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Over 212,000 newly confirmed cases of COVID-19 worldwide within 24 hours on Saturday (Photo: DW)

WHO records world’s largest one-day COVID-19 cases increase

Over 212,000 newly confirmed cases of COVID-19 worldwide within 24 hours have been reported, raising total cases around the world to over 11,37 million cases, over 532,800 patients have succumbed to the novel disease, WHO reported.

Most of the one-day increase coming from the Americas, including the United States (45,182) and Brazil (45,182). With record rises, the US’s cumulative cases have surpassed 2.9 million, or roughly a quarter of the world's total cases. Brazil meanwhile has around 1.57 million cases.

With more than 2.7 million infections, Latin America and the Caribbean also passed Europe regarding cumulative coronavirus cases.

WHO halts hydroxychloroquine in COVID-19 treatment

The WHO said on Saturday that it was discontinuing its trials of the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine as well as the combination HIV drug opinavir/ritonavir for hospitalized COVID-19 patients after the two drugs failed to reduce deaths.

“These interim trial results show that hydroxychloroquine and lopinavir/ritonavir produce little or no reduction in the mortality of hospitalized COVID-19 patients when compared to standard of care. Solidarity trial investigators will interrupt the trials with immediate effect,” the WHO said in a statement, referring to large multicountry trials that the agency is leading.

In response to the WHO’s discontinuation, the UN agency said it does not affect other studies where those drugs are used for non-hospitalized patients or as a prophylaxis.

Earlier on Friday, the European Commission has given remdesivir, another branch of WHO-led trial, the conditional approval for use after being shown to shorten hospital recovery times, Reuters reported.

WHO halts hydroxychloroquine in COVID-19 treatment (Photo: CGTN)

China rebukes Canada over criticism of Hong Kong security law

China has fired back at Canada for criticizing Beijing's national security law for Hong Kong. This is the second rebuke in a week that has added to strains on their bilateral ties, AlJazeera reported.

The rebuke was given out following Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s statement on Friday saying Canada was suspending its extradition treaty with Hong Kong due to the law and the PM’s call the legislation as “a significant step back" for liberty”.

China's embassy in Ottawa wrote on its website Saturday that Canada had "grossly interfered" in Chinese affairs, confirmed that the new law would safeguard security in Hong Kong. In the meantime, Hong Kong officials expressed their disappointment in Canada's suspension of the extradition treaty.

"Some western countries including Canada have been meddling in Hong Kong affairs under the pretext of human rights, which seriously violates international law and basic norms of international relations," a spokesperson said in the statement. "Hong Kong affairs are entirely China's internal affairs and allow no foreign interference."

No immediate comments have been given from Canada.

China has fired back at Canada for criticizing Beijing's national security law for Hong Kong (Photo: Select News 91)

Gold Prices Rebound Following Surge in US Jobs

Gold prices rebounded from session lows rising 0.35%, despite a climb in the dollar. US yields initially moved higher following the stronger than expected US jobs report. But as the session wore on, yields declined as concerns over the spread of COVID-19 weighed on yields. This paved the way for higher gold prices. Concerns arose about the payroll numbers as permanent job losses continued to increase. Additionally, the survey period they BLS used to generate the payroll report ended on June 12, before states started to reclose their economies.

Technical Analysis

Gold prices consolidated on Thursday. Prices tested support near the 10-day moving average at 1,766 and rebounded. Additional support is seen near the 50-day moving average at 1,727. Resistance is seen near the August 2012 highs at 1,791. Short term momentum has reversed and turned negative after turning positive as the fast stochastic whipsawed and generated a sell signal in overbought territory. The current reading on the fast stochastic is 85, above the overbought trigger level of 80 which could foreshadow a correction. Medium-term momentum remains positive as the MACD (moving average convergence divergence) histogram prints in the black with an upward sloping trajectory which points to higher prices.

Gold prices rebounded from session lows rising 0.35%, despite a climb in the dollar (Photo: Australian Mining)

US Employment Was Stronger than Expected

The Labor Department reported on Thursday that US nonfarm payrolls surged by 4.8 million in June and the unemployment rate fell to 11.1%. Expectations had been for a 2.9 million increase and a jobless rate of 12.4%. The report was released a day earlier than usual due to the July Fourth holiday. The jobs growth marked a big leap from the 2.7 million in May, which was revised up by 190,000. The June total is easily the largest single-month gain in U.S. history, FX Empire reported.

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