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Our briefing for Thursday, October 21, 2021:
Oct 21, 2021 3:58:26 PM
- The United States has provided its rollout plan for vaccinating children ages five to 11, pending approval from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The plan involves using pediatric offices, pharmacies and schools across the country as vaccination sites for those under 12. “We will be ready to get shots in arms,” Jeff Zients, White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator, said during a briefing. “Kids have different needs than adults, and our operational planning is geared to meet those specific needs, including by offering vaccinations in settings that parents and kids are familiar with and trust." Children would be given two shots about three weeks apart and they will use a lower dosage than adults.
- In Canada, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the details of a proof-of-vaccination system for international travel. The standardized vaccine passport will include a person’s name, date of birth, and their Covid-19 vaccine history, and can be used within Canada or for travelling internationally. As of today, Ontario, Quebec, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Saskatchewan and all of the territories are using the standardized proof of vaccination, the government said. In other news, Alberta reached a grim milestone in that it passed more than 3000 deaths from Covid-19 on Wednesday. There were 18 new deaths reported, bringing the province’s total to 3006.
- In the United Kingdom, the government has come under fire from the British Medical Association, for not reinstating Covid-19 restrictions as case numbers continue to rise. Dr. Chaand Nagpaul, the association’s chair, says the government has been “willfully negligent” for not implementing their coronavirus “Plan B.” On Wednesday Health Secretary Sajid Javid urged people to come forward for their booster shots and recommended people wear masks inside and get tested often. But he also said the government would not be bringing in any Plan B measures at this time – which include mandatory masking, working from home and the introduction of vaccine passports.
- India has administered its one billionth Covid-19 shot, an important milestone for the country as it continues to grapple with the highly infectious delta variant. In honour of the achievement, the health minister said he would show a film and song as the Indian flag is raised at the Red Fort in New Delhi. So far India has fully vaccinated about 30% of its population, while about 75% have had their first dose. India is the second country to exceed one billion doses, as China already hit the target back in June.
- New Zealand has hit a record number of new cases for the second time in three days, exceeding 100 daily cases for the first time since the pandemic began. The country reported 102 new infections, 94 of which were in Auckland while eight are in the neighbouring region of Waikato. Authorities have said that they expect case numbers to rise in the coming days and that its critical to accelerate inoculations. "We are facing this outbreak with a higher rate of vaccination than perhaps others have in other countries. We are in a strong position, but we do need to build on that and see more people be vaccinated," said Deputy Prime Minister Grant Robertson at a news briefing.
- Australia’s state of New South Wales (NSW) will send $250 to every family to thank them for homeschooling their children during the Covid-19 outbreak. The government made the announcement as NSW reported 372 new cases and one death, numbers that are relatively low for the country’s most populous state. Premier Dominic Perrottet said the vouchers will be made available through Service NSW beginning in March of next year. “It has been tough, it has been a challenge with close to three months of homeschooling, but you have been the primary educators to ensure none of our children get left behind," he said.
Covid-19 – Due Diligence And Asset Management
Business Travel Is Starting to Slowly Return
Brief: A senior executive at SAP SE, owner of one of the world’s largest travel expense management platforms, expects it to take until at least 2023 before revenues from its Concur unit return to pre-pandemic levels. After losses for Concur during the pandemic, the service is seeing an uptick for bookings and transactional revenue, Chief Financial Officer Luka Mucic said in an interview. Mucic said that transaction volume -- which includes fees for extra usage of Concur -- was on the rise. He expects Concur to return to pre-pandemic growth rates next year, although it will take until 2023 at the earliest to revert to those levels in absolute sales terms.
Britain’s Economy Finds Out What It Means to Live With Covid
Brief: After 19 months spent attempting to ward off Covid-19 while safeguarding jobs and businesses, the U.K. is heading into winter with a growing problem: The coronavirus is spreading rapidly, just as the economy starts going in the opposite direction. U.K. cases are accelerating faster than in other western European nations, while deaths have jumped to their highest since March. Government ministers are having to deny they are planning for a new lockdown. At the same time, economic growth is slowing, inflation is running high, the Bank of England is expected to hike rates soon and households are facing a cost-of-living crisis. It’s a contrast to successive waves of infection earlier in the pandemic, when tighter Covid curbs hurt the economy and looser measures helped it rebound.
Wall Street Profits Surge and Bonuses Will Follow, DiNapoli Says
Brief: New York City’s securities industry reaped another windfall in the first half of the year as it benefited from the pandemic-induced boom in markets -- and that’s projected to boost Wall Street bonuses. The industry’s pretax profits surged about 13% from a year earlier to $31 billion, helped by strong trading, underwriting and advisory activities, state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli said Thursday in a report. While it was the industry’s second-most profitable first half on record, DiNapoli cautioned that profits will subside as interest rates rise and monetary stimulus fades. “Wall Street’s success during the pandemic has benefited New York’s economy and finances during a difficult time,” he said in a statement. “As we prepare for an eventual slowdown in Wall Street’s record activity, we need to ensure New York’s Main Street, and its other vital sectors, are also recovering.”
European Bank CEOs Are as Divided on Inflation as Everybody Else
Brief: The leaders of Europe’s top banks agree they have a lot riding on the recent surge in consumer prices. But when it comes to deciding whether inflation is here to stay, they’re as divided as policy makers and business executives. On the one side, Deutsche Bank AG Chief Executive Officer Christian Sewing and his counterpart at Nordea Bank Abp are preparing for longer-lasting inflation. Sewing argues it’s time for central bankers start thinking about how to unwind years of negative interest rates that have weighed on lenders’ profitability. On the other side, Banco Santander SA Chairman Ana Botin and the chief of Swedbank AB are calling it a temporary spike from the pandemic and other factors, although they acknowledge the dangers of price pressures persisting.
Weekly jobless claims fall to fresh pandemic-era low of 290,000
Brief: New weekly jobless claims held below 300,000 for a back-to-back week as labor market conditions trudged back toward pre-pandemic levels. The Labor Department released its jobless claims report Thursday morning. Here were the main metrics from the print, compared to consensus estimates compiled by Bloomberg: Last week's initial unemployment claims fell by a greater-than-expected margin, bringing the number of new filings back to the lowest level since March 2020. The four-week moving average for new jobless claims also dropped by 15,250 to reach 319,750 as of last week, also marking the least since March of last year.
