(Bloomberg) — U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said he tested positive for Covid-19 and plans to quarantine at home for the next five days, attending meetings virtually when possible. Separately, Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison said he feels “totally fine” and hasn’t had to take a Covid test after a positive case was detected in his Sydney residence.
Singapore is looking into a gathering of New Year’s Eve revelers in a popular part of the city, the Straits Times reported. The government’s virus task force said the gathering “involved some blatant breaches of safe management rules and is a potential superspreading event.”
China reported 101 new Covid cases, of which 90 were in Xi’an, where some residents complained on social media about a lack of access to food, as well as censorship on the matter. The pace of vaccinations picked up in Hong Kong following the discovery of the first locally-transmitted infections in almost seven months and as the expansion of a vaccine mandate approaches.
Key Developments:
- Virus Tracker: Cases pass 289.9 million; deaths pass 5.4 million
- Vaccine Tracker: More than 9.2 billion shots given
- Flight cancellations greet the New Year due to omicron, storms
- Gold rises to six-week high as virus risks boost demand
- New NYC mayor vows post-virus renewal. Job No. 1: Tame omicron
- What we know about the omicron variant now: QuickTake
More Flight Cancellations, Led by China (12:05 p.m. HK)
About 3,700 domestic and international flights in the Asia-Pacific region were canceled over the weekend, and a further 970 are expected to be dropped Monday, according to the tracking firm FlightAware.com. China Eastern Airlines, Air China and Spring Airlines had the most cancellations.
Globally, more than 9,100 flights were canceled over the weekend.
Food Supply Complaints in Xi’an (11:32 a.m. HK)
Some local residents in Xi’an, the epicenter of China’s current outbreak, complained on social media about a lack of access to food supplies during lockdown, as well as government efforts to censor their grievances.
Two virus control officers in the city were fined and put in detention for seven days for beating a man who had gone out grocery shopping on Friday, according to local media reports, citing a police statement.
China reported 101 positive Covid cases for Sunday, 90 of which were in Xi’an.
Restrictions for Unvaccinated in Metro Manila (11:10 a.m. HK)
The Philippine capital region’s mayors agreed to pass ordinances to forbid unvaccinated people from leaving home except for buying essential goods, and to bar them from entering malls and restaurants.
The curbs will be put in place to avoid overwhelming hospitals and to allow the economy to remain open as cases rise, Metropolitan Manila Development Authority Chairman Benjamin Abalos Jr said during a televised briefing. The capital region accounts for a third of the nation’s economic output.
Hong Kong Vaccinations Pick Up (10:28 a.m. HK)
Hong Kong administered over 7,000 initial injections on both Saturday and Sunday, the most since the end of November, as more citizens signed up for vaccinations following the discovery of a cluster of infections at a restaurant.
The number of people getting their first shots was surpassed by those getting boosters as access expanded to all adults on Jan. 1, with some 8,000 and 10,600 given on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.
Hong Kong is set to launch an expanded vaccine mandate that will require an inoculation in order to patronize restaurants, gyms and cinemas later this month.
‘Mrs Doubtfire’ to Close on Broadway for Weeks (9:23 a.m. HK)
The producer of a new musical adaptation of “Mrs. Doubtfire” has decided to close down the show for nine weeks, saying he sees no other way to save the production, the New York Times reported.
Kevin McCollum said he would close the musical comedy on Jan. 10, with a plan to reopen on March 14. The move will cost 115 people their jobs for that period, and McCollum said he is committed to rehiring those who want to return, according to the report.
Singapore Probes New Year’s Eve Street Party (9:05 a.m. HK)
Authorities are looking into an impromptu gathering of New Year’s Eve revelers in Clarke Quay, the Straits Times reported. The government task force managing the Covid situation said the gathering “involved some blatant breaches of safe management rules and is a potential superspreading event.”
The unauthorized party of hundreds — Singapore rules cap group sizes at just five — was widely shared on social media. In pictures and video, the crowd could be seen cheering, singing and counting down to the new year, many with their masks pulled down.
