(Bloomberg) — Hong Kong was rushing to defend its status as one of the world’s last Covid safe havens, after discovering the omicron variant may be spreading in the community. The admission that government officials had come into contact with an infected person at a large party prompted Chief Executive Carrie Lam to announce an investigation.
Tennis star Novak Djokovic remained in a legal limbo in Australia after a dispute over his request to get exempted from vaccination requirements on entering the country for a tournament.
European nations adopted a range of measures to deal with the omicron surge, though Germany, the region’s largest economy, played down the risk of a sweeping national lockdown.
Key Developments:
- Virus Tracker: Cases exceed 298 million; deaths approach 5.47 million
- Vaccine Tracker: Almost 9.3 billion shots administered
- Vaccine mandates cause backlash
- U.S. hospital staff shortages hit most in a year on Covid surge
- German factory orders rise in boon for pandemic-stricken economy
- France’s Macron under pressure as cases soar
Hong Kong Officials Under Fire for Partying (8:10 a.m. NY)
Hong Kong’s push to reimpose strict Covid-control measures suffered an embarrassing setback after it emerged 10 government officials had gone to a large party attended by a person believed to have Covid.
Chief Executive Carrie Lam announced the probe into a party of more than 100 people — including some of her government’s top officials — a day after outlining new measures to curb an omicron outbreak in the city. Home Affairs Secretary Caspar Tsui apologized on Facebook after being sent to a quarantine camp, while health authorities sought to determine whether another cabinet official, Immigration Director Au Ka-wang, was also a close contact to the infected party-goer.
Germany Downplays Risk of Lockdown (7:40 a.m. NY)
Germany can avoid a sweeping lockdown even if the omicron strain of Covid-19 fuels a “drastic increase” in infections in the coming weeks, according to Finance Minister Christian Lindner.
Speaking ahead of Friday’s talks to decide on the government’s pandemic strategy, Lindner said that Germany can tackle the virus and prevent overloading the health system with “reasonable” measures that avoid closing businesses and schools.
Latvia Extends Curbs (7:09 a.m. NY)
The Latvian government extended a lockdown until the end of February to slow a surge in cases.
Authorities prolonged the current restrictions before their expiration on Jan. 11, the Baltic country’s public broadcaster reported on Thursday.
Djokovic Remains in Limbo in Australia (6:19 p.m. HK)
Lawyers for Novak Djokovic mounted a legal challenge against Australia’s decision to deport him after federal officials overruled a state vaccine exemption for the tennis star that sparked a national uproar.
The player, due to contest the Australian Open this month, offered insufficient proof to enter the country under current pandemic rules, the Australian Border Force said Thursday. While he was earlier granted a medical exemption to enter the state of Victoria, the federal government revoked that after officials questioned the athlete for hours at Melbourne Airport.
Djokovic will remain in Australian immigration detention following a court’s decision to adjourn his appeal to a visa cancellation, Associated Press reported on Thursday.
Billionaire Branson Catches Omicron (5:22 p.m. HK)
Richard Branson is recovering from a “mild” case of coronavirus, the Virgin Group founder said in a tweet Thursday, adding that he and his wife both caught the omicron variant.
Branson used the occasion to urge those eligible to get a booster.
Indonesia’s Covid Cases Reach 2-Month High (5:15 p.m. HK)
Indonesia added the highest number of Covid-19 cases in two months and breached a key threshold that could prompt tighter restrictions.
The health ministry reported 533 infections on Thursday, the most since Nov. 4, with seven people dying from the disease. More than half of the cases were found in the capital, Jakarta, which reported 267 new infections.
Malaysia Approves Pfizer Vaccine for Kids (5:03 p.m. HK)
Malaysia is set to widen its vaccine roll-out to those as young as five-years old after it granted conditional registration for Pfizer-BioNTech’s vaccine for that purpose.
The national Drug Control Authority also issued conditional registration to CanSino Biologics’ vaccine as a booster shot for adults over the age of 18.
Philippines’ Covid Positive Rate Hits High (4:20 p.m. HK)
The percentage of Covid-19 tests turning positive in the Philippines reached a new high on Thursday, as confirmed infections rose almost 60% in a day. The positivity rate rose to 36.9%, breaking Wednesday’s record of 31.7%, according to health department data.
Tokyo Poised to Strengthen Curbs on Dining (4:19 p.m. HK)
Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike is considering tightening guidelines that currently allow groups of as many as eight people to enter restaurants together, Kyodo reports, citing remarks from Koike.
Cathay Cargo at 20% of Pre-Covid Capacity (1:40 p.m. HK)
Cathay Pacific will operate about 20% of cargo capacity and about 2% of passenger flight capacity compared to the pre-pandemic level starting Jan. 7, local media outlet HK01 reported, citing the company.
India Cases Jump Almost Seven-Fold in a Week (1:23 p.m. HK)
India reported 90,928 new infections Thursday — an almost seven-fold jump in a week — pushing total confirmed cases there past 35 million. So far, 2,630 cases have been linked to omicron, government data show. Reported deaths rose by 325 to 482,876.
“This phase of super-exponential growth in cases is likely to end in a few days,” according to a report Monday from a Covid India tracker developed by the Cambridge Judge Business School and the National Institute of Economic and Social Research.
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