(Bloomberg) — American and European Union travelers who have been fully vaccinated against coronavirus will no longer need to spend 10 days in quarantine after they arrive in England.
Norway leads a pack of European nations that have leaped ahead of the U.S. in Bloomberg’s latest Covid Resilience Ranking. The U.S.’s reign at the top of the list was short-lived as vaccinations slowed and the delta variant fueled cases.
Pfizer Inc. now expects its vaccine to bring in $33.5 billion in revenue this year, putting it on course to become one of the best-selling medicines of all time.
Congress’s top doctor reimposed a mask-wearing requirement for everyone, including lawmakers, while they are on the House floor or in House hallways and offices, and alerted senators they should wear masks, too. U.S. President Joe Biden said he’s weighing a requirement for federal workers to get vaccinated. Sydney’s month-long lockdown will be extended by at least another four weeks.
Key Developments:
- Global Tracker: Cases top 195 million; deaths surpass 4.18 million
- Vaccine Tracker: More than 3.93 billion doses administered
- Schools brace for a chaotic reopening with delta variant raging
- Delta’s spread is testing China’s aggressive Covid playbook
- The best and worst places to be as reopening, variants collide
- Biden’s ‘summer of joy’ turns grim as delta infections skyrocket
England Drops Quarantine for U.S. Visitors (10:15 a.m. NY)
American and European Union travelers who have been fully vaccinated against coronavirus will no longer need to spend 10 days in quarantine after they arrive in England.
Under plans backed by British ministers on Wednesday, international leisure cruises will also resume after being put on hold for more than a year.
The reforms to travel rules will allow visitors from the U.S. and most EU countries to enter the U.K. on the same basis as Britons who have received two Covid shots. U.K. residents are are no longer required to self-isolate when returning from most medium-risk countries.
The rule change initially applies to England, but other nations in the U.K. have generally followed the same regimes for international travel.
Romania to Relax Virus Restrictions Next Week (9:16 a.m. NY)
Romania’s government approved the easing of some pandemic restrictions from Aug. 1. The number of people allowed at concerts or sport events has increased and the opening hours have been extended at bars and clubs, where only vaccinated people are admitted. Wearing a face mask remains mandatory in all closed public spaces.
Zimbabwe Clears J&J Shot as Cases Climb (8:42 a.m. NY)
Zimbabwe cleared Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine for emergency use after previously blocking it as the southern African nation struggles to contain a surge in cases.
The approval is valid for 12 months or whenever the public health emergency ends, Richard Rukwata, acting director for the Medicines Control Authority of Zimbabwe, said in a statement.
In nearby Tanzania, President Samia Suluhu Hassan received the J&J shot on Wednesday, kicking off a national vaccination campaign.
Lithuania to Donate More Vaccine Doses (8:11 a.m. NY)
The Lithuanian government decided to increase the number of vaccines it plans to donate to Ukraine, Moldova, Armenia and Georgia. The Baltic nation will send a combined 200,000 dozes of the AstraZeneca shot to those countries.
Pfizer Raises Vaccine Revenue Forecast (6:46 a.m. NY)
Pfizer said the vaccine it developed with Germany’s BioNTech SE is bringing in more sales than expected, prompting the company to raise its revenue estimate for the year to about $33.5 billion. The drugmaker previously expected the vaccine to garner about $26 billion in sales this year.
The Covid shot is poised to set a record for sales of a drug in a single year. In the second quarter, the vaccine drew $7.8 billion, more than the $7.05 billion analysts expected.
Malaysia May Drop Daily Cases as Bellwether (6:46 a.m. NY)
Malaysia is studying a proposal to replace the daily Covid cases with death rates, or severity of cases, as a metric for easing virus restrictions that have dented economic growth, according to Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz.
The number of new cases isn’t a suitable measure if it’s made up of patients with light symptoms, he said Wednesday.
EU Contracts With Glaxo for Antibody Supply (6:10 a.m. NY)
The European Commission signed a contract with GlaxoSmithKline to gain access to the monoclonal antibody sotrovimab, which hasn’t yet received regulatory approval in the bloc. The medicine can be used for patients who have mild symptoms but are at high risk of developing severe Covid. Sixteen member states are taking part in the procurement to buy 220,000 doses.
Norway Leads Covid Resilience Ranking (5 p.m. HK)
Norway now leads a group of European nations that have leaped ahead of the U.S. in Bloomberg’s July Covid Resilience Ranking.
The U.S.’s reign as the No. 1 on the ranking was short-lived. Its vaccination drive has plateaued and cases, fueled by the delta variant, surged anew in July, triggering renewed restrictions in some parts of the country. Still, deaths remain a fraction of what they were during previous waves.
The U.K. is also facing uncertainty, dropping 16 rungs to 25th as cases at one point jumped the most in the world. Though deaths have so far stayed low thanks to high vaccine penetration, the resurgence has undermined confidence.
Germany Hits Milestone With 50% Vaccinated ($:33 p.m. HK)
Germany reached a key milestone in its efforts to overcome the pandemic with more than half the population fully inoculated against Covid.
As of Tuesday, 41.8 million people, or 50.2% of residents, were completely vaccinated, while 61.1% had at least one shot, Health Minister Jens Spahn said in a Twitter post.
