Adams Urges Return to Class in NYC; U.S. Surges: Virus Update
New York state shattered its record for new infections as the omicron variant continues its lightning spread.
(Bloomberg) --
New York City Mayor Eric Adams urged parents to “put your children in school” when the U.S.’s largest school system reopens on Monday, despite a third of Covid-19 tests coming back positive across the city and no requirement to test before attending classes.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control is considering adding a negative test to recommendations on a shortened isolation period for people with asymptomatic infections, Anthony Fauci said. President Joe Biden’s chief medical adviser called the surge driven by the omicron variant “unprecedented,” adding further stress to the U.S. health-care system.
On Wall Street, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. changed tack and is now asking U.S. employees to work from home if they can until Jan. 18.
Israel will start offering a fourth vaccine dose to people older than 60, as cases caused by omicron soar in the highly vaccinated country.
Key Developments:
- Virus Tracker: Cases pass 289.8 million; deaths pass 5.4 million
- Vaccine Tracker: More than 9.2 billion shots given
- JPMorgan, Citi, BofA employees start 2022 working from home
- Hong Kong is increasingly shut off as inbound flights drop
- New NYC mayor vows post-virus renewal. Job No. 1: Tame omicron
- What we know about the omicron variant now: QuickTake
Adams Urges NYC Students to Classrooms (3:28 p.m. NY)
New York City Mayor Eric Adams urged parents to “put your children in school” when the U.S.’s largest school system reopens on Monday after the holiday break, despite a third of Covid-19 tests coming back positive across the city and no requirement to test before attending classes.
Despite having mayoral control of the city’s schools, Adams said he didn’t have authority to mandate tests but that he thinks testing should be required, in a press conference on Sunday.
Adams said the authority to mandate testing rested with New York Governor Kathy Hochul, who is encouraging testing but not requiring it. Other cities, including Washington, D.C., are requiring proof of a negative test to re-enter school buildings.
The city’s seven-day positivity rate surpassed 32% on Dec. 30 and reached nearly 45% in some areas of the Bronx, including Fordham, according to city data. Seven-day average hospitalizations more than tripled since mid-December to 447 on Dec. 30.
Maryland Governor Fears Worst of Pandemic Coming (2:19 p.m. NY)
Maryland Governor Larry Hogan, recently recovered from Covid-19, said his state may be facing “the worst part” of the pandemic as the omicron variant hits the unvaccinated.
“Luckily, because I was fully vaccinated and boosted, I didn’t get really sick,” Hogan said on CNN’s “State of the Union” of his late-December infection. Vaccines, he said, are “working beautifully,” but “we have overflowing hospitals.”
“That 8% of the population who has not been vaccinated is responsible for 75% of all the people that are filling up our Covid beds in the hospital,” he said.
Israel Expands Eligibility for Fourth Dose (1:37 p.m. NY)
Israel will start offering a fourth vaccine dose to people older than 60 as the omicron strain has caused a surge in new cases in the country.
The fourth dose will also be made available to medical staff for whom at least 4 months have passed since their last jab, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said in a press conference on Sunday. Last week, Israel approved the extra shot for people who are immunocompromised, as well as residents of nursing homes, and patients at geriatric hospitals.
Israel expects new coronavirus cases to climb to tens of thousands per day soon, Bennett said at the opening of a cabinet meeting on Sunday.
Fauci Says Testing May Be Added to Isolation Rule (1:02 p.m. NY)
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control is considering adding a negative test to recommendations on a shortened isolation period for people with asymptomatic infections, President Joe Biden’s chief medical adviser said on ABC’s “This Week.”
A testing requirement may be added to last week’s move by the U.S. to shorten the isolation period for some people who test positive for Covid-19, Anthony Fauci said.
Last week, U.S. health officials cut the recommended isolation time to five days from 10 after after a positive test. Fauci acknowledged “pushback” to the shortened span without any further test that might indicate if a person is still infected.
“We’re going to be hearing more about that in the next day or so from the CDC,” he said on ABC.
Twitter Bans Greene for Misinformation (12:59 p.m. NY)
Twitter Inc. on Sunday said it permanently banned the personal account of Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene for repeated violations of the platform’s prohibition against spreading misinformation about Covid-19.
The Georgia lawmaker was previously suspended for tweeting false claims about the Covid vaccine and health risks during the global pandemic. A tweet Saturday misrepresented data on the death rate from the vaccine, a company spokesman said.
Goldman Backtracks on Return to Office (10:40 a.m. NY)
Goldman Sachs, one of Wall Street’s fiercest champions of returning its staff to offices, is asking U.S. employees to work from home if they can until Jan. 18.
Goldman’s reversal comes after most of its major peers, including JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup, adopted a more cautious stance.
