Thursday evening roundupDaily summary of national and international virus news

In Luxembourg

• [block type="summary”]Prime Minister Xavier Bettel and Minister of Health Paulette Lenert went on a guided tour of the Kirchberg hospital - and so did RTL Today. In a series of interviews, doctors expressed concern over the seeming inevitability of a second wave of infections.

  In international news

  • Britain’s economy has been ravaged by the deadly novel coronavirus, which now threatens potentially the worst recession in several centuries, the Bank of England warned on Thursday.

  • They are not alone. France’s coronavirus lockdown has eroded economic activity to a bare minimum, the national statistics office said Thursday, as officials weigh the risks of trying to reopen businesses even as infections remain high.

  • Indeed, the whole eurozone economy is suffering an “unprecedented” collapse according to a PMI index released Thursday by analysis firm IHS Markit.

  • The European Central Bank chief issued a dire warning to EU leaders as they met by video Thursday bitterly divided over a giant package to help their economies recover from the coronavirus pandemic.

  • Across the pond, job losses from the coronavirus pandemic in the United States climbed to 26.4 million on Thursday, as Congress is poised to approve a new stimulus measure and governors in some states move to slowly reopen businesses.

  • China announced Thursday it will give another $30 million to the World Health Organization to help in the global fight against the coronavirus pandemic, days after Washington said it would freeze funding.

  • Italy began conducting antibody tests in the northern region of Lombardy on Thursday, seeking information about coronavirus immunity to help guide authorities as they reopen the long locked-down country.

  • And finally, Oxford University is launching a human trial of a potential coronavirus vaccine, with the daunting aim of making a successful jab available to the public later this year.