Japan Mulls Pfizer Vaccine; U.S. Cases Soar: Virus Update

(Bloomberg) --

Japan’s government is considering approving Pfizer Inc.’s Covid-19 vaccine for use by individuals aged 16 years and above, broadcaster NHK reported.

California, where the latest surge in the virus has filled hospitals and morgues, reported its worst day for fatalities so far. Arizona surpassed 10,000 deaths. North Carolina and Virginia reported a record number of new infections. The U.S. recorded its second-highest number of new cases on Friday.

The U.K. became the first country in western Europe to report more than 3 million coronavirus cases, as it grapples with a new strain that’s putting pressure on its health service. Germany’s death toll exceeded 1,000 for a fourth straight day, as Chancellor Angela Merkel pledged to speed up the pace of vaccinations.

Key Developments:

Japan Mulls Approving Pfizer Vaccine for Ages 16 and Up: NHK (10:13 a.m. HK)

Japan’s government is considering approving Pfizer Inc.’s Covid-19 vaccine for use by individuals aged 16 years and above, broadcaster NHK reported.

Authorities will approve the vaccine for the age group as Japan’s clinical trials are conducted on people from 20 years old, so data on those younger isn’t unavailable, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter that it didn’t identify. Inadequate data in overseas trials on people aged 15 and below, along with fewer severe Covid-19 cases among children, were also cited as reasons for excluding youngsters, NHK reported.

Pfizer and BioNTech SE, which applied for regulatory approval of their coronavirus vaccine in Japan last month, have agreed to provide 120 million doses to the country in the first half of 2021. Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga has saidthe government is working to start vaccinations in late February.

China Reports 48 Local Cases for Saturday (09:25 a.m. HK)

China reported 69 new coronavirus cases on Saturday, including 21 imported cases and 48 domestic cases.

Of the local cases, 46 are in the northern province of Hebei, one in Beijing and one in Liaoning.

China also reported 27 new asymptomatic cases yesterday, 13 of which are imported.

Mexico Reports 16,105 New Covid-19 Cases, 1,135 More Deaths (09:21 a.m. HK)

Mexico reported 16,105 new Covid-19 cases on Saturday night, bringing the total to 1,524,036, according to data released by the Health Ministry.

The country also reported 1,135 more Covid-19 deaths, bringing the total to 133,204.

As of Friday, 6,722 people in the country had been vaccinated.

Los Angeles Deaths Exceed 12,000 (9 a.m. HK)

The Greater Los Angeles area added 221 new deaths, bringing its total to 12,084. The county of 10 million reported 16,982 for a total of 906,171.

L.A. has become the epicenter of the latest wave, as ICU capacity evaporates with the surge in infections, overwhelming its health-care facilities. Almost 8,000 Covid-19 patients are hospitalized, with more than one in five of them in the ICU.

Australia’s New South Wales Reports Three New Local Cases (08:12 a.m. HK)

Australia’s New South Wales state reported three locally acquired coronavirus cases overnight, all linked to known clusters, including Sydney’s Northern Beaches, Premier Gladys Berejiklian told reporters Sunday.

The Northern Beaches region was the center of an outbreak that caused Australia’s other states to close their borders to Greater Sydney’s 5 million residents, disrupting travel plans over Christmas and the peak summer holiday season. NSW removed so-called ‘stay at home’ orders for Northern Beaches residents on Sunday.

Australia’s Queensland state recorded no new cases of coronavirus overnight as its capital city Brisbane remains in lockdown to prevent an outbreak after a cleaner at a quarantine hotel in the city was infected with the more transmissible U.K. strain, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk told reporters Sunday. Palaszczuk will provide an update Monday on whether the lockdown will lift later that evening as planned, she said.

Victoria state recorded no new cases of local transmission for the fourth consecutive day.

Austin to Use Convention Center for Virus Patients (8:01 p.m. NY)

Austin, Texas is opening an “alternative care site” at its convention center as surging virus cases strain the area’s health care system.

Jason Pickett, deputy medical director for Austin Travis County, said in a tweet the center is being opened because “we believe that it is inevitable that the health care system in Central Texas will exceed capacity and will soon be overwhelmed.” The city said the center will be for patients who need less care to leave hospitals free for sicker patients.

Kentucky Passes 300,000 Cases as Governor Fights Legislators (7:39 a.m. HK)

Governor Andy Beshear announced that Kentucky had passed 300,000 Covid-19 cases as he pushed back on a state legislative effort to curb his powers to impose restrictions on businesses and schools. “This is not the time to hamper our ability to fight a deadly virus,” the Democratic governor said in a Facebook video on Saturday, in reference to a bill passed by the Republican-controlled legislature.

