Coronavirus Global Updates May 14 ::: India Virus Cases Ease ; California’s Deaths Double ; South Africa, Ghana Expand Vaccine Drives

Mon May 17 10:16:57 CAT 2021

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Coronavirus Global Updates May 14 ::: India Virus Cases Ease ; California’s Deaths Double ; South Africa, Ghana Expand Vaccine Drives

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Zimbabwe COVID19 Update

COVID-19 update: As at 16 May 2021, Zimbabwe had 38 560 confirmed cases, including 36 329 recoveries and 1 582 deaths. To date, a total of 581 615 people have been vaccinated against COVID-19. 

Glaxo Has Positive Results; Taiwan Bans Foreigners: Virus Update

Sanofi and GlaxoSmithKline Plc reported positive results from a mid-stage study, offering optimism their delayed Covid-19 vaccine could be cleared by the end of the year.

Taiwan will ban foreigners from entry as Taipei closes schools while Singapore will  <https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-05-16/singapore-plans-to-vaccinate-children-under-16-minister-says> move to home-based learning, adding to restrictions on dining in and gatherings.

Thailand reported a record 9,635 new cases, the majority from the country’s prisons, while Indonesia is gearing up for the start of a private vaccination program. The country earlier paused the use of a specific batch of the AstraZeneca Plc vaccine as its regulator investigates side effects.

Taiwan to Ban Entry of Foreigners From May 19 to June 18
Taiwan to ban entry of foreign nationals without residency from May 19 to June 18, according to website statement from Taiwan Centers for Disease Control.

Taiwan will also ban airline transit passengers from May 19 to June 18, restrictions announced earlier that include shutting schools in Taipei. Taiwan added 333 local cases of Covid-19 Monday, including 158 cases in Taipei city and 148 in New Taipei city.

U.K.’s Kwarteng: I ‘Fully Expect’ We’ll Be Reopened on June 21 
Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng expects the U.K. will be able to complete the  <https://www.bloomberg.com/news/terminal/QT8MX9T0AFBA> final step of reopening its economy on June 21 as planned.

“I fully expect that we’ll be reopened on the 21 of June. I think it’s very likely to happen,” Kwarteng told Sky News on Monday.

Sanofi, Glaxo Covid Vaccine Works Well in Second-Chance Study 
Sanofi and GlaxoSmithKline Plc reported  <https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-05-17/sanofi-glaxo-covid-vaccine-works-well-in-second-chance-study> positive results from a redo of a mid-stage study for their Covid-19 vaccine, putting the delayed shot on track for possible clearance by the end of the year.

Volunteers showed a similar antibody response to people who have recovered from the coronavirus, the companies said in a statement Monday. Those with evidence of a prior infection had a particularly high immune response after a single dose, suggesting the shot could be a good booster candidate.

The results come as a relief for the two partners, two of the biggest and most experienced companies in the vaccine field whose effort stumbled late last year when a dosing error delayed the initial study. The shot, which relies on technology used to make flu vaccines, could win regulatory approval in the fourth quarter, roughly a year after the one developed by Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE. Since then, a handful of other injections have received clearance.

EU to Back Expansion of Vaccine Output Capacity in Africa, FT Says 
The European Union will support an expansion of vaccine production in Africa with President Ursula von der Leyen to back proposals for strategic vaccine production hubs, the  <https://www.bloomberg.com/news/terminal/QT8GHV8JRZLT> Financial Times reported, citing unidentified European officials.

Contributions could include both direct EU aid as well as funding from the European Investment Bank and national development agencies, the FT said. The EU also wants to help build up regulatory capacity, including the establishment of the African Medicines Agency.

Indonesia to Start Covid-19 Private Vaccinations on May 18 
Indonesia’s private vaccination program will start with 484,400 doses of Sinopharm vaccines, Rosan Perkasa Roeslani, chairman on the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry known as Kadin, said by text message Monday.

The first phase will prioritize the manufacturing sector in 20 sites across the greater Jakarta area with Kadin estimating 20-26 million workers will be inoculated.

Earlier, the country suspended use of a certain batch of AstraZeneca’s vaccine pending an investigation into its side effects as a precautionary measure to test its toxicity and sterility.

China Is Vaccinating Almost 14 Million People a Day Amid Flareup 
China is vaccinating almost  <https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-05-17/china-is-vaccinating-almost-14-million-people-a-day-amid-flareup> 14 million people a day, a record for the nation as worries grow amid a Covid-19 flareup.

