After an ambitious expansion of the safety net in the spring saved millions of people from poverty, the aid is now largely exhausted and poverty has returned to levels higher than before the coronavirus crisis, two new studies have found.
The number of poor people has grown by 8 million since May, according to researchers at Columbia University, after falling by 4 million at the pandemic's start as a result of an $US2 trillion emergency package known as the Cares Act.
Using a different definition of poverty, researchers from the University of Chicago and Notre Dame found that poverty has grown by 6 million people in the past three months, with circumstances worsening most for Black people and children.
There are four nations with more than 1 million cases — the US, India, Brazil and Russia — and three others with more than 900,000 — Argentina, Colombia and Spain.
The proportion of contacts of COVID-19 cases reached by England's test and trace scheme fell to a record low of 62.6 per cent in the latest week, health ministry statistics revealed on Thursday, intensifying criticism of the misfiring system
Asked about the record low proportion of contacts reached, health minister Matt Hancock cited unprecedented numbers of people being contacted through the system, though that comes as prevalence of the disease rises
Weekly statistics showed 87,918 people were transferred to the contact tracing system between October 1 and October 7, including around 11,000 cases delayed from an earlier reporting period by a technical problem
Of those transferred, 76.8 per cent were reached and asked to give details of their contacts
Although the 216,627 people identified as contacts of those cases was double the previous week, only 62.6 per cent were reached, a record low proportion
He's the second Aussie mining veteran to duck out, making it harder for Rio to meet the Treasurer's demand for an Australian at the helm
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