The state reported 4,240 new cases Saturday, which Beshear said represented a “difficult milestone in our war against Covid 19.” The state broke a record for new infections on Wednesday, with 5,742 cases. The rate of positive tests is the highest since May, he said. Another 20 people died.

Brazil’s Case Trend Rises Further (5:25 p.m. NY)

Brazil’s 14-day rolling average of new cases rose for a fifth consecutive day, approaching record levels reached in August, according to Health Ministry data.

The country with the third-most confirmed infections behind the U.S. and India added 62,290 cases in Saturday’s tally for a total of almost 8.1 million. Deaths rose by 1,171 to more than 202,000. Both trends have ticked up since the start of the year.

President Jair Bolsonaro asked India to expedite a shipment of AstraZeneca Plc’s coronavirus vaccine, the Health Ministry said in a statement Saturday.

Nevada’s Deadliest Week; California Adds Record New Deaths (4:51 p.m. NY)

Nevada ended its deadliest week with more than 300 fatalities, almost 100 more than the previous week. The state reported 56 deaths on Saturday, just below the record 60 on Wednesday. With total deaths at 3,450, the Las Vegas Sun reported that Clark County, the state’s most populous, has begun deploying refrigerated trailers to funeral homes.

California reported 695 new deaths, its worst day for fatalities so far, bringing the total to 29,233. The state added 52,636 new cases, with a total of 2.6 million. Only six countries have more infections.

The surge in cases is putting a strain on California’s health-care system, where regions including Southern California have almost no ICU bed capacity.

Virginia reported a record 5,798 cases on Saturday, as hospitalizations also reached a new high, state data show. Neighboring Maryland reported 3,758 cases, among the highest since the beginning of the pandemic. Total cases for Maryland surpassed 300,000.

North Carolina reported 11,581 new cases on Saturday, breaking a record for the second time this week. Hospitalizations, which have soared as the state has become among the hardest hit in the virus’s recent wave, declined for a second day, state data show. Another 96 people died.

Arizona surpassed 10,000 fatalities amid a resurgence of the virus worse than the spike there last summer. Another 98 deaths were reported Saturday, two days after a record 297 fatalities. Hospitalizations are at an all-time high, according to the Covid Tracking Project. The state reported 11,094 new cases at the end of the week, which included a daily record of more than 17,000 new infections.

France Cases Remain Well Above Goal (2:27 p.m. NY)

France reported 20,177 new cases on Saturday, while the number of deaths increased by 171 to 67,599, according to statistics from the national health agency. While the government has been aiming to bring the number of daily new cases to below 5,000, they’ve been around four times that number most days in January, prompting officials to put more of the nation under an earlier curfew.

The government is accelerating the pace of its vaccination campaign after being criticized for a slow rollout.

Pope to Be Vaccinated (1:30 p.m. NY)

Pope Francis said there is an “ethical” obligation to be vaccinated against Covid-19 -- and that he will get one himself soon.

”I believe that ethically everyone must take the vaccine, it is an ethical option, because you stake your health, your life, but you also play the lives of others,” Pope Francis said in a prerecorded interview with the Italian broadcaster Mediaset. The pope said vaccinations will begin in the Vatican next week. “I have booked, it must be done,” he said.

N.Y. Finds Three More Cases of U.K. Variant, Cuomo Says (12:47 a.m. NY)

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo reported three additional cases of the more transmissible variant of the coronavirus first found in the U.K. Two are related to the first diagnosed case, a man in his 60s who lives in Saratoga County in upstate New York. The third is in Nassau County on Long Island, the governor said.

More than 50 cases have been found in half a dozen U.S. states and the number will grow -- “bet on that,” Cuomo told reporters on a conference call on Saturday.

He said vaccine distribution has sped up, with 259,000 people getting the shots so far this week, compared to 148,000 last week.

The state reported 16,943 new cases, a drop after two record-breaking days. Hospitalizations and the rate of positive tests fell. Another 188 people died.

U.K. Total Coronavirus Cases Exceed 3 Million; Deaths Top 80,000 (11:23 a.m. NY)

The U.K. became the first country in western Europe to report more than 3 million coronavirus cases, as it grapples with a new strain that’s putting pressure on its health service.

The country reported an additional 59,937 cases on Saturday, taking the total to 3,017,409. The total is the largest in Europe, and fifth-highest in the world, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

The country passed 1 million cases on Oct. 31, which doubled seven weeks later on Dec. 19. It took just three weeks to reach 3 million cases. It has recorded more than 50,000 cases every day since Dec. 29.

Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip Are Vaccinated (10:34 a.m. NY)

Queen Elizabeth II and her husband the Duke of Edinburgh received the first dose of Covid-19 vaccinations at Windsor Castle, according to a statement from Buckingham Palace.

