(Bloomberg) — The U.S. suspended 44 scheduled Chinese airline flights to China in response to restrictions placed on American carriers over Covid-19 testing protocols. Australia will allow in international air travelers if they provide results from a rapid antigen test taken within 24 hours of departure.
Ireland is dropping most pandemic restrictions, the latest sign that Europe’s approach to Covid-19 is shifting toward something resembling a road back to normal. England, France and Belgium are also easing curbs even as omicron cases remain high.
Citigroup Inc. asked staffers in the New York City region to begin returning to the office early next month as cases start to recede in the area. It’s extremely unlikely that a person can be reinfected with omicron, at least in the short-term, said Anthony Fauci, President Joe Biden’s top medical adviser.
Key Developments:
- Virus Tracker: Cases top 345.9 million; deaths pass 5.5 million
- Vaccine Tracker: More than 9.87 billion shots administered
- Fresh produce risks getting more scarce with U.S. shot mandate
- Deutsche Bank, Barclays to open London offices to more staff
- Netflix, Peloton bring the pandemic-stock era to shuddering halt
- A vaccine to prevent all Covid is within reach: Lisa Jarvis
UN Offers Vaccines to North Korea: Yonhap (11:52 a.m. HK)
The United Nations offered to send 60 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines to North Korea in December but it hasn’t yet received an official response, Yonhap News reported. It cited South Korean lawmaker Kim Kyung-hyup, who was briefed by the nation’s National Intelligence Service.
Kim Song, North Korea’s ambassador to the UN, showed interest in the proposal and asked whether the vaccines would be Pfizer or Moderna, according to Yonhap.
North Korea is struggling to inoculate its population. The country was offered about 1.7 million doses of vaccines in July through a Covax vaccine-sharing program, but shipments were delayed due to the lack of technical preparedness and global vaccine shortages, according to a UN report.
Singapore’s Local Cases Most Since November (11:25 a.m. HK)
Local Covid-19 cases in Singapore rose to 2,794 on Jan. 21, the most since November, according to the Ministry of Health’s website. Total infections for the day including imported cases more than doubled from a day earlier to 3,155, as the data started including results from antigen rapid tests.
Infections are climbing as the city-state takes steps to minimize disruptions by lowering isolation periods and easing test requirements for vaccinated travelers, even as it anticipates a surge of the omicron variant in the country.
Chinese City Xi’an Eases Restrictions (11:06 a.m. HK)
Authorities are easing restrictions in some parts of China’s Xi’an city as coronavirus cases dwindle after nearly a month of lockdown in the recent delta epicenter.
Rules on entering and exiting condominiums will be loosened for residents in the Beilin, Xincheng and Lianhu districts and those living in the city’s aerospace base, and businesses will also be allowed to resume, according to a statement on the Beilin government’s WeChat account. The four areas have a combined population of about 2.58 million in the western Chinese city of 13 million.
Veklury May Be Used for Milder Cases: FDA (8:13 a.m. HK)
Gilead Sciences Inc.’s Veklury Covid treatment may be used for some non-hospitalized patients with mild to moderate cases, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said. The therapy had previously been limited to patients requiring hospitalization.
Australia to Allow Rapid Tests for Arrivals (5:53 p.m. NY)
Australia will allow international air travelers to enter the country if they provide results from a rapid antigen test taken within 24 hours of departure.
A RAT must be undertaken by or under the supervision of a medical practitioner that includes pharmacists or trained personnel at airport testing stations, the Ministry of Health said on its website Saturday in Sydney.
Until now any incoming traveler needed to complete a PCR test within three days of departure. The change is effective from 1 a.m. Sunday.
Citi Asks NYC Staff to Return in February (4:04 p.m. NY)
Citigroup Inc. asked staffers in the New York City region to begin returning to the office early next month as cases start to recede in the area.
Employees in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut were asked to prepare to come back on Feb. 7. For other locations across the U.S., Citigroup will continue to monitor local health data before inviting more workers to return. A spokeswoman confirmed the bank’s plans.
Citigroup has already asked its London staff to come into the office at least three days a week after the U.K. government said people no longer needed to work from home.
Omicron Reinfection Unlikely, Fauci Says (2:40 p.m. NY)
It’s extremely unlikely that a person can be reinfected with omicron, at least in the short-term, President Joe Biden’s top medical adviser said, as the U.S. begins to see sharp declines in cases in places hit earliest by the variant.
