Hong Kong Orders Tests; Capitol Girds for Protest: Virus Update

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Bloomberg News

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Hong Kong plans mandatory testing for residents as the city battles to get its Covid Zero strategy on track, despite soaring cases, business closures and a backlash against its policy decisions. The city also plans to delay its chief executive election by more than a month.

US Capitol Police are preparing for a possible protest by a convoy of truckers arriving in Washington around President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address on March 1.

Police in Ottawa arrested more than 100 people and towed away vehicles as they worked to clear the streets and end a protest that has paralyzed Canada’s capital city for three weeks.

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Key Developments:

Virus Tracker: Cases pass 421.1 million; deaths approach 5.9 millionVaccine Tracker: More than 10.5 billion doses administeredUnmasking comes too soon for some still wary of Covid’s wilesHospitals under siege show Hong Kong squandered its Covid edgeExpat exodus builds in Hong Kong but escape is expensive

Cases Climbing in South Korea, Thailand (10:55 am HK)

South Korea reported 102,211 coronavirus cases, topping the 100,000 mark for a second-straight day, though down slightly from the record level reported yesterday. The nation could strengthen social distancing measures before March 13 if the spread becomes more serious. Meanwhile, Thailand reported 18,885 new infections, its highest daily tally since Aug. 22.

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Canada Steps Up Protester Arrests (10:40 am HK)

Police in Ottawa arrested more than 100 people and towed away vehicles as they worked to clear the streets and end a protest that has paralyzed Canada’s capital city for three weeks.

Lines of officers worked their way through streets near the country’s parliament in frigid weather, corralling demonstrators, trying to persuade them to leave and arresting some who refused. Police have set up a system of about 100 checkpoints to control entry into a large section of downtown to prevent sympathizers from joining the protest.

Meanwhile, Canadian officials are working with Meta Platforms Inc. executives to determine if Facebook and Instagram are subject to temporary measures intended to clamp down on funding for the truckers and demonstrators, the Globe and Mail reports, citing unidentified Meta executives.

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Capitol Girds for State of Union Protest (7:58 am)

US Capitol Police are preparing for a possible protest by a convoy of truckers arriving in Washington around the date of President Biden’s State of the Union address.

In a statement Friday, the Capitol Police said local, state and federal law enforcement agencies as well as the District of Columbia National Guard are “aware of plans for a series of truck convoys” arriving in the city around the time of Biden’s March 1 address and are coordinating security planning. The officials briefed congressional staff on the status of those plans Friday afternoon.

Nike Plans Return to Office (7:50 am HK)

Nike Inc. expects most of its US workers to return to their offices by May 3 as part of its plan for a “phased return,” Insider reports, citing a staff email sent earlier this week. From May 3, most Nike workers will be required to be in the office three days a week, with the option to work remotely the other two days.

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Mormons Allow Easing of Covid Rules (4:12 pm NY)

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is allowing its more than 30,000 local congregations worldwide to decide whether to ease strict Covid-19 rules requiring face masks, officials announced Friday.

At the same time, the Salt Lake City-based leadership — known as the First Presidency — said “for the time being, masks will still be required in temples, where so many who attend are part of an elderly, more vulnerable population.” There are more than 200 regional temples operating or under construction around the world.

The church ordered mandatory mask-use last year and called for its more than 16 million members to get vaccinated, citing church history in past pandemics.

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Testing in Illinois Plunges (2:14 pm NY)

Roughly a month after a nationwide Covid-19 test shortage, demand in some spots including Illinois has plunged as the spread of the virus ebbs and at-home kits become more available.

The state’s 10 community-based testing sites have seen an 87% drop since the start of the year, with most locations averaging fewer than 500 tests a week, the Illinois Department of Public Health said on its website Friday. In response, Illinois is reducing the number of days the locations will be open each week.

Reservist Charged for Selling Vaccine Cards (1:50 pm NY)

A Marine Corps reservist charged for taking part in the Jan. 6 riot was indicted for selling forged vaccine cards, including to other reservists, according to the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York. The case against Jia Liu and a nurse, Steven Rodriguez, of Long Island, involved some 300 stolen or false vaccination cards over the course of almost a year.

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Ireland to End Most Restrictions (12:10 pm NY)

Ireland will drop most remaining restrictions at the end of this month. Masks will no longer be mandatory in shops and public transport, while Covid precautions in schools including masks and social distancing will be removed. The outlook for the virus is “positive,” health minister Stephen Donnelly said in a statement.

The move comes as the number of people with Covid-19 in hospital continues to decline. While there were 8,593 new cases registered on Friday, the number of people in hospital has dropped by almost half in the last month.

US Surgeon General Tests Positive (11:27 am NY)

US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy says he, his wife and his 5-year-old son have all tested positive for Covid-19.

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Unproven Treatments Used More by Republicans: Study (11:20 am NY)

Use of two unproven Covid-19 treatments tracked closely along US party lines in 2020, suggesting a strong political influence on both patients and physicians in medical decision-making, a study found.

Prescribing volume for the antiparasitic ivermectin was more than 10-fold greater in counties with the highest Republican vote shares compared with those with the lowest shares in late 2020, according to the study published Friday in the JAMA Internal Medicine journal. Prescriptions for hydroxychloroquine, touted as a Covid therapy by former President Donald Trump early in the pandemic, also rose sharply in Republican-leaning counties, even after its emergency-use authorization was pulled, the study found.

Hong Kong Plans Mandatory Testing (6:05 am NY)

Hong Kong’s Chief Executive Carrie Lam said the city is planning to make it mandatory for all residents in the city to get tested, deploying a tactic widely used to curtail outbreaks on China’s mainland.

Lam also said she’d invoke emergency powers to delay the chief executive’s election for more than a month. The vote originally planned for March 27 will be postponed until May 8.

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