- In the United States, officials say almost half of the 500 million free tests that the Biden administration promised to distribute free to the public are still available. As the wave of demand for tests subsides while case numbers fall, the White House says fewer than 100,000 orders per day are coming in for the packages of four free test kits per household. Initially the number of orders was 45 million on the first day of the giveaway in January. Now according to the White House, Americans have ordered 68 million test kits, which leaves about 46% of the stock still available. Officials say about 20-25% of tests have gone to people in distressed areas.
- In Canada, Dr. Theresa Tam has warned that more public restrictions are possible for the fall, even as most provinces take steps to open up. The country’s chief medical officer said on Friday that she hopes Canada is moving forward from the pandemic crisis phase and into recovery. Weekly case counts in Canada are down 26%, Tam said, and the number of people who are seriously ill with Covid-19 has declined more than 20% since last week. She urged Canadians to continue to wear face masks even though they will no longer be mandatory in most parts of the country.
- In the United Kingdom, the government’s two most senior advisors on the pandemic will exit the spotlight for now and turn their attention to other projects, the Guardian reports. Sir Patrick Vallance, the chief scientific adviser, and Sir Chris Whitty, England’s chief medical officer will be standing with the Prime Minister for the last time at Monday’s announcement. From here onwards, Vallance and Whitty will focus on the data on infections, hospitalizations and deaths, as well as on the effectiveness of vaccines. People should expect however, that the pair will be back should there be another Covid resurgence.
- India’s case numbers have fallen below 10,000 for the first time since the beginning of the third wave, at 8,013 infections in 24 hours. The country may be headed for its fourth wave, according to a study by the Indian Institute of Technology-Kanpur. The team of scientists said the fourth wave is likely to last four months, and that the severity of it will depend on the type of coronavirus variant and the country’s vaccination status. The study, which is yet to be peer reviewed, used a statistical model to make the prediction. The same research team previously predicted that the third wave of the pandemic would peak by February 3, 2022.
- South Korea has dropped its proof of vaccination or negative test requirement for most businesses, government officials announced on Monday. The move will allow testing and health facilities to focus on a wave of new Omicron cases that the country has been grappling with. South Korea saw its deadliest day of the pandemic on Saturday, when deaths reached 112 in a 24-hour period. The Health Ministry said about 44% of the country’s intensive care units designated for Covid-19 patients are in use. Officials expect the Omicron wave will peak in mid-March at around 250,000 daily cases.
- In New Zealand, border rules have relaxed, allowing fully vaccinated foreign travellers to enter the country without isolation. From Wednesday, travellers will only have to undergo a Covid-19 test on Day five or six, and the traveller will only have to isolate if they test positive, in line with the protocol for New Zealanders. Unvaccinated travellers still have to stay in managed isolation. “I know this will be welcome news to the members of our team overseas eager to travel home to see loved ones as soon as possible. We can’t wait to see you,” Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said. “It’s also a huge milestone for our tourism sector and regional economies.”
Covid-19 – Due Diligence And Asset Management
Citigroup executives test positive for COVID, will hold virtual event Wed
Brief: Citigroup Inc (C.N) Chief Financial Officer Mark Mason and investment banking head Paco Ybarra have tested positive for COVID-19, forcing the company to hold its investor day as a virtual day on Wednesday instead of in person. The change in plans was announced in an email from Citigroup to those who planned to attend. The names of the executives was confirmed by a spokesperson. Citigroup executives have been working for weeks to prepare presentations for the investor meeting, its first in five years. The conference is seen as a critical event for the company which has been unable to convince investors that it will be able to improve its financial performance to the level of its big bank peers. "While we hoped to host our Investor Day in person, health and safety must be our top priority,” CEO Jane Fraser said in the email.
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Harvard’s Hometown Aces Pandemic, Heads to Muni Bond Market
Brief: How was your pandemic? That’s a question bond buyers can now get some clarity on, with the omicron variant fading. Issuers can now tell you how they fared financially in the nearly two years of the pandemic, how much they have received in federal assistance, and how much they spent. A not-so-little college town in Massachusetts that’s coming to market this week is a case in point. Cambridge is just outside Boston, and is the home of Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The city of nearly 120,000 (according to the 2020 Census) is selling $92.3 million in limited tax general obligation bonds this week to help pay for construction of two schools, a fire station headquarters, sidewalks and sewers, among other things. There was some concern very early on in the pandemic that remote learning and closed campuses would hurt college towns dependent upon students’ presence. But Cambridge isn’t your typical small college town.
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U.K. Shares List of Suspected Covid Loan Fraudsters With Lenders
Brief: A list of companies that may have applied fraudulently for emergency loans during the pandemic has been complied by the U.K. Cabinet Office and is circulating among high street lenders, according to people familiar with the matter. The Cabinet Office has shared the information with the British Business Bank which has passed it on to the banks who issued the loans. The list includes companies with duplicate names and firms that had already been dissolved when they applied for support, according to an executive at a bank who asked not to be named given the sensitivity. “We work closely with Cabinet Office counter fraud function, who undertake data analytics for us which identifies possible cases of fraud which we can then share with lenders to investigate, or we can take other action as appropriate,” a spokesman for the British Business Bank said in an email. A spokesman for the Cabinet Office declined to comment.
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Low earners were hit hardest by inflation as savings and pandemic aid dwindle, study finds
Brief: The lowest-income Americans are facing a financial conundrum: Inflation is eating into a substantial part of their household budgets, while savings built up during the Covid pandemic are starting to dwindle. Meanwhile, federal supports like monthly payments of the child tax credit and a pause on student loan payments have ended or will soon lapse. And officials have already warned of delayed tax refunds, which low earners generally rely on more than higher-earning families. Consumer prices in January rose 7.5% from a year earlier, the fastest annual pace in 40 years. However, households don’t feel those price shocks equally. The lowest-income working households (which earn less than $20,000 a year) faced the highest inflation rate of any income group in 2021, according to an analysis by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. These families funneled more of their budgets to necessities like energy and transportation, prices of which grew more rapidly than other goods and services.
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Canada’s Top CEOs Press Trudeau to Dial Back Post-Covid Spending Plans
Brief: One of Canada’s largest business groups is calling on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government to pare back stimulus plans, and turn its attention to climate transition goals and innovation strategies to address future economic challenges. In a five-page letter to Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, the Business Council of Canada outlined areas of focus for the federal government’s coming budget to spur long-term growth, including a call for more spending discipline to restore the nation’s fiscal capacity. “Fiscal policy should be used judiciously to enhance Canada’s long-term productive capacity, rather than further stimulating an economy that is already overly dependent on household consumption,” Goldy Hyder, chief executive officer of the Ottawa-based lobby group, said in the letter.
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