Shanghai Cases Hit Record; Firms Leave Hong Kong: Virus Update
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(Bloomberg) -- Hong Kong’s leader has deflected blame for the failure to get the elderly vaccinated against Covid-19, while a new survey found that nearly half of the European companies in the city plan to relocate operations and staff amid the travel and quarantine restrictions.
After conquering the pandemic for almost two years with a zero-tolerance approach, China is now in the midst of its worst wave since the initial outbreak in Wuhan. Shanghai reported a daily record of 1,609 cases, while almost 80% of the economy has been affected in some way.
Chances are one in five that new variants will arise that are more dangerous than the current versions, Moderna Inc.’s chief executive officer said in an interview with Bloomberg Television.
Key Developments:
- How Singapore stacks up against financial centers on Covid rules
- China’s $53 billion self-test a short step to reopening: BI
- Coronavirus Daily: Vaccine news for parents. But is it good?
- China struggles to keep growth momentum as risks escalate
- Virus Tracker: Cases pass 477 million; deaths top 6.1 million
- Vaccine Tracker: More than 11.1 billion doses administered
- ‘Forgotten’ parents of young kids push FDA to clear Moderna shot
- QuickTake: What we know about omicron and its subvariant BA.2
Hong Kong Cases Fall (6:07 p.m. HK)
More than 10,400 new infections were reported in Hong Kong on Friday, with 35 people in critical condition and 48 in serious condition, health care officials said at a daily briefing. The number of cases has been falling in recent days and may drop to four digits over the weekend, which would be the first time they’ve been under 10,000 since Feb. 24.
Another 162 people died, typically about two weeks after they were first diagnosed.
More Than 80% of Elderly in China Fully Vaccinated (4:30 p.m. HK)
More than 212 million people aged 60 or above in China have been fully vaccinated against Covid-19 and the rate of adverse reaction among them is lower than for other age groups, said Wang Huaqing, chief immunization expert at the Chinese CDC, at a briefing.
About 80% of the elderly in China have been fully vaccinated and 52% in this group received boosters, according to Bloomberg calculations based on numbers announced at the briefing.
China Virus Threatens Commodities Supply, Demand (4 p.m. HK)
Almost 80% of the Chinese economy has been affected in some way by the worst outbreak of Covid-19 in two years, straining the supply of commodities and posing an increasing threat to demand.
China’s restrictions to contain the fast-spreading omicron variant have primarily hit travel over both short and long distances, which is a direct drag on fuel consumption and a complication for supply chains.
The longer that Beijing persists with its Covid Zero policy, the greater the impact will be on the consumption of commodities as purchases are deferred -- think copper for electronic goods, or steel for cars. Production is also at risk as inventories of raw materials dwindle and workers stay at home.
Lam Says ‘Forces’ Prevented Elderly Vaccination (1:30 p.m. HK)
Hong Kong’s leader has deflected blame for the city’s failure to get the elderly vaccinated against Covid.
“There are a lot of forces at work to prevent the government from doing what should be done,” Carrie Lam said at a Friday briefing. “In this case, vaccinate our old people.”
Hong Kong is experiencing one of the deadliest outbreaks of the entire pandemic, after being largely Covid-free for two years. Since January there have been about 6,500 fatalities, the vast majority being unvaccinated elderly. Even now, only 41% of those aged 80 and above have received two vaccination doses, mostly of the Chinese-made Sinovac vaccine.
South Korea Says Covid Spread Passed Its Peak (10:45 a.m. HK)
Daily Covid-19 cases have been showing signs of a gradual drop after passing its peak, South Korean health ministry official Lee Ki-il said. Authorities need to monitor further on how the pace of the drop would be.
South Korea earlier Friday reported 339,514 more cases, compared with a record 621,328 cases reported last week.
Shanghai Covid Cases Hit Record Amid Lockdown (9:15 a.m. HK)
Shanghai’s Covid cases jumped more than 60% in a single day, topping 1,600 on Friday, even as authorities escalated restrictions that many feared would plunge the Chinese financial hub into a city-wide lockdown.
