BlackMask Breaking News

Europe has again become an epicenter for the coronavirus, calling into question the region’s efforts to recover from the pandemic.

Despite an abundance of Covid-19 shots, countries from Germany to Greece have reported record infections in recent days, while Romania and Bulgaria are experiencing horrific levels of fatalities and overwhelmed hospitals.

That’s putting fresh urgency into efforts to vaccinate the masses, whether that means getting first doses into the arms of tens of millions of vaccine holdouts or preparing to offer booster shots to hundreds of millions of others.

While governments are reluctant to reintroduce lockdowns, countries like Latvia have already concluded there is currently little alternative. 

Here’s an overview of the pandemic from across Europe after a sobering week:

Germany

Germany’s fourth Covid wave is hitting hard, with infections reaching record levels this week and hospitals in some hot spots becoming overwhelmed. The country is now calling on all adults to get booster shots six months after their second doses, with Health Minister Jens Spahn saying that should be “the rule, not the exception.”

With 16 million Germans who are eligible for Covid shots having thus far refused them, authorities have little recourse but to push for greater protection for those willing to roll up their sleeves. The country’s efforts to respond are further complicated by a change in power. Chancellor Angela Merkel’s authority is fading as Social Democrat Olaf Scholz proceeds with efforts to form a new government.

© Bloomberg Renewed Spike

U.K.

Coronavirus infections in England reached a new high in October, according to large study by Imperial College London. U.K. Health Secretary Sajid Javid said that the study sends an “important message” about remaining vigilant heading into winter.

Last month, the country kicked off its largest-ever flu shot drive to address concerns over a spike in Covid cases coinciding with a resurgent flu. National Health Service walk-in centers in England have started offering coronavirus boosters for at-risk people without an appointment. Britain’s regulator also became the first in the world to approve Merck & Co.’s Covid-19 antiviral pill.

Italy

In Italy, some northern regions, including Veneto and Friuli Venezia Giulia, have seen a fast increase in cases, linked in part to protests by anti-vaccine activists against the introduction of a mandatory pass. The rise has prompted authorities to make a renewed push for people to get shots.

“We are working to extend the booster dose to new age groups starting next week,” Health Minister Roberto Speranza said Friday at a press conference in Rome. “We still need to catch up on first doses and accelerate on the third ones.”

France

In France, where government curbs helped keep infections at relatively low levels, cases are again beginning to rise. Officials across the country will reinstitute mask-wearing mandates in schools, while President Emmanuel Macron will take stock of the situation in an address to the nation on Tuesday.

Macron’s policy of requiring proof of vaccination for restaurants, cinemas and other venues helped bolster the immunization campaign and has been widely credited with keeping case counts, hospitalizations and deaths at lower levels than some neighboring countries. The French legislature passed a bill Friday that would keep the vaccine passport system in place as long as the end of July 2022, and officials are now encouraging older people to get booster shots.

Spain

Spain is a rare bright spot in Europe. Infections have remained low since September, with hospitalizations continuing to fall markedly.

Over 88% of people 12 and older are completely vaccinated and more than 1 million people have received a booster shot since the government approved the measure in early October.

Portugal

While Portugal on Thursday reported the highest number of daily cases since Sept. 9, the latest figures are still just a fraction of the January peak, when the country faced one of the world’s worst outbreaks.

About 86% of the country’s population is now completely vaccinated, among the highest rates in the world.

Ireland

Ireland’s daily case numbers are at their highest since January. The country held off plans to drop most remaining restrictions last month.

Deputy Prime Minister Leo Varadkar on Friday refused to rule out new limits on activity before the end of the year if the health system comes under renewed pressure.

Greece

In Greece, five record highs over the past six days has prompted a fresh round of restrictions, with unvaccinated individuals now needing to show a negative Covid test in order to visit some shops, beauty salons and restaurants.

The measures exempted supermarkets and drug stores, but also churches, which sparked more criticism over the government’s handling of the pandemic.

Denmark

In Denmark, where more than 75% of the population is fully vaccinated, the number of daily cases has doubled in the last 10 days and hospitalizations have spiked.

Soren Brostrom, head of the country’s health authority, on Thursday urged the government to re-introduce some restrictions, including the use of Covid-19 passports at public events.

