U.K. Refuses to Rule Out Curbs; Dutch Lockdown: Virus Update

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Bloomberg News

(Bloomberg) —

U.K. Health Secretary Sajid Javid refused to rule out stronger Covid-19 rules before Christmas after the nation’s top health advisers urged stricter measures to contain infections that may be running in the hundreds of thousands per day. 

“There are no guarantees in this pandemic,” Javid told BBC News on Sunday when asked whether he would rule out a so-called circuit-breaker lockdown within days. “At this point, we just have to keep everything under review.”

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The Netherlands will return to a strict lockdown from Sunday, closing schools, all non-essential shops and limiting the number of visitors allowed in households. The rise of omicron means it’s “looking increasingly likely that the health-care system will become overburdened in January,” the government said. 

Germany became the latest European country to tighten rules for travelers from Britain as the spread of omicron threatens progress in reversing a virus wave that recently swamped German hospitals. 

New South Wales, Australia’s largest state, reported a record 2,566 cases on Sunday, including hundreds of cases of the omicron variant. President Joe Biden is set to warn the U.S. of the perils of remaining unvaccinated in a speech Tuesday, as the variant takes hold in the country. 

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Key Developments: 

Virus Tracker: Cases pass 274.2 million; deaths top 5.35 millionVaccine Tracker: More than 8.66 billion shots givenTravel Tracker: Covid cases rise, and border tightening followsOmicron gets around previous Covid infection, study warnsInside South African virology labs: Hunting for the next variantWhat we know about omicron, the new virus variant: QuickTake

U.K. Doesn’t Rule Out Stronger Curbs (6:38 a.m. New York) 

Health Secretary Sajid Javid refused to rule out stronger U.K. Covid-19 rules before Christmas. When asked whether he could rule out a so-called circuit-breaker lockdown within days, he said that there are no guarantees in this pandemic and that everything needs to be kept under review. 

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“It’s time to be more cautious. We know this thing is spreading more rapidly,” Javid told BBC News on Sunday.

S. Africa Minister Gets Covid Again (6:13 a.m. New York)

South African Minister of Minerals and Energy Gwede Mantashe tested positive for Covid-19 after experiencing mild symptoms, the second time he’s contracted the virus.

The minister is in good spirits and in self-isolation, the presidency said in a statement on Sunday. Mantashe, 66, was hospitalized last year with Covid.

Spain’s PM Sanchez Calls Emergency Meeting (6:39 p.m. HK) 

In a televised address on Sunday, Spanish Primer Minister Pedro Sanchez said the leaders will analyze the evolution of the pandemic in an extraordinary online meeting scheduled for Wednesday. 

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Spain’s 14-day average infection rate climbed to more than 500 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, with hospitalizations tripling to 6,667 patients over the past month, according to Health Ministry data released on Friday.

Italy Mulls New Domestic Restrictions (6:33 p.m. HK) 

Italy is reviewing a package of new measures to slow a surge in Covid cases during the Christmas holidays in a bid to avoid drastic measures taken by other European countries.

Mario Draghi’s government will meet on Dec. 23 to discuss possible options including requiring masks outdoors, shortening the validity of the Covid certificate and possibly also requiring vaccinated people as well as unvaccinated people to take Covid tests to access large events, according to people familiar with the matter. 

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Iran Finds First Omicron Case (4:58 p.m. HK)

Iran has identified its first case of the omicron strain, the country’s state TV reported, citing a health ministry official. The variant was detected in an Iranian man who had contracted the virus “in a neighboring country,” the report said, without providing details.

Beijing Says Student Tests Positive for Covid (4:28 p.m. HK)

A student at an art studio in Beijing’s Tongzhou district tested positive for Covid on Sunday, according to the local health commission. It didn’t provide the number of people who’re isolating or specify the variant. 

The infection comes 47 days before the Winter Olympics is due to begin in the Chinese capital.

China Finds Omicron in Travelers to Changsha (1 p.m. HK)

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Two new cases of the omicron variant were detected in the central Chinese city of Changsha from arrivals into the country, state-backed media Xinhua reported Saturday, citing the municipal government.

The provincial capital of Hunan is the latest place to discover the variant in incoming travelers, after the southern province of Guangdong and the northern metropolis of Tianjin reported cases earlier this month. Omicron has put China’s Covid Zero strategy under pressure, although no local transmissions of the variant have yet been reported. 

Brexit Chief Quits, Cites Covid Response (11:55 a.m. HK) 

David Frost, the U.K. minister in charge of post-Brexit negotiations, resigned from Boris Johnson’s government. In a strongly-worded resignation letter, Frost said he was unhappy with current Brexit thinking and opposed anything that could look like another lockdown. 

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“We also need to learn to live with Covid and I know that is your instinct too. You took a brave decision in July, against considerable opposition, to open up the country again,” he wrote to Johnson. “Sadly it did not prove to be irreversible, as I wished, and believe you did too. I hope we can get back on track soon and not be tempted by the kind of coercive measures we have seen elsewhere.” 

The government’s chief scientific advisers are warning that cases in England could be running in the hundreds of thousands a day, and speculation is rife that the Cabinet, of which Frost was a member, is on the cusp of acting on further measures. 

