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S. Korea’s critical COVID cases at record high

SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea reported a record daily 5,352 new COVID-19 infections and 70 deaths, while a nationwide total of nine cases of the Omicron variant have been confirmed, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said on Saturday. The government on Friday announced that people visiting restaurants, cinemas and other public spaces will have to show vaccine passes. It is also reducing the limit on private gatherings to six people in the greater Seoul area, from 10 currently, and to eight from 12 for those residing outside of the capital, starting next Monday. The hospitalisation rate was rising rapidly led by severe cases of COVID-19, with the number of serious and critical patients at 752 as of Friday, KDCA said. South Korea has also confirmed three additional Omicron cases, bringing the total to nine after a fully vaccinated couple tested positive for the variant after travelling from Nigeria last week. To fend off the new variant, authorities on Friday announced a 10-day mandatory quarantine requirement for all inbound travellers for two weeks, halting exemptions given earlier to fully vaccinated people.

South Korea has been battling the worst wave of infections since July, when the daily cases stood below 2,000 until the government switched to “living with COVID-19”. The cases hit 5,000s for the first time this week, putting a strain on the healthcare system.

The country, which has fully inoculated 91.7% of its adult population, has so far reported a total of 467,907 COVID-19 infections, with 3,809 deaths since the start of the pandemic. NN: S.Korea has amoung the worlds highest vaccination rates. This is truly disturbing news. We are running down a lot of information. To early to conjecture on where this is going.

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Gove: UK faces ‘deeply concerning situation’…..Omicron will be dominant variant by early next week, professor warns…….. People “very likely” to come in contact with Omicron holders, professor warns….

30% of cases in London are now Omicron as Govt advised to bring in tougher restrictions Boosters urged in face of Omicron spread

he UK’s top public health officials have advised ministers that “stringent national measures” need to be imposed by 18 December to avoid Covid hospitalisations surpassing last winter’s peak, according to reports. Sajid Javid, the health secretary, received a presentation from the UK Health and Security Agency (UKHSA) on Tuesday warning that even if the new Omicro variant leads to less serious disease than Delta, it risks overwhelming the NHS with 5,000 people admitted to hospital a day, the Guardian reported. It comes as Communities Secretary Michael Gove said Omicron already makes up 30 per cent of new Covid cases in London.Department of Health figures show London’s infection rate have risen in all 32 boroughs of London – with 11 seeing a leap of over a third in a week. Omicron could overtake Delta as the dominant Covid-19 variant as early as next week, an expert has warned. Professor Jason Leitch, the National Clinical Director of the Scottish Government, told Sky News: “All four countries are managing this the way they think they should. It’s not any different. “There may be slight variations regionally around England but you’re pretty much where we are.” He said Omicron will be the dominant variant by the beginning of next week. “We’ve done this four times now… we’ve had four variants. Unfortunately two of them have come four weeks before Christmas. You couldn’t make this virus up, it’s like fiction.” Eleanor Riley, a professor of immunology and infectious disease, said Omicron is spreading so fast that people are “very likely” to meet someone infected with the Covid-19 variant unless they are “living the life of a hermit”. The University of Edinburgh academic also warned “a lot of people” could still end up in hospital even if the coronavirus mutation proves to provoke milder symptoms than the Delta variant. Prof Riley told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “Omicron is spreading so quickly that, I think, unless you are living the life of a hermit, you are very likely to come across it in the next few weeks.“I don’t think anyone should be going around thinking they are not going to catch it, I think that situation has changed.” She added: “There is a huge ‘if’ about this, ‘is it milder?’. I think it is very dangerous to compare data from South Africa, say, to the UK. NN: We are at a point we could describe the worst of all worlds. The Delta mutation is running wild and deaths are increasing And to add to our torment the  Omicron is coming on strong. How deadly is it? the truth is its to early to tell. We are on it like feathers on a chicken

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Brian Williams warns of darkness spreading during final broadcast as NBC anchor

