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Our briefing for Wednesday, January 5, 2022:
Jan 5, 2022 4:08:03 PM
- In the United States, the price of at-home Covid-19 rapid test kits is going up. Already in short supply, the popular BinaxNOW kits manufactured by Abbot Laboratories and sold by Walmart and Kroger has seen a price increase in recent days. Since September, the kits were being sold at a discount under an agreement between the White House and retailers, that deal has now expired. Made up of two tests, the kits are priced at $19.88 on Walmart’s website and $23.99 on Kroger’s. Experts are suggesting that the rising prices will make the tests inaccessible to people with lower incomes and thus will discourage them from getting tested. In December, the Biden administration vowed to increase the availability of at-home tests with a plan to provide 500 million rapid tests starting in January. With the rise of the Omicron variant, retailers and pharmacies are now limiting the number of tests individuals can purchase at one time.
- Due to the rapid spread of the Omicron variant, Canada is having an increasingly difficult time relaying accurate data on the growing number of new infections. "Omicron is moving so quickly that it has become pretty much impossible to pin down the full extent of spread in real time," said Dr. David Naylor, co-chair of the federal government's COVID-19 immunity task force. With PCR testing already overwhelmed, Naylor says that “those with positive RAT (rapid antigen tests) results often have no way to register them let alone confirm them." With cases rising dramatically experts are now relying on hospitalizations and ICU admissions as a metric for measuring the impact of Covid-19. Despite its aggressive contagion rate, a recent study from Public Health Ontario suggests that the risk of hospitalization and death was 54 per cent lower for Omicron than the Delta variant, yet the sheer number of new infections may still end up increasing overall hospitalizations.
- The United Kingdom has administered nearly 34 million booster shots as of January 5th, and that number may have proved to be the difference maker this holiday season as mortalities caused by Covid-19 did not rise over the last two weeks. Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who came under fire from both sides of the political spectrum for his Covid-19 measures, said on Tuesday that "we have a chance to ride out this Omicron wave without shutting down our country again.” Many Conservative party members attacked Johnson for his mask mandates and vaccine passports before the holiday season, while Labour supporters suggested that the measures were still not enough. The U.K. is currently averaging around 200,000 new cases a day, but after the first Covid-19 update of 2022, it appears that Johnson’s plan was successful in keeping deaths rates consistent with what they have been experiencing throughout the pandemic.
- French President Emmanuel Macron has doubled down on his disdain for the unvaccinated people of France saying that they threaten national cohesion. In an interview with newspaper La Parisien, Macron said that he wants to “p**s off” the unvaccinated. He went on to say that the strategy is to continue “limiting as much as possible their access to activities in social life.” Macron’s comments angered the opposition and led to the suspension of parliamentary discussions on how to deal with the virus. Prime Minister Jean Castex said that he agreed with Macron, saying “The president’s remarks are perfectly consistent with what we’ve been doing” in attempts to curb the spread of the virus. The hostility towards the unvaccinated from the President has further divided the country with Valerie Pecresse, presidential candidate for conservative party, The Republicans, saying she is “outraged by his comments” and that “insults are never a good solution,” and on Twitter, far-right leader Marine Le Pen said that Macron’s remarks showed a “serious moral fault.”
- Authorities in Thailand are worried that new cases could number in the tens of thousands in the coming weeks if restrictions in the country are not followed. The government is now looking to ban mass gatherings and restrict the sale of alcohol in restaurants to limit the amount of people in public spaces. The country saw an increased number of new cases on Wednesday, coming in around 3900, up from 2600 during this time last year. The country will also suspend the Test & Go program which allowed vaccinated travelers to skip quarantine upon arrival. The number of Omicron cases has tripled in the last week, which has law makers scrambling to come up with a solution as testing becomes increasingly difficult. So far Thailand has recorded 22,000 deaths related to Covid-19. Sumanee Watcharasin, a spokeswoman for the country's coronavirus taskforce sad that mask-wearing and regular testing must occur, or the country will soon be overwhelmed.
