Australia said it will seek information from Pfizer Inc. and health authorities in Norway, after the Nordic nation expressed increasing concern about the safety of the vaccine on elderly people with serious underlying health conditions. Norway raised its estimate of the number who died after receiving inoculations to 29.
New cases in the U.S. slowed, and infections in New York state fell from a record. Confirmed Covid-19 cases in the greater Los Angeles area have surpassed 1 million, though county scientists estimate actual infections are three times higher.
Louisiana became the latest U.S. state to report a case of the more transmissible coronavirus variant first found in the U.K., while California Representative Lou Correa tested positive for Covid-19.
The U.K. reported fatalities above 1,200 for the fifth consecutive day.
- Global Tracker: Cases top 94.4 million; deaths pass 2 million
- Vaccine Tracker: More than 39.7 million shots given worldwide
- Norway lifts estimate of deaths among elderly who got Pfizer vaccine
- U.S. steps up claims Covid-19 may have escaped from Chinese lab
- England isn’t listening to Johnson’s lockdown orders anymore
- Massive inoculation drive starts in India despite vaccine doubts
- How fear of vaccine threatens to delay pandemic’s end: QuickTake
Subscribe to a daily update on the virus from Bloomberg’s Prognosis team here. Click CVID on the terminal for global data on cases and deaths.
California Representative Lou Correa Tests Positive (8:40 a.m. HK)
California Representative Lou Correa has tested positive for Covid-19. Announcing the result on Twitter, the Democrat said he will self-quarantine, meaning he will miss President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration.
Australia to Contact Pfizer, Norway on Vaccine Concern (7:25 a.m. HK)
Australia’s medical regulator will seek information from Pfizer Inc. and health authorities in Norway after the Nordic nation expressed concern about the safety of the firm’s vaccine for elderly people with serious underlying health conditions.
Australia’s foreign ministry will also contact Norway’s government to discuss the issue, Health Minister Greg Hunt told reporters Sunday in Melbourne. Australia has an agreement for 10 million doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, alongside three deals with other providers.
Norway has expressed concern after it raised an estimate of the number of elderly people who died after receiving inoculations to 29. Pfizer and BioNTech are working with the Norwegian regulator to investigate the deaths.
Brazil’s Weekly Cases Rise to Record (5:53 p.m. NY)
Brazil reported 61,567 cases Saturday, ending a week with the most new infections since the pandemic began, health ministry data show. Total cases are now 8,455,059.
Deaths fell this week compared to the previous one and, unlike infections, fatalities have not reached the level of the summer outbreak. The nation reported another 1,050 deaths Saturday, for a total of 209,296.
Los Angeles Covid-19 Cases Surpass 1 Million (5:23 p.m. NY)
The Greater Los Angeles area has surpassed 1 million confirmed Covid-19 cases, though county scientists estimate actual infections are three times higher.
The milestone means one in 10 people in L.A. County has tested positive at some point in the outbreak. The county also reported its first case of the U.K. variant — a man who recently spent time in the area before traveling to Oregon, where he’s isolating.
Meanwhile, Virginia reported a record 6,757 new cases.
Louisiana Joins States Reporting Virus Variant (4:29 p.m. NY)
Louisiana became the latest state to report a case of a more transmissible variant of the coronavirus first found in the U.K. The infected person reportedly had a history of travel outside of Louisiana, a statement from Governor John Bel Edwards’ office said Saturday.
On Friday, at least three more states, including Utah, Oregon and Illinois, reported cases as the Centers for Disease and Prevention warned that it could become the dominant strain in the U.S. as soon as March. More than 15 states have reported cases, some involving people with no history of travel.
France, Italy Cases Steady (2:29 p.m. NY)
France reported 21,406 new cases on Saturday. That’s within the range of cases reported over the past four days, and with the seven-day rolling average of infections at 18,148.
Italy reported 16,310 new cases and 475 deaths Saturday, in line with numbers reported the previous day. The country will tighten curbs for most regions on Sunday, including Milan and Rome, with the Milan area back in a “red zone” where leaving the house is banned except for necessary reasons.
Portugal Minister Tests Positive After Meeting With EU Officials (2:20 p.m. NY)
Portuguese Finance Minister Joao Leao tested positive for Covid-19, the finance ministry said on Saturday, a day after he attended meetings with European Commission officials.
