Austria Issues Vaccination Threat; Russia’s Record: Virus Update
(Bloomberg) --
Austria may implement new lockdown measures that will apply to unvaccinated people only, a framework that will be based on the occupancy of intensive care units.
Singapore will restrict workplace access to fully vaccinated people or those who recently recovered from the virus, starting in January. Those who haven’t taken shots will have to take daily tests to prove they’re negative.
Russia reported a record number of daily deaths and cases while Germany’s infection rate is at the highest since May. Beijing found six new cases as China’s latest outbreak challenges the government’s effort to keep the virus out. New infections in the U.S. dropped to the lowest since July.
Key Developments:
- Virus Tracker: Cases top 243 million; deaths surpass 4.9 million
- Vaccine Tracker: More than 6.8 billion shots given
- Resurgent Covid means it could be another tough winter
- Covid-19 Travel Tracker: What’s open in cities around the world?
- Delta variant is bolstering the case for booster shots
Austria Issues Vaccination Threat (7:12 a.m. NY)
Austria has laid out a framework for potential new lockdown measures to apply only to unvaccinated people, as inoculations lag and cases rise sharply.
“I will do everything I can to ensure that the health system in this country does not reach its limit and is not overloaded because we have too many procrastinators,” Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg said in a statement Saturday. Some 220 ICU beds are currently occupied.
If the number of Covid patients in intensive care units hits 500, or 25% of the country’s capacity, unvaccinated people would be barred from hotels and restaurants. If ICU capacity reaches one-third, or 600 units, a lockdown would go into effect for the unvaccinated, who would only be allowed to leave their homes for certain reasons.
German Covid Rate Highest Since May (7:00 a.m. NY)
Germany’s new infections rose to a level not seen since May as the pandemic resurges with the onset of colder weather in large parts across Europe.
Cases recorded were exactly 100 per 100,000 people for the past seven days on Saturday, an increase from a rate of 95.1 per 100,000 a day earlier, data from Robert Koch Institute showed. There have been 83,14 cases in the past seven days and 15,145 over the previous 24 hours, it said. Deaths rose to 86, from 75 a week ago.
South Korea Reaches Vaccination Target (4:35 p.m. HK)
South Korea has reached its goal of fully vaccinating more than 70% of its population, a precondition the government set for an easing of restrictions.
About 35.9 million of the nation’s 51.3 million residents had been fully vaccinated as of 2 p.m. local time Saturday, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said in a statement.
Russia Reports Record Deaths, Cases (4:00 p.m. HK)
Russia reported a record number of new cases and deaths Saturday as people remain hesitant to vaccinate despite the surge.
The national coronavirus headquarters said there were 37,678 new cases and 1,075 deaths in the last day, the most in both categories since the pandemic began. President Vladimir Putin ordered nationwide non-working days for the first week of November to slow the spread while many regions, including Moscow, have announced harsher lockdowns.
Singapore to Restrict Workplace Access (3:45 p.m. HK)
Singapore said only fully-vaccinated people and those who had recently recovered from the virus will be allowed to enter workplaces from January, while those who haven’t taken the shots must test negative daily before they are granted access.
“Unvaccinated employees will not be allowed to return to the workplace unless they have tested negative for Covid-19 before returning to the workplace, and they will need to pay for the costs of these tests,” the government said in a statement on Saturday. The testing requirements will also apply to people who are medically-ineligible to take the vaccines and pregnant women, it said.
No Partying for EU Officials at COP26 (2 p.m. HK)
European Union diplomats have been banned from attending most social events at the COP26 climate change talks due to the surge in cases in the U.K.
Two officials attending the United Nations summit in Glasgow, Scotland, said the EU will not host its annual reception, and that guidelines have been issued for socializing in order to prevent the spread of infections. The bloc’s diplomats will be allowed to attend only crucial events at the conference, which runs from Oct. 31-Nov. 12.
FDA Says Child Shot Benefits Outweigh Risks (9:43 a.m. HK)
The staff of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said the benefits of Pfizer and BioNTech SE’s Covid-19 vaccine for young children likely outweigh its risks.
According to the staff report, posted on the FDA website, the vaccine’s capacity to prevent hospitalizations and deaths likely exceed the risk of adverse outcomes such as the heart condition myocarditis, which has been reported in some younger males who have received messenger RNA shots.
Earlier, Pfizer posted a document on the FDA website saying its shot was 90.7% effective against symptomatic cases in kids ages 5 to 11.
China Finds 38 Local Cases, Six in Beijing (9:30 a.m. HK)
China’s National Health Commission confirmed 38 new local Covid-19 cases on Friday, six of them in Beijing.
Five of the six had returned from a trip to Inner Mongolia and one is a close contact, according to a separate statement from the Beijing Municipal Health Commission, which later said another three domestic cases had been found in the capital on Saturday.
