Global | Coronavirus Watch: Case rates fall globally

New global cases of Covid-19 have fallen below the March lows and in many advanced economies, rapid vaccination programmes have allowed economies to begin to reopen without triggering a surge in Covid cases.

The ongoing reopening supports our above-consensus assessment of the near-term economic outlook. However, recent developments in the UK and Israel show that there will be bumps along the way.

Despite leading the way in vaccination speed within the G20, the UK has seen Covid cases climb sharply and now has the third-highest number of cases per million in the G20.

The UK ‘exit wave’ had been predicted, though, and hospitalisations remain low so recent developments are not an automatic cause for alarm. But the rise in cases does highlight the risk of variants triggering further Covid surges in economies that have made limited progress with their vaccine programmes.