(Bloomberg) — American Airlines Group Inc. and United Airlines Holdings Inc. said Chinese aviation regulators have blocked some of their flights from entry as the country steps up precautions against Covid-19. Angry parents in Hong Kong are criticizing the government’s order to close schools again.
About 400,000 Israelis have gotten a fourth dose of vaccine, according to Prime Minister Naftali Bennett. European Union regulators said that frequent boosters could adversely affect the immune system and may not be feasible. The World Health Organization warned of a “west-to-east tidal wave” that may infect more than half of Europe’s population within the next six to eight weeks.
JPMorgan Chase & Co. Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon said vaccine holdouts among the bank’s staff in New York need to get vaccinated or lose the right to enter the office and get paid. New York City Covid rates are “plateauing,” Governor Kathy Hochul said.
Key Developments:
- Virus Tracker: Cases top 313 million; deaths pass 5.5 million
- Vaccine Tracker: More than 9.52 billion shots administered
- Global supply chains brace for impact as omicron reaches China
- Hong Kong school shutdown decried by parents as ‘Groundhog Day’
- Covid test makers struggle to cope with whiplash from omicron
Toyota Halts Tianjin Plant Over Covid (10:30 a.m. HK)
Toyota Motor Corp. has stopped work at its plant in Tianjin since Monday as authorities in the municipality to the east of Beijing lock down areas and move to test citizens for Covid-19.
China Hands Out Jail Terms for Virus Lapses (10:22 a.m. HK)
China has sent three people to prison for up to four-plus years over breaches of rules that led to a virus outbreak, in one of the harshest punishments for lapses in enforcing the government’s strict Covid-zero policy.
The violations at a cargo company in Dalian, a port in the northeast, included failing to ensure employees wore masks, avoided visiting public venues after hours, and were properly quarantined and tested, the Global Times reported late Tuesday. Those oversights allowed four people to infect 83 others.
China Border With Vietnam Reopens (10:13 a.m. HK)
China’s Guangxi region resumed customs clearance Jan. 10 at three border crossings with Vietnam’s northern province of Quang Ninh after thousands of transport trucks were stranded for weeks.
Guangxi authorities halted customs clearance at the border crossings beginning Dec. 21 to review and boost Covid-19 prevention and control, Vietnam’s trade ministry reported on its website.
Okinawa Sees Medical System Limits (10:05 a.m. HK)
Japan’s southern island of Okinawa, the site of the nation’s biggest Covid-19 outbreak, saw the number of health-care workers taking sick leave climb to a record of 503, Kyodo News reported Tuesday. That’s forced 15 medical institutions to limit the capacity of emergency patients they accept.
The prefecture is home to the bulk of American troops in Japan, and the U.S. agreed to limit military personnel’s movements off base in the country after regional governors blamed them for helping to introduce the omicron variant.
China Vice Premier Urges Action in Henan (8:32 a.m. HK)
Vice Premier Sun Chunlan called on authorities in Henan province in central China to adopt more targeted measures to curb Covid after virus flareups there in recent days, the official Xinhua News Agency reported late Tuesday.
Sun told officials to speed up epidemiological surveys, screening and quarantine, saying local epidemic control was still at “a crucial stage”. China confirmed 166 local coronavirus infections on Tuesday, of which 118 cases were in Henan.
J&J Vaccine Gets Warning on Bleeding (8:28 a.m. HK)
The fact sheet for Johnson & Johnson’s Covid-19 vaccine has been revised by U.S. regulators to warn of the risk of a rare bleeding disorder.
The Food and Drug Administration said in a letter to the company on Tuesday that adverse-event reports suggested an increased risk of immune thrombocytopenia during the 42 days following vaccination. Symptoms include bruising or excessive or unusual bleeding, according to the agency.
Google Has Testing Disparities (5 p.m. NY)
Google offers its full-time employees working from home a supply of high-end instant Covid-19 tests, while contract workers still coming into offices have to wait longer for results.
