As of 2^nd September, the total global figure for people infected by Covid-19 stands at 25.7 million according to Johns Hopkins University. In addition to this, the current death statistic stands above 850,000.

Covid-19 hot spots

The US continues to be the country with the most cases and deaths related to Covid-19 globally with the aforementioned figures currently at over 6,000,000 and 180,000 respectively. Although the rate of infection has reduced over recent days and weeks from the high of 77,000 in a day, the daily case numbers are still slightly above those of the peak of the first spike.

After reserving $346 million in funding to purchase 100 million doses of the vaccine in development by the University of Oxford, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has commented that "no one can force anyone to get a vaccine." Brazil, currently heading towards 4 million cases holding the second highest number in the world after the US, has suffered from a steady average of roughly 1,000 deaths per day of people with the virus.

Coronavirus is similarly prevalent elsewhere in the Americas. Peru, Colombia, and Mexico each have over 600,000 cases a piece, whilst Argentina and Chile have more than 400,000 although these numbers may not tell the whole truth as some areas have a significant lack of testing. For example, Mexico has a test rate of just 10,000 tests per 1 million population compared to Spain where there are fewer cases and a test rate of nearly 200,000 tests per 1 million per population. Another issue infecting Latin America is misinformation related to coronavirus cures and preventative treatments. These home remedies spread on social media by influential figures, such as the use of industrial bleach, are unproven and potential harmful self-medications.

India is currently experiencing the highest rate of new coronavirus cases per day reaching its own 24-hour high of 85 thousand on 26^th August. Over the month of August, the country amassed nearly 2 million cases; the most reported in a month for any country in the world since the pandemic began. Despite these record statistics, the government continues to lift restrictions in an attempt to boost the economy after lockdown in March saw millions of jobs lost.

Large areas of Europe have managed to dramatically reduce the prevalence of coronavirus, although they have not managed to completely eradicate it. Spain and France are experiencing new outbreaks with regional lockdowns in place to attempt to cut off the spread. Ukraine has seen continued increases in case numbers after failing to minimise the virus after its first peak and the likes of Germany and the UK are observing gentle increases in daily new cases up to around 1,200.

It is still not well known how severe the situation is in Africa since there is a major lack in testing. The International Rescue Committee have said that they fear the continent is “fighting the epidemic in the dark” with limited data to work from hampering their response to the pandemic. South Africa continues to hold the most cases with around 630,000, followed by Egypt with 100,000 but the dramatic positive test result difference of 17% compared to 73% respectively hints at the reality on the continent. Other countries around the world struggling to contain the virus include Indonesia, the Philippines, and Israel, where the numbers of new cases and deaths remain high.

Has the curve flattened?

In some countries around the world where good social distancing has been practised, masks worn where necessary, efficient testing and quarantining has taken place, and test-and-trace systems have been implemented, the rate of infection has been shown to fall, and in some places, reduce to 0. This has been fully enacted by small countries and island nations and has seen positive results from larger countries such as Vietnam, Taiwan, and Iceland where the virus was once prominent.

In other countries, there has been impatience during lockdown, not waiting long enough for case rates to fall before reopening. This prevents a reduced rate of transmission, which doesn’t work towards the eradication of the virus. Through further restlessness and more easing of lockdown restrictions, the rate of transmission has increased again producing a so-called ‘second spike’ as shown by the recent dramatic increase in cases in the US or Israel.

The efforts that have been put in place by countries all over the world have reduced the impacts of the virus, though. Without the measures such as travel restrictions to and from zones with high case rates and social distancing designed to reduce transmission, the new numbers of cases would likely not have dropped, and the death toll would have been much higher by now.

Vaccine update

Over 165 vaccines are currently being developed by teams all over the world in the race to find a solution to the pandemic. 36 of these are currently in human trials, and at least 90 are in animal trials, to prove that they work as intended and are safe for wide-spread use.

A vaccine produced by the University of Oxford has been shown to trigger an immune response creating neutralising antibodies and T-cells in the recipient after a single dose in 90% of participants, although not without possible side-effects such as fever and headaches. Larger trials are taking place in countries such as Brazil where exposure to Covid-19 is high to ensure the vaccine is safe and effective, and then 47,000 volunteers from around the world will take part in “challenge trials” where they will be deliberately infected with coronavirus to observe the vaccine’s response.

Over 150 countries have pooled efforts and resources to set up the COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access Facility, otherwise known as COVAX. The benefits of this are that all member parties can take advantage of successful vaccines produced from their collective library so that everyone will have access to a working product in the shortest time frame possible. In the event that a country’s own vaccine plans fall through, they will have a backup option in COVAX.

The U.S. has announced it has no plans to participate in the rest of the world’s co-operative effort and instead intends to work on its own to find a solution so that they “will not be constrained by multilateral organizations influenced by the corrupt World Health Organization and China," said Judd Deere, spokesman for the White House. If the nation’s own vaccine proves to be unsafe or ineffective, they will be vulnerable to an extended period of infection and unnecessary deaths. This comes after President Trump withdrew the country from the World Health Organisation claiming they "failed to make the requested and greatly needed reforms" and also accusing China of receiving favourable treatment to cover up the virus’ origin.

Let’s Pray…
Let us continue to declare that the novel coronavirus is defeated by the blood of Jesus.

We pray for divine intervention and for God's name to be glorified even as each nation and government tries its best to flatten the curve and finally arrest this epidemic. 

We release wisdom, skill, and integrity upon our leaders. 

We pray for protection, wisdom and strength, for those working to bring treatment and comfort to the sick and their families.

We pray special grace and help for the vulnerable population and nations. We pray for refugees and displaced peoples. We pray against domestic violence and other crimes that have become rampant during lockdowns.

We pray for a safe, effective, and affordable vaccine to be released soonest but without including aborted baby cells in its creation or neglecting proper testing protocols.

We continue to release faith, hope, and love over the peoples of the world. May the Church seize this opportune time to manifest Jesus our Lord and Savior to those who are seeking answers and peace.

Pray: Lord God, the One who has Almighty power, we agree according to your promise in Matthew 18:18-20 that this virus will be stopped in its tracks. That the medical researchers will get a download from Heaven on how to quickly develop a vaccine to counteract COVID-19 and a cure for those who have become infected.

We also agree in prayer, asking that the Body of Christ worldwide will rise up in love and boldness, trusting in your blood to cover and protect us and throwing off fear, so that we can be available to serve, bless, and bear witness to those around us who are terrified and depressed at being infected.

Let us seize this unprecedented opportunity to make you known to those without hope in Christ!

Thank you for your promise that surely, you will be with us "always, even to the very end of the age” so that we can carry on with the mission you have given us for our world (Matthew 28:20).