Covid-19 – Due Diligence And Asset Management
Covid-19 could increase the risk of age discrimination at work, says financial CEO
Brief: Whether young or old, evidence suggests the pandemic may increase age discrimination in the workplace. Academic Steve Butler - who is also a financial services chief executive – explains why and asks for your participation in research that could shape policy. Ever since the civil rights legislation in the 1960s and 1970s, workplace “discrimination” has been on the corporate agenda - especially with regard to gender and race. However, by 2000 the corporate language had changed to managing “diversity”, meaning diversity in its widest sense, including age. Diversity has become a part of HR management practice, and to direct this societal shift specifically in relation to age, the UK Government enacted The Employment Equality Age Regulations 2006. This prohibited employers from unreasonably discriminating against employees on grounds of age. Research in the UK around the time of the legislation identified that 18% of workers had received less favourable treatment because of their age. Being considered too old for promotion reduced training opportunities for older people. It fostered negative attitudes, even led to redundancies, and thus reinforced the need for the legislation.
Airline stocks see major boost despite surge of Omicron cases
Brief: Several airline stocks have seen a major rise in the new year, despite concerns surrounding the surge in Omicron cases. Susannah Streeter, senior investment and markets analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said that stocks reliant on international travel are powering ahead. “With yet more indications that Omicron, though highly infectious, does not cause such serious illness, a wave of relief is pushing up companies which have been hit by worries about tighter restrictions,” she said. Firms including British Airways owner, International Consolidated Airlines Group secured the top spot on the FTSE 100 with a 7% rise in early trading, a major contrast to last year’s volatile performance. Rolls Royce, jet engine maintainer, also saw an increase, with shares up 3.4%. The FTSE 250 also saw travel firms in the lead, with Wizz Air and EasyJet seeing surges in share prices, by 9% and 7% respectively. “There is clearly expectation that bookings will have got a rocket boost from hopes that this latest spike of infection will flatten relatively quickly,” said Streeter.
Manhattan real estate breaks record in 2021, reaching $30 billion in sales
Brief: Manhattan real estate posted its best year ever in 2021, rebounding from the pandemic with $30 billion in sales, according to real estate reports. The 16,000-plus signed contracts were also a record, according to a report from Corcoran. The banner year marks a dramatic turnaround from 2020 when fears of population losses, rising crime and high taxes weighed on sales. Many observers thought at the time the days of bidding wars and falling inventory were over. But sales have now eclipsed pre-pandemic totals and are showing no signs of slowing in 2022. Fourth-quarter sales topped $6.7 billion, a mark not seen since such records were kept, according to a report from Miller Samuel and Douglas Elliman. The average price for an apartment in Manhattan is now $1.95 million. The median price — which many consider to be a more accurate indicator of the market — jumped 11% in the fourth quarter compared to the year-earlier period, close to pre-pandemic levels.
BlackRock, AmEx extend hybrid work plans as Omicron spreads across U.S.
Brief: BlackRock Inc and American Express Co are extending their hybrid work plans as the Omicron COVID-19 variant spreads across the United States. The world's largest asset manager, BlackRock, is providing flexibility through Jan. 28 and allowing U.S. employees to work from wherever they are most comfortable, according to a source familiar with the matter. The new variant has swiftly spread across the country since its detection on Dec. 1, replacing Delta as the dominant strain and sparking a new wave of infections that pushed daily cases near the 1 million mark on Monday. BlackRock had earlier required more than half of its employees to work from office for three days a week on average starting November. AmEx has decided to delay the Jan. 24 launch of "Amex Flex" in the United States, after previously saying it would start bringing its employees in the United States, the UK and Germany back to offices from Jan. 24.
Oil bulls return as the threat from Omicron recedes
Brief: Portfolio investors have started to rebuild bullish positions in the oil market reassessing earlier fears about the likely impact of the Omicron variant of coronavirus on major economies and passenger aviation in 2022. Hedge funds and other money managers purchased the equivalent of 54 million barrels in the six most important petroleum futures and options contracts in the week to Dec. 28. Funds have purchased a total of 70 million barrels over the two most recent weeks, after selling 327 million over the previous 10 weeks, according to records published by regulators and exchanges. Last week's buying was the fastest since August, and among the most rapid rates for more than a year, signaling a sharp turnaround from previously bearish investor sentiment.
