Total Covid-19 cases
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59,590,406Deaths
1,399,899London set to be spared toughest Covid curbs
FT reporters
London looks set to avoid being placed under the tightest coronavirus restrictions as the government prepares to outline its new regime of measures for England.
Senior government officials on Wednesday said they expected London to remain in the looser tier two, with Rishi Sunak, chancellor, Sadiq Khan, London mayor, and Oliver Dowden, culture secretary, all pressing Mr Johnson not to close the capital’s pubs, restaurants, hotels and theatres, which would be required if the city was placed into tier three.
With the UK recording a further 696 coronavirus-related deaths on Wednesday, the highest daily total since May, ministers met during the evening to discuss which areas of England will enter into each of the three tiers when the new rules come into effect from December 2.
The final decision will be announced by health secretary Matt Hancock in parliament on Thursday.
Read more here
Pakistan cricketers test positive in New Zealand
Alice Woodhouse in Hong Kong
Six members of the Pakistan cricket team who arrived in New Zealand for international fixtures have tested positive for coronavirus.
New Zealand Cricket said two of the six positive tests were classed as “historical” while four are thought to be new infections.
New Zealand imposes strict quarantine requirements on all arrivals, but allows sports teams to train together during the isolation period. The test results mean the team’s training will be put on hold until the cases have been investigated.
The Pakistan team had tested negative on four occasions before travelling to New Zealand. Games between the two countries are set to begin in the second week of December.
South Korean economic outlook improves despite third wave
Edward White and Kang Buseong
South Korea’s economic outlook has improved further despite the country facing its worst virus outbreak in eight months, according to the central bank.
South Korea’s coronavirus infection rate has hit its highest since March, prompting health officials to consider reinstatement of tougher social distancing measures across the country.
However, bucking fears of worsening outbreak — locally and abroad — the Bank of Korea on Thursday issued an improvement in its economic forecast for 2020. The move underscores how Seoul continues to reap the rewards from its swift response to the pandemic.
The BoK raised its annual GDP outlook for 2020 to a 1.1 per cent contraction, from an earlier estimate of a 1.3 per cent decline. The improvement comes as robust foreign demand for South Korea’s technology exports helps offset the economic hit from earlier in the year and soft domestic spending. The central bank held interest rates at a record low of 0.5 per cent.
Still, health officials are grappling with the third serious virus wave to hit the country this year. Reflecting their risk-averse approach that has helped avoid strict lockdowns, officials have in recent days already strengthened distancing rules across the greater Seoul area in which about half the country’s 52m people live. Further restrictions are under consideration.
The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency reported 583 new infections on Thursday, the worst daily total since the country’s initial outbreak linked to a massive cluster in a church group in late February and early March.
UN says gender-based violence exacerbated by pandemic
Gary Jones
The UN launched “16 Days of Activism against Gender-based Violence” on Wednesday, saying that “as countries implemented lockdown measures to stop the spread of the coronavirus, violence against women, especially domestic violence, intensified — in some countries, calls to helplines have increased five-fold”.
Even before Covid-19 hit, the UN said, “violence against women and girls had reached pandemic proportions. Globally, 243m women and girls were abused by an intimate partner in the past year. Meanwhile, less than 40 per cent of women who experience violence report it or seek help.”
Formal reports of domestic violence have decreased as survivors find it harder to seek help and access support through the regular channels, the UN said. School closures and economic strains had also left women and girls poorer, out of school and out of work, and more vulnerable to exploitation, abuse, forced marriage and harassment.
The new initiative is part of the UN's UNiTE by 2030 to End Violence against Women campaign. It will continue until December 10, the global Human Rights Day, and calls for international action to bridge funding gaps, ensure essential services for survivors of violence during the pandemic, and encourage the collection of data that can improve life-saving services for women and girls.
US reports more than 2,000 coronavirus fatalities for second day in a row
Peter Wells in New York
The US on Wednesday reported more than 2,000 coronavirus deaths for the second day in a row, while hospitalisations have doubled in the past four weeks to a record of nearly 90,000.
State authorities attributed a further 2,284 deaths to coronavirus, up from 2,029 on Tuesday, according to Covid Tracking Project data. That was the biggest one-day jump in fatalities since May 7.
