the United Kingdom (44,000).
More than 11,000 cases in 24 hours, a new record in Germany
Yesterday, Germany recorded 11,287 new cases of Covid-19. This is a significant leap, both compared to the previous day (when the positives were 7,595), and compared to the absolute record, which was reached on Friday with 7,830 infections recorded by the Robert Koch institute. Among the positives in the past few hours, the Minister of Health, Jens Spahn, has also appeared. The CDU politician, who is in self-isolation at home with mild symptoms, had participated in a council of ministers which was also attended by Chancellor Angela Merkel, but no other member of the government will be quarantined because, according to Berlin, everyone wore the mask and the meeting was held in full compliance with anti-virus regulations.
Usa, still stalemate on Covid aid. The White House raises: 1.9 trillion
The White House is relaunching and improving its offer for the stimulus plan in hopes of reaching a compromise with the democratic opposition ahead of the presidential election on November 3. “Now we’re at 1.9 trillion,” Donald Trump’s chief of staff Mark Meadows told Fox News. “I think the next 24 or 48 hours will be crucial,” he added. Meanwhile, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Speaker of the House of Democrats Nancy Pelosi met in the evening to get to a square. “These talks have brought us closer to drafting” a law, Pelosi’s spokesman Drew Hammill said in a tweet. “We are better prepared to reach a compromise on several priorities,” he said. But the differences persist, and Steven Mnuchin and Nancy Pelosi will meet today. Meanwhile, Wall Street closed negatively: there is uncertainty about the outcome of the negotiations. When they started, the White House reported that it would support a $ 1 trillion plan to help families and businesses, but the Democrats asked for a minimum of $ 2.2 trillion. If an agreement were to be found, the text would have to be approved by the Senate, now controlled by the Republicans.
Japan, travel giants close dozens of branches: “Business collapsed”
The collapse in demand in the tourism and organized travel sector, due to the pandemic, will not show signs of recovery in the short and medium term, hence a strategy to adapt to the new world order. This was stated by Eijiro Yamakita, president of Jtb, the largest Japanese travel agency in an interview with the newspaper Asahi Shimbun, anticipating the closure of 20% of branches in the next 5 years. To improve the efficiency of the services, Jtb – which in 2019 had around 480 stores in Japan – will enhance the online experience for those customers looking for specific services – said Yamakita, further differentiating the sections for the domestic market and travel to all ‘abroad. According to data from the National Tourism Agency (JTA), the value of commercial transactions provided by the JTB between April and August stood at 84 billion yen (675 million euros), a decrease of 88% compared to reference period of 2019. In recent months, the operator had already reached an agreement with the trade unions to cancel the winter bonus for all its 13 thousand employees. The crisis in the sector also affects Jtb’s main competitor, HIS – which specializes in travel abroad – which has announced the closure of a third of its 260 branches in Japan by next summer. Yesterday, the JTA updated the most recent data on the income of tourists in the Land of the Rising Sun for the month of September: minus 99.4% at 13,700, but a slight recovery compared to August. Since last July, the Japanese government has launched an incentive campaign to promote internal travel under the name of ‘Go To Travel’, worth 1,350 billion yen (about 11 billion euros), through which tourists will be able to deduct the 35% on the cost of the stay, and receive a 15% discount on restaurant services and local shopping.
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