.png?width=200&height=78&name=CH%20Diligence%20(thicker%20line).png "CH Diligence (thicker line).png")
Our briefing for Friday, April 8, 2022:
Apr 8, 2022 3:54:06 PM
- The United States is headed for another Covid-19 surge in the fall, according to the country’s top infectious disease expert. Dr. Anthony Fauci said on Wednesday that the colder weather will likely lead to an uptick in cases. He pointed to the example of the U.K., where there is waning immunity in addition to a lessoning of restrictions. "Those conditions are also present in the United States," he said. "So, I would not be surprised if we see an uptick in cases. Whether that uptick becomes a surge where there are a lot more cases is difficult to predict." Fauci also added that “there are uncharted waters for us with this virus.”
- In Canada, a new survey suggests many Canadians had trouble getting access to rapid tests, particularly in December 2021 and January 2022. The survey, conducted by Statistics Canada and released on Thursday, found that 39% of respondents could not access a rapid test at a time when they wanted one. Of those respondents, 60% said the tests were unavailable when they tried to obtain them. Another 21% said they did not know where to go to get a test, while 18% said the wait time to get a test/appointment was too long. The survey was an online questionnaire that asked respondents about their experiences with Covid-19 between December 2021 and the time of their response. There were 36,857 Canadians surveyed between Feb. 21 and March 13, 2022.
- In the United Kingdom, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said he will not rule out the possibility of further lockdowns if a deadly new variant arrives. The Prime Minister explained that while he wants to avoid having lockdowns ever happen again, nothing is officially off the table. “I think it would be irresponsible of any leader in any democracy to say that they’re going to rule out something that can save lives,” he said. “I believe the things we did saved lives…there could be a new variant more deadly, there could be a variant that affects children, that we really need to contain, I’m not going to take any options off the table. But I don’t think it will happen.”
- Spain announced that it will end indoor mask mandates beginning on April 20, except for on public transit, in hospitals and in long-term care homes. Case numbers have been reduced significantly across the country, and only 3.5% of hospital occupants are there for Covid-19. Spain stopped mandatory use of outdoor masks in February, though officials still recommended they be warn in crowded areas. Officials also made a surprising announcement that unvaccinated British tourists would no longer be welcome in the country, a U-turn on their original announcement that all Britons would be allowed to enter with a negative test regardless of vaccination status. The Spanish tourist board reversed the decision only hours later, calling the move a “miscommunication.”
- China continues to ramp up Covid-19 control measures across the country, with major cities going into lockdowns and others tightening restrictions. Shanghai remains under lockdown with no signs of it easing, while Beijing has ramped up testing across the city’s most important sectors including in schools and institutions that handle imported goods. The city of Zhengzhou also said on Thursday that it would test all 12.6 million of its residents. According to Nomura, there are 23 Chinese cities under either full or partial lockdowns cities that account for 22% of China’s GDP. Shanghai will suffer a 6% loss of its GDP if the lockdown continues throughout April, resulting in a 2% GDP loss for China as a whole.
- In Australia, the new ‘Deltacron’ strain has arrived in New South Wales (NSW), authorities have confirmed. Two recombinant cases were reported by NSW Health, one of them being the Deltacron case and the other being a combination of BA.1 and BA.2. Deltacron was first detected in France in mid-February, with a few cases emerging around Europe and the U.S. The strain has the same genetic sequence as Delta, except for the part of the sequence that encodes the virus’ spike protein, which comes from Omicron. Currently, there is no evidence to suggest that the strain is more dangerous or likely to evade vaccine protection than other strains.
