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Our briefing for Wednesday, February 16, 2022:
Feb 16, 2022 3:36:58 PM
- In the United States, the Biden administration is asking congress for an additional $30 billion for the country’s ongoing pandemic response. The plan would be $17.9 billion for vaccines and treatments, $4.9 billion for testing, $3 billion to cover uninsured people with coronavirus, and $3.7 billion to prepare for future variants, officials confirmed on Tuesday. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki spoke of the need for more money, without indicating any specific amounts. "While we continue to have sufficient funds to respond to the current Omicron surge, in the coming weeks, our goal has always been to ensure that we are well-prepared to stay ahead of the virus," Psaki said at a White House briefing on Tuesday.
- In Canada, the provinces are taking different approaches to their vaccine passport systems as they move through their reopening phases. British Columbia announced that they are removing the limits on gatherings but keeping vaccine passports in place for now. Quebec announced on Tuesday that they will remove vaccine passports entirely by March 14, while Ontario also announced recently that their vaccine passport system will end on March 1, when capacity limits lift. Alberta cancelled vaccine passports last week when capacity limits were removed for most venues. Saskatchewan’s vaccine mandate ended on Monday, though some organizations and businesses have said they will continue to check vaccination statuses.
- In the United Kingdom, some scientists and public health experts are warning the government not to scrap free Covid-19 testing, ahead of an expected government announcement. Prime Minister Boris Johnson is meeting with cabinet ministers this week to discuss the government’s “living with Covid” strategy and is expected to later announce the removal of all remaining Covid-19 restrictions in England. Ministers are also considering whether to end the distribution of free lateral flow tests to adults without symptoms. The Association of Directors of Public Health said in a statement that requiring people to pay for lateral flow tests would have a “detrimental impact,” especially on vulnerable communities.
- In Germany, Chancellor Olaf Scholz is meeting with the country’s 16 state governors today to discuss the possible easing of coronavirus restrictions. At the meeting, Scholz and the governors are expected to consider plans to drop most restrictions by late March, working in several phases. Possible steps include eliminating the need for shoppers in non-essential stores to show proof of vaccination, and increasing the limits on private gatherings to 20 for vaccinated people. The second phase of the plan would include the reopening of nightclubs, and the allowing of unvaccinated people back into restaurants by March 4. Mask requirements are to remain in place.
- The Philippines is now back to being “low risk” for coronavirus as vaccinations rise and hospitalizations fall, a spokesperson for President Rodrigo Duterte said on Tuesday. "The National Capital Region and the entire Philippines now have a low-risk classification" in terms of case growth, prevalence and health system capacity,” spokesperson Karlo Nograles told reporters. The country just reopened last week to foreign travellers for the first time in two years. The reopening had originally been set for December 1 but was postponed due to the emergence of the highly contagious Omicron variant. After surges of both Omicron and Delta, the country’s hospital bed occupancy rate has eased to about 30%.
- In Australia, thousands of nurses in New South Wales (NSW) walked off the job on Tuesday, protesting staff shortages and pandemic-related stress. Nurses gathered in front of the state parliament building in Sydney, holding signs that said “Fatigued, exhausted, worn out and burnt out,” and “Need more nurses now.” They were seeking a 2.5% pay raise and better nurse-to-patient ratios. NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard said the strike was “disappointing” and “unfortunate,” and added that better nurse-to-patent ratios could cost up to a billion dollars. Nurses defied a strike ban ordered by the state’s industrial relations commission, despite it saying they could put public health in danger.
Covid-19 – Due Diligence And Asset Management
Post-pandemic change is afoot among asset managers, study says
Brief: The global pandemic continues to significantly impact investment strategies among global asset managers, according to new research from Clearwater Analytics (CWAN). A poll of over 140 asset managers and owners representing more than USD5 trillion in AUM showed more than a third of investors investment strategies will change this year in response to Covid. The study asked how investment strategies had changed since the start of the pandemic, and how this compares to what they have planned for 2022 in the wake of the recent omicron surge. At a macro level, 58 per cent of companies reported making changes to their strategy two years ago, albeit only 13 per cent said the change was material. Looking forward from today, 33 per cent plan further changes to their strategies and 5 per cent said they will be material changes.
Wall Street Is Back in Office While Its Regulators Stay Home
Brief: While Wall Street banks press employees to return to the office this month, its regulators in Washington are largely sticking with a flexible approach to remote work. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, which has a staff of about 4,500, pushed back until June 6 its earliest date for requiring employees to return, according to a person familiar with the plans. The Federal Reserve in Washington remains mostly in a remote posture, and at the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, no final decision has been made on when workers will be called back on a mandatory basis. At other agencies across the government, employees are largely still working from home. Meanwhile, financial giants from Citigroup Inc. to Goldman Sachs Group Inc. have pressed to bring back staff this month after a nationwide surge in coronavirus cases at the end of last year and in the early weeks of this year.
Majority of meat industry 'incubating' next pandemic
Brief: Conditions at most of the world’s large meat, fish and dairy producers are said to be “incubating” future pandemics, according to a report by the FAIRR Initiative. An assessment of the industry as part of the organisation's Emerging Disease Risk Ranking found that 63% of animal protein producers are failing to take the necessary steps to prevent future zoonotic pandemics. Jeremy Coller, chair of the FAIRR Initiative, said: "Business-as-usual animal agriculture risks incubating the next zoonotic pandemic, posing both an intolerable investment risk and a threat to global public health. The sector must improve rapidly, starting with welfare conditions for animals and workers." FAIRR highlighted that three out of four new diseases are zoonotic ones like Covid-19, which means they have jumped from animals to humans.
UK inflation hits 30-year high of 5.5%
Brief: Inflation in the UK rose to 5.5% in January, up from 5.4% in December 2021, continuing the streak of reaching the country’s highest inflation rate in thirty years. The Office for National Statistics said that the 12 month UK Consumer Price Index was at the highest level since records began in January 1997 and was last higher in the historical modelled series in March 1992, when it stood at 7.1%. The ONS said that the largest contributors to rising inflation came from clothing and footwear, furniture and household goods, food and non-alcoholic beverages, and alcohol and tobacco. It also credited the price rises for gas and electricity following the increase in the cap on energy prices. In contrast, the ONS said it saw large downward contributions to change from restaurants and hotels, and transport.
Global Policy Chiefs Confront Hawkish Market Bets on Inflation
Brief: Investors are betting on the fastest pace of interest-rate hikes since 2010 across the world’s biggest developed markets, pressuring policy makers who want to slow inflation without crash landing their economies. That’s the backdrop to this week’s meetings of central bank chiefs and finance ministers from the Group of 20 nations, who hold virtual and in-person discussions in Jakarta on Thursday and Friday, their first gathering of the year. It’s a remarkable turnaround from when they last met in October, a period when Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell was still describing inflation as “transitory” and markets were pricing in at most two Fed rate increases this year. Now, six Fed hikes are priced in.
