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Vaccine Production in Focus; Texas Hospital Spike: Virus Update

Track the latest developments in the global Covid-19 pandemic, here.

Vaccine Production in Focus; Texas Hospital Spike: Virus Update
Parisians queue outside a private healthcare lab for Covid-19 tests in Paris, France. (Photographer: Nathan Laine/Bloomberg)

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration plans to have an expert panel review any Covid-19 vaccine application for emergency use, along with at least two months of safety data. President Donald Trump, who was released from the hospital Monday, reported no symptoms, his doctor said.

Germany’s new coronavirus cases jumped the most since mid-April, highlighting Europe’s struggles to keep the pandemic in check. Italy’s government is set to order stricter rules, including a decree that masks be worn outdoors.

European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde warned of the risks to the region’s economic recovery and urged governments not to end fiscal support too soon. U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said his government is working to get the country “back to normal” by this time next year.

Key Developments:

  • Global Tracker: Cases pass 35.6 million; deaths top 1.04 million
  • Trump wants to return to Oval Office, ending home isolation
  • Signals mount that Covid-19 is returning to New York area
  • Italy virus surge brings parliament to halt as lawmakers isolate
  • ‘My brain’s not as sharp’: Covid woes stalk workers back on job
  • Covid-19 test results for U.S. politicians and officials: a list

Subscribe to a daily update on the virus from Bloomberg’s Prognosis team here. Click CVID on the terminal for global data on coronavirus cases and deaths.

Vaccine Production in Focus; Texas Hospital Spike: Virus Update

Texas Hospitalizations at Three-Week High (5:34 p.m. NY)

Texas virus hospitalizations rose 2.3% in a 24-hour period to 3,394, the highest in more than three weeks, according to state health department data released Tuesday. The increase comes as Governor Greg Abbott prepares to lift some of the remaining restrictions on business activity enacted three months ago when new infections proliferated.

The Lone Star state recorded 78 new virus fatalities, bringing the cumulative total to 16,111, according to state health department figures.

New York Adds New Mexico to Travel Advisory (5:30 p.m. NY)

New York added New Mexico to the state’s travel advisory, which requires people traveling from those areas to quarantine for 14 days. There are now 35 states and territories on the list.

Two California Counties Move Backward in Reopening (4:45 p.m. NY)

Two California counties with rising coronavirus cases must take a step backward in their efforts to restart their economies, marking the first reversals in the state’s new reopening system.

The system, implemented last month, sorts counties into four tiers based on test positivity rates, with different restrictions on businesses and public activities in each group. Although the state’s coronavirus cases, hospitalizations and deaths have plunged since peaking in late July and early August, California officials are concerned about rising cases in rural Tehama and Shasta counties. Tehama County is moving back to the most restrictive tier, meaning places of worship and gyms can only operate outdoors, while Shasta will be in the second-most restrictive tier.

“We recognize that these are important moves at a county,” said Mark Ghaly, secretary of the California Health and Human Services Agency. “We have spent quite a bit of time looking at the data, ensuring that the trends are correct over the last two weeks.”

Vaccine Makers Told to Make Sure Production Ready (4:30 p.m. NY)

The Trump administration’s Operation Warp Speed program has asked vaccine makers to hold off filing for an emergency authorization of a Covid-19 shot until they can manufacture several million doses.

The program has told the companies it supports to refrain from filing “if they achieve efficacy demonstration while there are no vaccine doses available at industrial scale at several million doses,” Moncef Slaoui, Warp Speed’s chief adviser, said in an online presentation sponsored by Johns Hopkins University and the University of Washington Tuesday.

With several vaccines already in the final stage of testing, the possibility that one may have the data needed to apply for clearance is drawing closer. Slaoui suggested that authorizing a vaccine without being able to make it might be a “major disappointment” to the public.

NYC Businesses in Hot Spots Must Close (4:20 p.m. NY)

Businesses and schools in coronavirus hot spots in New York state must close by the end of the week, Governor Andrew Cuomo said Tuesday.

Cuomo announced plans for a “Cluster Action Initiative,” where groups of cases would be geographically identified by red, orange and yellow, rather than ZIP codes.

The state will focus on red, or “intense action,” areas in Brooklyn, Queens, and Rockland and Orange counties. Local governments will get color-coded maps of the clusters to see where their community falls, Cuomo said at a briefing at the Capitol in Albany.

Schools and nonessential businesses in red communities must close no later than Friday, Cuomo said. The rules will be in effect for 14 days, and then the state will reassess the situation, he said.

France New Cases Top 10,000 (2:31 p.m. NY)

France reported 10,489 new coronavirus cases on Tuesday, with the weekly pace picking up for a fourth day and following a record number of infections on Saturday. The seven-day rolling average of new cases, which smooths out daily variations, rose above 12,000 for the first time in eight days.

“Today we have this virus that is on the rise again and which continues to put pressure on our hospital services,” President Emmanuel Macron said on a visit to Rothschild AP-HP hospital in Paris on Tuesday.

The number of Covid-19 patients in intensive care units rose by 11 to 1,426, the highest it’s been since late May. In Paris hospitals, patients in ICUs have tripled since the start of September, similar to the increase in Marseille.

Mask Policies Helped Arizona Stem Disease (1:55 p.m. NY)

The number of Covid-19 cases in Arizona leveled off and then fell after the state gave local governments permission to implement mask policies, according to a report by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The average number of daily cases increased to 2,026 cases on June 15 from 808 on June 1, a 151% rise. About two weeks after local officials began mandating masks in several counties along with other mitigation measures, the number of cases began to decrease, the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report found. The case count fell 75% from July 13 through August 7.

