Ontario May Be Locked Down; Brazil’s New Variant: Virus Update

(Bloomberg) -- The Canadian province of Ontario, home to Toronto and the capital Ottawa, will be locked down for 28 days to fight the spread of the virus, CBC News said. Brazil detected a new Covid-19 variant, similar to the one found in South Africa, as it again reported record deaths.

A manufacturing error at a Baltimore plant affected 15 million doses worth of an ingredient for Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine. Pfizer Inc. said its vaccine was 100% effective in a final-stage trial in kids age 12 to 15. The World Health Organization said China’s coronavirus jabs appeared safe and effective.

France will impose a four-week lockdown from Saturday, and Italy extended restrictions on movement and business openings. They’re the latest signs Europe is yet again losing control of the pandemic.

Key Developments:

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Ontario Reportedly Returns to Lockdown (9:47 a.m. HK)

The Canadian province of Ontario will return to a lockdown on Saturday, placing additional restrictions on stores and closing gyms and hair salons for 28 days in an effort to get Covid-19 under control, CBC News reported, citing multiple sources.

The new rules to be announced by Ontario Premier Doug Ford on Thursday are intended to counter coronavirus’s spread in Canada’s most populous province, which includes Toronto and the capital city of Ottawa, CBC said. The restrictions would not be as tight as the province-wide lockdown that was imposed in December, the sources told CBC.

Japan Seeks Restrictions in 3 Regions (9:28 a.m. HK)

Japan’s government is seeking to impose new restrictions on Osaka and two other regions to control the coronavirus, Economy Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura said Thursday.

The new measures would allow local governments in Osaka, Hyogo and Miyagi to order bars and restaurants to close early, and impose fines on those that refuse.

Case numbers in Osaka hit 599 Wednesday, higher than Tokyo, despite having a population only two-thirds the size of the capital. Cases have been rising in Osaka since a state of emergency was lifted at the end of February.

WHO Says China’s Jabs Appear Safe (9:23 a.m. HK)

Coronavirus vaccines developed by China’s Sinovac Biotech Ltd. and Sinopharm Group Co. appeared safe and effective in an interim analysis, though the World Health Organization wants more details on the elderly and infirm.

The companies applied for the WHO’s emergency-use listing and the group’s Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization reviewed the information gathered thus far, according to details reported by Agence France Presse and confirmed by a person familiar with the matter.

Chinese Cluster Grows as City Gets Tested (7:34 a.m. HK)

China reported 6 new confirmed cases and 23 asymptomatic cases in the city of Ruili in the southwestern province of Yunnan, near the border with Myanmar.

The cluster is China’s first since mid-February, and authorities are testing Ruili’s entire population of 210,400. Yunnan boasts caves that are the natural habitat for bats, from which Chinese scientists found a distant relative of the Sars-CoV-2 virus years before the pathogen caused an outbreak in Wuhan.

Four of the six confirmed cases are Chinese nationals, while the other two are from Myanmar. All Ruili residents must quarantine at home for one week.

Brisbane Lockdown Lifted (7:02 a.m. HK)

Brisbane, Australia’s third-biggest city, will lift a three-day-old lockdown at 12 p.m. local time Thursday after containing an outbreak of the U.K. strain of the virus.

Queensland state recorded just one new locally acquired case in the previous 24 hours, said Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk. She asked other state leaders to remove travel restrictions to and from Brisbane.

J&J Production Error Affects 15 Million Doses (6:40 a.m. HK)

A manufacturing error at a Baltimore plant affected 15 million doses worth of an ingredient for Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine, according to two sources familiar with the matter, but the company downplayed the situation and said it met its most recent vaccine delivery target.

In a statement, J&J said a batch of drug substance failed its quality test. Johnson & Johnson said it beat its March delivery target, providing the U.S. government more than 20 million doses, and that it expects to deliver another 24 million by the end of April.

Pandemic Raised Risks for Pregnant Women (6:34 a.m. HK)

Pregnant women and their babies are suffering worse outcomes during the Covid-19 pandemic. Data from an analysis of 40 studies published during the last year across 17 countries found rates of stillbirth and maternal mortality increased by a third, according to a report in The Lancet medical journal.

The increases may be driven by the pressure Covid-19 put on health systems rather than measures aimed at limiting the spread of the virus, such as lockdowns, the researchers said.

Brazil Has Another Day of Record Deaths (5:08 p.m. NY)

Brazil hit a record number of Covid-19 deaths for a second day, with 3,869 fatalities in the last 24 hours, the Health Ministry reported. Total deaths rose to 321,515 and the country reported 90,638 new cases, pushing the total to 12.7 million, the second highest tally globally.

