Chief White House Medical Advisor Anthony Fauci warned state leaders on Sunday (March 14) against easing their COVID-19 restrictions, as reported by CNBC. Appearing on two morning news programs, Fauci pointed to a spike in coronavirus cases in Europe as evidence that ending public health precautions too soon could extend the pandemic. “Don’t spike the ball on the five-yard line. Wait until you get into the end zone. We are not in the end zone yet,” Fauci said on “Meet the Press.” Easing restrictions too quickly led some European countries seeing a third wave of COVID-19 cases, Fauci said on FOX News Sunday. “They thought they were home free and they weren’t and now they are seeing an increase,” he added. “If you wait just a bit longer to give the vaccine program a chance to increase the protection in the community, then it makes pulling back much less risky.” According to CNBC, several countries in Europe, including Germany, Italy and Poland, have seen significant spikes in COVID cases, while Slovakia and the Czech Republic are reporting some of the world’s greatest number of fatalities from the virus. Last week, German public health officials reported a 20 percent increase in new COVID cases over the space of seven days. The wave in new cases comes at a time when Germany is also facing high unemployment and flagging retail sales. Germany, like some U.S. states, recently began lifting quarantine restrictions. “We have very clear indications for the fact that the third wave has already begun in Germany,” RKI head Lothar Wieler told reporters in Geneva. “I am very worried.” Wieler stressed that people need to continue to wear masks and practice social distancing. Last week, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development called for governments to increase the pace of their inoculation efforts to ensure economic recovery. “Speed is of the essence,” OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría said in a news release. “There is no room for complacency. Vaccines must be deployed faster and globally. This will require better international cooperation and coordination than we have seen up to now.”
COVID SCIENCE-mRNA vaccines spur lymph nodes for longer-term protection
March 15 (Reuters) – The following is a roundup of some of the latest scientific studies on the novel coronavirus and efforts to find treatments and vaccines for COVID-19, the illness caused by the virus. mRNA vaccines spur lymph nodes for longer-term protection. Along with inducing antibodies for immediate defense, mRNA vaccines against COVID-19 also stimulate the lymph nodes to generate immune cells that provide protection over the long term, a new study confirms. The early wave of antibodies are generated by B cells called plasmablasts.
In healthy volunteers, blood tests showed that two doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine induced “a strong plasmablast response,” said coauthor Ali Ellebedy of Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.
The immune cells that will produce antibodies upon exposure to the virus in years to come – called memory B cells – are generated by germinal center B cells found only in lymph nodes near vaccine injection sites, his team explained in a paper currently undergoing peer review for possible publication in a Nature journal. In repeated biopsies of volunteers’ lymph nodes, “we saw a robust germinal center response,” Ellebedy said. The responses lasted at least seven weeks, “with no sign of cooling down anytime soon,” he added. “While we do not have long-term samples yet, it is safe to assume given the magnitude and persistence of the germinal center reaction that those individuals will develop a durable immune response” to mRNA vaccines. Moderna Inc’s vaccine also uses mRNA technology. (https://bit.ly/3tnAiYw)
Throat swab test accuracy may vary by time of day
