U.S. Cases Ease; Johnson Optimistic on Reopening: Virus Update

(Bloomberg) --

The coronavirus outbreak in the U.S. continued to ease as the average daily increase dropped about 20% from the week before. U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he is optimistic the government will be able to start announcing the relaxing of restrictions later this month.

The number of vaccine shots given globally rose to more than 168 million, according to data compiled by the Bloomberg Vaccine Tracker. The U.S. has administered 50.1 million doses in the two months since the rollout of the shots began.

The University of Oxford will start testing the Covid-19 vaccine it developed with AstraZeneca Plc on children this month. Chinese scientists refused to share important data with World Health Organization investigators looking into the origins of Covid-19, the New York Times reported.

Key Developments:

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U.K. Prime Minister Optimistic on Relaxing Restrictions, Sky Reports (9:07 a.m. NY)

U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he is optimistic he will be able to start announcing the easing of restrictions when he outlines the road map out of lockdown in England on Feb. 22, Sky News reported.

The first priority is opening schools on March 8, Johnson said, speaking at a plant in north England where the Novavax vaccine will be manufactured. Non-essential retail and the hospitality sector will probably follow.

U.S. Outbreak Continues to Ease (7:43 a.m. NY)

The U.S. added 99,575 new cases Friday, a daily decrease amid a continuing trend of rapidly falling infections, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University and Bloomberg. That brings to 101,980 the average daily increase from the previous seven days, a 22% drop from the seven days before. Daily increases regularly neared 300,000 around the New Year.

Another 5,476 deaths were reported, though that number is skewed because Ohio has been adding some 4,000 newly discovered fatalities. Ohio alone added 2,559 deaths on Friday. Still, the national drop in deaths is accelerating, with average daily fatalities from the previous seven days falling 14% compared with the week before.

UAE Vaccinations Surpass 5 Million (7:03 a.m. NY)

Authorities in the United Arab Emirates have administered 103,469 doses in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of inoculations to 5,005,264. This compares with 109,587 doses on Friday and 107,550 on Thursday.

The country reported 2,631 new cases and 15 fatalities in the last 24 hours. Cases in the UAE had quadrupled to almost 4,000 per day by the end of January.

Iran President Warns of New Wave as Cases Rise (6:31 a.m. NY)

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani warned of a new wave of infections and urged tighter controls on travelers from countries with new Covid-19 variants. The country has seen an average of 7,146 daily cases in February, up by nearly 15% compared with last month’s 6,221.

On Saturday, the country also reported 74 deaths from the virus since Friday, up from 58 yesterday, as well as 7,120 new cases. Iran now has 58,883 fatalities from the virus with over 1.5 million known cases.

Polish Case and Death Numbers Increase (5:34 p.m. HK)

Poland reported 6,586 cases on Saturday, compared with 6,379 on Friday and 5,965 a week earlier. The number of deaths rose by 284, up from 247 yesterday and 283 week last week.

Total cases increased to 1,583,621, while the death toll rose to 40,709. The country of 38 million administered more than 2 million vaccine doses so far, including 624,907 second doses.

Zimbabwe Could Start Vaccinations Next Week (5:26 p.m. HK)

Vaccination of vulnerable groups will begin as soon as the first batch of shots from China, due Feb. 15, arrives in the country, Zimbabwe’s deputy health minister John Mangwiro said in a televised announcement.

First priority will be given to high-risk, front-line health workers, ports of entry personnel, funeral parlor staff, security and village health workers. The country has adequate cold-chain equipment to maintain the potency of vaccines, Mangwiro said.

University of Oxford Starts Vaccine Trials on Children (5 p.m. HK)

The University of Oxford will begin testing the Covid-19 vaccine it developed with AstraZeneca Plc on children, a potentially key step in ending the global pandemic.

The Oxford trial plans to enroll 300 children aged 6 to 17, the university said in a statement Saturday. The first vaccinations will take place this month, with as many as 240 kids receiving the coronavirus vaccine and the remainder a meningitis shot, which should produce similar side effects. A larger trial involving thousands of children is expected to be conducted by Astra in the U.S. later.

Swiss Doctors Fear Summer Vaccination Goal Won’t be Met, TA Reports (4:41 p.m. HK)

The Swiss government’s goal to distribute vaccines to everyone who wants one by summer is unlikely to be met, the head of Switzerland’s Association of Cantonal Doctor’s said, newspaper Tages Anzeiger reported.

“It could actually be autumn,” said Rudolf Hauri, Zug cantonal doctor and president of the Association of Cantonal Doctors, on Friday evening in an interview with a Swiss Public Radio program, Tages Anzeiger reported.

