(Bloomberg) —
The number of new Covid-19 cases in the U.S. is “unprecedented” and will probably cause serious sickness in many unvaccinated Americans, potentially adding further stress to the nation’s health-care system, Anthony Fauci said.
Average daily infections are at a record 400,000, President Joe Biden’s chief medical adviser said Sunday, urging that schools remain open with masking and other rules. On Wall Street, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. changed tack and is now asking U.S. employees to work from home if they can until Jan. 18.
Across the Atlantic, the U.K. is worried by the number of health workers on sick leave as the omicron variant spreads, while the Financial Times reported Boris Johnson’s government will develop contingency plans to help avoid supply chain disruptions from staff absences.
Protesters against restrictions took to the streets in Amsterdam.
Key Developments:
- Virus Tracker: Cases pass 289 million; deaths pass 5.4 million
- Vaccine Tracker: More than 9.19 billion shots given
- JPMorgan, Citi, BofA employees start 2022 working from home
- Hong Kong is increasingly shut off as inbound flights drop
- New NYC mayor vows post-virus renewal. Job No. 1: Tame Omicron
- What we know about the omicron variant now: QuickTake
Goldman Backtracks on Return to Office (10:40 a.m. NY)
Goldman Sachs, one of Wall Street’s fiercest champions of returning its staff to offices, is asking U.S. employees to work from home if they can until Jan. 18.
Goldman’s reversal comes after most of its major peers, including JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup, adopted a more cautious stance.
“As we continue to monitor the trajectory of this spike, we now encourage those who can work effectively from home to do so,” Goldman said Sunday in a memo.
Fauci Cites ‘Unprecedented’ Covid-19 Rise (10:34 a.m. NY)
The omicron variant of shows signs of causing milder illness but the “really unprecedented” rise in cases is still likely to cause serious sickness in many unvaccinated Americans, Anthony Fauci said.
“When you have so, so many cases, even if the rate of hospitalization is lower with omicron than it is with delta, there’s still the danger that you’re going to have a surge in hospitalizations that might stress the health-care system,” U.S. President Joe Biden’s chief medical adviser said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “We’re still going to get a lot of hospitalizations.”
England Has No Plans to Cut Isolation Period, Minister Says (9:36 a.m.)
Health Minister Edward Argar, who oversees policy for England, ruled out cutting the number of days an infected person must isolate from seven to five.
“We haven’t had scientific advice to cut that at this point,” he told Times Radio.
Hospitalization data are showing a rise in the number of people over 60 in the hospital, he added.
However, “I’m seeing nothing at the moment in the data in front of me, in the immediate situation, that suggests a need for further restrictions,” he said.
South Africa Hospitalizations Fall Slightly (9:35 a.m.)
There are 9,353 coronavirus patients hospitalized in South Africa, of which 7.8% are in intensive-care units, according to data from the National Institute for Communicable Diseases. That’s a slight decrease from the 9,378 patients a day earlier. Of the 733 people in ICU, 310 are on ventilators, the data show.
Bulgaria Reports First Cases of Omicron (9:28 a.m. NY)
Bulgaria reported its first 12 omicron cases on Sunday. No one has been hospitalized. The Balkan country is the EU’s least vaccinated, with less than 30% of the population having two doses. When adjusted for population, it also has one of the world’s worst mortality rates from the virus since the beginning of the pandemic, according to John Hopkins University data.
Lionel Messi Tests Positive, PSG Say (7:16 a.m. NY)
Soccer star Lionel Messi tested positive for Covid-19 and is isolating, his Paris Saint-Germain team said. “Leo Messi has been in regular contact with our medical team and when he is negative he will travel to France,” PSG coach Mauricio Pochettino said in his weekly press conference. “Until he gets a negative test in Argentina he won’t be able to travel to France.”
