Welcome to our weekly newsletter highlighting the best of our coverage of the pandemic and its effects. Perhaps the litmus test of the post-pandemic world will be how much international travel returns. But which covid-19 vaccine is the most widely accepted for international travel? A patchwork of complicated cross-border travel rules is causing confusion. England’s school year has staggered to a disappointing end. By the time schools began breaking up in mid-July, nearly a quarter of pupils were already absent, according to government figures. Meanwhile, the Delta covid-19 variant is ripping through Britain, with more than 40,000 cases reported a day (two-thirds of the peak in January). The decision by the prime minister, Boris Johnson, to end most mitigation measures in England will test the limits of its mass vaccination campaign. Kazakhstan is awash in fake vaccination passports. The country’s health-care system is one of its most corrupt sectors—a black market is thriving in fake exemption certificates and in forged covid-19 tests showing a negative result. Australia’s covid-19 strategy is being put under strain. Sydney, a city of 5m, is now recording just over 100 new infections a day. By Australia’s previously low rates, that is no joke. The Delta variant combined with a low vaccination rate is causing trouble. India’s economy is suffering from long covid. As a devastating wave of the virus recedes, the effects will linger for much longer. In the Business section, we report on how outbreaks of covid-19 have left South-East Asia with little policy room. A recent surge in cases has knocked economic activity in the region and the return to economic normality will be arduous. Does America face a similar slowdown in economic growth? We argue the Delta variant is by far the biggest of several risks to America’s economy. Our correspondents also discuss the Delta variant on “Money Talks”, our weekly podcast on business and finance. The variant has rattled financial markets but another threat also looms: the end of emergency stimulus. Can the economic recovery survive that? Meanwhile, our data journalists have been looking at what the right and wrong ways are to reduce vaccine hesitancy. It seems more people are willing to get jabbed amid speedy vaccination campaigns—or during surging covid-19 outbreaks. |