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Markets Brief: What to Watch for in Q1 Earnings, CPI | Fed minutes trigger a tech sell off, Nvidia shares slide. Defensive sectors rally.
The coming week will bring an initial sprinkling of first quarter corporate earnings, including financial industry heavyweights JPMorgan Chase ( JPM) and BlackRock ( BLK).
David Sekera, Morningstar’ s chief U.S. market strategist, highlights three themes to keep an eye on: inflation, supply chains, and overall updated profit outlooks for 2022.
When it comes to inflation, Sekera says to watch for the impact of higher prices on margins. Have companies been able to pass along rising costs to their customers? Or are margins being pressured? Likewise, Sekera says, updates on supply chain constraints will provide insights into whether shortages are starting to improve and from there, help alleviate upward pricing pressures.
“ I want to hear if supply chain disruptions and bottlenecks are dissipating or if they are still causing management headaches, ” Sekera says.
Investors should also look for signs that the global economic ripples from Russia’ s attack on Ukraine are leading to less certainly about the profit outlook.
“ Between heightened geopolitical risks, a slowing economy, inflation, and supply chain issues are management teams still confident of their original outlook? Or is there a wider dispersion of uncertainty than at the beginning of the year, ” Sekera says.
The coming week will also bring in fresh information on just how tough a battle the Federal Reserve has with inflation as Wednesday brings updated March numbers for the consumer price index. The CPI, which rose 0.8% in February from January, and 7.9% for the prior 12 months, is at a 40-year high. March data could show some good news in an easing of month to month increases in inflation, but a fresh high in the year over year reading. Economists expect the CPI to rise 0.5% in March from the prior month, and 8.3% for the year, according to FactSet.
Long gone are the days since inflation was seen as transitory by the Fed, as they now opt to more aggressively fight inflation with greater rate hikes. The minutes from the March meeting, where the Fed raised the federal-funds rate by a quarter of a percent, also showed Fed officials seriously considered raising rates by half a percentage point. At this point, the odds seem in favor of a half-point increase when the Fed’ s policy-making committee next convenes in May, according to futures trading activity tracked by CME Group’ s Fedwatch tool.
Minutes from their meeting in March also revealed potential plans to start reducing the Fed’ s balance sheet by $ 95 billion each month -- a more aggressive pace from the $ 50 billion in 2017. The balance sheet reduction -- known as quantitative tightening -- will erase demand for U.S. treasuries that kept yields low during the coronavirus recession.
While the news out of the Fed painted a picture of the central bank taking a more aggressive stance than they had previously signaled, there was only limited impact on the stock market. The Morningstar U.S. Market Index fell 1.73%. However, in the bond market, yields rose across the board.
One notable aspect of the bond market’ s response to the Fed: the yield curve reversed the inversion seen at the end of the previous week as yields on the U.S. Treasury 10-year note rose above that of the 2-year note. When the yield curve is inverted -- that is, when short-term yields are above long-term yields -- it’ s often seen as a warning sign about a recession.
The best-performing stocks in the past week were Twitter ( TWTR), The Mosiac Company ( MOS), AutoZone ( AZO), Target ( TGT), and Teva Pharmaceutical ( TEVA).
Twitter shares rose after Tesla's chief executive Elon Musk revealed a 9.2% stake, and was invited to join the social media company’ s board. Likewise, HP Inc ( HPQ) rallied after Berkshire Hathaway ( BRK.B) disclosed an 11% stake in the company. Healthcare dominated the best-performing stocks list in the past few days as investors rotate into defensive sectors. Change Healthcare and drug companies Teva, Sanofi ( SNY), and Pfizer ( PFE) closed higher. UnitedHealth Group ( UNH) rose ahead of its earnings release scheduled for Thursday. Pfizer shares rose after the company said it would acquire privately-held ReViral.
The worst-performing stocks in the past week were Shoals Technologies ( SHLS), GDS Holdings ( GDS), I-Mab ( IMAB), Toast ( TOST), and MarketAxess ( MKTX).
Shares of Shoals Technologies after the company said that chief financial officer Phillip Garton stepped down. Kevin Hubbard will take over on an interim basis for the solar energy solutions provider. SoFi Technologies ( SOFI) saw it shares fall after the Biden administration extended a moratorium on federal student loan repayments. Investors sold off growth stocks following the release of minutes from the Fed showcasing a more aggressive plan to fight inflation. Among those worst hit were names in the technology sector, including GDS Holdings and Toast. Also caught up in the sell off were shares in semiconductor companies such as Nvidia ( NVDA), Synaptics ( SYNA), and ON Semiconductor ( ON).
Jakir Hossain does not own ( actual or beneficial) shares in any of the securities mentioned above. Find out about Morningstar’ s editorial policies.
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The pandemic PC boom is over, but its legacy will live on | Before the COVID-19 pandemic struck the globe, the personal computer had become a staid, boring product with dwindling sales, as consumers spent their money on new smartphones every couple of years while letting their home laptops and old towers collect dust.
That changed in a dramatic way when people retreated into their homes to avoid the virus and realized they suddenly needed to do everything—work, school, socialize—remotely. The industry was surprised: PC shipments had declined for seven consecutive years from 2012 to 2018, yet they jumped 14% in 2020 and another 14.5% in 2021, a sudden surge unseen since 2007, the year the iPhone was introduced.
“ The consumer market had been slowing and slowing and slowing and then, all of a sudden, we hit 2020 and people are at home, and surprisingly, consumers were buying PCs for work, gaming, content consumption, another screen at home, ” said Ryan Reith, an IDC analyst.
As Zoom
ZM,
-2.99%
meetings became ubiquitous for remote work and school, consumers scrambled to equip themselves and their children with computers and suddenly necessary peripherals, such as webcams and headphones — if they could find and afford them. Component shortages and overwhelming demand left scraps at electronics and office supply stores, even as inflation hit in 2021, pushing prices higher.
For more:
The pandemic has brought the personal computer back to life, with help from Zoom
But the renaissance of the PC might have been a relatively short era. On Wall Street
there is now little expectation that PCs will continue to be a big source of growth
for companies like HP Inc.
HPQ,
-3.57%
and Dell Technologies Inc.
DELL,
-0.63%
,
even as Warren Buffett’ s Berkshire Hathaway Inc.
BRK.A,
+1.78%
BRK.B,
+1.90%
makes a big bet on HP stock.
IDC now forecasts that global PC industry sales will fall 1.1% in 2022 and 0.1% in 2023, as consumers largely have their new machines and students are back on school campuses.
“ It’ s really a consumer and education slowdown, ” Reith said. “ If you think about all the consumers that purchased in the last two years, whether they were first-time buyers or they had not used a PC in the last whatever number of years, it’ s going to take another few years before they buy another one. ”
Yet the activities that became pandemic staples have affected the design of PCs for the better. Remote videoconferencing and streaming are here to stay and many consumers now expect most PCs to handle the most graphically intensive videogames previously played only on consoles.
The Zoom culture became so prevalent that in the first month of the stay at home orders Saturday Night Live did a hilarious skit mimicking a Zoom meeting of a small sales office. Two receptionists were unable to correctly position themselves in front of their laptop cameras, and one even took her laptop into the bathroom with her, while her boss frantically yelled “ STOP! ”
The latest computers and devices seem to be built to avoid such pitfalls, such as Apple Inc.’ s
AAPL,
-1.19%
new Studio Display monitor that has studio quality microphones and HP’ s suite of Presence technologies, including an AI camera and a privacy shutter. These tweaked designs, along with the greater acceptance of remote and hybrid work, are the legacy of the pandemic.
MarketWatch illustration
‘ It’ s essential! It’ s officially on the essential list!’
On March 19, 2020, California Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered the state’ s 40 million residents to stay in their homes due to the new pandemic threat, the nation’ s first state lockdown order. Days later, Newsom issued a list of essential workers who were exempt from the lockdown, and among them were IT workers.
Newsom declared that IT workers were critical, especially those who played a role in helping people to work from home, citing, “ workers who produce or manufacture parts or equipment that supports continued operations for any essential services and increase in remote workforce, including computing and communication devices, semiconductors, and equipment. ”
Many states issued similar exceptions to their workforces, identifying essential workers who could continue to leave home to go to work, as well as lists of essential items consumers were able to leave their house to buy, like personal computers.
As the stay-at-home lockdown orders piled up, Alex Cho, president of HP Inc.’ s personal systems business, was briefed by his team on how many businesses around the world had stalled, but that PCs were an exception. Cho realized at that moment that the personal computer had become a big deal again.
“ I was sitting right here thinking, you know what, … it’ s essential! It’ s officially on the essential list!, ” he said. “ That’ s when for us that phrase really was an inflection point of saying, ‘ Wow, the world has changed.’ The PC is essential, it’ s so essential for work, and for learning, even telehealth, and suddenly what we saw was this category was no longer this thing on the side. ”
Across the world, there was a frenzied upgrade of home offices, or at least the ad-hoc offices that appeared on kitchen and dining room tables. Neither families nor retailers were prepared.
About a week into the stay-at-home orders, I went looking for a monitor and keyboard for my laptop to create a better workstation at home, to avoid being slouched over my work-issued laptop. By that time, there were two monitors left in a local Office Depot that was mostly occupied by swaths of empty shelves and office workers frantically searching for a sudden need, including the many techies in the Bay Area trying to find additional equipment. Fortunately my laptop was on the newer side, and it had a decent camera and audio, two key attributes in the Zoom age.
I was not alone, as the same scene played out in communities worldwide. Garrett Gwinnup, a computer technician at Boise Computer Depot in Boise, Idaho, said that business has been so strong during the pandemic that his boss bought the shopping center the store was in, expanded the store and is now the landlord for the other retail spaces.
“ Previously desktops weren’ t something you used a lot, but it has gone up tremendously since the beginning of COVID, ” Gwinnup said. “ He went from a very small store to a very large store in one year and a half. ”
The PC — often the least used and oldest electronic gadget in the home, relegated to a corner — suddenly became the most important device in the house. In addition to the huge numbers working from home, children of all ages, including college students, added another element to the picture, creating nightmarish scenarios for parents working from home, with their offspring also stuck with them while their schools figured out how to conduct remote learning. Jerry Paradise, vice president, global commercial portfolio and product management at Lenovo Group Inc. HK:992 said in an email interview that more than 1.5 billion students were forced to stay at home at some point during the pandemic.
For more:
The pandemic PC boom gave personal computers their biggest year in nearly a decade
“ All of a sudden, your three kids needed to be online and on Zoom everyday, ” said Maribel Lopez, principal analyst with Lopez Research. “ You might have only had one machine at home, but you had five people who needed to use it. ”
If a parent had a laptop from work, they were the lucky ones with a relatively newer machine. As the Zoom phenomenon began to take off as a way for companies to hold team meetings, and schools began to experiment with remote classes, it became clear the old PC was not up to the task.
Unfortunately, neither was the PC supply chain.
MarketWatch illustration
Booming sales and chip shortages
Memory chip maker Micron Technology Inc. MU reported earnings in late March 2020, just after the initial stay-at-home orders were issued. CEO Sanjay Mehrotra described for analysts on the company’ s earnings conference call how Micron was sanitizing its manufacturing facilities and that its workers were social distancing on the line. The company, Mehrotra said, was dealing with border closures and a temporary shut down of its NAND assembly and test site in Malaysia, and a couple of sick workers.
Read also:
Micron CEO optimistic even amid unprecedented times
It was merely the tip of the iceberg. As the pandemic wore on, supply chain disruptions and then semiconductor shortages became the biggest concerns among most hardware companies. When PC demand started to surge, it caught tech companies off guard. All over the world, each different segment of the manufacturing supply chain started to reel, as factories began to report COVID cases among their workers, disruptions that shut down production lines for brief periods.
Some of the major companies were better able to deal with supply constraints, thanks to advance purchasing of memory and central processing units ( CPUs), but even giants with major power such as Apple couldn’ t meet all the demand. CEO Tim Cook told analysts last October that its revenue in the September quarter would have been at least $ 6 billion higher, had it been able to meet all the demand, and in the December quarter it was an even greater shortfall.
Incredibly, the most challenging supply chain issue revolved around the paucity of small and seemingly inconsequential chips, some of which cost about $ 1 each, such as video drivers and audio drivers. These tiny chips, because they were on older manufacturing processes, are made by smaller, lesser known companies. In addition, these chips, especially the ones for screens, had huge competition from TVs, cars, anything with an LCD panel, said Mikako Kitagawa, a Gartner Inc. analyst.
“ The reason why the PC industry was so supply constrained for the last 2 years, none of the people in the industry, HP, Dell, etc. had the components for the $ 1 chips, none of them built a business plan for that, ” IDC’ s Reith said.
Read more about the
$ 1 chip that is behind record price increases for PCs
.
Without even these seemingly minor but actually significant chips, companies could not ship their systems, but that didn’ t stop PC makers from racking up big sales in an environment where consumers were willing to pay more. From December, 2020 to December, 2021, the prices of personal computers, peripherals and smart home assistants rose 2.8% unadjusted, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Nevertheless, Apple surpassed $ 30 billion in Mac sales for the first time ever in its 2021 fiscal year, rising 23% from the prior year to $ 35.2 billion. In the holiday season that ended in December, the first quarter of Apple’ s 2022 fiscal year, Mac sales hit a quarterly record of $ 10.8 billion.
Read more about the Mac’ s
rebirth and its biggest growth rates ever
HP, with a similar fiscal year to Apple, posted record revenue in its personal-systems division of roughly $ 43.4 billion, growing more than 11% from the year before and pushing the company to its highest annual revenue total since splitting from Hewlett-Packard Enterprise Co. in 2015. Dell had never before topped $ 50 billion in annual sales, but it jumped all the way to $ 61.5 billion in 2021, growth of more than 27% year-over-year. Lenovo PC sales grew nearly 20% to their own record high of $ 54.4 billion.
The stocks of Lenovo, HP, and Dell soared in the triple-digits during the last two years, while these once-staid business segments blossomed in the pandemic. Apple, which trades mostly around iPhone and services sales, saw a huge resurgence of interest in the Mac.
Wall Street, though, is bracing for a slowdown. In recent weeks, there have been a series of downgrades in the sector, focusing on expectations for slower growth. Morgan Stanley analyst Erik Woodring lowered his price targets on HP and Dell, citing a downward risk on hardware budgets, and more consumer caution, especially in light of inflationary trends.
Read more about
Wall Street’ s fears about the end of the pandemic PC boom
In a note to clients, Woodring said there were three reasons he had become extremely cautious about consumer demand for PCs in 2022. He’ s convinced demand was simply pulled forward in 2021 and the first half of 2022; Morgan Stanley’ s survey work indicated worsening consumer sentiment due to inflation; and he sees growing evidence of a supply-demand rebalance. “ We believe PC and consumer hardware spending will be pressured as supply improves and demand normalizes after two years of above-trend growth. ” Woodring wrote.
The new Mac studio boasts extensive connectivity to support a variety of new workflows.
Apple
What does the return to the office mean for PCs?
Even if the boom is over, however, it will leave its mark, as all the major PC makers continue to roll out new machines with features geared to doing so much more from home than before the pandemic.
“ Audio and video and being able to show up, with a level of audio and video and fidelity that isn’ t distracting, is now of much higher importance, ” HP’ s Cho said on a Zoom chat with MarketWatch. “ People recognize this is important, especially if I am going to do this on an ongoing basis. That is also driving a whole new wave of innovation and upgrades. ”
See also:
HP CEO says we’ re still in a PC boom, and his company’ s record sales prove it
In the past few months, many of the biggest PC makers launched products to include features for better videoconferencing, and features for hybrid work. For example, Dell’ s recently added features across its portfolio of commercial systems that include a docking station with wireless charging for earbuds. HP’ s recent entrants include better monitors and cameras that can reduce noise reduction, and an ability to enhance your on-screen image for meetings. Lenovo and ASUS have launched dual-screen laptops, with a second smaller screen on the keyboard area to act as a sort of mini, second monitor.
“ Given that people are spending more time at home, and many are using the same device for their professional and personal lives, we have seen an increased interest in premium features, ” said Paradise of Lenovo.In the past few months, demand for PCs has been coming from the commercial side of the business, as consumers have pretty much settled into the remote setups created months ago. But commercial demand is being driven by new needs, like shared drop-in desks, videoconferencing with remote workers, and audio improvements.
“ These are huge shifts, secular changes, in how people are living and working, ” Cho said. “ People’ s expectations are changing and the role of the office is changing. ” He said one of his co-workers recently sent an out-of-office email response that said he was “ in the office, collaborating with peers, ” and his response time would be slow
“ We are seeing a big uptick right now in the large enterprise space as companies return to the office and retrofit technology to ensure they’ re ready for hybrid work, ” said Lenovo’ s Paradise. “ There’ s huge demand in return-to-office for high-end systems, corporate systems, desktops and notebooks, and videoconference systems. ” He said in Lenovo’ s fiscal third quarter, commercial sales jumped 23%.
More from Therese:
As growth slows, where does Zoom go from here?
HP and Dell both observed big increases in commercial sales in the January quarter, with HP seeing that sector soar 26% in its first fiscal quarter, ended Jan. 31, while consumer revenue fell 1%. Dell saw even bigger growth, with a surge of 30% in commercial revenue, and a 16% jump in consumer revenue, up from a year ago.
Analysts believe commercial sales will outpace consumer this year, but that consumer sales will pick up a bit again in the fall. “ We will see a lull around the summer and then some pick up for back to school, ” said Lopez, of Lopez Research.
Some components will continue to be in short supply. Right as companies were catching up, a new wave of covid briefly shut down some manufacturing in some areas of China in December and January. The war in Ukraine is also expected to have an impact on some raw materials and gases used for making semiconductors.
Paradise of Lenovo, though, said he believed that the “ worst of the supply chain shortages are behind us. ”
Amid the weakening backdrop after a record year, PC growth is showing signs of slowing, and the strong commercial market is not enough to keep the overall category from slowing down. Corporate sales will keep growth up this year, but
Micron’ s CEO said during the company’ s recent quarter earnings
that he sees “ flattish ” unit shipments overall.
IDC, before the invasion of Ukraine and the recent lockdowns in China, had been expecting 2022 unit growth to fall 1%. “ While I don’ t have a new number for you right now, I would safely say we do not believe the market will be stronger than the -1% and even faces some slight downside risk because of the macro and geopolitical activities, ” Reith said.
If those projections come true, the pandemic PC boom will truly have ended. But with machines built for a new era and a supply chain that has been tested and hopefully improved, the PC industry has changed permanently, as has consumers’ view of a tech product that was barely in their thoughts just a couple of years ago. | business |
Food prices have spiked at a rate not seen since 1981 — more Americans have abandoned online grocery shopping and returned to supermarket aisles | As grocery prices soar, more Americans are browsing again — in grocery-store aisles rather than online.
Grocery prices have escalated 10% in the past 12 months, the biggest jump since 1981,
the government said Tuesday
. The consumer price index jumped 1.2% last month, driven by the higher cost of gasoline, food and housing, and it rose 8.5% on the year,
the biggest increase in 40 years.
The index for meats, poultry, fish, and eggs increased 13.7% on the year as the index for beef rose 16%. Other increases ranging from 7% ( dairy and related products) to 10.3% ( other food at home). Food away from home also rose 6.9% over the last year, the largest 12-month increase since December 1981.
One small consolation: With U.S. states abandoning mask mandates in public spaces, and retailers dropping requirements for masks — and the latest omicron wave receding
even as COVID-19 cases continue to climb again
— more people are feeling comfortable shopping in person and participating in public activities.
“
Grocery prices have escalated 10% in the past 12 months, the biggest jump since 1981.
”
U.S. online grocery sales declined by 6% on the year to $ 8.7 billion in March, a sharp reversal from a record high of $ 9.3 billion online grocery sales in March 2020, according to the latest Grocery Shopping Survey carried out by Mercatus and Brick Meets Click, e-commerce analytics firms that work with grocery stores.
The ship-to-home segment saw the largest drop in sales, falling over 30% in March compared to a year ago, to $ 1.4 billion from $ 2.1 billion. This decline was driven by a 13% reduction in the number of orders placed by monthly active users combined with a 23% drop in the average order value, the survey released this week said.
However, many people still relied on delivery services for their groceries. Delivery sales increased 20% on the year to $ 3.5 billion in March from $ 2.9 billion a year earlier. David Bishop, partner at Brick Meets Click, said the “ aggressive expansion of third-party providers into grocery ” is helping people to shop online.
People still prefer to squeeze their fruit and vegetables before buying. Online grocery will only account for approximately 11% of $ 1.124 trillion in grocery sales this year, but that number is expected to rise to 20.5% of $ 1.285 trillion in grocery sales by 2026, a
separate report
released by Mercatus last year concluded.
Food prices reach all-time high
As the war in the Ukraine rages on, consumers have good reason to find the best prices for food. “ Conflict has driven up international prices for wheat, maize and vegetable oils, as war in the Black Sea region
spread shocks
through the markets trading in these staples, ” according to the United Nations food agency.
The Food and Agriculture Organization’ s ( FAO)
food price index
, which tracks the monthly changes in the most commonly traded food commodities, averaged 159.3 points in March versus a revised 141.4 for February, a record high. February already marked the highest the index had reached since 1990.
“ Driven by soaring wheat and coarse grain prices — largely as a result of the war in Ukraine — the FAO Cereal Price Index was 17.1 per cent higher in March than it was just a month earlier, ” the FAO said. For the last three years, Russia and Ukraine accounted for 30% and 20% respectively of global wheat and maize exports.
“ Expectations point to the European Union and India increasing wheat exports, while Argentina, India and the United States are likely to ship more maize — partially compensating for the loss of exports from the Black Sea region, ” the UN food agency’ s report added.
Other major increases included the vegetable oil price index, which rose 23.2%. “ Palm, soy and rapeseed oil prices also rose markedly as a result of the higher sunflower seed oil prices and the rising crude oil prices — with soy oil prices further underpinned by concerns over reduced South American exports, ” the FAO said.
In-person grocery shopping is less convenient and can result in impulse buys, but the prices on products are cheaper, according to
this head-to-head comparison,
and there’ s no delivery fee and tip for the driver on top of your bill.
See also:
Lower-income consumers will start tightening their belts by trading down to private label goods in 2022, analysts say | business |
Orion Sun's Star Power | Every product on this page was chosen by a Harper's BAZAAR editor. We may earn commission on some of the items you choose to buy.
The alt-R & B singer discusses her new EP, Getaway, and the role of religion and Paramore in her musical formation.
In 2020, Orion Sun was poised for exactly the kind of meteoric rise that her name suggests. Then 24, the alt-R & B producer, singer-songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist was about to embark on her first tour to promote her 2018 LP, Hold Space for Me, the follow-up to her debut mixtape, A Collection of Fleeting Moments and Daydreams, which was released in 2017. But in March, two months before her opening show in Brooklyn, COVID-19 arrived Stateside and sent her plans to a screeching halt.
Unlike many artists, Orion was fortunate enough to be able to tap into her creativity and make something beautiful out of a harrowing time. The resulting project is a six-track EP called Getaway, written and recorded during the pandemic, which released March 11 and examines love, heartache, and queerness through diaristic lyrics and a mixture of jazz and hip-hop-tinged arrangements. Ultimately, Orion hopes it can provide listeners with 17 minutes of sonic reprieve from the stressors of life.
Ahead of her long-awaited tour, which kicks off in May and will include songs from all her past projects, Orion speaks with BAZAAR.com about church choir, her musical beatnik stage, and what she's most excited for on tour ( spoiler: postshow bar hangs).
Because of how involved my family was, church wasn't just a Sunday thing. I was also there on Mondays for mentoring youth, I was there Wednesdays for Bible study, and sometimes on Fridays, when we did youth field trips. I wasn't really allowed to hang out with friends from school, but my church friends were acceptable. So church just became this haven for me where I not only could be social, but also experience music. That stayed with me to the point where I felt comfortable enough to do choir in public school. Then the summer going into my junior year, I was like, `` Oh, wait, I might actually want to do this as a career. ''
I was like, `` I 'm just going to use SoundCloud and figure out what I want. ” I couldn't find any type beats [ I liked ], which is why I got into production. But I didn't want to make just more of the shit that I wasn't connecting to, so I needed to figure out and pave sonically what I wanted. SoundCloud was a really good breeding ground for that.
In 2017, I put out [ a mixtape ], A Collection of Fleeting Moments and Daydreams. In that moment, I felt like, `` Okay, this is a really cool path, '' but it definitely wasn't as intentional as [ my debut LP ], Hold Space for Me. Before I got signed, I always used to tell myself that I 'll know I 've made it if I have my music on wax—I collect vinyl, and I just think that's so cool. So I knew that Hold Space for Me would be the project that I would have the opportunity to get that on wax, so I was pulling out all the stops. From there just was like, `` Okay, I view myself as a professional now. Let's see how far we can take this. ''
When I was young, I think I was in the second grade, my grandma really wanted me to play the violin. I wanted to play the saxophone, but my mom was like, `` That's a more masculine instrument. '' So I was just going through motions.
There's this one home video where my eyes are darting back and forth, trying to look at everyone and see the direction of their bows. My bow is just slightly off the strings, so I 'm not making any noise, but it looks like I 'm playing. My mom zoomed in and was like, `` No way! '' I, a ham, definitely got up at the end and was like, `` Thank you. Thank you. '' Then my parents were like, `` We're not going to pay for you, '' because I had to rent my instrument. I was like, `` Okay, if I 'm going to learn an instrument, I have to like it. ''
Guitar is what I eventually settled on. I remember learning `` Baby '' by Justin Bieber and my favorite song at the time, `` The Only Exception '' by Paramore. I remember walking around the house strumming, and I was hooked. I had also just discovered Colbie Caillat and Jack Johnson, and was feeling beatnik-y in that way. But as I got older, I was like, `` I just have so much to say, and I have so many genres that I love that I don't not want to include in my music. ''
Yeah. After learning guitar, it was so easy to then pick up ukulele, to pick up bass. With piano, I was dabbling in it in high school, but it's something that comes so naturally to me. When I 'm playing instruments, I see shapes. Learning and teaching myself piano, it was a lot of me watching my favorite pianists like Hazel Scott. I would just see this [ hand ] shape or that shape, and then I would try it on the keys.
Right now, I am good enough [ of an instrumentalist ] to get my ideas down, but I love to work with people who are further down the path with their specific instrument. I don't want to be a jack-of-all-trades and a master of none. I 'd like to do a lot of things, but the end result still has to be masterful. Getaway turned out great, and it was a lot of me, like, stepping back. That was cool.
With Hold Space for Me, I definitely remember being intentional and being like, `` This is the music that I want to make and things that I want to express. '' I 'd rather be vulnerable in my music than be vulnerable on social media. I 'd rather bare my soul and show my heart on my sleeve in a song. It was also like, `` Wow, this is my first project with a song that has a pronoun that's not your typical pronoun. '' It was my way of coming out and being like `` Hey, I 'm going to talk about these things. ''
I showed my mom before it dropped and she was really open and gave me that leeway, like, `` Do your thing and express how you want. '' It gave me confidence, and I didn't know I needed that from her.
It's a reminder that you can always escape, you can always get away. Even if it is for what, 17 minutes? However long the EP is. I have [ the meditation app ] Headspace, right? And you really only need five or 10 minutes to just get back into the present. And if I can guide that in any way, if I can usher in that process and just give your brain a moment to worry about my music and give your own shit a break—hopefully, the songs can kind of give you a big hug. That's really it.
During peak pandemic, I was luckily in a really safe space with a really safe person, but I still wanted to get away. I want to help other people get away, because it's extremely important.
We mainly recorded in November 2020. I went down to L.A., got a lot of stuff done, and then reconvened from springtime 2021 onward. I was feeling a lot of emotions, because on one end, it was like, `` Wow, this is great. I just love connecting with people. '' But it also was just like, `` Damn. What a time we're living in right now. ''
One of the songs that came together really fast was `` Concrete, '' and I just remember being like, `` Damn. I can't believe we made this song during this time. '' And that vibe was all across six tracks, like, `` We don't know what tomorrow will bring, but I 'm just grateful to be in this room. I 'm grateful to be able to do our jobs. ''
That's the biggest thing that I learned with Getaway: Collaborating in that way, with such talented people, you not only get the results, but it's really fun.
When I was a smaller artist, I used to do that way more. It always used to be a thing where I was like, `` This art is also going to be used for things like my rent. This is survival for me. '' So I didn't really turn down much—I was performing in basements, you know? I would just test out some tracks I was working on and try to gauge what the crowd responded to live, and then I 'd incorporate that into my production. Back in the day, it would just be me and a laptop. Literally iTunes and the mic.
Now, we're at a point where I have a band and am doing my test series. That's when I can still kind of be experimental and try out new work. We had a really successful one last year in November. Creating that exclusive and experimental vibe—I 'm so happy it's a part of my artistry.
For my tour, I have live instruments, and I 'm going to be playing the MPC ( music production center) and chopping up some of the samples that were used throughout some of my projects. Based on rehearsal, that's looking really awesome. But outside of that, performing and producing feels so natural.
I 'm looking forward to the connection. This has all been building up for three years. I can't wait to see what [ my fans ] look like. I 'm trying to talk to everybody, to anybody. Like, after the show, post up at the bar, like, `` What's going on with life? ''
We 've lost so many people to COVID, you know? So, the fact that I 'm here, the fact you're here, that all of us artists are still trying to pursue this is extremely important. | general |
Health Care Up on Inflation Hedging — Health Care Roundup | Health-care companies rose as upward momentum in the sector built, due to its perceived resilience to inflation.
Shanghai authorities are preparing to open the city's largest makeshift hospital, with 50,000 beds, as newly reported Covid-19 cases in the hard-hit coastal megacity of 25 million people soared to a new daily high.
Michael Neidorff, the man who transformed Centene from a tiny insurer to a nationwide giant in government-backed health care, died Thursday after what his family described as a long illness.
Write to Rob Curran at rob.curran @ dowjones.com
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LIFO relief bill a sliver of hope for car dealers | WASHINGTON — With record-low levels of new-vehicle supply and no near-term fix for replenishment, most dealerships using the `` last in, first out '' inventory accounting method now face significant tax burdens, and the deadline to pay up is fast approaching.
Businesses on LIFO — a tax deferment strategy used by about half of the nation's new-vehicle dealerships — must maintain a sufficient level of inventory at year end to avoid triggering a potentially large income tax bill.
But production issues related to COVID-19 and the microchip shortage greatly reduced the flow of new vehicles to dealership lots and curtailed inventories starting in 2020 and worsening in 2021. That made the long-deferred income suddenly taxable at federal and state levels.
For some dealers, the LIFO recapture has led to additional tax payments from $ 100,000 to $ 2 million or more, and those bills are due in less than two weeks for dealerships structured as pass-through entities or C corporations.
`` Whether they file an extension or don't file an extension, they still have to pay the tax by April 18, '' said Dan Cheyney, national practice leader of the automotive and dealer services group at accounting firm Moss Adams. `` The urgency is very real. ''
Despite a barrage of fruitless attempts by the National Automobile Dealers Association, a bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers and others to persuade the Treasury Department to activate a never-before-used provision, known as Section 473, in the nation's tax code that could provide relief to dealers, a sliver of hope remains. | general |
Becoming a Sustainable Company: What ( Not) To Do | Despite a huge drop in global emissions in 2020 as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, emissions made their comeback and climbed to a record high in 2021. Limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius is becoming an increasingly unlikely scenario. Only if the world comes up with much more ambitious plans to reduce emissions, the Paris Agreement’ s goal is still feasible, concludes the UN climate panel IPCC in a report that was released last week.
On a positive note, we see more and more businesses taking their responsibility. The time for pointing fingers is over. Companies realize that they will lose their raison d’ être if they do nothing. However, although awareness is there, we also see that lots of companies are afraid to actually start acting “ green ”. Their biggest fear? Being accused of greenwashing.
The term greenwashing is like the game over button in fighting climate change. Greenwashing is defined as “ the intersection of two firm behaviors: poor environmental performance and positive communication about environmental performance ”. In other words: acting green without being green. Although accusations of greenwashing are often justified, we also see many situations in which companies are actually doing good ( or trying at least) and still get accused of greenwashing. Here are some do’ s and don’ ts for companies that want to realize green impact.
If you, as a company, do nothing but buy carbon credits to make claims about being green. Don’ t just keep things the way they are and buy off your carbon emissions. Chances are people will say you just buy off your sins, and you will be accused of greenwashing.
Analyze, reduce, compensate. That’ s the way to go! Make sure you have a view on the current situation by making a thorough analysis ( or have one made). How much does the company emit? Subsequently, look at emission hotspots. What are the opportunities for reduction? Often, great progress can be made by making relatively small adjustments in certain areas. After reduction, there will always be emissions left, the so-called rest-emissions. These will have to be ( over-) compensated.
Companies that are realizing green impact often want to show the world how good they’ re doing. In principle, that’ s a good thing. Companies can inspire each other ( and their customers) to start realizing green impact as well! I think it is good that companies are proud of their green contribution However, we see lots of companies that are solely focused on numbers. An example? Planting one million trees means nothing if you create a monoculture, meaning a “ forest ” that consists of a single variety representing the same genotype with almost no variation. This is bad for biodiversity and is therefore strongly discouraged by experts.
Yes, numbers can give you an indication of what you are doing in terms of green impact. But please, look further than that. When choosing what projects to support, at Regreener we look at four criteria:
Although it is very inspiring to see companies that are doing good, lots of times we see unclear stories with big promises. No vague stories, half-truths or over-promises. Do not use difficult words because you think they will reinforce your message. Misleading language is often used to present a situation that’ s not in line with reality. As soon as people realize they are provided with misleading information all credibility is lost and your green contribution is turning against you.
When one does something good, one wants to share it with the world. I think it is something that happens a lot when we talk about green impact. I fully understand that combating climate change is not the core business for many companies. What many companies don’ t see is that they could easily make fighting climate change part of their business, no matter what their core business is. Companies like Patagonia and Ecosia are great examples. It’ s incredible what companies can achieve if they make fighting climate change part of their business model. Especially if these companies absolutely believe in what they do and create a good story around it. Being extremely transparent about your impact and your points of improvement is a great help as well. It removes any doubt about your sustainability policy among consumers and other businesses. Best thing of all: by telling a good and transparent story about your sustainable policy and the green impact you realize, you can inspire others to do the same. This can lead to an indirect impact that is so unprecedentedly huge, you could make a difference!
The key? Communication. Be honest about where you stand as a company, what you are doing to improve the situation and why you take certain decisions. I think we should fight this battle together, and constantly accusing each other of not being perfect does not help.
No one will dislike a company just for the fact that they are realizing green impact. No one will blame a company just for trying to do good. People blame companies for making false claims, telling incomplete stories and spreading misinformation. Such practices lead to the great fear of companies that are considering fighting climate change: accusations of greenwashing.
Even if your company is not perfect ( yet), in many cases it is very admirable what companies are achieving. I would like to encourage all companies to get involved in the fight against climate change. Don’ t be afraid. It is amazing what can be achieved in terms of restoring nature, even with a limited budget. Get an expert on board, start regreening the world and tell the right, transparent story about what you do. Need help in this process? You know where to find me!
