(Bloomberg) —
The U.K. is worried by the number of health workers on sick leave as omicron spreads, and the education secretary told the Sunday Telegraph that secondary school students in England will have to wear masks in classrooms again. The country will develop contingency plans to help avoid supply chain disruptions from staff absences, the Financial Times reported.
Footballer Lionel Messi teted positive and is self-isolating, while protestors against restrictions took to the streets in Amsterdam.
New York state shattered its record for new infections as omicron continues its lightning spread. More than 2,400 flights into and out of the U.S. were canceled on New Year’s Day, and the travel headaches continued Sunday.
Key Developments:
- Virus Tracker: Cases pass 289.2 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
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 Protestors 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.
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, VnExpress Says (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 yet fully accounted for.
Such hidden chains of transmission has 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 e-mailed 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 lightening 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.
Adams Says NYC Bigger Than Pandemic (1:24 p.m. NY)
Eric Adams declared New York City “open and alive” despite a record-breaking viral surge, in his first address as the city’s 110th mayor.
“I take this important office at a time of great challenges for our city,” Adams said Saturday in an inaugural speech at City Hall. He said he’d been sworn earlier in at Times Square because he “wanted New Yorkers and the world to be reminded of two things.”
“First that despite Covid-19 and its persistence, New York is not closed,” he said. “It’s still open and alive, because New York is more resilient than the pandemic.”
Outbreak Hits Antarctica Outpost (12:30 p.m. NY)
Two thirds of the 25 workers at a scientific outpost in Antarctica have contracted Covid-19, the BBC reported. The cases are so far mild, and the infected have opted not to leave the Princess Elisabeth Polar Station.
“While it has been an inconvenience to have to quarantine certain members of the staff who caught the virus, it hasn’t significantly affected our work,” Joseph Cheek, a project manager for Belgium-led outpost, told the BBC.
More U.S. Flights Canceled (12:13 p.m. NY)
Almost 2,400 flights into and out of the U.S. were canceled Saturday, and more than 1,100 were delayed, according to the tracking firm FlightAware.com, amid bad weather and staff shortages caused by the rapid spread of the omicron variant.
Some 1,627 flights into or out of the U.S. have already been canceled for Sunday, FlightAware said. A heavy snow storm across large parts of the country is expected to cause major travel disruptions, according to the National Weather Service.
With the U.S. hitting record infections, the holiday travel season has been snarled by about 12,000 canceled flights since Christmas Eve, according to the Associated Press.
U.K. Vows to Avoid Lockdown (12:05 p.m. NY)
U.K. Health Secretary Sajid Javid reiterated his view that the country must try to live with Covid-19. New curbs must be an “absolutely last resort,” he wrote in the Daily Mail, citing the “enormous health, social and economic costs of lockdowns.”
It’s inevitable there will be a big increase in the number of people in the hospital with the virus over the next month given the lag between infection and hospitalization, Javid said.
On Saturday, England reported a record 162,572 new infections, about four times the daily level in early December. Hospital admissions in the U.K., while rising, are far below last winter’s peak.
South Africa Hospitalizations Fall (9:58 a.m. NY)
Patient admissions in South Africa fell to 9,378 on Saturday, from a recent peak of 9,401 the day before, and 729 of those were in intensive-care units, the National Institute for Communicable Diseases said in a report.
Earlier this week, the government said a fourth wave of omicron-driven infections may have peaked, and hospitals still have spare capacity.
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