Covid-19 – Due Diligence And Asset Management
Toronto businessman accused of $12M pandemic Ponzi scheme found and charged with fraud
Brief: A Toronto businessman accused of orchestrating a $12-million pandemic-related Ponzi scheme was arrested and charged with fraud by Toronto police on Monday, just hours after investigators discovered his location, CBC News has learned. Mark E. Cohen's whereabouts had been unknown since last August. At the time, shadowy figures with ties to underground gambling rings, and others, began showing up at his former North York home demanding to know where he was and that he return large sums of money they had invested with him, according to a source familiar with the situation who is not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.CBC News previously reported on those efforts to find Cohen and three lawsuits accusing Cohen of convincing investors to help him buy used cars that would be resold at huge profits amid the pandemic-triggered vehicle shortage last year. The 42-year-old faces two charges of fraud over $5,000. A Toronto police spokesperson confirmed Cohen's arrest and the charges against him in an email to CBC News.
China Investment In U.S. To Remain Low Amid Pandemic, Invasion Fallout
Brief: Fallout from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine will likely add to downward pressure on China investment in the United States this year. So believes Reva Goujon, senior manager at New York-headquartered Rhodium Group, which specializes in China research. Slower economic growth in China in recent years has already been weighing down inflows. “The current economic headwinds are strong and growing,” Goujon said in a telephone interview today. Longstanding U.S. national security concerns about Chinese investment have been intensifying yet also taking on a new twist. “On the U.S. side, some recent industry comments about Chinese investment are very interesting, such as the discussion of the possible CATL investment in North America,” Goujon noted.
About a Third of San Franciscans See Permanent Remote Work
Brief: About a third of San Francisco area voters in a poll by the Bay Area Council said they expect to do their jobs from home permanently, a shift that could subdue the level of growth of the tech hub hit hard by the rise of remote work. Indeed, about 68% of those surveyed by the business group are concerned about the future of the economy in the region, whose recovery of jobs that were lost during the height of the pandemic continues to lag that of the state and the nation. In the poll, 29% of respondents working remotely for at least part of their time said they were also going to a workplace, and 23% said they expect to do so within six months. In addition, the share of voters who said they feel safe returning to “normal” has almost tripled from last year to 30%, while 12% -- double that of last year -- said that will never happen. Nearly a quarter said it will take a year to three for a return to normal.
Pfizer Takeover Makes Dent in a $34 Billion Stock-Market Slump
Brief: Pfizer Inc.’s acquisition of ReViral Ltd. chipped away at the drug maker’s stock-market slump. The company’s shares gained about 3.7% Thursday after the announcement that it was buying the lung-focused biotech firm for as much as $525 million, bucking the broader market’s drop. But the shares are still down almost 7% this year -- cutting some $34 billion from its market value -- amid investor concern about the loss of revenue as drug patents expire and the uncertain fate of its booster shots as the Covid-19 pandemic winds down. That’s left the company trading at a discount to health-care peers that have been hitting record highs as investors turn to defensive bets amid geopolitical turmoil and an uncertain economic outlook.Wall Street is itching for Pfizer to act to shore up growth, potentially by utilizing the $150 billion of capacity that Bank of Montreal estimates it has for acquisitions. Yet Thursday’s deal for a closely-held drug developer, ReViral Ltd. is likely too small to do much to change the pharmaceutical behemoth’s outlook.
Chinese tech stocks in Hong Kong slip as investors watch Covid situation in China
Brief: Shares in Asia-Pacific were mixed on Friday, as Chinese tech shares slipped and investors watched the Covid situation in China. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index fell 0.24% in afternoon trade, while the Hang Seng Tech index dropped 1.83%. Alibaba slid 2.47%, while JD.com shed 3.35%. Meituan lost 2.70%. Mainland Chinese markets were mixed. The Shanghai composite gained 0.47% to close at 3,251.85, while the Shenzhen component was down 0.11% at 11,959.27. Covid is in focus in China, with Shanghai reporting 20,398 new asymptomatic coronavirus cases and 824 new symptomatic cases on April 7. The city is under a strict lockdown in a bid to stop the spread of the virus. “Near-term sentiment [for Chinese shares] could stay curbed given a confluence of macro headwinds, Omicron spread, global liquidity uncertainty and US/China tension concerns,” according to a Morgan Stanley note dated April 7.
