(Bloomberg) — A record 10 million people were diagnosed with Covid-19 in the seven days through Sunday, almost twice the pandemic’s previous weekly high, as omicron spreads across the globe. Weekly deaths continued to drop.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams urged parents of public school students to have them return to classes on Monday, saying it was safe despite a surge in cases. Businesses in Puerto Rico will have to shut from midnight to 5 a.m. starting Tuesday, after it registered one of the biggest spikes in cases of any U.S. jurisdiction.
U.K Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned the pandemic is far from over. In Hong Kong, the hunt is on for diners in the city’s first cluster of local omicron cases. Russia reported the lowest number of cases since June, while Germany is weighing new measures in the face of rising infections.
Key Developments:
- Virus Tracker: Cases pass 290 million; deaths above 5.4 million
- Vaccine Tracker: More than 9.2 billion shots given
- Here’s (almost) everything Wall Street expects in 2022
- Asia manufacturing sustains momentum as omicron threat grows
- Gold rises to six-week high as virus risks boost demand
- What we know about the omicron variant now: QuickTake
NYC Kids Face Covid Spike in School Return (9:30 a.m. NY)
New York City Mayor Adams tried to reassure parents of the 1 million public school students that it was safe to return to classes on Monday after the winter break despite a surge in Covid cases, staffing shortages and no testing requirement to come back.
“The message has been clear, our schools will be open,” Adams said in a Monday interview with MSNBC. “Schools are the safest place for our children.”
The city’s seven-day Covid positivity rate surpassed 32% on Dec. 30 and reached nearly 45% in some areas of the Bronx, according to city data. The seven-day average hospitalizations have more than tripled since mid-December to 447 on Dec. 30.
Puerto Rico Spike Brings Restrictions (8:51 a.m. NY)
Businesses in Puerto Rico will have to shut from midnight to 5 a.m. starting Tuesday, as the commonwealth has seen one of the biggest spikes in infection rates of any U.S. jurisdiction.
In addition, alcohol sales will be banned during those hours and all events of 250 people or more will be prohibited. The new restrictions run through Jan. 18.
“We all want the contagion level to drop so that we can protect our boys, girls and youth so they can go back to school safely,” Governor Pedro Pierluisi said in a statement, when he signed the executive order Dec. 31. “That’s why these restrictions are necessary.”
The new rules come as Puerto Rico — a U.S. territory of 3.3 million — saw one of the highest new infection rates over the last seven days, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The island also boasts the highest vaccination rate of any U.S. jurisdiction.
Johnson Warns Pandemic Not Over: BBC (8:49 a.m NY)
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the U.K. is in a much better position with the virus than last year but reiterated that the pandemic is far from over, the BBC reported. It would be “absolute folly” to think it is almost over, he said.
Johnson was speaking to reporters on a visit to a vaccination center in Aylesbury.
France Bolsters Aid to Tourism Firms (8:04 a.m NY)
The French government said it will ease access to crisis funds and could delay loan repayments for businesses struggling with a drop in activity as the surge in omicron cases hits tourism and leisure activities.
“We are standing by firms and workers in difficulty,” Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said after meeting with representatives of business groups. “This method has allowed to relaunch economic activity very quickly and very strongly.”
Hong Kong Hunts for Six Diners in Cluster (6:20 a.m. NY)
Hong Kong is using a raft of detective methods to find six diners who may have been exposed to Covid-19 in its first cluster of local omicron infections.
Officials have identified 201 out of 207 patrons of the Moon Palace restaurant where an aircrew member from Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd., who was subsequently found to be infected with omicron, was eating lunch with his family on Dec. 27.
Five other customers later tested positive, and 191 so far have been sent to a government-run quarantine center where they will be regularly tested for the pathogen. But six diners across two tables have yet to be identified.
Iran Registers Lowest Deaths Since March (6:02 a.m. NY)
Iran reported 22 fatalities from Covid-19 over the last 24 hours, the lowest since March 2020, bringing its total death toll to 131,702.
The country has also detected 194 cases of the omicron variant since reporting its first case of the new strain two weeks ago, Iran’s health ministry said in a statement.
Botswana President Masisi Tests Positive (5:32 p.m. HK)
Mokgweetsi Masisi, 59, underwent a routine test and does not have symptoms, his office said Monday in an emailed statement.
He is in mandatory self-isolation at his official residence and Vice President Slumber Tsogwane will temporarily take over the presidential duties. The southern African nation has reported 219,509 Covid-19 cases and 2,444 deaths related to the virus.
China’s Port City Reports 16 Local Cases in 2 Days (5:12 p.m. HK)
The eastern Chinese port city of Ningbo in Zhejiang reported 16 local Covid19 cases on Jan. 1 and Jan. 2 respectively, according to China’s National Health Commission.
