(Bloomberg) — New Covid cases in China came back down to 3,054 as the mass outbreak in Jilin province eased off, a day after infections in the nation broke above 5,000 for the first time since the early days of the pandemic.
New Zealand will start reopening its border to foreigners next month, ending the restrictions that kept Covid-19 out for much of the pandemic and joining a push around the world to allow travel to resume.
Pfizer Inc. asked U.S. regulators for clearance of an additional booster shot for seniors. Hong Kong can’t commit to reopening its borders and lifting a flight ban on nine countries, its transport and housing secretary said. Nearly half of the city’s population has likely caught the virus, according to one estimate.
Key Developments:
- Virus Tracker: Cases pass 460 million; deaths top 6 million
- Vaccine Tracker: More than 11 billion doses administered
- Pandemic Erased Over 9 Million Jobs in Southeast Asia, ADB Says
- Ardern Opens Border to Foreigners as ‘Fortress New Zealand’ Ends
- Pfizer Asks FDA to Clear Another Booster For Older Adults
- Why China Is Sticking With Its Covid Zero Strategy: QuickTake
- Europe Is Getting Caught by a Covid Resurgence After Rushed Exit
Shanghai Test Mandate in Key Areas (3:46 p.m. HK)
Shanghai mandated that residents in some key areas of the city take nucleic acid tests on Wednesday and Thursday, Zhao Dandan, vice head of the municipal health commission, said at a briefing.
People in the areas will take two Covid tests within 48 hours, Zhao said. The key areas are set according to Covid risks, according to Zhao, without identifying them. The city added 20 local Covid cases so far today, said Wu Jinglei, head of the local health authority.
Israel Finds Combined BA1 and BA2 Strain (3:25 p.m. HK)
Israeli health authorities have reported two cases of combined BA1 (omicron) and BA2 coronavirus, a strain that hasn’t been previously reported in the world.
The cases were discovered in PCR tests performed at Israel’s main international airport for travelers entering the country. Both individuals suffered from mild symptoms of fever, headaches, and muscle aches, and didn’t require special medical treatment, according to the health ministry.
Shenzhen Urges Financial Help for Covid (3:15 p.m. HK)
Shenzhen is encouraging financial institutions to provide loans, insurance and other financial support to individuals and companies affected by the Covid outbreak, the Chinese city’s municipal financial regulatory bureau said. The tech hub of Shenzhen was locked down on Sunday.
Hong Kong to Close All Government Beaches (3:02 p.m. HK)
Hong Kong will close all government beaches starting Thursday until further notice, according to a statement.
Chief Executive Carrie Lam said at a briefing earlier that Hong Kong will cordon off beaches as beachgoers have been seen not wearing masks. The government currently has no plans to further tighten social distancing measures.
China to Separate Mild Covid Patients (2:58 p.m. HK)
China will isolate asymptomatic and mild Covid patients in separate facilities to free up medical resources to prioritize treatment for more severe patients at designated hospitals, a major shift in how the country deals with those infected under its Covid Zero strategy.
The change is in the country’s latest Covid treatment guideline published late Tuesday and was made in in response to feedback from local health officials that admitting all those infected by the omicron variant, a majority of whom are asymptomatic or mild, would occupy substantial medical resources.
The guideline also included Pfizer’s Paxlovid and antibody cocktail therapy by domestic biotech Brii Biosciences Ltd. as antiviral treatments for Covid. Rapid antigen test is included too as a way to help detect cases early while rules for discharging patients from hospitals and subsequent quarantine were eased.
Covid Erased Over 9 Million Southeast Asia Jobs (12:58 p.m. HK)
The coronavirus pandemic obliterated 9.3 million jobs in Southeast Asia as lockdowns hit the region’s traditional engines of growth such as hospitality and tourism, according to the Asian Development Bank.
This pushed 4.7 million people to extreme poverty last year, measured as living on less that $1.90 a day, the ADB said in a report Wednesday. Inequality also widened as movement restrictions hit hardest the retail and informal sectors, where women, young people and unskilled workers are typically employed.
Vietnam Waives Quarantine Rules for Travelers (12:43 p.m. HK)
Vietnam’s health ministry waived quarantine rules for all international travelers a day after the government said it was fully reopening to foreign visitors after two years of restrictions.
All international visitors to Vietnam must undergo Covid-19 tests within the first 24 hours of arriving if they haven’t been tested within 24 to 72 hours before departure, according to a post on the health ministry’s website.
