Even as ‘they’ are trying to convince us to vaccinate with what ‘they’ consider to be the correct vaccines, at the same time that the numbers are telling us that the favored vaccines might not work at all or for long in preventing infection, ‘they’ are rushing populations into the viral mist by action of deadlines and such. Normally such would be considered criminal bad-actor-inv.
Should such bum-rushings around the planet result in disasters, expect pricing-in to be sudden, and regime-change for sure.
It is looking less and less positive
bloomberg.com
U.S. Cases Swell on Delta as Asia Tightens Curbs: Virus Update
12 July 2021, 05:49 GMT+8
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The coronavirus made gains from Asia to the U.S., which had the most cases since mid-May as the delta variant spreads in less vaccinated parts of the nation. Anthony Fauci, the top U.S. infectious disease specialist, said “ ideological rigidity” is stopping people from getting Covid-19 shots.
There are also concerns in Singapore about vaccine reluctance among older people, while growing outbreaks are leading to tougher rules in Bangkok, Seoul, and parts of Vietnam. Tokyo entered its fourth state of emergency, while Sydney had a 45% spike in daily cases.
French President Emmanuel Macron will address the nation today on measures to contain delta, and U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson will today warn people to stay vigilant as he prepares to lift virtually all remaining curbs in England. South Africa extended bans on alcohol sales and most gatherings.
Key Developments: Global Tracker: Cases top 186.6 million; deaths pass 4.02 million
Vaccine Tracker: More than 3.41 billion doses administered
China’s fading ‘first-in first-out’ rebound sends global warning
Britain’s nightlife prepares for reopening wounded by pandemic
Delta variant spills out of Midwest tourist hub-turned-incubator
From alpha to delta, why virus mutations cause alarm: QuickTake
Backlash Stops Indonesia Plan (11:35 a.m. H.K.)Indonesia’s state-owned pharmaceutical company PT Kimia Farma is delaying a plan to sell Covid-19 vaccines amid a backlash. Kimia Farma was set to market Sinopharm Group Co. shots, which were ordered for a private vaccination program, as soon as Monday. The plan met with questions on why the shots are being sold and why any company should profit.
Tokyo Enters State of Emergency (11:25 a.m. H.K.)Tokyo entered a state of emergency for the fourth time on Monday, with Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga having decreed it will run through August 22, covering the entire duration of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Japan has plenty of vaccines, but faces a slowing inoculation rate due to distribution issues. Just 11 days before the games, Japan has given enough shots to cover about 23% of its people, with some Olympic volunteers still awaiting second shots.
Organizers decided to ban all spectators from the Olympics after the state of emergency was announced last week. Though Japan has done better than most rich nations in the pandemic, polls show the public is concerned about the safety of the games.
Lagos May Face Third Virus Wave (11:00 a.m. H.K.)Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial hub, is seeing a sharp rise in infection rates. “From the beginning of July, we started to experience a steep increase in the number of daily confirmed cases, with the test positivity rate going from 1.1% at the end of June 2021 to its current rate of 6.6%,” Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the governor of the state, said in an emailed statement.
Lagos is Africa’s biggest city, but only 1% of its more than 24 million residents are fully vaccinated.
Sydney Surge May Prolong Curbs (10:00 a.m. H.K.)Australia’s most-populous city had 112 new coronavirus cases on Monday, and at the weekend recorded its first death since April.
The delta-strain leaked into the local community in mid-June and the city has been in lockdown since June 26. New South Wales state Premier Gladys Berejiklian indicated that the current stay-at-home orders may be extended beyond Friday. “We just want people to stay at home,” she said. “The virus won’t spread if people don’t leave home. That is the bottom line.”
Taiwan Cities to Keep Dining Curbs (9:50 a.m. H.K.)Taiwan’s major cities will keep a ban on in-restaurant dining, despite a decision by the island’s government that socially distanced dining could proceed from tomorrow. Capital Taipei City and the surrounding New Taipei City were first to push back, followed by all other major cities. There may still be invisible community transmission chains, so it’s not appropriate to wind back curbs now, New Taipei’s mayor said.
But the relatively remote archipelago of Penghu County is the only district that has agreed to allow such inside dining.
Thailand Has 80 Deaths, Economy Is Hit (9:15 a.m. H.K.)Thailand reported 8,656 new infections on Monday, taking the nation’s cumulative cases to 345,027, according to the Center for Covid-19 Situation Administration. It had 80 fatalities.
The greater Bangkok area, accounting for about 50% of Thailand’s gross domestic product, will shutter shopping malls, spas, massage and beauty clinics for at least two weeks starting today. A mandatory work-from-home rule for most government staff, overnight curfews and curbs on domestic travel are set to hurt retailers, airlines and restaurant operators, already reeling from some form of Covid restrictions for more than a year.
Singapore Seniors Slow on Vaccines (9:02 a.m. H.K.)Seniors in Singapore have the lowest take-up rate in Covid-19 vaccinations, despite having had access to vaccinations the longest, according to the Straits Times newspaper.
Those 70 and above were the first age group to be offered vaccinations but now have the lowest take-up rate, having been passed by other age groups. The newspaper quoted seniors expressing concerns about side effects, despite government reassurances. Finance Minister Lawrence Wong, who co-leads the city-state’s virus task force, appealed to family members to encourage older relatives to get inoculated.
Vietnam imposes stay-home curbs in south (8:45 a.m. H.K.)Authorities across Vietnam’s south issued social-distancing curbs following last week imposition of a stay-home order in the nation’s commercial hub of Ho Chi Minh City. In Binh Duong province, home to 30 industrial parks, stay-home orders were issued for seven of nine localities as virus infections topped 1,500 cases, according to the provincial government’s website.
