Chinese City Partially Shut Off; Tokyo Emergency: Virus Update

(Bloomberg) -- Authorities in Shijiazhuang, a city of about 11 million people to the south of Beijing, stopped people from leaving by train and airlines canceled flights as an outbreak worsened in the provincial capital. Elsewhere, Japan’s Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga is expected to declare a state of emergency for Tokyo and surrounding areas amid a record number of cases.

A top Chinese scientist defended delays in raising the alarm in the early days of the outbreak last year, saying officials were unsure whether the coronavirus was transmissible among humans. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he was concerned by China’s lack of cooperation with the World Health Organization, while the U.K. urged Beijing to let WHO officials into the country.

Just 1 in 100,000 people have had a severe allergic reaction to the first Covid-19 vaccine, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. Moderna Inc.’s vaccine won European Union approval. Australia’s vaccine roll-out will begin by late February, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said.

Key Developments:

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Restrictions Tighten in Hebei Province (12:28 p.m. HK)

Authorities in Shijiazhuang, the capital of Hebei province surrounding Beijing, banned people from leaving the city by train, China Central Television reported, citing local police. Many airlines have also canceled flights due to the worsening outbreak, the city’s airport said in a statement on Weibo, without elaborating.

Infections spiked in Hebei after the New Year holiday. Ma Xiaowei, head of China’s National Health Commission, called the outbreak in the province “very severe,” while the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention said the strain is similar to those from Europe, but how it became locally transmitted is unknown. The first confirmed case was reported Saturday. The patient, a 61-year-old woman, visited relatives and attended events before being diagnosed.

China has staved off several outbreaks since bringing the initial one in Wuhan under control, largely by sticking to a playbook of aggressive contact tracing and mass testing millions of people in a matter of days. Some cases stemmed from contaminated food imports, as well as domestically-produced meat products and goods such as auto parts.

Thai Consumer Confidence Sinks (12:07 p.m. HK)

Thailand’s consumer confidence fell to 50.1 in December, its lowest since July, as a new outbreak spread across the country rapidly, according to the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce. It was also the first decline in three months.

Mexico’s Deaths Surge, Hospitals Fill Up (11:17 a.m. HK)

Mexico reported 1,165 Covid-19 deaths, the highest daily increase apart from Oct. 5, when it adjusted its counting strategy. The capital and metropolitan area, where more than 20 million people live, also saw a record number of virus hospitalizations. About 88% of Mexico City hospital beds for coronavirus patients are occupied.

Australia Vaccine Plans (10:28 a.m. HK)

Australia’s vaccination roll-out will begin by late February and 4 million people should have received at least their first dose by the end of March, Prime Minister Scott Morrison told reporters in Canberra.

The program will be implemented in five stages. The first will cover quarantine and border officials, health workers and residents in aged and disability care, providing a “ring of containment” around the whole population, he said.

Pfizer Inc.’s vaccine should be approved for use by Australian authorities by the end of January, with the AstraZeneca Plc product following during February, according to Morrison.

Malaysia Considers Targeted Curbs (9:43 a.m. HK)

Malaysia’s Health Ministry is considering targeted lockdowns to manage the pandemic as the health system reaches breaking point, Malaysiakini reported, citing Health Director-General Noor Hisham Abdullah.

The country registered a record 2,593 in new coronavirus cases on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, tensions are rising in the largest party in Malaysia’s ruling coalition over whether a general election should be held during the worsening pandemic.

China Reports More Cases in Hebei (8:48 a.m. HK)

China reported 52 new confirmed local Covid-19 cases, 51 of which were in the province of Hebei near Beijing. The other was in the northeastern province of Liaoning.

Hebei has rolled out mass testing after the spike in cases. Authorities aim to complete testing more than 10 million people in the cities of Shijiazhuang and Xingtai in three to four days. Some 3,000 medical workers from around the country have been dispatched to help tend to patients in the province.

Suga Set to Declare Emergency (8:35 a.m. HK)

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga is due to declare a state of emergency for Tokyo and adjacent areas, seeking to stem infections that are at record highs.

The declaration will cover the capital and the surrounding prefectures of Kanagawa, Saitama and Chiba, and is likely to be imposed from Friday until Feb. 7, Economy Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura said.

Suga is set to hold a news conference on the matter at 6 p.m. local time.

National Express UK to Suspend Services (7:50 a.m. HK)

National Express UK Coach said it will fully suspend its network of scheduled coach services from Jan. 11 amid tighter restrictions and falling passenger numbers. The company set a provisional restart date of March 1.

Japan to Fine Violators of Shutdown Law (7:27 a.m. HK)

Japan will revise legislation to allow imposing fines on business operators that don’t obey government shutdown orders, the Mainichi reported, citing a draft of the law. Violators will face fines of up to 500,000 yen ($4,855), the newspaper said.

Vaccine for Police Sparks New York Dispute (6 a.m. HK)

In the latest disagreement with New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, Governor Andrew Cuomo said police officers and firefighters are not yet eligible to get the Covid-19 vaccine.

De Blasio said Wednesday that police and firefighters can begin getting vaccinated this week. In response, Cuomo said that only police and firefighters who are also emergency-care providers are eligible. The rest will be able to get vaccinated when the state starts with its next tier.

