Covid update: Spreading like wildfire, but ''horrific scenes'' seen a year ago could be history

Coronavirus is spreading fast throughout the world, but there is an air of cautionary optimism in the markets relying on encouraging analysis from professors of medicine, such as John Bell, a regius professor of medicine at the University of Oxford and the UK government’s life sciences advisor.

Recently speaking to BBC Radio 4, Bell analyzed data from the UK, he said that the number of people in ICUs who are vaccinated remains “very, very low.”

“The incidence of severe disease and death from this disease [Covid] has basically not changed since we all got vaccinated and that’s really important to remember,” he told the BBC.

“The horrific scenes that we saw a year ago — intensive care units being full, lots of people dying prematurely — that is now history in my view and I think we should be reassured that that’s likely to continue.”

Discussing the new omicron variant, he also explained: “the disease does appear to be less severe, and many people spend a relatively short time in hospital. They don’t need high-flow oxygen, the average length of stay is apparently three days, this is not the same disease as we were seeing a year ago.”

He is one of many who have calmed the fears of investors. Scientists are using the word “milder” with much trepidation to describe the illness conferred by the Omicron variant of SARS-Cov-2.

Real-world data will continue to come through and be monitored by markets for glimpses of further confirmation and a green light to search for yield in riskier higher-yielding asset classes.

For instance, encouragingly, according to the researchers, the Omicron variant replicated less efficiently, more than 10 times lower, once inside the human lung tissue than the original SARS-CoV-2 virus, which may suggest lower severity of the disease.

However, the lead author Dr Michael Chan has urged caution over the findings. “It is important to note that the severity of disease in humans is not determined only by virus replication but also by the host immune response to the infection,” said a lead author, Dr Michael Chan.

Covid continues to spread 

However, the markets are also keeping a close eye on the spread and any precautionary measures that nation's may have to take with respect to social distancing and monetary policy. For instance, in Asia, Japan’s government is poised to declare a quasi-state of emergency on the southern island of Okinawa, media reports said.

A Covid-19 outbreak traced to US military bases has spread to the civilian population and the prime minister, Fumio Kishida, could announce the measures this week, the Mainichi newspaper said. Okinawa officials reported 225 new cases on Tuesday, including 47 of the Omicron strain. Tokyo, by comparison, registered 151 new infections.

Meanwhile, in China, the nation has locked down entire cities over the covid outbreaks to prevent the spread ahead of the Bejing Olympics. Beijing has pursued a "zero Covid" approach with tight border restrictions and targeted lockdowns since the virus first emerged. In more recent news, China's Xian Xianyang International Airport has suspended all international passenger flights and Hong Kong has suspended flights from 8 countries. As such news circulates, the price of oil could be impaired due to lower demand for jet fuel. 

Across the South China Sea, China's neighbour,  Australia, the daily COVID-19 cases there have hit a record high for a third day on Wednesday. This is further straining hospital resources and testing facilities as public anger grew over the handling of the fast-moving outbreak of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus. ''We have got some challenging weeks ahead of us," NSW Deputy Health Secretary Susan Pearce told reporters.

In Europe, the virus continues to spread like wildfire. Record rises in daily Covid cases were reported in at least seven countries on Wednesday as the Omicron variant continues to spread. They were: France - 332,252; Portugal - 39,570; Turkey - 66,467; Italy - 189,109; Sweden - 17,320; the Netherlands - 24,000 and Israel - 11,978. Markets are keeping an ear to the ground for the government's reactions.