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Oil prices settle up 2%, post weekly loss on stockpile releases | * IEA members to release 60 mln barrels over 6 months
* U.S. producers added 13 oil rigs in the week to April 8
* Shanghai extends lockdown to cope with COVID-19
* Brent drops 1.5%, while WTI dips 1% for the week
HOUSTON, April 8 ( Reuters) - Oil prices rose 2% on Friday but notched their second straight weekly decline after countries announced plans to release crude from their strategic stocks.
Brent crude futures settled up $ 2.20, or 2.19%, at $ 102.78 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate ( WTI) crude futures rose $ 2.23 to $ 98.26.
For the week, Brent dropped 1.5% while WTI slid 1%. For several weeks, the benchmarks have been at their most volatile since June 2020.
Trading was choppy all day and the contracts spiked higher just before settlement as traders covered short positions ahead of the weekend, said John Kilduff, a partner at Again Capital LLC.
Member nations of the International Energy Agency ( IEA) will release 60 million barrels over the next six months, with the United States matching that amount as part of its 180 million barrel release announced in March.
`` There's some concern that by artificially lowering prices, you are only going to increase demand and that's going to burn off that supply pretty quickly, '' said Phil Flynn, an analyst at Price Futures Group.
The release could also deter producers, including the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries ( OPEC) and U.S. shale producers, from accelerating output increases even with oil prices around $ 100 a barrel, ANZ Research analysts said in a note.
The commitment of the OPEC+ group of oil exporting nations to output targets have contributed to absorbing an excess of supply in the market, Iraq's state-news agency cited the oil ministry as saying on Friday.
PVM analyst Stephen Brennock said doubts remained on whether the supply from emergency reserve releases will address the shortfall in Russian crude.
JPMorgan expects the reserves release to `` go a long way in the short term '' to offsetting the 1 million barrels per day of Russian oil supply it expects to remain permanently offline.
`` However, looking forward to 2023 and beyond, global producers will likely need to ramp up investment to both fill the Russia-sized gap in supply and restock IEA strategic reserves, '' the bank said in a note.
U.S. producers added 13 oil rigs in the week to April 8, data from oil services firm Baker Hughes showed, a third straight week of gains.
While Russia has found Asian buyers, Western buyers are shunning cargoes since the start of the conflict in Ukraine.
The Kremlin on Friday said Russia's `` special operation '' in Ukraine could end in the `` foreseeable future. ''
Russia's production of oil and gas condensate fell to 10.52 million barrels per day ( bpd) for April 1-6 from a March average of 11.01 million bpd, two sources familiar with the data told Reuters on Thursday.
The U.S. Congress voted to ban Russian oil on Thursday, while the European Union is considering a ban.
Germany might be able to end Russian oil imports this year, Chancellor Olaf Scholz said.
On Thursday, European Union countries approved a ban on Russian coal imports, adding the bloc will now discuss sanctions on oil.
But demand uncertainties kept a lid on prices Friday after Shanghai extended its lockdown to contend with fast-rising COVID-19 infections.
Further pressure came from the strengthening U.S. dollar, after signals that the U.S. Federal Reserve could raise the federal funds rate another 3 percentage points by the end of the year.
Money managers cut their net long U.S. crude futures and options positions in the week to April 5 by 3,147 contracts to 266,727, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission ( CFTC) said. ( Additional reporting by Rowena Edwards in London, Sonali Paul in Melbourne and Muyu Xu in Beijing; Editing by David Goodman, Kirsten Donovan, Andrea Ricci and Mark Porter) | business |
Development of low-power and high-efficiency artificial sensory neurons | Apr 08, 2022
Development of low-power and high-efficiency artificial sensory neurons ( Nanowerk News) Currently, artificial intelligence ( AI) services spread rapidly in daily life and in all industries. These services are enabled by connecting AI centers and terminals such as mobile devices, PCs, etc. This method, however, increases the burden on the environment by consuming a lot of power not only to drive the AI ystem but also to transmit data.
In times of war or disasters, it may become useless due to the power collapse and network failures, the consequences of which may be even more serious if it is an AI service in the life and safety field.
As a next-generation artificial intelligence technology that can overcome these weaknesses, low-power and high-efficiency 'in-sensor computing ' technology that mimics the information processing mechanism of the human nervous system is drawing attention
The Korea Institute of Science and Technology ( KIST) announced that its team led by Dr. Suyoun Lee ( Center for Neuromorphic Engineering) has succeeded in developing ‘ artificial sensory neurons’ that will be the key to the practical use of in-sensor computing.
Distinguishing COVID-19 infection through image learning of chest X-rays. ( Image: Korea Institute of Science and Technology)
Neurons refine vast external stimuli ( received by sensory organs such as eyes, nose, mouth, ears, and skin) into information in the form of spikes; and therefore, play an important role in enabling the brain to quickly integrate and perform complex tasks such as cognition, learning, reasoning, prediction, and judgment with little energy.
The Ovonic threshold switch ( OTS) is a two-terminal switching device that maintains a high resistance state ( 10-100 M) below the switching voltage, and exhibits a sharp decrease in resistance above the switching voltage. In a precedent study, the team developed an artificial neuron device that mimics the action of neurons ( integrate-and-fire) that generates a spike signal when the input signal exceeds a specific intensity.
This study ( Nano Letters, Three-Terminal Ovonic Threshold Switch ( 3T-OTS) with Tunable Threshold Voltage for Versatile Artificial Sensory Neurons), furthermore, introduces a 3-terminal Ovonic Threshold Switch ( 3T-OTS) device that can control the switching voltage in order to simulate the behavior of neurons and quickly find and abstract patterns among vast amounts of data input to sensory organs. By connecting a sensor to the third electrode of the 3T-OTS device, which converts external stimuli into voltage, it was possible to realize a sensory neuron device that changes the spike patterns according to the external stimuli.
The research team succeeded in realizing an artificial visual neuron device that mimics the information processing method of human sensory organs, by combining a 3T-OTS and a photodiode. In addition, by connecting an artificial visual neuron device with an artificial neural network that mimics the visual center of the brain, the team could distinguish COVID-19 infections from viral pneumonia with an accuracy of about 86.5% through image learning of chest X-rays.
Dr Suyoun Lee, Director of the KIST Center for Neuromorphic Engineering, said, “ This artificial sensory neuron device is a platform technology that can implement various sensory neuron devices such as sight and touch, by connecting with existing sensors. It is a crucial building block for in-sensor computing technology. ” He also explained the significance of the research that “ will make a great contribution to solving various social problems related to life and safety, such as, developing a medical imaging diagnostic system that can diagnose simultaneously with examinations, predicting acute heart disease through time-series pattern analysis of pulse and blood pressure, and realizing extrasensory ability to detect vibrations outside the audible frequency to prevent building collapse accidents, earthquakes, tsunamis, etc. ”.
Source: Korea Institute of Science and Technology
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President's attacks heap pressure on Mexico's embattled media | Hi, what are you looking for?
Mexico’ s president has stepped up his attacks on a number of media outlets in one of the world’ s most dangerous countries for journalists.
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Mexico’ s president has stepped up his attacks on a number of media outlets in one of the world’ s most dangerous countries for journalists, branding them “ mercenaries ” who defend vested interests.
Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, a left-wing populist who faces a midterm recall referendum on Sunday, often uses his weekday press conferences to lash out at newspapers, prominent journalists and industry leaders.
“ They’ re aligned with a conservative bloc. The goal is to hurt us, ” the president said in February after news articles questioned how his son’ s mansion in Houston fit in with his own pro-austerity agenda.
“ It’ s very important to know that the media — not all — are the defenders of interest groups, of people who did not pay taxes, who were in charge of economic policy, ” he added.
Prominent Mexican journalist Carmen Aristegui sees such criticism as “ a direct attack by the president ” against media figures like her.
“ We are neither for nor against his government. The goal is to inform, ” added Aristegui, famous for hard-hitting reports on government corruption.
For Juan Pardinas, the director of the Reforma daily newspaper, part of the problem is that Lopez Obrador’ s attacks against the press are so frequent.
The president “ has mentioned the newspaper more than 300 times in his morning conferences, ” Pardinas told AFP.
Reforma has been a harsh critic of major presidential projects, such as Lopez Obrador’ s tourist railroad in the Yucatan Peninsula and controversial energy reforms, as it was during other governments.
In February, the president accused Reforma of acting “ at the service of the mafia of power, which has done a lot of harm to Mexico. ”
Such an attack “ puts at risk not only my colleagues from the Reforma group but the entire journalistic profession, ” Pardinas said.
Media workers in Mexico already face myriad dangers.
Eight journalists have been killed in the Latin American country since the start of 2022, according to Reporters Without Borders ( RSF).
Around 150 journalists have been murdered in Mexico since 2000, and only a fraction of the crimes have resulted in convictions, the media watchdog says.
Such killings doubled during the first three years of Lopez Obrador’ s term, which began in December 2018 — to 30, compared with 15 in the same timeframe under his predecessor Enrique Pena Nieto, according to media rights group Article 19.
Usually the victims are reporters working for local media in states plagued by drug cartel-related violence rather than those at the national press in the capital singled out by the president.
– ‘ Who’ s who of lies’ –
In March, the European Parliament angered Lopez Obrador with a resolution urging his government to protect journalists and accusing him of using “ populist rhetoric ” to denigrate and intimidate the press.
Lopez Obrador accused EU lawmakers of supporting his opponents’ “ coup ” attempt “ like sheep. ”
On social networks, the president and his allies are sometimes the targets of disinformation about issues such as Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum’ s nationality or the first lady’ s qualifications — rumors debunked by AFP.
The presidency now has its own fact-checking service. Every Wednesday, part of his news conference is dedicated to highlighting the “ lies ” attributed to journalists or political opponents.
The segment, known as the “ Who’ s who of lies, ” amounts to “ direct attacks on people and their reputation, ” historian Ana Maria Serna told AFP.
“ I don’ t remember a presidency fighting directly with journalists ( before now). In the past, other forms of censorship were used, ” she added.
“ There was a lot of advertising bought by the federal government. It was a form of control. Another was direct payment to journalists, ” Serna said.
Lopez Obrador, a vocal critic of corruption, this week announced a support fund for journalists without social security, lamenting the fact that many of them “ end up with nothing. ”
With 2,400 staff representing 100 different nationalities, AFP covers the world as a leading global news agency. AFP provides fast, comprehensive and verified coverage of the issues affecting our daily lives.
A federal appeals court upheld Biden’ s vaccine mandate for federal workers, while COVID-19 cases rise.
The fake logic is simple to the point of idiocy, but it’ ll work in information-starved Russia.
At least 52 people are killed, including five children, in a rocket attack on a train station in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk.
Ukrainian President Zelensky called for a `` firm global response '' Friday after a missile strike killed 52 people at a train station.
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Weary and worried, French voters are in unpredictable mood | Hi, what are you looking for?
Macron, a former investment banker, has earned a reputation for arrogance and high-handedness that is resented in small towns.
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Every five years French goose farmer Frederic Coudray-Ozbolt revels in the attention his quiet village receives when journalists come knocking at presidential election time.
Two and half hours’ drive south of the capital, Donzy has found fame as a national bellwether that has correctly picked the winner of every presidential election since 1981.
“ It makes us feel like we’ re a part of France and not at the end of it, ” says Coudray-Ozbolt of the brief celebrity he and his neighbours enjoy.
Their powers of prediction faltered slightly in the first round of voting in 2017, but were restored in the second when Donzy voted like the rest of the country for Emmanuel Macron, a then 39-year-old newcomer who destroyed the stranglehold of France’ s traditional parties of government.
But five years later Coudray-Ozbolt says he’ s hesitating about voting for Macron again in Sunday’ s first round.
“ There’ s too much PR, ” said the 54-year-old, who makes the controversial French delicacy foie gras. “ Every day they announce something. How much of it will materialise? ”
As polls show far-right leader Marine Le Pen closing in on Macron, still the narrow favourite, the hesitation of people like Coudray-Ozbolt could prove crucial.
– Inflation worries –
After a highly unusual campaign overshadowed by outside events, the words on many people’ s lips in Donzy — like elsewhere in France — are “ the crises ”.
“ There was Covid 19, now the war in Ukraine, ” sighed Jacques Martin, a 66-year-old retired policeman who is president of the rugby club.
Local mayor Marie-France Lurier says “ people are anxious and they’ re finding it difficult to think about the future. ”
Three lockdowns since 2020 have brought life repeatedly to a standstill, and now galloping inflation linked to Covid and the Ukraine conflict, is eating into household budgets.
“ The biggest, fundamental concern is spending power, the need for salary rises, and worries over the increase in fuel and energy prices, ” said Lurier, a left-leaning independent.
All across the village, people are quick to mention sudden price hikes that belie the official inflation rate of just 4.5 percent.
A local builder said he’ d just been notified of a 12-percent price increase for plaster. The nearest winemaker faces a 53-percent rise in the cost of glass bottles.
Diesel prices at the local supermarket hover near 2.0 euros ( $ 2.18) a litre, up around 20 percent since the start of the year.
“ We’ re going out less and we’ re not sure what we’ re going to do for the holidays, ” said 37-year-old Sarah Lesage, a nurse and mother-of-four.
– ‘ Could be worse’ –
Conversations with the voters of Donzy suggested Sunday’ s first-round and the second-round run-off on April 24 will be won or lost by the candidate seen as most trusted to find solutions.
Though early campaigning was dominated by anti-immigration rhetoric from “ France’ s Trump ” — new far-right candidate Eric Zemmour — polls overwhelmingly show that household spending is the priority now.
Although there was little fervour for Macron in Donzy, there was clear respect by some, admiration even, for his role as the country’ s crisis-manager-in-chief.
“ With everything that’ s going on, at least we have a president that seems to have his head firmly on his shoulders, ” said Jacqueline Vincent, 69, clutching baguettes outside a bakery.
“ It could be a lot worse. ”
Many are grateful for the 100-billion-euro ( $ 110-billion) rescue plan announced in September 2020 that has sent the national debt rocketing but has trickled down to places like Donzy.
Four local bars, where people gather over a glass of wine at the end of the day, were kept afloat by government aid through the lockdowns.
“ I say ‘ Thank you Mr Macron’ for everything I got, ” 67-year-old waitress Martine said, adding that her employer had been repeatedly shut during the lockdowns. “ I had seven months of salary paid by the state. ”
– Le Pen’ s gain –
But Macron, a former investment banker, has also earned a reputation for arrogance and high-handedness that is particularly resented in small towns and villages.
A 2018 revolt against him by so-called “ Yellow Vest ” protesters was sparked as much by his abrasive personality as his pro-business policies and tax cuts for the wealthy.
Distracted by his diplomatic efforts with Russia and Ukraine, he only started campaigning two weeks ago.
Le Pen meanwhile has spent months shaking hands at provincial markets and agricultural fairs, focusing on the issue now on everyone’ s minds: inflation and incomes.
“ Between Macron and us, it’ s a choice between the power of money that benefits the few, and household purchasing power that benefits the many, ” she said recently, promising more tax cuts and social spending.
Her decision not to play up fears over Muslim immigration to France, her traditional rallying cry, has helped soften her image.
And she has hammered Macron in recent weeks on the record two billion euros spent on management consultancies during his term, an issue that appeared to be cutting through in Donzy.
– Hate speech –
Le Pen, 53, has also been helped by Zemmour in her quest to detoxify her image.
Having spent a decade trying to erase her party’ s reputation for racism and its association with its violent neo-Nazi fringe, Le Pen found an ideal foil in Zemmour.
The best-selling author of books such as “ French Suicide ” has several convictions for racist hate speech and wants to deport a million foreigners.
A picture of him giving the finger to a protester in Marseille last November reinforced his image as a cranky political maverick.
“ Compared to him, everyone looks like a moderate, ” said Arnaud Mercier, an expert on political communication at Paris Pantheon-Assas University.
Polls suggest Zemmour will score around 10 percent in Sunday’ s vote, but he has opened up new political space for Le Pen.
He has also normalised the idea of the “ Great Replacement ”, a white supremacist conspiracy theory suggesting indigenous Europeans are being deliberately replaced by immigrants.
“ He’ s dangerous in that he encourages conflicts and feeds off hatred, ” former Socialist president Francois Hollande said last year.
– Old certainties –
Mayor Lurier, a retired social housing administrator, is frustrated that the left-wing Socialists have failed to reinvent themselves since Hollande lost power in 2017.
She regrets the decline of France’ s two traditional political parties, which have been peripheral in this campaign, and is unconvinced by hard-left populist Jean-Luc Melenchon.
The former Trotskyist is the leading left-winger in a race that could still spring a surprise on Sunday.
“ Political parties, whether of the left or the right, provided a framework and the fact that we don’ t have that any more means that things are breaking down, ” said Lurier.
Socialist candidate Anne Hidalgo, the mayor of Paris, is polling around two percent.
The nominee for the once mighty right-wing Republicans party, Valerie Pecresse, is trending downwards on around 10 percent in fourth or fifth position.
– ‘ Nothing is impossible’ –
Worried by the biggest war in Europe since 1945 and the largest inflation crisis since the 1970s, France’ s election is now seen as highly unpredictable.
Polls show around a quarter of voters are unsure of who to vote for on Sunday, and the same proportion might abstain in what would be a record.
The country appears to be heading for another run-off between Macron and Le Pen, who faced each other in 2017 not long after Britain had voted for Brexit and the United States had elected Donald Trump.
With Le Pen breathing down his neck, Macron has been trying to rally voters by sounding the alarm that his promise of continuity and steady leadership might not be enough.
“ Look at what happened with Brexit, and so many other elections: what looked improbable actually happened, ” he warned at his first rally last weekend.
“ Nothing is impossible, ” he added.
With 2,400 staff representing 100 different nationalities, AFP covers the world as a leading global news agency. AFP provides fast, comprehensive and verified coverage of the issues affecting our daily lives.
A cargo airplane broke up during an emergency landing in Costa Rica on Thursday.
Britain is sending Ukraine more Starstreak anti-aircraft missiles and 800 anti-tank missiles after an attack on a train station.
The Thursday confirmation of Ketanji Brown Jackson to the US Supreme Court marks an undeniable success for Joe Biden.
Scientists have created a data set of synthetic eye movements that can train the machine learning classifier for a new program.
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Biden tested negative for COVID on Friday, White House says | President Joe Biden tested negative for COVID-19 on Friday, the White House said. That result comes as a number of officials in Washington, D.C., have tested positive, raising concerns at a time when the Biden administration's narrative is that the pandemic is under control.
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Federal vaccine mandate reinstated as COVID-19 cases surge in NYC and Washington DC | Hi, what are you looking for?
A federal appeals court upheld Biden’ s vaccine mandate for federal workers, while COVID-19 cases rise.
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A federal appeals court upheld Biden’ s vaccine mandate for federal workers, while COVID-19 cases rise in NYC and Washington DC.
On Thursday, the Federal Appeals Court for the Fifth District ruled in a 2 to 1 vote that Texas Judge Jeffrey Brown did not have the jurisdiction to block the federal vaccine mandate President Joe Biden issued in September 2021, according to the New York Times.
In a preliminary injunction issued in January 2022, Judge Brown had ruled that the president did not have the authority to compel employees to “ undergo a medical procedure as a condition of their employment. ”
About 95 percent of federal workers were already in compliance with the mandate by the time the injunction was issued, the White House said.
Coronavirus surging in some places in the U.S.
As of Thursday, two-thirds of eligible Americans were fully vaccinated for COVID-19, according to a New York Times database.
But even though most Americans are fully vaccinated, cases were increasing in 28 states and Washington, D.C., as of April 8. Hospitalizations were also up in five states,
I would not be surprised if we see an uptick in cases, ” Dr. Anthiny Fauci told Bloomberg. “ But the one thing I hope, and I believe there is a reason that this will not happen, is that we won’ t get a very large increase proportionally of hospitalizations because of the background immunity. ”
Dr. Fauci said it is difficult to predict whether the expected uptick in cases could become a larger surge. He also said it’ s likely the U.S. will see another increase in cases this fall as the colder weather brings people indoors.
New York City has seen coronavirus cases rise by 60 percent since the last week of March, while in Washington G.C., cases have doubled during the same time period.
And while the Omicron surge has abated, the highly contagious BA.2 subvariant is contributing to the new wave in some places, especially in the Northeast.
Across the United States, caseloads have stopped falling, and have started to rise in states including Alaska, Vermont, Colorado, Rhode Island, and New York.
A number of lawmakers on Capitol Hill have recently tested positive for the coronavirus, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California, who tested positive on Thursday, the latest high-profile official to do so as the virus spreads through Washington.
Karen Graham is Digital Journal's Editor-at-Large for environmental news. Karen's view of what is happening in our world is colored by her love of history and how the past influences events taking place today. Her belief in man's part in the care of the planet and our environment has led her to focus on the need for action in dealing with climate change. It was said by Geoffrey C. Ward, `` Journalism is merely history's first draft. '' Everyone who writes about what is happening today is indeed, writing a small part of our history.
A cargo airplane broke up during an emergency landing in Costa Rica on Thursday.
In the U.S., owners of Apple devices who hold a driver’ s license can now add them to their digital wallets. Is this a good...
The Thursday confirmation of Ketanji Brown Jackson to the US Supreme Court marks an undeniable success for Joe Biden.
Britain is sending Ukraine more Starstreak anti-aircraft missiles and 800 anti-tank missiles after an attack on a train station.
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Shanghai lockdown snarls world's busiest port and China supply chains | Hi, what are you looking for?
Shanghai’ s grinding coronavirus lockdown is slowly clogging China’ s supply chains.
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Shanghai’ s grinding coronavirus lockdown is slowly clogging China’ s supply chains, as delays hit the world’ s busiest container port where staff are tangled in a morass of Covid controls.
Beijing has refused to tack away from its strict zero-Covid strategy that has protected its public health system through the pandemic but at a mounting economic cost.
China’ s financial hub Shanghai — home to multinational firms and its busiest port — has been sealed off almost entirely for a week following an outbreak fuelled by the Omicron virus variant.
That has many forced companies to halt production and slow new projects, factories told AFP, while those still operating are struggling with a shortage of truck drivers on top of onerous permit and Covid testing requirements.
At Shanghai’ s port, the lack of drivers and other workers means getting goods in and out is increasingly hard.
The docks are working normally with a “ single-digit ” number of vessels waiting to berth, Shanghai International Port Group said this week.
“ But the fact is… due to restrictions caused for truck drivers, it is not really operating, ” Bettina Schoen-Behanzin, vice president of the EU Chamber of Commerce’ s Shanghai Chapter, told AFP.
“ The figure I heard is that… week-on-week volumes at the Shanghai port are down by 40 percent. So that’ s really enormous. ”
Shortages are starting to bite across China’ s vast consumer economy, where online shopping platforms such as Taobao face delivery delays, especially of imported goods.
Covid curbs in a number of cities have forced factories to find new suppliers.
But the impact may soon also be felt outside China if lockdowns persist.
Shanghai is the world’ s number one container port, a spinal point in the global supply chain and a key gateway for foreign trade.
It handles around 17 percent of China’ s total port volume and shipped 47 million TEU — the standard measurement for cargo, meaning Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit — in 2021.
– Factories can’ t work from home –
Chinese manufacturers say lockdowns, no matter how flexible or targeted, pile pressure on their business.
“ Not many roles allow working from home, ” said Jason Lee, founder of wheelchair producer Megalicht Tech, whose factory in Shanghai’ s Puxi area has suspended production.
“ People can’ t enter the factory… and because our raw materials come from other provinces or cities, these can’ t enter Shanghai either, ” he said.
A Shanghai-based clothing exporter surnamed Zheng said his biggest problem was that he could not send samples to clients.
“ Deliveries can neither leave nor enter, ” he said
Experts say the outbreak is currently nibbling at growth, but could soon take a big bite.
Nomura economists estimate that 23 cities accounting for 22 percent of China’ s GDP have rolled out full or partial lockdowns.
“ The costs of the zero-Covid strategy will rise significantly as its benefits decline, especially as exports are hit by the ongoing lockdowns, ” Nomura chief China economist Lu Ting told AFP.
That will challenge Beijing’ s 2022 GDP growth target of around 5.5 percent, he added.
– Adapting to survive –
For now, companies are adapting to try and handle the restrictions.
“ Our main business activity is down by over 50 percent, ” said Gao Yongkang, general manager of Qifeng Technology in eastern China’ s Quanzhou city.
The company has been unable to transport textile materials to regular clients because of the Covid curbs, and has instead pivoted to supplying the booming market for protective gear.
Meanwhile, those who can not reach their original suppliers are scouring for new ones.
“ The costs are a little higher and it’ s slightly less efficient but we can fulfil our regular needs, ” said Shen Shengyuan, deputy general manager of diaper-producer New Yifa Group.
In a nod to struggling industries, Premier Li Keqiang this week announced a temporary deferment of old-age insurance premiums for sectors such as catering, retail and civil aviation.
But industry groups say hard lockdowns on major cities such as Shanghai are unsustainable, especially with many Omicron cases presenting light or no symptoms.
“ Does the zero-Covid strategy still work in the current environment, ” said Eric Zheng, American Chamber of Commerce president in Shanghai.
“ That’ s a big question, particularly when you try to balance the economic cost. ”
With 2,400 staff representing 100 different nationalities, AFP covers the world as a leading global news agency. AFP provides fast, comprehensive and verified coverage of the issues affecting our daily lives.
A cargo airplane broke up during an emergency landing in Costa Rica on Thursday.
In the U.S., owners of Apple devices who hold a driver’ s license can now add them to their digital wallets. Is this a good...
The Thursday confirmation of Ketanji Brown Jackson to the US Supreme Court marks an undeniable success for Joe Biden.
Britain is sending Ukraine more Starstreak anti-aircraft missiles and 800 anti-tank missiles after an attack on a train station.
COPYRIGHT © 1998 - 2022 DIGITAL JOURNAL INC. Digital Journal is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read more about our external linking. | general |
Xi praises China's virus handling as Shanghai prepares 130,000 Covid beds | Hi, what are you looking for?
China’ s President Xi Jinping praised the country’ s “ tested ” zero-Covid strategy, even as Shanghai prepared nearly 130,000 beds.
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China’ s President Xi Jinping praised the country’ s “ tested ” zero-Covid strategy on Friday, even as Shanghai authorities prepared nearly 130,000 beds for Covid-19 patients amid surging cases and mounting public anger.
Until March, China had kept cases low with localised lockdowns, mass testing, and strict restrictions on international travel.
But the country has reported thousands of daily cases in recent weeks, with economic hub and outbreak epicentre Shanghai placed under lockdown over ballooning infections of the highly transmissible Omicron variant.
Shanghai authorities said on Friday that 130,000 new beds were ready or under construction for Covid-positive residents in the city at makeshift venues including exposition halls.
The city reported more than 21,000 new infections on Friday, the vast majority asymptomatic.
Yet President Xi on Friday lauded the country’ s Covid response, saying at an event to honour Olympic athletes that the country’ s handling of the recent Winter Games showed that its virus policy “ once again withstood the test. ”
“ Some foreign athletes told us that if there was a gold medal for epidemic response, it should be awarded to China, ” Xi said at the ceremony in Beijing.
Shanghai’ s roughly 25 million inhabitants were locked down in phases last week, prompting scenes of panic buying and mass testing.
Residents have begun to chafe at the restrictions, with some taking to social media to complain of food shortages and express outrage over the killing of a pet corgi by health workers.
Meanwhile, officials softened a policy of splitting Covid-positive children from their virus-free parents after the rule triggered public anger.
But Beijing is sticking to its zero-tolerance approach and is determined to squash the Shanghai outbreak, sending in 38,000 medical workers and 2,000 soldiers from around the country to the city as reinforcements.
The state-run People’ s Daily newspaper on Friday declared that zero-Covid remained the “ best choice ” for China, arguing the country should “ never grow numb, never grow tired of fighting, and never grow slack. ”
China, the country where the coronavirus was first detected in the central city of Wuhan in late 2019, is among the last remaining places in the world following a zero-Covid approach to the pandemic.
The outbreak has taken on an increasingly serious economic dimension, with China’ s factory output falling to its lowest in two years in March, according to independent indices released by Chinese media group Caixin.
Researchers have warned China could suffer a “ colossal outbreak ” overwhelming its medical system if it abruptly relaxes restrictions.
But the WHO’ s Western Pacific regional director Takeshi Kasai on Thursday warned that the “ human and social cost of lockdowns are considerable. ”
With 2,400 staff representing 100 different nationalities, AFP covers the world as a leading global news agency. AFP provides fast, comprehensive and verified coverage of the issues affecting our daily lives.
A cargo airplane broke up during an emergency landing in Costa Rica on Thursday.
In the U.S., owners of Apple devices who hold a driver’ s license can now add them to their digital wallets. Is this a good...
The Thursday confirmation of Ketanji Brown Jackson to the US Supreme Court marks an undeniable success for Joe Biden.
Britain is sending Ukraine more Starstreak anti-aircraft missiles and 800 anti-tank missiles after an attack on a train station.
COPYRIGHT © 1998 - 2022 DIGITAL JOURNAL INC. Digital Journal is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read more about our external linking. | general |
China stocks seesaw amid COVID outbreak, stimulus expectations | - China stocks struggled for direction amid caution around a downtrend in the domestic economy stemming from the worst COVID-19 outbreak in two years, with investors awaiting further easing measures to boost sentiment and economy.
The CSI300 index rose 0.1% to 4,211.81 at the end of the morning session, while the Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.1% to 3,234.82.
The Hang Seng index dropped 0.6% to 21,684.44. The Hong Kong China Enterprises Index lost 1.1% to 7,412.64.
* * `` Range-bound sentiment continues amid concerns on macro recovery, COVID-19 management and tightening liquidity globally, '' Morgan Stanley said in a note. `` Earnings estimate reductions further accelerated. ''
* * Shares in healthcare, tourism and computers lost more than 1% each.
* * While energy firms gained 1%, infrastructure companies added 1.2% and construction engineering stocks jumped 2.8%.
* * China reported 1,576 new confirmed COVID-19 cases and 22,648 new asymptomatic cases on April 7.
* * Economists now expect Beijing to take imminent monetary easing measures to prop up the economy and make sure China remains on track to hit its around 5.5% growth target for this year.
* * Tech giants listed in Hong Kong fell 2.3% on worries over China-U.S. relations, with e-commerce giant Alibaba Group and food-delivery firm Meituan down 2.9% and 3.5%, respectively.
* * China said on Thursday it would take strong measures if U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Chinese-claimed Taiwan on her trip, responding to reports she was planning to go.
* * Pelosi's spokesman later in the day said the Democratic leader has tested positive for COVID-19 and is currently asymptomatic, and the congressional delegation trip to Asia she had planned to lead has been postponed.
* * `` China shows willingness on collaboration on the audit dispute but more confirmation is needed from the U.S. side, '' said Morgan Stanley analysts.
* * The China Securities Regulatory Commission last week proposed revising confidentiality rules involving offshore listings, removing a legal hurdle to Sino-U.S. cooperation on audit oversight.
( Reporting by Shanghai Newsroom; editing by Uttaresh.V) | business |
Family of French diver missing in Malaysia 'hope for best ' | Hi, what are you looking for?
The mother of a French diver missing off the coast of Malaysia said Friday she is “ hoping for the best. ”
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The mother of a French diver missing off the coast of Malaysia said Friday she is “ hoping for the best ” as the search for the teenager and two other Europeans entered a third day.
The trio disappeared along with their instructor on Wednesday after going diving off a southern island.
The Norwegian instructor, 35-year-old Kristine Grodem, was rescued alive Thursday after drifting for miles, and was admitted to hospital in a stable condition.
Officials have expressed hope the others will be found alive, as they had surfaced from a dive before going missing and are experienced divers.
Esther Molina, the mother of French 18-year-old Alexia Alexandra Molina, also struck an optimistic note.
“ We hear from experienced divers that the situation is positive, they’ re above water, hopefully they’ re together still, ” she told AFP from the coastal town of Mersing, the base for search operations.
“ We are hoping for the best. She’ s a strong girl, she’ ll kick ass. ”
She added authorities had been “ efficient, we’ ve been kept updated about the status of the search ”.
The other two missing divers are British man Adrian Peter Chesters, 46, and his 14-year-old son Nathan Renze Chesters, who is a Dutch citizen.
The search, which includes 10 boats, three helicopters and dozens of officials, resumed in the early hours, said senior police official Cyril Edward Nuing.
“ Until now we have not received new sightings pertaining to the three missing divers, ” he told a press conference, but he added he had a “ strong hope ” they would be found.
Grodem had been instructing the divers close to a small island, Tokong Sanggol, about 15 kilometres ( nine miles) off Malaysia’ s southeast coast when the accident happened.
After a dive lasting about 40 minutes, they surfaced but could not find their boat. They drifted together in strong currents, but ended up getting separated.
The captain of the boat who took them to the dive site has been arrested after testing positive for drugs.
The area where they disappeared is popular with foreign and domestic visitors — there are resorts dotted along the coast and on nearby islands.
Diving accidents, while rare, do occasionally take place in Malaysia.
In 2013, a British tourist died when she was struck by a passing boat’ s propeller while diving off resort islands in the South China Sea.
The tropical Southeast Asian nation’ s borders reopened to foreign tourists on April 1 after a two-year closure because of the coronavirus pandemic.
With 2,400 staff representing 100 different nationalities, AFP covers the world as a leading global news agency. AFP provides fast, comprehensive and verified coverage of the issues affecting our daily lives.
The fake logic is simple to the point of idiocy, but it’ ll work in information-starved Russia.
At least 52 people are killed, including five children, in a rocket attack on a train station in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk.
Ukrainian President Zelensky called for a `` firm global response '' Friday after a missile strike killed 52 people at a train station.
U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin will be heading to the province on Monday and Tuesday to visit oilsands operations.
COPYRIGHT © 1998 - 2022 DIGITAL JOURNAL INC. Digital Journal is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read more about our external linking. | general |
Japan's Nikkei logs worst week in a month on U.S. rates, Ukraine worries | - Japan's Nikkei index logged its worst week in close to a month, weighed by worries from the impact of aggressive policy tightening by the U.S. Federal Reserve, the conflict in Ukraine, and lockdowns in China.
The Nikkei sank 2.46% for the week, its poorest showing since the period ended March 11, despite notching small gains at the end of a roller-coaster session on Friday. It ended up 0.36% at 26,985.80, stopping short of the psychological 27,000 level.
The broader Topix added 0.21% to 1,896.79, but lost 2.44% for the week, also the worst performance since March 11.
Over the course of the week, China tightened restrictions on movement amid a COVID-19 outbreak, bringing life in Shanghai to a virtual standstill, while Ukraine braced for a major Russian offensive with peace talks sputtering.
A particular focus was the U.S. Federal Reserve, with policymakers sounding increasingly hawkish notes in recent days.
`` The Fed's hawkish tilt is making it very hard to buy growth stocks, '' said a trader at a domestic securities firm.
`` At the same time, the climb in U.S. yields has come a long way, meaning a lot of tightening is already priced in, so stocks shouldn't fall too much either. ''
Of the Nikkei's 225 components, 134 rose on Friday versus 85 that fell, with six ending flat.
Camera maker Nikon was the Nikkei's biggest winner, jumping 7.55% after announcing a 30 billion yen ( $ 241.82 million) share buyback.
