As the rapid spread of omicron in countries across the globe is prompting a wave of new restrictions, scientists are beginning to piece together what gives it its evolutionary advantage. And while they are busy piecing the puzzle together, all countries are battling the pandemic differently. While Sydney is still shrugging off the Covid spike and resisting calls to restore tough curbs, the Netherlands moved to impose the most stringent lockdown conditions – from closing restaurants, bars, non-essential shops, beauty salons, concert venues and cinemas until at least mid-January to curbing people to only four visitors indoors over the Christmas period. In greater Europe, and the UK specifically, the scientific case for more restrictions is overwhelming. And to add insult to injury for British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, his trusted ally and former Brexit negotiator David Frost quit last night over, among other things, concerns about the Covid travel regulations. In an apparent reference to the UK’s travel bans he told Johnson that “we need to learn to live with Covid”. The UK was the first to “punish” South Africa with a travel ban after we made known to the world the existence of omicron.
In South Africa, the Ministerial Advisory Committee on Covid-19 has recommended that the health ministry end the quarantining of contacts as it is no longer viable in the current social and economic climate.
Like Frost said, we’ll have to accept that Covid is now an integral part of our lives and learn to live with it.
To cheer the mood a little, The Wall Street Journal has put together a soundtrack of holiday tunes for every mood – from Mariah Carey’s Christmas Classic and ABBA’s festive return to 2021’s best holiday songs. Go have a listen.
In the markets, the ease at which omicron is currently spreading worldwide has created a risk-off sentiment this morning across all sectors. The dollar is on the front foot as the safe-haven nature of the greenback comes back into play.
The rand was last trading at R15.95 against the US dollar, holding firm under R16/$ in the face of a possible Turkish contagion hitting emerging market currencies as the pledge by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to continue interest rate cuts hit the lira, making it the world’s worst-performing currency over the past three months. Bloomberg reports the currency, which has tumbled 48% over the past three months, reached a record low of 17.1452 on Friday.
“We will continue to monitor the omicron situation and whether there will be a spillover into our markets from Turkey and could see the rand tracking weaker for the day,” says forex trading house TreasuryONE.
In its commentary on commodities TreasuryONE says the commodity sector has also felt the brunt of the omicron situation as palladium is currently down 4.5% for today. The metal opened this morning at $1,780 and trades $80 lower at the moment. Brent Crude has lost 2.9% so far this morning, while platinum is down a modest 0.3%. Gold has held firm thus far, trading just above $1,800.
Here’s a roundup of the world’s top and most interesting headlines:
SA Business
What credit card debt looks like in South Africa right now – BusinessTech
Led by South African tycoon Aisha Pandor, SweepSouth buys out Egyptian Filkhedma – Billionaires Africa
Bold and decisive leadership needed to ensure economic growth : Ndlovu – SABC News
Global Business
Trevor Noah sues New York hospital, doctor over ‘negligence’ that caused ‘permanent, severe’ injuries – Business Insider
Tesla’s Musk says he will pay over $11 billion in taxes this year – Reuters
Woman spends £100,000 on world’s largest collection of snow globes – The Independent
Markets
Asian markets drop on Omicron spike, Biden spending bill blow – AFP
Omicron dampens fuel demand, prices drop – Investing.com
Dollar shines, euro droops as Omicron spreads while Fed hawks circle – Investing.com
Opinion/In-depth
The Guptas’ poisonous legacy – the coal gambit: How State Capture hobbled Alexkor – Daily Maverick
Getting to grips with Omicron: What the data tells South Africa about how quickly the virus spreads – Daily Maverick
Evergrande: China’s efforts to contain its Lehman moment – BBC News
Video
David Lewis, outgoing executive director of Corruption Watch, on his CORRUPTION-FIGHTING career – BizNews
Omicron cases doubling 1.5 to 3 days -WHO – Reuters
COVID-19 | The party pooper – eNCA
Feature Image: Max Pixel
