Each week, we’re taking a look at how COVID-19 is impacting life around the world. Here’s the roundup for this week:
South Korea
South Korea has reported 79 new coronavirus cases—its largest daily jump in two months. The country’s health ministry said the majority of the new cases were from a parcel delivery distribution center in Seoul. Before the recent spike, South Korea had managed to stabilize its outbreak with aggressive tracking and testing. (VOA News)
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Ethiopia
Due to coronavirus, Ethiopia has had to cancel what would have been the first artificial-intelligence (AI) conference to be held in an African country. Computer scientists from around the globe had planned to descend on Addis Ababa for the symposium, which would have been a powerful opportunity to boost its research environment. Holding it in Ethiopia was an attempt to make it more accessible to researchers and delegates who usually find it hard to secure visas to Western countries, where these conferences are usually held. (Nature)
South Africa
AngloGold Ashanti, owners of the world’s deepest gold mine in South Africa, have halted operations there and put its workers into isolation after 164 cases of the coronavirus were detected. Mining had resumed at the Mponeng site in April after a national lockdown, operating at 50% capacity. South Africa has the most cases of coronavirus in Africa. (BBC)
Uruguay
Given its similar population size and number of deaths, some people are calling it the “New Zealand of Latin America.” Uruguay (population 3.5 million) has recorded 789 cases of COVID-19 and 22 deaths after moving fast to introduce voluntary quarantining and widespread tracking and testing in March. With no deaths since May 23, the Latin American country is starting to reopen its economy and schools—a contrast to the rest of the region which is still being plagued by the coronavirus. (Reuters)