The ramp up in shots comes just days after China detected its first new cluster in months with a smattering of cases in the eastern province of Anhui and northeastern region of Liaoning. Videos on social media showed citizens rushing to get their vaccines, with long queues at inoculation sites despite heavy rainfall.

Many nations in Asia, China included, are struggling to combat vaccine hesitation. Some people have been wooed into a sense of complacency due to the region’s early success in containing the virus while others simply don’t trust the safety or efficacy of the vaccines available.

Weakened Thai Economy Faces Uphill Battle Amid Virus Surge 
Thailand’s economic contraction continued into the start of year, setting the stage for a further slump as the country now faces its  <https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-05-17/thailand-prison-clusters-send-daily-covid-cases-to-record-high> worst wave of Covid-19 cases.

Gross domestic product in the first quarter shrank 2.6% from a year earlier, the National Economic and Social Development Council said Monday. The government faces a fresh dilemma between containing the new outbreak and sustaining domestic demand, which had started to recover in March before slumping again last month.

The fresh wave, with new cases hitting a record 9,635 on Monday, has almost quadrupled the country’s total caseload since the start of April, sending consumer confidence to a 22-year low.

Working From Home Will Cut London Office Footprint 15%: Deloitte 
The amount of central London office space companies need will fall by as much as 15% as people continue working from home even after coronavirus restrictions ease, according to a Deloitte survey.

Developers anticipate that  <https://www.bloomberg.com/news/terminal/QT775MT1UM0X> more flexible working patterns post-pandemic will result in less densely filled offices, so businesses will need less square footage, although this will be offset by reduced hot-desking and demand for more meeting space. Some large corporate tenants will shrink their office footprints by half, Deloitte said.

About 85% of developers cited weak tenant demand as a major concern in the London office market. In particular, the survey found that the financial services sector was consolidating its office presence in central London while “considering how businesses and functions can be deployed outside the capital, supporting regional growth.”

South Africa, Ghana Expand Vaccine Drives 
South Africa will start a  <https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-05-16/south-africa-to-broaden-vaccine-rollout-with-pfizer-doses-monday> mass vaccination effort Monday at 87 sites across the country using Pfizer Inc. doses administered to frontline health-care workers and the elderly, health minister Zweli Mkhize said Sunday.

Ghana will begin administering doses from a second delivery of vaccines from the WHO-backed Covax facility starting May 19. Ghana received a batch of 350,000 AstraZeneca Plc vaccines. Priority will be given to those who already have a first shot, President Nana Akufo-Addo said in a television broadcast in the capital, Accra.

Cyclone Pauses Mumbai Vaccinations 
Mumbai canceled vaccinations Monday at all public sites after a cyclone warning, the municipality said on Twitter.

In view of the warning of high intensity cyclone issued by IMD, the vaccination program scheduled on Monday (17th May) stands cancelled at all MCGM & public vaccination centres.

Cyclone “Tauktae” is  <https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-05-16/india-s-west-coast-braces-for-cyclone-tauktae-amid-virus-woes> set to hit the western coast of India -- the country’s industrialized belt with big refineries and ports -- prompting authorities already grappling with a deadly second virus wave to start preparations for evacuating citizens. Local authorities in Mumbai have already moved hundreds of Covid-19 patients to other facilities.

California’s Deaths Double 
California’s deaths doubled to 55 from 27 the day before, with the fatalities still low at 0.1 deaths for every 100,000, based on the state’s seven-day average.

The positive test rate dipped slightly to 1%, the health department’s  <https://covid19.ca.gov/state-dashboard/#top> website said. The state reported 1,370 Covid-19 cases yesterday, a rate of 3.3 new cases per 100,000, a decrease from the day before. California has administered more than 34.4 million vaccines in total.

Singapore Faces Vaccine Delays 
Singapore may be facing slower vaccine deliveries over the next couple of months, as the country considers delaying second shots.

Ho Ching, the wife of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, cited the scarcity in a Facebook  <https://www.facebook.com/100005335308340/posts/1762087567312403/> post Sunday. “Yes, our vaccine deliveries are slow this month and possibly next 1-2 months,” said Ho, who is also the outgoing CEO of Singapore’s state-owned investor Temasek Holdings Pte.

New Health Minister Ong Ye Kung said the government is studying holding off the second shots in order to give more people at least one vaccine dose.

“There have been many international studies and it shows that even with one dose, it confers good protection without compromising efficacy,” Ong said. “Our scientists have been studying this.”