The Ningbo Zhoushan Port said operations are basically stable with strict Covid controls, according to a Sunday post on the port’s Weibo account
Nigeria Presidency to Test Visitors (5:08 p.m. HK)
Visitors to the Nigerian presidential compound will be required to test for the coronavirus before entering, Lagos-based online newspaper The Cable reported, citing 79-year-old President Muhammadu Buhari’s spokesman. Almost 244,000 Covid-19 infections have been recorded in the country since the pandemic began, according to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control.
Saudi Arabia Cases Rise (4:12 p.m. HK)
Saudi Arabia reported 1,746 new coronavirus cases on Monday, the most since July, as officials warned of the potential for new restrictions.
The kingdom is seeing a surge in cases driven by the Omicron variant after a series of crowded public events held last month, including a music festival attended by over 700,000 people. Two new deaths were reported; around 66% of the population has received at least two vaccine doses.
Denmark Sees Jan Peak for Omicron (3:53 p.m. HK)
The Danish health body expects the surge in the omicron variant of the coronavirus to peak later this month, with fewer hospitalizations compared with earlier strains leading to an improvement by March, a senior health official told broadcaster TV2.
Patients with the omicron variant have as much as a 50% bigger chance of avoiding hospitalizations compared to patients with other variants, Tyra Grove Krause, a director of the Statens Serum Institut, was quoted as saying in an interview with the broadcaster on Monday, citing data from the U.K. and South Africa.
Germany Weighs New Measures (3:42 p.m. HK)
Germany is contemplating further measures to protect critical services as the omicron variant threatens to become the dominant strain in the country by mid-January.
When Chancellor Olaf Scholz meets with state leaders on Friday to discuss the pandemic, the country could shorten quarantine times to prevent staff shortages in critical services like hospitals and police, according to Health Minister Karl Lauterbach.
“There are very many questions that need to be settled, and preparations are in full swing,” Lauterbach said late Sunday in an interview with RTL/ntv television.
Russia Reports Drop in Cases, Death (3:32 p.m. HK)
Russia registered the lowest number of cases since June. There were 16,343 new infections in the past day, according to the government’s reporting center. The number of deaths stood at 835, the lowest in since early October.
Singapore Warns Omicron Wave Imminent (3:12 p.m. HKT)
Omicron infections in the Southeast Asian nation have started to creep up, now making up around 17% of local cases and suggesting a wave of this variant is coming, Health Minister Ong Ye Kung said in a Facebook posting on Monday.
At the same time, ICU numbers are the lowest in the last quarter and active local cases over the past week are a fraction of what they were at the peak, he said. All these signal the delta variant wave has subsided, at least for now, Ong added. He reiterated that vaccination and boosters remain the key response.
Indonesia Shortens Quarantine Period (2:55 p.m. HK)
Indonesia cut short the mandatory quarantine period for incoming travelers, bucking the trend in the rest of the region that’s tightening border rules to slow the spread of the omicron strain.
Those arriving from overseas will need to quarantine for at least seven days, from 10, while those coming in from countries with high Covid-19 infections must quarantine for 10 days, from 14 previously, Coordinating Minister for Maritime and Investment Affairs Luhut Panjaitan, who’s overseeing the pandemic response, said in a briefing on Monday.
Taiwan Reports First Local Omicron Cases (2:47 p.m. HK)
Taiwan reclassified two imported cases as local cases in a suspected cluster of infections at a quarantine hotel, according to a statement from Taiwan Centers for Disease Control. Taiwan has reported 88 omicron cases in total.
Weekly Cases Double Previous Record (1:50 p.m. HK)
Almost twice as many people were diagnosed with Covid-19 in the past seven days as the pandemic’s previous weekly record in late April.
The highly mutated and infectious variant drove cases to 10 million in the seven days through Sunday, up from a previous record of 5.7 million. The surging number comes at a time when many people have given up on testing or are using at-home kits with results that aren’t reported to local authorities.
Weekly Covid deaths are still on a downward trajectory, falling to their lowest level in more than a year.
Australia Secures More Sotrovimab (1:43 p.m. HK)
Australia secured an additional 46,000 doses of sotrovimab, used for mild to moderate cases of the virus, taking the national stockpile to 81,000, Health Minister Greg Hunt said.
Australia recorded its highest number of infections since the pandemic began, with more than 37,000 daily cases.
India Infections Five Times Higher (1:12 p.m. HK)
India added 33,750 new infections Monday, more than five times the cases it reported a week ago, pointing to a new virus wave building in the country.
The South Asian nation, which has confirmed almost 35 million cases in total, reported 123 more deaths Monday, taking the total tally of Covid-related fatalities to 481,893. India will start vaccinating 15-18 year-olds Monday. The country has administered about 1.46 billion doses overall.
Pakistan Facing New Covid Wave (12:55 p.m. HK)
Pakistan reported 3,520 coronavirus cases in week ended Jan. 2, the highest in two months, according to Johns Hopkins University data.
There is now clear evidence of the start of another Covid wave, which has been expected for a few weeks, particularly in Karachi, Asad Umar, the minister overseeing the nation’s Covid-19 response, wrote on Twitter.
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.
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