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Our briefing for Monday, November 1, 2021:
Nov 1, 2021 3:55:42 PM
- The United States has a higher death toll for Covid-19 than any other country in the world. The global tally for coronavirus deaths reached 5 million this morning, and the United States, despite being a wealthy nation with a world class healthcare system, has been the hardest hit. According to data from Johns Hopkins University, about 46 million cases have been reported in the country and over 740,000 have died. The World Health Organization warned last week that cases and deaths are on the rise globally for the first time in two months, another reminder that the pandemic is not over yet.
- Canada will donate 10 million doses of Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine to the COVAX global vaccine sharing alliance. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made the announcement over the weekend at the G20 leaders’ summit in Rome. With donations and financial contributions factored in, Canada aims to donate at least 200 million vaccine doses by the end of 2022. “The size of Canada’s commitment of 200 million doses by the end of 2022 is very significant given our size and given the fact that we do not have our own domestic bio-manufacturing capacity,” said Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland during a news conference at the summit.
- In the United Kingdom, walk-in clinics in England are now offering booster shots for Covid-19. The National Health Service in England said more than six million people have already had their booster jab or third dose. In England, those eligible for boosters include people 50 and older, those working in long-term care facilities, those with underlying health conditions and those who share their homes with vulnerable people. About 30 million people in England who had their second shot more than six months ago are eligible, and they’ll be able to show up at one of the hundreds of vaccination sites with no appointment needed.
- In India, schools in the capital of New Delhi have reopened for the first time since March 2020. The decision to reopen the schools was based on a significant decrease in the number of coronavirus cases reported. During the month of October New Delhi reported only four coronavirus-related deaths, the lowest number in 19 months. Schools are allowed to reopen so long as they comply with certain conditions, such as not allowing more than 50% attendance and not forcing parents to send their children to school. Schools must also ensure the full vaccination of all their staff.
- Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida won a mandate in Sunday’s parliamentary election, with his Liberal Democratic Party taking 261 of 465 seats. This outcome was better than expected for Kishida, as many polls predicted a struggle for his party in obtaining the 233 seats needed to win a majority. Supporters of the Liberal Democrats credit the party with the recent drop in Covid-19 cases, with Tokyo reporting just 17 new cases of Covid-19 today compared with 6000 per day during its pandemic peak. Kishida’s campaign was largely focused on Covid-19 response measures as well as economic revitalization.
- In Australia, border restrictions were eased for the first time since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic. Fully vaccinated Australians are now free to travel without a permit or the need to quarantine upon arrival. The travel is limited to Australian citizens and permanent residents; foreign tourists have not been welcomed just yet, with the exception of neighbouring New Zealand. Citizens of Singapore will be the next group allowed in, as of November 21. All travellers will be required to show proof of a negative Covid-19 test prior to boarding, and unvaccinated travellers will still have to quarantine.
Covid-19 – Due Diligence And Asset Management
Short of Workers, U.S. Industry Is Eager for Borders to Reopen
Brief: For years, U.S. businesses could rely on a steady flow of workers arriving from around the world on various types of visas. The pandemic has slowed that to a trickle -– making the current labor shortages even worse. And the shortfall of migrant workers will likely persist even after U.S. borders reopen, as they’re scheduled to do next week. The State Department issued about 850,000 non-immigrant work visas between March 2020, when Covid-19 forced borders and consulates to shut down, and July 2021, according to research by Alex Nowrasteh at the Cato Institute. That’s less than half the number in the previous 17 months. The slowdown is having an impact across the economy, from seasonal work in agriculture to high-paying tech companies. It’s especially challenging for U.S. manufacturers, who say they’ve long struggled to fill mid-skilled positions that require some level of technical training, like machine operators or welders.
Fed to start reining in economic aid as inflation risk rises
Brief: With inflation at its highest point in three decades, the Federal Reserve is set this week to begin winding down the extraordinary stimulus it has given the economy since the pandemic recession struck early last year, a process that could prove to be a risky balancing act. Chair Jerome Powell has signaled that the Fed will announce after its policy meeting Wednesday that it will start paring its $120 billion in monthly bond purchases as soon as this month. Those purchases are intended to keep long-term loan rates low to encourage borrowing and spending. Once the Fed has ended its bond purchases by mid-2022, it will then turn to a more difficult decision: When to raise its benchmark short-term rate from zero, where it’s been since COVID-19 hammered the economy in March 2020.
Hong Kong Ends Quarantine Exemptions for Senior Executives
Brief: Hong Kong will end quarantine exemptions for senior executives, bankers and most entitled groups starting Nov. 12, tightening what is already one of the world’s strictest Covid-19 policies as it works to open the border with mainland China. Exemptions for directors of listed companies and senior executives from the banking, insurance, securities and futures sectors will be canceled, Hong Kong’s government said. Consular and diplomatic officers will need to self-isolate at designated quarantine hotels, it said, with home isolation not allowed except for consuls general or representatives at an equivalent or higher level. Only members of some essential groups linked to the city’s daily operations will get exemptions, including airline crew, sea crew working on cargo vessels, government officials and drivers of cross-border buses.
New Arcapita Venture to Invest $2 Billion in U.S. Warehouses
Brief: A new joint venture between alternative investment firm Arcapita Group Holdings and Arden Group plans to acquire $2 billion worth of industrial property assets in the U.S. as capital pours into niche real estate sectors amid the global pandemic. The venture already completed the purchase of multi-tenant industrial properties in urban centers valued at over $550 million, with an additional $250 million of real estate closing in the near term, according to a statement on Monday. The goal is to grow the portfolio to as much as $2 billion in gross asset value across the top 25 U.S. industrial markets, it added. The shift toward online shopping is altering supply chains and giving a boost to industrial landlords, especially those with space around major cities. While hotels and retail properties have been battered by the pandemic, investors have flocked to warehouses as an e-commerce boom that was flourishing before the pandemic accelerates with consumers increasingly shopping online.
Thailand’s Big Reopening Set to Test Pandemic-Era Tourism
Brief: Thailand is ending quarantine for vaccinated visitors from more than 60 countries, the biggest reopening gamble in Asia and one that could mark a turning point for the revival of mass tourism during the pandemic. Starting Monday, fully-vaccinated travelers flying in from the U.S., China, Singapore, Japan, India and most of Europe will be able to freely tour Thailand’s sandy beaches, temples and tropical islands after testing negative for Covid on arrival. Inoculated visitors from countries not on the list can travel to Bangkok and 16 other regions, but they will be confined to their initial destination for the first seven days before being allowed to travel elsewhere. It’s the biggest step Thailand has taken to welcome back a slice of the nearly 40 million visitors it hosted the year before the pandemic, and is billed as a “fight to win foreign tourists” as countries from Australia to the U.K. also loosen Covid curbs.