Telecoms also climbed, with NTT up 4.04% and KDDI rising 1.84% to be the Nikkei's biggest gainer by index points.
At the other end, Toyota dropped 3.37% to be the Nikkei's biggest drag amid Australian media reports that the automaker could face an A $ 2 billion ( $ 1.5 billion) payout over faulty diesel particulate filters.
That led transport equipment to be the worst performer among the Tokyo Stock Exchange's 33 sub-sectors, registering a 2.08% decline.
( $ 1 = 1.3374 Australian dollars) ( $ 1 = 124.0600 yen) ( Reporting by Tokyo markets team; editing by Uttaresh.V) | business |
Risk of serious blood clot events spike in the months after COVID-19 | New observational research out of Sweden has tracked more than one million COVID-19 cases for months after their acute illness in order to determine how the disease influences subsequent risk of blood clots. The findings indicate COVID-19 significantly increases a person’ s risk of deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism in the months after infection.
The large study, published in The BMJ, looked at health data from 1,057,174 positive COVID-19 cases. This covers every single positive recorded case in Sweden from the beginning of the pandemic up to May 2021. A control group of four million age- and sex-matched subjects not positive with COVID was generated to quantify the increase in risk for blood clots caused by infection.
In the 30 days after an initial COVID-19 diagnosis the researchers found a 33-fold increase in pulmonary embolism risk, a five-fold increase in deep vein thrombosis ( DVT) risk and a two-fold increase in general bleeding events. The heightened risk, compared to the uninfected control group, persisted 60 days for bleeding, 90 days for DVT, and 180 days for pulmonary embolism.
Factoring in acute disease severity, the researchers found those initially hit hardest with COVID-19 did experience greater long-term risk for blood clotting events. However, the increased risk was not zero in those experiencing mild COVID. Those with only a mild infection still showed a three-fold risk of DVT and a seven-fold risk of pulmonary embolism.
While this new study is the most robust to investigate the relationship between blood clots and SARS-CoV-2 infection it is not the first to identify this association. A large UK study last year found similar signs when it compared rates of hematological and vascular events after COVID-19 to rates of those same events after COVID vaccination.
That study more generally found significant increases in rates of stroke, heart attack and blood clotting a month after a COVID infection. It also found these rates of adverse events were much higher after COVID-19 than after vaccination, validating the suggestion that the deleterious after-effects of COVID-19 are much more impactful than any potential harms caused by vaccination.
Another UK study published last year found incidences of and deaths from thromboembolism doubled in the first six months of the pandemic compared to rates seen in the years prior.
This new study focused on unvaccinated COVID-19 patients so there is no direct data on what protective effect is conferred by vaccination in regards to the increased blood clotting risk after SARS-CoV-2 infection. An editorial in The BMJ accompanying the new study, from researchers at the University of Glasgow, hypothesizes there still may be a risk of these blood clotting events in patients experiencing vaccine breakthrough infections.
“ … current vaccines are highly effective against severe covid-19 but confer only moderate protection against infection with the Omicron variant, ” the editorial states. “ Although many infections with the Omicron variant are mild, the new study confirms an increased risk of venous thromboembolism even among those with milder infections who do not require admission to hospital. ”
Ioannis Katsoularis, an author on the new Swedish study from Umeå University, said the findings affirm the value of vaccination in reducing the likelihood and severity of COVID-19. Plus, he said older COVID-19 patients who are already at a high risk of blood clotting events should be closely watched in the months after an acute infection.
“ The results underline the importance of people getting vaccinated against COVID-19 but also of healthcare providers identifying individuals with COVID-19 who are at increased risk of blood clots so that blood thinners can be used, ” Katsoularis added.
The new study was published in The BMJ.
Source: Umeå University | science |
Ford Stock Set to Benefit From Electric Vehicle Push | Shares of the old-line automaker are undervalued as it retools to compete with Tesla.
Most folks interested in investing in electric vehicle makers turn their sights to Tesla ( TSLA), the industry leader. Or maybe they take a flier on newer entrants, Lucid Motors ( LCID) or Rivian ( RIVN).
Yet, if you’ re looking for the best opportunity in electric vehicles, you should be thinking of the granddaddy of auto makers: Ford Motor Co. ( F).
This might seem like heresy for Tesla fans but consider Consumer Reports just named Ford’ s Mustang Mach-E best electric vehicle of 2022. Take that Elon.
Ford’ s win toppled Tesla’ s Model 3 from its two-year-hold on the top spot, and lifted the bar for electric vehicle standards across the industry. More than a century after revolutionizing the automobile with its Model T “ car for the masses, ” Ford is moving forward with an ambitious plan to reclaim its glory days by making electric versions of some of its most iconic brands. As the Consumer Reports’ honor demonstrates, the strategy is gaining traction.
“ We’ re going to go all in to be a world-changing company once again, ” president and chief executive Jim Farley told investors in early March as he laid out a sweeping change to Ford’ s corporate structure, splitting the company founded in 1903 into two distinct parts to maximize its potential. For Farley, 59, an industry veteran, the mission to remake the company also has a personal connection: his grandfather began working at Ford’ s Model T plant in 1913 and imparted his love of cars to his grandson.
If the plan succeeds, it could be world changing for investors, especially if the car maker achieves the lofty performance goals it has set for itself.
“ If they deliver, it implies a lot of upside to the stock, ” says David Whiston, sector strategist at Morningstar. Whiston last month boosted his fair value estimate on Ford to $ 24 a share from $ 22, and raised his midcycle adjusted margin on earnings before interest and taxes, or EBIT, to 8% from 7%.
Whiston’ s revised estimate doesn’ t fully reflect the company’ s EBIT margin outlook of 10% by 2026, which it revised early last month from its prior forecast of 8%. Ford posted a 7% EBIT margin in 2021. Driving the gains, Farley predicts, will be higher volumes, lower prices for materials, and a $ 3 billion reduction in costs from its legacy internal combustion engine business, which will include layoffs.
At a recent price of $ 15.11 per share the stock represents a 38% discount to Whiston’ s fair value estimate. While Ford’ s shares continue to sport a 4 star Morningstar moderately undervalued rating, they are closing in on five-star territory and an undervalued classification at the $ 14.40 level.
The stock appears attractive by other measures, too. Ford’ s forward price/earnings multiple of 7.85 times estimated 2023 earnings of $ 2.25 a share is well below the 12.50% earnings growth expected based on this year’ s estimated earnings of $ 2.00 a share. That compares with a forward P/E of 18.22 times on the S & P 500. Ford posted net income of $ 1.59 a share in 2021.
Its $ 1.60 a share annual dividend yields 2.51%, compared with the 1.33% yield on the S & P 500. On a price-to-sales basis it trades at 0.49 times estimated 2022 sales of $ 157 billion.
Ford expects annual global production of its electric vehicles to exceed two million by 2026, about one-third of its expected total volume, and up from an projected 600,000 in 2023. It also sees electric vehicles increasing to 50% of total volume by 2030, reflecting new products and market share gains. This year, it plans to invest $ 5 billion in electric vehicles, double the amount spent in 2021. Between now and 2026, Ford expects to spend $ 50 billion on EV and new technology development. Ford forecasts total company adjusted EBIT of $ 11.5 billion to $ 12.5 billion for 2022.
The carmaker, along with South Korea’ s SK Innovation battery maker, is investing more than $ 11 billion in lithium-ion battery plants and electric-vehicle assembly plants in Tennessee and Kentucky and creating more than 11,000 jobs.
The company has a strong enough balance sheet reinvent itself: It reported more than $ 52 billion in cash and liquidity in the fourth quarter of 2021, which included its 12% stake in electric truck maker Rivian. Excluding Rivian, which is now trading at half its IPO price of $ 78 a share, Ford’ s cash balance at year-end was $ 25.9 billion. Morningstar’ s Whiston says it’ s very likely Ford will unload its Rivian stake this year after the IPO lockup expires.
For all the excitement surrounding Ford, the stock has fallen sharply year to date. Supply chain disruptions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and worsened by Russia’ s invasion of Ukraine, rising costs of raw materials, and skepticism around its ability to execute its plan have created an opportunity in Ford stock for value-minded investors. Indeed, Ford paused production of the Mustang Mach-E this week at its Flat Rock plant in Michigan due to the chip shortage.
It also reported a 25.6% year-over-year decline in total sales in March, which discouraged investors but was not unexpected given that the chip shortage didn’ t start to hurt U.S. car makers until June 2021, says Whiston. He expects sales to remain weak through the second quarter before production begins to more meaningfully increase in the second half. More encouraging, retail orders in March of 88,000 set a record and were up 66,000 from the year ago.
The pent-up demand for vehicles and the pricing power that automakers hold are reasons to be bullish.
The “ new ” Ford will have two distinct but dependent parts: Ford Model e, will represent “ next century ” innovative electric vehicle designs and be led by risk-taking entrepreneurial types more commonly found at tech startups, backed by the engineering and manufacturing scale and resources of the 118-year-old Fortune 500 company.
The other segment will be known as Ford Blue and will build on the company’ s legacy internal combustion engine performance brands, including the iconic F-series, Ranger, and Maverick trucks, the Bronco and Explorer sport utility vehicles, and the Mustang. Like the Mustang Mach-E, others in its current fully electric lineup are based on existing best-selling Ford Blue models: the F-150 Lightning pickup truck and the E-Transit van, for instance. Ford Blue is seen as the cash cow that helps fund the start up. Farley maintains the split isn’ t a precursor to a spinoff and stresses the complementary nature of both businesses.
“ Each will drive on the chemistry of the other to create an even stronger and more resilient Ford, ” Farley told investors. “ For example, the embedded software, digital experience inside the vehicle will be developed by Model e and that will benefit all customers. And Ford Blue's industrial power will help Ford Model e scale up to reach millions of EV customers. ”
The combination of a fortress balance sheet, engineering prowess, great brands, and ability to scale up is what sets Ford apart from its competitors.
The two business segments will also underpin its efforts at improving the Lincoln luxury brand segment, leveraging its Ford Pro business that caters to commercial and government customers by providing financing, servicing, and support, and assisting its Ford Drive mobility segment focused on autonomous vehicles through its 41% investment stake in Argo AI and joint venture with Volkswagen, with which it is also collaborating on electric vehicles for the European market.
The company’ s restructuring began in 2018 under former chief executive Jim Hackett, but Farley has moved the process into overdrive and shifted the focus to electric vehicles. He took the helm of the company in October 2020 after serving in a variety of roles, including chief executive and chairman of Ford Europe, president of Global Markets, and president of New Business, Technology, and Strategy.
Ford scion and executive chairman Bill Ford Jr. and former chief executive Alan Mulally, who steered the company through the Great Recession, lured Farley away from Toyota in 2007 where he headed sales and marketing for its luxury Lexus brand. In September, Farley tapped Doug Field, a veteran of Apple and Tesla in design and engineering, to lead the push into electric vehicles. And he has said he will spend to recruit top tech talent to achieve the aim of making Ford the number one electric vehicle producer in the world.
Sandy Ward does not own ( actual or beneficial) shares in any of the securities mentioned above. Find out about Morningstar’ s editorial policies.
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Two acquitted and jury hung on two more in Whitmer kidnap plot | Two of four men were acquitted on Friday in a conspiracy to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer in 2020, motivated by fury at the Democrat’ s tough Covid-19 restrictions early in the pandemic.
The jury’ s verdicts against Daniel Harris and Brandon Caserta were read in the federal court in Grand Rapids, Michigan, in the case presided over by US District Judge Robert Jonker.
Jurors said they could not agree on verdicts again Adam Fox and Barry Croft Jr. Prosecutors described Fox as a ringleader of an anti-government group.
Fox, Croft and Harris faced additional charges. The two most serious charges, kidnapping conspiracy and conspiracy to use explosives, both carry potential life sentences.
Defence attorneys portrayed their clients as credulous weekend warriors prone to big, wild talk, who were often stoned. They said FBI undercover agents and informants tricked and cajoled the men into agreeing to a conspiracy.
To counter that entrapment claim, prosecutors entered evidence that the men discussed abducting Ms Whitmer before the FBI sting began. They went way beyond talk, including scouting Ms Whitmer’ s summer home and testing explosives, prosecutors told jurors.
Croft is from Delaware while the others are from Michigan.
Earlier on Friday, US District Judge Robert Jonker acknowledged the struggle of deliberations. Decisions to convict or acquit must be unanimous.
“ I know it’ s tough. We all know it’ s tough, ” Mr Jonker told the jury. | general |
North Macedonia 0-10 England: Women’ s World Cup qualifying – as it happened | England continue their impressive World Cup qualifier campaign with 10-0 win over North Macedonia. Among the goalscorers was Ellen White, who hit in her 50th for the Lionesses.
Sarah Rendell
Fri 8 Apr 2022 21.35 BST First published on Fri 8 Apr 2022 18.00 BST
9.35pm BST 21:35
So that is all from us this evening, thank you for joining us for yet another astonishing England win.
Four goals from Mead, a hat-trick from Toone and goals from White and Stanway continues England’ s fantastic run in the World Cup qualifiers.
If you want to re-live any of the action or have a recap, read Suzy Wrack’ s report here.
9.33pm BST 21:33
Thank you for all your contributions this evening, it was great to know it’ s not just me who has a clumsy five minutes!
My carpet is almost dry ( four hours later!) and there appears to be no stain. I credit my blotting skills.
Were they as impressive as England’ s 10-0 win? Maybe, just maybe.
9.30pm BST 21:30
England manager Sarina Wiegman has confirmed in her post-match press conference that Beth England and Niamh Charles have tested negative. They will both be in contention for Tuesday’ s qualifier.
It’ s thought captain Leah Williamson will also be fit for the fixture. No update so far on Alex Greenwood and Lotte Wubben-Moy who picked up injury worries ahead of this match.
9.25pm BST 21:25
So are England contenders for the Euros title?
They definitely are but they’ ll have fierce competition, namely in the Netherlands, Spain and Sweden.
Of course Sarina Wiegman’ s team have the home advantage but it will be a difficult task for them and all countries involved to get their hands on the trophy.
9.20pm BST 21:20
What a night for Ellen White, surpassing Harry Kane and Bobby Charlton in the all-time England scorers.
She is in touching distance of eclipsing Wayne Rooney’ s record of 53 goals. Will she break it on Tuesday against Northern Ireland? If she doesn’ t she will have ample opportunity this summer with three friendlies and then the Euros.
Rooney is now the only other player to reach 50 goals for England. Such an amazing achievement for the Manchester City star.
5️⃣0️⃣ goals for England! 🤩 @ ellsbells89 🤩 pic.twitter.com/RkwI1FI8oc
9.15pm BST 21:15
England manager Sarina Wiegman told ITV: “ An opponent that compared to us isn’ t great but we have make the game. We have to speed up the game. That’ s what we tried to do. We scored 10 goals which is nice.
“ It’ s hard. We created lots of chances and sometimes we should have been more patient. ”
9.10pm BST 21:10
This isn’ t the end of England’ s international spell as they will play Northern Ireland on Tuesday.
There could be more squad rotation in that match too with the likes of Beth England and Niamh Charles potentially being available.
Will they go for consistency or experimentation? With a more difficult side on Tuesday you’ d think Wiegman would put out her strongest side.
9.06pm BST 21:06
Ellen White told ITV after scoring 50 England goals: “ I think it’ s pleasing to score. The overall performance, the standard is remaining really high. We wanted those three points.
“ It’ s a massive privilege [ to be among Harry Kane and Wayne Rooney ]. It’ s a dream for me to play for England. For me it’ s any way I can contribute to the team... It’ s an incredible feeling to be among those amazing players. ”
9.02pm BST 21:02
A player who was impressive when she came on was Nikita Parris. She was causing all sorts of trouble for the defence and she secured a lot of free kicks.
The only thing she was missing was a goal which she would have had if she wasn’ t offside.
It will be interesting to see if she gets a starting shirt for their qualifier against Northern Ireland on Tuesday.
8.56pm BST 20:56
England continue their flawless run in these World Cup qualifiers as they keep another clean sheet.
Beth Mead got four, Ella Toone scored a hat-trick with Ellen White and Georgia Stanway also among the scorers.
It was a dominant performance with almost 40 shots at goal but there were scores which should have been converted by the visitors.
But a win is a win and another three points sees them stay top of Group D.
Updated at 8.58pm BST
8.53pm BST 20:53
90 + 3 min: England build from deep on their pursuit of number 11 and it makes its way to Panchurova, who smothers the ball.
Carter sends the ball to Toone and it pings around the box. Zelem gets a shot away but it sails over the bar.
It may be staying 10-0 here, with goals definitely left out on the pitch by England.
8.50pm BST 20:50
90 + 1 min: Markovska is now booked, the fifth yellow for the hosts this evening!
There will be five minutes added and so England could find another here, they definitely have the time.
8.49pm BST 20:49
89 min: Velkova is back to her feet after a lengthy break and will stay on the pitch.
And while it may be late in this match England continue to fish for another goal.
8.47pm BST 20:47
87 min: Russo almost scores again but the keeper makes a great save after a defensive blunder saw England pounce.
The Lionesses remain relentless and keep hammering North Macedonia’ s door. The latest chance ends in a goal kick. Velkova is now down with injury.
I can imagine there will be a good few added minutes.
8.44pm BST 20:44
84 min: Parris is chopped down on the edge of the box with Velkova getting a yellow card. The Arsenal player has been clinical since coming on.
Carter takes the kick but can’ t find anyone in the box. England still in possession and building once again.
Parris looked as though she had scored but she was offside!
8.42pm BST 20:42
82 min: Russo almost gets among the scoring action but Panchurova collects well.
There’ s a break in play as Boseska is on the ground after helping to defend that Russo shot.
8.40pm BST 20:40
80 min: I predicted 10-0 before kick-off but I think there are a few more to come. The Lionesses record away win is 13-0 and I could see them at least equalling it here as North Macedonia tire.
England have another free kick and they are building from halfway.
North Macedonia make a change as Petrushevska comes on for Nikolovska.
8.38pm BST 20:38
Now Toone gets among the hat-trick action.
It was too easy as Parris makes an open run into the box and it’ s passed back to Toone who slices it.
Updated at 8.46pm BST
8.36pm BST 20:36
76 min: Salihi has been given a yellow card for a foul on Mead and England immediately launch an attack.
It’ s hard to find new words to describe the Lionesses brutal forward play.
Parris has earned them a free kick just outside the box but it’ s well blocked by North Macedonia.
Huge 62 goals across seven games in these qualifiers. A staggering statistic.
8.34pm BST 20:34
The ball pin balls around the box with Russo doing so well to keep it in play. Toone finds her second as she is unmarked in the box.
Just as a say there’ s a lull, there’ s a goal!
8.33pm BST 20:33
73 min: Mead and Stokes link up in the box but the hosts manage to close down the attack.
Parris gets a cross in the hope of finding Scott but her long legs go a bit high and possession is given away.
There’ s definitely been a lull in this game in the last ten minutes but England will be encouraged as they still haven’ t conceded in the World Cup qualifiers.
8.30pm BST 20:30
70 min: North Macedonia have a free kick and they force Hampton into a catch. The most the keeper has been threatened this evening.
England make a triple change as Russo, Zelem and Daly coming on for Walsh, Bronze and White.
White will have to wait to equal Rooney’ s record but she has reached 50 goals for her country this evening.
Just to give an update on my carpet stain, for those interested haha, it seems to be clearing up. Thank goodness! My clumsy moment hasn’ t led to permanent damage.
8.27pm BST 20:27
67 min: An England corner sees Mead take up the set-piece duties. Bronze got a touch to it and she just can’ t get the header on target.
If the visitors capitalised on all their chances the scoreline would be even more punishing for North Macedonia.
8.25pm BST 20:25
65 min: Bronze’ s cross has too much on it and England’ s attack stalls. But once more they are easily back in possession in seconds.
Parris tries to get a cross in but it’ s well blocked.
Mead does get a cross in with her getting a slick pass across goal with it just evading White.
8.23pm BST 20:23
63 min: You won’ t be surprised as I tell you the Lionesses are continuing their onslaught of attack.
North Macedonia must be so tired at this point, England have had 28 shots at goal. And there’ s no sign of them stopping any time soon with Parris attempting to score but it goes just wide.
8.20pm BST 20:20
60 min: England make their first changes as Parris and Scott come on for Hemp and Stanway.
Hemp has been great with multiple assists and Stanway has slotted two goals.
Updated at 8.21pm BST
8.18pm BST 20:18
58 min: This is a mirror of the start of the game, the first three goals were scored early doors and then England let up slightly.
Can the Lionesses keep up this pressure?
England again on the attack but White clashes with Panchurova and North Macedonia get the free kick.
8.16pm BST 20:16
Okay I am struggling to keep up! Another great cross from Hemp sees Stanway put her second of the match away.
She turned and smashes home, wow!
Updated at 8.32pm BST
8.15pm BST 20:15
55 min: North Macedonia are making changes with Rochi and Petrovska make way for Salihi and Stojkovska.
England running up to goal once again in search of their eighth.
8.13pm BST 20:13
Oh that slice was perfect as Hemp’ s attempt is saved and Mead pounces for her fourth.
One more goal would equal an England record for the most goals in a single game.
Updated at 8.23pm BST
8.12pm BST 20:12
52 min: Wow, so so close! Bronze gets a shot away and White flies through the air to try and get a head to it but she just misses.
I have received a few messages about these matches being a waste of time due to the scoreline. A lot of people are discussing whether the World Cup qualifiers need to be adapted to avoid these huge scores but for now it’ s the route to the world stage.
8.10pm BST 20:10
50 min: Panchurova is down injured, she looks in pain and is crying on the floor. Let’ s hope that’ s not as bad as it looks.
She’ s receiving treatment and looks to be staying on the pitch.
8.08pm BST 20:08
48 min: Stanway tries to get a long-range shot away but it’ s deflected for a corner.
Hemp takes the kick, a set-piece taker change with Stanway taking them in the first half, with White getting a head to it. It’ s cleared on the line but a foul goes against England.
8.07pm BST 20:07
And there’ s the hat-trick for Mead! A great hit into the corner sees the first goal of the second half.
No changes for England at half-time but the hosts have with Mustafa off for Shemsovikj.
Updated at 8.19pm BST
8.05pm BST 20:05
And we’ re back underway!
It’ s worth noting there are 124 places between these teams in the world rankings.
In terms of the fan question I was asked earlier, my colleagues are unsure as to why there aren’ t many supporters in the stadium. So I am presuming it isn’ t Covid related. But I may be wrong. If I hear anything concrete I’ ll let you know.
7.52pm BST 19:52
Did you know The Guardian has a women’ s football newsletter called Moving the Goalposts? If you haven’ t seen it yet, check it out and sign up!
Great contributors like Suzy Wrack, Júlia Belas and Sophie Downey bring you all the major stories happening in the sport and sum up the big talking points.
Click here to sign up so it drops right into your inbox!
7.50pm BST 19:50
Well, what a half that was!
North Macedonia haven’ t been able to stop the relentless England attack. Mead has had two goals with Toone, White and Stanway getting amongst the action.
How many more goals will we see? Huge 45 coming up.
7.49pm BST 19:49
45 + 3 min: It was three added minutes and so half-time is looming.
North Macedonia have a free kick but Toone collects the ball well. Rochi is getting frustrated and she has started to have words with the ref. She needs to be careful as she is on a yellow.
7.47pm BST 19:47
45 +1 min: I have missed how many minutes have been added but play continues.
England, you guessed it, are still attacking. The peddle is not letting up with Hemp’ s chance the latest.
7.45pm BST 19:45
The power on that finish! Toone, Hemp and Stanway get touches on that with the Manchester City star smashing it home.
Nothing the keeper could do.
Updated at 8.00pm BST
7.44pm BST 19:44
43 min: That goal takes White beyond Sir Bobby Charlton and Harry Kane in England’ s all-time scorers.
She needs just three more to equal Wayne Rooney’ s record.
North Macedonia have a free kick in a great position with Rochi the taker. But England manage to defend well and in the spell Rochi is given a yellow card. So frustrating for the playmaker who tries to make an impact before half-time. | general |
COVID Vaccines plus Infection Can Lead to Months of Immunity News and Research | Even people who have had COVID-19 receive long-lasting benefits from a full course of vaccination, according to three recent studies. What's more, one of the studies found that the ‘ hybrid’ immunity caused by vaccination and infection is long-lasting, conferring highly effective protection against symptomatic disease for at least six to eight months after vaccination.
The data were collected before the Omicron variant emerged, casting some doubt on the studies’ relevance today. But if the findings hold up, they could inform vaccination schemes and vaccine passports, which some countries require for entry to places such as restaurants. The work also counters high-profile claims that people who have had COVID-19 don’ t benefit from vaccination.
Just such a claim helped to launch some of the research. Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro “ said that he already had COVID-19, and for this reason, it is not necessary to take a vaccination ”, says Julio Croda, an infectious-disease doctor and epidemiologist at the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Croda and his colleagues drew on Brazilian vaccination and infection databases to test such assertions.
The researchers found that between February 2020 and November 2021, people who had previously been infected with SARS-CoV-2 and then received one vaccine dose — made by either Pfizer–BioNTech, Oxford–AstraZeneca, SinoVac or Johnson & Johnson — avoided as many as 45% of the COVID-19 cases that the group would have been expected to contract without vaccination. Full courses of two-dose vaccines prevented as many as 65% of expected infections and more than 80% of expected cases of severe COVID-19. “ The big message is this: you need to have a full vaccination scheme for COVID-19, ” Croda said.
Some authorities consider previous infections when deciding who should have entry to public places such as concerts and restaurants, but others consider only vaccination status. Peter Nordström, an epidemiologist at Umeå University in Sweden, says this dichotomy prompted him and his colleagues to perform another of the studies. Using records collected by the Public Health Agency of Sweden between March 2020 and October 2021, the researchers showed that Swedish residents who had been infected with SARS-CoV-2 had a 95% reduction in their risk of contracting COVID-19 compared with people who had no immunity — and protection grew over the three months following infection and lasted until at least 20 months after infection. One dose of vaccine reduced the risk of infection by about an additional 50%, and a second dose stabilized the additional protection over the six months following vaccination.
Although vaccination increases protection, Nordström thinks the immunity offered by infection alone is worthy of consideration. “ Perhaps we should have immunity passports instead of vaccination passports. So you are considered immune — and less likely to transmit the disease — if you have been fully vaccinated, or you have had a documented previous infection, ” he says.
Epidemiologist Victoria Hall at the UK Health Security Agency in London and her colleagues performed the third study by tracking infections in thousands of health-care workers from March 2020 to September 2021. The researchers found that previous infections prevented more than 80% of the COVID-19 cases that otherwise would have been expected in the year after infection, but protection waned to around 70% after a year. Study participants who received two doses of the Pfizer–BioNTech or Oxford–AstraZeneca vaccine after an infection had near 100% protection for at least six to eight months following the second dose. “ Protection declined over time after vaccination, and also after infection, but remained persistently high in those with hybrid immunity, ” Hall wrote in an e-mail to Nature.
Miguel Hernan, an epidemiologist at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston, Massachusetts, says the studies show the near-universal benefit of full vaccination. Some nations have issued guidelines that encourage people who have had COVID-19 to receive only a single vaccine dose: a move that “ may be justified in a setting of vaccine scarcity, but not otherwise ”, Hernan wrote in an e-mail to Nature.
Dan Barouch, a virologist at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, Massachusetts, says the findings are in line with previous research. “ Vaccination following infection, or infection following vaccination, results in particularly robust antibody responses ” he wrote in an e-mail to Nature. But Barouch notes that all three studies draw on data collected before the Omicron variant emerged. He and others caution that past infections will provide imperfect protection against emerging strains.
Dan Kelly, an infectious-disease epidemiologist at the University of California, San Francisco, underscores that concern. Omicron is so different from the strains analysed in the studies that the findings might not apply to people who were infected with Omicron after being vaccinated. His advice to people who fall into this category: “ Just be really careful. ”
This article is reproduced with permission and was first published on April 6 2022. | science |
Your Brain Expands and Shrinks over Time: These Charts Show How News and Research | When neuroscientist Jakob Seidlitz took his 15-month-old son to the paediatrician for a check-up last week, he left feeling unsatisfied. There wasn’ t anything wrong with his son — the youngster seemed to be developing at a typical pace, according to the height and weight charts the physician used. What Seidlitz felt was missing was an equivalent metric to gauge how his son’ s brain was growing. “ It is shocking how little biological information doctors have about this critical organ, ” says Seidlitz, who is based at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.
Soon, he might be able to change that. Working with colleagues, Seidlitz has amassed more than 120,000 brain scans — the largest collection of its kind — to create the first comprehensive growth charts for brain development. The charts show visually how human brains expand quickly early in life and then shrink slowly with age. The sheer magnitude of the study, published in Nature on 6 April, has stunned neuroscientists, who have long had to contend with reproducibility issues in their research, in part because of small sample sizes. Magnetic resonance imaging ( MRI) is expensive, meaning that scientists are often limited in the number of participants they can enrol in experiments.
“ The massive data set they assembled is extremely impressive and really sets a new standard for the field, ” says Angela Laird, a cognitive neuroscientist at Florida International University in Miami.
Even so, the authors caution that their database isn’ t completely inclusive — they struggled to gather brain scans from all regions of the globe. The resulting charts, they say, are therefore just a first draft, and further tweaks would be needed to deploy them in clinical settings.
If the charts are eventually rolled out to paediatricians, great care will be needed to ensure that they are not misinterpreted, says Hannah Tully, a paediatric neurologist at the University of Washington in Seattle. “ A big brain is not necessarily a well-functioning brain, ” she says.
Because brain structure varies significantly from person to person, the researchers had to aggregate a huge number of scans to create an authoritative set of growth charts with statistical significance. That’ s no easy task, says Richard Bethlehem, a neuroscientist at the University of Cambridge, UK, and a co-author of the study. Instead of running thousands of scans themselves, which would take decades and be prohibitively costly, the researchers turned to already-completed neuroimaging studies.
Bethlehem and Seidlitz sent e-mails to researchers all over the world asking if they would share their neuroimaging data for the project. The duo was amazed by the number of replies, which they attribute to the COVID-19 pandemic giving researchers less time in their laboratories and more time than usual with their e-mail inboxes.
In total, the team aggregated 123,894 MRI scans from 101,457 people, who ran the gamut from fetuses 16 weeks after conception to 100-year-old adults. The scans included brains from neurotypical people, as well as people with a variety of medical conditions, such as Alzheimer’ s disease, and neurocognitive differences, including autism spectrum disorder. The researchers used statistical models to extract information from the images, and ensure that the scans were directly comparable, no matter what type of MRI machine had been used.
The end result is a set of charts plotting several key brain metrics by age. Some metrics, such as grey-matter volume and mean cortical thickness ( the width of the grey matter) peak early in a person’ s development, whereas the volume of white matter ( found deeper in the brain) tends to peak by around age 30 ( see ‘ Brain change’). The data on ventricular volume ( the amount of cerebrospinal fluid in the brain), in particular, surprised Bethlehem. Scientists knew that this volume increases with age, because it is typically associated with brain atrophy, but Bethlehem was shocked by how rapidly it tends to grow in late adulthood.
The study comes on the heels of a bombshell paper published in Nature on 16 March showing that most brain-imaging experiments contain too few scans to reliably detect links between brain function and behaviour, meaning that their conclusions might be incorrect. Given this finding, Laird expects the field to move towards adopting a framework similar to the one used by Seidlitz and Bethlehem, to increase statistical power.
To amass so many data sets is akin to a “ diplomatic masterpiece ”, says Nico Dosenbach, a neuroscientist at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, who co-authored the 16 March study. He says this is the scale on which researchers should operate when aggregating brain images.
Despite the size of the data set, Seidlitz, Bethlehem and their colleagues acknowledge that their study suffers from a problem endemic to neuroimaging studies — a remarkable lack of diversity. The brain scans they collected come mainly from North America and Europe, and disproportionately reflect populations that are white, university-aged, urban and affluent. This limits the generalizability of the findings, says Sarah-Jayne Blakemore, a cognitive neuroscientist at the University of Cambridge. The study includes only three data sets from South America and one from Africa — accounting for around 1% of all the brain scans used in the study.
Billions of people worldwide lack access to MRI machines, making diverse brain-imaging data difficult to come by, Laird says. But the authors haven’ t stopped trying. They have launched a website where they intend to update their growth charts in real time as they receive more brain scans.
Another challenge was determining how to give proper credit to the owners of the brain scans used to construct the charts. Some of the scans came from open-access data sets, but others were closed to researchers. Most of the closed-data scans hadn’ t yet been processed in a way that would allow them to be incorporated into the growth charts, so their owners did extra work to share them. These scientists were then named as authors of the paper.
Meanwhile, the owners of the open data sets received only a citation in the paper — which doesn’ t hold as much prestige for researchers seeking funding, collaborations and promotions. Seidlitz, Bethlehem and their colleagues processed these data. In most cases, Bethlehem says that there was essentially no direct contact with the owners of these data sets. The paper lists about 200 authors and cites the work of hundreds of others who contributed brain scans.
There are a number of reasons that data sets might be closed: for instance, to protect the privacy of health data, or because researchers don’ t have the resources to make them public. But this doesn’ t make it fair that the researchers who opened their data sets didn’ t get authorship, the authors say. In their paper’ s Supplementary Information, they argue that the situation “ perversely disincentivises open science, since the people who do most to make their data openly available could be least likely to merit recognition ”. Bethlehem and Seidlitz contend that authorship guidelines from journals, including Nature — which say that each author is expected to have made “ substantial contributions ” to, for example, the analysis or interpretation of data — are an obstacle. ( Nature’ s news team is editorially independent of its publisher.)
A Nature spokesperson responds that the issue was “ considered carefully by the editors and authors according to our authorship policies ” and that “ all datasets were appropriately credited per our data citation policy ”.
Ultimately, these concerns can be traced back to how researchers are evaluated by the scientific enterprise, says Kaja LeWinn, a social epidemiologist at the University of California, San Francisco, who studies neurodevelopment. She says that it’ s incumbent on all of the relevant stakeholders — including funders, journals and research institutions — to re-evaluate how brain science can be properly recognized and rewarded, especially as these types of large-scale study become more common.
This article is reproduced with permission and was first published on April 6 2022. | science |
CEPI Partners with Japan's NEC Group to Develop Artificial Intelligence-designed Broadly Protective Betacoronavirus Vaccine | CEPI, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, and NEC Corporation announced the latest funding award under its US $ 200m programme to advance the development of vaccines that provide broad protection against SARS-CoV-2 variants and other betacoronaviruses. CEPI will provide seed funding of up to US $ 4.8m to NEC OncoImmunity AS ( NOI), a Norway-based subsidiary of NEC, which specializes in artificial intelligence-driven biotechnology, to support the initial development of broadly protective betacoronavirus vaccine candidates.
NEC, through NOI, will lead a research consortium including the European Vaccine Initiative ( EVI) and Oslo University Hospital to deliver a project which aims to establish preclinical proof of concept for a vaccine based on mRNA technology that protects against a broad range of betacoronaviruses. NEC will apply its experience and capabilities in artificial intelligence-powered design of immunogens to identify novel vaccine antigens with broad reactivity against betacoronaviruses. The lead antigens will be selected iteratively and validated in preclinical studies against known betacoronaviruses that already pose a significant epidemic or pandemic risk, such as SARS-CoV, SARS-CoV-2 & MERS-CoV.