Brazil’s healthcare system is collapsing with 18 of 27 states reporting over 90% intensive-care beds occupied, the Fiocruz foundation reported. President Jair Bolsonaro said that “only without a lockdown policy it is possible to return to normality.”

Brazil also detected a new variant of the virus Wednesday in Sorocaba, near Sao Paulo, according to the local government. The new strain is said to be similar to one found in South Africa, according to authorities.

France Heads for Four-Week Lockdown (3:22 p.m. NY)

French President Emmanuel Macron announced a nationwide four-week lockdown, shutting down schools and business.

“We did everything we could to make these decisions as late as possible, until they became strictly necessary, which is now,” Macron warned in an address to the nation on Wednesday. “The virus is more contagious and deadlier.”

He implored people to make an extra effort as the lockdown begins to come into force on Saturday. Restrictions will be flexible this weekend, during the Easter holidays, to allow people to relocate.

Greece Relaxes Limits Even as Cases Surge (1:12 p.m. NY)

Greece will ease certain lockdown measures even as new cases surge. The country will allow non-essential shops to reopen from April 5 but only with online ordering and pickup, and appointment-only in-store shopping, Deputy Citizen Protection Minister Nikos Hardalias said Wednesday. At weekends only, starting April 3, a maximum of three citizens or families will be allowed to move outside the municipality where they live for personal exercise. Greece reported 3,616 new Covid-19 cases Wednesday, the second-highest daily increase since the start of the pandemic. That followed Tuesday’s record 4,340 new cases.

Variant Accounts for 26% of U.S. Cases, CDC Says (1 p.m. NY)

A more contagious strain of the coronavirus is now predominant in five U.S. regions and accounts for a quarter of new cases nationally, the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.

The B.1.1.7 variant, first uncovered in the U.K., makes up from 4% to 35% cases depending on the region, and 26% of cases nationally, Rochelle Walensky said at a press briefing Wednesday. U.S. officials had warned it could become the predominant strain of the virus in the U.S. by early April.

NYC Administers 4 Million Doses (11 a.m. NY)

New York City has passed the 4 million mark for vaccinations, Mayor Bill de Blasio said.

“We’re absolutely confident about hitting the 5 million mark in June,” the mayor said at his daily briefing. He said he is seeing a decline in the number of people hesitant to be vaccinated.

At least a third of adult city residents have received at least one dose, while 19% are fully vaccinated, according to city data. The state lowered the eligibility age for vaccines to 30 on Tuesday.

Switzerland Cases Keep Growing (9:34 a.m. NY)

The rate of new coronavirus infections has doubled in Switzerland since mid-February, and is now approaching a so-called reproduction rate of almost 1.2, Swiss Health Minister Alain Berset told reporters. The growth rate is accelerating even if not yet an “explosion,” Berset said.

More than 900,000 people have been vaccinated in the country so far, about 10% of the population.

Teens Protected by Pfizer Vaccine in Study (6:45 a.m. NY)

Pfizer Inc. said its vaccine was 100% effective in a final-stage trial in kids ages 12 to 15, a finding that could pave the way for shots for teens and pre-teens before the next school year.

The vaccine is already authorized in the U.S. for people ages 16 and up. Pfizer and its partner BioNTech SE said they planned to submit the data to regulators in the U.S and Europe as soon as possible, seeking to amend their vaccine authorizations to include the younger age group.

EU Delivers More Than 100 Million Shots (6:35 a.m. NY)

The European Union will have delivered 107 million vaccines by the end of this week, reaching the bloc’s targeted goal for the first three months of the year.

The milestone was confirmed by European Commission spokesperson Dana Spinant. It was a revised goal that had to take into account multiple delays in the deliveries from AstraZeneca Plc.

German ICU Official ‘Deeply Worried’ (6:28 a.m. NY)

The head of Germany’s intensive-care and emergency medicine association said he’s “deeply worried” about the pressure Covid-19 patients are putting on ICUs and called for tougher lockdown measures.

“We are in an especially critical phase of the pandemic, if not the most critical,” Gernot Marx, president of the DIVI lobby group, said in an interview with ARD television. “If we wait longer then we’ll have 6,000 or 7,000 intensive-care patients and we are really scared about that because it would mean the system is overburdened.”

The number of virus patients in ICUs climbed to 3,668 on Wednesday and the occupancy rate rose to 86% according to the latest data from DIVI.

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