Hungary

Hungary’s slow vaccine campaign and lack of Covid measures has helped fuel one of the world’s fastest growth rates in infections.

Prime Minister Viktor Orban is now trying to tighten some restrictions, including re-introducing a mask mandate on public transportation. Employers are also allowed to demand vaccine certificates from workers, who can be sent on unpaid leave if they refuse. In a state radio interview on Friday, Orban said further curbs may be introduced later, without providing specifics.

Czech Republic

The Czech Republic recorded its worst week of infections since March, when it endured one of the deadliest outbreaks in the world. Hospitalizations are at a six-month high, and fatalities are also rising.

The country is tightening rules to make it harder for unvaccinated people to visit restaurants as well as sporting and cultural events. But the outgoing government is refusing to impose harsher social distancing measures or shut down parts of the economy again.

Baltics

The Baltic region is reporting some of the world’s highest rates of infections per capita. Estonia is considering more restrictions if the situation deteriorates.

Last month, Latvia became the EU’sfirst member state to reimpose a four-week lockdown after a surge in cases threatened to overwhelm hospitals. The nation’s parliament passed legislation on Thursday, giving employers a green light to fire unvaccinated workers.

Lithuania is extending a school break to slow the spread of the virus among children.

Balkans

Romania recorded the world’s highest fatality rate in the past week. A lack of available beds has left people stranded in ambulances or to be treated in hospital hallways. Some patients received oxygen in their cars.

Bulgaria, the EU’s least-vaccinated member, had its deadliest week of the pandemic, with more than 1,000 fatalities. Authorities are tightening measures, while looking to avoid a lockdown ahead of a general election on Nov. 14.

The western Balkans have experienced close to record levels of infections in recent days. Serbia had its deadliest month of the pandemic in October. Montenegro, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo are close behind.

Croatia on Friday tightened measures after reporting record infections. Public gatherings will be limited to 50 people, except in cases where every attendee has a vaccine pass. The government also mandated inoculations for all public-sector employees from Nov. 15.

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I am your baking dog at the gate. And i am barking my ass off. The Next wave is coming.. and it is a mutant strain for the most part they are not even testing for. I am warning you do not let your guard down. Even though the CDC poo poohs it GET YOUR ANTIBODIES TESTED.  Its the only way to know if your protected……. If your antibodies are low GET THE FREEGING BOOSTER SHOT! Prepare yourself (you know the drill) we have a small window before the next wave of shutdowns come. I received my third Pfizer booster shot the first week of August.  3 months out beginning of November   i got my latest antibody test. I got the LIAISON SARS-CoV-2 TrimericSIgG test. Why i selected this test is because studies show its the most sensitive. My results were >799 AU/mL. That is as high as the test goes….. I have maximum antibodies…….Thank GOD! ( please note their are different scales used depending upon the test. As a foot note because of CDC pressure the manufactures of the antibody tests do not readily publish the scale of effectiveness) But i know my job as a librarian and know the scale used for the 4 most common tests. I do not give a shit what the FDA/CDC says about how they do not recommend antibodies tests for the general public… REALITY is extensive testing is being done by drug companies that produce Covid vaccines. AND FOR A FACT they rely upon these test to ascertain vaccine effectiveness and to track antibody depletion over time to gauge when a booster shot is necessary. I urge you to do the same…..

Below is a link to study published July 27th.

Conclusions: The LIAISON^® SARS-CoV-2 TrimericS IgG assay is highly sensitive and specific. The balance of these parameters, without emphasis on high specificity alone, is particularly important when applied to high prevalence populations, where a highly sensitive assay will result in reporting a lower number of false negative subjects.

Here is a link  to the Evaluation of the antibody test:

LIAISON antibody test studies link

Here is the link to the full comparative studies among the most common antibody tests

Link to the full Antbody comparison test

BERLIN, Nov 5 (Reuters) – Germany is starting a very difficult period with regard to its COVID-19 pandemic situation with rising numbers of patients in intensive care, the country’s health minister Jens Spahn said on Friday.

He said that he had agreed with regional health ministers that in future everyone should be offered a booster shot of a COVID-19 vaccine six months after receiving their previous injection.

The country has already had to relocate first patients from regions with overburdened hospitals, Spahn said, urging German citizens to get vaccinated and observe safety regulations. “Anyone who thinks they are young and invulnerable should talk to intensive care staff,” he said.