Hauri cited delivery bottlenecks and slow vaccine approvals for the delay, the newspaper said.

Covid May Become Treatable Disease, U.K. Health Secretary Tells Telegraph (4:10 p.m. HK)

Vaccines and better treatments could make Covid-19 a disease we can “live with, like we do flu” by the end of the year, U.K. Health Secretary Matt Hancock said in an interview with The Telegraph.

The government will say Saturday that new drugs will be fast-tracked through the U.K.’s clinical trial system, the newspaper said.

U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak is considering extending the stamp duty holiday by six weeks to prevent home buyers being caught in a “completion trap,” the Telegraph reported. Meanwhile, Covid-19 patients in U.K. hospitals are expected to drop by more than half over the next month, The Times reported, citing internal government projections it saw.

Russia’s New Virus Cases Drop to Lowest in Three Days (4:09 p.m. HK)

Russia reported the smallest number of new Covid-19 cases in three days on Saturday, while daily deaths at 502 was the lowest since Feb. 8.

In the past day new cases rose by 14,861, taking the total to 4.06 million. Russia’s overall death toll now stands at 79,696.

Germany’s New Virus Cases Remain at Similar Level (4:02 p.m. HK)

Germany’s confirmed virus cases rose by 9,197 to 2,330,422, an increase that is similar to the previous two days.

The so-called R-Value for both the 4-day and 7-day interval remained below 1, while the number of patients in intensive care declined by 123, according to the latest situational report from the country’s health body.

Switzerland Delays Virus Restriction Decision to Feb. 24, Blick Reports (3:55 p.m. HK)

Switzerland’s government will postpone a decision on easing virus restrictions to February 24, newspaper Blick reported, citing an interview with health minister Alain Berset.

The Swiss government had originally said it would announce on Feb. 17 a decision on whether to ease restrictions in March on store and restaurant closings as well as work from home recommendations.

Berset told French speaking newspaper La Liberte that discussions on the restrictions will now take place next week followed by consultations with Swiss cantonal governments, Blick reported.

China Rail Travel Slumps Before Lunar New Year on Travel Curbs (3:52 p.m. HK)

Train travel in China slumped ahead of the Lunar New Year holidays as a result of travel curbs to prevent the spread of Covid-19. Passengers made a total of 52.3 million trips in the 15 days through Feb. 11, a drop of 69% from a similar period last year, Xinhua reported, citing data from China State Railway Group.

Local governments last month asked people to stay where they work or get virus tests and isolate for up to 14 days amid Covid-19 flare-ups in several provinces. The restrictions prompted millions of factory workers to give up the the idea of a traditional family gathering at a time that usually sees the world’s biggest human migration.

Kenya Says It Will Get First Coronavirus Vaccines This Month (2:11 p.m. HK)

Kenya expects to get its first Covid-19 vaccines by the end of this month and inoculate 16 million of its roughly 53 million people by June of next year.

The country will procure vaccines made by AstraZeneca Plc, Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson, and any others in the Covax facility, Health Secretary Mutahi Kagwe said Friday in a statement.

China Refused to Give Important Data to WHO Team, New York Times Says (11:21 a.m. HK)

Chinese scientists refused to share raw data with investigators from the World Health Organization that could help understanding of the coronavirus’s origins, the New York Times reported.

Disagreements over patient records and other matters sometimes turned into shouting, the newspaper said, citing WHO investigators who recently returned from the city of Wuhan. China’s resistance to revealing information about the pandemic’s early days make it difficult to uncover clues that could prevent future outbreaks, it reported. Officials in China pushed the WHO investigators to embrace the government’s view of the virus, included the unproven idea that it came to China from abroad, the Times said.

The WHO earlier said it hasn’t ruled out any hypotheses about the roots of Covid-19 after the fact-finding mission to China rejected speculation that the coronavirus could have leaked from a lab. The comments appeared to pull back on the investigating team’s remarks earlier this week.

Mexico Covid-19 Deaths Rise 1,323 to Total 172,557 (9:11 a.m. HK)

Mexico reported a daily rise of 1,323 Covid-19 deaths, bringing the total to 172,557, according to data released by the Health Ministry Friday night.

In Mexico City, which has moved down from the highest alert level, 75% of general hospital beds are occupied while 66% of beds with ventilators are being used. That is above the national rate of 45% and 42% respectively.

Biden Rules Out Mandating Covid Tests for Domestic Flights for Now (8:52 a.m. HK)

President Joe Biden has ruled out requiring coronavirus tests for all passengers on domestic flights as of now, saying the scientific evidence doesn’t support implementing the measure.

A White House statement late Friday said the CDC isn’t recommending testing and Biden will follow their lead.

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