Taiwan reported the first locally transmitted infection since April, ending the longest trajectory in the world without a domestic infection. A cluster in Sydney has grown to 90. Overloaded hospitals in California have the prospect of even more patients, while hospital admissions in Texas exceeded 10,000 for the first time in five months.
The US Senate has hit a gigantic year-end spending bill that combines $ 900 billion in Covid-19 emergency relief with $ 1.4 trillion in regular government funding and a slew of corporate tax breaks.
BioNTech SE, partner of Pfizer Inc., is exploring options to increase capacity. Pfizer’s and BioNTech’s Covid-19 vaccine received support from a major European review panel, which paved the way for vaccinations to begin before the end of the year. There have been more than 2.1 million people vaccinated.
Why the UK‘s Mutated Coronavirus Is it stirring up concerns: QuickTake
Main Developments:
- Global Tracker: Cases pass 77.3 million; deaths exceed 1.7 million
- American hotspots: Covid is killing faster in rural areas than cities
- Beer, restaurants and Nascar win tax breaks in the virus control bill
- A new virus wave is testing that of South Korea no-lockdown strategy
- Covid caused widespread damage to airlines in 2020. Here’s how, in Graphs
Subscribe to one daily update on the virus from Bloomberg’s Prognosis team here. Click on CVID
Taiwan case ends world’s longest virus-free streak (1:34 pm HK)
Was an unidentified patient confirmed to have captured Covid-19 in Taiwan, according to an official from Taiwan Centers for Disease Control. While it has seen cases of travelers coming from outside, Taiwan’s last infection within the community was April 12.
The resurgence of a local outbreak threatens to derail one of the high-profile success stories in the global fight against the pandemic. Taiwan has managed to keep the total number of cases at 766, with only seven deaths, through a combination of restricting travel to the island early in the outbreak and implementing a strict quarantine and contact tracking strategy.
Pfizer Partner BioNTech Ready to Increase Vaccine Capacity for 2021 (1:15 PM HK)
BioNTech SE is pursuing all of its options according to the CEO of the German company, make more doses of Covid-19 vaccines than the 1.3 billion the companies have promised to produce next year.
The companies will likely know by January or February if and how many additional doses can be produced, Ugur Sahin said Monday. “I am confident that we will be able to increase our network capacity, but we don’t have figures yet,” he said in an interview.
Thailand’s outbreak (1:00 pm HK)
Thailand confirmed 427 new infections on Tuesday, with the majority of cases linked to the Samut Sakhon outbreak, bringing the country’s total number of infections to 5,716 cases, according to Covid-19 spokesman Taweesilp Witsanuyotin.
Of the total from the latest outbreak, there were 1,273 labor migrants as of Tuesday, Taweesilp said.
UK Covid testing capacity falling short (12:18 pm HK)
Demand for the coronavirus testing kits in the UK will outpace supply in the coming weeks, the Financial Times reported, citing an internal government document it has seen.
Demand for polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests used by health authorities is expected to exceed supply in the week to Christmas until According to government calculations made last week, the FT reports 50,000 tests per day.
Malaysia signs deal for 6.4 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine (11:37 am HK)
Malaysia has signed an agreement with AstraZeneca Plc to secure it 6.4 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine, Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said.
The government is also in the final stages of negotiations with Sinovac, CanSino Biologics and Gamaleya Research Institute, he said in a televised briefing on Tuesday. The deals will provide enough doses to cover more than 80% of the population, he said.
Mexico’s Excess Deaths Pass 250,000 (10:58 AM HK)
Mexico has registered 40% more deaths than expected this year, according to a report on excess mortality in the country.
The country has recorded 254,625 more deaths – from all causes – than expected by the end of November, the report said. The amount is more than double the 118,598 confirmed Covid-19 deaths in the country.
Excess deaths include those who died because they couldn’t receive treatment in congested hospitals or were never tested even though they had the virus. The land management of the virus and the clarity of the data has been criticized for the excessive deaths.
First batch of vaccines arrives in Singapore (9:34 AM HK)
The The first batch of coronavirus shots arrived in Singapore on Monday, marking an important step in the city-state’s plan to vaccinate its population and serve as a global hub for the distribution of the injections.
Singapore Airlines Ltd. provided the vaccines developed by Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE from Brussels, the airline said in a statement on Monday. The shots were taken to the cold chain of ground handler SATS Ltd. sent for storage and transport.
Airlines flying to New York from the UK to test passengers (9:05 am HK)
According to Governor Andrew Cuomo’s office, all three airlines flying from the UK to New York have agreed to test for Covid-19.
British Airways, Delta and Virgin Airlines will all require passenger testing, Cuomo spokesman Rich Azzopardi said on Twitter.
Cuomo said on Monday he had asked the three airlines to add the state to a list of 120 countries that require pre-boarding Covid tests.