Cases Surge in Australia’s Largest State (9:30 a.m. HK) 

New South Wales, Australia’s largest state, reported a record 2,566 cases Sunday, amid reports that health experts and some members of the government support the reintroduction of mask mandates as the omicron variant spreads.

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Testing confirmed that 313 of the cases involved the omicron strain, though state health officials said the majority of infections there are likely to be of that variant. New South Wales Premier Dominic Perrottet is under internal pressure to reintroduce mandatory mask-wearing for indoor settings and QR code check-ins, the Sydney Morning Herald reported late Saturday, citing ministers in his cabinet. Just days earlier, measures were relaxed across the state of more than 8 million people.

Meanwhile, New Zealand reported 55 new Covid cases Sunday, confirming an additional five cases of omicron cases in recent international arrivals, bringing the total number of new variant cases in managed quarantine to 13. No omicron cases have been active in the community.

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HK Puts New Zealand, Qatar on High-Risk List (7:43 a.m. HK)

Hong Kong will from Dec. 21 ban non-residents traveling from New Zealand, Egypt, Morocco and Qatar after omicron cases were found there, according to a statement late Saturday. Hong Kong residents returning from those places must be fully vaccinated and undergo hotel quarantine for 21 days under the change.

Germany Tightens U.K. Travel Rules (5:38 p.m. NY)

Germany declared the U.K. a virus-variant area, its highest-risk designation, and tightened the rules for travelers from Britain to include a mandatory 14-day quarantine after arrival.

The designation takes effect on Monday and stay in force at least until Jan. 3, the Robert Koch Institute, a national infectious-disease agency, said on its website. 

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New York Breaks Case Record For Second Day (4:35 p.m. NY)

New York state reported 21,908 cases on Saturday, breaking a record for the entire pandemic for a second consecutive day, Governor Kathy Hochul said in a statement.

Daily infections in New York City, where the surge is shutting down Broadway shows and keeping workers from offices, rose further to 5,263, Mayor Bill de Blasio said on Twitter.

Statewide hospitalizations, which generally aren’t increasing as quickly as infections, rose 70 on Saturday to 3,909. Of 290,930 people tested, 7.53% were positive for the virus, a slight decline in a number that has otherwise soared in recent weeks.

Biden to Speak on Omicron, Unvaccinated (3:15 p.m. NY)

President Joe Biden is set to warn the nation of the perils of remaining unvaccinated against the coronavirus in a planned speech Tuesday as the omicron variant takes hold in the U.S. and the nation experiences a surge in cases.

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“We are prepared for the rising case levels, and @POTUS will detail how we will respond to this challenge,” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said. 

Biden will announce new steps the administration is taking to help communities in need of assistance, while also issuing a stark warning of what the winter will look like for Americans that choose to remain unvaccinated, according to a White House official.

Netherlands Returns to Strict Lockdown (1:18 p.m. NY)

The Dutch government announced plans to enforce a stricter lockdown to stem a surge of infections caused by the spread of the omicron variant. 

“Omicron spreads even quicker than we feared. That is why we have to act now, to prevent worse,” Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said Saturday at a news conference in The Hague. “We are going back into a lockdown.”

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The tougher measures mean the country pivots from evening restrictions that shuttered shops, bars and restaurants after 5 p.m. to a so-called full lockdown that allows only supermarkets and essential shops to stay open. They’ll take effect on Sunday and last until at least Jan. 14. 

S. Africa’s Omicron Center Shifts (12:20 p.m.)

The center of a fourth wave of coronavirus cases in South Africa that’s being fueled by the highly transmissible omicron variant has shifted from the economic hub of Gauteng to the nation’s second most populous province.

In the last 24-hours the largest share of new cases were from KwaZulu-Natal at 26%, compared with Gauteng’s 21% and Western Cape’s 18%, the National Institute for Communicable Diseases said in a statement on Saturday.  

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Total daily infections stood at 16,080, a 40% decline from Wednesday’s record 26,976 daily coronavirus cases.

English Soccer Body Makes Vaccine Plea (11:40 a.m. NY)

The chief executive of the English Premier League has written to its 20 clubs, urging them to “strongly encourage” players to get vaccinated.

“It has never been more important,” Richard Masters said in the letter. His comments come as six of the weekend’s top-flight matches were postponed because of Covid outbreaks at some of the clubs.

According to the BBC, 25% of players in the second-tier English Football League say they don’t intend to get inoculated.

U.K. Omicron Cases Triple; London on Alert (11:30 a.m. NY)

England is “almost certain” to be suffering hundreds of thousands of new omicron cases a day as the variant drives a new wave of the virus, the U.K. government’s scientific advisers said. 

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London Mayor Sadiq Khan declared a “major incident” on Saturday due to the variant’s rapid spread across the capital, according to a statement. The move allows the city to coordinate emergency services and access government support.

Officially, the U.K. reported another 10,059 new omicron cases on Saturday, three times as many as Friday and an almost 16-fold increase in a week. The confirmed total for the variant now stands just under 25,000, the U.K. Health Security Agency said on Twitter. The variant accounts for the majority of U.K. cases, with 90,000 new infections overall reported on Saturday. 

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