“There are reinfections, but it is unlikely that — if you mounted a good immune response — at least over a period of several months, it is extremely unlikely that you will be reinfected with the same variant,” Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said in a press briefing on Friday.
France Cases High Before Curbs Ease (2:20 p.m. NY)
France reported more than 400,000 cases for the fourth day in a row, less than two weeks before pandemic restrictions are scheduled to ease.
French leaders are betting that infections will recede, in part due to restricting most social activities — from eating in a restaurant to taking a train — to fully vaccinated people. The measure, scheduled to take effect Monday, won backing from France’s constitutional court on Friday.
Ireland Ends Most Restrictions (1:52 p.m. NY)
Ireland is dropping most pandemic restrictions, including early closing times for bars and restaurants and a work-from-home order, Prime Minister Micheal Martin said.
It’s the latest sign that Europe’s approach to Covid-19 is shifting toward something resembling a road back to normal as concern surrounding the omicron variant eases even amid record cases.
“I have stood here and spoken to you on some very dark days, but today is a good day,” Martin said in a national address. “We have weathered the omicron storm.”
U.K. Investigates Omicron Subvariant (1:48 p.m. NY)
U.K. health authorities said they’re investigating a version of the omicron variant based on an increase in the number of cases, but that it’s too early to evaluate its importance or severity.
The data on the omicron subvariant, known as BA.2, are limited, according to the agency. The agency said 426 cases have been confirmed in England, with the earliest dated Dec. 6.
U.S. Suspends Chinese Flights (12:54 p.m. NY)
The U.S. government is suspending 44 flights by Chinese airlines in response to restrictions placed on American carriers over Covid-19 testing protocols.
The U.S. Department of Transportation on Friday issued restrictions against four Chinese airlines in a dispute that has been percolating since the pandemic erupted in 2020. China in recent months had suspended flights on Delta Air Lines Inc., American Airlines Group Inc. and United Airlines Holdings Inc. in violation of a treaty on flight access, the DOT said.
Vaccine Mandate for Federal Workers Blocked (12:25 p.m. NY)
A federal judge in Texas granted Friday a nationwide preliminary injunction against President Biden’s Executive Order mandating that all federal workers consent to be vaccinated against Covid-19 or else face termination.
The order poses a substantial threat of irreparable harm to the “liberty interests of employees who must choose between violating a mandate of doubtful validity or consenting to an unwanted medical procedure that cannot be undone,” Judge Jeffrey V. Brown of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas said.
Last week, the Supreme Court blocked an Occupational Safety and Health Administration rule that would have required employers with 100 or more workers to make them get vaccinated or be tested regularly.
Boosters Fight Delta and Omicron: Study (11 a.m. NY)
Booster doses of Covid-19 vaccines increased protection against both the delta and omicron variants in three studies that looked at infections, hospital admissions and deaths in thousands of U.S. patients.
Third doses of messenger RNA vaccines made by Moderna Inc. and the partnership of Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE were at least 90% effective in preventing hospitalizations during both the delta and omicron periods, according to an analysis of hundreds of thousands of hospitalizations and clinic visits. The shots’ protection against Covid deaths was diminished after omicron’s rise, but remained significant, according to a separate study from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
JPMorgan’s London Bankers to Return (9:12 a.m. NY)
JPMorgan Chase & Co. was among banks firming up return to office plans in London. It has asked staff to come back for at least some days a week from Feb. 1.
Deutsche Bank AG earlier told staff it will start bringing more of them back to their desks from the end of January. Barclays Plc staff have been told they can return to the office from Monday, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Many staff have been working remotely since the U.K. government introduced guidance to do so in December. That was unwound on Wednesday. Separately, the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said he is standing down the “major incident” status over Covid-19 in London.
WHO Recommends Shot for Kids But Not Second Boosters (9:24 p.m. NY)
A World Health Organization panel recommended the Pfizer Inc.-BioNTech SE vaccine for children aged 5 and older. The recommendation is for a reduced dosage, according to the Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization, which met on Wednesday.
Separately, a panel is following the data emerging from a limited number of countries, especially Israel, on second boosters, but isn’t endorsing them due to lack of evidence.
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