The local government of Beijing’s Changping district, where the infected residents live, earlier announced mass testing in some residential compounds. Other local infections on Friday were found in Gansu province, Inner Mongolia, Ningxia and Yunnan.
Singapore Leads Asia Air Travel Comeback (7 a.m. HK)
Singapore is leading a revival in air traffic in Asia as the region follows North America and Europe in reopening borders. By January, the city-state is predicted to reach 84% of the weekly flights to Europe it had in March last year, before the clampdown on travel. There’ll also be 1,519 flights from the financial hub to elsewhere in Asia, compared with only 194 in May 2020, data from aviation analytics firm Cirium show.
Australia, Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia are among others ditching Covid-Zero policies and announcing plans to allow fully-vaccinated visitors from certain places to enter without having to quarantine.
Walmart Corporate Staff Called Back (6:08 a.m. HK)
Walmart Inc., the largest private-sector employer in the U.S., is calling its corporate staff back to the office from Nov. 8 after more than a year and a half of remote work during the coronavirus pandemic.
The planned return starts about a month after the deadline the retailer imposed for headquarters and regional staff to get vaccinations or approval for an exemption. The Bentonville, Arkansas-based company said two weeks ago that “the overwhelming majority” of those employees have gotten shots.
U.K. Signals No More Lockdowns (5:49 a.m. HK)
U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak told the Times of London that the country’s inoculation program means there won’t be any more lockdowns, shrugging off warnings from some medical experts that the health-care system could be overwhelmed this winter.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson released a video encouraging Britons to get their booster injections.
About one in 55 people living in private households in England had Covid-19 in the week ending Oct. 16, compared with 1 in 60 the week before, according to estimates from the Office for National Statistics. Infections were still highest in school children aged 7 to 11, it said.
Adobe Sets Unpaid Leave for Unvaccinated (5 a.m. HK)
Adobe Inc. has told U.S. employees they have to be vaccinated against Covid-19 by Dec. 8 or be placed on unpaid leave, CNBC reported, citing an email to employees.
The policy is imposed due to President Joe Biden’s executive order for federal contractors to have all employees vaccinated. The company said it will consider religious and medical exemptions for employees who can’t get the vaccine.
Cruises Bounce Back With $61,000 Trip (5 a.m. HK)
Royal Caribbean International’s new Ultimate World Cruise -- a 274-night trip to all seven continents, stopping at destinations in 65 countries including the Pyramids, the Taj Mahal and the Great Wall of China -- joins a growing list of multi-month itineraries launched by cruise lines aimed at travelers eager to splurge after months of closed borders.
The 9-month trip, billed as the longest ever offered by a major cruise company, will cost $61,000 and would surpass Viking Cruise’s 245-night voyage, launched in August 2019, that was forced to end early as a result of the pandemic. The Serenade of the Seas will depart Miami, Florida, on Dec. 10, 2023, and passengers will have the option to join at the start or at other points during the journey.
Pandemic Drives U.S. Retirements (2:33 p.m. NY)
Over 3 million in the U.S. retired early because of Covid-19, researchers said.
St. Louis Federal Reserve economist Miguel Faria-e-Castro’s work suggests that the boom won’t end soon. In April, government surveys suggested that 2.7 million Americans age 55 or older might stop working sooner than they’d imagined.
The surge in stocks and housing values during the pandemic allowed young baby boomers with a nest egg to stop working.
British Teens May Get Second Shot (2:03 p.m. NY)
Britain’s Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation has approved second Covid inoculations for 16- and 17-year-olds, according to the Guardian, which didn’t attribute the news. The decision could be announced next week, the newspaper said.
NYC Ready for Boosters (1:02 p.m. NY)
New York City is ready to administer boosters, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Friday.
There are now booster recommendations for all three available Covid-19 vaccines in the U.S., and the CDC said those eligible will be able to choose a different booster from the vaccine they originally received.
U.S. Cases Drop to Lowest Since July (12 p.m. NY)
The seven-day average of new cases in the U.S. was 73,079 as of Oct. 20, down 15% from a week earlier. The new average is the lowest since the end of July, CDC data show.
Most states remain in the “high” level of community transmission determined by the CDC. Those one step lower, in the “substantial” category, include New Jersey, Maryland, California, Mississippi, Florida, Hawaii and Louisiana.
Community transmission is based on the number of cases in the last 7 days per 100,000 population and the number of tests in the last 7 days that have a positive result.
Tudor Jones Tests Positive After Gala (11:45 a.m. NY)
Robin Hood Foundation, the anti-poverty charity warned there may be more cases at a gala for 3,000 people it hosted at the Javits Center in New York on Wednesday night, after founder Paul Tudor Jones tested positive after the event. Tudor Jones said in a statement to Bloomberg that he took the PCR test after a co-worker at his home tested positive. This was after the hedge fund manager had had a negative PCR test on Monday.
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