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            Period. 6 – 12 April 2020          

                
       
    


    
    
    

    
          
At least 14 countries are reporting more than 10,000 cases, as nine report over 1,000 deaths. With less than 17% of all confirmed cases globally, Italyand Spain continue to account for more than 35% of all reported deaths (19,468 and 16,972, respectively). There has been optimism over the past week, however, as both countries have been reporting reductions in daily new confirmed cases and deaths.


France and Turkey continue to experience significant daily increases in confirmed cases and deaths, reported cases at 129,654 and 52,167, respectively. The U.K. is likewise expected to see a drop in new cases and hospitalization, despite a record in daily reported deaths. Prime Minister Boris Johnson was moved out of Intensive Care yesterday after three days, stating ‘I owe them my life’ referring to NHS staff. Russia has also been raising concerns, as the number of reported cases continue to surge 10-20% for a third consecutive day, doubled in just four days to over 15,000, prompting China to close its border.


Many European countries are also reporting high CFR near or above 10%, including Italy, Spain, France, the U.K., Netherlands, Belgium, and Sweden. This has been partly attributed to selective testing strategies, as a paper this week in BMJ suggests early and widespread testing may be contributing to Germany’s relatively low CFR (2%). The European CDC has recommended that countries scale up testing and surveillance systems to guide and monitor the escalation and de-escalation of mitigation strategies.



    
     
      
      
      
            
      
              

        

          
This development is part of the digest;