The accuracy of gold-standard PCR tests of nasopharyngeal swab samples may vary by time of day, new data suggest. Researchers analyzed 31,094 tests performed in symptomatic and asymptomatic individuals at 127 testing sites, including 2,438 tests that showed COVID-19. In a paper posted on Saturday on medRxiv ahead of peer review, they report tests were most likely to be positive around 2 p.m. – and the proportion of positive tests in the early afternoon was two-fold higher than the lowest proportion seen at other times of the day. The study “suggests people may be more contagious at certain times of the day and it raises questions about whether tests for SARS-CoV-2 may be less accurate when they are collected between late evening and early morning,” said coauthor Dr. Candace McNaughton of Vanderbilt University. “If our findings are confirmed, clinicians and public health teams could focus their efforts on lowering the risk of viral spread during times of peak viral shedding,” she said. That could entail emphasizing mid-day to early-afternoon masking at home while isolating, or encouraging early morning shopping for vulnerable populations. “There may be greater benefit in repeat testing if a negative test was collected when viral shedding is generally less,” McNaughton said. (https://bit.ly/2NjcZiY)
Surgery delay advised after COVID-19
When possible, surgery should be delayed for at least seven weeks after infection with the new coronavirus, and patients who still have symptoms at that point may benefit from further delay, researchers advise in Anaesthesia. They reviewed data on 140,231 surgery patients from 116 countries, including 3,127 with a history of COVID-19. The mortality rate at 30 days after surgery was 1.4% in patients who never had COVID-19. It was 9.1% among patients diagnosed within two weeks before surgery, 6.9% among those diagnosed within 3 to 4 weeks, and 5.5% when the diagnosis was made 5 to 6 weeks preoperatively. The mortality rate came down to 2% when at least 7 weeks had elapsed between diagnosis and surgery. For patients with ongoing symptoms, the 30-day mortality rate was 6% even after a 7-week delay, researchers found. After adjusting for other risk factors, the odds of death were increased 3.6-to-4.1-fold in patients having surgery within six weeks after a COVID-19 diagnosis. “Patients with ongoing symptoms at least seven weeks from diagnosis may benefit from further delay” of their surgery, the researchers said.
Biden: 100M relief checks to be distributed over next 10 days
- Biden pledged to get 100 million shots in arms and 100 million checks in pockets in the next 10 days.
- As of Friday, the US had already administered 100 million COVID-19 vaccine doses.
- Stimulus checks from the American Rescue Plan are starting to hit Americans’ bank accounts.
President Joe Biden said on Monday that the US was on track to meet two big goals in the coming 10 days: administering over 100 million COVID-19 vaccine doses, and sending 100 million stimulus checks. “Over the next 10 days, we’ll reach two giant goals. The first is 100 million shots in people’s arms will have been completed in the next 10 days, and 100 million checks in people’s pockets,” Biden said during a speech at the White House.
“Shots in arms and money in pockets – that’s important,” he added.
The US hit the first goal on Friday, surpassing the benchmark of 100 million shots administered. The figure covers doses in Pfizer-BioNTech’s and Moderna’s two-shot regimens and Johnson & Johnson’s one-shot vaccine. As of Monday, 71 million Americans had received at least one vaccine dose, including 38.3 million who have been fully vaccinated, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That means one in five US adults has gotten at least one vaccine dose. The Biden administration has recently made significant investments in the US’s vaccine supply. It plans to procure enough vaccines for all American adults by the end of May. On Thursday, in his first prime-time address to the American people, the president announced that the administration would direct states and localities to make every adult eligible to get vaccinated by May 1. Biden also confirmed that he would appoint the former national economic advisor Gene Sperling to oversee the implementation of the American Rescue Plan, the sweeping $US1.9 ($2) trillion COVID-19 relief package that Biden signed into law on Thursday. The bill includes $US1,400 ($1,811) stimulus checks for people below certain income thresholds and other direct aid for families. It followed the bill signed into law by President Donald Trump in December that delivered $US600 ($776) checks to eligible individuals. “We’re just getting started,” Biden said on Monday. “By the time all the money is distributed, 85% of American households will have gotten $US1,400 ($1,811) rescue checks.” Some people have already received their payments, and millions more Americans are set to get theirs in their bank accounts on Wednesday. People can check on the status of their check with the IRS’s “Get My Payment” tool.
