(Bloomberg) -- U.S. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said it's “time for the state of emergency to wind down” after almost two years.
Europe accelerated steps to roll back Covid-19 curbs after efforts to control the omicron variant proved largely futile. Italy will drop restrictions for vaccinated people even in high-risk areas, and Finland will lift limits on gatherings and ease curbs on restaurants and bars. Switzerland scrapped the obligation to work from home. In Canada, the Bank of Montreal plans to bring staff back to offices.
Hong Kong eased the rules to release patients from the hospital, a move that should shorten stays as the city grapples with a growing number of infections that are taxing its health-care facilities.
Key Developments:
- Virus Tracker: Cases top 383 million; deaths pass 5.69 million
- Vaccine Tracker: More than 10.1 billion shots administered
- Omicron subvariant spreads even faster: Raphael and Fazeli
- Pregnant women with Covid unlikely to transmit to babies
- What we know about the omicron variant now: QuickTake
- Sign up for the free Coronavirus Daily newsletter here
BMO Begins Returning Staff to Offices (4:08 p.m. NY)
Bank of Montreal plans to start bringing investment and corporate bankers back to their offices next week, and is seeking to have staff fully returned on a hybrid basis by early April.
Bank of Montreal's plans mark one of the first moves by Canada's banks to start refilling offices after the omicron variant caused a wave of infections that prompted governments to tighten restrictions and recommend companies let employees work remotely.
LA, Long Beach Port Dockworker Absences Decline (4:01 p.m. NY)
The number of absences reported to port operators in southern California each day is dropping “continues to drop, bringing operations closer to normal, Alan McCorkle, president of Yusen Terminals LLC at the Port of Los Angeles, said Wednesday.
That's a welcome sign for the more than 100 ships waiting off the coast to unload at the U.S.'s two largest ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.
Dockworkers have been hit hard by the omicron variant, with positive Covid-19 infections among Longshore and Warehouses Union workers on the West Coast reaching 1,878 through Jan. 28. That's more positive cases among the almost 15,000 ILWU members than in all of 2021.
S. Africa Excess Deaths at Pre-Omicron Level (1:06 p.m. NY)
South Africa's excess deaths, seen as a more accurate assessment of the impact of the coronavirus than official statistics, have fallen to levels last seen before the omicron variant was identified.
The number of excess deaths, a measure of mortality over a historical average, fell to 886 in the week ended Jan. 23, compared with 1,329 the week earlier, according to the South African Medical Research Council. That's the lowest since the week ended Oct. 24 when there were 824 excess deaths.
The first omicron cases in South Africa were identified from samples taken in early November. The fall in mortality adds to evidence that the variant, while more transmissible than earlier strains, causes milder disease. The seven-day average of confirmed cases in the week ended Jan. 20 was 3,723, compared with 506 in the week ended Oct. 21, according to government statistics.
Italy Eases Restrictions for Vaccinated (11:45 a.m. NY)
Italy will drop restrictions for vaccinated people even in high-risk areas, Prime Minister Mario Draghi said, vowing to continue easing curbs in coming weeks. A four-tier system of restrictions is in place in Italy, with tighter rules for regions where infections and hospitalizations are higher, but regional authorities have asked to scrap it altogether.
At a cabinet meeting Wednesday afternoon, Draghi said the government will announce a calendar of future reopening steps, and vowed to limit online schooling as much as possible.
McConnell: ‘Time to Wind Down' Emergency (11:20 a.m. NY)
U.S. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said it is “time for the state of emergency to wind down” after almost two years. McConnell said in floor remarks that the nation should accept that Covid-19 is here to stay. He also said he wants unallocated pandemic relief funds to be accounted for and questioned the need for additional virus-relief spending. Former President Donald Trump declared a national emergency in March 2020, and President Joe Biden extended it until March 1 of this year.
Switzerland Scraps WFH, Contact Quarantine (8:35 a.m. NY)
Switzerland will ease Covid-19 restrictions, including an obligation to work from home and quarantine for those who have come into contact with someone who has tested positive for the virus.
The government said it will consider lifting all rules, including showing Covid certificates in restaurants and wearing masks on public transport, later this month.
South Africa Researcher Sees Wave Hump (8:04 a.m. NY)
A sub-variant of omicron known as BA.2 is spreading rapidly in South Africa and may cause a second surge in infections, one of the country's top scientists said.
Studies point to BA.2 as being more transmissible than the original omicron. The second onslaught means the omicron wave “may end up like a camel,” Tulio de Oliveira, a bio-informatics professor who runs gene-sequencing institutions and advises the government on the pandemic, said at a presentation at Stellenbosch University. “A wave with another hump.”
Finland Lifts Covid Restrictions (6:55 a.m. NY)
Finland's government decided to lift all limits on gatherings and ease restrictions on restaurants and bars on Feb. 14, keeping night clubs closed until March 1, Prime Minister Sanna Marin told reporters. The decisions free up cultural venues and events, as well as sports from coronavirus restrictions.
Under pressure from a pandemic-weary public, politicians across Europe are deeming many public-health measures increasingly unnecessary.
Global Covid Deaths Rise But Infections Settle (5:45 p.m. HK)
While the number of reported Covid cases worldwide remained at a similar level in the week of Jan. 24 to the previous week, the number of new deaths increased 9% to 59,195, fueled by increases in Southeast Asia and the Americas, the World Health Organization said in a weekly report.
Hong Kong Eases Rules on Hospital Stays (4:53 p.m. HK)
Hong Kong eased the rules it uses to release Covid patients from the hospital, a move that should shorten stays as the city grapples with a growing number of infections that are taxing its health care facilities.
Patients will soon be discharged if they have three tests that show they are no longer infectious, Hospital Authority Chief Manager Lau Ka-hin said at a daily briefing on Wednesday.
The previous strict standards, designed to ensure no one was released when they could potentially spread the virus, kept some people with no symptoms hospitalized for weeks.
Tokyo's Daily Cases Eclipse Previous Record (4:27 p.m. HK)
Tokyo reported a record 21,576 cases, eclipsing the previous daily record set last Friday, fueled by the omicron variant. Severe cases rose to 30 from 29 the previous day. Hospital bed occupancy reached 51.4%, higher than the threshold at which Governor Yuriko Koike said she would consider asking the government to declare a state of emergency.
China Starts New Year With 36 Local Cases (11:30 a.m. HK)
China reported 36 new locally transmitted cases on Tuesday, the first day of the Lunar New Year. Most of the infections occurred in areas already under lockdown.
Beijing found two more infections connected to a cluster at a cold storage facility dealing with imported foods. Tianjin, a port city near Beijing, reported 12 new local cases, two of which were found outside of isolated areas and connected to the city's existing outbreak.
Thirty-two new cases were reported among the thousands of Olympic athletes, officials and staff arriving ahead of the Games' opening ceremony in Beijing on Friday. That number was little changed from the previous two days.
Australian Mining Hit by Border Curbs (11:10 a.m. HK)
Labor shortages are becoming an increasing challenge for mine operators across Western Australia. The state is one of the world's last Covid-Zero strongholds, having abandoned plans to loosen border controls in January.
The Western Australian resources industry relies on flying in explosives experts, truck drivers and other workers to remote sites, often from other states.
Iron ore miner Fortescue Metals Group Ltd. reported a 20% rise in costs over the past 12 months, in part due to increased labor overheads, while BHP Group Ltd., the world's largest miner, reported that temporary rail labor shortages had been a headwind.
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With assistance from Bloomberg
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