Authorities in the nation’s Mekong Delta rice bowl put in place similar anti-virus measures.
Daiichi Sankyo Shares Gain on Trial (8:30 a.m. H.K.)Japan’s Daiichi Sankyo plans a clinical trial of its mRNA Covid vaccine candidate on several thousand people this year, a spokesperson said. The company aims to commercialize the vaccine in fiscal 2022. The stock gained.
Seoul Under Tighter Curbs From Today (8:20 a.m. H.K.)A ban on private gatherings of more than three people after 6pm goes into effect in the greater Seoul area today, with night-time entertainment businesses closing after a recent surge in coronavirus cases. Daily Covid-19 cases hit a record of more than 1,300 on Saturday.
Amid government warnings that the country is undergoing its worst surge since the first confirmed case almost a year and a half ago, many Seoul residents appeared to stay home over the weekend with malls and restaurants reporting scant crowds.
Cubans Protest as Outbreak Grows (8:10 a.m. H.K.)
An anti-government demonstration in Havana, on July 11.
Photographer: Yamil Lage/AFP/Getty Images
Thousands of Cubans demonstrated to protest food shortages and high prices as the pandemic devastates an economy already suffering from U.S. sanctions. The mass gatherings come even as Cuba grapples with a serious coronavirus outbreak.
The country of 11 million people has about 32,000 active cases of Covid-19 and reported 6,923 daily cases and 47 deaths on Sunday, breaking a record set Friday, the New York Times reported, citing the health ministry. Only about 15 percent of the population is fully vaccinated.
Argentina to Buy 20 Million Moderna Shots (6:45 a.m. Hong Kong)Argentina reached a deal with Moderna Inc. to buy 20 million doses of its Covid-19 vaccine, the Health Ministry said in a statement Sunday.
The country has so far fully vaccinated 11% of its population.
U.K. Johnson to Urge Caution (5:39 p.m. NY)Prime Minister Boris Johnson will warn people to remain vigilant as he prepares to lift virtually all remaining coronavirus restrictions in England.
In a news conference on Monday, Johnson is widely expected to confirm that mandatory curbs will end as planned on July 19, including the legal requirement to wear masks in indoor settings.
But he’ll also warn that the unlocking will drive a new surge in cases and that people must “all take responsibility” in the coming weeks to help keep infections at a manageable level, his office said in an emailed statement.
U.S. Donates to Indonesia, Bolivia (5:19 p.m. NY)
Boxes containing some of 1,008,000 doses of Johnson & Johnson vaccines in Bolivia, on July 11.
Photographer: Aizar Raldes/AFP/Getty Images
The U.S. is sending 3 million doses of the Moderna vaccine to Indonesia and more than 1 million Johnson & Johnson doses to Bolivia, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Twitter. More doses are on the way for Indonesia, which is receiving the shots through the World Health Organization-backed Covax program, he said. On Saturday, Blinken said the U.S. was delivering 2 million Moderna doses to Vietnam.
South Africa Extends Restrictions (3:03 p.m. NY)South African President Cyril Ramaphosa extended bans on alcohol sales and most public gatherings for two weeks to bring a third wave of infections under control.
The country will remain on virus alert level 4, the second-highest, although there will be adjustments to some curbs, including allowing restaurants to resume operating at half-capacity and gyms to reopen, Ramaphosa said Sunday in a televised address. A night-time curfew will stay and schools will remain closed until July 26.
A mass vaccination site in Johannesburg, on July 8.
Photographer: Waldo Swiegers/Bloomberg
France Warns of New Viral Wave (2:32 p.m. NY)As the French government warns of a “fourth wave” due to the now-dominant delta variant, France reported 4,256 new cases in 24 hours, up 60% in a week based on a 7-day rolling average. There were four deaths, though the number of patients needing intensive care continues to fall.
President Emmanuel Macron is scheduled to address the nation Monday evening, when he’s expected to speak about the risks of the delta variant and measures to counter its rapid spread, including mandatory vaccination for healthcarepersonnel. A key Macron ally said France must “live with the virus” rather than count on a new lockdown.
Fauci Voices Frustration at Vaccine Lag (10:34 a.m. NY)Anthony Fauci, the top U.S. infectious disease specialist, said “ideological rigidity” is preventing people from getting Covid-19 shots and voiced frustration at the struggle to boost vaccination rates in parts of the country.
“It’s not an easy solution,” Fauci said on ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday. “We’ve got to get away from this divisiveness that has really been a problem right from the very beginning.”
With vaccination rates lagging mostly in southern and Midwestern states, Fauci made the rounds of U.S. Sunday morning talk shows to reinforce the Biden administration’s message that Covid shots are safe and offer strong protection against the delta variant.
U.S. Cases Jump (8:55 a.m. NY)The U.S. reported 33,933 new cases Saturday, the most since mid-May, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University and Bloomberg. New infections rose for the third consecutive week as the delta variant hit unvaccinated Americans, jumping to almost 134,000 for the week ending Saturday. That compares with about 92,400 for the previous week.
Another 319 deaths were reported Saturday. Weekly fatalities were up slightly from the previous seven days, but still about half the level of early May.
Separately, U.S. vaccinations have plunged. The U.S. recorded 599,000 vaccinations on Saturday, the lowest level since early January, according to the Bloomberg Vaccine Tracker. President Joe Biden missed his goal of administering at least one dose of vaccine to 70% of adults in the U.S. by July 4. That number is now 67.5%, according to the CDC.
— With assistance by Adrian Kennedy, Linus Chua, Yueqi Yang, Ania Nussbaum, Alexander Sazonov, Peter Pae, Derek Wallbank, Grace Huang, Grace Sihombing, Lilian Karunungan, Betty Hou, and Chika Mizuta
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