There were 1,609 new infections, a record in the city of about 25 million people, including 1,580 without any symptoms, the Shanghai Health Commission said.
Scores of buildings and apartment blocks remained locked down for testing amid the growing outbreak, part of a wave that’s challenging China’s zero-tolerance approach as the rest of the world is abolishing pandemic restrictions. Frustrated residents are struggling to secure fresh food as some compounds refuse to let them leave, while accessing medical care gets harder as select hospitals prioritize Covid patients and shut out-patient services.
Zhou Shengni, a nurse working at Shanghai East Hospital, died of asthma Wednesday night, according to a statement from the hospital. The emergency department of the hospital was closed for disinfection when Zhou was sent there seeking treatment earlier.
European Firms Plan to Move Hong Kong Staff (7:40 a.m. HK)
Nearly half of the European companies in Hong Kong plan to fully or partially relocate operations and staff out of the city, a new survey suggests, in the latest sign that the world’s toughest Covid-19 travel and quarantine restrictions are eroding the appeal of Asia’s main finance hub.
Around 25% of responding companies said they planned to fully relocate out of Hong Kong in the next year, according to a survey from the European Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong, while another 24% said they are planning to partially move out of the city. Roughly 34% of firms said they were uncertain about their plans, while just 17% said they had no desire to relocate over the next 12 months.
Moderna Sees 1-in-5 Odds of Dangerous Variant (7:30 a.m HK)
Chances are roughly one in five that new Covid-19 variants will arise that are more dangerous than the current versions, Moderna’s CEO said.
The more likely scenario is that vulnerable people, such as the elderly and immunocompromised, will need annual boosters for protection against strains that are similar in virulence to omicron, Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel said Thursday in an interview with Bloomberg. The CEO spoke on the day of a company event detailing its research and progress with messenger RNA vaccines.
“I think there’s an 80% chance that the variants that we’re going to see in the future are manageable from a severity standpoint and vaccine production,” Bancel said in the interview. “But I think we should always be very cautious, because there’s a 20% chance that something happens in some of the new variants that is very virulent.”
Hong Kong Holds Third Spot in Financial Centers Ranking (7:15 a.m. HK)
Hong Kong, in the midst of an exodus of residents as it grapples with its largest ever outbreak of Covid-19, held its third-place ranking among the world’s financial centers, trailing New York and London, according to a survey.
In the main areas of competitiveness, Hong Kong ranked in the top four for business environment, human capital, infrastructure and general reputation, but out of the top 10 in financial sector development.
China Stuck in a Slowly Evolving Covid-Zero Loop (6:50 a.m. HK)
After conquering Covid-19 for almost two years with a zero-tolerance approach, China is now in the midst of its worst wave since the initial outbreak in Wuhan. Having breached what’s arguably the world’s toughest containment regime, omicron — the most infectious coronavirus variant — is starting to test Beijing’s Covid Zero resolve.
Despite President Xi Jinping’s call mid-March to limit the economic and social fallout of virus elimination, large-scale lockdowns and mass testing drives are back. Authorities are tweaking rules, however, to make some of the measures more flexible, targeted and nimble to avoid severe manufacturing disruptions. Still, the last Covid Zero holdout isn’t in a hurry to abandon the policy, even as the rest of the world moves to treating it as endemic.
New York Population Declined in 2021 Amid Pandemic (6:45 a.m. HK)
New York City’s population dropped by more than 300,000 in one year, with Manhattan alone losing 111,000 residents, a 6.6% decline, according to data through July 2021 released by the U.S. Census Bureau. The city was hit by high rates of Covid-19 deaths at the worst of the pandemic, and thousands of residents left amid shutdowns and activity restrictions. The coronavirus exacerbated longer-term trends of steadily falling birth rates and a drop in immigration.
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With assistance from Bloomberg