California Has Second-Highest Death Tally (3:38 a.m. HK)

California reported 459 daily virus deaths, the second-highest tally since the pandemic began, as the most-populous U.S. state continues to battle a surge of cases that has strained health-care facilities.

Virus hospitalizations climbed 1.5% from the prior day to a record 22,820 patients, according to state health-department data Wednesday. Intensive-care units in Southern California and the San Joaquin Valley are at a surge capacity, while the San Francisco Bay area has less than 8% of its ICU beds available.

States Urged to Widen Vaccination Pool (3:15 a.m. HK)

U.S. health officials encouraged states to start vaccinating people more widely, acknowledging that the immunization rollout has been slower than anticipated and opening the spigot for a broader range of Americans to begin getting shots.

About 5.2 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines from Pfizer Inc.-BioNTech SE and Moderna Inc. have been administered in the U.S. since mid-December, according to data compiled by Bloomberg News. That represents a fraction of the number of doses distributed so far.

Colorado Vaccinating People Over 70 (3 a.m. HK)

Colorado has begun administering vaccines to residents ages 70 and older following last week’s decision to expedite shots to seniors, who account for 78% of the state’s Covid-19 deaths, Colorado Governor Jared Polis said during an online briefing.

Health officials also reported that the total number of confirmed cases of the mutation first detected in England stands at two. Colorado was the first state to report the faster-spreading mutation last week. Colorado has recorded 3,986 Covid-19 deaths since the pandemic swept into the U.S., Polis said.

CDC Calls Severe Allergic Reactions Rare (2:10 a.m. HK)

Roughly 1 in 100,000 people have had a severe allergic reaction to the first Covid-19 vaccine, a rate that’s higher than the flu vaccine but still quite rare, U.S. health officials said.

A study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released Wednesday outlined 21 cases of anaphylaxis among the first 1.9 million recipients of Pfizer Inc.’s vaccine, a rate of 11.1 per million doses administered. No anaphylaxis deaths have been reported, the CDC said.

Warp Speed’s Slaoui to Be Biden Consultant (2:05 a.m. HK)

Moncef Slaoui, chief scientific adviser to the U.S. Operation Warp Speed effort to develop Covid-19 vaccines, said he will stay on as a consultant to the incoming Biden administration.

Slaoui, a longtime pharmaceutical executive, had previously said he would consider returning to the private sector after two vaccines and two therapies were available. Operation Warp Speed has achieved that goal with vaccines from Pfizer Inc. and Moderna Inc. authorized for emergency use, along with antibody therapies available to treat Covid-19 cases.

N.Y. Triples Medical-Worker Vaccination Rate (1:15 a.m. HK)

New York’s vaccination rate of medical workers has tripled so far this week, but supply is still an issue, Governor Andrew Cuomo said. The state has administered more than 31,000 doses a day for the past two days, compared with a daily rate of 10,809 over the past three weeks, Cuomo said.

New York is getting about 300,000 doses a week from the federal government. To date it has received 950,000 doses for 2.1 million health-care and nursing home staff and residents, Cuomo said.

Ireland Adds Extra Restrictions (12:45 a.m. HK)

Ireland tightened restrictions in a bid to contain its worst virus outbreak yet, adding extra curbs to what’s already one of Western Europe’s strictest lockdowns.

The government will keep most students out of schools until at least the end of the month, Prime Minister Micheal Martin said. Most construction will also halt, and click-and-collect services from non-essential stores will end. From Jan. 9, all passengers arriving at Irish airports and ports whose trip started in Great Britain or South Africa will need evidence of a recent negative virus test result.

U.K. Tallies Most Deaths Since April (12:30 a.m. HK)

The U.K. reported 1,041 new coronavirus deaths within 28 days of a positive test on Wednesday, the highest daily increase since late April.

A further 62,322 positive coronavirus cases were also reported on the government’s dashboard, higher than a seven-day average of 55,945.

Moderna Shot Gains EU Approval (11:45 p.m. HK)

Moderna Inc.’s Covid-19 vaccine won European Union approval, opening the way for a second weapon in the bloc’s battle against a resurgent virus.

EU leaders are facing growing pressure to speed up clearance and deployment of vaccines to tame a surge of cases across the continent. The 27-nation bloc began immunizations last week with the vaccine developed by Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE, but the pace of the rollout has been uneven, prompting unfavorable comparisons with the U.K. and U.S.

U.K. Cancels School Exams (9:45 p.m. HK)

The U.K. government confirmed that GCSE and A-level exams will be canceled this year due to the pandemic, with pupils instead being graded using teacher assessments.

Education Secretary Gavin Williamson told members of Parliament it is right to “put our trust in teachers rather than algorithms” for generating grades. Earlier, Prime Minister Boris Johnson promised that England’s schools will be the first things to reopen after the national lockdown but warned that restrictions could last months.

Germany Urges Patience on Vaccine Rollout (8:25 p.m. HK)

Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government pleaded for patience as it pushed back against criticism that Germany bungled the rollout of a vaccine. A shortage of doses at the start of the campaign was expected and stems from production bottlenecks, Health Minister Jens Spahn said Wednesday in Berlin.

Germany’s daily Covid-19 deaths exceeded 1,000 for only the second time since the start of the pandemic, with 1,009 fatalities in the 24 hours through Wednesday morning, bringing the total to 36,757.

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