The country has averaged 1,584 deaths a day over the past week – the result of a record surge in cases and hospitalisations since the start of autumn that pushed up the overall death toll to a rate previously seen in mid-May.
There are 89,954 people currently in US hospitals being treated for coronavirus. That is a record high for the 16th day in a row and an increase of 99 per cent from the number of patients four weeks ago, according to Financial Times analysis of Covid Tracking Project data.
Texas (200), Illinois (178), Ohio (156) and California (106) were the states that reported more than 100 new deaths on Wednesday. Ohio, Tennessee (92), Iowa (45) and Utah (26) had record jumps.
States reported 182,537 Covid-19 infections, the third-biggest daily jump since the start of the pandemic and about 10,000 more cases than the country's seven-day average. Wednesday's increase was still shy of the November 20 record of 192,805.
California and Texas separately reported record one-day increases in coronavirus cases — 18,350 and 14,648, respectively — but these were offset by the Midwest, which has been at the forefront of the autumn surge but is now beginning to exhibit downward trends in daily cases.
WHO: 5m deaths a year could be avoided with exercise
Gary Jones
New World Health Organization guidelines released on Wednesday warned that exercise was more important than ever during the pandemic, and that 5m deaths a year could be averted if the global population was more active.
WHO statistics show that one in four adults and four out of five adolescents do not get enough physical activity. This is estimated to cost US$54bn in direct healthcare globally, and another US$14bn to lost productivity.
With many people currently homebound due to Covid-19, the WHO’s new Guidelines on Physical Activity and Sedentary Behavior recommend 150 to 300 minutes of moderate to vigorous aerobic activity per week for all adults, including people living with chronic conditions or disability, and an average of 60 minutes per day for children and adolescents.
“Being physically active is critical for health and well-being – it can help to add years to life and life to years,” said WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. “Every move counts, especially now as we manage the constraints of the Covid-19 pandemic. We must all move every day – safely and creatively.”
Doubts raised over AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine data
Donato Paolo Mancini, Anjana Ahuja and Clive Cookson in London
Disquiet is growing over the way that Oxford university and AstraZeneca have handled the early readout from trials of their coronavirus vaccine, which much of the developing world may rely on to emerge from the pandemic.
The results were hailed a success for showing an average efficacy of 70 per cent — a figure reached by pooling the results from cohorts on two different dosing regimens.
A month apart, one set of participants received two identical doses, while the other group received a half-dose, and then a full dose. The efficacy for the first, larger group was 62 per cent. In the second subgroup, it was 90 per cent.
But on Tuesday, Moncef Slaoui, the head of Operation Warp Speed, the US government’s funding programme for vaccine development, disclosed that second subgroup was limited to people aged 55 or below, a demographic with lower risk of developing severe Covid-19.
Read more here
London set to be spared toughest Covid curbs
Jasmine Cameron-Chileshe, Jim Pickard and John Burn-Murdoch in London and Andy Bounds in Huddersfield
London looks set to avoid being placed under the tightest coronavirus restrictions as the government prepares to outline its new regime of measures for England.
Senior government officials on Wednesday said they expected London to remain in the looser tier two, with Rishi Sunak, chancellor, Sadiq Khan, London mayor, and Oliver Dowden, culture secretary, all pressing Mr Johnson not to close the capital’s pubs, restaurants, hotels and theatres, which would be required if the city was placed into tier three.
With the UK recording a further 696 coronavirus-related deaths on Wednesday, the highest daily total since May, ministers met during the evening to discuss which areas of England will enter into each of the three tiers when the new rules come into effect from December 2.
The final decision will be announced by health secretary Matt Hancock in parliament on Thursday.
Read more here
Los Angeles launches e-commerce initiative to support small business recovery
Gary Jones
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti on Wednesday launched "LA Optimized", a tech-driven initiative to help small businesses recover from the pandemic.
LA Optimized aims to help small businesses adapt to the shifts in consumer behaviour brought on by the pandemic by boosting their digital marketing skills and optimising their online presence.
