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Our briefing for Monday, January 17, 2022:
Jan 17, 2022 3:38:33 PM
- In the United States, the surgeon general says the Omicron wave of Covid-19 has not peaked yet, and that the next few weeks will be very difficult. Dr. Vivek Murthy said in an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union” that the virus is spreading quickly throughout the country at different times. “The challenge is that the entire country is not moving at the same pace,” he said. Murthy noted the drop in cases in places like New York and New Jersey, but warned that the decline is not indicative of the national outlook. The U.S. is still seeing about 800,000 new cases per day, and hospitalizations have reached about 150,000.
- In Canada, new federal modelling suggests hospitalizations could reach record numbers in the coming weeks, and the Public Health Agency of Canada says it expects the high number to put a strain on healthcare systems. On average, over the last seven days, there were 6,779 patients in the hospital with Covid-19, with 883 of them in intensive care. Case numbers are hovering around 37,500 per day, but the new modelling shows the country is on track to see between 100,000 and 250,000 daily infections before cases decline. “The true number of daily cases, driven by extremely high transmissibility of the Omicron variant, could still vastly exceed anything we have experienced to date during this pandemic,” Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Theresa Tam said on Friday. “We are hopeful that cases will soon peak.”
- In the United Kingdom, Prime Minister Boris Johnson is drawing up plans to scrap “Plan B” Covid-19 measures as case numbers continue to fall. According to a report the by Telegraph, vaccine passports and work from home orders are expected to be lifted from January 26, though the report said some face masks measures may remain. Guidance will remain in place but will not result in fines or legal action if ignored, the report said. The Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies warned on Friday that the scrapping of Plan B measures before the peak of infection is passed could result in an increase in hospitalizations.
- Austria on Sunday tweaked its plans for bringing in a vaccine mandate, saying it will now apply to residents ages 18 and older, rather than 14 and older as originally planned. Chancellor Karl Nehammer explained that the change in age limit was due to concerns that were raised about teenagers being punished. Nehammer told reporters on Sunday that people who are unwilling to get their shots face fines of up to 3,600 euros ($4,108), beginning in mid-March with a transition phase planned for February. Except where medical exemptions are granted, the mandate will apply to all adults living in the country. The fines can be reversed by taking a vaccine within two weeks of being identified.
- France’s parliament gave final approval on Sunday to a new law that will exclude unvaccinated people from entering places like restaurants, cafés and cinemas. In the lower house of parliament, lawmakers voted 215 in favour and 58 against, despite opposition parties finding some provisions of the new law were too tough. Currently, unvaccinated people can enter most venues by providing a negative Covid-19 test, but the new law will take effect in the coming days. Anti-vaccine protesters demonstrated against the new law in Paris and other cities across the country, but their numbers were down significantly from the week before.
- In Australia, Health Minister Greg Hunt says the Omicron wave may be peaking, pointing to signs out of New South Wales (NSW) and the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). “I won’t call it as having reached it yet, but in particular what we’ve seen, is that all of these jurisdictions have so far significantly undershot the hospitalisation, ICU and ventilation predictions that were made at the outset,” Hunt said. NSW reported 34,660 new Covid-19 cases on Sunday and 20 deaths, while the ACT reported 1,316 new cases and two deaths.
Covid-19 – Due Diligence And Asset Management
Credit Suisse chair resigns after Covid breaches
Brief: Antonio Horta-Osório, chairman of Credit Suisse, the global banking giant, has resigned with immediate effect after breaking Covid rules.cAn internal investigation found that Horta-Osório had broken Covid quarantine rules twice. In one incident he reportedly attended the Wimbledon tennis finals when restrictions would have required him to quarantine. This weekend Horta-Osório held discussions with the bank's board about his decision to quit, the Financial Times has reported. Horta-Osório has only been in the role for eight months and was previously chief executive of Lloyds Banking Group. He joined Credit Suisse after a series of scandals at the bank, including those involving Greensill Capital and revelations the company had spied on its senior employees."I regret that a number of my personal actions have led to difficulties for the bank and compromised my ability to represent the bank internally and externally," Horta-Osório said in a statement on Sunday night (16 January).
Pandemic prompts major shift in asset allocation, investment risk exposures and ESG practices
Brief: A new study from independent investment consultancy bfinance has revealed a major shift in insurers’ investment portfolios, driven by a combination of long-term pressures and the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. The 2022 bfinance Insurer Investment Survey highlights substantial changes in asset class exposures, risk profiles, resourcing/headcount and ESG approaches, drawing on data from nearly 90 insurers in 20 countries, whose combined investment portfolios exceed USD5 trillion. Insurance firms have found it increasingly challenging to deliver appropriate investment outcomes to support the needs of their businesses – a task which, before the era of rock-bottom interest rates, could often be achieved through relatively low-risk core holdings. This pressure has driven widespread innovation, which is now reinforced by the ongoing macroeconomic fallout of the pandemic.
FCA fines UK finance firms GBP568m in 2021, in response to surge in pandemic-charged financial crime
Brief: FCA actions in 2021 resulted in financial organisations in the UK being fined GBP568 million in the course of the year. This total is made up by fines against major banks and action against individuals for insider dealing, non-financial misconduct and carrying out regulated activities without authorisation. This data was contained in a new press release published to the FCA’s website, and analysed by a Parliament Street think tank. Experts concluded that the high quantity of financial penalties is in response to the new forms of financial crime buoyed by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Group: Tax rich to fund vaccines for poor hit by pandemic
Brief: Anti-poverty organization Oxfam called Monday for governments to impose a one-time 99% tax on the world's billionaires and use the money to fund expanded production of vaccines for the poor — part of an effort to combat global inequality widened by the coronavirus pandemic. The ranks of the super-rich have swelled during the pandemic thanks to ample financial stimulus that pumped up stocks, the group said. Meanwhile, poor countries have suffered more than their share from COVID-19 because of unequal access to vaccines, which have mostly gone to rich nations, Oxfam said in a report aimed at informing discussions at the World Economic Forum’s online gathering of political and business leaders this week. "The pandemic has been a billionaire bonanza," Oxfam International Executive Director Gabriela Bucher said in an interview.
China’s zero-Covid policy could deal another blow to global supply chains, Moody’s says
Brief: Supply chain disruptions are being prolonged driven largely by China’s strict zero-Covid policy, according to an economist from Moody’s Analytics. The bottlenecks have lasted for about a year now but are expected to “materially ease in the early months of this year,” said Katrina Ell, a senior economist for Asia-Pacific at Moody’s Analytics. “So we would start to see material downward pressure on things like producer prices, input prices that kind of thing. But given China’s zero-Covid policy and how they tend to shut down important ports and factories — that really increases disruption,” she told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Asia” on Friday, adding it amplifies ongoing supply chain pressures. Beijing has imposed a strict zero-Covid policy since the pandemic began in early 2020. It entails strict quarantines and travel restrictions — whether within a city or with other countries — to control outbreaks.
