France Seeks Extra $2.3 Billion for Hospitals: Virus Update
 

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France is to consider spending an extra 2 billion euros ($2.3 billion) to bolster the hospital system. Italy plans to vaccinate children in December. Germany reported a surge in cases.

French Budget Minister Olivier Dussopt told France Info radio that funds would be added to a 28 billion-euro plan agreed to last year. Italy’s Health Minister Roberto Speranza told Il Corriere della Sera the country wants to immunize 5-11 year-olds and to avoid restrictions during Christmas holidays.

In the U.K. meanwhile, a “Plan B”-style return to lockdown restrictions is still under consideration, according to a member of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies, the Guardian reported.

Key Developments:
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German Politicians Plan Legislation to Fight Covid (8:39 a.m. NY)
The German parties currently in talks to form the next government under Social Democrat Olaf Scholz will introduce draft legislation in the lower house of parliament on Monday to address the country’s surge in new infections.

The SPD, Green party and the Free Democrats will propose a bill for an “appropriate and decisive” measure to fight the country’s fourth wave, FDP parliamentary whip Marco Buschmann tweeted on Sunday.

The incidence in Germany spiked again, rising to 191.5 cases per 100,000 people, with 23,543 new infections and 37 fatalities, according to the Robert Koch Institute.



Budget Minister Dussopt and Health Minister Olivier Veran will present the budget to the Senate on Monday, Dussopt said in a radio interview.

If the current increase in Covid cases causes a short-term hospital crisis, the government will act further, Dussopt said. “Each time it’s been necessary to respond to the crisis, we’ve released emergency funds, and if it’s necessary, we’ll do it again,” he said.

Italy Seeks to Start Immunizing Children (8:31 a.m. NY)
Health Minister Speranza says that that if hospitalizations remain under control, the country won’t face any additional restrictions during the Christmas holidays. Italy is working to persuade the roughly 12% of population that opposes the vaccine to get a shot, the minister said.

U.K. Plan for Fresh Lockdowns Still Under Consideration (8:33 a.m. NY)
Professor Anne Johnson, president of Academy of Medical Sciences and a member of SAGE, told LBC radio that she understood a “Plan B” for lowdown restrictions is still on the cards, according to the Guardian.

“If we want to avoid any restrictions in the future, or indeed reduce the damage, we need to think about all the things that we can do, which include not just vaccinating, which is very important, but also going to isolate when we’re sick, get tested,” the Guardian quoted her as saying. “All these things we can continue to do, and all those things are going to reduce the risk of having to go to plan B.”

U.S. Donates More Pfizer Doses to Vietnam (6:30 p.m. HK)
Vietnam’s health ministry said the U.S. has donated 2.5 million additional doses of Pfizer Inc.’s Covid-19 vaccine. That brings the total doses sent from the U.S. to Vietnam to more than 14.6 million, according to a statement on the ministry’s website.

New Covid Infections in Germany Spike (6:38 p.m. HK)
Germany’s nationwide seven-day incidence climbed, with the Robert Koch Institute saying on Sunday the number of new infections per 100,000 inhabitants reached 191.5, according to the Guardian. The previous day, the incidence was 183.7, and a week ago it was 149.4. Last month, it was 62.6.

U.K. Plans to Bring Back Tests, Quarantine (5 p.m. HK)
Officials are divided over how soon to implement the measures and are discussing a grace period that would allow people to travel without quarantine if they had sought a booster six months after their second jab but had not yet been offered an appointment.

The news came as Health Secretary Sajid Javid said almost 10 million people have now received their booster jab, but encouraged people to urge their elderly relatives to come forward.

U.K. to Roll Out Antiviral Pill This Month (6:45 p.m. HK)
Britain will start to roll out Merck’s molnupiravir Covid-19 antiviral pill through a drug trial later this month, Susan Hopkins, chief medical adviser at the U.K. Health Security Agency said on Sunday, according to Reuters.

Last week Britain became the first country in the world to approve the potentially game-changing Covid-19 antiviral pill, jointly developed by U.S.-based Merck & Co Inc and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics.

More Anti-Vaccination Protests in Australia (12:35 p.m. HK)
Hundreds of people protested mandatory vaccinations in western Sydney and other areas of Australia’s New South Wales state on Sunday, the Sydney Morning Herald reported, as a further easing of virus-related restrictions is set to ease Monday for the fully inoculated.

The demonstration was proceeding peacefully, police said, according to the newspaper, which added that people held held anti-vaccine placards with slogans like “Your Body Your Choice.”

China Reports 50 More Local Cases (10:17 a.m. HK)
China reported 50 additional local Covid infections, as authorities said strict curbs would remain in place to disrupt the spread of transmission.

Twenty-one cases were recorded in Hebei province, which is in close proximity to Beijing, the National Health Commission said. The infections come as Chinese authorities ring-fencing the capital ahead of February’s Winter Olympics.

The outbreak is fueled by the delta variant and has now reached 20 out of 31 mainland provinces, the broadest virus spread in China since the pathogen first emerged in Wuhan.

U.S. Passes Vaccine Milestone as Pace Picks Up (6:42 a.m. HK)
The U.S. crossed the milestone of 70% of people 18 and older fully vaccinated, according data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Almost 11 months after the first shots were given in the U.S., the pace of vaccination has been rising after a steep drop starting in April. Booster doses, now approved for all three vaccines given in the U.S., accounted for about 904,000 of the 1.5 million doses recorded on Saturday, according to a tweet from Cyrus Shahpar, the White House’s Covid-19 data director.