Mitigation efforts also included limiting public events, closing bars and movie theaters, and reducing restaurant capacity.

U.S. Military Chief to Quarantine (1:45 p.m. NY)

General Mark Milley, the top U.S. military officer, is among officers in quarantine after the Coast Guard’s vice commandant tested positive for the coronavirus, a Pentagon official said Tuesday. Coast Guard Admiral Charles Ray was tested “after feeling mild symptoms over the weekend,” the service said in a statement.

Although the Coast Guard is part of the Department of Homeland Security, Ray was at the Pentagon last week “for meetings with other senior military leaders” including service chiefs, Defense Department spokesman Jonathan Hoffman said in a statement.

Trump Reported No Symptoms, Doctor Says (1:20 p.m. NY)

President Donald Trump reported “no symptoms” on Tuesday, his doctor said. Two more White House staff members tested positive for the coronavirus. Trump tweeted that he was “feeling great” and looking forward to next week’s debate.

Trump returned to the White House Monday evening after a four-day stay at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for treatment for Covid-19. Aides hope to keep him at the presidential residence and away from the Oval Office but are uncertain how long that will last, according to people familiar with the matter.

Belgium Sets Bar Limits (12:30 p.m. NY)

Belgium ordered bars to close at 11 p.m. and will not allow more than four guests per table starting Friday.

Prime Minister Alexander De Croo also urged Belgians to limit the number of friends they invite at home to a maximum of four and told citizens not to hug or kiss more than three people outside their household for the next month.

Belgium’s 14-day incidence rate has soared to 236 per 100,000, with the Brussels capital region already nearing 500 per 100,000.

NYC’s Horace Mann School Closes for Two Weeks (10:53 a.m. NY)

Horace Mann, a private school in the New York’s Bronx borough, will suspend in-person classes for its middle and upper grades for two weeks after additional staff tested positive for Covid-19.

The school, which reopened for in-person classes last month, identified one case of Covid among its employees over the weekend. Three more were found on Monday, including two in the physical education department and one in college counseling, head of school Thomas Kelly said in an email to parents Monday night.

FDA to Demand Two Months of Safety Data (10:15 a.m. NY)

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration plans to have an expert panel review any Covid-19 vaccine application for emergency use, along with at least two months of safety data, according to a document posted by the agency Tuesday.

The requirements will almost certainly add to the time it will take to review any vaccine, potentially past President Donald Trump’s goal of having one by Election Day next month. While the FDA has said it plans to work as quickly as possible, it’s also said it won’t cut scientific corners or bend to political pressure to rush a vaccine.

Frankfurt Introduces Measures (9:37 a.m. NY)

Frankfurt, seat of the European Central Bank, is introducing a 10 p.m. curfew for bars and restaurants to battle rising infections. It’s also banning alcohol and mandating masks in some areas, Mayor Peter Feldmann said Tuesday. Berlin may also enforce stricter rules. The German capital’s senate will meet at 5 p.m. local time to decide on new regulations, local newspaper Tagesspiegel reported.

Vir, BioNTech Shares Climb (9:06 a.m. NY)

Vir Biotechnology and GlaxoSmithKline are moving their trial evaluating VIR-7831 for the early treatment of Covid-19 in high-risk patients to phase 3.

Separately, Europe’s drugs regulator started an early review of an experimental Covid-19 vaccine from Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE, potentially speeding the shot’s assessment and time to market.

Shares of Vir and BioNTech climbed in early U.S. trading.

Dutch Weekly Cases Exceed 25,000 (8:27 a.m. NY)

The Netherlands for the first time added more than 25,000 new Covid-19 cases in a week, numbers from health agency RIVM showed. A total of 27,485 patients were confirmed in the week ending Oct. 6, up from 19,326 the week before. The number of people admitted to intensive care units rose to 122 from 100.

Broader WHO Power to Probe Outbreaks Gains Support (8:15 a.m. NY)

France and Germany floated a proposal to give the WHO more powers to quickly investigate disease outbreaks. In a joint report circulated before this week’s WHO executive board meetings, the countries promoted the idea of enabling the agency to dispatch multinational teams with authority to immediately investigate disease outbreak sites in any member state.

The U.S., which has pledged to exit the WHO, has criticized China for putting up roadblocks and not providing full information at the start of the pandemic. While initial reports of the novel coronavirus surfaced in December, it wasn’t until Jan. 20 that China let the WHO mission visit Wuhan.

Hungary Expedites Salary Increase for Doctors (8:14 a.m. NY)

Hungary’s parliament rushed through a major salary increase for doctors in several phases through 2023 as a worsening pandemic has filled hospitals with more than 600 coronavirus patients. The legislation, approved Tuesday in a unanimous vote, attempts to address decades of understaffing and corruption in Hungary’s ailing public health system.

Johnson Vows to Get U.K. Back to Normal Next Year (5:54 p.m. HK)

U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said his government is working to get the country “back to normal” by this time next year. Speaking to his Conservative Party’s annual conference, being held online this year, Johnson said: “Your government is working night and day to repel this virus and we will succeed, just as this country has seen off every alien invader for the last thousand years.”

Johnson set out his key policy priorities, including more generous home loans for millions of young first-time buyers. He’s also backing green investment.

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With assistance from Bloomberg