After 28 years as an anchor with NBC networks, Brian Williams called it quits on Thursday during his MSNBC show The 11th Hour. While his final episode was filled with old colleagues and recurring guests celebrating his career and paying him lip service, his final message was filled with warning. “My biggest worry is for my country,” Williams said. “I’m not a liberal or a conservative. I’m an institutionalist. I believe in this place. And in my love of my country I yield to no one, but the darkness on the edge of town has spread to roads and highways and neighborhoods.” “Grown men and women who swore an oath to our constitution, elected by our constituents, possessing the kinds of college degrees I can only dream of have decided to join the mob and become something they are not, hoping we somehow forget who they were,” Williams continued. “They’ve decided to burn it all down with us inside. That should scare you to no end as much as it scares an aging volunteer fireman.” While Williams made it clear he has no immediate plans post-MSNBC, he did leave the door open for a possible return to television at some point. He said, “I will probably find it impossible to be silent and stay away from you and lights and cameras after I experiment with relaxation and find out what I’ve missed and what’s out there.” Williams’s career as a journalist has been tumultuous towards the end. While anchor for NBC’s flagship Nightly News, he was suspended and ultimately reassigned for exaggerating a harrowing helicopter ride in Iraq. Despite the professional setback, he is one of the more beloved anchors of the past 20 years. The mash-up raps of his from The Tonight Show have garnered tens of millions clicks online. “As a proud New Jersey native, this is where I get to say, regrets, I’ve had a few, too few to mention,” Williams said in his final minutes on the show. “What a ride it’s been. Where else, how else was a kid like me going to meet presidents and kings and the occasional rock star?” NN: Heed the warnings well. The lefty liberals are taking control of media. What media they do not control their are censoring. Remember the managers of social medial are lefty anti fossil fuel climate change radicals. Unfortunately the conservative media has been seized by the radical right stupid conspiracy providers of doom.

 

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US inflation at 6.8% in November, highest since 1982

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) for all items in the United States jumped 6.8% on an annual basis in November, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics said on Friday. The figure marks an increase from the annual inflation rate of 6.2% recorded in October and is at the highest level since 1982.

The index for all items except food and energy was up 4.9% year on year, while food prices rose 6.1% on an annual basis and energy prices soared 33.3%.

On a monthly basis, the CPI for All Urban Consumers added 0.8% compared to October, while the index less food and energy gained 0.5%.

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OPEC+ lifted November oil output by 0.5M bpd – survey

LONDON, (Reuters) – The increase in OPEC’s oil output in November has again undershot the rise planned under a deal with allies, a Reuters survey found on Tuesday, bringing a lack of capacity in some producers into focus ahead of a policy meeting this week. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) pumped 27.74 million barrels per day (bpd) in November, the survey found, a rise of 220,000 bpd from the previous month but below the 254,000 increase allowed under the supply deal. OPEC and its allies, a group known as OPEC+, are gradually relaxing 2020’s output cuts as demand recovers from the pandemic. But many smaller producers can’t raise supply and others have been wary of pumping too much in case of renewed COVID-19 setbacks. “The pressure is growing on OPEC+,” said Carsten Fritsch, analyst at Commerzbank. Stepping up production by 400,000 bpd in January was “virtually unimaginable in view of the latest market developments,” he said. The OPEC+ agreement allowed for a 400,000 bpd production increase in November from all members, of which about 253,000 bpd is shared by the 10 OPEC members covered by the deal, OPEC figures seen by Reuters show. With output undershooting the planned increase, OPEC’s compliance with its pledged cuts increased to 120% in November, the survey found, from 118% a month earlier. The biggest rises in November came from OPEC’s top two producers, Saudi Arabia and Iraq, which both boosted output largely as promised according to the agreement. Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Algeria also made increases as called for by their higher November quotas. Nigerian output, often hit by unplanned outages, recovered in November as a force majeure was lifted.Output declined or did not increase in Angola, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon, the survey found, owing to a lack of capacity to produce more. The biggest decline – 50,000 bpd – was in Angola, where exports hit a record low during the month according to tanker schedules. The second largest was in Libya, one of the countries exempt from OPEC supply curbs, due to pipeline maintenance. Output in Iran, which has raised exports since the fourth quarter despite U.S. sanctions, was steady in November. Talks to revive its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, which would allow a larger export recovery, resumed this week

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EU drugs regulator says data supports vaccine boosters after three months