BARK BARK BARK BARK BARK

I am your baking dog at the gate. And i am barking my ass off. The Next wave is comming.. and it is a mutant strain for the most part they are not even testing for. I am warning you do not let your guard down. Even though the CDC poo poohs it GET YOUR ANTIBODIES TESTED.  Its the only way to know if your protected……. If your antibodies are low GET THE FREEGING BOOSTER SHOT! Prepare yourself (you know the drill) we have a small window before the next wave of shutdowns come. I received my third Pfizer booster shot the first week of August.  3 months out beginning of November   i got my latest antibody test. I got the LIAISON SARS-CoV-2 TrimericSIgG test. Why i selected this test is because studies show its the most sensitive. My results were >700 AU/mL. That is as high as the test goes….. I have maximum antibodies…….Thank GOD! ( please note their are different scales used depending upon the test. As a foot note because of CDC pressure the manufactures of the antibody tests do not readily publish the scale of effectiveness) But i know my job as a librarian and know the scale used for the 4 most common tests. I do not give a shit what the FDA/CDC says about how they do not recommend antibodies tests for the general public… REALITY is extensive testing is being done by drug companies that produce Covid vaccines. AND FOR A FACT they rely upon these test to ascertain vaccine effectiveness and to track antibody depletion over time to gauge when a booster shot is necessary. I urge you to do the same…..

Infection rates have accelerated strongly in the past month, with the number of new COVID-19 cases rising by double-digit percentages from last week for several days in a row. “The epidemic is picking up speed again in Europe, Europe has again become the epicentre of the epidemic,” government spokesman Gabriel Attal told reporters. The seven-day average of daily new infections now stands at more than 6,200, up from less than 4,200 in early October. Attal said Macron would review the COVID-19 situation and would also talk about the country’s economic recovery, the government’s reform programme and other issues. Macron’s office said the speech would be on Tuesday. Macron’s last major televised speech was on July 12 at the start of a fourth wave of infections. He announced then that vaccinations would be mandatory for all health workers. French epidemiologists have recently suggested widening the scope of the vaccine booster campaign to include new categories. On Wednesday, the government said face masks would again be compulsory from next week for school children in 39 regional departments where infection rates are high. NN: You are damn straight i am concerned. World leader do not want to be the grench who stole Christmas. Instead they have chosen to become the grim reaper……

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Federal Reserve threw its weight back behind the drive for a full U.S. jobs recovery on Wednesday, restating its belief that current high inflation is “expected to be transitory” and, despite risks to that view, arguing that price pressures will ease and pave the way for stronger employment and economic growth in the months to come. Even as the U.S. central bank announced it was tucking away one of its main pandemic-fighting tools, by trimming https://www.reuters.com/business/federal-reserves-taper-how-does-it-work-2021-11-03 its massive bond-buying program beginning this month, its latest policy statement and Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s remarks in a news conference signaled it would stay patient – and wait for more job growth – before raising interest rates. “Supply and demand imbalances related to the pandemic and the reopening of the economy have  contributed to sizeable price increases in some sectors,” the Fed said in its latest policy statement, adding that “an easing of supply constraints (is) expected to support continued gains in economic activity and employment as well as a reduction in inflation.” Powell emphasized what he said is the Fed’s intent to push labor markets further with low interest rates, and to withhold judgment about the limits of job creation until further outbreaks of the coronavirus have been contained. “Ideally, we would see further development of the labor market in a context where there isn’t another COVID spike. And then we would be able to see a lot. To see how does (labor) participation react in the post-COVID world,” he told reporters. “We are going to have to see some time post-COVID, or post-Delta anyway, to see what is possible,” Powell said in reference to the coronavirus variant that was largely responsible for a COVID-19 surge and economic slowdown over the last three months. 

Yet inflation was uncomfortably high, Powell acknowledged, blaming it on “turmoil” in global supply chains that is likely to last until perhaps the second half of next year, posing a challenge in the meantime to families on fixed incomes or those earning lower wages.

