U.S. Infection Rate Eases to Lowest Since October: Virus Update

(Bloomberg) --

The pace of the coronavirus outbreak in the U.S. continued to ease as the country’s week-to-week average fell to its lowest in almost four months. A top Biden administration health official warned Americans not to get complacent as the potentially more lethal variant first found in the U.K. spreads across the country.

The U.K. affirmed its plan for schools to reopen early next month as the nation’s vaccine program meets its first target.

New Zealand’s most-populous city, Auckland, will go into a snap three-day lockdown after three members of one household were diagnosed with the virus. Hong Kong plans to start its vaccination program in early March.

Key Developments:

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U.K. Confirms Vaccine Target Reached (12:04 p.m. NY)

U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson confirmed his government had met its target of immunizing everyone over the age of 70, along with people who live or work in nurse homes, health service workers and those who are most vulnerable to Covid-19.

Johnson is due to announce his “road map” to unlock the country gradually over the months ahead on Feb. 22.

“In England, I can tell you we have now offered jabs to everyone in the first four priority groups, the people most likely to be seriously ill from coronavirus, hitting the first target we set ourselves,” he said in a video posted to his Twitter account.

Earlier Sunday, British Foreign Minister Dominic Raab signaled that schools in England will be allowed to reopen from early next month.

The U.K. reported another 10,972 cases on Sunday, the fewest since Oct. 2. Daily infections have been below 20,000 for 10 days in a row after peaking over 68,000 in early January. Fatalities are also the lowest this year, though reporting often lags on weekends. Another 258 people died within 28 days of a positive test.

Rite Aid Chief Sees Vaccine Role for Private Sector (11:59 a.m. NY)

State and local governments struggling to get people swiftly registered for vaccinations could find help from the private sector, said Rite Aid Corp. Chief Executive Heyward Donigan.

“The governors are doing a wonderful job, as best they can,” including by putting their own call centers together, Donigan said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.” “But demand is so high that I do think the private sector can play a role here.”

State and county officials nationwide have reported long wait times amid a crush of eligible residents seeking to schedule appointments for Covid-19 vaccinations.

The drugstore chain is set to distribute 100 doses of Covid-19 vaccines per week at participating stores in California, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania.

N.Y. Hospitalizations Continue to Drop (11:50 a.m. NY)

New York state hospitalizations fell by more than 1,000 to 6,593 over the last week, Governor Andrew Cuomo said in a statement. That compares with more than 9,000 almost a month ago at the peak of the state’s post-holiday virus surge.

Cuomo reported 8,316 new cases, a daily decline in line with the lower pace of infection that has prompted him to ease some restrictions, including allowing limited indoor dining in New York City. The positive test rate was steady at 3.54%. Another 107 people died of Covid-19.

Sanofi Says Both Shots Could Be Ready This Year (10:47 a.m. NY)

Sanofi’s two Covid-19 vaccines are entering new phases of trials in coming weeks and both could be available by the end of the year, said Thomas Triomphe, head of Sanofi Pasteur.

Sanofi’s more advanced vaccine candidate, being jointly developed with GlaxoSmithKline Plc, will enter another Phase II trial later this month, and there have been no problems with getting the right formulations, Triomphe said in a phone interview. His comments came in response to an earlier report in French weekly Journal du Dimanche, questioning whether they would be ready.

Don’t Let Down Guard on Virus, CDC Head Warns (9:50 a.m. NY)

Americans should not get complacent about rapidly falling coronavirus cases as a potentially more lethal variant spreads in the U.S., according to Rochelle Walensky, head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The U.S. has seen more than 1,000 cases of the strain first identified in the U.K., with infections across at least 39 states, Walensky said on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” one of three scheduled interviews on Sunday. It is around 40% to 50% more transmissible and early data “have suggested there might in fact be increased morbidity and mortality.”

Even with more than 52 million vaccines administered in the U.S., the country continues to see close to 100,000 cases per day -- although infections, hospitalizations and deaths have declined steadily from January peaks.

U.S. Infection Rate Lowest Since October (8 a.m. NY)

New U.S. cases of Covid-19 declined to about 84,000 on Saturday, compared with an average 97,240 for the seven days ended Friday — the country’s lowest week-to-week average since late October, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University and Bloomberg.

While testing has declined slightly nationwide, the positive-test rate has fallen from more than 13% early this year to less than 6%, according to JHU data.

Even so, the U.S. added 3,433 deaths on Saturday, compared with an average 3,058 over the preceding seven days. The latest death toll is likely to have been inflated by revised numbers in Ohio following an earlier undercount.

Lebanon Gives First Vaccines (7 a.m. NY)

Lebanon administered its first shots of Covid-19 vaccine on Sunday, with an intensive care unit physician and a 93-year-old comedian becoming the first to receive Pfizer-BioNTech doses, the Associated Press reported.

The country started its inoculation campaign a day after receiving the first batch of the vaccine. The head of the intensive care unit at the country’s lead hospital in fighting the virus, Mahmoud Hassoun, was the first to receive the vaccine, while Salah Tizani, a famous actor in Lebanon who goes by the name Abu Salim, was the first among elderly members of the public.

Denmark Readies for Regular Testing, Long-Term Border Controls (6:45 a.m. NY)

Denmark must prepare to deal with Covid-19 for a long period of time, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said in an interview with the newspaper Berlingske.