S&P 500 subdued as focus turns to Fed
* Eli Lily drops after ‘mixed’ data from mid-stage trial
* Southwest, JetBlue signal recovery in leisure bookings
* Indexes: Dow up 0.1%, S&P flat, Nasdaq dips 0.1% (Updates to market open)
March 15 (Reuters) – The S&P 500 paused on Monday below an all-time high as investors awaited cues from the Federal Reserve’s meeting this week amid caution over rising borrowing costs spurred by massive fiscal stimulus. Delta Air Lines, Southwest Airlines and JetBlue Airways said leisure bookings are rising and offered some of the first concrete signs that the worst may be over for the airline industry. The S&P 1500 airlines index jumped about 3.8% to a one-year high, while planemaker Boeing Co added about 2%. Other travel-related stocks including Carnival Corp, Wynn Resorts and MGM Resorts gained between 3% and 5%. Wall Street’s main indexes on Friday logged their best week in six as approval of a $1.9 trillion relief package and mass vaccinations fueled demand for economy-linked stocks such as banks, energy, materials at the cost of high-growth tech names. The major U.S. stock indexes were roiled in recent weeks as a spike in longer-dated U.S. bond yields due to fears of an increase in inflation and, in response, a tapering of the Fed’s easy monetary policy worried investors. “The U.S. economy looks in a better shape than most other developed economies,” said Hussein Sayed, chief market strategist at FXTM. “Despite the rosier economic outlook, this week’s Fed meeting is expected to be absent of major policy changes.” At the end of Fed’s two-day meeting on Wednesday, policymakers are expected to forecast that the U.S. economy will grow in 2021 at the fastest rate in decades while reiterating their dovish stance for the foreseeable future. The yields on benchmark 10-year Treasuries hovered near their 13-month high at 1.61%, slightly lower than its peak of 1.64% hit on Friday. At 9:47 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 87.51 points, or 0.27%, to 32,866.15, the S&P 500 gained 0.29 points, or 0.01%, to 3,943.63 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 6.81 points, or 0.05%, to 13,313.11. Five of the major S&P sectors were lower, with financials and energy leading losses. Tesla Inc added “Technoking of Tesla” to billionaire Chief Executive Elon Musk’s list of official titles in a formal regulatory filing that also named finance chief Zachary Kirkhorn “Master of Coin”. Tesla’s shares were nearly flat. Eli Lilly and Co shares slumped about 8.5% after “mixed” results from the drugmaker’s mid-stage trial testing its experimental drug to treat Alzheimer’s cast a doubt on the chances for the drug’s accelerated approval, according to analysts. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.2-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and a 1-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq. The S&P 500 posted 59 new 52-week highs and no new low, while the Nasdaq recorded 239 new highs and six new lows.
Regular booster vaccines are the future in battle with COVID-19 virus, Peacock says
Yellen: COVID relief to help get economy back on track
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Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Sunday that the US could see full employment next year.
- The stimulus package will offer the support for that recovery, Yellen told ABC News on Sunday.
- Full employment does not mean zero unemployment, but it would reflect a healthier economy.
The US could return to full employment in 2022, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on Sunday, renewing her forecast now that the Biden administration’s coronavirus pandemic relief package has been signed into law. “I am hopeful that if we defeat the pandemic, that we can have the economy back near full employment next year,” Yellen said in an interview with “This Week” on ABC News. Yellen said last month that the US economy could see such a recovery, but that it would hinge on whether President Joe Biden’s bill – which includes direct payments for individuals, an expansion of the child tax credit, and funding for vaccine distribution and testing – was adopted. The bill passed the Senate earlier this month in a 50-49 vote, and the House last week in a 220-211 vote. It marked the administration’s first major win, and comes as millions of Americans are struggling as the coronavirus pandemic has devastated parts of the economy in the past year. The Trump administration passed relief packages last year, offering direct payments to taxpayers among other aid to individuals. “I believe there is enough support in this package to relieve suffering and to get the economy quickly back on track,” Yellen, the former head of the Federal Reserve who was confirmed in January as Treasury Secretary, said Sunday. “Full employment” does not mean a state of zero unemployment, but such conditions would reflect a US economy that is far healthier than where it is today as the unemployment rate remains at levels elevated compared to previous years. The Bureau of Labor Statistics said earlier this month in the latest jobs report that the US unemployment rate fell to 6.2% from 6.3%. Still, that figure does not capture the breadth of how many people are out of work. The U-6 unemployment rate, which the government defines as workers who are marginally attached to the labor force and others who are employed part-time, was 11.1% in February, the BLS said. Some on Wall Street are optimistic about what the relief package means for the economic recovery. Goldman Sachs economists told clients earlier this month that the US employment rate could drop to 4.1% by year-end thanks to a combination of the stimulus package and coronavirus vaccines rolling out. “Despite the surprising speed of recovery early on, we are still very far from a strong labor market whose benefits are broadly shared,” Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said last month.