“Covid-19 has changed everything — the way we communicate, work, socialise and shop — and our brick-and-mortar stores need to rapidly rethink how they reach their customers, market their goods, sell their products and thrive when so much business is happening online,” Mr Garcetti said.
“Our small businesses are the backbone of our economic strength, and LA Optimized taps into the power of partnerships to equip local enterprises with a larger digital footprint and the tools necessary to gain a competitive edge and lead our pandemic recovery.”
The mayor’s office plans to allocate over $1.5m to support the initiative.
Asia-Pacific stocks take a pause
Alice Woodhouse in Hong Kong
Asia-Pacific stocks took a breather on Thursday following on from a pause for US equities after record highs earlier in the week.
In Japan, the Topix was down 0.1 per cent, the Kospi in South Korea was flat and the S&P/ASX 200 dipped 0.1 per cent.
On Wall Street on Wednesday, the S&P 500 dipped 0.2 per cent, stepping back from an all-time high as US unemployment rose for a second straight week. The figures, which come amid a surge in coronavirus cases, provided more evidence of weakness in the country’s labour market.
US markets will be closed on Thursday for Thanksgiving.
New York ready for second wave with reserve of 150m items of PPE
Gary Jones
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio announced on Wednesday that the city had amassed more than 150m items of personal protective equipment costing US$900m.
“A second wave is at our doorstep, and we're taking zero chances on preparedness,” said Mr de Blasio. “New York City has stepped up so our frontline heroes and healthcare workers will have what they need to save lives.”
The city’s PPE stockpile now holds more than 45m isolation gowns, 58m surgical masks, 9m N95 masks, 5m face shields, 30m pairs of nitrile gloves and 900,000 pairs of goggles.
Texas reports daily record of more than 14,000 new Covid cases
Peter Wells in New York
Texas reported more than 14,600 new coronavirus cases on Wednesday, a record jump for the second-day running, and more than 200 deaths. A further 14,648 people tested positive, authorities revealed this afternoon, easing past the previous one-day record set on Tuesday of 13,998.
Additionally, the health department revealed 961 historical cases stemming from backlogs of lab tests, including 771 from the region around Houston, to the statewide total. That took the total number of confirmed cases in Texas since the start of the pandemic to 1.13m, second only to the 1.14m in California, which also reported a record jump in cases today.
Texas attributed a further 200 deaths to coronavirus, up from 162 yesterday and compared with 187 on Wednesday last week. The state reported 230 fatalities on November 19, which was the biggest one-day jump since late August. Over the past week, Texas has reported an average of 152 deaths a day, the highest rate since the start of September.
The state's overall death toll, at 20,950, is second only to New York. There are 8,585 people currently in Texas hospitals being treated for coronavirus, an increase of 90 over the past 24 hours. That is the highest level of hospitalisations since August 4.
Germany to extend partial shutdown of economy till December 20
Guy Chazan in Berlin
Angela Merkel and the leaders of Germany's 16 states have decided to extend the partial shutdown imposed for the month of November till December 20, saying more needed to be done to bring the coronavirus pandemic under control.
In a government order agreed late on Wednesday evening, the leaders agreed to keep all restaurants, bars, theatres and gyms closed till late next month and to extend the ban on domestic tourism. Schools and most businesses will continue to function as normal.
A government scheme to compensate businesses affected by the "lockdown-lite" imposed at the start of November, which allowed them to claim 75 per cent of their normal monthly revenue, will be extended into December.
A statement said the November lockdown had succeeded in stopping the exponential growth in coronavirus infections and flattening the curve. But the number of cases was still too high: on November 20 a new daily record of 23,648 infections was recorded by the Robert Koch Institute, Germany's main public health authority.
The order agreed on Wednesday evening also imposed further contact restrictions. Masks must now be worn in front of shops as well as in them. Smaller shops can only admit up to one person per 10 square metres of retail space, and larger ones one person per 20 square metres.
Districts that have succeeded in reducing the rate of new infections to 50 per 100,000 people within seven days will be able to deviate from the new rules.
The leaders also agreed that from December 1, social gatherings will be restricted to a maximum of five people from up to two households. This rule will, however, be relaxed from December 23 till January 1, when up to 10 people can come together socially.