“As we continue to monitor the trajectory of this spike, we now encourage those who can work effectively from home to do so,” Goldman said Sunday in a memo.
England Has No Plans to Cut Isolation Period, Minister Says (9:36 a.m. NY)
Health Minister Edward Argar, who oversees virus policy for England, ruled out cutting the number of days an infected person must isolate from seven to five.
“We haven’t had scientific advice to cut that at this point,” he told Times Radio.
Hospitalization data are showing a rise in the number of people over 60 in the hospital, he added.
However, “I’m seeing nothing at the moment in the data in front of me, in the immediate situation, that suggests a need for further restrictions,” he said.
South Africa Hospitalizations Fall Slightly (9:35 a.m.)
There are 9,353 coronavirus patients hospitalized in South Africa, of which 7.8% are in intensive-care units, according to data from the National Institute for Communicable Diseases. That’s a slight decrease from the 9,378 patients a day earlier. Of the 733 people in ICU, 310 are on ventilators, the data show.
Bulgaria Reports First Cases of Omicron (9:28 a.m. NY)
Bulgaria reported its first 12 omicron cases on Sunday. No one has been hospitalized. The Balkan country is the EU’s least vaccinated, with less than 30% of the population having two doses. When adjusted for population, it also has one of the world’s worst mortality rates from the virus since the beginning of the pandemic, according to John Hopkins University data.
Lionel Messi Tests Positive, PSG Say (7:16 a.m. NY)
Soccer star Lionel Messi tested positive for Covid-19 and is isolating, his Paris Saint-Germain team said. “Leo Messi has been in regular contact with our medical team and when he is negative he will travel to France,” PSG coach Mauricio Pochettino said in his weekly press conference. “Until he gets a negative test in Argentina he won’t be able to travel to France.”
Protesters Take to Amsterdam’s Streets (7:14 a.m. NY)
Hundreds of Dutch protesters gathered in Amsterdam to demonstrate against coronavirus measures, even as the city banned the event, citing public health risks. “The organization is not prepared to cooperate in a safe and orderly course and has announced that it wants to seek confrontation and break the rules,” the municipality said on its website on Thursday.
The protesters circumvented the ban by changing the stated purpose of their gathering to “drinking coffee,” according to news agency ANP. The gathering place on Amsterdam’s Museumplein has been declared a “security risk area” until 11 p.m. in case the protest turns violent, ANP reported.
The Dutch government announced a stricter lockdown in December to stem the spread of the omicron variant. The so-called full lockdown, which will last until at least Jan. 14, allows only supermarkets and essential shops to stay open. Cases, hospitalizations and deaths have all fallen in the past month.
U.K. Hospital Staff Absences Skyrocket (6:48 a.m. NY)
Covid-related absences among hospital staff in the U.K. jumped nearly two thirds in the post-Christmas period, the Times reported, citing NHS data. Regionally, the situation is even worse, with parts of one London hospital closed because half of the nursing staff were off sick, the paper reported. Health service staff have also faced difficulty accessing Covid-19 tests.
Government ministers are reported to be testing emergency contingency plans to minimize disruption to hospitals and other public services. Public sector leaders were told to plan for a worst-case scenario of 25% of staff being absent, the reports said.
The U.K. Health Security Agency argued in a blog post that easing the rules on self-isolation and allowing people back to work after five days instead of the current seven would worsen the situation. Its modeling showed as many as a third of people would still be infectious six days after a positive test.
Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi, meanwhile, told the Sunday Telegraph that secondary school students in England will have to wear masks again.
Russia Bucks Global Trend With Fall in Cases (6:44 a.m. NY)
Russia reported the lowest level of cases since the middle of September. There were 18,233 new cases in the past day, according to the government’s reporting center. The number of deaths declined to 811, the lowest in more than three months.
U.K. Develops Plans to Help Businesses From Absences: FT (2:03 p.m. HK)
The U.K. government will develop contingency plans to help companies and supply chains avoid disruptions from staff absences due to Covid-19, the Financial Times reported, citing the Cabinet Office.
The government has identified a range of staff-support measures, including former teachers for schools and volunteers in the public sector, the newspaper said. It has asked private businesses to test the plans against a worst-case scenario of as much as 25% in workforce absences, according to the report.
U.K. Cabinet Office Minister Steve Barclay will lead regular meetings to monitor the impact of the omicron variant on workforces and company operations, the FT reported.
Germany Reports 12,515 New Covid Cases (10:31 a.m. HK)
Germany recorded 12,515 new cases, less than half the 26,392 of the day before, according to the country’s public health authority RKI.
Reported new deaths associated with the virus rose by 46, bringing the total to 112,155.
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