Ireland’s vaccine taskforce calls for halt in AZ vaccine rollout
European countries – including Denmark, Norway, Austria, Italy and Iceland – have suspended use of the Oxford-AstraZeneca jab after reports of blood clots in vaccinated people. The European Medicines Agency is now launching an investigation but at present there is no firm evidence to suggest the two are linked and incidents of clotting have not been reported in the UK. Denmark, Norway and Iceland have suspended the rollout of the vaccine, while Italy and Austria have stopped using a certain batch as a precaution. The Danish Health and Medicines Authority said the rollout out of the jab would be paused for at least 14 days while investigations are carried out. They did not say how many reports of blood clots there had been. “It is currently not possible to conclude whether there is a link. We are acting early, it needs to be thoroughly investigated,” Danish health minister Magnus Heunicke said on Twitter.
News Flash
The Irish National Immunisation Advisory Committee (NIAC) recommended on Sunday that the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University be stopped temporarily. Ireland’s Deputy Chief Medical Officer Ronan Glynn stated that the decision was made due to reports of increased risk of blood clots in people inoculated with the jab, and backed by the findings of the Norwegian Medicines Agency. He underlined that no direct link has been found between the thrombosis risk and the vaccine administration, but added that NIAC called for “the temporary deferral of the COVID-19 vaccine AstraZeneca vaccination programme” on “the precautionary principle.” Søren Brostrøm, director of the National Board of Health, added: “It is important to emphasise that we have not opted out of the AstraZeneca vaccine, but that we are putting it on hold.
Three health workers who received AstraZeneca vaccine in hospital with “unusual” symptoms, Norway says
OSLO (Reuters) – Three health workers in Norway who recently received the AstraZeneca vaccine against COVID-19 are being treated in hospital for bleeding, blood clots and a low count of blood platelets, Norwegian health authorities said on Saturday. Norway halted on Thursday the rollout of that vaccine, following a similar move by Denmark. Iceland later followed suit. “We do not know if the cases are linked to the vaccine,” Sigurd Hortemo, a senior doctor at the Norwegian Medicines Agency told a news conference held jointly with the Norwegian Institute of Public Health. All three individuals were under the age of 50.The European medicine regulator EMA would investigate the three incidents, Hortemo added. “They have very unusual symptoms: bleeding, blood clots and a low count of blood platelets,” Steinar Madsen, Medical Director at the Norwegian Medicines Agency told broadcaster NRK. “They are quite sick…We take this very seriously,” he said, adding authorities had received notification of the cases on Saturday. AstraZeneca was not immediately available for comment. Before Denmark’s and Norway’s move, Austria stopped using a batch of AstraZeneca shots while investigating a death from coagulation disorders and an illness from a pulmonary embolism. Still, EMA on Thursday said the vaccine’s benefits outweighed its risks and could continue to be administered. Europe is struggling to speed up a vaccine rollout after delivery delays from Pfizer and AstraZeneca, even as a spike in cases amid a more contagious virus variant has triggered fresh lockdowns in countries like Italy and France.
Mall operator Hammerson’s loss soars as virus hit property values
Nick Bit: Simon has bought over 50 loser retailers….. All that is going for them is they can borrow themselves broke. Many chains they have bought were broke before COVID. And to make matters worse we have learned how to shop online……..
