Be ready for more COVDI-19 surges: WHO

People have swabs taken for COVID-19 test in Melbourne on Wednesday. Over 3 lakh people in suburbs north of Melbourne were locked down again for a month, on Wednesday, to control the spike in cases. Pic/AFP

The World Health Organisation says countries must strive to ensure that the "new normal" simultaneously prioritises health and the economy so they can recover from the coronavirus pandemic. Woochong Um, the director general for the Asia Development Bank's sustainable development and climate change sector, said the pandemic would reduce developing Asia's growth to its lowest in six decades.

Um says the pandemic has spared no economy in the region. WHO Regional Director for the Western Pacific Dr Takeshi Kasai says communities must be prepared for more case surges in the future. He says as long as the virus is circulating somewhere, no country is safe, and that we must continue responding to the current situation and preparing every corner of every country for the possibility of large-scale community transmission.

People march in Minneapolis, demanding temporary cancellation of rents and mortgages as COVID-19 ravages the economy. PIC/AFP

First case in US border camp
An international disaster relief group reported on Tuesday the first case of COVID-19 among migrants living at Tamaulipas camp of asylum seekers at the US-Mexico border. There are some 2,000 asylum seekers living in tents along the border. The migrants from Central America and other parts of the world have been stranded by the US's suspension of asylum hearings due to the pandemic through at least mid-July.

US companies added nearly 2.4 million jobs in June, according to a private survey. Still, the economy remains under pressure from the pandemic which has infected 10,616,365 and killed 5,14,637 so far.

Virus may infect heart cells: study

Researchers have shown that the novel Coronavirus can infect lab-grown cardiac muscle cells, indicating it may be possible for the virus to directly cause heart infection in COVID-19 patients. The study was based on experiments conducted in lab-grown heart muscle cells which were produced from unspecialised human stem cells, and hence, scientists said these findings are not a perfect replicate of what is happening in the body.

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