1.The GDP of Eurozone hit a record low in the second quarter, and institutions are cautious about the recovery

On July 31, eurostat published data showing that GDP of the EU and the euro area fell by 11.9% and 12.1% respectively in the second quarter compared with the previous quarter, and by 14.4% and 15% respectively compared with the same period of last year, marking the biggest decline since records began in 1995.

According to the statistics, among all the EU member states,Germany, as the "locomotive" of the EU, fell by 10.1%, France by 13.8%, Italy by 12.4%, Portugal by 14.1%.And Spain, the most serious,fell by 18.5%, while Lithuania fell by 5.1%.

Eurostat explained that the sharp drop in GDP was due to the strict anti-epidemic measures adopted by EU member states during the COVID-19. Meanwhile, the data remains to be further revised. And the second estimate of second-quarter economic growth will be published on August 14th.

Analysts said the eurozone's data lagged behind the current state of the economy and the worst was yet to come, Reuters reported.

2.The European Union has reached an agreement with pharmaceutical factory in France, stockpiling 300 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine candidates.

The European Union announced on Wednesday that it had reached a deal with French pharmaceutical giant Sanofi to stockpile 300m doses of COVID-19 vaccine candidates. The European Commission, which negotiated the deal, said it would allow all 27 EU member states to purchase the vaccine once it is proven to be safe and effective, AFP reported.

Sanofi hopes to conduct phase III trials of the vaccine -- the last before approval -- and obtain sales license in the first half of 2021.

3.About 7% of the UK population has COVID-19 antibodies, with London having the highest proportion

Preliminary results of a national study in the United Kingdom showed that approximately 7% of the population tested positive for antibodies against novel coronavirus. The latest study shows that antibody positive rates vary across the UK, with the highest in London at 10.4 percent and the lowest in southwest England and Scotland at 4.4 percent.

In addition, black, Asian and minority groups were at high risk of coVID-19 infection, with about 11.3 percent of black people tested positive for antibodies, compared with 6.9 percent of whites. The differences between racial groups could not be explained solely by age or place of residence, the researchers noted. Previous studies have shown higher rates of infection among people living in areas of relatively low socioeconomic status.

4.Spain's tourism industry has been hit hard by the resurgence of the epidemic, and Catalonia was accused of dragging its feet  

The collapse in tourism caused by the outbreak has made foreign exchange reserves plunge in many of Spain's autonomous regions, with Andalusia, Valencia, the Balearic islands and the Canary Islands hardest hit, the Economist and Herald reported. They expressed dissatisfaction with the management of the outbreak in the Autonomous region of Catalonia.

The autonomous regions are already studying the message they will send to Spain's Prime minister, Pedro Sanchez,      at a meeting of chairmen of autonomous regions on July 31st. The sources said the autonomous regions had held talks with the prime minister and would propose that the central government intervene in this matter. "We will pay for The mistakes of Catalonia," criticises one Andalusian government source.

5.The UK plans to launch a new COVID-19 detection method that can produce results within 90 minutes

In order to expand the number of COVID-19 tests, on August 3, Hancock, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, said that in the next few months, new virus testing methods will be introduced to nursing homes and laboratories all over the UK. According to reports, the new detection methods include swab detection and DNA detection, and people can obtain virus detection results within 90 minutes.

In Manchester, a soldier sampled a citizen in a car. (photo source: Xinhua News Agency)

6.At least 40 people have been diagnosed with COVID-19 on a Norwegian cruise ship

A Norwegian public health official said on August 2 that at least 40 passengers and crew members tested positive for the COVID-19 after a cluster infection occurred on a luxury cruise ship. The authorities are trying to track down passengers who have been with the infected people. It is said that the cruise ship has received 387 passengers on two separate voyages, and a total of 4 passengers have been diagnosed with COVID-19; in addition, 36 crew members on board have also been diagnosed with COVID-19 recently.

7.Belgium strengthens epidemic prevention and control

The Agence France-Presse reported on August 2 that Belgium have banned all unnecessary travel to Navarra, Aragon, Leida and Barcelona in Spain, Lake Geneva in Switzerland and Mayenne in France, and imposed compulsory virus detection and isolation on the immigrants from these areas.

8.The German government condemned the "anti-mask" parade in Berlin

On August 3, the German government condemned the "anti-mask" parade in Berlin last weekend, saying that the protesters' behavior was unacceptable. Ulrike Demmer, spokesman of the German Chancellery, said,“Peaceful demonstrations are very important, but the scene we saw on weekends was unacceptable, and many demonstrators' behaviors are undoubtedly unreasonable."

