Apple Loosens Mask Rules; U.S. Clears At-Home Test: Virus Update

(Bloomberg) -- Pfizer Inc. said its Covid-19 pill reduced hospitalizations and deaths in high-risk patients by 89%, a result with the potential to transform treatment strategies for the disease. The company aims to submit data on the pill to U.S. regulators by Thanksgiving.

Apple Inc. will drop its mask requirement for customers at many of its U.S. retail stores starting Friday on declining cases and increased vaccinations.

Texas, Florida, Missouri, and 23 other states with Republican attorneys general have sued to block the Biden administration’s controversial rule requiring large companies to mandate that their workers get vaccinated against Covid-19 or submit to regular testing. 

U.S. regulators cleared a new over-the-counter Covid-19 test Friday that could add millions of tests per month to the market for rapid diagnostics that have sometimes been in short supply.

Key Developments:

• Virus Tracker: Cases surpass 248.9 million; deaths top 5 million
• Vaccine Tracker: More than 7.2 billion shots given
• This is how long experts think China will stick with Covid Zero
• Why a new pill to treat Covid could be a game changer: QuickTake
• Scientists find gene that doubles risk of dying from Covid-19
• Covid-19 Impact: Best of Bloomberg Intelligence

Rodgers Has Covid But No Regrets (4:03 p.m. NY)

Aaron Rodgers has no regrets about not being vaccinated.

In a Friday appearance on the Pat McAfee Show, two days after testing positive for Covid-19, the Green Bay Packers quarterback said not getting vaccinated was the best choice for his body.

“I’m not some sort of anti-vax, flat-Earther, I am somebody who is a critical thinker,” Rodgers said. 

The three-time MVP said he is allergic to an ingredient that’s in mRNA vaccines and that he had “heard of multiple people who had had adverse events” around getting the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. He said that instead he is taking monoclonal antibodies, ivermectin and zinc, among other things.

Pfizer to Submit Covid Pill by Thanksgiving (3:41 p.m. NY)

Pfizer Inc. is aiming aim to submit data from its experimental Covid-19 pill to U.S. regulators by Thanksgiving, potentially clearing the way for an emergency-use authorization, according to Chief Executive Officer Albert Bourla. 

Speaking in an interview with Bloomberg Television, Bourla said Pfizer was preparing to submit the data to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. In the meantime, the CEO urged countries around the world to secure supply agreements.

Colorado Hospital Beds Fall to Record Low (3:21 p.m. NY)

The number of acute care hospital beds available for Covid-19 patients and other seriously ill people in Colorado dropped to a new pandemic low amid mounting personnel shortages, the state Department of Public Health and Environment said Friday.

There are just 815 “staffed” acute care beds available statewide with the number of intensive care unit beds alone below 100, Scott Bookman, state incident commander, said during an online briefing.

About 80% of the state’s eligible population has received at least one vaccination. However 1,009 of the 1,296 Covid-19 patients in the hospital are unvaccinated and “we’re all disappointed we’re here today,” Bookman said.

U.S. Clears At-Home Covid Test (3:09 p.m. NY)

U.S. regulators cleared a new over-the-counter Covid-19 test Friday that could add millions of tests per month to the market for rapid Covid diagnostics that have sometimes been in short supply, according to federal health authorities.

The Food and Drug Administration granted emergency use authorization to the at-home test from iHealth Labs Inc., a closely held Sunnyvale, California company. The company can produce a million tests a day, capacity that will grow to 5 million daily and eventually up to 200 million tests per month, according to a spokesman for the U.S. Health and Human Services department.

A single test can be used for people with symptoms, or a series of two tests can be used for asymptomatic people. The nasal swab test can be used for people as young as two years old if an adult collects the sample.

Apple Drops Mask Rules in Many U.S. Stores (3:02 p.m. NY)

Apple Inc. will drop its mask requirement for customers at many of its U.S. retail stores starting Friday on declining Covid-19 cases and increased vaccinations.

The change will take place beginning at more than 100 of the company’s about 270 stores across the U.S. before gradually expanding to additional stores in the coming days. The mandate will be removed at some stores in states including California, Florida, Arizona, New York, Louisiana, New Jersey and Connecticut. 

The new mask policy was announced in an internal memo to Apple retail employees Thursday that was obtained by Bloomberg News.

Alabama Law Protects Unvaccinated Workers (2:17 p.m. NY)

Alabama Governor Kay Ivey signed a law protecting employees who refuse vaccination, allowing for exemptions from mandates for medical or religious reasons. 

“From the moment the White House rolled out their scare tactic plans to try to force this vaccine on Americans, I called it for what it is: an un-American outrageous overreach,” the Republican governor said in a statement. 

