(Reuters) – United Airlines and Delta Air Lines on Thursday said they had each canceled dozens of Christmas Eve flights, as the spreading COVID-19 Omicron variant takes a toll on its flight crews and other workers. Chicago-based United canceled 120 flights for Friday, while Atlanta-based Delta said it has canceled about 90. Both said they were working to contact passengers so they would not be stranded at airports. “The nationwide spike in Omicron cases this week has had a direct impact on our flight crews and the people who run our operation. As a result, we’ve unfortunately had to cancel some flights and are notifying impacted customers in advance of them coming to the airport,” United said. Delta said it has “exhausted all options and resources — including rerouting and substitutions of aircraft and crews to cover scheduled flying — before canceling around 90 flights for Friday.” Delta cited potential inclement weather and the impact of the Omicron variant for the cancellations. On Tuesday, Delta Chief Executive Ed Bastian asked the head of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to shrink quarantine guidelines for fully vaccinated individuals who experience breakthrough COVID-19 infections, citing the impact on the carrier’s workforce. Bastian asked that the isolation period be cut to five days from the current 10. That request was echoed both by Airlines for America, a trade group representing major cargo and passenger carriers, which wrote to the CDC on Thursday, and by JetBlue on Wednesday. The CDC released updated quarantine guidance for healthcare workers on Thursday, cutting the isolation time to seven days for workers who test positive for COVID-19 but are asymptomatic, providing they test negative.
France adds record 91,608 COVID infections….. Britain reported more than 100,000 cases for a second straight day
(Bloomberg) — French Covid-19 infections hit a record as the spread of the more easily transmissible omicron variant gathered pace across much of Europe. New daily cases totaled 91,608 in France on Thursday, public health office data show. That surpassed the previous high of almost 87,000 from November of last year. Health Minister Olivier Veran said earlier this week that the omicron strain will become dominant in France during the period between Christmas and New Year’s, and that infections will likely reach 100,000 a day by the end of December. On Thursday, he said the threshold will probably be crossed closer to Dec. 25 than Dec. 31, BFM TV reported. French authorities are watching trends in the U.K., which has 10 to 14 days lead time in terms of progression of omicron over France, Veran said this week. Continue reading “France adds record 91,608 COVID infections….. Britain reported more than 100,000 cases for a second straight day”
Biden Omicron measures too little, too late for fast-moving virus -experts
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Joe Biden’s steps to backstop hospitals and distribute coronavirus test kits, however welcome, are too little too late to stem a surge of Omicron-related coronavirus cases over Christmas and New Year’s, health experts said. A day after Biden outlined plans to distribute 500 million at-home coronavirus test kits, Anne Rimoin, a UCLA professor of epidemiology, praised his focus on testing, a “critical tool” that the United States was “woefully” behind on.
“Unfortunately, it’s late in coming and will be a small drop in the bucket compared to the tsunami of cases on the horizon.”
Continue reading “Biden Omicron measures too little, too late for fast-moving virus -experts”
Britain reports record 119,789 new COVID-19 case
Risk-on rally resumes as Omicron fears recede
* European, Asian shares gain on Omicron severity data
* Safe-haven bonds less favoured
* U.S. consumer confidence grows
By Alun John and Lawrence White
HONG KONG/LONDON, Dec 23 (Reuters) – Global shares extended a recent rally on Thursday while safe-haven bonds and currencies eased as markets welcomed signs that the Omicron variant of COVID-19 might be less severe than feared, as well as robust U.S. economic data. The STOXX index of Europe’s 600 largest shares rose 0.3%, following earlier gains in Asia. Japan’s Nikkei gained 0.57% and MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.8%. It put stock markets on course for a third successive day of gains as they recovered from a jolt on Monday when worries about the new coronavirus variant pushed investors to safe-haven assets like the greenback. “The recent health data from the UK and other places around the world indicate that the worst case is unlikely: even though (Omicron) transmission rates are reportedly higher, this variant seems less virulent and less prone to cause serious illnesses or death,” said David Chao, global market strategist Asia Pacific at Invesco. The risk of needing to stay in hospital for patients with the Omicron variant of COVID-19 is 40-45% lower than for patients with the Delta variant, according to research by London’s Imperial College published on Wednesday. European government bond yields continued to tick up as the trickle of risk sentiment flowing back into the market reduced the need for safe-haven debt. Germany’s 10-year Bund yields hit -0.284%, their highest since late November.
Hospitals have run out of the only antibody treatment that works against people infected by the Omicron mutation
Strained hospitals bracing for a COVID-19 surge caused by the quickly spreading Omicron variant could face another grim possibility: preliminary experiments suggest that most of the antibody treatments for the disease are powerless against Omicron1,2,3,4. Doctors use artificial versions of natural antibodies to stave off severe COVID-19 in high-risk people who are infected with the coronavirus. But a slew of publications posted on preprint servers report laboratory evidence that Omicron is totally or partially resistant to all currently available treatments based on these monoclonal antibodies. The publications have not yet been peer reviewed, but some of the companies that manufacture antibody therapies already concede that their products have lower potency against Omicron than against other variants. The preprints report that only two antibodies show strong evidence of retaining some ability to thwart the variant: sotrovimab, developed by Vir Biotechnology in San Francisco, California, and GSK, headquartered in London; and DXP-604, which is undergoing clinical trials in China and was developed by BeiGene and Singlomics, both based in Beijing.
Continue reading “Hospitals have run out of the only antibody treatment that works against people infected by the Omicron mutation”
Why won’t Florida,CDC release states breakthrough COVID cases data
For more than two months, the Tampa Bay Times and other news organizations have been asking Florida for data that breaks down how many vaccinated people have been infected, hospitalized or died of COVID-19. They are called “breakthrough” cases, data that would show how effectively the vaccine has protected Floridians — and how vulnerable the unvaccinated are.
But the Florida Department of Health has continually refused those requests, citing what public health and legal experts say are misplaced privacy concerns. Continue reading “Why won’t Florida,CDC release states breakthrough COVID cases data”
Wall Street rises on rosy economic data, encouraging Omicron update
A trader in a face mask works on the trading floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) as the Omicron coronavirus variant continues to spread in Manhattan, New York City, U.S.,
Continue reading “Wall Street rises on rosy economic data, encouraging Omicron update”
We could be entering the worst part of the pandemic… Bill Gates
In a series of tweets late Tuesday, Bill Gates says he plans to cancel most of his holiday plans and warned that that the United States “could be entering the worst part of the pandemic.
Asserting that the Omicron variant is spreading faster than any virus in history, the billionaire and Microsoft co-founder said the big unknown remains how sick the Omicron variant can make you.
Continue reading “We could be entering the worst part of the pandemic… Bill Gates”
Radio Free Wall Street
The Grinch Who Stole Christmas
More precisely, the Omicron. You might be wondering why governments have gotten so aggressive lately. Reality is, this next wave will be the worst one yet. I’m going to tell you what you must do now in our latest edition of Radio Free Wall Street.