Cuomo condemned the US government for not having issued a travel ban from the UK or requiring them to be tested. The new strain of the virus discovered in the UK is “flying around the world,” he said.
Sydney Cluster swells as Lockdown is reviewed (9:02 am HK)
Australia’s most populous state reported 8 new local cases of Covid-19 on Tuesday as authorities competed for a outbreak in Sydney without resorting to Christmas lockdowns.
Seven of the cases are related to infections in the Northern Beaches area of the city, bringing that cluster to 90, New South Wales State Prime Minister Gladys Berejiklian told reporters. The other case involved a health worker who transported infected foreign travelers from Sydney airport to the hotel’s quarantine.
Ohio can use Guard for vaccinations (8:50 am HK)
Ohio Governor Mike DeWine said new guidelines from the United States Department of Health and Human Services could lead to the commitment of the National Guard to help vaccinate people across the state, particularly in rural areas.
“There will certainly be opportunities where we want the guard to come in and get the job done,” he said during a newsletter.
He also said that a decrease in the expected number of vaccine doses from Pfizer Inc. shipping to Ohio this week is less concerning than receiving additional vaccines developed by other companies.
South Korea shuts down ski resorts and tourist spots (7:51 AM HK)
South Korea will close its ski resorts and tourist sites from Dec. 24 to Jan. 3 in an effort to prevent the coronavirus from spreading further, Prime Minister Chung Sye-Kyun said.
According to data from the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency website, South Korea reported 869 new cases of coronavirus in 24 hours, up from 926 a day earlier.
Hospital admissions in Texas (7:45 am HK)
State hospitals Monday counted 10,009 virus patients, the highest number since July 24, according to figures from the state health service. Nearly half of the state’s 22 trauma zones have more than 15% of the hospital capacity occupied by Covid-19 patients.
Earlier in the day, Governor Greg Abbott announced plans to reopen the capital on Jan. 4, as lawmakers prepare to convene their semi-annual legislative session.
Companies in Southeast Asia are looking for plant cases (7:40 AM HK)
Karex Bhd., The world’s largest condom manufacturer, and Panasonic Manufacturing Malaysia Bhd. Were the latest companies in the Southeast Asian nation to say that some of their employees have contracted the coronavirus.
Karex said 35 tested positive after routine screening of more than 2,000 employees, while Panasonic said it found 116 cases among its 2,137 employees, according to reports on Monday.
Philippines expects to sign more vaccine deals soon (7:15 am HK)
The Philippines are expecting soon Sign agreements to deliver as many as 60 million doses of coronavirus vaccines for delivery as early as the second quarter of 2021, said vaccine Tsar Carlito Galvez.
The Southeast Asian country will sign an agreement with AstraZeneca Plc next week for 20 million doses of vaccine, and has been assured of 30 million doses by Serum Institute of India, which supplies the vaccine from Novavax Inc. will produce, Galvez said in a televised briefing late Monday.
California Sees Worsening Crisis (7am HK)
California Governor Gavin Newsom said Monday that the state could see more than 90,000 people hospitalized with Covid-19 by mid-January, if the current increase in the number of cases does not slow down.
The state reported a record 18,359 coronavirus patients in its hospitals on Monday, an increase of 67% in two weeks. Intensive care units in Southern California and the San Joaquin Valley are actually full and only 2.5% of the state’s total ICU capacity remains open.
In Los Angeles County, the center of the state crisis, hospitals are being pushed to the limit. Health Services Director Christina Ghaly urged everyone not to mingle with people outside their household, buy gifts, or plan for gatherings.
People wait in line at a Covid-19 test site at the Martin Luther King Jr. Community Hospital in Los Angeles, California, on December 18.
Photographer: Bing Guan / Bloomberg
California may start quarantining travelers from the UK and testing them for the new coronavirus strain if the federal government doesn’t do so first, Newsom said. The state began discussing such a move with airlines over the weekend, he said, noting that the latest mutation of the virus has not yet surfaced in California.
Bidens receive coronavirus vaccine (4:53 am HK)
President-Elect Joe Biden and his wife, Jill Biden, received the coronavirus vaccine on Monday and joined a list of US political leaders who have tried to build public confidence in the shot.
Joe Biden received the first of two-step treatment at a public event at ChristianaCare Hospital in Wilmington, Delaware on Monday. Jill Biden received the vaccine earlier in the day. Both received the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine.
WATCH: President-elect Joe Biden says people should be willing to take the Covid-19 vaccine when it is available because nothing is wrong, adding that the Trump administration “deserves some credit for getting this off. get the ground “.
– With help from Dan Reichl, David R Baker, Christopher Palmeri, Ed Johnson, Flynn McRoberts, Samson Ellis and Debby Wu