Shanghai Rules Out Lockdown for Now (12:37 p.m. HK)
Shanghai ruled out imposing a broad lockdown for now, while urging workers in its main financial and business district to work from home as officials try to rein in a swelling Covid-19 outbreak in one of China’s biggest and most important cities.
Gu Honghui, deputy secretary general of the Shanghai government, told reporters Tuesday that “there’s no need to lock down the city” at the moment, with authorities keen to minimize the impact of virus mitigation efforts on businesses and people’s lives.
China New Covid Cases Ease Off to 3,054 (12:31 p.m. HK)
New Covid cases in China came back down to 3,054 after rising above 5,000 the day before for the first time since the early days of the pandemic.
A reduction in infections in Jilin province, which was locked down on Monday due to an explosive outbreak by China standards, was behind the drop in the national total. Jilin cased decreased to 1,456 from more than 4,000.
UBS Cuts China GDP Forecast on Covid, War (10:56 a.m. HK)
UBS Group AG cut its China gross domestic product growth forecast for 2022 to 5% from 5.4% due to the damaging impact of the latest Covid outbreak and the Russia-Ukraine war.
“We think Covid restrictions may tighten in more cities and last longer in the coming months, which would dampen consumption recovery,” UBS economists led by Tao Wang wrote in a report distributed Wednesday. Beijing’s official target for GDP growth this year is about 5.5%.
No Hong Kong Promises on Reopening (10:52 a.m. HK)
Hong Kong can’t commit to reopening its borders and lifting a flight ban on nine countries, Secretary for Transport and Housing Frank Chan says as the city faces a widespread Covid outbreak with tens of thousands of new cases a day.
Hong Kong only in a position to reopen when Covid infections, serious cases and fatalities decline, Chan says in an interview with Bloomberg TV’s Stephen Engle.
Philippine Capital to Stay Under Loosest Curbs (8:17 a.m. HK)
The Philippine capital will remain under the loosest movement restrictions from March 16 to 31, as the government seeks to boost economic activity amid declining Covid-19 infections.
Metro Manila, which accounts for a third of the nation’s economic output, will stay under Alert Level 1 where businesses can fully operate, Communications Secretary Martin Andanar said in a statement. Forty-seven other areas were also placed under the lowest alert level. The restrictions are reviewed every two weeks.
China Eases Covid Quarantine Rules (7:49 a.m. HK)
China has halved the duration of mandatory home isolation for discharged Covid patients to seven days, according to a revised notice posted on the State Council website late Tuesday. They were previously required to stay home for 14 days, according to a separate report by the state-run Xinhua news agency.
Pfizer Asks FDA to Clear Another Booster (7:45 a.m. HK)
Pfizer Inc. said it has asked U.S. regulators for clearance of an additional Covid-19 booster shot for seniors, in a bid to protect vulnerable adults as immunity provided by the first three doses wanes.
The New York-based drugmaker and its German partner BioNTech SE said on Tuesday that they have sought an emergency-use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration for a second booster of their vaccine, Comirnaty, for people 65 and older who have already received a booster of any of the authorized Covid-19 vaccines.
New Zealand Reopening Border (7:41 a.m. HK)
New Zealand will begin reopening its border to the world next month, ending the “fortress” settings that kept Covid-19 out for much of the pandemic.
Vaccinated Australians will be allowed to enter without needing to isolate on arrival from 11:59 p.m. on April 12, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said Wednesday in Wellington. The border will open to visitors from other visa-waiver countries such as the U.S., the U.K., Japan, Singapore and Germany from midnight May 1, she said.
“We’re ready to welcome the world back,” Ardern told a news conference.
Nearly Half of H.K. Population Already Has Covid: Study (1:14 p.m. HK)
About half of Hong Kong’s 7.4 million people have already been infected with Covid-19, according to an estimate of the damage caused by the deadly omicron wave that’s overwhelmed the city.
Researchers at the University of Hong Kong determined that about 3.6 million Hong Kongers caught the disease through March 14. That’s up from an estimated 1.8 million infections they concluded had developed through March 7 based on disease modeling and an in-depth analysis of the ongoing outbreak.
While the current wave peaked on March 4, many more people will catch Covid before it ends, the researchers said. The total is likely to reach about 4.5 million, they said. More than 5,100 people will die from Covid by May 1, the researchers forecast, up from an earlier estimate of about 5,010.
Why China Is Sticking With Its Covid Zero Strategy: QuickTake
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