(Bloomberg) — China detected omicron in a second major port city, deepening concern of a wider outbreak at Beijing’s doorstep and raising the prospect that more foreign businesses might follow Toyota Motor Corp. in halting operations along the northeastern coast.
Germany reported record new infections for a second day. Switzerland joined Spain and the U.K. in suggesting that the coronavirus pandemic may be shifting to an endemic phase.
Crowds at the Australian Open will be capped at half capacity as authorities in host city Melbourne worry about surging infections. A U.S. study found that almost all teenagers who needed intensive care for Covid-19 were unvaccinated, bolstering the case for the shot in youths.
Key Developments:
- Virus Tracker: Cases top 315.3 million; deaths pass 5.5 million
- Vaccine Tracker: More than 9.57 billion shots administered
- China faces mounting economic damage from Covid-zero policy
- For emerging economies, new Covid wave spawns new thinking
- Omicron has workers ready to quit rather than return to office
- N95 mask prices hit ‘ridiculous’ highs on CDC advice speculation
Qantas Cuts a Third of Capacity (2:03 p.m. HK)
Qantas Airways Ltd. is cutting domestic and international flight capacity as the omicron variant sweeps through Australia and across the globe, reversing an expected pickup in travel.
Domestic capacity for the fiscal quarter started Jan. 1 is expected to be about 70% of pre-Covid levels, compared to a previous forecast of 102%, the Sydney-based carrier said. International capacity is seen falling to around 20% of pre-Covid levels from 30%.
South Korea Tightens Rules for Visitors (1:52 p.m. HK)
South Korea tightened rules for inbound visitors after infections among those who traveled overseas increased. Visitors will be required to take a PCR test 48 hours in advance, compared with 72 hours previously, beginning on Jan. 20, according to a statement from officials.
Visitors are also required to take disinfected buses, trains or taxis upon arrival unless they are riding in their own car. The number of confirmed Covid-19 cases found among people who visited overseas rose to 391 from 200 in the second week of December.
Germany Posts Record Cases for Second Day (1:30 p.m. HK)
Germany registered a record number of new Covid-19 infections for a second straight day as the omicron variant continues to spread rapidly in Europe’s biggest economy.
There were 81,417 new cases in the 24 hours through early Thursday, according to the latest data from the RKI public-health institute. The seven-day incidence rate per 100,000 people climbed to 428, moving closer to the all-time high of 452 scaled at the end of November.
Tokyo Raises Covid-19 Alert Level (1:10 p.m. HK)
Tokyo raised its Covid-19 alert to the second-highest level on a four-tier system as the number of daily infections grows rapidly with experts warning that the omicron variant is quickly replacing the delta.
At an expert panel meeting on Thursday, the capital’s officials also raised the alert over the medical situation in the city by one notch from the lowest level. Japan’s capital is set to report more than 3,000 new coronavirus cases on Thursday, FNN reported, citing an unidentified official.
India Parliament May Work in Shifts (12:56 p.m. HK)
A surge in coronavirus infections may force the Indian parliament’s upcoming budget session to be conducted in shifts, ANI news agency reported citing unnamed officials.
The federal Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs proposed the plan after more than 400 staff members tested positive ahead of the session expected to begin later this month, according to the report.
The country reported 247,417 new cases on Thursday morning, its highest surge since May 23. The total tally of confirmed cases now stands at 36.32 million.
H.K. Experts Recommend Wearing Two Masks (12:50 p.m. HK)
High-risk people should consider wearing two face masks to guard against contracting the omicron variant, two Hong Kong virus experts said, as the city attempts to stamp out an outbreak of the highly infectious virus.
Wearing a cloth mask over a surgical mask can “tighten the gap not covered by the surgical mask, which is often very loose,” said David Hui, a professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong and a member of the government’s scientific committee. He recommended the measure for high-exposure groups, people in outbreak areas and on public transport.
Toilet Paper Limits Return to Australia (11:44 a.m. HK)
Australian retailer Woolworths reinstated a limit of two packs per customer across toilet paper and analgesic products nationwide both in-store and online, according to a statement.
In the western part of the country, the retailer is introducing a limit of two packs per customer across mince, sausages and chicken products because of signs of excessive buying. The company is experiencing supply chain challenges because of Covid-19 and high rates of absenteeism.
Japan to Scrap Quarantine for Medical Workers (11:41 a.m. HK)
Japan will allow medical workers who have been identified as close contacts of omicron cases to keep working, after staff absences caused by a 14-day quarantine period stressed the health system in an area suffering from a large outbreak.
