(Bloomberg) —
The United Arab Emirates reported the fewest coronavirus cases in more than a year as it gears up for the Dubai Expo, its biggest in-person event since the pandemic began.
There are signs that Italy’s inoculation campaign is picking up steam after the government moved to introduce vaccine “passports” for state and private-sector workers. Germany’s health minister said hospitals may come under pressure if the delta variant spreads among some 4 million older people still not vaccinated. Covid-19 fatalities in Thailand fell to their lowest since July.
The U.S. government is negotiating with Pfizer Inc. to buy an additional 500 million vaccines to donate globally, doubling its commitment to helping less-wealthy countries.
Key Developments:
- Global Virus Tracker: Cases pass 228.2 million; deaths exceed 4.7 million
- Vaccine Tracker: More than 5.88 billion doses administered
- A 3,700-mile sailing trip shows why strict quarantine is failing
- Alpine party town where Covid raged sparks court fight
- How the pandemic left British households $1.2 trillion richer
- Why the delta variant is giving more children Covid: QuickTake
UAE cases fall to lowest in more than a year (6:59 a.m. NY)
The United Arab Emirates reported fewer than 400 coronavirus cases for the first time in more than a year, with just two weeks to go until Dubai Expo.
The Gulf nation reported 391 cases on Sunday. Infections have been dropping steadily in the country, which has rolled out one of the fastest vaccination campaigns in the world.
Abu Dhabi on Sunday abolished a requirement for visitors coming from other parts of the country to show a Covid-19 negative test as the infection rate in the UAE capital fell to 0.2% of total tests.
Belgium to Phase Out Covid Support by Year-End (7:05 a.m. NY)
Belgium will gradually phase out support for businesses affected by the pandemic by year-end, Finance Minister Vincent Van Peteghem said on Flemish TV show ‘De Zevende Dag.’
The government hasn’t reached an agreement yet to extend any support measures beyond Sept. 30. A measure that will definitely lapse at the end of this month is the reduced VAT rate of 6% for bars and restaurants, Van Petegem said. Drinks will be subject to a 21% VAT rate again as of Oct. 1 and prepared food will be taxed at the usual 12%.
End of Holidays Increases Virus Spread in Russia (5:08 p.m. HK)
Russia reported 20,174 new cases on Sunday, pulling the seven-day average higher to 19,265 cases, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. 793 people died from the illness. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin, speaking in an interview to Rossiya-1 state television, said rising infections in the capital are due to people returning from holidays and children going back to school.
Covid ‘Passports’ Boost Italy Vaccine Takeup (3:40 p.m. HK)
Italy’s decision to make Covid-19 “passports” mandatory for all public and private sector workers from Oct. 15 is boosting the country’s vaccination campaign, said Covid Emergency Czar Francesco Paolo Figliuolo.
“This week we have seen a 20-40% increase in bookings for first vaccine doses, compared to last week,” Figliuolo wrote late Saturday.
Last week, Italy’s government approved a measure requiring workers to demonstrate vaccination, a past Covid infection or a recent negative test before entering workplaces. Workers will face fines of as much as 1,500 euros ($1,763) if they don’t comply, while employers who fail to check their workers may have to pay as much as 1,000 euros.
Melbourne Expects to End Lockdown Next Month (3:43 p.m. HK)
Melbourne will exit its sixth lockdown once 70% of Australia’s Victoria state is fully vaccinated, authorities said Sunday as they outlined plans to unwind virus measures next month.
Limits on “reasons to leave your home and the curfew will no longer be in place” once that target is met, Premier Daniel Andrews told reporters. That’s expected to happen around Oct. 26.
About 44% of Victoria is fully vaccinated, according to federal government data.
Malaysia Charts Course to Boost Jabs (3:43 p.m. HK)
Malaysia will offer booster shots to high-risk individuals including front-line heath workers and elderly people with co-morbidities, once immunization of the nation’s adult population exceeds 80%, Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said in a statement on Sunday.
A panel of healthcare and medical experts is preparing guidelines on the booster shot program, and more details will be announced by the health ministry, he said.
As of Saturday, more than 78% of the country’s adult population had been fully vaccinated, putting Malaysia on course to achieve the 80% herd immunity level, according to Science Minister Adham Baba.
Delta variant now represents over 99% of U.S. Covid cases (3:40 p.m. HK)
The highly infectious delta variant of Covid-19 has contributed to a rise in cases, hospitalizations and deaths in the United States, the New York Times reported, citing data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
As recently as mid-June, delta was associated with just over one quarter of U.S. cases.
Germany worries that millions of elderly still lack vaccine (2:45 p.m. HK)
Health Minister Jens Spahn expressed concern about the large number of elderly Germans still unvaccinated: “Of the 24 million people over the age of 60, just under 4 million are still unvaccinated,” Spahn told Funke Mediengruppe newspapers. “If the very contagious delta variant were to infect a large proportion of this group within a few weeks, our intensive care units would come under great stress.”
The pace of new infections in Germany continues to slow, according to the latest figures published by the Robert Koch Institut, with the seven-day incidence rate — a key measure watched by the government — dropping to the lowest since Aug. 27.
Thailand sees fewest fatalities since end of July (1:45 p.m. HK)
Thailand reported 117 new Covid deaths in the past 24 hours, the lowest daily fatalities since the end of July, government data showed Sunday.
The Southeast Asian nation, which is planning to reopen Bangkok and other popular tourist destinations to vaccinated visitors next month, reported 13,576 new infections. That took the cumulative caseload to 1.48 million, with 1.44 million of those coming since April 1, data showed.
Hong Kong Vaccine Bookings at Record Low (12:14 p.m. HK)
Bookings for vaccinations in Hong Kong hit the lowest on Saturday since the city started its inoculation program in February. The number of people making reservations for shots of vaccines produced by Sinovac Biotech Ltd. and BioNTech SE fell to 700 and 3,200, respectively, from 2,200 and 8,000 four weeks ago.
With only 54% of its population fully vaccinated, the city is far from being able to reopen its economy and society. Hong Kong won’t consider shifting its zero-tolerance Covid-19 strategy to one of “living with the virus” until the vaccination rate is 80% to 90%, according to a top virus adviser to the government.
Brazil Adds 92,614 Backlogged Cases (6:50 a.m. HK)
Brazil reported 150,106 new Covid cases on Saturday, which included 92,614 previously unreported infections. The Health Ministry provided no details except to say the backlogged cases were from Rio de Janeiro state, and went as far back as 2020.
The number, the highest one-day tally on record, pushed total infections to 21,230,325, the ministry reported. Deaths rose by 935 in the last 24 hours to total 590,508.
With the previously unreported cases, the daily count of roughly 60,000 is far higher than the seven-day average of about 15,000.
U.S. Did ‘Pretty Badly’ With Virus, Ex-FDA Head Says (4:50 p.m. NY)
Former FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said the U.S. government performed poorly among industrial countries in the Covid-19 crisis as the nation sits at the top of the list of those hardest hit by the pandemic. “Relative to what our asset set was, we did pretty badly with this virus,” Gottlieb said in a recent interview with CBS News, according to video clips released on Twitter. He also criticized the U.S.’s decision to maintain travel bans for visitors, and instead proposed a vaccine requirement for flights coming into the U.S.
Gottlieb, who serves on Pfizer’s board of directors, led the FDA from 2017 to 2019. He’s promoting his new book, “Uncontrolled Spread: Why Covid-19 Crushed Us and How We Can Defeat the Next Pandemic,” which is set to be published on Tuesday.
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