CDC Shuns Federal Vaccine Mandate 
Any mandates in the U.S. to require people to be vaccinated against Covid-19 will be set at the  <https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-05-16/cdc-chief-says-any-vaccine-mandates-in-u-s-will-be-set-locally> local level by companies and institutions such as colleges, the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.

“It may very well be that local businesses, local jurisdictions, will work towards vaccine mandates,” CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “That is going to be locally driven and not federally driven.”

Separately, on “Fox News Sunday,” Walensky cited colleges or universities that may enforce vaccine mandates for students, and that the cruise ship industry may also consider it for people about to embark on multiday journeys at sea.

Walensky spoke days after the CDC announced that Americans vaccinated against Covid-19 were clear to shed their face masks in public at most times.

20 Million Fully Vaccinated in U.K. 
More than 20 million people, or 38% of the British adult population, are fully vaccinated against the coronavirus, the government said Sunday. Over 36.5 million, or 69%, have had one dose. The U.K. will open inoculations to everyone 35 and older this week as it combats cases of a highly transmissible variant that originated in India. The country reported another 1,926 cases and four deaths on Sunday. Both figures are up about 9% over the last seven days.

Singapore Shuts In-School Classes, Shifts Lessons Online 
All primary, secondary, junior college and Millennia Institute students will shift to full home-based learning from May 19 till the end of the school term on May 28, Singapore’s Ministry of Education said on Sunday. Preschools and student care centers remain open to support parents who have to work.

The city also plans to vaccinate  <https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-05-16/singapore-plans-to-vaccinate-children-under-16-minister-says> under 16 year-olds after a recent rise of infections among students.

U.S. Cases Now Fewest Since June 
The U.S. added slightly more than 30,000 cases on Saturday, sending the nation’s rolling one-week average to the lowest level since late last June, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University and Bloomberg.

Even so, another 480 people died of illness related to Covid-19. That compares with peaks of more than 5,000 deaths a day in January and February.

India Virus Cases Ease 
India reported 311,170 new infections Sunday, continuing the downward trajectory seen in the past few days, bolstering hopes that cases may have peaked after a deadly second wave that overwhelmed hospitals and crematoriums. The case tally has crossed 24.6 million, according to the India’s health ministry. More than 182 million vaccine doses have been administered.

While the daily surge in cases is ebbing, there’s no let up in deaths with the Asian nation reporting 4,077 more casualties, pushing the total to 270,284. Those death toll numbers might be understated, according to  <https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-05-16/small-town-reporters-reveal-coronavirus-carnage-in-india> local media reports of bodies floating along river banks in the northern states.

The Dainik Bhaskar, a Hindi newspaper popular across India’s crowded heartland, fanned 30 of its reporters along the banks of the river Ganga in Uttar Pradesh state. They found -- and photographed -- more than 2,000 corpses across some 1,140 kilometers (708 miles). The state government claims only about 300 are dying daily.

Their findings make grim reading: authorities are piling silt over more than 350 bodies lying in shallow graves in Kannauj, the reporters say; they see dogs gnawing at some of the 400 corpses just a short distance from a crematorium in Kanpur; they count 52 corpses floating down the river in Ghazipur, often crossing state borders.

INVESTORS DIARY 2021

Company

Event

Venue

Date & Time

Africa Day

25/05/21

Public Holiday in lieu of Independence Day falling on a Sunday

19/04/21

Companies under Cautionary

ART

PPC

Dairibord

Starafrica

Fidelity

Turnall

Medtech

Zimre

Nampak Zimbabwe

DISCLAIMER: This report has been prepared by Bulls ‘n Bears, a division of Faith Capital (Pvt) Ltd for general information purposes only and does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy or subscribe for any securities. The information contained in this report has been compiled from sources believed to be reliable, but no representation or warranty is made or guarantee given as to its accuracy or completeness. All opinions expressed and recommendations made are subject to change without notice. Securities or financial instruments mentioned herein may not be suitable for all investors. Securities of emerging and mid-size growth companies typically involve a higher degree of risk and more volatility than the securities of more established companies. Neither Faith Capital nor any other member of Bulls ‘n Bears nor any other person, accepts any liability whatsoever for any loss howsoever arising from any use of this report or its contents or otherwise arising in connection therewith. Recipients of this report shall be solely responsible for making their own independent investigation into the business, financial condition and future prospects of any companies referred to in this report. Other  Indices quoted herein are for guideline purposes only and sourced from third parties.

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