If this innovative approach is proven to be successful, it may also be applicable for developing vaccines against other pathogens in the CEPI portfolio, including ‘ Disease X’ – unknown pathogens with pandemic potential that have yet to emerge.
CEPI is committed to the principle of equitable access to the vaccines it funds. Under the terms of the funding agreement, NEC has committed to achieving equitable access to the outputs of this project, in line with CEPI’ s PDFEquitable Access Policy.
( 1) Betacoronaviruses are types of coronavirus that cause Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome ( SARS) and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome ( MERS), which have been responsible for major epidemics in Asia and the Middle East in recent years, and also SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
“ Coronaviruses have now proven their pandemic potential with devastating consequences, and COVID-19 won’ t be the last coronavirus to threaten humanity. That’ s why CEPI’ s ambitious programme to develop globally accessible vaccines that protect against a broad range of coronaviruses – before those pathogens emerge – is critical to global health security.
“ Japan has a proud history of global health leadership and has long championed the role of research and development in fighting emerging infectious diseases, including the Government of Japan’ s critical role as a founding member and major investor in CEPI. I am delighted that CEPI will partner with NEC Corporation – our first collaboration with Japanese industry – to advance this innovative, AI-driven approach to vaccine design, which could help take the threat of coronaviruses off the table if it is proven to be successful. ”
“ Dealing with the challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has taken a significant toll on people’ s lives. The hard lessons will remain with us for decades and it is crucial that we arm ourselves against future invisible enemies. We are elated to partner with CEPI on this mission to develop vaccines against coronaviruses using our advanced AI technologies. While this partnership is a recognition of NEC’ s expertise and growing contribution to healthcare, it also acknowledges Japan’ s leadership in advancing drug development through breakthrough technologies. We will continue to mobilize the resources of the NEC Group for this collaborative effort to ensure global health security. ”
Richard Stratford Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer, NEC OncoImmunity AS, said:
“ We are extremely honored to have CEPI place its trust in the quality of our technology and the expertise of our scientific teams. Our experience with COVID-19 has taught us that an ideal vaccine must remain robust against an ever-evolving viral landscape. Our AI will assess viral regions that do not mutate rapidly and are shared among SARS, SARS-CoV-2, MERS-CoV and other known betacoronaviruses. I am confident that our unique approach in identifying and selecting antigens that could elicit broader cytotoxic T cell and antibody responses is well positioned to help create broadly protective betacoronavirus vaccines that could protect the global population against multiple betacoronavirus threats on a long-term basis. ”
“ We are proud to see NEC become the first Japanese company to participate in CEPI’ s activities for promoting vaccine development in response to and in preparation for potential pandemics, which is a common issue for all humankind. In February 2022, the Government of Japan announced a new contribution of US $ 300 million to CEPI over the next five years, and has been actively supporting the development of vaccines in the international community. We expect that NEC will contribute to global health with the development of next-generation vaccines using the world’ s most advanced AI. ”
“ For the Japanese vaccine industry, NEC’ s participation in this global challenge is great news. We look forward to it contributing to the early countermeasures against pandemics by advancing the speedy development of safer and more effective vaccines with the new science approach of utilizing AI. ”
Through COVID-19, coronaviruses have now demonstrated their devastating pandemic potential. The emergence of a coronavirus combining the transmissibility of COVID-19 with the lethality of SARS or MERS would be catastrophic, so developing vaccines that provide broad protection against the whole betacoronavirus genus is therefore vital to our global health security. CEPI is working closely with partners to advance work in this area as quickly as possible.
The award announced today is the eighth programme to be funded by CEPI to advance the development of vaccines that provide broad protection against SARS-CoV-2 variants and other betacoronaviruses. This work forms an important part of CEPI’ s next 5-year plan, published in March 2021, which aims to reduce or even eliminate the future risk of pandemics and epidemics.
MigVax Ltd – funding of US $ 4.3m to MigVax Ltd to support the initial development of a new orally administered subunit vaccine tablet that could offer broad protection against SARS-CoV-2 variants.
University of Saskatchewan’ s Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization ( VIDO) – funding of US $ 5m to support the initial development of a new vaccine based on VIDO’ s novel protein subunit technology that could offer broad protection against SARS-CoV-2 variants.
Affinivax – funding of up to $ 4.5m to support the initial development of a vaccine candidate based on Affinivax’ s MAPS platform that could offer broad protection against SARS-CoV-2 variants.
SK bioscience – funding of up to US $ 50m to support the development of a vaccine candidate based on SK’ s nanoparticle vaccine platform to elicit immune responses that could protect against variants of both SARS-CoV, SARS-CoV-2, and other sarbecoviruses.
Translational Health Science and Technology Institute ( THSTI) and Panacea Biotec – funding of up to US $ 12.5m to support the development of multi-epitope, nanoparticle-based vaccine candidates that could provide broad protection against SARS-CoV-2 variants and other Betacoronaviruses.
BioNet – funding of up to US $ 16.9m to advance the development of a novel mRNA-based vaccine that could offer broad protection against SARS-CoV-2 variants.
DIOSynVax – funding of up to US $ 42m to support the development of a broadly protective Betacoronavirus vaccine using mRNA platform technology.
NEC Corporation – funding of up to US $ 4.8m to support the initial development of an AI-designed vaccine based on mRNA technology that protects against a broad range of betacoronaviruses. | tech |
Elephant Robotics Launches Mass Production of Bionic AI Robot Pet -- MarsCat to Provide Comfort During Pandemic | Elephant Robotics has begun mass producing its bionic Al robot pet, the MarsCat, to provide comfort to more people confined to their homes during the pandemic. The long-term home office due to COVID-19 continues to amplify people’ s sense of loneliness and isolation. In the absence of human contact, more people are turning to robots for mental healing and social comfort. However, due to technical barriers, most companion robots in the market act more like robot than companion, as they are not emotionally responsive.
With the advancement of AI technology, robot pets have becoming more bionic and intelligent. An AI-powered robot has the ability to understand and respond to human emotion. In 1998, Sony introduced the world’ s first robotics dog, AIBO, a dog-like smart robot pet with the capability of interacting with humans. The cloud-based AI engine not only empowers the robot with advanced features such as facial recognition and deep learning, but also allows users to name the robot, witness their growth and add new tricks. Despite a growing use of smart robot as home companions for kids or senior, the price of an AI robot pet like AIBO is still prohibitive.
Back in 2020 at CES, a bionic AI robot pet MarsCat caught the attention of journalists and cat lovers worldwide for its highly forward-looking concept, and its vivid design and received unanimous praises and recognition. Likewise, this robot pet can walk, run, sit, stretch, express meows and other gestures independently. After two years’ ongoing R & D, MarsCat has started mass production to meet the increasing demand from the community, especially those with cat allergies and sense of isolation.
To make a friendly feline exterior, the team went through numerous studies of other toy and cartoon cats, as well as the anatomy of real cats. Multiple design studies have been conducted for key parts to evaluate the technical performance as well as the visual effect and overall expression. There are a total of 16 built-in servo motors, 12 bit magnetic encoder and integrated control circuit and a set of reduction gear inside its body to make MarsCat more bionic. These servos control angles, speed, torque, ID, and receive the data. With closed-loop control and planning algorithm and high-speed bus communication, it can realize 360° angle control, support speed, position, current, temperature feedback and control parameter adjustment functions, and the angle accuracy is accurate to 0.1°. Just like a real cat, MarsCat is fully autonomous, making it a perfect companion for both senior and kids.
In addition to a bionic body, MarsCat has two OLED eyes that give it a lifelike look. The eyes display a range of emotions such as joy, sorrow, sleepy, fear, etc. Thanks to 6 pressure sensitive/capacitive touch sensors on its head and body, this bionic robot cat will behave differently with the eyes display different emotions from various interactions it senses from the user. For example, after touching for some time, a love icon will come up in its eyes which indicates that the cat is enjoying the touch. Other sensors, including a TOF laser distance sensor and a microphone, help Marscat to navigate and respond to your commands.
Needless to say, a visually cat-like robot is far from enough. What sets MarsCat apart from other cat toy is the “ brain ”. “ As a bionic cat, in ethology, MarsCat should not only look like a real cat but also behave like a real one, ” said Song, the founder of MarsCat. Unlike other robot cats that are controlled by 8-DOF Arduino board, this robotic cat utilizes a more advanced 16-DOF micro-controller and the quadruped kinematics algorithm behind powered by quad-core Raspberry PI. Different types of sensors including image, voice and touch are integrated to enable fast feature extraction, pattern recognition and motion planning, building an intelligent brain for MarsCat.
Thanks to AI technology, this robot cat has the ability to learn independently and develop its own unique personality. The more interaction it receives from the owner, the more clingy it might become. Such lifelike petting experience can hardly be achieved by other robotic cats. It’ s worth mentioning that MarsCat is built on an open source platform embedded in Raspberry PI 3, allowing users with programming knowledge to develop their own MarsCat easily. This means that cat owners can customize any functions or applications for different purpose. | tech |
Human Lung Chip reveals the effects of breathing motions on lung immune responses -- ScienceDaily | Using a Human Lung Chip that replicates the structures and functions of the lung air sac, or `` alveolus, '' the research team discovered that applying mechanical forces that mimic breathing motions suppresses influenza virus replication by activating protective innate immune responses. They also identified several drugs that reduced the production of inflammatory cytokines in infected Alveolus Chips, which could be useful in treating excessive inflammation in the lung. Based on these studies, one of those drugs was licensed to Cantex Pharmaceuticals for the treatment of COVID-19 and other inflammatory lung diseases. Data from the research were recently included in the company's Investigational New Drug ( IND) application to the FDA to initiate a Phase 2 clinical trial for COVID-19.
`` This research demonstrates the importance of breathing motions for human lung function, including immune responses to infection, and shows that our Human Alveolus Chip can be used to model these responses in the deep portions of the lung, where infections are often more severe and lead to hospitalization and death, '' said co-first author Haiqing Bai, Ph.D., a Wyss Technology Development Fellow at the Institute. `` This model can also be used for preclinical drug testing to ensure that candidate drugs actually reduce infection and inflammation in functional human lung tissue. '' The results are published today in Nature Communications.
Creating a flu-on-a-chip
As the early phases of the COVID-19 pandemic made painfully clear, the lung is a vulnerable organ where inflammation in response to infection can generate a `` cytokine storm '' that can have deadly consequences. However, the lungs are also very complex, and it is difficult to replicate their unique features in the lab. This complexity has hindered science's understanding of how the lungs function at the cell and tissue levels, in both healthy and diseased states.
The Wyss Institute's Human Organ Chips were developed to address this problem, and have been shown to faithfully replicate the functions of many different human organs in the lab, including the lung. As part of projects funded by the NIH and DARPA since 2017, Wyss researchers have been working on replicating various diseases in Lung Airway and Alveolus Chips to study how lung tissues react to respiratory viruses that have pandemic potential and test potential treatments.
During his Ph.D. training, Bai studied diseases that affect the tiny air sacs deep inside the lungs where oxygen is rapidly exchanged for carbon dioxide. That foundation prepared him to tackle the challenge of recreating a flu infection in an Alveolus Chip so that the team could study how these deep lung spaces mount immune responses against viral invaders.
Bai and his team first lined the two parallel microfluidic channels of an Organ Chip with different types of living human cells -- alveolar lung cells in the upper channel and lung blood vessel cells in the lower channel -- to recreate the interface between human air sacs and their blood-transporting capillaries. To mimic the conditions that alveoli experience in the human lung, the channel lined by alveolar cells was filled with air while the blood vessel channel was perfused with a flowing culture medium containing nutrients that are normally delivered via the blood. The channels were separated by a porous membrane that allowed molecules to flow between them.
Previous studies at the Wyss Institute have established that applying cyclical stretching to Alveolus Chips to imitate breathing motions produces biological responses that mimic those observed in vivo. This is accomplished by applying suction to hollow side chambers adjacent to the cell-lined fluidic channels to rhythmically stretch and relax the lung tissues by 5%, which is what human lungs typically experience with every breath.
When the team infected these `` breathing '' Alveolus Chips with H3N2 influenza by introducing the virus into the air channel, they observed the development of several known hallmarks of influenza infection, including the breakdown of junctions between cells, a 25% increase in cell death, and the initiation of cellular repair programs. Infection also led to much higher levels of multiple inflammatory cytokines in the blood vessel channel including type III interferon ( IFN-III), a natural defense against viral infection that is also activated in in vivo flu infection studies.
In addition, the blood vessel cells of infected chips expressed higher levels of adhesion molecules, which allowed immune cells including B cells, T cells, and monocytes in the perfusion medium to attach to the blood vessel walls to help combat the infection. These results confirmed that the Alveolus Chip was mounting an immune response against H3N2 that recapitulated what happens in the lung of human patients infected with flu virus.
Focus on your breath
The team then carried out the same experiment without mechanical breathing motions. To their surprise, chips exposed to breathing motions?? had 50% less viral mRNA in their alveolar channels and a significant reduction in inflammatory cytokine levels compared to static chips. Genetic analysis revealed that the mechanical strain had activated molecular pathways related to immune defense and multiple antiviral genes, and these activations were reversed when the cyclical stretching was stopped.
`` This was our most unexpected finding -- that mechanical stresses alone can generate an innate immune response in the lung, '' said co-first author Longlong Si, Ph.D., a former Wyss Technology Development Fellow who is now a Professor at the Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology in China.
Knowing that sometimes the lungs experience greater than 5% strain, such as in chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder ( COPD) or when patients are put on mechanical ventilators, the scientists increased the strain to 10% to see what would happen. The higher strain caused an increase in innate immune response genes and processes, including several inflammatory cytokines.
`` Because the higher strain level resulted in greater cytokine production, it might explain why patients with lung conditions like COPD suffer from chronic inflammation, and why patients who are put on high-volume ventilators sometimes experience ventilator-induced lung injury, '' Si explained.
From a chip to clinical trials
The scientists then went a step further, comparing the RNA molecules present in cells within strained vs. static Alveolus Chips to see if they could pinpoint how the breathing motions were generating an immune response. They identified a calcium-binding protein, called S100A7, that was not detected in static chips but highly expressed in strained chips, suggesting that its production was induced by mechanical stretching. They also found that increased expression of S100A7 upregulated many other genes involved in the innate immune response, including multiple inflammatory cytokines.
S100A7 is one of several related molecules known to bind to a protein on cells ' membranes called the receptor for advanced glycation end products ( RAGE). RAGE is more highly expressed in the lung than in any other organ in the human body, and has been implicated as a major inflammatory mediator in several lung diseases. The drug azeliragon is a known inhibitor of RAGE, so the scientists perfused azeliragon through the blood vessel channel of strained Alveolus Chips for 48 hours, then infected the chips with H3N2 virus. This pretreatment prevented the cytokine-storm-like response that they had observed in untreated chips.
Based on this promising result, the team then infected strained Alveolus Chips with H3N2 and administered azeliragon at its therapeutic dose two hours after infection. This approach significantly blocked the production of inflammatory cytokines -- an effect that was further enhanced when they added the antiviral drug molnupiravir ( which was recently approved for patients with COVID-19) to the treatment regimen.
These results caught the eye of Cantex Pharmaceuticals, which owns patent rights to azeliragon and was interested in using it to treat inflammatory diseases. Based in part on the Wyss team's work in Alveolus Chips, Cantex licensed azeliragon for the treatment of COVID-19 and other inflammatory lung diseases in early 2022. Given the drug's excellent safety record in previous Phase 3 clinical trials, the company has applied for FDA approval to start a Phase 2 trial in patients with COVID-19 patients, and plans to follow with additional Phase 2 trials for other diseases including COPD and steroid-resistant asthma.
`` Thanks to the great work of the scientists at the Wyss Institute, we now have compelling evidence that azeliragon may have the potential to prevent severe COVID-19 illness in the form of a once-a-day pill. We're excited to have the opportunity to conduct clinical trials of azeliragon for this disease, seeking to bring this groundbreaking therapy to patients to prevent the life-threatening inflammation that is a major cause of hospitalization and death, '' said Stephen Marcus, M.D., CEO of Cantex.
While azeliragon is a promising anti-inflammatory drug, the scientists warn that more studies are needed to determine a safe and effective treatment regimen in humans. RAGE is a vital player in initiating beneficial inflammation against pathogens in the early stages of an infection, and inhibiting it too soon could prevent a patient from mounting a sufficient immune response.
Given the Alveolus Chip's many advantages over traditional preclinical models, the Wyss team is exploring the incorporation of additional cell types such as macrophages into the chips to increase their complexity and model more biological processes, such as adaptive immunity. They are also using their existing model to study the efficacy of new compounds, drugs, and biologics ( such as mRNA therapeutics) against influenza, SARS-CoV-2, and other diseases.
`` This important paper led to the discovery of RAGE inhibitors ' promise for treating inflammatory lung diseases, which was the basis for the recent license of azeliragon to Cantex and its movement toward human clinical trials for COVID-19. I am extremely proud of this team and how quickly this scientific finding was translated into commercialization that will hopefully lead to lifesaving treatment for patients. This is what the Wyss Institute is all about, '' said senior author Donald Ingber, M.D., Ph.D., who is the Wyss Institute's Founding Director as well as the Judah Folkman Professor of Vascular Biology at Harvard Medical School ( HMS) and Boston Children's Hospital, and Hansjörg Wyss Professor of Bioinspired Engineering at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.
Additional authors of the study include Amanda Jiang, Chaitra Belgur, M.S., Yunhao Zhai, Ph.D., Melissa Rodas, and Aditya Patil and Girija Goyal, Ph.D. from the Wyss Institute, and former Wyss Institute members Roberto Plebani, Ph.D., Crystal Oh, Atiq Nurani, M.S., Sarah Gilpin, Ph.D., Rani Powers, Ph.D. and Rachelle Prantil-Baun, Ph.D.
This research was supported by the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University, the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency ( DARPA) under Cooperative Agreement HR0011-20-2-0040, and the National Institutes of Health under grants UG3-HL-141797 and UH3-HL-141797. | science |
Exploring 2 Sustainable IPOs With Highest Potential for Retail Investors in 2022 | The Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated a pre-existing trend of retail investors buying into sustainable stocks to add more environmentally and socially conscious options to their respective portfolios.
Although 2022’ s IPO market has been impacted by factors relating to inflation, the ongoing pandemic, and geopolitical conflicts in Eastern Europe, investors can still expect a range of high-profile, sustainability-focused debuts over the coming months – particularly in the field of meat substitute foods.
With much to be made of sustainability stocks at a time when post-pandemic societal changes are causing more consumers to take notice of ESG ( environmental, social, and governance) stocks, Maxim Manturov, head of investment advice at Freedom Finance Europe ( Freedom Holding Corp. ( Nasdaq: FRHC), shares his thoughts on two of 2022’ s most exciting sustainability-focused floatations:
Throughout the past two years, we’ ve seen a significant shift in the volume of retail investors buying into companies that boast strong ESG credentials that can be traced. We’ re seeing sustainability become important to businesses due to the link between changing global conditions and an ongoing shift in consumer interests. In this regard, the future of the planet has not only become a key matter for the public, but also for business strategy.
Improving sustainability is a challenge that faces many businesses, and can carry implications regarding supply chains, company operations, employee wellbeing, and the natural resources required for your business to operate.
By looking to improve sustainability, a company can actively improve their shareholder confidence alongside achieving its altruistic goals. This, in turn, can provide a boost to the stock performance of a company as more ESG-focused investors look for sustainable options.
Available evidence offered by sustainability-focused bonds like the S & P Green Bond Select Index, we can see benchmarks continually being outperformed, and an acceleration of cumulative returns on investments following an initial dip in early 2020 as the Covid-19 pandemic sparked widespread stock sell-offs.
One of the sectors that’ s seen much growth in recent years as consumer interest in sustainability has gained momentum is that of meat substitute products. According to analysts, there is plenty of reason for optimism surrounding the industry for the coming decade.
Furthermore, a recent Bloomberg article suggested that the global plant protein market will grow to a value of $ 162 billion by 2030. Supplemented by this growth, sales of plant-based meat and fish alternatives may account for as much as 5% of the total meat and fish market over the same time frame.
According to H2 2021 figures, the alternative meat market is currently worth around $ 4.2 billion, and has the potential to grow to around $ 74bn within 10 years should it follow the same growth patterns as the plant-based meat market. This indicates growth of over 1,750%, and goes some way in indicating just how much potential meat alternative IPOs may hold for retail investors.
With this in mind, let’ s take a look at two sustainable meat-free IPOs that are set to debut in 2022 which may offer a strong long-term upside for investors:
Founded in 2011 and headquartered in Redwood City, California, Impossible Foods is a startup that’ s focused on creating the next generation of alternative meats and plant-based cheeses. The company excels at selecting specific proteins and biologically significant elements from greens, seeds, and grains.
It’ s through these various combinations that can pave the way for the production of many meat and dairy alternatives.
The mission objective of Impossible Foods is to combine the pleasure of food with the safety of humans consuming the products and animals alike – eliminating the use of animals from the production chain as a result.
In 2019, the FDA approached a significant ingredient for Impossible Foods – a plant-based blood imitator, which enables the company’ s Impossible Burger range to deliver a true-to-life beef-like appearance and taste.
In terms of fundamentals, Impossible Foods has raised a total of $ 2.1 billion in funding rounds, with the most recent round of investments arriving in November 2021, with a $ 500 million investment coming from Mirae Asset Global Investments. The startup’ s most recent valuation priced the endeavor at $ 7 billion – a value that’ s likely to grow provided that meat-free alternatives continue their rise in popularity.
In April 2021, sources close to the company reported that an Impossible Foods IPO was likely to occur in the next 12 months. However, due to market volatility, it’ s more likely that the debut will take place in the second half of 2022.
Huel is a British company that experienced rapid growth into markets across continental Europe, the US and Japan. The startup specializes in food substitutes in the form of powders, drinks, snacks, and other alternatives. At present, Huel has an estimated market capitalization of £1 billion.
One of Huel’ s biggest assets is its social media presence, which has shown time and again that it can attract a large audience of young consumers who are not only interested in sustainability, but also the company’ s emphasis on delivering fitness-focused meat alternatives.
The startup has reportedly enlisted the help of Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan as advisors for a potential London IPO in 2022. Investment banks are also circling in anticipation of a potential sale of the company – though at this stage an IPO is believed to be the preferred option.
Significantly, the company’ s turnover in July 2020 was almost 30% higher than the year prior, with Huel taking in £71.6 million.
So what can we expect from Impossible Foods and Huel following their IPO? The indicators appear to be strong when considering the case of Beyond Meat, which experienced a pop on launch day of 167.2 $ ( to $ 66.79) after the firm debuted at an IPO price of $ 25 in 2019. Before lock up, the stock had rallied by 545% to a price of $ 161.24.
However, investors will need to be wary of growing competition in the field. As the industry is still emerging, market leaders can come and go and should a more innovative product appear on the market, otherwise high quality companies can begin to suffer.
With this in mind, it’ s always worth researching and revising respective fundamentals for upcoming IPOs – even if in promising industries. But as consumer interest in sustainable goods continues to grow, there’ s little doubt that the meat alternatives market is set to soar in value over the course of the decade.
DISCLAIMER: THIS CONTENT IS NOT INTENDED AS INVESTMENT ADVICE | business |
Edinburgh fintech specialist Origo: Startups restricted by hot recruitment market | Buoyed by a £300 million UK Government investment last August, Edinburgh’ s fintech community is populated by a swathe of financial services innovators, but newbies looking for talent face a “ hot market ” which makes it difficult to secure the skills-set needed to get up and running. Anthony Rafferty, CEO of the UK’ s original fintech company Origo, said the recruitment crisis had changed drastically in only a few years and was set to become even more challenging, while Head of Growth at ePOS Hybrid, Andrew Gibbon, said opportunities were outstripping available talent in all key functions. The fintech specialists were speaking as Core-Asset Consulting published its seventh Annual Salary Guide which is a forensic review of salary levels and major developments in Scotland’ s pivotal financial services sector. Origo has been in the fintech space for 30 years and is one of a group of providers helping to deliver the UK Government’ s Pensions Dashboards Programme. Mr Rafferty, a member of FinTech Scotland’ s advisory board, said: “ Fintech is thriving in Scotland and our excellent universities are producing a pipeline of really good candidates, but on a UK level there is a shortage of specialists and experts. “ Fintech is a hot recruitment market, which is testament to the number of firms which warrant good developers, testers and business analysts, but with wage inflation and higher expectations from candidates, there is no doubt it is becoming more difficult to find the right skills than it was just a few years ago. ” Edinburgh-based hospitality technology specialist, ePOS Hybrid, is actively recruiting in key areas but says “ aggressive recruitment ” is prevalent throughout Scotland’ s fintech sector and specifically in the capital. Andrew Gibbon said: “ Organisations are fighting over the same limited talent pool within Edinburgh and Scotland and start-ups are the ones missing out on the crucial talent they need to scale and attract new investment. “ The more businesses struggle to recruit locally, the more they are going to turn to remote working options to fill the businesses critical positions. Many businesses, including ePOS Hybrid, are being forced to begin recruiting nationally and offer remote working positions as candidates simply can not be found locally. ” Core-Asset’ s annual review found the skills shortage was a combination of Edinburgh’ s long-standing reputation as a major European financial service centre dove-tailing with the growth of a dynamic and innovative fintech industry in which new players covered the full spectrum of financial technologies. Louise Powrie, Divisional Director, Permanent Team, Fintech and Pensions with Core-Asset, said: “ The supercharging effect of Covid-19 resulted in an extreme stress test for the industry which, enabled by technology, it passed with flying colours. The sector has proved extremely resilient to the current global crisis and is emerging successfully from the pandemic. “ Its continued growth centres on the development of tools and software solutions to meet the need for more user-friendly platforms and applications, seamless data flow, AI-assisted dashboards, enhanced risk management, dynamic data management, online payments and transactions, and the functionality of the digital marketplace. “ Our report points to a demand within fintech for business analysts and developers, particularly those with cloud technologies, and technical and solutions architects and engineers who can work with clients to truly understand their needs and provide innovative solutions. “ The sector is well-embedded in truly agile working practises, and as such, has continued to recruit without challenge and will keep on doing so into 2022, with remote working being the norm. ” Indeed, remote working or working from home was a theme echoed by both Origo and ePOS Hybrid and a phenomenon which will continue to grow. “ In addition to being the catalyst which has pushed businesses towards digital solutions, Covid has been responsible for firmly establishing working from home, ” said Anthony Rafferty. “ Our initial fears at the start of lockdown was that productivity would drop, but the opposite happened and working from home has really suited this part of the financial services sector. The idea of only recruiting people locally or within 30 minutes of Edinburgh is no longer the case and is totally outdated. ” Andrew Gibbon added: “ Our difficulties in finding suitable candidates locally is by far the biggest factor in limiting business growth to date. Opportunities are currently outstripping available talent in all key functions, resulting in businesses having to invest far more resources into finding the correct candidates or looking further afield for the skillset required. ” The report highlights payment solutions, accountancy software and blockchain technology as mainstream fintech solutions but with cross-sector corporate applications, leading to other skill-sets being sought after, including legal, marketing, policy and regulation. The report also forecast that during 2022 one of key industry themes will be the continued unbundling of pensions/financial services and its re-bundling around a digital architecture, putting fintech at the heart of the industry. It said: “ As financial service products have started to be unbundled and repackaged around digital architecture, the market has become more competitive, and the line between traditional pensions products and fintech services and platforms has blurred. New market entrants have emulated mainstream providers, embedding themselves in the financial technological ecosystem, and traditional firms operate much more like tech companies. ” Louise Powrie believes that as national Governments and financial watchdogs introduce additional regulatory burdens, there will be opportunities for other skill-sets, including those with experience in risk and compliance and financial crime. She said: “ This broad matrix of requirements is placing pressure on the increasingly complex interaction between the technology, risk, compliance and procurement functions in international firms and financial institutions. “ Regulators in major markets are adopting divergent approaches to monitoring effective risk management for fintech firms. A key challenge is determining how policies should evolve to address both novel market activity and traditional market activity - deploying frameworks that foster innovation, whilst managing regulatory risks effectively. ” Every business sector is paying close attention to the focus on investments which factor in Environmental, Social, and Governance ( ESG) considerations and fintech is no exception to this trend or to the requirements of Socially Responsible Investing. “ A major factor underpinning innovation in the fintech industry is the growing focus on climate change and the role of sustainable finance in achieving the immense challenge of transitioning to net zero and carbon neutral solutions. Fintech firms need to be mindful of ESG compliance, especially those in the digital asset space given the energy-intensive nature of certain crypto activities - and that will require candidates with specialist knowledge or interest. ” Core-Asset is Scotland’ s leading recruiter in the financial services sector and has access to insights from thousands of candidates and Scotland’ s top employers in the sector, which accounts for 7% of Scotland’ s GDP. Its annual Salary Guide is a report produced exclusively on the Scottish employment market which benchmarks salaries and jobs in Scotland. The data and numbers produced in it give a crucial alternative picture to the usual London-centric reports. The report highlights how Scotland continues to build its reputation as a key hub for larger globally based investment operations businesses, continuing the trend started in the mid-1990s when firms began relocating technically complex operational roles to Edinburgh and Glasgow. | tech |
See 'Beetlejuice ' on Broadway's New Lydia, Elizabeth Teeter | We may earn commission from links on this page, but we only recommend products we love. Promise.
`` I hadn't even been announced. I was in rehearsals for three days... then we shut down and I went home. ''
The world didn't know it yet, but Elizabeth Teeter was already gearing up to come to the Broadway stage as Lydia in Beetlejuice back in March 2020. The beloved musical already had a strong fandom behind it as they continued to play shows at the Winter Garden Theatre, but there were a slew of troubles backstage. The COVID pandemic added a level of uncertainty as Broadway prepared for the worst. Meanwhile, the owners of the theater used an old contractual clause to kick the show out in favor of The Music Man. But when the pandemic fully hit New York City, the show had to shut down entirely, and Elizabeth never got to take her first bow as Lydia.
But now, two years later, everything has changed for the Broadway actress as she prepares to take part in Beetlejuice for the first time.
`` I hadn't even been announced. I was in rehearsals for three days and I met the cast very briefly. But then we shut down and I went home, '' Elizabeth revealed to Cosmopolitan the day before the show's first preview. `` I was super, super grateful they brought me back and offered me the role again. We just had our invited dress, and I got a little emotional at the end because we made it here. It's very exciting! ''
For some lucky fans, they 'll finally get to experience Elizabeth's Lydia for the first time when the show officially reopens on April 8 ( today!) in its new home, the Marquis Theater. And those who can't make it out yet can still get a glimpse of the fun in these exclusive photos for Cosmopolitan:
Luckily for Elizabeth, a lot of the show's original cast members, including Tony-nominated actors Alex Brightman and Kerry Butler, are returning again. But since it's a whole new theater and some time has passed, they're all on the same playing field.
`` We kind of felt like we were starting from square one. We all did table work, talked about characters, worked on the script, and brought new ideas. A lot of it is the same, but it all sort of felt new again, '' Elizabeth told Cosmo.
As the show prepares to come back to the Great White Way a second time, Elizabeth has already had her big moment in front of a small group of lucky friends, family, and close acquaintances of the production. But even though it wasn't a full house, the moment was still huge.
`` Today, on the downbeat of the orchestra, people started clapping and it was pretty surreal. After my first little song, Beetlejuice had his entrance, everyone started screaming and we were all just in tears. It doesn't feel real, '' Elizabeth noted. `` It's hitting now that we had an audience, and that's going to be four times as big tomorrow in the first preview. I don't know what to expect, but hopefully all the good things. ''
It's not just her fellow actors who have helped her out as she finally makes her Beetlejuice debut. She also has the entire fandom—which is not only represented in the audience but through a special mural featuring fan art in the theater—behind her as well.
`` We love you. I know that you don't know me yet, but I 've just been blown away already by all of the artwork that I 'm seeing on the wall, all of your support, '' she said. `` It makes it so exciting to come into something that is so loved. We wouldn't be back if wasn't for the fans who wanted us back. We are endlessly grateful to all of you and I hope you come to your show. '' | general |
Ensuring an Inclusive COVID-19 Recovery through Investments in Cash, Care, and Data | Alongside the World Bank-International Monetary Fund Spring Meetings, the Center for Global Development and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation invite you to a high-level, virtual event: Ensuring an Inclusive COVID-19 Recovery through Investments in Cash, Care, and Data.
A growing evidence base reflects the COVID-19 pandemic has had an outsized negative impact on women and girls in low- and middle-income countries, exacerbating pre-existing economic and social gender gaps. An inclusive recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic will require grounding policies and investments in the reality that COVID-19 has been a gendered crisis. To ensure an inclusive recovery, CGD’ s COVID-19 Gender and Development Initiative has proposed investments in three priority areas: cash, care, and data. At last year’ s Generation Equality Forum, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced a historic $ 650 million commitment to promote women’ s economic empowerment, framed around these core priorities.
At this event, Nigerian Minister of Finance Zainab Ahmed, Co-Chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Melinda French Gates, and other high-level panelists will discuss pathways to a gender-equal COVID-19 recovery, approaches that donor institutions and governments are taking to achieve their goals, and remaining challenges. | general |
PT Freeport Indonesia Prices $ 3.0 Billion of Senior Notes | JAKARTA, Indonesia -- ( BUSINESS WIRE) -- PT Freeport Indonesia ( “ PT-FI ” or the “ Company ”) announced today that it has priced an offering ( the “ Notes Offering ”) of $ 3.0 billion of senior notes ( collectively, the “ Notes ”). Following is a summary of the three tranches of debt:
Description
Amount ( in millions)
Maturity
4.763% Senior Notes
$ 750.0
Due April 14, 2027
5.315% Senior Notes
$ 1,500.0
Due April 14, 2032
6.200% Senior Notes
$ 750.0
Due April 14, 2052
Total
$ 3,000.0
The Notes are expected to be rated “ Baa3 ” by Moody’ s and “ BBB- ” by Fitch.
The sale of the Notes is expected to settle on April 14, 2022, subject to customary closing conditions. PT-FI intends to use the net proceeds from the Notes Offering to finance its smelter projects, refinancing and for general corporate purposes.
Interest on each series of the Notes will be payable semi-annually in arrears on April 14 and October 14 of each year, beginning on October 14, 2022. The Notes will mature on their respective maturity dates, unless previously repurchased or redeemed in accordance with their terms prior to such date.
Citigroup Global Markets Inc. and J.P. Morgan Securities plc are the joint global coordinators for the offering. HSBC, Mandiri Securities Pte. Ltd., Mizuho Securities Asia Limited and SMBC Nikko Securities ( Hong Kong) Limited, are the joint bookrunners for the offering. CIMB Bank Berhad, Labuan Offshore Branch, IMI - Intesa Sanpaolo, Malayan Banking Berhad, Standard Chartered Bank and United Overseas Bank Limited are the co-managers for the Notes Offering ( collectively, the “ Initial Purchasers ”).
