Curbs Spread on Fliers From India; Japan Emergency: Virus Update

(Bloomberg) -- Several countries announced limits on travelers from India due to a surge in Covid infections and deaths. The U.K. assigned mandatory quarantines for incoming passengers while Canada halted flights and Indonesia banned most travel.

Japan was preparing to declare a state of emergency in Tokyo, Osaka and two other prefectures, in an attempt to control the latest outbreak and preserve the country’s plans for the Summer Olympics.

China said it expects to approve the BioNTech vaccine for distribution before July and will relax its requirement that inbound travelers have a jab made by a Chinese company, two signals that the country’s eager to bring home citizens stranded abroad and kickstart international travel.

In Europe, Italy, France and Greece were planning to loosen restrictions in the next few weeks. Hungary and Germany will announce privileges for those who are immunized.

Subscribe to a daily update on the virus from Bloomberg’s Prognosis team here. Click CVID on the terminal for global data on cases and deaths.

Indonesia Bans Travelers From India (3:42 p.m. HK)

Indonesia’s government will ban entry for people traveling from or transiting through India starting April 25 due to rising Covid-19 cases, according to Airlangga Hartarto, the coordinating minister for economic affairs.

The limit will remain in place until the pan demic situation improves in India, Hartarto said in a discussion on Friday. Indonesian citizens returning home will be exempt from the ban.

Hungary to Remove Further Restrictions (2:18 p.m. HK)

Hungary will accelerate efforts to remove restrictions on the economy as more people get a coronavirus vaccine, Prime Minister Viktor Orban said, continuing a reopening campaign started at the peak of the pandemic.

Restaurants will be allowed to reopen outdoor spaces from Saturday and a daily curfew will start an hour later at 11 p.m after 35% of the population has been inoculated, Orban told public radio.

Once the vaccination level reaches 4 million, or more than 40% of the population, theaters, gyms, hotels and other services will become available to those who have received at least the first dose of the vaccine, he said.

First Local Transmission in Taiwan Since Feb. (2:03 p.m. HK)

An Indonesian male student, a family member of a pilot who was tested positive in Australia earlier, was confirmed as the first locally transmitted Covid-19 case in Taiwan since February, health minister Chen Shih-chung said at a briefing in Taipei.

An investigation into the source of infection for the pilot was still underway while a colleague also tested positive Friday.

Cases Spike in Thailand (1:38 p.m. HK)

Thailand on Friday reported 2,070 infections, the highest one-day case count since the pandemic began, according to the nation’s Covid-19 center. Infections from the latest outbreak, which began earlier this month, now total 21,320, with most of the cases found in the capital of Bangkok, prompting concerns about hospital capacity, according to Taweesilp Visanuyothi spokesman for the Center for Covid-19 Situation Administration.

Japan Approves Baricitinib for Treatment (1:25 a.m. HK)

Japan’s Health Ministry approved the use of Baricitinib, a rheumatoid arthritis treatment from Eli Lilly and Incyte, for treating Covid-19 patients.

The ministry said the drug may be used in combination with Remdesivir on pneumonia patients requiring oxygen treatment.

Tokyo Shuts Bars, Bans Sports Spectators (12:45 p.m. HK)

Japan is set to declare a new state of emergency from Sunday to May 11 in Tokyo, Osaka and two other prefectures, imposing a set of measures that calls for the closure of bars and restaurants serving alcohol, establishments with karaoke equipment and large commercial facilities. The government also wants professional baseball and soccer events to be held without spectators.

The government has already called on bars and restaurants in several major urban areas to close by 8 p.m. But that has not been enough to stem infections, which have hit daily records this month in Osaka and climbed in Tokyo to levels not seen since January, when the capital was under its second state of emergency.

Hong Kong Opens Jabs for 16 and Older (9:35 a.m. HK)

Hong Kong expanded access to the BioNTech vaccine to anyone 16 and above starting Friday, the latest effort to boost the city’s tepid progress on inoculations. Parental consent is required for 16- and 17-year-olds. The minimum age to receive the Sinovac vaccine is 18, the government said.

About 10.5% of the Hong Kong population has received at least one dose of vaccine, according to Bloomberg’s Covid-19 Vaccine Tracker, less than half the rate of inoculations in neighboring finance hub Singapore.

China Will Recognize Non-Chinese Vaccines (9:05 a.m. HK)

China will relax its requirements for inbound travelers from Dallas, Tex., allowing those inoculated with a non-Chinese vaccine to apply for the health code required to enter the country, according to a statement from the Chinese Embassy in the U.S.

China-bound passengers can apply if they have a negative Covid test and a positive antibody test, which would indicate that a vaccine shot is working. All travelers are still subject to the mandatory two-week hotel quarantine.

Still, the move, along with new reports that China plans to approve the BioNTech vaccine within the next two months, signals China’s eagerness to repatriate its citizens and to facilitate international travel.

China May Approve BioNTech Vaccine Before July (8:31 a.m. HK)

The COVID-19 mRNA vaccine co-developed by Germany-based BioNTech and China’s Fosun Pharma is “highly likely” to be approved in China before July, Global Times said Thursday. The report affirms information received earlier this week by the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai, which was told by a government official to expect a similar time frame.

The shot, which will be rolled out by Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical Group Co., is likely to be the first of the highly effective mRNA vaccines approved in mainland China. It’s availability will help alleviate supply shortages currently faced by the world’s most populous country, which has set a target of vaccinating 40% of the nation, or some 560 million people, by the end of June.

