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Singapore Tests Thousands; Delhi Extends Lockdown: Virus Update

(Bloomberg) — India’s capital New Delhi extended its lockdown for another week and adopted stricter controls. The country recorded more than 4,000 coronavirus deaths for a second consecutive day Sunday.Singapore will test thousands of people as the number of infections continued to rise.Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical Group Co. will set up a joint venture with BioNTech SE to produce the latter’s mRNA Covid-19 vaccine in China, a sign that the highly effective inoculation is moving closer to getting approved for general use in the country.U.S. deaths from Covid-19 have been undercounted, President Joe Biden’s top medical adviser said, with the nationwide toll approaching 582,000. New cases in the U.S. dropped over the past week to the slowest pace since the end of September. Hospitalizations dipped to a seven-month low.Key DevelopmentsGlobal Tracker: Cases total 157.9 million; deaths exceed 3.28 millionVaccine Tracker: More than 1.29 billion doses have been givenCDC limits reviews of vaccinated but infected, spurring concernsUnused shots pile up as mistrust blights Hong Kong vaccine driveTens of millions plunge into poverty in Covid-ravaged IndiaTokyo gives a taste of what Covid era Olympic games will be likeSubscribe 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.Singapore to Widen Testing (11:20 a.m. HK)Singapore will test thousands of people for Covid-19 as the number of infections unlinked to current virus clusters continued to rise over the weekend. An additional 10 Covid-19 cases were reported by the country’s health ministry late on Sunday. Separately, four individuals are connected to an earlier cluster at Changi Airport and three are related to the cluster at Tan Tock Seng Hospital.Read more here.IOC President to Visit Japan (10:47 a.m. HK)The International Olympic Committee is making arrangements for President Thomas Bach to travel to Japan in June, FNN reported, without saying where it got the information. Bach’s visit scheduled for May 17 has been canceled as a result of the extension of a state emergency covering Tokyo and other areas where the coronavirus outbreak is spreading.BioNTech’s China Venture (9:01 a.m. HK)Shanghai Fosun said on Sunday it will set up a 50:50 joint venture with BioNTech to produce mRNA Covid-19 vaccine in China. Both companies have committed up to $100 million investment through cash, production facilities and technologies. Fosun will set up a production facility capable of making 1 billion doses of the vaccine, according to the company’s filing to the Shanghai Stock Exchange.The Shanghai-based drug company struck a deal in March 2020 to license and develop the Covid shot in the Greater China region that includes Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, while Pfizer Inc. later agreed to co-develop and commercialize it in the rest of the world. The vaccine is now being reviewed by Chinese drug regulator. Fosun Pharmaceutical shares rose as much as 23% in Hong Kong.Vietnam PM Issues Warning (8:58 a.m. HK)Vietnam’s Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh warned the nation could face political instability if the current coronavirus outbreak spreads nationwide, according to a post on the government’s website. Vietnam reported 78 new domestic virus patients this morning, and 411 since the latest outbreak began April 27. Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City have shut most schools. In both the capital and Ho Chi Minh City, cinemas, gyms and spas have been shuttered. Other areas of the nation have put in place similar restrictions.China Airlines to Reduce Cargo Flights (8:15 a.m. HK)The Taiwanese carrier will temporarily reduce cargo flights to deal with pilot shortage after one-sixth of its pilots got sidelined due to quarantine measures, the Central News Agency reported. The airline will cut its cargo flights globally and half of its cargo flight services to the U.S., Apple Daily reported on Saturday, without saying where it got the information. Around 200 pilots are unable to fly as a precaution after 12 pilots were confirmed to have Covid-19 since April 20.Virus Causing Spread of Fungal Infection (8:05 a.m. HK)Coronavirus is causing the spread of a deadly fungal infection called mucormycosis across the western state of Maharashtra, the Times of India reported. Hospitals in Mumbai, which are treating dozens of such patients, are facing a shortage of anti-fungal medicines. The infection can also lead to blindness. The fungal infection usually sets in two to three weeks after treatment for covid and was mostly found in patients who already suffer from diabetes and then got affected by Covid-19.Bolsonaro Leads Mother’s Day Parade Maskless (7:02 a.m. HK)A maskless President Jair Bolsonaro led a Mother’s Day motorcycle parade on Sunday as Brazil added almost 39,000 Covid-19 cases. Deaths increased by 1,024 to 422,340 in the latest daily count, according to Health Ministry data.The ministry will begin distributing 1.12 million doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine Monday. The latest batch brings Brazil’s distribution