Category: Breaking News

The French government adjusted its new plan to fight Covid-19 slashing planned fines and postponing them to an unspecified date, spokesman Gabriel Attal said. The measures, which include requiring a health pass in a wide array of venues from the start of August and making vaccination mandatory for health workers, will still account for some of the toughest in Europe.

The Italian government has signed off on an extension to the country’s state of emergency, keeping it in place until at the end of 2021. Here’s what that means in practice.

The Health Ministry said Thursday that the effectiveness of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine in preventing infection and mild symptoms has dropped to 40 percent, according to data collected over the past month as the delta variant spreads in Israel. Notably, the data might be skewed because a significant portion of the coronavirus tests in Israel were conducted in hot spots and among the elderly, while a small number of tests was carried out among the young and vaccinated population. One medical expert that is consulting the Health Ministry said that the data is still too distorted to make a reliable assessment of the effectiveness of the vaccine in preventing infection and mild symptoms. Earlier Thursday, the country’s coronavirus cabinet approved reinstating restrictions, which, pending government approval, will go into effect next Thursday. Events with over 100 participants – both indoors and outdoors – will only be allowed to include people who have been vaccinated, have recovered, or have a negative test result, if they are age 12 or older.

People will also be required to present a vaccination certificate at cultural or sports events, gyms, restaurants, conferences, tourist attractions, and houses of worship. Furthermore, beginning on August 8, unvaccinated people will have to pay for their own coronavirus tests, except for those who cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons. Those attending weddings and parties will have to present proof of immunity, even if they are younger than 12.

(Bloomberg) — The U.S. is “at another pivotal moment in this pandemic,” with Covid-19 cases once again climbing and beds at some hospitals filling up, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky said. In response to surging caseloads and hospitalizations, Texas is dispatching people to Walmarts around the state to encourage younger people to get vaccinations inside. German Chancellor Angela Merkel sounded the alarm on surging cases tied to the delta variant, saying numbers could double within two weeks. In the U.K., vaccine certificates could be required at business conferences, music festivals and sports events in England from September. China pushed back against the World Health Organization’s call for another probe into the coronavirus’s origins that includes examining whether it leaked from a lab. Global Tracker: Cases top 192.2 million; deaths exceed 4.1 million. Vaccine Tracker: More than 3.71 billion doses administered ‘Ridiculous’: Vaccine myths cripple U.S. uptake as delta surges. Study shows costs of vaccine inequity for low-income countries. Why the vaccinated are still at risk from the coronavirus. Tokyo’s fraught Olympics show glaring scar of Covid.

LONDON (Reuters) – A drubbing in world equity markets and a huge flight to safety into U.S. Treasuries this week suggests investors now doubt that a much-anticipated return to post-COVID normality is feasible any time soon. Data from the United States and China, which account for more than half of world growth, suggests a slowdown in the recent blistering pace of the global economy alongside rising prices for all manner of goods and raw materials. Coinciding with a resurgence in the Delta variant of COVID-19, markets may be sending alarm signals about the global economic outlook, Deutsche Bank chief FX strategist George Saravelos told clients. “As prices have risen, the consumer has been cutting back demand rather than bringing forward consumption. This is the opposite of what one would expect if the environment was genuinely inflationary and it shows the global economy has a very low speed limit,” Saravelos wrote. That sentiment was evident in the latest flow data too. Bank of America Merill Lynch flagged “stagflation” concerns for the second half of 2021, noting slowing inflows into stocks and outflows from high-yield assets. Data on hedge funds’ weekly currency positioning is the closest available real-time indicator of investors’ thinking about the $6.6 trillion a day foreign exchange markets. With the dollar at its highest since end-March, latest Commodity Futures Trading Commission data shows net long positions on the dollar against a basket of major currencies is the biggest since March 2020. Positioning had dropped to a net short bet as recently as early June. Dollar appreciation against the euro and emerging market currencies is unsurprising given economic uncertainty, said Ludovic Colin, senior portfolio manager at Vontobel Asset Management. “Whenever Americans get worried about growth at home or globally, they repatriate money and buy dollars,” he added. In recent months, investors optimistic about an economic recovery sent a flood of cash into so-called cyclical sectors such as banks, leisure and energy. These are, in short, companies that benefit from an economic recovery. The tide may now be going out. Instead “growth” stocks, especially technology, has outperformed its value counterparts by more than 3 percentage points since the start of July. Many clients of Goldman Sachs believe the cyclical rotation was a short-lived phenomenon driven by recovery from an unusual recession, the bank said. Defensive stocks such as utilities are back in favour too. A basket of value stocks compiled by MSCI is testing its lowest levels for this year against defensive peers, having risen 11% in the first six months of 2021. Early this year, the dollar’s trajectory was determined by the interest rate differentials enjoyed by U.S. debt over its rivals, with correlations peaking in May. While real or inflation-adjusted U.S. yields are still higher than their German counterparts, the drop in nominal U.S. yields below 1.2% this week has raised concern over the global growth outlook. Ulrich Leuchtmann, head of FX at Commerzbank, said that if global production and consumption did not return to 2019 levels soon, then a permanently lower GDP path has to be assumed. This is reflected to some extent in bond markets. Investor sentiment has become more cautious, according to weekly polls by the American Association of Individual Investors. BlackRock, the world’s biggest investment manager, cut U.S. equities to neutral in its mid-year outlook. Stephen Jen, who runs hedge fund Eurizon SLJ Capital, noted that because China’s business cycle was ahead of that of the United States or Europe, weaker data there is filtering through to investor sentiment in the West. Popular reflation trades in the commodity markets have also gone into reverse. A ratio of gold/copper prices has fallen 10% after rising to more than 6-1/2 year highs in May.

