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Our briefing for Wednesday, March 9, 2022:
Mar 9, 2022 3:26:02 PM
- In the United States, a global foundation known as the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) has announced a $3.5 billion dollar initiative to “Face down the next Disease X with a new vaccine in just 100 days.” The announcement comes in alignment with President Joe Biden’s State of the Union Address, when he committed to investing in an effort to produce new vaccines within 100 days of the arrival of a new variant. The Biden administration will contribute $150 million over the next three years to support CEPI, though experts have said it needs to do more.
- In Canada, on this day in 2020 the country reported its first death caused by Covid-19. Exactly two years later, the province of Ontario announced it will end its mask mandate by March 21. The province’s top doctor made the announcement, explaining that masks in restaurants and shops as well as elementary and secondary schools, will no longer be needed after March break. The province will make the change because of positive trends like lower rates of hospitalizations and ICU admissions as well as strong booster uptake. Premier Doug Ford has said that he wants the mask mandate gone as soon as possible, and although he wants to be cautious, he also wants to move forward.
- In the United Kingdom, a new study shows that Covid-19 and particularly the development of long Covid, is linked to economic hardship. The study, which has not been peer reviewed yet, analyzed data from 16,910 Britons over 16 who answered monthly questions about their health and household income between May 2020 and October 2021. The study found that testing positive for Covid-19 was associated with a 39% increase in the odds of people reporting insufficient income to meet their basic needs. The findings were strongest where catching Covid led to hospitalization or the development of long-term symptoms, further supporting the idea that Covid was the cause of people’s financial hardships.
- Austria has suspended a law to make Covid-19 vaccines mandatory for all adults, only a month after the legislation came into effect. Austria was one of the first countries in the world to make coronavirus jabs compulsory, and enforcement was due to begin on March 15. But Constitutional Affairs Minister Karoline Edtstadler said the law would be suspended, “Because there are many convincing arguments at the moment that this infringement of fundamental rights is not justified." Edtstadler and the country’s health minister said the mandate could be reintroduced later if necessary, with a review taking place in the next three months.
- South Korea’s pandemic-era presidential election is drawing to a close, with over 76% of the country’s eligible voters casting their ballots. Last month health experts and lawmakers revised the election laws to allow all those infected with Covid-19 to vote. While the general public could vote early on Friday and Saturday, virus patients and those in quarantine were only allowed at the polls for a short window between 5 and 6 PM on Saturday. The results of having so many people show up in such a short timeframe were very long lines, sometimes outside in the cold. The country’s National Election Commission has since released an apology for poor planning.
- In New Zealand, struggling with staff shortages in hospitals, officials told workers that they can help out in understaffed Covid-19 wards, even if they are mildly sick themselves. The move demonstrates the extent to which New Zealand has shifted its approach, from an elimination strategy to living with the virus. With only 65 deaths reported, New Zealand has been more successful than other countries at containing their outbreak, but hospitalizations on Tuesday reached a record level of 750, with the system now under strain. Officials have said sick hospital workers will only be allowed to work with patients who already have the virus, and that there were no other options.
Covid-19 – Due Diligence And Asset Management
Majority of workers who quit a job in 2021 cite low pay, no opportunities for advancement, feeling disrespected
Brief: The COVID-19 pandemic set off nearly unprecedented churn in the U.S. labor market. Widespread job losses in the early months of the pandemic gave way to tight labor markets in 2021, driven in part by what’s come to be known as the Great Resignation. The nation’s “quit rate” reached a 20-year high last November. A new Pew Research Center survey finds that low pay, a lack of opportunities for advancement and feeling disrespected at work are the top reasons why Americans quit their jobs last year. The survey also finds that those who quit and are now employed elsewhere are more likely than not to say their current job has better pay, more opportunities for advancement and more work-life balance and flexibility.Majorities of workers who quit a job in 2021 say low pay (63%), no opportunities for advancement (63%) and feeling disrespected at work (57%) were reasons why they quit, according to the Feb. 7-13 survey. At least a third say each of these were major reasons why they left.
Manulife allows staff to return to offices as COVID cases ease
Brief: Canadian insurer Manulife Financial Corporation said on Wednesday fully vaccinated employees can return to its offices in select locations on a voluntary basis from March 14 as COVID-19 cases in the country ease. “With a decline in average daily COVID-19 cases and hospitalization rates, we are making our Halifax, Montreal, Toronto and Waterloo offices available,” the company said in an emailed statement to Reuters. The country’s biggest insurer had delayed its return-to-office plans for staffers in North America in December due to the fast-spreading Omicron variant driving a surge in cases. Several financial firms across Canada and the United States that had postponed their back-to-office plans late last year as governments reimposed curbs to contain the virus surge, are now looking to reopen offices and issue new guidelines for employees.
Bolt-on transactions more than double pre-pandemic levels, says Rickitt Mitchell
Brief: The number and value of acquisitions made by private equity-backed businesses across the UK in 2021 significantly exceeded levels seen in 2019 and 2020, according to Rickitt Mitchell’s Buy and Build Barometer. The latest analysis from the corporate finance firm, conducted in partnership with Experian Market iQ, reveals 578 deals were completed across the UK in 2021, up more than 56 per cent on 2020 (370) and more than double that of 2019 (276). The South East (58) saw the highest number of acquisitions out of any region, followed jointly by East of England and London (47). Elsewhere, Yorkshire (37) was the highest performing Northern region, ahead of North West (24) and North East (14). The UK’s devolved regions were amongst the least active, with Wales (16) ahead of both Scotland (14) and Northern Ireland (5).
San Francisco Bay Area Firms Pull More Workers Back to Office
Brief: Of around 200 employers surveyed in the San Francisco Bay Area, 71% have either brought non-essential workers back to the office or plan to do so by mid-March, according to a poll released Tuesday by the Bay Area Council, a business advocacy group. Most of the companies surveyed monthly since last year said they expect their workers to come into the office three days or fewer a week, with those days most likely being Tuesday through Thursday, the group said. This “new normal” mode of operations will be in place by June for about 67% of respondents, while 82% see it occurring by August or September. This bodes well for San Francisco, which is struggling with the nation’s weakest office occupancies, stubbornly low transit ridership and one of the country’s slowest job recoveries as remote work leaves downtown streets empty.
Memories of post-COVID melt-up haunt anyone selling stocks now
Brief: Institutional investors are offloading equities to retail buyers in a traumatized market. While similarities between now and the bottom of the coronavirus crash may end there, memories of how that episode played out are proving hard to shake. Despite breakneck volatility and harrowing images of war, retail traders just plowed money into the equity market for a ninth straight week, according to Bank of America Corp. client data. That’s a stark contrast to the firm’s hedge fund clients, which last week sold US$4 billion of stocks, the most on record. Same thing on Morgan Stanley’s trading desk, where professional speculators have been cutting equity exposure, alongside relentless buying from amateurs. Who exactly constitutes the smart money on post-pandemic Wall Street is a point of debate after mom and pop day traders dove into stocks as they were bottoming two years ago.