Hundreds of Protesters Take to Amsterdam’s Streets (7:14 a.m. NY)
Hundreds of Dutch protesters gathered in Amsterdam to demonstrate against coronavirus measures, even as the city banned the event, citing public health risks. “The organization is not prepared to cooperate in a safe and orderly course and has announced that it wants to seek confrontation and break the rules,” the municipality said on its website on Thursday.
The protesters circumvented the ban by changing the stated purpose of their gathering to “drinking coffee,” according to news agency ANP. The gathering place on Amsterdam’s Museumplein has been declared a “security risk area” until 11 p.m. in case the protest turns violent, ANP reported.
The Dutch government announced a stricter lockdown in December to stem the spread of the omicron variant. The so-called full lockdown, which will last until at least Jan. 14, allows only supermarkets and essential shops to stay open. Cases, hospitalizations and deaths have all fallen in the past month.
U.K. Sees Hospital Staff Absences Skyrocket (6:48 a.m. NY)
Covid-related absences among hospital staff in the U.K. jumped nearly two thirds in the post-Christmas period, the Times reported, citing NHS data. Regionally, the situation is even worse, with parts of one London hospital closed because half of the nursing staff were off sick, the paper reported. Health service staff have also faced difficulty accessing Covid-19 tests.
Government ministers are reported to be testing emergency contingency plans to minimize disruption to hospitals and other public services. Public sector leaders were told to plan for a worst-case scenario of 25% of staff being absent, the reports said.
The U.K. Health Security Agency argued in a blog post that easing the rules on self-isolation and allowing people back to work after five days instead of the current seven would worsen the situation. Its modeling showed as many as a third of people would still be infectious six days after a positive test.
Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi, meanwhile, told the Sunday Telegraph that secondary school students in England will have to wear masks again.
Israel Prime Minister Sees Cases Surging (6:44 a.m. NY)
Israel expects new coronavirus cases to climb to tens of thousands per day soon, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said at the opening of a cabinet meeting on Sunday.
“We expect to see new cases doubling, and then doubling again in the coming days,” Bennett said in remarks broadcast on the Internet. Almost 4,200 new cases were confirmed on Saturday, a weekend day when testing is relatively low.
The news comes days after the country approved the use of a fourth vaccine dose for the vulnerable.
Russia Bucks Global Trend With Fall in Cases (6:44 a.m. NY)
Russia reported the lowest level of cases since the middle of September. There were 18,233 new cases in the past day, according to the government’s reporting center. The number of deaths declined to 811, the lowest in more than three months.
Delhi Says Hospitalizations Remain Low Despite Surge (3:52 p.m. HK)
The hospitalization rate in India’s Delhi remains low despite a surge in the number of active cases in the past week.
The government is well prepared to deal with what appear to be mild or asymptomatic cases, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal told an online media conference on Sunday. Just 82 oxygen beds are occupied, a fraction of the 37,000 the government can provide.
While no new curbs were announced, last week saw the closing of cinemas, schools and gyms to combat the omicron variant.
Singapore Border Policy Tested as Imported Cases Soar (2:38 p.m. HK)
Singapore reported more Covid-19 infections among travelers from abroad than local cases for the first time in nearly half a year, testing the resolve of the country to keep its borders open amid the spread of the omicron variant.
There were 260 imported cases reported as of noon on Jan. 1, compared to 187 community infections, according to data released by the Health Ministry. The last time Covid-19 cases among travelers surpassed local infections was on July 12.
While Singapore has chosen to freeze ticket sales via its vaccinated travel lanes until late January, the business hub’s decision to maintain quarantine-free travel for vaccinated people from several countries, including omicron hotspots such as the U.K. and U.S., is increasingly being tested. Other nations including Thailand halted quarantine-free entry to prevent the spread of the new variant.
U.K. Develops Plans to Help Businesses From Absences: FT (2:03 p.m. HK)
The U.K. government will develop contingency plans to help companies and supply chains avoid disruptions from staff absences due to Covid-19, the Financial Times reported, citing the Cabinet Office.