U.S. Defense Secretary Tests Positive (8:54 a.m. HK)
U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said he tested positive for Covid and plans to quarantine at home for the next five days, attending meetings virtually when possible.
Austin said he last met with Biden on Dec. 21, more than a week before he began to experience symptoms. The last time he was in the Pentagon was Dec. 30, where he said he only met briefly with a few members of staff while everyone was masked and socially distanced.
The defense secretary is fully vaccinated and received a booster shot in early October.
Australia’s Morrison ‘Totally Fine’ (7:38 a.m. HK)
Australia Prime Minister Scott Morrison said he’s feeling “totally fine” and hasn’t had the need to take a Covid-19 test, after a positive case was detected in his Sydney residence.
Morrison said he was exposed to the positive case at a press conference held outdoors on Wednesday. The New South Wales state health department advised the prime minister to be on alert.
Deaths Hit Less Vaccinated Maine Counties (4:35 p.m. NY)
Deaths from Covid in Maine’s least vaccinated counties are about three times higher than in the most vaccinated, according to an analysis by the Portland Press Herald-Maine Sunday Telegram.
The starkest difference was between Franklin County, with a death rate of about 9 per 10,000, compared with Sagadahoc County, with just above 2 per 10,000. Franklin County is 59.4% vaccinated, while Sagadahoc County has a rate of 74.4%, the newspaper reported.
Adams Urges NYC Students to Classrooms (3:28 p.m. NY)
New York City Mayor Eric Adams urged parents to “put your children in school” when the U.S.’s largest school system reopens Monday after the holiday, despite a third of Covid tests coming back positive across the city and no requirement to test before attending classes.
Adams said he thinks tests should be required but he didn’t have authority to mandate them. That rests with New York Governor Kathy Hochul, who is encouraging testing but not requiring it. Other cities, including Washington, D.C., are requiring proof of a negative test to re-enter school buildings.
Maryland Governor Fears Worst Is Coming (2:19 p.m. NY)
Maryland Governor Larry Hogan, recently recovered from Covid, said his state may be facing “the worst part” of the pandemic as the omicron variant hits the unvaccinated.
“Luckily, because I was fully vaccinated and boosted, I didn’t get really sick,” Hogan said on CNN’s “State of the Union” of his late-December infection. Vaccines, he said, are “working beautifully,” but “we have overflowing hospitals.”
“That 8% of the population who has not been vaccinated is responsible for 75% of all the people that are filling up our Covid beds in the hospital,” he said.
Israel Expands Eligibility for Fourth Dose (1:37 p.m. NY)
Israel will start offering a fourth vaccine dose to people older than 60 as the omicron strain has caused a surge in new cases in the country.
The fourth dose will also be made available to medical staff for whom at least four months have passed since their last jab, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said in a press conference on Sunday. Last week, Israel approved the extra shot for people who are immunocompromised, as well as residents of nursing homes, and patients at geriatric hospitals.
Israel expects new coronavirus cases to climb to tens of thousands per day soon, Bennett said at the opening of a cabinet meeting on Sunday.
Fauci Says Testing May Be Added to Isolation Rule (1:02 p.m. NY)
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control is considering adding a negative test to recommendations on a shortened isolation period for people with asymptomatic infections, Biden’s chief medical adviser said on ABC’s “This Week.”
A testing requirement may be added to last week’s move by the U.S. to shorten the isolation period for some people who test positive for Covid-19, Anthony Fauci said.
U.S. health officials have cut the recommended isolation time to five days from 10 after after a positive test. Fauci acknowledged “pushback” to the shortened span without any further test that might indicate if a person is still infected.
Twitter Bans Greene for Misinformation (12:59 p.m. NY)
Twitter Inc. on Sunday said it permanently banned the personal account of Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene for repeated violations of the platform’s prohibition against spreading misinformation about Covid-19.
The Georgia lawmaker was previously suspended for tweeting false claims about the Covid vaccine and health risks during the global pandemic. A tweet Saturday misrepresented data on the death rate from the vaccine, a company spokesman said.
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.
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.
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