The American Dream mall is keeping up its reputation as an American nightmare. The owner of the 3.1 million-square-foot East Rutherford, N.J., mega-mall, Triple Five Group, could lose nearly half of its stakes in its Mall of America in Minnesota and West Edmonton Mall in Canada to its lenders because of American Dream’s struggles, Axios first reported. A spokesperson for Triple Five did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Triple Five could lose a 49 percent interest in the malls, because it used them as collateral for a $1.2 billion construction loan to build the long-delayed American Dream mall, which has faced cash problems due to the coronavirus pandemic. The $5 billion New Jersey mall — which includes retail, an indoor amusement park and water park, and a 16-story indoor ski slope — finally opened in 2019 after nearly two decades of construction and three developers, but COVID-19 threw yet another wrench into the project. Triple Five, owned by the Ghermezian family, was forced to close on March 16 as stay-at-home measures were put in place around New Jersey. It finally reopened in October but has faced cash flow problems, forcing it to miss payments. Kurt Hagen, an executive at Triple Five, told Bloomington, Minn., officials that Triple Five was “likely” to lose the stakes in the Mall of America and West Edmonton Mall, Bloomberg reported. “It would have been much better if American Dream would have burned down or a hurricane had hit it, financially, because we would have been covered by insurance,” Hagen said, according to Bloomberg. “This pandemic that we didn’t see coming has not been covered and was the worst scenario imaginable
Reuters) – Mall operator Hammerson posted a 1.7 billion pound ($2.37 billion) loss for 2020 and gave a formal warning about threats to its ability to continue as a going concern, as the value of properties sank in the COVID-19 crisis and it launched asset sales to bolster its finances. Shares in the company gained in initial deals after it said it had made 73 million pounds from the sale of the Brent South Shopping Park and its stakes in two French joint ventures. It also reported an almost halving of net rental revenue and said it had so far collected 76% of last year’s rents as the crisis battered its retail tenants. Hammerson said it would meet its liabilities at least for the next 12 months, but flagged that the impact of the virus on the retail sector and broader economy could cast significant doubt on its ability to carry on as a business. “More adverse outcomes relative to those assumed in the scenario modelling, could result in breaches in the Group’s unsecured gearing and interest cover ratio covenants,” the company said. British shopping centres are set to be fully operational only by mid May as per the phased exit plan from the latest round of restrictions which have kept shoppers at home and led to widespread rent deferrals by retailers. Hammerson’s total portfolio, including premium outlets, fell 24% in value to 6.34 billion pounds during 2020. “The portfolio is still in lockdown, tenant activity is on pause and we need to wait for the reopening to see how the rent roll performs through summer and into year end,” JP Morgan analysts wrote in a note. “2021 (is) all about disposals: Disposals will be necessary to lower its LTV of 46%.” The FTSE 250-listed company, which runs shopping malls such as the Bullring in Birmingham and Italie Deux in Paris, said the results represented its largest ever fall in net rental income and UK asset values. Adjusted profit sank to 36.5 million pounds for the full-year ended Dec. 31, compared with 214 million pounds a year earlier.
First round of $1,400 COVID-19 relief checks to start hitting bank accounts this weekend
https://youtu.be/s5sZowlhU0I
WASHINGTON – The latest batch of COVID-19 relief checks will start arriving in a matter of days. The first checks of up to $1,400 will land in bank accounts this weekend via direct deposit, White House press secretary Jen Psaki announced Thursday. “This, of course, is just the first wave,” Psaki said. Payments to eligible Americans will continue over the next several weeks, she said. The checks are part of President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, the first major initiative of his presidency. Biden signed the bill into law on Thursday. Under the new law, individuals with an adjusted gross income of $80,000 or less ($160,000 for joint filers) are eligible for a one-time payment of up to $1,400, plus an additional $1,400 for each dependent child. The payments start to phase out for individuals earning $75,000 and will cut off completely for anyone who makes more than $80,000. For couples filing jointly, the phaseout starts for those making $150,000 and cuts off at $160,000. For those filing as head of household, the phaseout begins at $112,500 and cuts off at $120,000. Most Americans will receive the payments via direct deposit. Those who don’t will receive a debit card or a paper check, which will take longer to distribute. The Internal Revenue Service will use tax returns on file to calculate how much money people will get. If recipients have already filed a return for 2020, their check will be based on their income from last year. If not, their 2019 returns will probably be used to determine how much they’ll get.