U.K. Imposes Quarantine For India Travelers (7:55 a.m. HK)

Starting today, all travelers arriving in the U.K. from India will be required to isolate in managed quarantine facilities for 10 days, with testing for the coronavirus on the second and eighth day, Public Health England said Thursday. Travelers who test positive will be required to stay in quarantine for another 10 days from the date of the positive test.

The requirement comes amid an increase in cases of SARS-CoV-2 infections caused by a variant first detected in India. The strain contains a number of mutations associated found in other variants of concern, Public Health England said in a technical report.

Venezuela’s Guaido Taps Frozen Funds (6 p.m. NY)

Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido plans to make the biggest one-time withdrawal from offshore accounts frozen by U.S. sanctions to purchase Covid-19 vaccines as well as pay wages, legal fees and expenses.

Guaido approved the release of $152 million, of which about $100 million will be used to buy vaccines through the World Health Organization-backed Covax initiative or other organizations, according to a budget report approved by the National Assembly.

Pfizer, J&J Resist Calls to Loosen Vaccine Rights (5:44 p.m. NY)

Pfizer Inc. and Johnson & Johnson officials on Thursday balked at calls from the global community to waive patent rights in favor of broader immunization.

Intellectual property rights are critical to ensuring that Covid-19 vaccines can be deployed around the world, said Pfizer’s chief patent counsel, Bryan Zielinski. “It would never come out right,” said J&J chief intellectual property counsel Robert DeBerardine. “It wouldn’t taste like Grandma’s cookies.”

U.S. President Joe Biden is facing calls from some lawmakers to back a proposal before the World Trade Organization that seeks a broad waiver of rules on intellectual property rights on Covid-19 vaccines.

California Colleges Seek Vaccines for Fall Return (5:35 p.m. NY)

The University of California and California State University systems are proposing a policy to have students, faculty and staff vaccinated before they return in the fall.

Cal State Chancellor Joseph I. Castro called it “the most comprehensive and consequential university plan for Covid-19 vaccines” in the U.S. The university systems comprise more than 1 million students and employees across 33 major campuses.

Under the plan, students heading to UC and CSU campuses in the fall will need to update their immunization records on file. Exemptions are granted for medical reasons, according to statements from both school systems.

Canada Halts Flights from India, Pakistan (5:14 p.m. NY)

Canada imposed a 30-day ban on direct flights from India and Pakistan as of 11:30 p.m. Thursday in Ottawa.

Some Canadian provinces have found cases of a virus variant detected in India, which reported almost 315,000 new infections on Thursday. Leaders of Ontario and Quebec, Canada’s most populous provinces, have asked Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to further tighten restrictions for international travelers arriving by air or land.

WHO Head Calls for Global Vaccine Sharing (3:45 p.m. NY)

The head of the World Health Organization called on governments and companies that “control the global supply” to share doses and know-how to increase equitable vaccine distribution.

“Scarcity drives inequity and puts the global recovery at risk,” WHO director general Tedros Ghebreyesus said in a New York Times op-ed. Even with almost 1 billion doses administered, many countries face a crisis of high Covid-19 transmission and intensive care units overflowing with patients and running short on essential supplies such as oxygen, he said.

Israel, Bahrain in Vaccine Passport Pact (2:53 p.m. NY)

Israel and Bahrain have reached an agreement for the mutual recognition of vaccine passports for quarantine-free travel between the two countries, NPR correspondent Daniel Estrin said on Twitter, citing Israeli Foreign Ministry officials.

Israel is in talks with the U.S., U.K. and other countries for similar arrangements.

Intel Expansion Site in Ireland Has Outbreak (1:07 p.m. NY)

Intel Corp., the world’s largest chipmaker, said 70 people working for a construction contractor at an expansion of the company’s manufacturing plant in Ireland have contracted Covid-19.

The chipmaker said Thursday that it was told about the outbreak last weekend. Intel’s plant is in Leixlip, about 10 miles (16 kilometers) west of the center of Dublin.

Indonesia, Malaysia to Limit Travel (1 p.m. NY)

Indonesia and Malaysia will limit travel toward the end of the month-long fasting period which typically sees more than 81 million people head home to regional towns from urban centers.

The restrictions are aimed at avoiding a resurgence in cases similar to those playing out in other developing countries, which are threatening overall global growth. India set a daily record for cases this week, while infections are also rising in Turkey, Argentina and Brazil.

Covid Can Kill Months Later: Study (12:10 p.m. NY)

Covid-19 survivors had a 59% increased risk of dying within six months after contracting the SARS-CoV-2 virus, researchers reported in Nature. That works out to about eight extra deaths per 1,000 patients, worsening the pandemic’s hidden toll as many patients require readmission -- and some die -- weeks after the viral infection abates.

One of the largest studies of Covid-19 “long haulers” proved what many doctors suspected: Not only are many patients suffering a raft of health problems six months after infection, they’re also at significantly greater risk of dying.

N.Y. State Passes 2 Million Cases (11:44 a.m. NY)

New York on Thursday surpassed 2 million Covid-19 cases since the start of the pandemic. The state is third behind Texas, with 2.9 million, and California with more than 3.7 million reported cases, according to Bloomberg data.

New York state recorded the biggest numbers of infections in mid-January, peaking on Jan. 14 with 19,942 positive tests.

©2021 Bloomberg L.P.