The "anti-mask" parade broke out in Berlin, Germany, on August 1, and 15,000 demonstrators took part in the parade. Almost no one wore masks and no one kept social distance.

9.Russia has announced results of phase II tests of a COVID-19 vaccine: can induce immune response

The Russian Defense Ministry said on August 3 that the results of the tests showed that all volunteers who received the second phase of the COVID-19 vaccine at Russia's Burdenko Hospital had developed an immune response.

The Defense Ministry said that earlier in the day, volunteers who received the COVID-19 vaccine developed by the Gamaleya Center, part of the Russian Federation's top public health and infectious disease prevention and control agency, experienced an immune response, according to The Paper who quoted the report from Sputnik news agency & radio.

"The results clearly show that the vaccine can trigger exact immune responses. There were no physical side effects or problems," the Defense Ministry said.

10.60 percent of the elderly in Spain’s nursing homes have antibodies!

The Ministry of Health of Spain has collected 18,500 blood samples from 425 nursing homes in different parts of the Madrid autonomous region for COVID-19 research, Spanish television reported.

According to the interim results of the study, 61% of the elderly in the nursing home in Madrid have been tested with antibodies of COVID-19, and 30% of the employees of the nursing homes have antibodies. The study is expected to cover more than 70,000 nursing home residents and employees.

11.German Doctor Union: second wave of pandemic arrives

Susanne Johna, head of the Marburger Bund, said in an interview published on Aug 4 that Germany is already in the second wave of novel Coronavirus pandemic, and if people relax vigilance, don't follow the rules of social distancing and don't wear masks, the pandemic prevention efforts in Germany will fail. On the same day, 166 people tested positive for a cluster of infections at a cannery in Bavaria.

Reuters reports that confirmed cases of COVID-19 have continued to rise steadily in recent weeks in Germany. Health experts warn that some people are spreading the virus to communities by not strictly following hygiene and social distance rules. "In the second flat phase of the rise, the number of cases is rising slowly and steadily," said Una DE Marburg, head of the German doctors' union, to Augsburger Allgemeine. She said the number of new cases, although cannot reach that of March and April, is still rising.

12.Amsterdam is imposing a mask order that could lead to fines of 95 euros for violators

In order to prevent the spread of COVID-19, the City of Amsterdam issued a mask order on August 5, requiring people to wear masks in densely populated areas. Under the new rules, those who do not wear masks could be fined 95 euros.

The Dutch government had decided not to advise the public to wear masks, saying their effectiveness in preventing the spread of the virus had not been proven and could affect the compliance with social distance rules, China News reported.

A spokesman for the mayor of Amsterdam said he had agreed with the health authorities to order measures to see if masks were effective, after scientific studies found that wearing masks could help curb the spread of the virus.

13. COVID-19 can be transmitted to dogs and cats

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung: Italian medical researchers have carried out researches on the detection of COVID-19 in a large number of animals, and confirmed that the infected human can transmit the COVID-19 to cats and dogs. The pandemic was studied in 540 dogs and 277 cats in Lombardia, northern Italy. The dogs and cats were from the most serious areas in Italy. Some of their masters were the patients. The researchers found antibodies to the COVID-19 in 3.4% of dogs and 3.9% of cats, which means that the cats and dogs had previously been infected with the epidemic. In addition, the dogs and cats were all tested negative for the virus. At present, it is generally believed that cats and dogs can be infected by humans, but there is no evidence that the virus can be transmitted between cats and dogs.

14. BMW witnessed its first quarterly loss in 11 years

Der Spiegel: according to the performance report of BMW Group in the second quarter of this year, the sales volume in this quarter decreased by a quarter compared with the same period last year, and the group's net loss was 212 million euro, which was the first quarterly loss of BMW in 11 years. "As we expected, the impact of global anti-epidemic measures was fully reflected in our performance in the second quarter of this year," said Oliver Zipse, President of BMW Group. Despite a severe second quarter loss, BMW made a pre-tax profit of 498 million euros in the first half of this year. With a significant increase in sales in July, Zipse said he was "more confident" in the second half of the year.

15. Austria will provide more beds for the homeless in winter

Die Press: due to the COVID-19, Vienna decided to provide more beds for the homeless in winter to avoid sleeping out in the cold winter, which also increased the risk of infection. In addition to 600 conventional locations, 900 emergency dormitories have been built in Vienna, and the number of day centers has increased from 600 to 745. The expansion also creates more space in a single facility to avoid overcrowding the homeless in a single shelter. Currently, shelters will continue to open in the summer, and many Austrians have to go to shelters for help because of the pandemic.