The health-care staff can continue working as long as they pass daily tests, the country’s health minister Shigeyuki Goto told reporters on Wednesday. The government is moving to allocate resources to those who need them the most as cases surge in Japan, which had all but snuffed out its wave of the delta variant.
Hong Kong May Hack BioNTech Shot (10:49 a.m. HK)
Hong Kong’s vaccine advisory panel recommended giving a partial dose of BioNTech SE’s adult Covid shot to younger children, resorting to an “off-label use” amid supply shortages for a pediatric formulation.
The experts suggested children age 5 to 11 receive 10 micrograms of the German-made shots, which is one-third of the adult dose. The move would “facilitate the timely extension” of vaccine coverage for those age groups, the government advisers said in a statement.
Australian Open to Curb Crowds (10:05 a.m. HK)
Crowds at the Australian Open will be capped at half capacity as authorities in host city Melbourne worry about increasing omicron infections and hospitalizations. Spectators at the tennis tournament will be required to wear face masks and density limits will apply for all indoor hospitality areas when it starts Monday, Victoria state government said in a statement.
Victoria’s health-care system is under pressure as thousands of its workers are furloughed after being exposed to the virus. The state recorded 37,169 new infections Thursday, up from 7,442 at the start of the year, while hospitalizations have more than doubled to 953 in the same period.
In Australia’s most populous state, New South Wales, more than 92,264 new infections were recorded Thursday. That included some 61,387 infections detected from rapid tests since Jan. 1, more than 50,000 of which were from the past 7-days, state health authorities said in a statement. The state has 2,383 people hospitalized with Covid, up from 903 at the start of the year.
Biden to Send Medical Teams to Six States (9:43 a.m. HK)
The U.S. federal government will send medical teams to New York, New Jersey, Ohio, Rhode Island, Michigan and New Mexico to help hospitals overburdened by Covid-19, USA Today reported, citing an unidentified White House official.
President Joe Biden is expected to unveil the deployments on Thursday while discussing plans to address the omicron variant, the newspaper said.
China Detects Omicron in Second Port City (8:13 a.m. HK)
China detected omicron in a second major port city, deepening concern of a wider outbreak at Beijing’s doorstep and raising the prospect that more foreign businesses might follow Toyota in halting operations along the northeastern coast.
Chinese officials said Thursday that at least one person has the more transmissible omicron variant in Dalian, a city of seven million. The patient showed no symptoms, but tested positive after returning from their college in the nearby city of Tianjin, where at least 137 other cases were traced as of Wednesday. A second person in Dalian has also tested positive with the virus, but the variant is unknown.
A broader spread of omicron is bad news for China. With just three weeks to go before the winter Olympics are set to begin in Beijing, China has put in place some of the world’s toughest measures to stamp out the virus.
Study Bolsters Case for Vaccine in Youths (5 p.m. NY)
Almost all teenagers who needed intensive care for Covid-19 were unvaccinated, according to a study published by the New England Journal of Medicine, bolstering the case for using the Pfizer-BioNTech shot in youths.
The vaccine prevented 98% of ICU visits and 94% of Covid-related hospitalizations in the real-world study of more than 1,000 adolescents ages 12 to 18 in 23 states. The research from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and a network of 31 hospitals is one is one of the most detailed yet showing that vaccines can prevent severe Covid complications in teenagers.
Fall in London Cases Raises Hope (11 a.m. NY)
Covid infection rates are falling in London, raising hopes that the omicron outbreak is in retreat.
Infections for the U.K. increased to 4.3 million in the first week of January, up from 3.7 million a week earlier, the Office for National Statistics said. England accounted for the bulk, at just over 3.7 million, and the highest infection rate at 1-in-15.
But cases in London, which has been at the epicenter of the U.K. outbreak, dropped from 1 in 10 to 1 in 15. The hot spots are now the North West of England and Yorkshire and the Humber, where 1 in 10 people have Covid.
Signs that the virus may be retreating in the capital provide some hope that the worst may soon be over. A short, sharp surge in cases echoes the experience in South Africa, where omicron was first reported.
Swiss Add to Talk of Endemic Phase (10:30 a.m. NY)
Switzerland’s interior minister said the transition from pandemic to a stage where the country learns to live with Covid-19 like the flu may be in sight.
“We may be on the eve of a watershed, the transition from a pandemic phase to an endemic phase,” Alain Berset, whose ministry includes health, said at a media conference Wednesday.
Berset’s comments follow a call by Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Monday to consider treating the crisis differently, given that the omicron wave of infections hasn’t led to an equivalent surge in hospitalizations and deaths. Britain’s Education Secretary, Nadhim Zahawi, told the BBC on Sunday the U.K. is “on a path towards transitioning from pandemic to endemic.”
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