Tokyo Finds More Cases, Including at Olympics (4:28 p.m. HK)
The Tokyo Olympics found 16 more coronavirus cases connected with the event, bringing the total number of reported infections to 169, although none of the new numbers involved athletes.
The Tokyo Metropolitan Government meantime reported 3,177 new cases Wednesday, the second straight day it reached a new daily high.
Two Astra Doses Don’t Raise Blood-Clot Risk (2:55 p.m. HK)
AstraZeneca’s vaccine doesn’t raise the risk of a rare blood clotting disorder after a second dose, suggesting people shouldn’t hesitate to get a second shot if they didn’t have trouble after the first.
The estimated rate of the disorder, called thrombosis with thrombocyopenia syndrome, was 2.3 per million in patients who received a second shot, according to data published in the medical journal The Lancet. That’s comparable to what’s found in an unvaccinated population. But the rate after a single dose was still higher, at 8.1 per million.
WHO Starts Review Process for India Vaccine (2:00 p.m. HK)
The WHO has started the review process for adding an Indian firm’s vaccine to its Emergency Use Listing, India’s junior health minister told lawmakers according to a local media report. If Bharat Biotech International Ltd.’s Covaxin makes it to the list, it would help Indians inoculated with the shot in traveling overseas.
India added 43,654 cases Wednesday, pushing the total tally up to 31.5 million. Covid-related deaths rose by 640 in a day to 422,022, latest data by the Indian health ministry shows. Only 7% of the country’s population is fully vaccinated, according to Bloomberg’s vaccine tracker.
Meanwhile, a $1 billion cryptocurrency donation by Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin to an India Covid relief fund is tied up in red tape. Only $20 million has been paid out so far, due to issues which range from cashing out of an illiquid asset to complying with government regulations.
Singapore Looks to Reopen to the World (1:50 p.m. HK)
Singapore is aiming for a feat no country has achieved so far: reopen to the world and emerge from the pandemic with a death toll still in the double digits.
In a plan laid out by officials this week, the tiny city-state that relies on being globally connected is eyeing the resumption of some international travel by September. To do that, it’s trying to snuff out an outbreak driven by the delta variant and reach a vaccination level — 80% — that few countries have achieved, but which the government says willput Singapore in a position where it can live with the virus without carnage.
U.S. House Doctor Tells Lawmakers to Don Masks (12 p.m. HK)
Congress’ doctor on Tuesday night reimposed a mask-wearing requirement for lawmakers and all others while they are on the House floor, and in hallways and offices.
A previous House-floor mask requirement for members and staff had been lifted last month.
Philippines Flags Rising Cases in Capital (10:55 a.m. HK)
The Philippine Health Department said the delta variant could drive cases in the capital to 11,000 by end-September if mask and social distancing directives aren’t strictly implemented. Infections are now growing in most cities in the economically-important Manila region after decreasing weeks ago.
The Southeast Asian nation reported 7,186 cases Tuesday, the highest in over a month, as 4% of the population has been fully vaccinated.
China Adds 55 Local Covid Cases (10:15 a.m.)
State broadcaster CCTV said 48 of the local confirmed coronavirus cases were reported in eastern province of Jiangsu on July 27. The southwestern province of Sichuan reported 3 local cases while Liaoning and Yunnan added 2 cases each.
Sydney’s Lockdown to Be Extended for 4 Weeks (9:05 a.m. HK)
Sydney’s month-long lockdown will be extended by at least another four weeks as Australian authorities failed to curb the outbreak.
New South Wales state Premier Gladys Berejiklian said the lockdown has been extended until at least August 28. The restrictions began on June 26, when 12 new cases were recorded in the local community. The city’s outbreak has since swelled — fueled by the spread of the highly-contagious delta variant — with 177 more cases recorded on Wednesday, she told reporters.
South Korea’s Daily Cases Hit Record (8:40 a.m. HK)
South Korea reported a record number of new cases over the last 24 hours, according to data from the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency’s website. Cases hit 1,896 versus 1,365 the previous day,
About 35% of the population has received at least one vaccine dose. South Korea and Moderna held an online meeting late Tuesday and Moderna agreed to resume delayed vaccine supply from next week, said Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum.
Phuket Tourism Experiment Risks Suspension (8:30 a.m. HK)
Thailand reported 16,533 new infections on Wednesday, the highest single-day increase since the pandemic began.
A flareup in coronavirus cases in Phuket, the country’s first tourism hotspot to waive quarantine for vaccinated foreign visitors, is threatening to scuttle the experiment seen as a model for other tourism-reliant nations to reopen borders.
The resort island reported 125 new cases during the week ending July 27, higher than the government-set threshold of 90 weekly cases that could trigger a temporary suspension of the program. In response, local authorities closed public schools and shopping malls and banned gatherings of more than 100 people from Tuesday to stem the virus from spreading further.
Singapore Virus Cases Stay Well Above 100 (7:45 a.m. HK)
Singaporean authorities found 136 locally-spread cases, the government said Tuesday, marking over a week of daily tallies exceeding a hundred.
Fifty-five of these new cases are currently unlinked, raising concerns of undetected spread even as the government imposed measures last week to curb transmission risk with banning dining-in and limiting social interactions to groups of two.
L.A. to Push for Mandatory Shots (7:30 a.m. HK)
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and City Council President Nury Martinez announced they would push for mandatory vaccines for city employees, beginning with a requirement that workers either submit proof of vaccination or a weekly negative test.
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