Global Deaths Near 2 Million; China Clusters Grow: Virus Update

(Bloomberg) -- President-elect Joe Biden will ask Congress for $1.9 trillion to fund immediate relief for the pandemic-hit U.S. economy, a package that risks swift Republican opposition over big-ticket spending on Democratic priorities. He called vaccine efforts a “dismal failure” and vowed to accelerate them.

The world is about to hit a frightening Covid-19 benchmark, with 2 million people dead and few expectations for numbers to start dropping any time soon. The U.S. is leading all countries in deaths, with Brazil, India, Mexico and the U.K. next in line. One in three people may have been infected in Greater Los Angeles, according to scientists.

China’s northeastern Covid clusters are growing as an outbreak that originated in Hebei province has expanded to at least eight other provinces. Peter Daszak, the only American in a 15-person World Health Organization scientific team looking into the origins of the virus, has arrived in China, according to a spokesman for the EcoHealth Alliance, the research organization he runs.

Key Developments:

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China’s Northeastern Covid Clusters Continue to Grow (12:20 p.m. HK)

China’s northeastern Covid clusters are growing with the total number of confirmed cases now standing at more than 700 as of Friday, according to Bloomberg calculations based on official data. A further 500 infections were found without showing any symptoms.

The outbreak which originated in Hebei province, where most of the cases have been detected lately, has expanded to at least another eight provinces. The province has already completed the second round of mass testing for some cities, as officials vow to curb the virus urgently given its adjacency to Beijing.

A lockdown for some cities, including the provincial capital Shijiazhuang, is still in place as residents are restricted from leaving homes and public transportation within and out of the cities is cut off.

Indonesia May Let Vaccinated People Fly Without Covid-19 Test (12:15pm HK)

Indonesians who have completed a coronavirus vaccination may be exempted from having to show a negative test result to travel by plane.

The government will issue digital certificates stored on mobile phone apps that people can use as a waiver for the test requirement when they travel by plane, Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin said in parliamentary hearing on Thursday. The plan is meant to encourage people to get vaccinated.

Similar incentives could be allowed for other activities, including going to movies and concerts as well as other social gatherings, he added.

Global Death Toll Could Rise as High as 5.1 Million by March, Chinese Researchers Say (12 p.m. HK)

The global death toll from Covid-19 could reach somewhere from 2.2 million to 5.1 million by the beginning of March while cases can rise to 110 to 170 million by that time, according to a study by researchers from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, and other research institutes and those affiliated with the Chinese military.

The study said that asymptomatic people are the key in controlling the spread of the disease. Viral loads are found to have peaked in nasal swabs taken from asymptomatic people, indicating that substantial viral shedding from them could have caused a covert spread that contributed to outbreaks.

One in Three Infected in Greater Los Angeles, Scientists Estimate (10:40 a.m. HK)

The Greater Los Angeles area may have had a far higher infection rate than expected, with county scientists estimating that one in three have had the disease since the start of the pandemic.

“Our numbers remain very high,” L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti said in a briefing, estimating that more than 3 million were probably infected in the county. “We remain one of the epicenters of this disease across the country.” L.A. is part of the Southern California region, which has run out of ICU capacity.

U.S. Expert on WHO Origins Team Gets into China (9:56 a.m HK)

Peter Daszak, the only American in a 15-person World Health Organization scientific team looking into the virus’s origins, has arrived in China, according to a spokesman for the EcoHealth Alliance, the research organization that Daszak runs. Two members of the team were denied entry Thursday after failing to clear health-screening procedures in Singapore, the WHO tweeted Thursday without identifying who they were. Daszak has consistently tested negative for Covid-19, the spokesman said.

More than one year after the first infections emerged in Wuhan, the expert committee is visiting the central Chinese city to work with domestic scientists on the source of the pandemic. There’s still not much known about how the virus transmitted to humans, with some of the first known cases in seafood sellers at the Huanan market in Wuhan.

China Making It Harder to Solve the Mystery of Where Covid Began

U.K.’s Sunak Faces Call From Tories, Business to Boost Virus Aid (9:15 a.m. HK)

Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak came under pressure from a powerful bloc of Conservative lawmakers and one of the U.K.’s biggest business groups to step up coronavirus assistance, with the U.K. mired in its third lockdown.

Sunak should extend tax breaks and a temporary uplift in benefits, as well as borrow money to help fund an “infrastructure revolution,” 50 Tory lawmakers in the Northern Research Group said late Thursday in a letter to the chancellor. The group warned of a series of “cliff edges” faced by families and businesses, with various support programs due to close.

U.K. Aims to Vaccinate all People Over 50 by March-End, Times Reports (7 a.m. HK)

The U.K. aims to have all people over 50 vaccinated by the end of March as the government prepares to more than double the pace of the program next week, the Times reported, citing unidentified Whitehall sources.

The U.K. has administered three million vaccines so far, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said in a tweet. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has set a target to deliver about 15 million shots to the most vulnerable people by mid-February.

N.Y. Deaths Rise Above 200 for First Time Since May (1:18 p.m. NY)

New York state reported more than 200 daily Covid-19 deaths for the first time since May. The additional 202 fatalities bring the total to 32,379. Of 212,589 tests reported yesterday, 13,661, or 6.42%, were positive.

Both the cases and positive rate were lower than in recent days. Hospitalizations also declined, by 106 to 8,823, even as New York leads the Northeast in people hospitalized with Covid-19. “New York is pushing forward to conduct more tests, add to hospital beds and make it easier to get the COVID-19 vaccine across the state,” Governor Andrew Cuomo said.

The health department’s appointments for vaccinations are booked 14 weeks out as the state expanded the eligibility criteria.

Merkel Mulls Tougher German Lockdown (12:56 p.m. NY)

Chancellor Angela Merkel wants to tighten Germany’s lockdown, fearing a more contagious coronavirus variant may cause infections to spiral out of control.

Merkel wants to meet with regional leaders soon to discuss additional curbs aimed at decisively lowering the infection rate, a government official said. There is no consensus with the state premiers yet about such further restrictions, the person added, asking not to be identified discussing private deliberations.

On Thursday, the nation surpassed 2 million virus cases since the start of the pandemic, and hospitals in some German states are running out of intensive-care beds.

France Extends Earlier Curfew Nationwide (12:21 p.m. NY)

France will extend tighter curfew measures across the country. The 6 p.m. curfew already in place across much of eastern France will become nationwide from Saturday, Prime Minister Jean Castex said at a news conference on Thursday. It will last at least 15 days.

The country’s cases increased by 21,228 to 2.85 million on Thursday, while the seven-day rolling average was little changed at close to 18,000. Deaths linked to the virus rose by 282 to 69,313.

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