The Notes are offered ( i) in the United States to persons reasonably believed by the Initial Purchasers to be qualified institutional buyers pursuant to Rule 144A under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended ( the “ Securities Act ”) and ( ii) outside the United States in compliance with Regulation S under the Securities Act. The Notes have not been and will not be registered under the Securities Act or the securities laws of any other jurisdiction, and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from registration requirements.
The Notes may not be offered or sold ( i) in Indonesia to Indonesian citizens or residents or foreign parties, or ( ii) outside Indonesia to Indonesian citizens wherever they are domiciled, or to Indonesian residents, in a manner which constitutes a public offering of the securities under Indonesian Law No. 8 of 1995 on Capital Markets and its implementing regulations, or a private placement of the securities under the OJK Regulation No. 30/POJK.04/2019 on the Issuance of Debt Securities and/or Sukuk without a Public Offering. PT-FI does not intend to register any portion of the Notes Offering in Indonesia or to conduct a public offering of the Notes in Indonesia.
This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to purchase any securities, nor shall there be a sale of the securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such an offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful. A rating is not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold the securities and may be subject to suspension, reduction or withdrawal at any time by the relevant rating agency. The significance of each rating should be analyzed independently from any other rating.
About PT-FI
PT-FI operates one of the world’ s largest copper and gold mines at the Grasberg minerals district in Papua, Indonesia. PT-FI produces copper concentrate that contains significant quantities of gold and silver. PT-FI is owned 51.24% collectively by PT Indonesia Asahan Aluminum ( Persero) ( PT Inalum, also known as MIND ID), an Indonesia state-owned enterprise, and PT Indonesia Papua Metal Dan Mineral, and 48.76% by Freeport-McMoRan Inc. ( FCX), one of the world’ s largest publicly traded copper producers listed on the New York Stock Exchange. FCX manages the mining operations of PT-FI. PT-FI also owns a 39.5% interest in the PT Smelting copper smelter in Gresik, Indonesia and is constructing a greenfield smelter to increase in-country copper concentrate processing capacity. PT-FI has successfully operated in Indonesia for approximately 55 years.
Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements, which are all statements other than statements of historical facts, such as plans, projections or expectations related to the Notes Offering, including the use of proceeds therefrom and anticipated settlement date. The words “ anticipates, ” “ may, ” “ can, ” “ plans, ” “ believes, ” “ estimates, ” “ expects, ” “ projects, ” “ targets, ” “ intends, ” “ likely, ” “ will, ” “ should, ” “ could, ” “ to be, ” “ assumptions, ” “ guidance, ” “ future, ” “ potential ” and any similar expressions are intended to identify those assertions as forward-looking statements. PT-FI cautions readers that forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results may differ materially from those anticipated, expected, projected or assumed in the forward-looking statements. Important factors that can cause PT-FI’ s actual results to differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, PT-FI’ s ability to consummate the Notes Offering; corporate developments that could preclude, impair or delay the Notes Offering; changes in the expected credit ratings of the Notes; changes in PT-FI’ s cash requirements, financial position, financing plans or investment plans; changes in general market, economic, tax, regulatory or industry conditions; supply of and demand for, and prices of the commodities PT-FI produces, primarily copper and gold; changes in general market, economic, tax, regulatory or industry conditions, including as a result of Russia’ s invasion of Ukraine; reductions in liquidity and access to capital; the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and any future public health crisis; PT-FI’ s ability to contain and mitigate the risk of spread or major outbreak of COVID-19 at its operating site; political and social risks; operational risks inherent in mining, with higher inherent risks in underground mining; fluctuations in price and availability of commodities purchased; constraints on supply, logistics and transportation services; supply of and demand for, and prices of, copper and gold; mine sequencing; changes in mine plans or operational modifications, delays, deferrals or cancellations; production rates; timing of shipments; results of technical, economic or feasibility studies; potential inventory adjustments; potential impairment of long-lived mining assets; potential effects of violence in Indonesia generally and in the province of Papua; the Indonesian government’ s extension of PT-FI’ s export license after March 19, 2023; satisfaction of requirements in accordance with PT-FI’ s IUPK and applicable laws and regulations to extend mining rights from 2031 through 2041; the Indonesian Government’ s approval of a deferred schedule for completion of additional domestic smelting capacity in Indonesia; cybersecurity incidents; labor relations, including labor-related work stoppages and costs; the results of the human health risk assessment to evaluate the potential impacts of tailings and mining waste, and compliance with applicable environmental, health and safety laws and regulations; weather- and climate-related risks; environmental risks and litigation results; PT-FI’ s ability to comply with its responsible production commitments under specific frameworks and any changes to such frameworks and other factors.
Investors are cautioned that many of the assumptions upon which PT-FI’ s forward-looking statements are based are likely to change after the forward-looking statements are made, including for example commodity prices, which PT-FI can not control, and production volumes and costs, some aspects of which PT-FI may not be able to control. Further, PT-FI may make changes to its business plans that could affect its results. All information provided in this press release is as of the date of this press release, and PT-FI undertakes no duty to update such information, except as required under applicable law. | general |
Holcim publishes agenda for 2022 Annual General Meeting | For full functionality of this site it is necessary to enable JavaScript. Here are the instructions how to enable JavaScript in your web browser.
The Holcim Annual General Meeting ( AGM) will take place on 04 May 2022 at 10 am CEST at company headquarters in Zug, Switzerland. In accordance with applicable Swiss COVID-19 legislation, it will be held without the presence of shareholders, making safety a priority again for this year’ s AGM. The Board of Directors invites shareholders to submit their questions in advance regarding the Holcim 2021 Integrated Annual Report and the AGM.
In line with Holcim’ s commitment to lead its sector’ s transition to net zero, the Board of Directors has submitted the company’ s first Climate Report, for an advisory vote by Holcim’ s shareholders. A first in its industry, the Holcim Climate Report shares the company’ s net-zero journey with its 2030 and 2050 net-zero targets, validated by the Science Based Targets initiative. The report provides details on Holcim’ s decarbonisation journey, its focus on innovation and breakthrough technologies as well as climate-related risks and opportunities.
Shareholders will be asked to approve a dividend proposal of CHF 2.20 per registered share of Holcim Ltd, a 10% increase over the prior year. The Board of Directors proposes this higher amount following Holcim’ s record 2021 performance. If approved, the dividend will be paid out of capital contribution reserves and is not subject to Swiss withholding tax.
Dieter Spälti, Adrian Loader and Colin Hall have decided not to stand for re-election. All other members are proposed for re-election. Beat Hess is also proposed for re-election as Chairman of the Board.
Beat Hess: “ On behalf of all my colleagues on the Board, I sincerely thank our esteemed Board members who are stepping down this year for their invaluable contributions. ”
“ Since joining the Board of Holcim in 2003, Dieter has played an instrumental role in driving the company’ s transformation to become the global leader in innovative and sustainable building solutions. During his past year as Vice Chairman, he has been an invaluable partner to me. Adrian has been a great champion on our Board since 2006, in particular in the fields of Health & Safety and sustainability, making us a global leader in these areas today. Playing an important part in setting our Group’ s direction, Colin consistently brought strategic insights and passion to our Board. All three are remarkable leaders who have left their mark in setting Holcim up for success. They will be greatly missed. ”
To advance the Board’ s leadership, gathering the most expert and diverse perspectives to shape the company’ s future, Leanne Geale and Ilias Läber are proposed as new members to the Board of Directors. The two candidates’ biographies are available in the invitation to the Annual General Meeting and on www.holcim.com/AGM.
Beat Hess: “ I’ m very pleased by the exceptional calibre of leaders that are joining our Board and look forward to their many contributions to continue building long-term value for all Holcim’ s stakeholders. ”
Read the article online at: https: //www.worldcement.com/europe-cis/08042022/holcim-publishes-agenda-for-2022-annual-general-meeting/
Aimed at apprentice technicians and experienced engineers alike, the resource is accessible by computer, tablet, or smartphone. | business |
How to interpret the total number of SARS-CoV-2 infections | Counts of reported cases have been the key metric to monitor the COVID-19 pandemic. However, since the beginning, it has been clear that reported cases represent only a fraction of all SARS-CoV-2 infections.1Russell TW Golding N Hellewell J et al.Reconstructing the early global dynamics of under-ascertained COVID-19 cases and infections.BMC Med. 2020; 18: 332Google Scholar In The Lancet, Ryan Barber and colleagues, writing on behalf of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, report a comprehensive set of global and location-specific estimates of daily and cumulative SARS-CoV-2 infections and the proportion of the population infected for 190 countries and territories up to Nov 14, 2021.2COVID-19 Cumulative Infection CollaboratorsEstimating global, regional, and national daily and cumulative infections with SARS-CoV-2 through Nov 14, 2021: a statistical analysis.Lancet. 2022; ( published online April 8.) https: //doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736 ( 22) 00484-6Google Scholar For this, the authors used a novel approach, combining data from reported cases and deaths, excess deaths attributable to COVID-19, hospitalisations, and seroprevalence surveys to produce more robust estimates in an attempt to minimise biases. According to Barber and colleagues ' findings, a staggering number of people, 3·39 billion ( 95% uncertainty interval 3·08–3·63) or 43·9% ( 39·9–46·9) of the global population, are estimated to have been infected one or more times between March, 2020, and November, 2021. Remarkably, this was before the highly transmissible omicron ( B.1.1.529) variant swept the globe. These estimates of total infections are wildly different from the number of reported cases, which stood at 254 million as of Nov 14, 2021.3Dong E Du H Gardner L An interactive web-based dashboard to track COVID-19 in real time.Lancet Infect Dis. 2020; 20: 533-534Google Scholar
Barber and colleagues ' study also highlights vast regional discrepancies, painting a very different picture from that provided by reported cases. From case reports, one would conclude that the highest cumulative incidence was observed in Europe and North America and the lowest in Africa. However, this study estimated that 70·5% ( 61·6–75·9) of the population in sub-Saharan Africa has been infected with SARS-CoV-2, compared with 30·9% ( 28·8–32·8) of the population in high-income North America. Underlying this apparent reversal of patterns are stark differences in case detection; fewer than 1% of infections were reported as cases in sub-Saharan Africa whereas nearly half were reported in high-income North America. It is crucial that this underreporting is considered when we compare the impact of the pandemic and the effectiveness of responses among nations.
It is also worth reflecting on the technical achievement in data integration that underpins these new estimates. Barber and colleagues were able to estimate cumulative infections at the national and subnational levels by integrating an array of data sources. Each individual dataset—cross-sectional serosurveys and time series of cases, hospitalisations, and deaths—has limited value and inherent bias on its own. Serosurveys are of highly variable quality, death reporting is incomplete,4COVID-19 Excess Mortality CollaboratorsEstimating excess mortality due to the COVID-19 pandemic: a systematic analysis of COVID-19-related mortality, 2020–21.Lancet. 2022; ( published online March 10.) https: //doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736 ( 21) 02796-3Google Scholar and many outcomes are not reliably stratified by age or other key variables such as gender, race, and vaccination status. Despite the serious challenges in data integration on this scale and with this diversity of sources, it enables objective comparisons about the level of infection in a setting and can, for example, guide more optimal targeting of vaccines.
Although estimates of the proportion of the population ever infected provide insight into the cumulative impact and current phase of the epidemic in each location, we should be cautious not to conflate the proportion of the population ever infected with population-level immunity. The proportion ever infected, combined with vaccine coverage, has been proposed as a metric to evaluate whether we have reached sufficient population immunity to stop widespread community transmission. However, with new variants escaping immunity, immunity waning, and unequal distribution of vaccination, defining population-level immunity is not trivial.5Lopman BA Shioda K Nguyen Q et al.A framework for monitoring population immunity to SARS-CoV-2.Ann Epidemiol. 2021; 63: 75-78Google Scholar Barber and colleagues ' study estimated population immunity in the simplest way possible: by assuming that previously infected people were immune, vaccination was randomly distributed, and immunity did not wane. Tellingly, this metric did not inversely correlate with community transmission ( ie, the time-varying reproductive number), showing that such a simple approach no longer provides an appropriate measure of population immunity. A more reliable measure would account for waning, boosting from multiple exposures, non-random vaccine uptake, different immune response across age groups, and cross-variant immunity.
As such, one could argue that the proportion of the population ever infected is no longer a meaningful metric of population immunity. However, the same data streams to infer cumulative incidence can be used to address more pressing epidemiological questions, such as how severe are new variants? To what extent do the population's historical infections—in terms of timing and variants—protect against infection and severe disease of new variants? Relatedly, how do layers of vaccine-induced and virus-induced immunity combine to confer protection to the population? Perhaps most importantly at this moment in the pandemic, we need to identify the sub-populations that remain susceptible to severe disease and death. Serosurveys combined with morbidity and mortality surveillance and detailed monitoring of vaccine coverage are essential to identify the groups lacking immunity from vaccination or previous infection.5Lopman BA Shioda K Nguyen Q et al.A framework for monitoring population immunity to SARS-CoV-2.Ann Epidemiol. 2021; 63: 75-78Google Scholar, 6Mina MJ Metcalf CJE McDermott AB Douek DC Farrar J Grenfell BT A global lmmunological observatory to meet a time of pandemics.eLife. 2020; 9e58989Google Scholar, 7Elliott P Bodinier B Eales O et al.Rapid increase in omicron infections in England during December 2021: REACT-1 study.Science. 2022; 375: 1406-1411Google Scholar Integrating data enables the kinds of insights offered by Barber and colleagues to inform the next phase of the pandemic response, and we should sustain this effort.
BL reports personal consulting fees from Epidemiologic Research & Methods, outside the submitted work. KS declares no competing interests.
Estimating global, regional, and national daily and cumulative infections with SARS-CoV-2 through Nov 14, 2021: a statistical analysisCOVID-19 has already had a staggering impact on the world up to the beginning of the omicron ( B.1.1.529) wave, with over 40% of the global population infected at least once by Nov 14, 2021. The vast differences in cumulative proportion of the population infected across locations could help policy makers identify the transmission-prevention strategies that have been most effective, as well as the populations at greatest risk for future infection. This information might also be useful for targeted transmission-prevention interventions, including vaccine prioritisation. Full-Text PDF Open Access | tech |
Weary and worried, French voters are in unpredictable mood | Donzy, France – Every five years French goose farmer Frederic Coudray-Ozbolt revels in the attention his quiet village receives when journalists come knocking at presidential election time.
Two and half hours’ drive south of the capital, Donzy has found fame as a national bellwether that has correctly picked the winner of every presidential election since 1981.
“ It makes us feel like we’ re a part of France and not at the end of it, ” says Coudray-Ozbolt of the brief celebrity he and his neighbors enjoy.
Their powers of prediction faltered slightly in the first round of voting in 2017, but were restored in the second when Donzy voted like the rest of the country for Emmanuel Macron, a then 39-year-old newcomer who destroyed the stranglehold of France’ s traditional parties of government.
But five years later Coudray-Ozbolt says he’ s hesitating about voting for Macron again in Sunday’ s first round.
“ There’ s too much PR, ” said the 54-year-old, who makes the controversial French delicacy foie gras. “ Every day they announce something. How much of it will materialize? ”
As polls show far-right leader Marine Le Pen closing in on Macron, still the narrow favorite, the hesitation of people like Coudray-Ozbolt could prove crucial.
After a highly unusual campaign overshadowed by outside events, the words on many people’ s lips in Donzy — like elsewhere in France — are “ the crises. ”
“ There was COVID-19, now the war in Ukraine, ” sighed Jacques Martin, a 66-year-old retired policeman who is president of the rugby club.
Local mayor Marie-France Lurier says “ people are anxious and they’ re finding it difficult to think about the future. ”
Three lockdowns since 2020 have brought life repeatedly to a standstill, and now galloping inflation linked to COVID-19 and the Ukraine conflict, is eating into household budgets.
France’ s President Emmanuel Macron speaks on French TV on Wednesday. | AFP-JIJI
“ The biggest, fundamental concern is spending power, the need for salary rises, and worries over the increase in fuel and energy prices, ” said Lurier, a left-leaning independent.
All across the village, people are quick to mention sudden price hikes that belie the official inflation rate of just 4.5%.
A local builder said he’ d just been notified of a 12percent price increase for plaster. The nearest winemaker faces a 53% rise in the cost of glass bottles.
Diesel prices at the local supermarket hover near €2.0 ( $ 2.18) a liter, up around 20% since the start of the year.
“ We’ re going out less and we’ re not sure what we’ re going to do for the holidays, ” said 37-year-old Sarah Lesage, a nurse and mother-of-four.
Conversations with the voters of Donzy suggested Sunday’ s first-round and the second-round run-off on April 24 will be won or lost by the candidate seen as most trusted to find solutions.
Though early campaigning was dominated by anti-immigration rhetoric from “ France’ s Trump ” — new far-right candidate Eric Zemmour — polls overwhelmingly show that household spending is the priority now.
Although there was little fervor for Macron in Donzy, there was clear respect by some, admiration even, for his role as the country’ s crisis-manager-in-chief.
“ With everything that’ s going on, at least we have a president that seems to have his head firmly on his shoulders, ” said Jacqueline Vincent, 69, clutching baguettes outside a bakery.
Many are grateful for the €100-billion ( $ 110-billion) rescue plan announced in September 2020 that has sent the national debt rocketing but has trickled down to places like Donzy.
Four local bars, where people gather over a glass of wine at the end of the day, were kept afloat by government aid through the lockdowns.
“ I say ‘ Thank you Mr. Macron’ for everything I got, ” 67-year-old waitress Martine said, adding that her employer had been repeatedly shut during the lockdowns. “ I had seven months of salary paid by the state. ”
But Macron, a former investment banker, has also earned a reputation for arrogance and high-handedness that is particularly resented in small towns and villages.
A 2018 revolt against him by so-called “ Yellow Vest ” protesters was sparked as much by his abrasive personality as his pro-business policies and tax cuts for the wealthy.
Distracted by his diplomatic efforts with Russia and Ukraine, he only started campaigning two weeks ago.
French far-right Rassemblement National ( RN) party presidential candidate Marine Le Pen speaks on French TV on Wednesday. | REUTERS
Le Pen meanwhile has spent months shaking hands at provincial markets and agricultural fairs, focusing on the issue now on everyone’ s minds: inflation and incomes.
“ Between Macron and us, it’ s a choice between the power of money that benefits the few, and household purchasing power that benefits the many, ” she said recently, promising more tax cuts and social spending.
Her decision not to play up fears over Muslim immigration to France, her traditional rallying cry, has helped soften her image.
And she has hammered Macron in recent weeks on the record €2 billion spent on management consultancies during his term, an issue that appeared to be cutting through in Donzy.
Le Pen, 53, has also been helped by Zemmour in her quest to detoxify her image.
Having spent a decade trying to erase her party’ s reputation for racism and its association with its violent neo-Nazi fringe, Le Pen found an ideal foil in Zemmour.
The best-selling author of books such as “ French Suicide ” has several convictions for racist hate speech and wants to deport a million foreigners.
A picture of him giving the finger to a protester in Marseille last November reinforced his image as a cranky political maverick.
“ Compared to him, everyone looks like a moderate, ” said Arnaud Mercier, an expert on political communication at Paris Pantheon-Assas University.
Polls suggest Zemmour will score around 10% in Sunday’ s vote, but he has opened up new political space for Le Pen.
He has also normalized the idea of the “ Great Replacement, ” a white supremacist conspiracy theory suggesting indigenous Europeans are being deliberately replaced by immigrants.
“ He’ s dangerous in that he encourages conflicts and feeds off hatred, ” former Socialist president Francois Hollande said last year.
Mayor Lurier, a retired social housing administrator, is frustrated that the leftwing Socialists have failed to reinvent themselves since Hollande lost power in 2017.
She regrets the decline of France’ s two traditional political parties, which have been peripheral in this campaign, and is unconvinced by hard-left populist Jean-Luc Melenchon.
Leaflets and ballots of the twelve presidential candidates, four days ahead of the first round of France’ s presidential election. | AFP-JIJI
The former Trotskyist is the leading leftwinger in a race that could still spring a surprise on Sunday.
“ Political parties, whether of the left or the right, provided a framework and the fact that we don’ t have that any more means that things are breaking down, ” said Lurier.
Socialist candidate Anne Hidalgo, the mayor of Paris, is polling around 2%.
The nominee for the once mighty rightwing Republicans party, Valerie Pecresse, is trending downwards on around 10% in fourth or fifth position.
Worried by the biggest war in Europe since 1945 and the largest inflation crisis since the 1970s, France’ s election is now seen as highly unpredictable.
Polls show around a quarter of voters are unsure of who to vote for on Sunday, and the same proportion might abstain in what would be a record.
The country appears to be heading for another run-off between Macron and Le Pen, who faced each other in 2017 not long after Britain had voted for Brexit and the United States had elected Donald Trump.
With Le Pen breathing down his neck, Macron has been trying to rally voters by sounding the alarm that his promise of continuity and steady leadership might not be enough.
“ Look at what happened with Brexit, and so many other elections: what looked improbable actually happened, ” he warned at his first rally last weekend. | tech |
'Tokyo Vice ' steps into the capital's criminal underworld | When Jake Adelstein got hired in the early 1990s by the Yomiuri Shimbun, Japan’ s biggest daily, he was thought to be the first American to pass the newspaper’ s rigorous entrance exam. It took him five years of concentrated language study to get that far; even then, it was a prodigious achievement.
Ansel Elgort, who plays the journalist in the HBO Max series “ Tokyo Vice, ” which is loosely based on Adelstein’ s 2009 memoir of the same name, had to make do with four weeks of intensive Japanese classes. That’ s presumably four more than Sean Connery spent preparing to play a Japanese expert in “ Rising Sun ” in 1993.
Speaking during a busy day of media interviews to promote the show, Ken Watanabe — who stars opposite Elgort as Adelstein’ s police detective mentor, Hiroto Katagiri — recalls the learning curve he faced when he took his career abroad two decades ago.
The actor, now 62, was already an established screen and stage star in Japan when he was cast opposite Tom Cruise in Edward Zwick’ s “ The Last Samurai ” ( 2003), picking up an Oscar nomination in the process.
“ I noticed that when I was speaking English, the pitch would go up a bit, in terms of the essence of the language, ” he says. “ I felt I had to get myself to the point where I could express the emotions I wanted to convey in English with the same degree of control that I could in Japanese. ”
It’ s something that his “ Tokyo Vice ” co-star, Hideaki Ito, is still figuring out. The 46-year-old gives a scene-stealing turn as Jin Miyamoto, a louche vice-squad cop with a casual disregard for the boundaries of the law. Like Watanabe, he has to deliver much of his dialogue in English, and what he lacks in technical finesse, he makes up for in charisma.
“ I realized that the emotion was more important than whether or not I was speaking English correctly, ” Ito says. “ It’ s not just about the shape of the words but what comes out of them. ”
A screen adaptation of “ Tokyo Vice ” has been in the works for the best part of a decade. After a planned, feature-length movie starring Daniel Radcliffe didn’ t pan out, it was reconfigured as an eight-episode series produced for HBO Max by Endeavor Content and Japanese subscription channel Wowow.
The show, which premiered in the United States yesterday and will be available in Japan from April 24, was created and written by Tony-winning playwright J.T. Rogers ( “ Oslo ”). Michael Mann helms the pilot episode in his first directorial outing since 2015’ s underrated “ Blackhat, ” and sets the tone for the gritty vibe of the series and its fastidious attention to period detail.
“ In terms of the process, it was mostly their baby, ” says Watanabe, who also worked as an executive producer on the show. “ Of course, Wowow had various input and provided support, and there were a lot of Japanese staff involved, but the script, location scouting, shooting schedule — that was all them. ”
Shooting started in early February 2020, then screeched to a halt with the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic. It resumed six months later, with rigorous safety protocols in place, and the production brought a dash of Hollywood glamor to the capital at a time when Japan was effectively closed to non-Japanese visitors.
Even now, Ito sounds a little overawed by the whole experience.
“ You couldn’ t even imagine this in Japan, but they cordoned off a whole block of Shibuya, ” he says. “ The scale of it all was overwhelming. Acting alongside Ken, and with all the crew … ”
“ He’ s just saying that, ” Watanabe interjects. “ He was totally at ease. ”
“ I had to take it easy, otherwise people would’ ve thought I was breaking character, ” Ito replies, laughing.
Hideaki Ito ( left) and Ken Watanabe ( right) deliver much of their dialogue in English in ‘ Tokyo Vice,’ a TV adaptation of Jake Adelstein’ s memoir of the same name. | JAMES HADFIELD
Adelstein, the real-life inspiration for “ Tokyo Vice, ” has cultivated notoriety for his willingness to write about topics his Japanese peers wouldn’ t touch, including in his dogged pursuit of the now-retired yakuza boss Tadamasa Goto. Japanese publishers declined to release a translated version of the book, and the HBO Max series is clearly labeled as a work of fiction.
“ He came to the set, and we ended up talking for a couple of hours, ” Watanabe says. “ He has the wildest stories. ”
Although Elgort’ s character in the show is subject to frequent discrimination as a “ gaijin ” ( foreigner), he’ s also able to take advantage of his outsider status.
“ Japanese people probably wouldn’ t feel inclined to write these things, ” Watanabe says. “ Even if they’ d had the same experiences, they wouldn’ t really be able to write about it, or else they’ d have to completely fictionalize half of it. ”
“ That’ s one thing I respect about America, ” he continues. “ Whether it’ s political controversies, corruption, sports scandals — there’ s no sense of shame. They don’ t hesitate to tackle the subject head-on. … In Japan, it’ s hard to make films about political issues and those kinds of gray areas, and there aren’ t many people willing to talk about them. ”
Watanabe and Ito have had chances to play characters on either side of the law during their careers; in “ Tokyo Vice, ” Ito gets to keep a foot in both worlds at the same time. So which do they prefer: police or yakuza?
“ I don’ t like either of them! ” Watanabe exclaims. “ Oh, you mean to play as characters? ”
Though it’ s not as celebrated as his many screen performances as samurai warriors, he can be seen playing a violently unhinged gangster in Hajime Hashimoto’ s “ Another Battle/Conspiracy, ” a 2003 spin-off of the “ Battles Without Honor and Humanity ” series.
“ I’ d come on set and it would be like, ‘ OK, which of these things can I break?’ ” he recalls. “ There was a replica of ( samurai warlord Toyotomi) Hideyoshi’ s helmet, and I was about to break it when they said ” — his voice drops to a whisper — “ ‘ Please stop.’ The art director was freaking out. ”
“ What was that worth, a few million yen? ” Ito asks, eyes bulging.
“ Oh, no, ” says Watanabe. “ It was more like in the hundreds of thousands. ”
“ Tokyo Vice ” will begin airing in Japan on Wowow from April 24. For more information, visit wowow.co.jp/drama/original/tokyovice ( Japanese only). | tech |
No immediate plans for Japan to reopen to tourists, prime minister says | Japan has no immediate plans to reopen its borders to foreign tourists, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Friday as the country braces for a possible resurgence of the coronavirus.
“ No specific schedule has been decided, ” Kishida said at a news conference, adding the government will make a decision after examining the COVID-19 infection situation and border control steps taken by other nations.
Japan, which has gradually relaxed its strict border controls, will allow up to 10,000 entrants a day, including business travelers, students, and returning Japanese nationals and foreign residents, starting Sunday.
But Kishida has warned that Japan is seeing signs of a coronavirus resurgence, calling for the public to cooperate in stemming the spread by taking thorough prevention measures, getting tested for the virus and receiving COVID-19 vaccine booster shots as early as possible.
On Friday, around 52,000 new infections were reported across Japan, increasing from a week earlier for the 14th consecutive day.
Tokyo reported 8,112 new cases, with those in their 20s accounting for 22% of the total, the highest rate among all age groups.
Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike stressed at a news conference the importance of younger people getting vaccinated to “ break the chain of infection. ”
Only 25.6% of those in their 20s in Tokyo had received their third COVID-19 vaccine booster shots as of Tuesday, compared with 44.4% for the capital’ s population on a whole, according to the metropolitan government.
To encourage vaccinations, the metropolitan government has begun offering coupons and prizes to fully vaccinated individuals, including giving a higher chance for such individuals to win in a lottery to see twin giant pandas born last year at the Ueno Zoological Gardens. | tech |
Global Media Gateway Market ( 2022 to 2027) - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact and Forecasts - ResearchAndMarkets.com | DUBLIN -- ( BUSINESS WIRE) -- The `` Media Gateway Market - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts ( 2022 - 2027) '' report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.
Multimedia interactions are facilitated by media gateways over multiple transport protocols, such as asynchronous transfer mode ( ATM) and Internet Protocol ( IP) across next-generation networks. Interworking and media transcoding requirements are changing as new communications paradigms ( VoLTE, WebRTC) emerge, and more media codecs are introduced.
Staying ahead of the evolutionary curve requires a media gateway architecture that anticipates those changes and provides a simple, efficient path to higher capacities and new capabilities. Furthermore, Media Gateway for Mobile Networks ( M-MGw) is a high-performance media plane product deployed globally. It is a solution to those challenges, and operators are facing today and in the future, such as how to optimize voice production costs and how to safeguard revenues in an evolving telephony environment.
Companies Mentioned
Key Market Trends
Hybrid-based Media Gateways to Hold a Dominant Share of Market
Market in APAC to witness Significant Growth During Forecast Period
Key Topics Covered:
1 INTRODUCTION
2 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
4 MARKET DYNAMICS
4.1 Market Overview
4.2 Introduction to Market Drivers and Restraints
4.3 Market Drivers
4.3.1 Requirement for High-quality Communication Over Disparate Networks
4.3.2 Media Gateways Providing Augmented Flexibility to Legacy Networks
4.4 Market Restraints
4.4.1 Dearth of Skillful Workforce to Add New Solutions in Existing Network
4.5 Industry Value Chain Analysis
4.6 Industry Attractiveness - Porter's Five Forces Analysis
4.7 Assessment of Impact of COVID-19 on the Industry
5 MARKET SEGMENTATION
5.1 Type
5.1.1 Analog
5.1.2 Digital
5.2 Technology
5.2.1 Wireline
5.2.2 Wireless
5.2.3 Hybrid
5.3 End User
5.3.1 BFSI
5.3.2 Manufacturing
5.3.3 Government
5.3.4 Healthcare
5.3.5 Telecommunication
5.3.6 Transportation
5.4 Geography
5.4.1 North America
5.4.2 Europe
5.4.3 Asia-Pacific
5.4.4 Latin America
5.4.5 Middle-East and Africa
6 COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE | general |
Global Trade Surveillance Systems Market, 2022 to 2027 - Growing Sophistication of Trade Surveillance System Solutions Powered by Advanced Analytics, AI, Ml, and Process Automation Technologies - ResearchAndMarkets.com | DUBLIN -- ( BUSINESS WIRE) -- The `` Trade Surveillance Systems Market with COVID-19 Impact, by Component ( Solutions ( Risk & Compliance, Surveillance & Analytics, Case Management) and Services), Deployment Mode, Organization Size, Vertical and Region - Global Forecast to 2027 '' report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.
The global Trade Surveillance Systems market size to grow from USD 1.7 billion in 2022 to USD 4.1 billion by 2027, at a Compound Annual Growth Rate ( CAGR) of 19.7% during the forecast period. Shifting trade patterns and increasing regulations have intensified the compliance burden on capital firms, hedge funds, and conventional asset managers. In recent times with several revised regulations in financial instruments, such as Reg BI, MiFID II, MAR and Dodd-Frank, buy-side firms are increasingly focusing on adopting advanced trade surveillance and monitoring solutions. Furthermore, guidelines from regulatory agencies, such as CFTC, SEC, FINRA in the US, and ESMA, FCA, & other regulators in the European economies are further driving the adoption of trade surveillance systems by the financial institutions.
By Component, the Services segment to grow at a higher CAGR during the forecast period
By Component, the Services segment is expected to grow at a higher growth rate during the forecast period. Services are crucial for solution vendors, as clients expect seamless integration of new products with their existing enterprise systems, post which they need remote and onsite support. The need for smooth and effective integration of solutions with the existing infrastructure and the demand for quickly resolving technical issues are expected to be driving the growth of the Services segment.
By Services, the Professional Services segment to hold the larger market size
The Professional Services segment is expected to hold a larger market size. These services include deployment & integration, consulting, and support & maintenance services. These services help enhance efficiency and achieve the desired level of expertise to manage the trade surveillance systems, thereby reducing losses effectively.
By Deployment Mode, the Cloud segment to grow at a higher CAGR during the forecast period
The Cloud segment is projected to grow at a higher CAGR during the forecast period. Cloud-based solutions are provided directly through cloud-deployed network connectivity. These solutions help reduce the overall costs while providing highly flexible and scalable access to trade surveillance systems through the IT infrastructure hosted by cloud service providers.
Market Dynamics
Drivers | general |
Worldwide Mining Chemicals Market is Expected to Grow at a CAGR of over 4% During 2022-2027 - ResearchAndMarkets.com | DUBLIN -- ( BUSINESS WIRE) -- The `` Mining Chemicals Market - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts ( 2022 - 2027) '' report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.
The global mining chemicals market is expected to have a CAGR of around 4% during the forecast period ( 2022-2027). The rising usage of mining chemicals in mineral processing and wastewater treatment is expected to increase the market growth.
Key Highlights
Key Market Trends
Rising Use of Mining Chemicals in Mineral Processing
Asia-Pacific to Dominate the Market during the Forecast Period
Companies Mentioned
Key Topics Covered:
1 INTRODUCTION
1.1 Study Assumptions
1.2 Scope of the Study
2 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
4 MARKET DYNAMICS
4.1 Drivers
4.1.1 Rising Mining Activities in Asia-Pacific and North America
4.1.2 Increasing Demand for Specialty Chemicals in Mining Processes
4.2 Restraints
4.2.1 Stringent Environmental Regulations
4.2.2 Other Restraints
4.3 Industry Value Chain Analysis
4.4 Porter's Five Forces Analysis
4.4.1 Bargaining Power of Suppliers
4.4.2 Bargaining Power of Consumers
4.4.3 Threat of New Entrants
4.4.4 Threat of Substitute Products and Services
4.4.5 Degree of Competition
5 MARKET SEGMENTATION
5.1 Function
5.1.1 Flotation Chemicals
5.1.1.1 Collectors
5.1.1.2 Depressants
5.1.1.3 Flocculants
5.1.1.4 Frothers
5.1.1.5 Disperants
5.1.2 Extraction Chemicals
5.1.2.1 Diluents
5.1.2.2 Extractants
5.1.3 Grinding Aids
5.2 Application
5.2.1 Mineral Processing
5.2.2 Wastewater Treatment
5.3 Geography
5.3.1 Asia Pacific
5.3.2 North America
5.3.3 Europe
5.3.4 South America
5.3.5 Middle-East and Africa
6 COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE
6.1 Mergers and Acquisitions, Joint Ventures, Collaborations, and Agreements
6.2 Market Share (%) * * /Ranking Analysis
6.3 Strategies Adopted by Leading Players | general |
The great gardening rebrand | My mum knows the Latin names for – at a conservative estimate – every plant on the planet. You’ ll be out for a walk, or at the pub, or just minding your own business watching TV and she’ ll suddenly interject: “ Look! That’ s an
! ”, or words to that effect. She’ s been doing this as long as I can remember and I’ ve totally failed to absorb any of the knowledge. To put it in perspective, me and my boyfriend have collectively killed a whole forest worth of plants, and I still couldn’ t tell you their Latin names.