People will be urged to reduce all social contact to an absolute minimum for five-seven days before family get-togethers at Christmas. People will be obliged to wear masks at work and in busy public areas, as will children at school from the age of 13. Universities will have to switch to digital learning. New Year's Eve firework displays in crowded streets and public squares will be banned.
California shatters daily record with more than 18,000 new cases
Peter Wells in New York
California reported more than 18,000 new coronavirus cases on Wednesday, the biggest one-day increase of any state during the pandemic.
A further 18,350 people in the most populous US state tested positive, its health department revealed this afternoon, up from 15,329 on Tuesday.
The latest increase soars past its previous record from Saturday of 15,442 as well as the biggest jumps in Florida, Texas and Illinois.
Adjusted for population, the roughly 46 new cases per 100,000 people on the day, ranks among the bottom half of US states.
The record jump came from 168,988 tests reported, down from Tuesday’s record volume of 283,819, and below the statevs 14-day average of about 192,000. This pushed the 14-day positivity rate to 5.9 per cent, a three-month high.
Authorities attributed a further 106 deaths to coronavirus, up from 43 on Tuesday and compared with 61 on Wednesday last week. Today’s increase matches that of November 19, which was the biggest one-day rise in fatalities since late October.
The number of people currently in California hospitals being treated for coronavirus rose to 7,049, an increase of 408 over the past 24 hours and to the highest level since early August.
The recent surge in cases and hospitalisations in California prompted Governor Gavin Newsom to impose a curfew, which went into effect on November 21, that restricts late-night activities in the state’s coronavirus hotspots for the next four weeks. The designated hotspots cover 94 per cent of the state’s nearly 40m residents.
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President-elect Joe Biden urged Americans to forgo their traditional Thanksgiving customs during the pandemic, warning of the dangers of coronavirus “fatigue”. “This is the moment where we need to steel our spines, redouble our efforts and recommit ourselves to the fight,” Mr Biden said in a Thanksgiving speech.
ExxonMobil said it will sack up to 300 workers at its Canadian affiliates, including oil sands producer Imperial Oil, as it continues to reduce costs in the wake of the coronavirus-led crash this year. “The impact of Covid-19 on the demand for ExxonMobil’s products has increased the urgency of the efficiency work,” the company said.
Turkey is in the midst of a severe resurgence of coronavirus, the country’s health minister has confirmed as he announced a full figure for confirmed new daily cases after months of opacity. Health minister Fahrettin Koca said in a press conference that authorities had identified 28,351 confirmed cases of the virus in the past 24 hours.
The UK pub industry has outlined the desperate straits they face over the Christmas period in a letter to the prime minister that calls for the immediate publication of evidence of the virus spreading in pubs. The letter was signed by the British Beer and Pub Association alongside the majority of the UK's large pub groups.
New York on Wednesday reported more than 6,000 coronavirus cases in a single day for the first time in seven months. A further 6,265 people tested positive over 24 hours, Governor Andrew Cuomo revealed at a press conference, up from 4,881 on Tuesday.
The US goods trade deficit swelled last month as a recovery in domestic demand has driven imports back above pre-crisis levels. The trade gap, which US president Donald Trump had vowed to slash during his four years in office, widened to $80.3bn in October, from $79.4bn in September, the Department of Commerce said.
More than £56m has been set aside to support an additional 1,000 loans for entrepreneurs under the start-up loans scheme administered by the state-owned British Business Bank. The government has said that £519m would be allocated for the broader Covid-19 loans schemes through 2021.
Global trade rose for the fourth consecutive month in September, narrowing the gap with last year’s level as China’s economic rebound fuelled global imports and exports. The volume of international goods trade rose 2.1 per cent in September compared with August, according to a widely watched world trade monitor published by the Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis.
Large minorities in “frugal” EU countries are concerned about the misuse of the bloc’s €750bn pandemic recovery fund. The EU sealed a deal on the recovery fund in July after resistance from Austria, Denmark, the Netherlands and Sweden, which were opposed to the idea of permitting the union to borrow money and hand it out as budgetary expenditure for member states.
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Coronavirus latest: California and Texas smash daily Covid case records - Financial Times
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