The Alphabet Inc. company allows U.S. full-time employees and their dependents to request Covid-19 tests from Cue Health Inc., which provide results at home within a few minutes, according to a document reviewed by Bloomberg. Contract workers who must report in-person to Google’s offices receive PCR tests by BioIQ that they can prepare and mail into a lab, according to a document tweeted by the Alphabet Workers Union.
China Blocks Some Flights From U.S. (4:15 p.m. NY)
American Airlines and United Airlines said Chinese aviation regulators have blocked some of their flights from entry as the country steps up precautions against Covid-19, triggering discussions between industry representatives and government agencies.
At least six of American’s flights have been barred from China, a spokesperson said Tuesday, declining to provide further details. United canceled flights from San Francisco to Shanghai on six days in late January.
Gates Expects Fewer Cases, Yearly Shots (3:35 p.m. NY)
A decline in the number of coronavirus cases is likely after the current wave of the omicron variant crests and the disease could be “treated more like seasonal flu,” billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates said in a Twitter discussion with Professor Devi Sridhar of Edinburgh University Medical School.
Israel Gives Fourth Doses to 400,000 (1 p.m. NY)
About 400,000 Israelis have gotten a fourth dose of the Covid-19 vaccine, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said in a press conference on Tuesday. Israel was the first to give the extra shot to people age 60 and over, part of his government’s strategy to protect those most vulnerable to the virus.
European Union regulators on Tuesday warned that frequent Covid-19 booster shots could adversely affect the immune system and may not be feasible.
NYC Cases ‘Plateauing,’ Governor Says (12:05 p.m. NY)
The omicron-fueled Covid surge in New York appears to be “cresting over that peak” as the rate of increase slows, New York Governor Kathy Hochul said.
The percentage of New Yorkers that tested positive has dropped to 18.6% from more than 22% in recent days. In New York City, Covid rates are “plateauing,” while upstate figures are tracking behind the city by a couple of weeks, Hochul said in a virus briefing.
Mexico’s AMLO Doing Well After 2nd Infection (11:25 a.m. NY)
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador is doing well after testing positive Monday for Covid-19 for the second time in a year, he said during a video appearance at the daily press conference on Tuesday.
The president measured his temperature and oxygen levels during the video broadcast: his temperature was a normal 36.1 degrees Celsius and his oxygen level a healthy 96%. Health Minister Jorge Alcocer said that AMLO could return to work next week if he’s feeling better.
Moscow Braces for ‘Significant’ Increase (9:50 a.m. NY)
Infections by the omicron variant are surging in Moscow after the New Year’s holidays and health officials in the Russian capital are reopening hospital beds in anticipation of a “significant” increase in sickness in the next seven to 10 days, Mayor Sergei Sobyanin warned Tuesday at a video conference with Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin and other officials.
Russia may reach a record of more than 100,000 daily Covid cases soon, public health watchdog chief Anna Popova told the meeting, from fewer than 20,000 recorded cases now.
Dimon Warns Unvaccinated NYC Staff (6:10 a.m. NY)
Jamie Dimon issued a warning to the vaccine holdouts among JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s staff in New York. Dimon said that 97% of the firm’s employees in New York are already vaccinated.
“To go to the office you have to be vaxxed and if you aren’t going to get vaxxed you won’t be able to work in that office,” Dimon said Monday in an interview on CNBC. “And we’re not going to pay you not to work in the office.”
Omicron May Hit Half of Europeans, WHO Says (6:07 a.m. NY)
More than half of Europe’s population may be infected with omicron within weeks at current transmission rates, a World Health Organization official said.
The fast-spreading variant represents a “west-to-east tidal wave sweeping across the region,” said Hans Kluge, the regional director of the WHO for Europe at a briefing Tuesday. He cited forecasts by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation that the majority of Europeans could catch it in the next six to eight weeks.
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
©2022 Bloomberg L.P.