Frederiksen suggested a “massive testing strategy” to keep society open. This model would require Danes to get used to getting tested several times a week.

She also referred to longer-term border controls to prevent new mutations from spreading.

Sweden Keeps Late-June Vaccination Target (6:15 a.m. NY)

Sweden’s Public Health Agency maintained its goal for everyone in the country to be offered vaccination by the Midsummer celebration in late June.

State epidemiologist Anders Tegnell said in a Swedish public radio interview that meeting the target will become a tight race in May and June, with much depending on the delivery of vaccines in time. Tegnell also said it would be difficult to see loosened restrictions for large public gatherings before then.

Hong Kong Plans to Start Vaccinations in March (6 a.m. NY)

Hong Kong can start vaccinations for Covid-19 in early March if everything goes as planned, the city’s Civil Service Secretary Patrick Nip said.

The first batch of vaccines from the German firm BioNTech SE should arrive at the end of this month, Nip said, according to a transcript of his comments to reporters provided by the government. Vaccines will be administered via advance booking, he said.

The government will offer the shots at community vaccination centers in 18 districts of Hong Kong, said Nip, who is in charge of Covid-19 vaccinations in the city.

Swiss Business Group Calls for Virus Reopening (6:45 p.m. HK)

Influential Swiss business lobby group Economiesuisse called for the easing of some coronavirus restrictions beginning in March, putting pressure on Switzerland’s government.

Economiesuisse and the association of Swiss employers said the Swiss federal government should reopen non-essential shops, allow outdoor gatherings of more than five people and permit restaurants to have outdoor dining, beginning next month. The easing of restrictions would reduce harm to Switzerland’s economy, the groups said in a statement Sunday.

Health Minister Alain Berset is expected to announce the government’s plan to potentially reduce restrictions on Feb. 24. The Swiss government has closed restaurants, banned outdoor gatherings of more than five people, urged people who can to work from home and closed non-essential shops to stop the spread of the virus.

Politicians from Swiss cantons including Valais, Geneva, Zug and Friebourg also called on the the government to reopen non-essential shops in March, newspaper SonntagsZeitung reported Sunday.

Thailand Finds South Africa Variant (6:30 p.m. HK)

Thailand detected the first case of the South African variant of the Covid-19 virus strain in a Thai citizen, who returned to the country from Tanzania through Ethiopia, the Health Ministry said on Sunday.

The patient, a 41-year-old male, spent two months in Tanzania before returning to the country and is currently in a state quarantine, officials said at a briefing. Thailand on Sunday reported 166 new Covid-19 cases, taking the nation’s total caseload to 24,571, according to the Center for Covid-19 Situation Administration.

Serbia Delivers Vaccines to North Macedonia (5 p.m. HK)

A shortage of shots prompted one ex-Yugoslav republic to donate 4,680 Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines to another member of the former federation, in an atypical instance of Balkan solidarity.

Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vucic delivered the vaccines to North Macedonia’s Premier Zoran Zaev at the mutual border on Sunday, the first part of 8,000 vaccines for the southern neighbor. Both states aspire to join the European Union though haven’t received any vaccines from the bloc.

Serbia has managed to buy more than 1.8 million shots directly from drug makers, and has shared some with neighboring Bosnia-Herzegovina and North Macedonia.

Japan Approves Pfizer Vaccine (4:20 p.m. HK)

The Japanese government gave formal approval to the Covid-19 vaccine by ‎Pfizer Inc. It’s the first go-ahead for shots against the coronavirus and Japan is expected to begin inoculations this week, starting with medical professionals.

The government has agreed to buy the vaccine from Pfizer for 72 million people this year, and the first batch arrived on Friday. On Sunday, Tokyo reported 371 new Covid-19 cases, staying below 500 cases for eight consecutive days.

U.K. Lockdown-Skeptic MPs Seek April End to Restrictions: Sky (3:55 p.m. HK)

A group of lockdown-skeptic members of parliament told U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson that coronavirus restrictions in the country must be entirely lifted by the end of April, Sky News reported. The Covid Recovery Group has written to Johnson saying there will be “no justification” for restrictions to continue once all people over 50 have been offered inoculation against the virus, according to Sky.

More than 60 backbench Conservative MPs are understood to have backed the letter, which urges that the prime minister commit to a timetable for ending the lockdown, the news service said.

Auckland Starts Snap Three-Day Lockdown (2:40 p.m. HK)

Auckland, the most populous city in New Zealand, will start a snap three-day lockdown from midnight after three people from the same household were diagnosed with the virus.

The alert level for the remainder of New Zealand will rise to level 2, which requires social distancing and signals the risk of community transmission.

The source of the cases isn’t yet known, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said at a media conference late Sunday. The government decided to adopt a “cautious approach that has served us so well previously,” she said.

New Zealand has been one of the most successful countries in containing the virus, at one stage last year going 100 days without a case thanks to border closures and a strict nationwide lockdown.

Saudi Arabia Extends Curbs on Dining, Entertainment (1:15 p.m. HK)

Saudi Arabia extended by 20 days restrictions on gatherings, entertainment activities and dining in restaurants and cafes. The kingdom introduced the restrictions earlier this month along with a suspension on the entry of foreigners from 20 countries. It reported 337 new virus cases on Saturday, as well as four deaths.

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