Older generations of gardeners, like my mum, know practically everything about the arcane art of plant care. But an audience of younger enthusiasts are finding new ways of tapping into knowledge – including apps, plant influencers, and a raft of brands using design to attract plant lovers. Interest has boomed in recent years, as evidenced by newcomers including houseplant provider Patch Plants, plant subscription service BloomBox Club and plant marketplace Sproutl. All are tapping into this new demographic.
“ Covid really shone a light on the fact that there is this enormous group of people who are really interested in this world, but are typically working full-time, ” says Anni Noel-Johnson, co-founder of Sproutl, which sells plants, pots and accessories sourced from garden centres and nurseries in the UK. “ They have busy lives. They’ re digital natives. And they’ re used to the delivery standard of online experience. So it’ s about providing a way for them to get involved earlier, rather than having to wait 10 to 15 years when they’ ve got more time on their hands. ”
As Noel-Johnson says, Covid prompted many of us to bring more greenery into our homes, but the renewed enthusiasm for plants was happening long before lockdown. Hollie Newton, Sproutl’ s chief creative officer, describes plants and gardening as the “ absolute antidote ” to the stress of modern life. “ When I was doing 80-hour weeks in advertising, there was that moment where you’ d water a tomato and switch off, and the brain can do its thing in the background and it soothes the soul, ” she jokes.
Digital-first businesses like Sproutl and Patch not only look completely different to ‘ heritage’ gardening brands, they behave differently as well.
We recommend activating Javascript in your browser. | business |
Correction to Lancet Infect Dis 2022; published online March 31. https: //doi.org/10.1016/S1473-3099 ( 22) 00143-8 - The Lancet Infectious Diseases | Nordström P, Ballin M, Nordström A. Risk of SARS-CoV-2 reinfection and COVID-19 hospitalisation in individuals with natural and hybrid immunity: a retrospective, total population cohort study in Sweden. Lancet Infect Dis 2022; published online March 31. https: //doi.org/10.1016/S1473-3099 ( 22) 0014—In this Article, the first line of the Findings, in the Summary, should have read ‘ Cohort 1 was comprised of 2 039 106 individuals, cohort 2 of 962 318 individuals, and cohort 3 of 567 810 individuals’. This correction has been made to the online version as of April 8, 2022, and will be made to the printed version.
Risk of SARS-CoV-2 reinfection and COVID-19 hospitalisation in individuals with natural and hybrid immunity: a retrospective, total population cohort study in SwedenThe risk of SARS-CoV-2 reinfection and COVID-19 hospitalisation in individuals who have survived and recovered from a previous infection remained low for up to 20 months. Vaccination seemed to further decrease the risk of both outcomes for up to 9 months, although the differences in absolute numbers, especially in hospitalisations, were small. These findings suggest that if passports are used for societal restrictions, they should acknowledge either a previous infection or vaccination as proof of immunity, as opposed to vaccination only. Full-Text PDF | tech |
Country registers 22 new COVID-19 cases, 48 recoveries | Azerbaijan registered 22 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, Operational Headquarters under the Cabinet of Ministers reported on April 8.
Some 48 patients have recovered and no patients have died in the reported period.
So far, 792,188 COVID-19 cases have been registered in the country. Some 782,252 patients have recovered, and 9,703 people have died. Currently, 233 people are under treatment in special hospitals.
Over the past day, 3,867 tests were conducted in Azerbaijan to reveal coronavirus cases.
In general, 6,735,182 tests have been conducted in Azerbaijan so far.
So far, some 13,532,020 COVID-19 vaccines have been provided to Azerbaijani citizens. In the past 24 hours, some 8,588 citizens have been vaccinated against COVID-19. | general |
Estimating global, regional, and national daily and cumulative infections with SARS-CoV-2 through Nov 14, 2021: a statistical analysis | BackgroundTimely, accurate, and comprehensive estimates of SARS-CoV-2 daily infection rates, cumulative infections, the proportion of the population that has been infected at least once, and the effective reproductive number ( Reffective) are essential for understanding the determinants of past infection, current transmission patterns, and a population's susceptibility to future infection with the same variant. Although several studies have estimated cumulative SARS-CoV-2 infections in select locations at specific points in time, all of these analyses have relied on biased data inputs that were not adequately corrected for. In this study, we aimed to provide a novel approach to estimating past SARS-CoV-2 daily infections, cumulative infections, and the proportion of the population infected, for 190 countries and territories from the start of the pandemic to Nov 14, 2021. This approach combines data from reported cases, reported deaths, excess deaths attributable to COVID-19, hospitalisations, and seroprevalence surveys to produce more robust estimates that minimise constituent biases.MethodsWe produced a comprehensive set of global and location-specific estimates of daily and cumulative SARS-CoV-2 infections through Nov 14, 2021, using data largely from Johns Hopkins University ( Baltimore, MD, USA) and national databases for reported cases, hospital admissions, and reported deaths, as well as seroprevalence surveys identified through previous reviews, SeroTracker, and governmental organisations. We corrected these data for known biases such as lags in reporting, accounted for under-reporting of deaths by use of a statistical model of the proportion of excess mortality attributable to SARS-CoV-2, and adjusted seroprevalence surveys for waning antibody sensitivity, vaccinations, and reinfection from SARS-CoV-2 escape variants. We then created an empirical database of infection–detection ratios ( IDRs), infection–hospitalisation ratios ( IHRs), and infection–fatality ratios ( IFRs). To estimate a complete time series for each location, we developed statistical models to predict the IDR, IHR, and IFR by location and day, testing a set of predictors justified through published systematic reviews. Next, we combined three series of estimates of daily infections ( cases divided by IDR, hospitalisations divided by IHR, and deaths divided by IFR), into a more robust estimate of daily infections. We then used daily infections to estimate cumulative infections and the cumulative proportion of the population with one or more infections, and we then calculated posterior estimates of cumulative IDR, IHR, and IFR using cumulative infections and the corrected data on reported cases, hospitalisations, and deaths. Finally, we converted daily infections into a historical time series of Reffective by location and day based on assumptions of duration from infection to infectiousness and time an individual spent being infectious. For each of these quantities, we estimated a distribution based on an ensemble framework that captured uncertainty in data sources, model design, and parameter assumptions.FindingsGlobal daily SARS-CoV-2 infections fluctuated between 3 million and 17 million new infections per day between April, 2020, and October, 2021, peaking in mid-April, 2021, primarily as a result of surges in India. Between the start of the pandemic and Nov 14, 2021, there were an estimated 3·80 billion ( 95% uncertainty interval 3·44–4·08) total SARS-CoV-2 infections and reinfections combined, and an estimated 3·39 billion ( 3·08–3·63) individuals, or 43·9% ( 39·9–46·9) of the global population, had been infected one or more times. 1·34 billion ( 1·20–1·49) of these infections occurred in south Asia, the highest among the seven super-regions, although the sub-Saharan Africa super-region had the highest infection rate ( 79·3 per 100 population [ 69·0–86·4 ]). The high-income super-region had the fewest infections ( 239 million [ 226–252 ]), and southeast Asia, east Asia, and Oceania had the lowest infection rate ( 13·0 per 100 population [ 8·4–17·7 ]). The cumulative proportion of the population ever infected varied greatly between countries and territories, with rates higher than 70% in 40 countries and lower than 20% in 39 countries. There was no discernible relationship between Reffective and total immunity, and even at total immunity levels of 80%, we observed no indication of an abrupt drop in Reffective, indicating that there is not a clear herd immunity threshold observed in the data.InterpretationCOVID-19 has already had a staggering impact on the world up to the beginning of the omicron ( B.1.1.529) wave, with over 40% of the global population infected at least once by Nov 14, 2021. The vast differences in cumulative proportion of the population infected across locations could help policy makers identify the transmission-prevention strategies that have been most effective, as well as the populations at greatest risk for future infection. This information might also be useful for targeted transmission-prevention interventions, including vaccine prioritisation. Our statistical approach to estimating SARS-CoV-2 infection allows estimates to be updated and disseminated rapidly on the basis of newly available data, which has and will be crucially important for timely COVID-19 research, science, and policy responses.FundingBill & Melinda Gates Foundation, J Stanton, T Gillespie, and J and E Nordstrom.
Timely, accurate, and comprehensive estimates of SARS-CoV-2 daily infection rates, cumulative infections, the proportion of the population that has been infected at least once, and the effective reproductive number ( Reffective) are essential for understanding the determinants of past infection, current transmission patterns, and a population's susceptibility to future infection with the same variant. Although several studies have estimated cumulative SARS-CoV-2 infections in select locations at specific points in time, all of these analyses have relied on biased data inputs that were not adequately corrected for. In this study, we aimed to provide a novel approach to estimating past SARS-CoV-2 daily infections, cumulative infections, and the proportion of the population infected, for 190 countries and territories from the start of the pandemic to Nov 14, 2021. This approach combines data from reported cases, reported deaths, excess deaths attributable to COVID-19, hospitalisations, and seroprevalence surveys to produce more robust estimates that minimise constituent biases.
We produced a comprehensive set of global and location-specific estimates of daily and cumulative SARS-CoV-2 infections through Nov 14, 2021, using data largely from Johns Hopkins University ( Baltimore, MD, USA) and national databases for reported cases, hospital admissions, and reported deaths, as well as seroprevalence surveys identified through previous reviews, SeroTracker, and governmental organisations. We corrected these data for known biases such as lags in reporting, accounted for under-reporting of deaths by use of a statistical model of the proportion of excess mortality attributable to SARS-CoV-2, and adjusted seroprevalence surveys for waning antibody sensitivity, vaccinations, and reinfection from SARS-CoV-2 escape variants. We then created an empirical database of infection–detection ratios ( IDRs), infection–hospitalisation ratios ( IHRs), and infection–fatality ratios ( IFRs). To estimate a complete time series for each location, we developed statistical models to predict the IDR, IHR, and IFR by location and day, testing a set of predictors justified through published systematic reviews. Next, we combined three series of estimates of daily infections ( cases divided by IDR, hospitalisations divided by IHR, and deaths divided by IFR), into a more robust estimate of daily infections. We then used daily infections to estimate cumulative infections and the cumulative proportion of the population with one or more infections, and we then calculated posterior estimates of cumulative IDR, IHR, and IFR using cumulative infections and the corrected data on reported cases, hospitalisations, and deaths. Finally, we converted daily infections into a historical time series of Reffective by location and day based on assumptions of duration from infection to infectiousness and time an individual spent being infectious. For each of these quantities, we estimated a distribution based on an ensemble framework that captured uncertainty in data sources, model design, and parameter assumptions.
Global daily SARS-CoV-2 infections fluctuated between 3 million and 17 million new infections per day between April, 2020, and October, 2021, peaking in mid-April, 2021, primarily as a result of surges in India. Between the start of the pandemic and Nov 14, 2021, there were an estimated 3·80 billion ( 95% uncertainty interval 3·44–4·08) total SARS-CoV-2 infections and reinfections combined, and an estimated 3·39 billion ( 3·08–3·63) individuals, or 43·9% ( 39·9–46·9) of the global population, had been infected one or more times. 1·34 billion ( 1·20–1·49) of these infections occurred in south Asia, the highest among the seven super-regions, although the sub-Saharan Africa super-region had the highest infection rate ( 79·3 per 100 population [ 69·0–86·4 ]). The high-income super-region had the fewest infections ( 239 million [ 226–252 ]), and southeast Asia, east Asia, and Oceania had the lowest infection rate ( 13·0 per 100 population [ 8·4–17·7 ]). The cumulative proportion of the population ever infected varied greatly between countries and territories, with rates higher than 70% in 40 countries and lower than 20% in 39 countries. There was no discernible relationship between Reffective and total immunity, and even at total immunity levels of 80%, we observed no indication of an abrupt drop in Reffective, indicating that there is not a clear herd immunity threshold observed in the data.
COVID-19 has already had a staggering impact on the world up to the beginning of the omicron ( B.1.1.529) wave, with over 40% of the global population infected at least once by Nov 14, 2021. The vast differences in cumulative proportion of the population infected across locations could help policy makers identify the transmission-prevention strategies that have been most effective, as well as the populations at greatest risk for future infection. This information might also be useful for targeted transmission-prevention interventions, including vaccine prioritisation. Our statistical approach to estimating SARS-CoV-2 infection allows estimates to be updated and disseminated rapidly on the basis of newly available data, which has and will be crucially important for timely COVID-19 research, science, and policy responses.
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, J Stanton, T Gillespie, and J and E Nordstrom.
Measuring SARS-CoV-2's daily infection rate, cumulative infections, and the proportion of the population with one or more infections is essential for understanding the determinants of past transmission, identifying ongoing inequities, predicting future trajectories of the COVID-19 pandemic, and, in theory, prioritising vaccination allocations. Daily infections are also the crucial input into measuring the changing effective reproductive number ( Reffective, the number of subsequent infections caused by a new infection).1Bjørnstad ON Shea K Krzywinski M Altman N Modeling infectious epidemics.Nat Methods. 2020; 17: 455-456Google Scholar, 2Bjørnstad ON Shea K Krzywinski M Altman N The SEIRS model for infectious disease dynamics.Nat Methods. 2020; 17: 557-558Google Scholar, 3Cintrón-Arias A Castillo-Chávez C Bettencourt LMA Lloyd AL Banks HT The estimation of the effective reproductive number from disease outbreak data.Math Biosci Eng. 2009; 6: 261-282Google Scholar A robust assessment of Reffective by day in each location is useful to help evaluate the effect of the wide range of non-pharmaceutical interventions that have been deployed during the pandemic. The Reffective over time is also a crucial input into future forecasts of COVID-19.4Friedman J Liu P Troeger CE et al.Predictive performance of international COVID-19 mortality forecasting models.Nat Commun. 2021; 122609Google Scholar Cumulative infections can help us identify which nations and communities have been able to keep transmission at lower levels, potentially creating the opportunity to learn from these success stories. Finally, a sound measurement of the proportion of the population ever infected could help to identify which communities are at greater risk of future transmission and might be a factor that should be considered in vaccine prioritisation.5Bollyky TJ Murray CJL Reiner Jr, RC Epidemiology, not geopolitics, should guide COVID-19 vaccine donations.Lancet. 2021; 398: 97-99Google Scholar
Research in contextEvidence before this studyThis study was conceptualised and developed from the start of the pandemic to fill a void in the provision of timely estimates of SARS-CoV-2 infections for tracking the pandemic and to provide inputs to epidemiological models of transmission. Several research groups have estimated SARS-CoV-2 daily or cumulative infections in select locations at specific points in time. For example, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates cumulative infections by approximating the infection–detection ratio ( IDR) using assumptions about the portion of the population who will seek care. The Serotracker project reports on the universe of seroprevalence surveys and some attributes of these surveys, but it does not make estimates of cumulative infections based on these data. Noh and Danuser ( 2021) used reported deaths and published estimates of the infection–fatality ratio ( IFR) to estimate cumulative infections for US states and select countries. To our knowledge, however, no source has provided estimates, either periodic or regularly updated, of global daily and cumulative SARS-CoV-2 infections at this resolution ( 399 administrative units).Added value of this studyThis study is the first comprehensive analysis of global daily and cumulative SARS-CoV-2 infections to date and improves upon previous infection estimation strategies in several important ways. First, we combined three approaches that have been used to estimate daily infections: cases divided by the IDR, hospitalisations divided by the infection–hospitalisation ratio ( IHR), and deaths divided by the IFR. Combining these estimates gave us a more robust estimate of daily infections that was less susceptible to biases within and between each type of measure. Second, estimates of total COVID-19 deaths derived from a comprehensive assessment of excess mortality and a statistical estimate of the portion of excess mortality directly due to COVID-19 allowed for more meaningful interpretation of spatial heterogeneity in total COVID-19 mortality rates. Third, we used a systematic analysis of available seroprevalence data matched in space and time to cases, hospitalisations, and deaths to empirically estimate the IDR, IHR, and IFR. Because the IHR and IFR are profoundly age related, we also estimated age-standardised ratios for these quantities. Fourth, for locations without seroprevalence surveys, we used statistical models based on the available empirical data and the testing of a wide range of covariates to predict the IDR, IHR, and IFR. Fifth, we used daily infections to estimate cumulative infections and, with assumptions on cross-variant immunity, the cumulative number of individuals with one or more infections, as well as posterior estimates of cumulative IDR, IHR, and IFR. Sixth, we incorporated corrections to the primary data into the analysis to deal with known biases such as waning antibody test sensitivity. Seventh, our ensemble model reflects the uncertainty of the data sources, model design, and parameter assumptions included in the analysis. Finally, the methods developed to triangulate on daily infections, cumulative infections, and the proportion of the population infected once or more than once have been developed into easily applied statistical code, so estimates can be shared and updated rapidly and iteratively on the basis of the frequency of newly reported data.Implications of all the available evidenceSARS-CoV-2 has been extremely widespread, causing 3·80 billion ( 95% uncertainty interval 3·44–4·08) infections and reinfections as of Nov 14, 2021, infecting 43·9% ( 39·9–46·9) of the world's population. The proportion of the population infected has varied greatly across countries, suggesting that host immunity characteristics and national and local policies play a crucial role in determining patterns of transmission. Our comprehensive modelling approach provides a database of daily infections and effective reproductive number by location from the beginning of the pandemic to Nov 14, 2021, which can be used to develop insights into the determinants of transmission, identify ongoing inequities, establish standards for vaccine prioritisation, and more.
This study was conceptualised and developed from the start of the pandemic to fill a void in the provision of timely estimates of SARS-CoV-2 infections for tracking the pandemic and to provide inputs to epidemiological models of transmission. Several research groups have estimated SARS-CoV-2 daily or cumulative infections in select locations at specific points in time. For example, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates cumulative infections by approximating the infection–detection ratio ( IDR) using assumptions about the portion of the population who will seek care. The Serotracker project reports on the universe of seroprevalence surveys and some attributes of these surveys, but it does not make estimates of cumulative infections based on these data. Noh and Danuser ( 2021) used reported deaths and published estimates of the infection–fatality ratio ( IFR) to estimate cumulative infections for US states and select countries. To our knowledge, however, no source has provided estimates, either periodic or regularly updated, of global daily and cumulative SARS-CoV-2 infections at this resolution ( 399 administrative units).
This study is the first comprehensive analysis of global daily and cumulative SARS-CoV-2 infections to date and improves upon previous infection estimation strategies in several important ways. First, we combined three approaches that have been used to estimate daily infections: cases divided by the IDR, hospitalisations divided by the infection–hospitalisation ratio ( IHR), and deaths divided by the IFR. Combining these estimates gave us a more robust estimate of daily infections that was less susceptible to biases within and between each type of measure. Second, estimates of total COVID-19 deaths derived from a comprehensive assessment of excess mortality and a statistical estimate of the portion of excess mortality directly due to COVID-19 allowed for more meaningful interpretation of spatial heterogeneity in total COVID-19 mortality rates. Third, we used a systematic analysis of available seroprevalence data matched in space and time to cases, hospitalisations, and deaths to empirically estimate the IDR, IHR, and IFR. Because the IHR and IFR are profoundly age related, we also estimated age-standardised ratios for these quantities. Fourth, for locations without seroprevalence surveys, we used statistical models based on the available empirical data and the testing of a wide range of covariates to predict the IDR, IHR, and IFR. Fifth, we used daily infections to estimate cumulative infections and, with assumptions on cross-variant immunity, the cumulative number of individuals with one or more infections, as well as posterior estimates of cumulative IDR, IHR, and IFR. Sixth, we incorporated corrections to the primary data into the analysis to deal with known biases such as waning antibody test sensitivity. Seventh, our ensemble model reflects the uncertainty of the data sources, model design, and parameter assumptions included in the analysis. Finally, the methods developed to triangulate on daily infections, cumulative infections, and the proportion of the population infected once or more than once have been developed into easily applied statistical code, so estimates can be shared and updated rapidly and iteratively on the basis of the frequency of newly reported data.
SARS-CoV-2 has been extremely widespread, causing 3·80 billion ( 95% uncertainty interval 3·44–4·08) infections and reinfections as of Nov 14, 2021, infecting 43·9% ( 39·9–46·9) of the world's population. The proportion of the population infected has varied greatly across countries, suggesting that host immunity characteristics and national and local policies play a crucial role in determining patterns of transmission. Our comprehensive modelling approach provides a database of daily infections and effective reproductive number by location from the beginning of the pandemic to Nov 14, 2021, which can be used to develop insights into the determinants of transmission, identify ongoing inequities, establish standards for vaccine prioritisation, and more.
Several studies have estimated cumulative infections in select countries at specific points in time.6Buss LF Prete Jr, CA Abrahim CMM et al.Three-quarters attack rate of SARS-CoV-2 in the Brazilian Amazon during a largely unmitigated epidemic.Science. 2021; 371: 288-292Google Scholar, 7US Centers for Disease Control and PreventionEstimated COVID-19 infections, symptomatic illnesses, hospitalizations, and deaths in the United States.https: //www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/cases-updates/burden.htmlDate: 2021Date accessed: June 24, 2021Google Scholar, 8García-García D Vigo MI Fonfría ES Herrador Z Navarro M Bordehore C Retrospective methodology to estimate daily infections from deaths ( REMEDID) in COVID-19: the Spain case study.Sci Rep. 2021; 1111274Google Scholar, 9Salje H Tran Kiem C Lefrancq N et al.Estimating the burden of SARS-CoV-2 in France.Science. 2020; 369: 208-211Google Scholar Some of these studies have used seroprevalence surveys, while others have made estimates of infections by assuming a particular infection–detection ratio ( IDR).7US Centers for Disease Control and PreventionEstimated COVID-19 infections, symptomatic illnesses, hospitalizations, and deaths in the United States.https: //www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/cases-updates/burden.htmlDate: 2021Date accessed: June 24, 2021Google Scholar, 10Irons NJ Raftery AE Estimating SARS-CoV-2 infections from deaths, confirmed cases, tests, and random surveys.Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 2021; 118e2103272118Google Scholar, 11Havers FP Reed C Lim T et al.Seroprevalence of antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 in 10 sites in the United States, March 23–May 12, 2020.JAMA Intern Med. 2020; 180: 1576-1586Google Scholar, 12Jones JM Stone M Sulaeman H et al.Estimated US infection- and vaccine-induced SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence based on blood donations, July 2020–May 2021.JAMA. 2021; 326: 1400-1409Google Scholar One study estimated infections in the USA and other select countries,13Noh J Danuser G Estimation of the fraction of COVID-19 infected people in U.S. states and countries worldwide.PLoS One. 2021; 16e0246772Google Scholar and other studies have done multinational systematic reviews and meta-analyses of seroprevalence surveys.14Lewis HC Ware H Whelan M et al.SARS-CoV-2 infection in Africa: a systematic review and meta-analysis of standardised seroprevalence studies, from January 2020 to December 2021.medRxiv. 2022; ( published online Feb 15.) ( preprint).https: //doi.org/10.1101/2022.02.14.22270934Google Scholar, 15Chen X Chen Z Azman AS et al.Serological evidence of human infection with SARS-CoV-2: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Lancet Glob Health. 2021; 9: e598-e609Google Scholar The fundamental problem in all of these analyses is that each of the data series observed has potential biases: reported cases capture only a portion of infections, and this portion will be a function of the availability of testing; reported deaths capture only a subset of total COVID-19 deaths, and the infection–fatality ratio ( IFR) can vary widely over time and across locations; 16COVID-19 Excess Mortality CollaboratorsEstimating excess mortality due to the COVID-19 pandemic: a systematic analysis of COVID-19-related mortality, 2020–21.Lancet. 2022; ( published online March 10.) https: //doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736 ( 21) 02796-3Google Scholar, 17Institute for Health Metrics and EvaluationEstimation of total and excess mortality due to COVID-19.http: //www.healthdata.org/special-analysis/estimation-excess-mortality-due-covid-19-and-scalars-reported-covid-19-deathsDate: 2021Date accessed: October 15, 2021Google Scholar, 18Kontis V Bennett JE Rashid T et al.Magnitude, demographics and dynamics of the effect of the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic on all-cause mortality in 21 industrialized countries.Nat Med. 2020; 26: 1919-1928Google Scholar, 19WHOThe true death toll of COVID-19: estimating global excess mortality.https: //www.who.int/data/stories/the-true-death-toll-of-covid-19-estimating-global-excess-mortalityDate: 2021Date accessed: June 15, 2021Google Scholar the proportion of patients with an infection who are admitted to hospital can also vary over time and location; and seroprevalence surveys can be influenced by sampling design, waning of sensitivity of antibody tests, and vaccination rates. Few studies have combined data from reported cases, reported deaths, hospitalisations, and seroprevalence surveys to triangulate daily infections, and WHO only routinely reports confirmed cases, not estimated infections.20WHOWHO coronavirus ( COVID-19) dashboard.https: //covid19.who.intDate: 2021Date accessed: June 15, 2021Google Scholar The use of such sources of incomplete, biased, and heterogeneous case data uncritically in research, science, and policy will result in inferences confounded to unknown levels by these known problems.
In this study, we present an approach to estimating past SARS-CoV-2 daily infections, cumulative infections through Nov 14, 2021, and the proportion of the population with one or more infections on the basis of reported cases, total deaths attributable to COVID-19, hospitalisations, and seroprevalence surveys. This approach attempts to deal with the biases in each of these measures and use them all to triangulate daily infections. With this statistical approach to the fusion of these data streams, we aimed to provide a method that can be applied on a rapid and ongoing basis, so that these estimates remain maximally relevant for research, science, and policy and can be immediately and freely available. Importantly, we incorporated various sources of uncertainty in daily infections into the analysis to help informed assessment of the variation in space and time of the fidelity of the estimates.
We derived comprehensive global estimates of daily and cumulative SARS-CoV-2 infections for the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic, using the heterogeneous universe of reported epidemiological data ( iteratively curated, corrected, and calibrated into an internally complete and consistent time series at national and subnational levels) to further timely research, discovery, and policy inference. Our approach can be divided into seven steps, which are applied by use of an ensemble model framework. First, we developed a dataset of reported COVID-19 cases, total COVID-19 deaths, and hospitalisations ( where available), corrected for known biases such as lags in reporting. Second, we identified representative SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence surveys that could be used to create a database of cumulative infections and adjusted them for waning antibody sensitivity, vaccinations, and reinfection from escape variants. Third, using adjusted seroprevalence survey data matched to cases, hospitalisations, and deaths, we created an empirical database of IDRs, infection–hospitalisation ratios ( IHRs), and IFRs. Fourth, for locations without seroprevalence surveys and to estimate a complete time series for each location, we developed statistical models to predict the IDR, IHR, and IFR by location and day, as a function of a wide range of covariates. Fifth, three series of estimates of daily infections ( cases divided by IDR, hospitalisations divided by IHR, and deaths divided by IFR) were combined into a more robust estimate of daily infections. Sixth, we used the combined time series of daily infections to estimate cumulative infections and the cumulative proportion of the population with one or more infections, and calculate posterior estimates of cumulative IDR, IHR, and IFR. Seventh, we converted daily infections into a historical time series of Reffective by location and day, on the basis of assumptions of duration of the period from infection to infectiousness and time an individual spent being infectious. Estimates are given for all ages and both sexes combined for 190 countries and territories, and for subnational locations in ten of those countries, aggregated into 21 regions, seven super-regions,21Murray CJ Ezzati M Flaxman AD et al.GBD 2010: design, definitions, and metrics.Lancet. 2012; 380: 2063-2066Google Scholar and globally, from the start of the COVID-19 pandemic through Nov 14, 2021.
This study complies with the Guidelines for Accurate and Transparent Health Estimates Reporting recommendations ( appendix 1, section 2).22Stevens GA Alkema L Black RE et al.Guidelines for Accurate and Transparent Health Estimates Reporting: the GATHER statement.Lancet. 2016; 388: e19-e23Google Scholar All code used in the analysis can be found online.
Our model system includes many component parts that are inherently uncertain, ranging from input data sources and parameter assumptions to model specification. To account for this, we developed an ensemble framework wherein we varied the data and model settings across 100 iterations of the analysis, which were then run independently to yield 100 estimates of infections. These sources of uncertainty include seroprevalence survey error; bootstrapped samples of our seroprevalence database; estimates of seroreversion rates; estimates of total COVID-19 mortality; parameterisation of cross-variant immunity, increased risk of hospitalisation and death from non-ancestral SARS-CoV-2 variants, and durations associated with COVID-19 natural history; covariate selection and specification of statistical models of the IDR, IHR, and IFR; and triangulation of infections on the basis of cases, hospitalisations, and deaths ( more details regarding the ensemble framework in appendix 1, section 9).
Data of reported cases were obtained largely from Johns Hopkins University ( Baltimore, MD, USA),23Dong E Du H Gardner L An interactive web-based dashboard to track COVID-19 in real time.Lancet Infect Dis. 2020; 20: 533-534Google Scholar with exceptions and additions noted in appendix 1 ( section 4.1) and appendix 2 ( section 4). Hospital admissions were largely sourced from national databases such as that of the Department of Health and Human Services ( HHS) in the USA and the Secretaria de Vigilância em Saúde in Brazil ( for an exhaustive list see appendix 2, section 1). Deaths were based on reported deaths data from Johns Hopkins University23Dong E Du H Gardner L An interactive web-based dashboard to track COVID-19 in real time.Lancet Infect Dis. 2020; 20: 533-534Google Scholar and various national sources from locations where data inconsistencies were evident in the Johns Hopkins University datasets ( more details in appendix 1, section 4.3, and appendix 2, section 2). To account for the prevalent issue of under-reporting in COVID-19 deaths, we applied a scalar of reported to total COVID-19 deaths in our analysis. Total COVID-19 deaths, as defined by WHO, are all deaths where the deceased individuals were actively infected with SARS-CoV-2 at the time of the death. Estimates of total COVID-19 mortality were constructed with use of the statistical model developed by the COVID-19 Excess Mortality Collaborators to predict the excess mortality rate for all locations between Jan 1, 2020, and Nov 14, 2021.16COVID-19 Excess Mortality CollaboratorsEstimating excess mortality due to the COVID-19 pandemic: a systematic analysis of COVID-19-related mortality, 2020–21.Lancet. 2022; ( published online March 10.) https: //doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736 ( 21) 02796-3Google Scholar To estimate total COVID-19 mortality, we predicted a counterfactual excess mortality rate due to COVID-19 in which the IDR was set to the maximum observed values among all locations. The predicted excess mortality rate from this counterfactual analysis, corrected for under-reporting, resulted from insufficient testing and changes in mortality driven by behaviours such as deferred health care during periods of lockdown. We used the ratio of this counterfactual excess mortality rate and the prediction for the same period as a proxy for the proportion of excess mortality that is total COVID-19 mortality. Subsequently, a scalar of reported COVID-19 deaths to total COVID-19 deaths can be derived ( more details in appendix 1, section 9.4). We identified seroprevalence surveys through a search protocol that leveraged previous reviews,24Ioannidis JPA Infection fatality rate of COVID-19 inferred from seroprevalence data.Bull World Health Organ. 2021; 99: 19-33FGoogle Scholar, 25Levin AT Hanage WP Owusu-Boaitey N Cochran KB Walsh SP Meyerowitz-Katz G Assessing the age specificity of infection fatality rates for COVID-19: systematic review, meta-analysis, and public policy implications.Eur J Epidemiol. 2020; 35: 1123-1138Google Scholar SeroTracker,26Arora RK Joseph A Van Wyk J et al.SeroTracker: a global SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence dashboard.Lancet Infect Dis. 2021; 21: e75-e76Google Scholar and routine inclusion of national and subnational surveys undertaken by governmental organisations. Studies that focused on specific subsets of the population—either a specific subpopulation such as health-care workers or specific locations such as specific cities—were typically excluded as a result of not being representative. In total, we identified 2817 seroprevalence survey datapoints ( of 6420 reviewed) for inclusion in this analysis.
Although most data streams for daily cases, deaths, and hospitalisations are indexed by date of report, some are indexed by date of event; in these instances, lags in reporting create misleading trends in the most recent days of data. These trends are gradually corrected over time as reporting systems catch up but, to prevent this occurrence from influencing our models, we needed to evaluate each individual data source and determine an appropriate number of days to exclude in any iteration of the analyses.
Some hospital admissions data series only became available starting from weeks or months after the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic—for example, the HHS database began in July, 2020. However, total cumulative hospitalisations are required to create our empirical estimate of IHR. In these instances, we leveraged information from the metrics that did have complete time coverage ( cases and deaths) to impute the earlier portion of the admissions time series ( appendix 1, section 4.2).
Seroprevalence surveys were corrected for vaccination, because vaccination generates a positive anti-spike antibody test in most individuals who receive the vaccine.27Eyre DW Lumley SF Wei J et al.Quantitative SARS-CoV-2 anti-spike responses to Pfizer-BioNTech and Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines by previous infection status.Clin Microbiol Infect. 2021; 27: e7-14Google Scholar In locations where vaccination rates have increased over time, population levels of anti-spike antibodies will be elevated. To correct for this, we adjusted seroprevalence estimates downward on the basis of vaccination rates in adults in every location, accounting for vaccination of previously infected individuals ( appendix 1, section 5.1).
Seroprevalence surveys provide an estimate of the number of individuals who have been infected with SARS-CoV-2 one or more times; these surveys do not detect repeat infections in a single individual. Because reinfection can be common in settings where escape variants such as beta ( B.1.351), gamma ( P.1), and delta ( B.1.617.2) are present,28Sabino EC Buss LF Carvalho MPS et al.Resurgence of COVID-19 in Manaus, Brazil, despite high seroprevalence.Lancet. 2021; 397: 452-455Google Scholar, 29Jolly B Rophina M Shamnath A et al.Genetic epidemiology of variants associated with immune escape from global SARS-CoV-2 genomes.bioRxiv. 2021; ( published online Dec 26.) ( preprint).https: //doi.org/10.1101/2020.12.24.424332Google Scholar, 30Lee J-S Kim SY Kim TS et al.Evidence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 reinfection after recovery from mild coronavirus disease 2019.Clin Infect Dis. 2021; 73: e3002-e3008Google Scholar we had to adjust seroprevalence data to estimate the cumulative number of infections—that is, to include both first and any subsequent infections. We used a level of cross-variant immunity of 30% to 70% between escape variants and ancestral variants and alpha ( B.1.1.7), on the basis of an empirical analysis conducted by the COVID-19 Forecasting Team ( unpublished). This estimate did not take into account that some individuals could have been infected more than once with ancestral variants.31Hansen CH Michlmayr D Gubbels SM Mølbak K Ethelberg S Assessment of protection against reinfection with SARS-CoV-2 among 4 million PCR-tested individuals in Denmark in 2020: a population-level observational study.Lancet. 2021; 397: 1204-1212Google Scholar A detailed explanation of how we adjusted for escape variant prevalence is given in appendix 1 ( section 5.2).