Leao is self-isolating at home, the ministry said in an emailed statement. He has no symptoms and is working.
North Carolina Surpasses 8,000 Deaths (12:12 p.m. NY)
North Carolina reported 83 deaths Saturday, pushing the total to more than 8,000. The state, hit hard in the latest virus wave, passed 7,000 deaths 10 days ago. Another 7,986 new infections were reported, down from the previous day, and hospitalizations fell for the second consecutive day, state data show.
U.K. Deaths Again Above 1,200 (11:22 a.m. NY)
The U.K. reported more than 1,200 deaths for the fifth day in a row. Saturday’s 1,295 fatalities were higher than the average of 1,066 over the previous seven days. The U.K. records deaths within 28 days of a positive Covid-19 test.
New cases of 41,346 were below the weekly average of 51,221. More than 37,000 people were in hospitals as of Friday and 3.56 million people have received their first dose of a vaccine.
N.Y. Cases Fall From Record (11:19 a.m. NY)
New York state reported 15,998 new cases, a day after a record 19,942, Governor Andrew Cuomo said in a statement. The statewide positive test rate declined to 5.77%, with rates above 8% on Long Island and the Mohawk Valley. Hospitalizations increased to 8,888, and another 157 people died.
Portugal Breaks Record for New Cases and Deaths (9:37 a.m. NY)
Portugal on Saturday reported the biggest daily increase in confirmed coronavirus cases since the start of the outbreak. There were 10,947 new cases in a day, more than the previous record of 10,698 announced on Thursday, taking the total to 539,416. The total number of deaths rose by 166 to 8,709, also a record daily increase. The number of patients in intensive-care units rose by 16 to 638, according to government data. The country’s national health service has a capacity of about 960 beds in intensive-care units.
Portugal tightened restrictions on Friday with measures including closing non-essential stores.
Norway Vaccine Fatalities Among People 75 and Older Rise (9:09 a.m. NY)
Norway has registered a total of 29 deaths among people over the age of 75 who’ve had their first Covid-19 vaccination shot, raising questions over which groups to target in national inoculation programs.
The latest figure adds six to the number of known fatalities in Norway, and also lowers the age group thought to be affected from 80.
Until Friday, Pfizer/BioNTech was the only vaccine available in Norway, and “all deaths are thus linked to this vaccine,” the Norwegian Medicines Agency said in a written response to Bloomberg on Saturday.
U.S Cases, Deaths Slow Even in Upward Trend (8 a.m. NY)
The U.S. added 216,769 new cases on Friday, down from the previous three days even as the weekly average continues to climb, according to data from Johns Hopkins University and Bloomberg. The nation added almost 20,000 more cases a day on average in the last week compared with the previous one.
Another 3,422 people died, the data show, also fewer than the previous three days. Weekly average fatalities, however, continued to rise, with more than 550 more people dying each day in the last week compared with the one before.
U.K.’s Sunak Plans £500 One-Time Benefit (7:03 a.m. NY)
U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak is planning to give a one-time benefit payment of 500 pounds ($680) to nearly six million people, to help ease the economic fallout from a third coronavirus lockdown, the Times of London reported on Saturday.
People across England are about to be hit with a deluge of new government adverts telling them to stay at home, as the data show Britons are far more active during the current third national lockdown than when the first emergency “stay at home” order was given last spring.
Greece Starts Vaccinating Elderly (6:33 a.m. in NY)
Greece started vaccinations for people over 85-years-old on Saturday, after first inoculating tens of thousands of front-line workers.
More than 75,000 health care workers and nursing home residents and carers have received the shot of the vaccine produced by Pfizer/BioNTech since Greece rolled out the plan along with other EU countries last month.
U.S. Urges WHO to Examine Wuhan Institute (7:28 p.m. NY)
The U.S. “has reason to believe” some Wuhan Institute of Virology researchers became sick in autumn 2019, before the first identified case of the outbreak, “with symptoms consistent with both COVID-19 and common seasonal illnesses,” the State Department said in a fact sheet.
China’s lack of transparency about the pandemic’s origin more than a year ago, as well as efforts to mask early shortcomings in the country’s response to the outbreak, make it difficult to draw clear conclusions, the agency said. But the brief, unsigned statement issued by the U.S. — less than a week before the end of the Trump administration — provided no data to back up its claims.