The government has identified a range of staff-support measures, including former teachers for schools and volunteers in the public sector, the newspaper said. It has asked private businesses to test the plans against a worst-case scenario of as much as 25% in workforce absences, according to the report.
U.K. Cabinet Office Minister Steve Barclay will lead regular meetings to monitor the impact of the omicron variant on workforces and company operations, the FT reported.
Cases Dip From Record in Australia’s Victoria State (12:01 p.m. HK)
Cases in Australia’s second-most populous state fell to 7,172, down from a record a day earlier, as omicron continues to be the dominant strain in Victoria.
There were 472 Covid-19 cases hospitalized, with 52 of them in intensive care units, the state’s chief health officer said in an emailed statement. Victoria said 94.5% of people over the age of 12 have had a least one dose of vaccine while 92.9% have received two shots.
Neighboring South Australia state reported 2,298 new cases on Sunday.
Germany Reports 12,515 New Covid Cases (10:31 a.m. HK)
Germany recorded 12,515 new cases, less than half the 26,392 of the day before, according to the country’s public health authority RKI.
Reported new deaths associated with the virus rose by 46, bringing the total to 112,155.
Vietnam Asks China to Reopen Border Gates (10:18 a.m. HK)
Vietnam’s Ministry of Industry and Trade urged China’s Guangxi region to reopen its border gates with the Southeast Asian country and extend customs clearance hours to ease supply-chain snarls, VnExpress news website reported.
The measures have disrupted bilateral trade development, leading to significant losses for businesses in both countries, trade officials told their Guangxi counterparts Friday, according to VnExpress. Thousands of Vietnamese trucks have been stranded at the border for more than a month. Vietnam also wants Guangxi to lift its suspension of Vietnamese dragon fruit imports, the news website said.
Guangxi trade officials agreed to increase the duration of customs clearance and pass along other proposals to higher authorities, according to VnExpress.
China’s Xi’an Adds More Cases Despite Lockdown (9:27 a.m. HK)
China’s ongoing outbreak driven by the delta strain in the western city of Xi’an showed little signs of easing despite a strict lockdown of 13 million people.
The city reported more than 170 cases on Saturday and over 120 on Sunday, with many of the new infections involving people who are not close contacts of previously infected people. That indicates spread in the community is still not fully accounted for.
Such hidden chains of transmission have led to the harshest restrictions since the lockdown of Wuhan in early 2020 and indicates the challenge authorities face in stamping out the outbreak, a goal China has arduously sought throughout under the so-called Covid Zero strategy.
Scotland Brings Forward Shots for Teenagers (8:29 a.m. HK)
Scotland is accelerating the second dose for people in the 12-to-15 age bracket to take advantage of additional capacity.
Unbooked shots will be available from Monday while those who have an appointment can bring it forward, Health Secretary Humza Yousaf said in a statement.
Australia’s PM Checks for Covid Symptoms (7:31 a.m. HK)
Australia Prime Minister Scott Morrison is monitoring for Covid-19 symptoms after a positive case was detected in his Sydney residence.
The New South Wales health department advised Morrison to be on alert after a potentially infectious person attended a press conference at Kirribilli House on Wednesday, according to a government spokesman. Under the state’s recently revised guidelines, he doesn’t need to self-isolate.
“Residents and staff members are acting in accordance with the instructions from NSW Health,” the spokesman said in an emailed statement. “The Prime Minister was not required to isolate or get tested, and continues to monitor for symptoms.”
N.Y. Shatters Daily Record (4:55 p.m. NY)
New York state shattered its record for new Covid-19 infections, reporting 85,476 cases on Saturday as the omicron variant continues its lightning spread.
That number compares with a daily average of just below 6,700 new cases on Dec. 1, according to data from Johns Hopkins University and Bloomberg. The tally on Saturday was almost 9,000 higher than the day before.
New York City had by far the state’s highest rates of infection, with a seven-day average of 419 cases per 100,000 people.
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