to about 75.4 million doses and more than 46.8 million shots administered.England Set to Allow Indoor Mixing (5:56 p.m. NY)Prime Minister Boris Johnson confirmed that the next stage of lockdown easing in England will go ahead on May 17 as planned, as the Covid-19 infection rate reaches its lowest level since September.People will be allowed to stay overnight with friends or relations, and indoor hospitality will be reopened. The government said last week limited international travel will also resume then.U.S. Hospitalizations Reach Seven-Month Low (3:15 p.m. NY)The share of U.S. hospital beds occupied by Covid-19 patients fell to 5.37%, the lowest since Oct. 5, according to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services.Michigan had the biggest percentage of beds occupied by Covid patients at 13.3% followed by Maryland at 10.8%, according to the latest HHS data, which reflect the situation on Thursday. Florida had 3,504 hospitalized Covid patients, the most of any state, followed by Texas with 3,080.L.A. to Offer Appointment-Free Vaccinations (2:30 p.m. NY)Los Angeles will offer appointment-free vaccinations at all sites starting Monday, Mayor Eric Garcetti said, in an effort to “knock down barriers to vaccine access.” The city is expecting to administer more than a quarter million shots for a second straight week.Iran Sets Vaccination Goal (12:57 p.m. NY)President Hassan Rouhani said some 13 million people in Iran, about 15% of the population, will be vaccinated against the coronavirus by July 22, as the country tries to combat the Middle East’s worst outbreak.Rouhani said he expects all people in high-risk groups to receive at least their first dose by that date, the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency reported, adding that two domestically developed shots will be ready for mass use by June.Third of U.K. Adults Fully Vaccinated (12:34 p.m.)More than a third of the United Kingdom’s adult population is now fully vaccinated against Covid-19, and two-thirds of adults have received a first shot. The U.K. has now administered more than 53 million doses of coronavirus vaccines. The success of the vaccine rollout, coupled with strict lockdown measures that are now being eased, has led to a plunge in new cases and deaths. Health authorities on Sunday reported just two daily deaths from the virus in all of the U.K.Spain Celebrates (11:03 a.m. NY)Spaniards broke out in spontaneous celebration at midnight, after a national state of emergency that included curfews from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. in most of Spain ended at midnight. In the capital of Madrid alone, the police intervened in more than 450 incidents, the Associated Press reported, as hundreds of people, mostly youth, took to the main plazas and streets in several large cities.“Freedom doesn’t involve holding booze parties in the street because street drinking is not allowed in the city of Madrid,” Mayor José Luis Martínez-Almeida said Sunday.Restrictions were eased on restaurants, travel between regions, and on social gatherings.Fauci Says U.S. Deaths Undercounted (10 a.m. NY)There’s “no doubt” the U.S. has undercounted its number of deaths from Covid-19, which now stand at over 581,000, President Joe Biden’s top medical adviser said.But Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that a University of Washington analysis published May 6 that the true toll is probably over 900,000 is “a bit more than I would have thought.”U.S. Adds Fewer Than 35,000 Cases (8 a.m. NY)The U.S. added fewer than 35,000 cases on Saturday, sending the seven-day rolling average of new infections to the lowest since the end of September. While reporting often lags on weekends, the data collected by Johns Hopkins University and Bloomberg is the latest sign that the pandemic in America is easing.Another 625 people nationwide died of Covid-19, bringing the toll to more than 581,000 since the outbreak began. Detroit and New York City had the most deaths per capita among major metro areas in the week through Wednesday, according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report dated May 6.EU Hasn’t Renewed Astra Contract (7:15 a.m. NY)The European Union hasn’t renewed its contract for vaccines from AstraZeneca Plc, Industry Commissioner Thierry Breton said Sunday on France Inter radio.The bloc started legal proceedings against the company over shortfalls last month. Breton also said the region is pushing for the establishment of vaccine factories in Africa, which is just as important as the question of intellectual property protections covering the technology.India Death Toll Stays Above 4,000 (4:20 p.m. HK)India reported more than 4,000 Covid-19 deaths for a second day, as the nation battled the world’s worst outbreak of the virus. The country on Sunday recorded 4,092 fatalities and found 403,736 new cases, with the capital New Delhi and other big cities continuing to report surging infections.The lockdown in India’s capital will be extended until May 17, New Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said.The restrictions had been set to end Monday after being extended several times already.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.