In major shift, EU says vaccine boosters should be considered for all adults

  • EU agency says people above 40 years should be prioritised
  • Boosters should be given at least six months after vaccination
  • Guidance not binding but likely to inform changes to COVID pass

BRUSSELS, Nov 24 (Reuters) – The head of the European Union’s public health agency Andrea Ammon said on Wednesday that COVID-19 vaccine boosters should be considered for all adults, with priority for those above 40 years, in a major change to the agency’s guidance.Recommendations issued by the European Centre for Disease prevention and Control (ECDC) are not binding on EU governments but are used to make health policy decisions.”Booster doses should be considered for all adult individuals prioritising persons above 40 years of age,” Ammon said in a recorded statement, noting that boosters should be administered at least six months after completing the primary vaccine schedule. In its previous guidance issued in September alongside the European Medicines Agency (EMA), the ECDC said there was no urgent need for the administration of booster doses to fully vaccinated individuals in the general population, but suggested that additional doses should be considered for people with weakened immune systems and could be used as a precaution for older frail individuals.”Available evidence emerging from Israel and the UK shows a significant increase in protection against infection and severe disease following a booster dose in all age groups in the short term,” the ECDC said in a report published on Wednesday.It advised giving boosters to all adults with priority “for those aged 40 years and over”.FRAGMENTED EUROPEAmmon said that boosters will increase protection against infections caused by waning immunity and “could potentially reduce the transmission in the population and prevent additional hospitalisations and deaths”.She advised countries with low levels of vaccinations to speed up their rollouts and warned of high risks of a further spike in deaths and hospitalisations in Europe in December and January if the recommended measures were not introduced.The European Commission is expected to take the advice on boosters into consideration when proposing changes to the use of COVID-19 certificates later this week, officials said.”Boosters should be available for adults, with priority for people over 40 and vulnerable people,” the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said on Twitter after the ECDC’s report was published.Many EU countries have already begun giving booster doses to their populations but are using different criteria to select groups that are prioritised and using different intervals between primary vaccinations and boosters.Austria, which has this week reintroduced a lockdown amid a spike in cases, has decided to give boosters after four months, whereas in Italy the additional dose can be administered after five months.The ECDC also recommended countries apply minor restrictive measures, such as the use of face masks where physical distance is not possible and teleworking.It said that travel restrictions were unlikely to have a significant impact because the virus is already present in all EU countries.It also said that there was limited evidence of decreased transmission caused by the use of COVID-19 certificates to access restaurants, cinemas or museums – measures that about 20 EU countries are currently applying.

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Pfizer: 3 vaccine doses neutralize Omicron

Preliminary laboratory studies demonstrate that three doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine neutralize the Omicron variant, while two doses appear to be significantly less effective, Pfizer said in a statement on Wednesday. The ability of a vaccine to protect against infection can be examined in two ways: in the laboratory to see if antibodies found in the blood of vaccinated individuals neutralize the variant, or by collecting data from the field to show how many vaccinated individuals become infected compared with unvaccinated individuals. The company’s scientists compared the results from blood taken from individuals who had received the booster a month earlier with those from blood from vaccinees with only two shots. Pfizer said that the level of protection offered by the booster against Omicron resulted similarly to the one provided by two doses of the vaccine against other variants. The research showed that the immunity offered by the third dose against Omicron was 25-times higher than the immunity offered by two doses. According to the statement, two doses likely still offer some protection against severe disease. “Our preliminary, first dataset indicates that a third dose could still offer a sufficient level of protection from disease of any severity caused by the Omicron variant,” said BioNTech CEO Ugur Sahin. “Although two doses of the vaccine may still offer protection against severe disease caused by the Omicron strain, it’s clear from these preliminary data that protection is improved with a third dose of our vaccine,” said Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla. “Ensuring as many people as possible are fully vaccinated with the first two dose series and a booster remains the best course of action to prevent the spread of COVID-19.” However, at least one researcher said that Pfizer’s statements about the vaccine’s effectiveness must be taken with caution.

“It must be said honestly that currently Pfizer statements are based on in vitro experiments and in order to evaluate the effectiveness of the Omicron vaccine we will have to wait patiently to gather information from the real world,” said Dr. Oren Kobiler of Tel Aviv University. “Right now everything is speculation based on lab data.”