On Thursday, OSCHA, a federal agency, formalized the the Biden administration’s vaccine mandate for U.S. companies with 100 or more employees. Workers must be fully vaccinated by Jan. 4 or submit to testing. 

Alabama has the second-lowest number of per-capita vaccinations among adults in the U.S. after West Virginia.

Chicago Gives Day Off for Kids’ Vaccines (1:49 p.m. NY)

Chicago public schools will be closed Nov. 12 to raise awareness and to give all eligible students the opportunity to get the Covid-19 vaccine as quickly as possible given the recent approval of the Pfizer shots for 5- to 11-year-old children, according to a statement on Friday. The city of Chicago also will give its employees two hours early release that same day for vaccinations.

“While you don’t have to wait until that day to get your child or yourself vaccinated, we’re taking these special steps to ensure people have the time to get it done and encourage other institutions and private businesses to follow the city’s example,” Mayor Lori Lightfoot said in the statement.

NYC Fire Department Back to Full Operations (1:23 p.m. NY)

All 350 New York City fire units were fully operational Friday, after several went out of service earlier in the week when a greater-than-usual number of workers called in sick as a vaccine mandate went into effect, Mayor Bill de Blasio said on WNYC Friday.

On Monday morning, 18 units were out of service and “many” were understaffed, Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigro had said, linking the increase in sick leave to protests against the mandate for all city workers.

Response times by the fire department have been “very very good,” and the vaccination rate has risen to 80% for firefighters and 90% for emergency medical services workers, the mayor said.

“In our fire department, there’s a lot of redundancy,” de Blasio said, and the fire commissioner has been able to move people around as needed.

Greece Hits Record Fifth Time This Week (11:58 a.m. NY)

Greece recorded 6,909 new cases Friday, the highest daily increase since the beginning of the pandemic. The rise is the fifth time since Sunday that a record has been set. Greek authorities announced Tuesday new Covid-19 measures targeting the unvaccinated given the jump in daily infections. From Nov. 6, those who haven’t been vaccinated but want to attend their place of work must undergo two rapid tests a week instead of one -- paid for themselves. To enter most stores, banks and restaurants, they’ll also need to present a negative rapid or PCR test.

States Sue Over Biden’s Mandate (11:46 a.m. NY)

Texas, Florida, Missouri, and 23 other states with Republican attorneys general have sued to block the Biden administration’s controversial rule requiring large companies to mandate that their workers get vaccinated against Covid-19 or submit to regular testing.

The Missouri attorney general’s office announced that it filed an 11-state coalition’s petition for judicial review in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit early Friday. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration published its emergency regulation shortly after Missouri’s announcement.

Germany Orders Widespread Boosters (9:35 a.m. NY)

Germany is pushing for Covid-19 booster shots for all adults, the latest effort to control a record surge in infections that’s threatening to overwhelm hospitals in some hot spots this winter.

“We need more speed with these boosters,” Health Minister Jens Spahn said Friday at a news conference. Bolstering protection after six months of being fully inoculated “should be the rule, not the exception,” he said after two days of talks with regional counterparts.

The number of cases in Germany rose by a record for a second straight day, as a fourth wave of the disease continues to spread and threatens to overwhelm hospitals.

Pfizer to Seek U.S. Nod for Covid Pill (6:45 a.m. NY)

Pfizer Inc. said its Covid-19 pill reduced hospitalizations and deaths in high-risk patients by 89%. 

The drugmaker said in a statement on Friday that it was no longer taking new patients in a clinical trial of the treatment “due to the overwhelming efficacy” and planned to submit the findings to U.S. regulatory authorities for emergency authorization as soon as possible.

Croatia Tightens Curbs Amid Case Surge (6:21 a.m. NY)

Croatia tightened measures as the country reported a record number of daily infections for a second day in the row. 

Public gatherings will be limited to 50 except in cases where every attendee has a Covid pass. State workers will need either proof of vaccination, or a negative test or a proof of past illness to enter their workplace.

The number of new infections has risen to 6,932 and some hospitals in the country of 4.2 million have suspended non-urgent examinations and surgeries.

Maersk Urges Staff Vaccination (3:57 p.m. HK)

A.P. Moller-Maersk A/S, the world’s largest shipping line, is urging as many of its 80,000 employees as possible to get vaccinated, the company said in a series of tweets on Friday.

“There’s now better knowledge about the efficacy and safety of vaccines, and vaccine availability is increasing globally,” the company said. “Maersk will implement this process through a number of policies and guidelines in full compliance with all applicable laws and labor agreements.”

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With assistance from Bloomberg