The palace rarely comments of the private health matters of the Queen, 94, and her husband, 99.

Portugal Reports More Than 9,000 New Cases (9:38 a.m NY)

Portugal on Saturday reported 9,478 new confirmed coronavirus cases in a day, less than the record 10,176 announced on Friday, taking the total to 476,187. Deaths rose by 111 to 7,701, following a record daily increase of 118 on Friday. The government has said it may tighten restrictions on movement next week.

False Reports of ‘U.S. Variant’ From White House Task Force: NYT (9:27 a.m NY)

Reports of a highly contagious new coronavirus variant in the U.S., published on Friday by multiple news outlets, are based on speculative statements made by Dr. Deborah Birx and are inaccurate, according to several government officials, the New York Times said.

U.S. Reports Second-Highest New Infections (7:41 a.m. NY)

The U.S. added another 287,771 new infections on Friday, the second-highest number on record, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University and Bloomberg. The previous high of 299,087 was recorded on Jan. 2 and was considered inflated as states reported backlogged data from over the New Year holiday. The average number of cases rose more than 40,000 a day compared with the average of the previous week.

Another 3,595 people died on Friday, down from the record 4,102 set the previous day. On average, almost 400 more people died each day compared with the previous week’s average.

France to Have Vaccinated 100,000 by Close of Weekend (7:20 a.m. NY)

France will have given 100,000 people jabs against Covid-19 by the end of the weekend, Health Minister Olivier Veran said Saturday in televised remarks to reporters at a vaccination center in Tarbes, southwest France.

The pace will accelerate, with more people receiving shots each day, he said, after the government faced criticism for getting off to a slower start in the inoculation campaign than neighboring countries. “We want to go quickly; we wanted first to do things safely, and to be serious,” Prime Minister Jean Castex said during the same briefing.

France also has put eight more departments under a longer curfew to try to curb the spread of the virus, bringing to the number of regions where the curfew starts at 6 p.m. instead of 8 p.m. more than 20.

U.K. Eyes Delaying Tax Rises, Times Says (6:39 a.m. NY)

U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak is expected to postpone tax rises until after the summer at the earliest because of concerns about the economic fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic, The Times reported.

Iran Sees a Drop in Daily Cases: (6:19 a.m. NY)

Iran reported a dip in both the number of daily Covid-19 deaths and new cases with 82 fatalities and 5,924 new infections in the last 24 hours. The new numbers brought the country’s total death count to 56,100 in over 1.2 million known cases, the Health Ministry reported.

United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia Case Updates (6:01 a.m. NY)

UAE announced 2,998 new Covid-19 cases, with 2,264 recoveries, and five deaths in last 24 hours. Saudi Arabia recorded 110 new cases and 4 fatalities, meanwhile.

Poland Posts Leap in Reported Cases (6:27 p.m. HK)

Poland posted a 20% day-to-day leap in reported cases to 10,548 on Saturday. Overall toll breached 31,000 mark with 438 new deaths reported, as country has vaccinated almost 189,000 people.

Rich Book Covid-19 Jabs Abroad to Skip U.K. Wait, Telegraph Says (5:53 p.m. HK)

Super-rich and high-profile Britons are increasingly opting to travel abroad to get a private vaccine against the coronavirus, the Telegraph reported on Saturday.

South Africa Runs Vaccine Tests on Variant, Reuters Says (4:57 p.m. HK)

South African scientists are testing whether vaccines will be less effective against a variant of the coronavirus identified in the country and should have results within two weeks, Reuters said, citing Penny Moore, a professor at the country’s National Institute for Communicable Diseases.

German Death Toll Above 1,000 for Fourth Day (4:21 p.m. HK)

Germany’s death toll from the coronavirus exceeded 1,000 for a fourth-straight day, making the past week the country’s deadliest stint of the pandemic.

Fatalities increased by 1,035 in the 24 hours through Saturday morning, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. Total infections rose 19,840 to 1.91 million, in line with figures from recent weeks and portending no relief in sight for the country’s increasingly stretched health system.

Doctors and nurses in many hospitals are close to being overwhelmed, and the virus mutations intensify the level of concern, Chancellor Angela Merkel said in a podcast. With the coming weeks set to be the country’s toughest yet in the pandemic, Germans need to consistently adhere to the tougher lockdown measures, she said. The tempo of vaccinations will increase and there will be enough in Germany for everyone, she added.

Russia Sees 23,309 New Covid-19 Cases (4 p.m. HK)

Russia recorded 23,309 Covid cases over the past day, including 4,900 in Moscow and 3,006 in St. Petersburg. The country recorded 470 deaths, bringing the total Covid death toll to 61,381.

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