Global Deaths Near 2 Million; Biden’s Relief Plan: 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.

Led by the U.S., the world is about to hit a frightening Covid-19 benchmark, with 2 million people dead and few expectations for the numbers to start dropping any time soon. New York state reported more than 200 daily Covid-19 deaths for the first time since May. Florida also reported over 200 deaths, the most in one day since August.

China reported 135 local coronavirus infections Jan. 14, including 90 in the northern province of Hebei and 43 in northeast China’s Heilongjiang, according to a statement from the National Health Commission. South Korea reported 513 new coronavirus cases over the last 24 hours versus 524 the previous day.

Key Developments:

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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 to determine 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. The question of where the virus came from has become highly politicized, with the Trump administration suggesting it could have been intentionally leaked from a laboratory in Wuhan and China trying to actively re-write the narrative.

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

Supreme Court Justices Getting Covid Vaccine, Spokeswoman Says (9:30 a.m. HK)

The U.S. Supreme Court justices are in the process of being vaccinated for Covid-19, with Chief Justice John Roberts among those who have already received both doses, a spokeswoman said.

The vaccinations are being arranged through the Office of the Attending Physician at the Capitol, Supreme Court spokeswoman Kathy Arberg said in an email. The justices are getting the Pfizer Inc. vaccine, which in December became the first to get emergency-use authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Hong Kong May Purchase Novavax Covid-19 Vaccine: Oriental Daily (9:20 a.m. HK)

Hong Kong’s government is considering purchasing the fourth coronavirus vaccine for the city which may be from Novavax, Oriental Daily reports, citing unidentified people. The city has purchased vaccines developed by Pfizer-BioNTech, Sinovac and AstraZeneca

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.

Florida Reports More Than 200 Deaths, Most Since August (3:40 p.m. NY)

Florida posted 217 Covid-19 deaths among residents on Thursday, matching the highest single-day total since Aug. 19, according to the state health department. Its all-time high was 276 on Aug. 11. Florida, like much of the Sun Belt, experienced its worst stretch of the pandemic between July and August, and the pandemic’s impact was relatively subdued for several months thereafter. But the virus is now returning to southern states in earnest, with the Sunshine State’s hospitalization levels and rolling seven-day deaths now approaching their previous highs.

California’s Intensive-Care Unit Bed Capacity Falls (2 p.m. NY)

California’s intensive-care unit bed capacity fell to one of its lowest levels since the pandemic started as hospitalizations surged in the past two months. The number of available ICU beds dropped by 89 to 1,094.

The number of cases increased by 35,930 to 2.8 million. The state added 552 new deaths, bringing the total to 31,654.

Most of the state remains in some form of a lockdown as its hospitals, especially those in Southern California, run of ICU capacity.

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 in a statement.

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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