Lastly, seroprevalence surveys were corrected for waning sensitivity of antibody tests. We identified eight categories of antibody tests; for each of these, we used a reported curve of sensitivity over time.32Muecksch F Wise H Batchelor B et al.Longitudinal serological analysis and neutralizing antibody levels in coronavirus disease 2019 convalescent patients.J Infect Dis. 2021; 223: 389-398Google Scholar, 33Peluso MJ Takahashi S Hakim J et al.SARS-CoV-2 antibody magnitude and detectability are driven by disease severity, timing, and assay.Sci Adv. 2021; 7eabh3409Google Scholar, 34Perez-Saez J Zaballa M-E Yerly S et al.Persistence of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies: immunoassay heterogeneity and implications for serosurveillance.Clin Microbiol Infect. 2021; 27: 1695.e7-1695.e12Google Scholar To implement the correction based on waning, we used initial estimates of the timing of infection based on reported deaths. We did not adjust for specificity, as reported specificity for all available commercial assays included in the analysis is over 95% and mostly over 98% ( more details in appendix 1, sections 5.3 and 9.3).35US Food and Drug AdministrationEUA authorized serology test performance.https: //www.fda.gov/medical-devices/coronavirus-disease-2019-covid-19-emergency-use-authorizations-medical-devices/eua-authorized-serology-test-performanceDate: 2021Date accessed: June 18, 2021Google Scholar
Using the adjusted seroprevalence data we have described, we created a dataset of 2817 empirical measurements of the IDR in which the numerator was the cumulative number of confirmed cases and the denominator was the number of cumulative infections and reinfections combined. We aligned cases and seroprevalence on the basis of individual record data suggesting that exposure to a laboratory-confirmed case was typically 10–13 days36Xu B Gutierrez B Mekaru S et al.Epidemiological data from the COVID-19 outbreak, real-time case information.Sci Data. 2020; 7: 106Google Scholar and exposure to seroconversion was 14–17 days.37Zhao J Yuan Q Wang H et al.Antibody responses to SARS-CoV-2 in patients with novel coronavirus disease 2019.Clin Infect Dis. 2020; 71: 2027-2034Google Scholar, 38Miller TE Garcia Beltran WF Bard AZ et al.Clinical sensitivity and interpretation of PCR and serological COVID-19 diagnostics for patients presenting to the hospital.FASEB J. 2020; 34: 13877-13884Google Scholar, 39Jiang C Wang Y Hu M et al.Antibody seroconversion in asymptomatic and symptomatic patients infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 ( SARS-CoV-2).Clin Transl Immunology. 2020; 9e1182Google Scholar Figure 1A shows these empirical estimates of location-specific IDR over the course of the pandemic. For the purposes of visualising the data, the IDR data are time-localised to the average date of infection based on the model estimate and daily cases.Figure 1Empirical measurements over time of infection–detection ratios ( A), age-standardised infection–hospitalisation ratios ( B), and age-standardised infection–fatality ratios ( C) Show full captionThe y-axis for infection–hospitalisation ratios and infection–fatality ratios is shown in log base 10.View Large Image Figure ViewerDownload Hi-res image Download ( PPT)
The y-axis for infection–hospitalisation ratios and infection–fatality ratios is shown in log base 10.
Using adjusted seroprevalence surveys matched to cumulative hospitalisations, we developed a dataset of 2580 empirical estimates of the IHR. Based on the same data and analysis used to determine the lag for cases,36Xu B Gutierrez B Mekaru S et al.Epidemiological data from the COVID-19 outbreak, real-time case information.Sci Data. 2020; 7: 106Google Scholar we used a 10–13-day lag for hospitalisations. Far fewer locations reported hospitalisations, so less information was available for this metric than for the IDR. We used 703 surveys that included age-specific seroprevalence data to estimate the IHR age pattern, and we then used indirect age standardisation to estimate the age-standardised IHR across locations and used those age-standardised estimates in the modelling of the IHR ( more details on indirect standardisation methods in appendix 1, section 6.1). Figure 1B shows the universe of available age-standardised IHR over time. For the purposes of visualising the data, IHR data are time-localised to the average date of admission.
Using the 718 seroprevalence surveys with age-specific detail, the COVID-19 Forecasting Team40COVID-19 Forecasting TeamVariation in the COVID-19 infection–fatality ratio by age, time, and geography during the pre-vaccine era: a systematic analysis.Lancet. 2022; ( published online Feb 24.) https: //doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736 ( 21) 02867-1Google Scholar estimated the age pattern of the IFR. We used this age pattern to create a dataset of age-standardised IFR data using 2817 pairs of adjusted seroprevalence surveys and death data, assuming 22–28 days from exposure to death on the basis of analyses of patient-level data in the USA.41Roth GA Emmons-Bell S Alger HM et al.Trends in patient characteristics and COVID-19 in-hospital mortality in the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic.JAMA Netw Open. 2021; 4e218828Google Scholar Time indexing of IFR data was based on the average date of death for each observation. Figure 1C shows the relationship between age-standardised IFR and time.
To generate estimates of daily infections from cases, hospitalisations, and deaths, we needed estimates of the IDR, IHR, and IFR by location for each day during the pandemic. We used a cascading implementation of a Bayesian regression framework42Zheng P Barber R Sorensen RJD Murray CJL Aravkin AY Trimmed constrained mixed effects models: formulations and algorithms.J Comput Graph Stat. 2021; 0: 1-13Google Scholar to estimate each of these measures ( more details in appendix 1, section 6.2). The cascading regression model allows for a flexible fit to the key covariates, including the option to specify them as splines, and borrows strength across locations. After parameterising the relationship of seroprevalence to cases, hospitalisations, and deaths through predictive models of IDR, IHR, and IFR, we used local covariates and age structure to generate predictions of these ratios in both in-sample and out-of-sample locations based on our hierarchical cascade model. For the IDR model, the most spatially and temporally consistent predictive relationship was between testing per person and the IDR. To capture the rise in health system capacity to deliver testing, we used the observed maximum testing rate up to a given date as the covariate. Additionally, we included universal health-care coverage, the Healthcare Access and Quality ( HAQ) Index, and the proportion of the population older than 65 years as covariates that each submodel selected from in our ensemble. These covariates were estimated for all locations as part of the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study ( GBD; appendix 1, sections 6.3 and 9.6).43Vos T Lim SS Abbafati C et al.Global burden of 369 diseases and injuries in 204 countries and territories, 1990-2019: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019.Lancet. 2020; 396: 1204-1222Google Scholar
Predictive covariates for IHR and IFR were primarily based on a list of underlying medical conditions identified by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ( CDC) as increasing the risk of severe illness from SARS-CoV-2 infection.44US Centers for Disease Control and PreventionCoronavirus disease 2019 ( COVID-19).https: //www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/science/science-briefs/underlying-evidence-table.htmlDate: 2020Date accessed: October 18, 2021Google Scholar We cross-referenced this list with a study of individuals admitted to hospital in the USA41Roth GA Emmons-Bell S Alger HM et al.Trends in patient characteristics and COVID-19 in-hospital mortality in the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic.JAMA Netw Open. 2021; 4e218828Google Scholar that evaluated the increased risk of in-hospital death to identify seven possible covariates, all of which were included in our models as age-standardised prevalence in the population ( estimated as part of GBD): obesity, smoking, diabetes, cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, cardiovascular disease, and chronic kidney disease.43Vos T Lim SS Abbafati C et al.Global burden of 369 diseases and injuries in 204 countries and territories, 1990-2019: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019.Lancet. 2020; 396: 1204-1222Google Scholar Several of these covariates, most prominently obesity, were further supported by relationships in US claims45PRA Health SciencesA global healthcare intelligence partner.https: //prastudies.com/Date: 2021Date accessed: June 29, 2021Google Scholar and Brazil hospitalisations data.46Secretaria de Vigilância em SaúdeBanco de dados de síndrome respiratória aguda grave—incluindo dados da COVID-19.https: //opendatasus.saude.gov.br/dataset/srag-2021-e-2022Date accessed: November 2, 2020Google Scholar To this list, we also added universal health-care coverage and the HAQ Index. We then tested all possible combinations of these covariates and selected the top 100 most predictive combinations to use across submodels in our ensemble models of IHR and IFR ( more details in appendix 1, section 9.6). We estimated age-standardised IHR and IFR using these covariates and then converted estimates back to all-age IHR and IFR to reflect population structure. We accounted for reductions in the IFR due to improved treatment over the course of the pandemic by including a spline on time in the regressions in addition to the ensemble covariates ( more details on these models in appendix 1, sections 6.4, 6.5, and 9.6).
Vaccines and variants also affect the likelihood of severe disease and death, and thus influence both the IHR and the IFR. First, vaccination strategies that prioritise older age groups before younger ones can temporarily increase the relative proportion of infections that occur in younger individuals, thus lowering the population-level IFR and IHR for at least a period of time. Additionally, COVID-19 vaccines have been shown to confer higher levels of protection from severe disease and death than from mild infection, also serving to lower the overall IFR and IHR. The prevalence of variants with higher likelihood of severe disease and death can conversely increase these ratios,47Challen R Brooks-Pollock E Read JM Dyson L Tsaneva-Atanasova K Danon L Risk of mortality in patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 variant of concern 202012/1: matched cohort study.BMJ. 2021; 372: n579Google Scholar and the introduction of escape variants can increase them further by reducing vaccine efficacy. More information on how we accounted for these features can be found in appendix 1 ( section 6.6).
We then paired the estimates of our ratio models with data that were reported by local jurisdictions—accounting for reporting biases in cases through the testing covariate and in deaths through the total COVID-19 death scalars—to estimate infections in a manner that was sensitive to local context, even in the absence of seroprevalence data. By dividing cases by the modelled IDR, hospitalisations by the modelled IHR, and deaths by the modelled IFR, we produced three daily infections time series ( or two if only cases and deaths were reported for a given location). Estimates based on each input data type were shifted back in time by their respective lags, such that they were all indexed on date of infection. We then fit a time series spline model using all three data sources as inputs to triangulate a best estimate of daily infections. After deriving this mean estimate of daily infections, we sampled the residuals of the intermediate case-based, hospitalisation-based, and deaths-based infection estimates independently in each submodel and refit the infections curve to these data; this enabled us to more accurately reflect the volatility in reporting practices, such as for deaths, in our ensemble distribution of daily infections ( more details in appendix 1, section 7).
Daily infections, including reinfections, were summed to derive an estimate of cumulative infections. With this estimate of cumulative infections, we then returned to reported cases, reported hospitalisations, and total COVID-19 deaths to produce posterior estimates of cumulative IDR, IHR, and IFR. Where the reported data were not available, the posterior ratio estimate would be equal to the prediction from the ratio model. To estimate the proportion of individuals who were infected with SARS-CoV-2 at least once by Nov 14, 2021, we used the same assumptions already described. The crucial assumptions required were cross-variant immunity, the prevalence of escape variants, and the assumption that exposure to escape variants is independent of the probability of previous infection with ancestral variants.
Figures found in appendix 3 show cases, hospitalisations ( where available), deaths, IDR, IHR, IFR, daily infections, cumulative infections, and cumulative proportion of the population infected at least once for 399 locations.
The assumptions required for this estimation are the duration from infection to being infectious and the period of infectiousness, collectively represented as θ. We used ranges of 3–5 days for both assumptions to generate estimates of Reffective in the past. These estimates are useful for identifying the effect of different non-pharmaceutical interventions on transmission in different settings. An Reffective lower than 1·0 indicates that the epidemic is shrinking, whereas an Reffective higher than 1·0 indicates that the epidemic is growing.
totalimmunityl, t=1- ( 1-prop.infectedl, t) X ( 1-prop.effectivelyvaccinatedl, t)
The proportion of the population effectively vaccinated is a function of doses administered and brand-specific efficacy and is discounted for existing natural immunity at the time of delivery.
The funders of the study had no role in the study design, data collection, data analysis, data interpretation, or the writing of the report.
Globally, daily SARS-CoV-2 infections steadily increased over the first several months of the pandemic, surpassing 3 million daily infections for the first time in mid-April, 2020, and then doubling to 6 million per day 6 weeks later ( figure 2A). Global daily infections remained higher than 5 million per day until dipping slightly below that threshold after a period of decline in January and February, 2021. Driven primarily by the delta variant surge in India, global daily infections soared to a pandemic high of nearly 17 million in April, 2021, then dropped as low as 6 million by June, 2021, before delta variant waves in other parts of the world led to another global surge peaking at over 8 million infections per day in July, 2021. This peak was followed by the longest sustained decline of the pandemic at the global level, wherein global infections dropped below 3 million per day by the end of October, 2021, for the first time in 18 months. Between the start of the pandemic and Nov 14, 2021, there were an estimated 3·80 billion ( 95% uncertainty interval [ UI ] 3·44–4·08) SARS-CoV-2 infections and reinfections globally ( table, figure 2B). Nearly 1·5 billion of these infections occurred in south Asia ( 1·34 billion [ 1·20–1·49 ]), the most infections of all seven super-regions, whereas the highest infection rate was estimated in sub-Saharan Africa ( 79·3 per 100 population [ 95% UI 69·0–86·4 ]). Four other super-regions each had infection rates greater than 60 per 100 population ( table): central Europe, eastern Europe, and central Asia ( 78·4 [ 49·3–93·2 ]); south Asia ( 74·3 [ 66·5–82·6 ]); Latin America and the Caribbean ( 64·1 [ 57·2–71·3 ]); and north Africa and the Middle East ( 62·7 [ 46·2–79·0 ]). Southeast Asia, east Asia, and Oceania had the lowest infection rate ( 13·0 per 100 population [ 8·4–17·7 ]) of all seven super-regions, whereas the high-income super-region had nearly double that infection rate but the fewest infections ( 239 million [ 95% UI 226–252 ]; table). At the global level, the cumulative proportion of the population infected with SARS-CoV-2 one or more times reached 13·7% ( 95% UI 12·2–15·1) by the end of the first wave of global infections on Oct 1, 2020, increasing to 24·1% ( 21·9–25·8) by the end of the second wave on Feb 15, 2021. More than a third of the global population had been exposed to COVID-19 after the delta variant surge in India ( 35·0% [ 32·2–37·3 ]). And by Nov 14, 2021, 43·9% ( 39·9–46·9) of the global population ( 3·39 billion individuals [ 3·08–3·63 ]) had been infected with SARS-CoV-2 at least once. The cumulative proportion infected at least once varied greatly across countries and territories ( table, figure 3). Over 70% of the population had been infected in 40 countries, including over 80% in 17 countries and across states in Mexico, India, and Pakistan. More than half the population had been infected in an additional 55 countries and territories across every super-region, except high income. Notable cross-border variations were observed in some parts of the world, such as at the interface of western and central Europe, where the percentage of the population infected was substantially lower in Germany, Austria, and Italy than in the bordering nations Poland, Czechia, Slovakia, Hungary, and Slovenia. In South America, a clear demarcation can be seen splitting the tropical and Andean nations from the southern nations and the Brazilian state Rio Grande do Sul. Countries in mainland southeast Asia such as Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam, maintained a much lower percentage of population infected than neighbouring south Asian countries or island nations within the region, such as Indonesia and the Philippines. The cumulative percentage of population infected varied widely within most countries for which subnational units were modelled in this analysis, varying by a factor of two across administrative units in Brazil, India, Italy, and Mexico; a factor of three in Germany and Spain; and over a factor of four in the USA ( table).Figure 2Daily ( A) and cumulative ( B) infections by super-region from Feb 4, 2020, to Nov 14, 2021View Large Image Figure ViewerDownload Hi-res image Download ( PPT) TableCumulative total COVID-19 deaths, infections, proportion of the population infected, infection–detection ratio, infection–hospitalisation ratio, and infection–fatality ratio up to Nov 14, 2021, by locationCumulative total COVID-19 deathsCumulative total COVID-19 death rate ( per 100 000 population) Cumulative infectionsCumulative infection rate ( per 100 population) Cumulative percentage infectedCumulative infection–detection ratioCumulative infection–hospitalisation ratioCumulative infection–fatality ratioGlobal15 100 000 ( 11 200 000–20 200 000) 194·5 ( 144·5–261·6) 3 800 000 000 ( 3 440 000 000–4 080 000 000) 49·1 ( 44·4–52·7) 43·9% ( 39·9–46·9) 6·9% ( 6·4–7·6) 1·2% ( 1·0–1·6) 0·4% ( 0·3–0·5) Central Europe, eastern Europe, and central Asia1 510 000 ( 1 280 000–1 880 000) 361·2 ( 305·4–449·7) 328 000 000 ( 206 000 000–390 000 000) 78·4 ( 49·3–93·2) 67·7% ( 45·7–77·8) 10·1% ( 8·3–15·6) 2·0% ( 1·5–2·5) 0·5% ( 0·4–0·8) Central Asia217 000 ( 157 000–317 000) 231·8 ( 168·1–338·5) 68 900 000 ( 40 900 000–95 600 000) 73·7 ( 43·7–102·2) 64·5% ( 41·1–84·7) 6·2% ( 4·2–10·2) 1·0% ( 0·8–1·7) 0·4% ( 0·2–0·6) Armenia15 900 ( 11 500–22 700) 525·0 ( 379·6–753·1) 2 940 000 ( 1 790 000–3 610 000) 97·5 ( 59·4–119·7) 81·4% ( 55·7–90·3) 11·8% ( 9·3–18·8) 1·7% ( 1·2–2·6) 0·6% ( 0·4–1·0) Azerbaijan41 500 ( 30 000–59 600) 403·6 ( 291·7–579·4) 9 560 000 ( 4 640 000–12 600 000) 93·0 ( 45·2–122·7) 77·4% ( 42·3–90·9) 6·5% ( 4·6–12·5) 1·2% ( 0·8–2·0) 0·5% ( 0·3–1·0) Georgia11 900 ( 11 000–16 400) 325·9 ( 299·4–448·3) 3 460 000 ( 1 580 000–4 400 000) 94·5 ( 43·0–120·0) 79·4% ( 40·4–94·2) 26·6% ( 18·8–52·9) 1·8% ( 1·3–3·0) 0·4% ( 0·3–0·9) Kazakhstan49 800 ( 36 000–69 500) 270·8 ( 195·7–377·9) 12 200 000 ( 6 320 000–20 100 000) 66·2 ( 34·3–109·2) 58·6% ( 33·0–86·1) 9·8% ( 5·2–16·7) 1·2% ( 0·9–2·0) 0·5% ( 0·2–0·9) Kyrgyzstan18 700 ( 13 400–27 600) 286·3 ( 205·3–421·8) 5 570 000 ( 4 150 000–7 640 000) 85·3 ( 63·6–116·9) 76·1% ( 61·2–92·1) 3·4% ( 2·4–4·4) 0·9% ( 0·6–1·6) 0·4% ( 0·2–0·6) Mongolia4540 ( 3590–5970) 134·1 ( 106·0–176·2) 2 190 000 ( 1 510 000–2 490 000) 64·6 ( 44·5–73·6) 58·2% ( 41·6–64·2) 30·7% ( 26·5–43·7) 0·8% ( 0·6–1·5) 0·2% ( 0·2–0·3) Tajikistan10 400 ( 5710–17 900) 110·0 ( 60·2–188·5) 7 650 000 ( 5 120 000–9 960 000) 80·6 ( 53·9–104·9) 69·9% ( 50·1–84·7) 1·2% ( 0·4–2·2) 0·7% ( 0·5–1·3) 0·2% ( 0·1–0·3) Turkmenistan9750 ( 5190–16 500) 191·9 ( 102·2–324·3) 4 100 000 ( 2 740 000–5 330 000) 80·6 ( 53·9–104·9) 70·0% ( 50·3–84·7) 4·3% ( 1·7–8·1) 1·1% ( 0·8–1·9) 0·3% ( 0·1–0·5) Uzbekistan54 300 ( 38 400–80 000) 161·1 ( 114·0–237·6) 21 300 000 ( 7 470 000–33 200 000) 63·2 ( 22·2–98·5) 56·8% ( 21·7–82·8) 1·0% ( 0·6–2·6) 0·8% ( 0·6–1·5) 0·3% ( 0·1–0·8) Central Europe506 000 ( 393 000–681 000) 442·6 ( 344·0–596·5) 74 600 000 ( 54 100 000–92 200 000) 65·3 ( 47·4–80·7) 59·5% ( 44·3–72·7) 18·1% ( 14·4–24·4) 1·7% ( 1·2–2·4) 0·8% ( 0·5–1·1) Albania14 000 ( 10 000–19 900) 513·7 ( 367·4–731·2) 2 780 000 ( 1 890 000–3 120 000) 102·1 ( 69·5–114·8) 86·9% ( 64·0–92·7) 7·3% ( 6·3–10·5) 1·4% ( 1·0–2·0) 0·5% ( 0·4–0·8) Bosnia and Herzegovina16 300 ( 12 000–22 700) 493·5 ( 364·4–688·8) 2 870 000 ( 2 070 000–3 540 000) 87·0 ( 62·8–107·1) 76·7% ( 57·8–90·4) 9·7% ( 7·7–13·2) 1·7% ( 1·2–2·5) 0·6% ( 0·4–0·9) Bulgaria61 700 ( 48 000–83 000) 889·1 ( 692·8–1197·5) 6 020 000 ( 3 290 000–7 880 000) 86·8 ( 47·4–113·7) 74·3% ( 44·8–89·6) 12·1% ( 8·7–20·9) 2·0% ( 1·5–2·9) 1·2% ( 0·7–2·1) Croatia15 900 ( 12 200–20 900) 374·5 ( 287·7–492·7) 2 570 000 ( 2 160 000–3 430 000) 60·5 ( 50·8–80·8) 55·5% ( 47·5–71·1) 23·3% ( 17·2–27·4) 2·2% ( 1·6–2·6) 0·7% ( 0·5–1·0) Czechia38 400 ( 31 500–49 300) 360·7 ( 295·7–462·8) 7 980 000 ( 5 730 000–9 530 000) 75·0 ( 53·8–89·5) 70·1% ( 51·6–81·5) 26·4% ( 21·8–36·1) 1·9% ( 1·6–2·7) 0·5% ( 0·4–0·7) Hungary39 100 ( 32 100–51 600) 404·5 ( 331·6–533·4) 5 620 000 ( 3 980 000–7 420 000) 58·1 ( 41·2–76·7) 53·6% ( 38·9–69·4) 19·4% ( 14·1–26·8) 2·0% ( 1·5–2·9) 0·8% ( 0·5–1·2) Montenegro3300 ( 2470–4670) 532·1 ( 397·5–753·3) 686 000 ( 644 000–731 000) 110·5 ( 103·8–117·9) 89·4% ( 87·9–90·5) 22·8% ( 21·3–24·2) 1·4% ( 1·0–1·9) 0·5% ( 0·4–0·7) North Macedonia16 200 ( 11 800–22 200) 753·1 ( 550·2–1033·6) 2 110 000 ( 1 500 000–2 440 000) 97·9 ( 69·9–113·6) 84·2% ( 64·0–91·6) 10·3% ( 8·7–14·2) 1·4% ( 1·0–2·0) 0·8% ( 0·5–1·2) Poland153 000 ( 116 000–205 000) 397·3 ( 303·0–534·6) 20 500 000 ( 10 300 000–30 000 000) 53·3 ( 26·7–77·9) 50·6% ( 26·1–71·9) 18·1% ( 11·5–33·8) 1·4% ( 0·9–2·7) 0·9% ( 0·5–1·6) Romania94 900 ( 71 600–133 000) 493·2 ( 372·1–691·9) 13 400 000 ( 9 130 000–17 900 000) 69·6 ( 47·5–93·0) 62·1% ( 44·0–80·9) 13·7% ( 9·9–19·4) 1·8% ( 1·3–2·6) 0·8% ( 0·5–1·3) Serbia28 100 ( 20 900–40 300) 321·8 ( 239·1–460·2) 6 400 000 ( 4 450 000–8 410 000) 73·2 ( 50·9–96·2) 64·5% ( 47·3–81·1) 20·0% ( 14·8–28·0) 1·7% ( 1·2–2·4) 0·5% ( 0·3–0·7) Slovakia19 300 ( 16 000–23 100) 354·9 ( 293·7–424·2) 2 760 000 ( 2 060 000–4 250 000) 50·8 ( 37·9–78·2) 47·9% ( 36·5–71·4) 41·9% ( 26·3–54·4) 1·8% ( 1·3–2·6) 0·8% ( 0·5–1·1) Slovenia5640 ( 4930–6670) 272·1 ( 237·5–321·4) 936 000 ( 634 000–1 550 000) 45·1 ( 30·6–74·8) 42·2% ( 29·1–66·4) 48·8% ( 26·7–65·9) 1·9% ( 1·4–2·8) 0·7% ( 0·4–1·1) Eastern Europe786 000 ( 725 000–881 000) 374·5 ( 345·1–419·5) 184 000 000 ( 66 200 000–227 000 000) 87·7 ( 