Inflation for the last five months has been running at twice the Fed’s 2% target, and moving in a way Powell said could well satisfy the central bank’s benchmark for a rate increase – once maximum employment is reached. But for now, he said, the Fed would be “patient” in deciding when to raise its benchmark overnight interest rate from the near-zero level, a counter to rising bets in financial markets that inflation would prompt the central bank to end its pandemic-era support for the economy sooner than later. The Fed last year said it would allow higher inflation in hopes of encouraging more job growth, but as prices rose this year so did skepticism about the depth of the central bank’s commitment to that new approach. “We don’t think it is time yet to raise interest rates. There is still ground to cover to reach maximum employment,” Powell said, adding that he thought that goal could perhaps be met late next year.The Fed, as widely expected, announced on Wednesday that it would begin reducing its $120 billion in monthly purchases of Treasuries and mortgage-backed securities at a pace of $15 billion per month, with a plan to end the purchases altogether in mid-2022. That bond-buying “taper,” the source of market turbulence when the Fed plotted its exit from a similar asset-purchase program that was rolled out to fight the 2007-2009 recession, this time came off without a hitch  Indeed, investors in recent weeks had focused less on the bond-buying taper and more on the Fed’s reaction to a surge in prices that promises to last much longer than anticipated when it first took root in the spring. Powell’s response was to acknowledge the uncertainty, but argue that was part of the reason the Fed should not rush into a rate hike when it was still possible inflation would ease on its own and allow workers more time to navigate into jobs. “As the pandemic subsides, supply-chain bottlenecks will abate and job growth will move back up,” he said. “And as that happens, inflation will decline from today’s elevated levels. Of course, the timing of that is highly uncertain.”

The Fed instructed its market agents at the New York Fed to begin executing the reduced bond purchases in the middle of this month, but only laid out that plan for November and December. Starting in mid-November, it will buy $70 billion of Treasuries and $35 billion of MBS per month, a pace that will drop to $60 billion of Treasuries and $30 billion of MBS per month in mid-December.

Policymakers, the Fed said, judge that “similar reductions in the pace of net asset purchases will likely be appropriate each month, but (are) prepared to adjust the pace of purchases if warranted by changes in the economic outlook.” If the economy continues to progress as expected, the Fed could finish tapering those purchases by the middle of next year, Powell said. He stressed that officials have the flexibility to speed up, or slow down, the taper based on what happens in the economy. “They’re hedging their bets, but that’s not anything new, because we’ve heard publicly they’re a little less confident that things are going to come down as quickly on the inflation side as they thought,” said Joseph LaVorgna, Americas chief economist at Natixis in New York. “Along with supply disruptions, things just drag on a bit longer and the statement reflects those realities,” LaVorgna said. NN: Whats it all for? Why exactly is the FED tapering?  Its because obviously the market has to much stimulus and it needs to slowly STOP all stimulus operations. That begs the question is why are they not raising interest rates slowly? If you want to cool off a overstimulated economy… Why would you not want to cool off the same overheating economy inflation wise. The argument is inflation is transitory… But the bubbles in the stock market are not and require Fed action… This is beyond stupid… They can’t have it both ways… and they know it…

BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany reported 33,949 new COVID-19 infections, the highest daily increase since the start of the pandemic last year, ahead of a two-day meeting of state health ministers. Countries across Europe have been reporting rises in coronavirus infections, prompting debate over whether to reintroduce restrictions and how to persuade more people to get vaccinated. The daily number of cases was likely inflated by a public holiday in parts of Germany on Monday that led to a delay in data-gathering. The previous record was on Dec. 18, with 33,777 cases. Helge Braun, chief of staff to acting Chancellor Angela Merkel, said that German states needed to make faster progress in giving older people booster shots.

As of Wednesday, only 6.7% of people over 60 in Germany had received a booster shot, according to data from the Robert Koch Institute for infectious diseases.

Older people were also more likely to be hospitalised with COVID-19. The number of infected people in hospital stood at 3.62 per 100,000 on Wednesday – up from 1.65 in early October – but at 8.27 per 100,000 for those over 60. NN: Incoming….. The next wave is on the way… Make sure you have gotten your third booster shot……….

MOSCOW, Nov 4 (Reuters) – The westbound flows via the portion of the Yamal-Europe pipeline, which brings gas from Russia via Poland to Germany, have been on hold since Saturday, data from Germany’s Gascade operator showed on Thursday. Flows into Germany at the Mallnow metering point, which lies on the Polish border, stopped early on Saturday and have not resumed, according to the data. The flows had been switched in reverse mode.

Russian exports hold sway over European and British gas prices