- In the DM world, the US recorded 47,126 new cases, an increase of 1.6%. Southern states saw a significant growth in COVID hospitalizations with Arizona reaching 89% of its ICU capacity. Texas also registered an all-time high.
- To assist the hard hit areas of San Antonio, the US military will deploy a special medical team, including emergency rooms and critical-care nurses.
- The US government has just announced its largest COVID-19 vaccine contract to date. It is valued at $1.6bn and was awarded to Novavax, a Maryland based biotech company. It is the fourth company to receive federal funds to conduct large-scale Phase 3 clinical trials and to manufacture a vaccine, after AstraZenca, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson.
- In the UK, cases growth is trending down and yesterday only 359 new infections were found. London’s Canary Wharf is preparing the return of up to three-quarters of its workforce. Among the new rules are one-way routes, limits on lifts capacity, and regular cleaning. Across the country, there have already been three pubs which have had to close again after customers tested positive.
- In Australia, there was a 2% increase on Monday, amounting to 172 new cases. In Melbourne, tougher restrictions have been announced and starting from Wednesday more than five million residents will be locked down for six weeks.
- Greece saw a 1.2% increase on Monday. Health authorities reported that most of its new cases come from tourists.
- In EM, the Philippines recorded a 4.7% increase in cases. It has EM’s highest daily growth rate for the second day in a row. But authorities still decided to resume non-essential travel to countries that allow entry, on the condition that citizens have round-trip tickets, visas, and health insurance.
- South Africa recorded a 4.6% increase in cases. It has recently passed 200,000 infections and remains Africa’s worst-affected nation. Local authorities have asked for tougher restrictions but president Cyril Ramaphosa has declared there are no plans for such measures.
- Chile saw a 1% increase in cases, which amounts for 3,025 new cases. President Pinera has announced a new $1.5bn package that targets the country’s middle class. It includes zero-interest loans, subsidized rent, and six-months mortgage payment deferrals.
- Russia also had a 1% increase, which amounts for 6,569 new cases. It pushes its total infections to over 685,000.
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Bilal Hafeez is the CEO and Editor of Macro Hive. He spent over twenty years doing research at big banks – JPMorgan, Deutsche Bank, and Nomura, where he had various “Global Head” roles and did FX, rates and cross-markets research.
Stefan Posea is a Research Analyst at Macro Hive. His research interests lie in macro-financial interactions and monetary policy analysis. Stefan graduated with an MSc in Economics at Birkbeck, University of London and previously held roles in M&A and the Public Sector.
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