He added that in addition, there is concern that an updated and adapted vaccine to target the Omicron variant, which Pfizer said it could have ready by March, might be less effective against the Delta variant. The latter is still the most dominant strain in most of the world and “therefore it is unclear whether it is right to rush into further developments at this stage,” Kobiler said. Pfizer said that they will continue to collect both data from laboratory tests and from the field to obtain more information. Antibodies represent only one part of the immune system and therefore laboratory tests do not fully mirror the ability of the body to fight a disease. Earlier in the day, the research head of a laboratory at the Africa Health Research Institute in South Africa said that the Omicron variant can partially evade protection from two doses of Pfizer vaccine. Alex Sigal, a professor at the research institute, said on Twitter there was “a very large drop” in the neutralization of the Omicron variant relative to an earlier strain of COVID-19.  But the study showed that blood from people who had received two doses of the vaccine and had a prior infection was mostly able to neutralize the variant, suggesting that booster doses of the vaccine could help to fend off infection. NN: This is VERY preliminary data. We need to see the hospital data which will take a few more weeks…

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Goldman Sachs CEO expects higher inflation

NEW YORK (Reuters) -U.S. bank executives on Tuesday raised concerns about the impact of a sustained period of higher inflation, adding to pressure on the Federal Reserve to accelerate plans to slow down the pace of its asset purchases. Wells Fargo Chief Executive Charlie Scharf said at a conference that the Fed may need to move more quickly to address inflation concerns. Goldman Sachs Chief Executive David Solomon said he anticipated a period of higher inflation. The International Monetary Fund last week warned of intensifying inflationary pressures, especially in the United States, and said U.S. central bankers should focus more on inflation risks.

“There’s a case to be made that they (the Federal Reserve) should be moving faster than they’ve been moving,” said Scharf, speaking at the Goldman Sachs Financial Services Conference.

“Inflation is very, very real,” he said. “Prices are significantly higher for inputs across most industries. Labor shortage and wage increases are extremely real. Whether that continues for several years is not all that relevant but it certainly will have an impact over the next year or so.” The Fed needs to be ready to respond to the possibility that inflation may not recede in the second half of next year as most forecasters currently expect, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said last week. “My guess is now that there will be a quicker path to appropriate actions,” said Scharf. Goldman Sachs’ Solomon anticipates inflation will be higher for a period but doesn’t expect a repeat of the cost rises seen in the 1970s, he said in an interview with CNBC. “There’s a reasonable chance that we’re going to have inflation above trend for a period of time but that doesn’t mean it has to be like the 1970s,” he said. “You’ve got to be cautious and manage your risk appropriately.” Solomon acknowledged “uncertainty” in global financial markets due to factors including the Omicron COVID-19 variant and question marks over the pace at which the Fed and other central banks will reduce asset purchases. “We’re still not completely out of the pandemic. There’s uncertainty that comes from that and that uncertainty is going to affect economic activity,” he said. “On top of that, we have shifts going on in fiscal and monetary policy to try to balance that. There’s no question that this has been an unprecedented period so it’s very hard to predict how we’re going to come out of this.”

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Vaccine mandates ‘absolute last resort’, WHO Europe head says

COPENHAGEN (Reuters) – Mandatory vaccinations against the coronavirus are an “absolute last resort”, head of the World Health Organization’s Europe division, Hans Kluge, told reporters on Tuesday. “Mandates around vaccination are an absolute last resort and only applicable when all feasible options to improve vaccination uptake have been exhausted,” Kluge said. NN: you could have people dropping dead in mass…….  They are not going to screw around with the holidays…

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Oil continues to advance, WTI up 3%

Prices of oil futures continued to advance on Tuesday, as investors were bolstered by reports that the Omicron coronavirus variant only exhibits mild symptoms. West Texas Intermediate for settlements in January jumped 3.11% at 5:44 am ET, selling for $71.65 per barrel. Meanwhile, Brent for deliveries in February saw a 2.65% rise to go for $75.05 per barrel a minute later. NN: $80 oil here we come again…….. We might get a play it again Sam moment….. Won’t that be fun