The UK has recorded its highest number of Covid deaths in a single-day period since 24 March, Public Health England data shows. Some 96 people died within 28 days of testing positive for coronavirus as of 9am on Tuesday. It brings the nation’s death toll to 128,823, while there were also 46,558 new cases of Covid reported in the same 24 hours. It comes as the government said it remains “crucial” for people to self-isolate when they receive a “ping” from the NHS coronavirus app, overruling an earlier comment from business minister Paul Scully. He said on Tuesday morning that it was up to individuals to make an “informed decision” about whether or not to quarantine after getting an alert. Hours later, Downing Street scrambled to clarify its position, saying that self-isolation was an important means of preventing the spread of the virus. “It is crucial people isolate when they are told to do so, either by NHS Test and Trace or by the NHS Covid app,” a No 10 spokesperson said. The UK records almost 100 Covid deaths in 24 hours – highest since March Only a fifth of people are using Covid app properly, poll shows One million kids are out of school due to Covid – data UK vaccine passport plans condemned as ‘absolute shambles’ Businesses can disregard Covid app ‘pings’, minister suggests. Minister rules out vaccine passports for pubs. Emergency calls increased by a third compared to a normal day, with a sudden wave of more than 400 calls in a single hour during the early afternoon. The London Ambulance Service has been at the highest level of demand, previously known as a “black alert”, since 17 June. Seven out of 10 ambulance services across England are in a similar situation. Scheduled operations have been cancelled as an NHS Scotland Trust’s three acute hospitals experience unprecedented levels of pressure. NHS Lanarkshire said that increased Covid-19 cases, staff shortages due to annual leave or staff having to self-isolate as a result of contacts outside of work, were causing the pressure, along with trying to maintain and recover services – including planned operations. There are currently 81 Covid-19 cases across its three sites – University Hospital Hairmyres, Monklands and Wishaw – with seven people in intensive care, the board said. On Monday, 643 patients also attended the sites’ A&E departments. “The sustained pressure we are seeing across our three acute hospitals is showing no signs of easing,” NHS Lanarkshire director of acute services, Judith Park, said. “In fact, the pressures on our hospitals are as severe as at any time in the whole pandemic.” Ms Park blamed non-Covid issues such as sunstroke for the steady rise in numbers, especially in recent days after the heatwave much of the UK has experienced. “Unfortunately, we have had to cancel a small number of planned surgeries over the last three weeks,” she added. “This is not a decision we take lightly and I would like to apologise for any upset caused.” Dr Yvonne Doyle, medical director at Public Health England, has issued a plea to the British public to continue taking coronavirus seriously.

She said while she understood people wanted to “get back to doing” what they loved most, it was important to remember that the virus’ risk is far from over.

“The past 18 months have been tough on us all. Now restrictions have lifted many of us want to get back to doing what we enjoy most,” she said on Tuesday. “However, we must do so with caution and remain sensible. We are in a wave of infections that has seen an increase of over 40 per cent in the past week, there is still a risk of severe illness for many people.” Offering some precautionary advice, she added: “We can all reduce the risk by getting both doses of the vaccine, testing ourselves twice a week at home and spending more time outside or in well ventilated rooms. Let’s all remain vigilant.” Fans were permitted entry to Wembley Stadium for the last rounds of Euro 2020 without needing to prove their Covid status, The Independent has learned.

The news comes amid reports suggesting large numbers of fans have contracted the virus since attending the final. So large have the anecdotal numbers been that some have taken to calling the virus surge among supporters “the Wembley variant”.

Ministers previously said attendance of the Events Research Programme matches would require proof of a negative test or full vaccination, but ticket-holding fans have told us they were allowed into the stadium without being properly checked. T he first exemptions for fully-vaccinated critical workers to isolate over coronavirus contacts have been granted under Boris Johnson’s plans to ease the “pingdemic”, according to Downing Street. No 10 said on Tuesday that NHS staff and workers in other sectors are among those who were granted approval to avoid quarantine for crucial work reasons as Covid-19 infections soar. In the face of widespread criticism from businesses over staff shortages, the PM announced a plan for a “small number” of critical workers to be able to continue. But he faced calls to clarify who would be eligible, after a government statement said it would not be a “blanket exemption for any sector or role”. Mr Johnson’s official spokesman said: “The first exemptions, I understand, have already been given in some critical sectors, that work is going on given the urgency. That’s in both wider sectors and the NHS as well.” But he added: “It’s not a blanket exemption and my understanding is we’re not going to be producing a list covering individual sectors, these business-critical areas will be able to apply for exemptions to their host departments.” The need for vaccine passports could be extended to venues such as pubs, Downing Street has implied.

The statement from No 10 comes just hours after business minister Paul Scully said pubs would not require customers to show proof of vaccination.

The correction came from Boris Johnson’s official spokesperson. “The prime minister talked about the sort of areas we were considering, and nightclubs are where there is significant evidence we have at the moment,” he said. “But we’re going to use the coming weeks to look at the evidence, particularly both in the UK and globally before making a specific decision.”