31·5–108·1) 73·6% ( 30·1–87·3) 9·2% ( 6·5–22·4) 2·5% ( 1·8–3·2) 0·5% ( 0·4–1·4) Belarus66 100 ( 47 800–95 400) 695·8 ( 503·1–1004·2) 6 430 000 ( 2 520 000–10 700 000) 67·7 ( 26·6–112·9) 59·4% ( 25·7–90·6) 11·9% ( 6·0–25·7) 2·8% ( 2·0–3·6) 1·3% ( 0·6–2·7) Estonia4520 ( 3750–5150) 344·4 ( 285·7–392·4) 425 000 ( 326 000–760 000) 32·4 ( 24·8–57·9) 30·9% ( 24·1–53·2) 53·9% ( 31·8–67·7) 3·1% ( 1·8–3·9) 1·2% ( 0·7–1·5) Latvia9340 ( 7250–11 800) 487·8 ( 378·7–616·4) 1 050 000 ( 530 000–1 900 000) 55·1 ( 27·7–99·2) 49·8% ( 26·7–83·1) 26·6% ( 13·2–47·3) 3·0% ( 2·1–3·9) 1·2% ( 0·6–2·0) Lithuania15 400 ( 12 200–19 000) 551·9 ( 435·2–680·8) 1 930 000 ( 1 110 000–2 870 000) 69·2 ( 39·6–102·7) 61·1% ( 37·2–82·6) 25·8% ( 16·1–41·9) 2·8% ( 2·0–3·6) 0·9% ( 0·5–1·5) Moldova12 700 ( 9210–18 500) 344·0 ( 249·7–502·6) 3 040 000 ( 1 700 000–4 070 000) 82·5 ( 46·0–110·4) 73·1% ( 43·2–91·7) 12·6% ( 8·9–21·3) 2·4% ( 1·7–3·1) 0·5% ( 0·3–0·8) Russia552 000 ( 552 000–552 000) 376·4 ( 376·4–376·4) 139 000 000 ( 36 800 000–166 000 000) 94·5 ( 25·1–113·4) 78·2% ( 24·3–87·2) 8·1% ( 5·6–25·4) 2·5% ( 1·7–3·2) 0·5% ( 0·4–1·7) Ukraine126 000 ( 92 000–180 000) 286·1 ( 208·8–408·2) 32 600 000 ( 16 800 000–50 200 000) 73·9 ( 38·1–114·0) 64·4% ( 36·5–90·6) 12·1% ( 7·1–21·2) 2·8% ( 2·0–3·6) 0·5% ( 0·3–0·9) High income2 330 000 ( 1 990 000–2 770 000) 214·9 ( 183·5–256·0) 239 000 000 ( 226 000 000–252 000 000) 22·1 ( 20·9–23·3) 21·3% ( 20·1–22·5) 44·6% ( 42·3–47·2) 3·3% ( 3·1–3·5) 1·0% ( 0·9–1·2) Australasia1920 ( 1920–1920) 6·6 ( 6·6–6·6) 356 000 ( 328 000–392 000) 1·2 ( 1·1–1·3) 1·2% ( 1·1–1·3) 57·4% ( 51·8–62·1) 2·5% ( 2·2–2·8) 0·6% ( 0·5–0·6) Australia1890 ( 1890–1890) 7·7 ( 7·7–7·7) 340 000 ( 313 000–375 000) 1·4 ( 1·3–1·5) 1·4% ( 1·3–1·5) 57·6% ( 52·0–62·5) 2·6% ( 2·3–2·9) 0·6% ( 0·5–0·7) New Zealand36 ( 36–36) 0·8 ( 0·8–0·8) 16 000 ( 13 900–18 200) 0·4 ( 0·3–0·4) 0·3% ( 0·3–0·4) 53·7% ( 47·3–60·8) 1·5% ( 1·4–1·6) 0·3% ( 0·3–0·4) High-income Asia Pacific102 000 ( 79 400–138 000) 54·3 ( 42·4–73·9) 7 890 000 ( 6 630 000–9 480 000) 4·2 ( 3·5–5·1) 4·2% ( 3·5–5·0) 31·1% ( 25·6–36·6) 4·1% ( 3·7–4·7) 1·3% ( 1·0–1·7) Brunei125 ( 96–194) 28·5 ( 21·9–44·3) 35 400 ( 27 400–50 800) 8·1 ( 6·3–11·6) 7·8% ( 5·9–11·3) 43·3% ( 29·4–54·4) 1·7% ( 1·4–1·9) 0·4% ( 0·3–0·5) Japan97 700 ( 75 600–135 000) 76·5 ( 59·2–105·3) 6 450 000 ( 5 080 000–8 020 000) 5·0 ( 4·0–6·3) 5·0% ( 4·0–6·2) 27·1% ( 21·5–33·9) 4·5% ( 3·9–5·0) 1·5% ( 1·1–2·1) Singapore585 ( 585–585) 10·3 ( 10·3–10·3) 408 000 ( 355 000–501 000) 7·2 ( 6·3–8·8) 7·1% ( 6·2–8·7) 64·0% ( 51·6–72·8) 2·4% ( 2·1–2·7) 0·2% ( 0·2–0·2) South Korea3260 ( 3110–4420) 6·1 ( 5·8–8·3) 993 000 ( 744 000–1 260 000) 1·9 ( 1·4–2·4) 1·8% ( 1·4–2·3) 44·6% ( 34·7–58·0) 2·6% ( 2·3–2·9) 0·4% ( 0·3–0·6) High-income North America1 020 000 ( 857 000–1 220 000) 278·7 ( 235·0–333·5) 118 000 000 ( 109 000 000–125 000 000) 32·3 ( 29·9–34·2) 30·9% ( 28·8–32·8) 42·3% ( 39·8–45·6) 3·4% ( 3·2–3·7) 0·9% ( 0·7–1·1) Canada38 700 ( 31 400–46 600) 106·0 ( 86·0–127·7) 4 620 000 ( 3 700 000–5 710 000) 12·7 ( 10·1–15·6) 12·4% ( 9·9–15·2) 38·9% ( 31·2–48·1) 1·8% ( 1·4–2·2) 0·9% ( 0·7–1·2) Alberta4880 ( 3520–6280) 114·8 ( 82·7–147·6) 760 000 ( 570 000–1 160 000) 17·9 ( 13·4–27·3) 17·4% ( 13·2–26·5) 45·4% ( 29·0–58·6) 2·2% ( 1·4–2·8) 0·7% ( 0·4–0·9) British Columbia4280 ( 3190–5470) 87·0 ( 64·8–111·0) 707 000 ( 494 000–952 000) 14·4 ( 10·0–19·3) 14·1% ( 9·9–18·8) 31·6% ( 22·8–43·8) 1·8% ( 1·3–2·5) 0·7% ( 0·4–1·0) Manitoba1930 ( 1330–3120) 145·3 ( 100·1–235·1) 505 000 ( 178 000–728 000) 38·0 ( 13·4–54·9) 36·1% ( 13·1–50·7) 14·9% ( 9·2–37·6) 1·1% ( 0·6–2·7) 0·5% ( 0·2–1·1) New Brunswick262 ( 183–353) 34·9 ( 24·4–47·0) 30 700 ( 20 400–54 000) 4·1 ( 2·7–7·2) 3·6% ( 2·3–6·7) 27·7% ( 14·8–39·3) 1·4% ( 1·0–1·9) 1·0% ( 0·5–1·4) Newfoundland and Labrador85 ( 48–121) 17·0 ( 9·5–24·2) 9400 ( 6320–15 500) 1·9 ( 1·3–3·1) 1·6% ( 1·0–2·6) 22·9% ( 13·2–32·2) 1·5% ( 1·1–1·9) 1·2% ( 0·7–1·8) Northwest Territories28 ( 21–37) 65·4 ( 49·6–84·8) 5010 ( 3650–7060) 11·6 ( 8·4–16·3) 8·1% ( 4·7–13·3) 42·0% ( 28·9–55·7) 1·5% ( 1·1–2·0) 0·6% ( 0·4–0·9) Nova Scotia276 ( 179–371) 29·3 ( 19·0–39·4) 23 800 ( 17 500–34 300) 2·5 ( 1·9–3·6) 2·5% ( 1·8–3·6) 35·5% ( 23·6–46·5) 1·6% ( 1·1–2·1) 1·3% ( 0·8–1·9) Nunavut14 ( 10–17) 36·4 ( 27·7–45·2) 2130 ( 1630–2840) 5·6 ( 4·3–7·5) 4·7% ( 2·7–6·0) 32·2% ( 23·5–41·1) 1·5% ( 1·1–2·0) 0·7% ( 0·4–0·9) Ontario13 600 ( 10 100–16 900) 95·7 ( 71·0–118·9) 1 520 000 ( 1 060 000–2 070 000) 10·7 ( 7·5–14·6) 10·6% ( 7·4–14·4) 41·7% ( 29·7–57·9) 2·1% ( 1·5–3·0) 0·9% ( 0·6–1·3) Quebec12 000 ( 11 500–14 300) 145·6 ( 140·0–174·4) 849 000 ( 630 000–1 150 000) 10·3 ( 7·7–14·0) 10·2% ( 7·6–13·9) 54·0% ( 38·6–70·3) 1·5% ( 1·2–2·0) 1·5% ( 1·0–2·1) Saskatchewan1370 ( 1030–1790) 120·6 ( 90·2–157·5) 208 000 ( 144 000–304 000) 18·3 ( 12·7–26·7) 17·5% ( 12·1–25·1) 40·2% ( 26·6–56·0) 1·6% ( 1·1–2·1) 0·7% ( 0·4–1·0) Yukon22 ( 17–27) 56·1 ( 42·7–68·0) 5570 ( 4120–7780) 14·1 ( 10·4–19·7) 6·2% ( 1·7–16·1) 27·0% ( 18·8–35·6) 1·2% ( 0·9–1·7) 0·6% ( 0·4–0·9) USA977 000 ( 826 000–1 170 000) 298·0 ( 251·9–356·8) 113 000 000 ( 105 000 000–120 000 000) 34·5 ( 32·0–36·6) 33·0% ( 30·8–35·1) 42·4% ( 40·0–45·7) 3·5% ( 3·3–3·8) 0·9% ( 0·7–1·1) Alabama24 100 ( 19 500–29 600) 485·1 ( 390·9–594·0) 2 070 000 ( 1 710 000–2 430 000) 41·5 ( 34·3–48·9) 39·3% ( 32·7–45·3) 41·2% ( 34·7–49·5) 4·1% ( 3·4–4·9) 1·2% ( 0·9–1·5) Alaska1350 ( 1060–1650) 171·1 ( 134·0–209·6) 281 000 ( 228 000–364 000) 35·6 ( 29·0–46·2) 33·6% ( 27·6–42·6) 53·9% ( 41·1–65·6) 1·9% ( 1·4–2·3) 0·5% ( 0·4–0·7) Arizona26 200 ( 22 300–31 000) 361·7 ( 307·5–427·6) 2 560 000 ( 2 020 000–3 080 000) 35·3 ( 27·9–42·6) 33·8% ( 27·0–40·8) 49·7% ( 40·8–62·2) 4·0% ( 3·3–5·0) 1·1% ( 0·9–1·4) Arkansas12 400 ( 10 300–14 700) 406·2 ( 335·4–480·7) 1 090 000 ( 831 000–1 310 000) 35·7 ( 27·2–42·7) 34·1% ( 26·2–40·5) 48·8% ( 40·2–63·3) 4·2% ( 3·4–5·4) 1·2% ( 0·9–1·5) California98 600 ( 81 400–118 000) 247·3 ( 204·2–296·0) 11 000 000 ( 8 960 000–13 200 000) 27·5 ( 22·5–33·2) 26·7% ( 22·0–32·3) 46·6% ( 38·2–56·5) 3·3% ( 2·7–4·0) 0·9% ( 0·7–1·2) Colorado9780 ( 8640–11 500) 181·1 ( 160·0–213·6) 1 670 000 ( 1 300 000–2 140 000) 30·9 ( 24·1–39·6) 29·6% ( 23·4–37·4) 50·1% ( 38·3–63·3) 3·6% ( 2·7–4·5) 0·7% ( 0·5–0·8) Connecticut9240 ( 8790–10 500) 250·2 ( 238·0–285·4) 814 000 ( 659 000–999 000) 22·0 ( 17·8–27·1) 21·6% ( 17·6–26·5) 52·0% ( 41·8–63·3) 4·1% ( 3·3–5·0) 1·2% ( 0·9–1·5) Delaware3130 ( 2690–3660) 320·8 ( 276·2–375·5) 268 000 ( 224 000–327 000) 27·5 ( 22·9–33·5) 26·6% ( 22·2–32·3) 57·4% ( 46·5–68·2) 4·2% ( 3·4–5·0) 1·2% ( 0·9–1·5) Washington, DC1190 ( 1190–1190) 182·8 ( 182·8–182·8) 154 000 ( 120 000–191 000) 23·7 ( 18·4–29·4) 23·2% ( 18·0–28·5) 43·7% ( 34·9–55·5) 6·0% ( 4·8–7·6) 0·8% ( 0·6–1·0) Florida77 000 ( 64 100–93 900) 363·5 ( 302·7–443·5) 9 200 000 ( 7 830 000–10 700 000) 43·5 ( 37·0–50·5) 40·8% ( 35·1–47·4) 40·8% ( 34·8–47·6) 3·9% ( 3·3–4·5) 0·9% ( 0·7–1·1) Georgia38 200 ( 31 200–47 400) 358·5 ( 292·6–443·9) 4 250 000 ( 3 540 000–5 070 000) 39·8 ( 33·2–47·6) 37·8% ( 32·2–44·4) 39·4% ( 32·7–46·8) 4·3% ( 3·6–5·1) 0·9% ( 0·7–1·2) Hawaii1050 ( 1040–1200) 70·8 ( 69·9–80·4) 149 000 ( 119 000–207 000) 10·0 ( 8·0–13·9) 9·8% ( 7·8–13·6) 59·8% ( 42·0–73·1) 4·9% ( 3·5–6·0) 0·7% ( 0·5–0·9) Idaho5120 ( 4130–6160) 294·8 ( 237·9–355·0) 773 000 ( 579 000–1 010 000) 44·5 ( 33·4–58·4) 41·7% ( 32·0–54·0) 40·4% ( 30·2–52·8) 2·2% ( 1·7–2·9) 0·7% ( 0·5–1·0) Illinois36 800 ( 28 900–46 100) 282·1 ( 221·5–353·5) 4 960 000 ( 4 220 000–5 760 000) 38·0 ( 32·3–44·2) 36·5% ( 31·2–42·4) 36·3% ( 31·1–42·5) 2·6% ( 2·2–3·1) 0·8% ( 0·6–1·0) Indiana18 200 ( 17 100–20 900) 270·3 ( 254·2–311·2) 2 140 000 ( 1 610 000–2 760 000) 31·9 ( 24·0–41·1) 30·6% ( 23·5–39·1) 52·0% ( 39·3–67·6) 4·0% ( 3·1–5·3) 0·9% ( 0·7–1·2) Iowa7270 ( 7210–7940) 232·3 ( 230·3–253·7) 1 340 000 ( 1 050 000–1 660 000) 42·7 ( 33·5–52·9) 40·6% ( 32·3–49·4) 39·5% ( 31·5–49·7) 2·5% ( 2·0–3·2) 0·6% ( 0·5–0·7) Kansas8220 ( 6690–9860) 276·9 ( 225·3–332·0) 1 030 000 ( 797 000–1 300 000) 34·7 ( 26·8–43·8) 33·3% ( 26·0–41·9) 45·5% ( 35·5–57·8) 3·4% ( 2·7–4·4) 0·8% ( 0·6–1·1) Kentucky16 000 ( 13 000–19 400) 356·0 ( 289·5–430·6) 1 710 000 ( 1 350 000–2 170 000) 37·9 ( 30·1–48·2) 35·9% ( 29·0–44·9) 46·3% ( 36·0–57·5) 6·5% ( 5·1–8·1) 1·0% ( 0·7–1·3) Louisiana20 000 ( 16 400–24 100) 436·3 ( 356·4–525·4) 1 720 000 ( 1 380 000–2 040 000) 37·5 ( 30·1–44·4) 35·9% ( 29·1–41·4) 45·1% ( 37·7–55·7) 4·6% ( 3·8–5·7) 1·2% ( 0·9–1·6) Maine1970 ( 1370–2580) 145·7 ( 101·5–190·6) 209 000 ( 158 000–308 000) 15·4 ( 11·7–22·7) 15·0% ( 11·5–21·9) 58·7% ( 38·4–74·9) 2·9% ( 1·9–3·7) 1·1% ( 0·6–1·6) Maryland16 500 ( 13 100–20 600) 268·2 ( 212·9–335·1) 1 590 000 ( 1 210 000–2 040 000) 25·9 ( 19·8–33·3) 25·2% ( 19·4–32·1) 37·2% ( 28·4–48·0) 4·0% ( 3·1–5·2) 1·1% ( 0·8–1·4) Massachusetts19 200 ( 19 200–19 200) 287·5 ( 287·5–287·5) 1 420 000 ( 1 240 000–1 760 000) 21·3 ( 18·6–26·4) 20·8% ( 18·2–25·8) 64·5% ( 51·6–73·2) 3·6% ( 2·9–4·1) 1·4% ( 1·1–1·6) Michigan26 300 ( 24 400–31 500) 270·6 ( 250·9–324·3) 3 330 000 ( 2 840 000–3 890 000) 34·2 ( 29·3–40·0) 32·8% ( 28·4–37·7) 44·2% ( 37·6–51·6) 3·4% ( 2·9–4·0) 0·9% ( 0·7–1·1) Minnesota9150 ( 9130–9370) 164·4 ( 164·1–168·3) 1 820 000 ( 1 450 000–2 280 000) 32·7 ( 26·0–41·0) 31·3% ( 25·2–39·2) 49·9% ( 39·3–61·5) 2·4% ( 1·9–3·0) 0·5% ( 0·4–0·7) Mississippi16 000 ( 12 700–19 900) 531·6 ( 424·3–662·8) 1 250 000 ( 1 030 000–1 460 000) 41·5 ( 34·2–48·7) 39·4% ( 32·8–45·5) 41·5% ( 35·0–49·9) 3·3% ( 2·8–4·0) 1·3% ( 1·0–1·6) Missouri18 600 ( 15 100–22 500) 298·2 ( 242·6–360·0) 2 280 000 ( 1 870 000–2 860 000) 36·6 ( 29·9–45·8) 35·0% ( 28·9–43·2) 40·1% ( 31·6–48·4) 3·3% ( 2·6–4·0) 0·8% ( 0·6–1·1) Montana2960 ( 2590–3550) 284·6 ( 248·7–341·4) 408 000 ( 300 000–545 000) 39·2 ( 28·9–52·4) 36·9% ( 27·3–48·4) 47·8% ( 34·8–63·3) 5·0% ( 3·6–6·6) 0·8% ( 0·6–1·1) Nebraska3870 ( 3020–4740) 202·4 ( 157·8–247·4) 819 000 ( 630 000–994 000) 42·8 ( 32·9–51·9) 40·6% ( 31·5–48·2) 37·9% ( 30·7–48·5) 2·3% ( 1·9–3·0) 0·5% ( 0·4–0·7) Nevada8750 ( 7820–10 300) 272·1 ( 243·1–320·1) 1 320 000 ( 1 090 000–1 530 000) 41·0 ( 34·0–47·6) 38·8% ( 32·8–45·0) 34·9% ( 29·8–41·7) 3·3% ( 2·8–4·0) 0·7% ( 0·6–0·9) New Hampshire2700 ( 2200–3190) 199·3 ( 162·4–236·1) 260 000 ( 211 000–338 000) 19·2 ( 15·6–25·0) 18·7% ( 15·3–24·0) 61·2% ( 46·7–74·0) 3·0% ( 2·3–3·6) 1·1% ( 0·8–1·5) New Jersey31 000 ( 28 100–38 100) 343·1 ( 311·0–422·0) 3 130 000 ( 2 610 000–3 660 000) 34·6 ( 28·8–40·5) 33·7% ( 28·2–39·1) 40·0% ( 33·9–47·6) 3·8% ( 3·2–4·5) 1·0% ( 0·8–1·3) New Mexico7640 ( 6170–9100) 349·8 ( 282·3–416·3) 666 000 ( 535 000–824 000) 30·5 ( 24·5–37·7) 29·3% ( 23·8–35·9) 47·2% ( 37·6–57·8) 3·7% ( 3·0–4·5) 1·2% ( 0·9–1·6) New York68 800 ( 56 800–84 200) 347·7 ( 286·8–425·4) 6 550 000 ( 5 760 000–7 660 000) 33·1 ( 29·1–38·7) 32·3% ( 28·3–37·7) 41·4% ( 35·2–47·0) 4·0% ( 3·4–4·6) 1·1% ( 0·9–1·4) North Carolina29 300 ( 24 000–35 300) 276·6 ( 227·1–333·7) 3 450 000 ( 2 730 000–4 160 000) 32·6 ( 25·7–39·3) 31·2% ( 24·8–37·1) 44·8% ( 36·6–55·9) 2·8% ( 2·3–3·4) 0·9% ( 0·7–1·2) North Dakota1850 ( 1850–1850) 260·8 ( 260·8–260·8) 280 000 ( 219 000–377 000) 39·5 ( 30·9–53·3) 37·4% ( 29·5–49·5) 58·6% ( 42·4–73·1) 3·3% ( 2·4–4·1) 0·7% ( 0·5–0·9) Ohio35 800 ( 28 500–45 800) 309·6 ( 246·5–395·3) 4 890 000 ( 3 800 000–6 040 000) 42·3 ( 32·8–52·1) 39·9% ( 31·3–48·5) 34·6% ( 27·7–44·0) 3·0% ( 2·4–3·8) 0·8% ( 0·6–1·1) Oklahoma15 900 ( 12 900–19 000) 403·1 ( 327·4–481·9) 1 550 000 ( 1 130 000–2 030 000) 39·3 ( 28·7–51·4) 37·3% ( 27·9–48·5) 43·8% ( 32·7–58·5) 5·2% ( 3·9–7·0) 1·1% ( 0·8–1·5) Oregon8640 ( 6780–10 200) 214·3 ( 168·3–253·5) 814 000 ( 538 000–1 230 000) 20·2 ( 13·3–30·6) 19·6% ( 13·1–29·1) 50·6% ( 31·6–72·2) 2·8% ( 1·7–4·0) 1·2% ( 0·7–1·9) Pennsylvania34 500 ( 32 300–41 400) 265·7 ( 248·6–318·7) 3 990 000 ( 3 270 000–4 900 000) 30·7 ( 25·2–37·7) 29·7% ( 24·6–36·3) 43·2% ( 34·9–52·1) 3·9% ( 3·1–4·6) 0·9% ( 0·7–1·1) Rhode Island2880 ( 2880–2880) 276·0 ( 276·0–276·0) 273 000 ( 249 000–322 000) 26·2 ( 23·8–30·8) 25·5% ( 23·3–29·9) 69·5% ( 58·9–76·2) 2·5% ( 2·1–2·7) 1·1% ( 0·9–1·2) South Carolina20 900 ( 17 900–25 000) 414·9 ( 354·4–496·5) 1 890 000 ( 1 540 000–2 290 000) 37·5 ( 30·6–45·4) 35·6% ( 29·5–42·6) 48·8% ( 40·0–59·3) 3·2% ( 2·6–3·9) 1·1% ( 0·9–1·5) South Dakota2340 ( 2270–2670) 270·4 ( 262·8–308·7) 366 000 ( 267 000–505 000) 42·3 ( 30·8–58·4) 40·3% ( 29·7–54·8) 46·2% ( 32·6–61·5) 3·2% ( 2·2–4·2) 0·7% ( 0·5–0·9) Tennessee22 000 ( 18 500–26 100) 327·3 ( 275·7–388·4) 2 730 000 ( 2 230 000–3 340 000) 40·5 ( 33·1–49·7) 38·5% ( 31·9–46·6) 48·6% ( 39·2–58·9) 3·2% ( 2·6–3·8) 0·9% ( 0·7–1·1) Texas98 400 ( 78 600–124 000) 346·2 ( 276·6–436·6) 13 000 000 ( 10 700 000–15 200 000) 45·7 ( 37·6–53·6) 43·0% ( 35·4–50·3) 33·7% ( 28·5–40·6) 3·3% ( 2·8–3·9) 0·8% ( 0·6–1·1) Utah3940 ( 3360–4680) 125·3 ( 106·8–148·5) 1 370 000 ( 1 120 000–1 740 000) 43·7 ( 35·5–55·4) 41·0% ( 34·0–50·4) 43·7% ( 33·8–53·0) 2·0% ( 1·5–2·4) 0·3% ( 0·2–0·4) Vermont1650 ( 1210–2030) 263·3 ( 193·5–323·2) 73 700 ( 65 100–105 000) 11·7 ( 10·4–16·7) 11·4% ( 9·7–16·2) 66·9% ( 46·8–74·4) 3·0% ( 2·1–3·3) 2·4% ( 1·7–3·1) Virginia21 100 ( 18 100–24 400) 242·4 ( 207·6–280·3) 1 850 000 ( 1 380 000–2 520 000) 21·3 ( 15·8–29·0) 20·8% ( 15·5–27·9) 53·1% ( 38·3–69·8) 3·7% ( 2·6–4·8) 1·2% ( 0·8–1·7) Washington11 200 ( 9010–13 800) 152·8 ( 123·4–188·6) 1 320 000 ( 1 040 000–1 810 000) 18·1 ( 14·3–24·8) 17·6% ( 14·0–23·8) 59·7% ( 42·7–74·0) 3·2% ( 2·3–4·0) 0·9% ( 0·6–1·2) West Virginia7570 ( 6260–8590) 407·0 ( 336·7–461·6) 580 000 ( 405 000–818 000) 31·2 ( 21·8–44·0) 29·8% ( 21·1–41·4) 52·2% ( 35·6–72·0) 3·9% ( 2·6–5·3) 1·5% ( 0·9–2·1) Wisconsin10 300 ( 9670–12 000) 174·4 ( 164·4–204·2) 2 300 000 ( 1 820 000–2 800 000) 39·0 ( 31·0–47·7) 37·2% ( 29·9–45·3) 42·7% ( 34·4–53·2) 3·5% ( 2·8–4·3) 0·5% ( 0·4–0·6) Wyoming1680 ( 1330–2030) 275·8 ( 217·4–333·2) 291 000 ( 205 000–402 000) 47·7 ( 33·5–65·8) 44·0% ( 31·8–61·1) 39·1% ( 27·5–54·0) 2·9% ( 2·0–4·0) 0·7% ( 0·4–0·9) Southern Latin America176 000 ( 161 000–235 000) 263·3 ( 240·8–351·5) 17 300 000 ( 13 000 000–24 000 000) 25·9 ( 19·5–36·0) 25·1% ( 19·2–34·0) 44·1% ( 31·1–57·4) 2·5% ( 1·8–3·3) 1·0% ( 0·8–1·4) Argentina129 000 ( 116 000–184 000) 285·8 ( 257·3–407·9) 12 600 000 ( 8 920 000–18 500 000) 27·9 ( 19·8–41·0) 27·0% ( 19·6–38·4) 43·5% ( 28·7–59·6) 1·9% ( 1·3–2·6) 1·1% ( 0·7–1·5) Chile38 000 ( 37 900–37 900) 208·7 ( 208·5–208·5) 3 940 000 ( 3 090 000–4 870 000) 21·7 ( 17·0–26·8) 21·1% ( 16·6–25·8) 45·1% ( 35·9–56·8) 4·1% ( 3·3–5·2) 1·0% ( 0·8–1·3) Uruguay8840 ( 6720–12 800) 257·4 ( 195·7–372·0) 788 000 ( 626 000–961 000) 22·9 ( 18·2–28·0) 22·3% ( 17·9–27·1) 51·5% ( 41·5–63·7) 4·1% ( 3·2–5·3) 1·1% ( 0·9–1·5) Western Europe1 030 000 ( 888 000–1 210 000) 237·0 ( 203·5–277·0) 96 000 000 ( 88 100 000–105 000 000) 22·0 ( 20·2–24·2) 21·4% ( 19·6–23·5) 48·9% ( 44·3–53·1) 3·3% ( 3·0–3·5) 1·1% ( 1·0–1·4) Andorra276 ( 223–356) 331·8 ( 268·9–428·5) 40 400 ( 28 200–52 000) 48·6 ( 33·9–62·6) 46·4% ( 32·7–59·1) 42·0% ( 32·0–59·2) 3·2% ( 2·9–3·5) 0·7% ( 0·5–1·1) Austria14 700 ( 12 300–16 600) 164·6 ( 137·5–185·7) 2 040 000 ( 1 730 000–2 660 000) 22·9 ( 19·4–29·9) 22·2% ( 18·9–28·7) 55·2% ( 41·7–64·1) 3·6% ( 3·1–4·1) 0·8% ( 0·6–1·0) Belgium28 300 ( 26 400–34 000) 248·1 ( 231·6–297·6) 3 820 000 ( 3 080 000–4 680 000) 33·4 ( 27·0–41·0) 32·0% ( 26·1–38·9) 44·6% ( 35·6–54·6) 2·4% ( 1·9–2·9) 0·8% ( 0·6–1·0) Cyprus732 ( 592–1010) 55·7 ( 45·1–77·0) 186 000 ( 179 000–198 000) 14·2 ( 13·6–15·1) 13·9% ( 13·3–14·8) 70·9% ( 66·4–73·8) 3·2% ( 2·6–3·7) 0·4% ( 0·3–0·6) Denmark8600 ( 7250–9790) 148·2 ( 125·0–168·7) 799 000 ( 701 000–936 000) 13·8 ( 12·1–16·1) 13·5% ( 11·9–15·9) 59·0% ( 49·8–66·3) 2·5% ( 2·1–2·9) 1·2% ( 0·9–1·4) Finland6170 ( 4680–7630) 111·5 ( 84·5–137·9) 484 000 ( 413 000–589 000) 8·7 ( 7·5–10·6) 8·6% ( 7·3–10·5) 38·1% ( 31·2–44·0) 3·5% ( 3·0–4·1) 1·5% ( 1·2–1·8) France136 000 ( 115 000–165 000) 205·0 ( 173·7–249·5) 15 800 000 ( 12 300 000–23 300 000) 23·9 ( 18·6–35·2) 23·3% ( 18·1–33·8) 49·0% ( 32·5–61·5) 3·7% ( 2·5–4·7) 0·9% ( 0·6–1·3) Germany160 000 ( 129 000–199 000) 188·6 ( 151·6–234·8) 12 400 000 ( 11 200 000–13 800 000) 14·6 ( 13·2–16·3) 14·4% ( 12·9–16·0) 45·0% ( 40·2–49·7) 3·0% ( 2·7–3·3) 1·4% ( 1·1–1·7) Baden-Württemberg19 600 ( 14 900–25 400) 174·5 ( 132·1–225·6) 1 640 000 ( 1 370 000–1 970 000) 14·5 ( 12·2–17·6) 14·2% ( 11·9–17·2) 48·6% ( 39·9–57·9) 2·8% ( 2·3–3·3) 1·3% ( 1·0–1·9) Bavaria26 000 ( 19 800–33 300) 196·0 ( 148·9–251·1) 2 240 000 ( 1 810 000–2 730 000) 16·9 ( 13·6–20·6) 16·5% ( 13·4–19·9) 48·5% ( 39·1–58·9) 2·5% ( 2·0–3·0) 1·3% ( 1·0–1·7) Berlin7010 ( 5370–9110) 192·7 ( 147·7–250·5) 591 000 ( 514 000–667 000) 16·3 ( 14·1–18·3) 15·9% ( 13·9–17·9) 45·0% ( 39·6–51·8) 3·0% ( 2·6–3·4) 1·2% ( 0·9–1·6) Brandenburg5490 ( 4460–6720) 213·7 ( 173·8–261·7) 387 000 ( 334 000–442 000) 15·1 ( 13·0–17·2) 14·8% ( 12·8–16·8) 42·9% ( 37·3–49·2) 2·8% ( 2·4–3·2) 1·5% ( 1·3–1·9) Bremen1120 ( 848–1410) 161·4 ( 122·2–203·8) 91 000 ( 79 700–107 000) 13·1 ( 11·5–15·4) 12·9% ( 11·3–15·2) 42·7% ( 36·0–48·6) 3·3% ( 2·8–3·7) 1·3% ( 1·0–1·7) Hamburg3190 ( 2490–4170) 173·0 ( 134·7–225·6) 240 000 ( 203 000–286 000) 13·0 ( 11·0–15·5) 12·8% ( 10·9–15·2) 46·7% ( 38·6–54·9) 2·6% ( 2·1–3·0) 1·4% ( 1·1–1·8) Hesse12 700 ( 10 000–16 100) 198·5 ( 157·3–252·5) 926 000 ( 825 000–1 070 000) 14·5 ( 12·9–16·8) 14·3% ( 12·8–16·4) 43·5% ( 37·4–48·7) 3·3% ( 2·8–3·6) 1·4% ( 1·2–1·8) Lower Saxony11 500 ( 8900–13 800) 140·1 ( 108·6–168·4) 769 000 ( 610 000–872 000) 9·4 ( 7·4–10·7) 9·3% ( 7·4–10·6) 47·7% ( 41·6–59·7) 2·5% ( 2·2–3·1) 1·6% ( 1·2–2·1) Mecklenburg-Vorpommern2630 ( 1900–3330) 158·2 ( 113·9–199·8) 173 000 ( 150 000–204 000) 10·4 ( 9·0–12·2) 10·2% ( 8·9–12·1) 38·6% ( 32·5–44·1) 3·5% ( 3·0–4·0) 1·7% ( 1·2–2·1) North Rhine-Westphalia34 400 ( 26 800–44 000) 186·4 ( 145·1–238·2) 2 790 000 ( 2 510 000–3 150 000) 15·1 ( 13·6–17·1) 14·9% ( 13·4–16·8) 40·9% ( 36·2–45·4) 3·9% ( 3·5–4·4) 1·3% ( 1·0–1·7) Rhineland-Palatinate6860 ( 5230–8620) 163·8 ( 125·0–205·8) 468 000 ( 382 000–581 000) 11·2 ( 9·1–13·9) 11·0% ( 9·0–13·6) 48·2% ( 38·8–58·9) 2·6% ( 2·1–3·2) 1·5% ( 1·2–2·0) Saarland1770 ( 1340–2240) 172·1 ( 130·2–218·0) 127 000 ( 108 000–151 000) 12·4 ( 10·5–14·6) 12·1% ( 10·3–14·4) 46·3% ( 39·1–54·3) 2·3% ( 1·9–2·7) 1·5% ( 1·1–2·0) Saxony13 200 ( 11 100–16 800) 312·3 ( 263·3–399·0) 983 000 ( 794 000–1 150 000) 23·3 ( 18·8–27·4) 22·6% ( 18·4–26·5) 46·6% ( 39·4–56·9) 2·7% ( 2·2–3·2) 1·5% ( 1·1–1·9) Saxony-Anhalt4960 ( 4080–6060) 213·8 ( 175·9–261·1) 341 000 ( 302 000–388 000) 14·7 ( 13·0–16·7) 14·4% ( 12·8–16·4) 42·7% ( 37·3–48·0) 3·2% ( 2·8–3·6) 1·6% ( 1·3–2·0) Schleswig-Holstein3730 ( 2870–4660) 126·2 ( 97·1–157·9) 222 000 ( 189 000–259 000) 7·5 ( 6·4–8·8) 7·4% ( 6·3–8·7) 42·5% ( 36·3–49·4) 3·2% ( 2·7–3·7) 1·8% ( 1·4–2·3) Thuringia6010 ( 5100–7600) 267·9 ( 227·2–338·7) 442 000 ( 386 000–524 000) 19·7 ( 17·2–23·4) 19·2% ( 16·8–22·5) 45·0% ( 38·2–51·3) 3·3% ( 2·8–3·8) 1·5% ( 1·2–2·0) Greece19 100 ( 16 800–22 600) 184·5 ( 162·1–218·9) 1 600 000 ( 1 430 000–1 790 000) 15·5 ( 13·9–17·3) 15·2% ( 13·6–16·9) 56·9% ( 50·8–63·9) 4·1% ( 3·5–4·8) 1·4% ( 1·1–1·6) Iceland35 ( 35–35) 10·1 ( 10·1–10·1) 28 100 ( 25 000–33 300) 8·2 ( 7·3–9·6) 7·9% ( 7·0–9·4) 62·0% ( 52·3–69·0) 2·8% ( 2·3–3·2) 0·1% ( 0·1–0·1) Ireland5570 ( 5570–5570) 113·5 ( 113·5–113·5) 1 130 000 ( 863 000–1 590 000) 23·0 ( 17·6–32·4) 22·3% ( 17·1–31·1) 49·6% ( 34·4–63·9) 1·3% ( 0·9–1·6) 0·5% ( 0·4–0·7) Israel8670 ( 8130–9870) 93·2 ( 87·3–106·1) 2 330 000 ( 2 090 000–2 680 000) 25·0 ( 22·4–28·8) 24·3% ( 21·8–27·7) 57·7% ( 49·9–64·1) 2·5% ( 2·2–2·8) 0·4% ( 0·3–0·4) Italy227 000 ( 182 000–278 000) 375·9 ( 301·6–460·3) 12 000 000 ( 9 360 000–17 700 000) 19·8 ( 15·5–29·4) 19·6% ( 15·4–28·6) 43·0% ( 28·2–53·2) 3·9% ( 3·4–4·4) 2·0% ( 1·3–2·7) Abruzzo4020 ( 3160–4960) 306·3 ( 240·5–377·9) 198 000 ( 151 000–359 000) 15·1 ( 11·5–27·4) 14·9% ( 11·4–26·8) 46·1% ( 24·2–57·6) 4·2% ( 3·6–4·7) 2·2% ( 1·2–3·0) Basilicata1500 ( 1130–1860) 266·3 ( 201·3–331·0) 79 300 ( 57 500–121 000) 14·1 ( 10·2–21·6) 13·9% ( 10·1–21·2) 41·1% ( 25·9–54·5) 3·9% ( 3·3–4·4) 2·0% ( 1·2–2·9) Calabria5580 ( 4060–7240) 288·7 ( 210·1–374·2) 337 000 ( 241 000–537 000) 17·4 ( 12·5–27·8) 17·2% ( 12·4–27·1) 28·5% ( 17·1–38·1) 3·5% ( 2·9–4·1) 1·8% ( 1·1–2·6) Campania16 100 ( 12 500–19 600) 278·3 ( 217·0–340·0) 1 010 000 ( 734 000–1 630 000) 17·5 ( 12·7–28·3) 17·3% ( 12·6–27·6) 50·3% ( 29·8–66·2) 3·5% ( 2·9–4·0) 1·7% ( 1·0–2·4) Emilia-Romagna17 400 ( 14 200–21 100) 383·9 ( 314·5–465·5) 955 000 ( 751 000–1 420 000) 21·1 ( 16·6–31·4) 20·8% ( 16·4–30·6) 48·8% ( 31·8–59·9) 4·2% ( 3·7–4·7) 1·9% ( 1·3–2·5) Friuli-Venezia Giulia4360 ( 3890–5160) 359·0 ( 320·6–425·1) 240 000 ( 182 000–466 000) 19·8 ( 15·0–38·4) 19·4% ( 14·8–37·3) 56·5% ( 27·6–70·8) 4·4% ( 3·9–4·9) 2·0% ( 1·0–2·7) Lazio16 100 ( 13 300–19 300) 281·4 ( 232·8–338·1) 843 000 ( 587 000–1 630 000) 14·8 ( 10·3–28·4) 14·6% ( 10·2–27·7) 52·6% ( 25·8–71·5) 4·0% ( 3·6–4·5) 2·1% ( 1·0–3·0) Liguria8660 ( 7190–10 800) 559·3 ( 463·9–700·3) 287 000 ( 204 000–428 000) 18·6 ( 13·2–27·6) 18·3% ( 13·1–27·0) 43·9% ( 28·3–59·0) 4·7% ( 4·1–5·2) 3·2% ( 1·9–4·6) Lombardia52 200 ( 41 200–66 400) 522·1 ( 412·1–664·4) 2 650 000 ( 2 020 000–3 810 000) 26·5 ( 20·2–38·1) 26·3% ( 20·1–37·6) 36·0% ( 24·3–45·7) 3·9% ( 3·4–4·4) 2·0% ( 1·3–2·9) Marche6390 ( 5000–8000) 409·5 ( 320·2–512·7) 331 000 ( 255 000–501 000) 21·2 ( 16·3–32·1) 21·0% ( 16·2–31·4) 38·1% ( 24·5–47·8) 4·2% ( 3·6–4·8) 2·0% ( 1·3–2·9) Molise1680 ( 1360–2110) 552·1 ( 445·5–694·3) 52 500 ( 33 100–83 300) 17·2 ( 10·9–27·4) 16·9% ( 10·7–27·1) 30·7% ( 18·1–45·5) 4·1% ( 3·5–4·6) 3·4% ( 2·1–5·5) Piemonte24 300 ( 20 000–29 200) 555·1 ( 456·4–666·4) 991 000 ( 677 000–1 720 000) 22·6 ( 15·4–39·2) 22·4% ( 15·3–38·6) 42·1% ( 23·0–58·7) 4·1% ( 3·6–4·5) 2·6% ( 1·5–3·6) Prov autonoma di Bolzano1430 ( 1210–1840) 271·1 ( 229·9–348·1) 161 000 ( 123 000–281 000) 30·6 ( 23·4–53·3) 29·7% ( 22·9–50·7) 56·3% ( 30·6–69·8) 3·5% ( 3·0–3·9) 1·0% ( 0·5–1·3) Prov autonoma di Trento1600 ( 1380–1930) 292·4 ( 252·2–353·4) 113 000 ( 84 600–182 000) 20·6 ( 15·4–33·2) 20·4% ( 15·3–32·7) 47·2% ( 28·3–60·7) 3·8% ( 3·4–4·3) 1·5% ( 0·9–2·1) Puglia15 600 ( 11 900–19 300) 384·5 ( 293·7–477·6) 811 000 ( 560 000–1 260 000) 20·0 ( 13·8–31·2) 19·9% ( 13·8–30·6) 36·0% ( 22·1–49·7) 3·8% ( 3·2–4·4) 2·0% ( 1·2–3·0) Sardegna4060 ( 3110–5190) 249·5 ( 191·3–319·0) 211 000 ( 155 000–334 000) 13·0 ( 9·5–20·5) 12·9% ( 9·5–20·1) 39·9% ( 24·2–52·2) 3·9% ( 3·3–4·5) 2·0% ( 1·2–2·9) Sicilia16 500 ( 12 800–20 600) 329·1 ( 254·1–410·3) 849 000 ( 589 000–1 320 000) 16·9 ( 11·7–26·3) 16·6% ( 11·6–25·6) 39·8% ( 24·3–54·5) 3·6% ( 3·0–4·1) 2·1% ( 1·2–3·0) Toscana11 200 ( 9330–13 700) 300·2 ( 249·3–365·6) 656 000 ( 478 000–1 190 000) 17·5 ( 12·8–31·8) 17·3% ( 12·7–30·9) 48·6% ( 25·2–62·5) 3·9% ( 3·4–4·3) 1·9% ( 0·9–2·7) Umbria2860 ( 2290–3550) 314·8 ( 251·9–391·0) 142 000 ( 105 000–232 000) 15·6 ( 11·6–25·6) 15·5% ( 11·5–25·1) 49·4% ( 29·0–63·7) 4·2% ( 3·6–4·7) 2·1% ( 1·2–3·0) Valle d'Aosta631 ( 499–767) 494·4 ( 391·5–601·6) 33 500 ( 25 000–53 700) 26·2 ( 19·6–42·1) 25·7% ( 19·3–41·5) 40·4% ( 24·0–51·6) 4·0% ( 3·5–4·5) 2·0% ( 1·1–2·8) Veneto14 600 ( 12 000–17 600) 295·3 ( 243·2–355·8) 1 010 000 ( 755 000–1 930 000) 20·4 ( 15·3–39·1) 20·0% ( 15·1–37·6) 54·3% ( 27·0–69·1) 3·9% ( 3·4–4·3) 1·5% ( 0·7–2·2) Luxembourg974 ( 854–1190) 157·5 ( 138·0–192·9) 153 000 ( 134 000–185 000) 24·7 ( 21·7–29·8) 24·1% ( 21·2–29·1) 57·9% ( 47·7–65·5) 3·6% ( 3·0–4·1) 0·7% ( 0·5–0·8) Malta672 ( 475–887) 153·1 ( 108·0–202·0) 68 500 ( 59 900–81 100) 15·6 ( 13·6–18·5) 14·9% ( 13·0–17·5) 57·3% ( 48·0–65·1) 3·0% ( 2·7–3·4) 1·1% ( 0·9–1·4) Monaco47 ( 37–55) 125·0 ( 97·9–146·2) 6570 ( 5810–7330) 17·5 ( 15·5–19·5) 12·8% ( 11·2–14·4) 55·9% ( 50·3–62·5) 4·2% ( 3·9–4·6) 0·7% ( 0·6–0·9) Netherlands38 000 ( 32 400–43 100) 221·6 ( 188·8–251·0) 4 840 000 ( 4 120 000–6 600 000) 28·2 ( 24·0–38·4) 27·1% ( 23·2–36·9) 57·5% ( 41·7–66·4) 1·7% ( 1·2–1·9) 0·9% ( 0·6–1·1) Norway973 ( 968–984) 18·2 ( 18·1–18·4) 614 000 ( 356 000–1 630 000) 11·5 ( 6·6–30·5) 11·2% ( 6·6–28·9) 50·4% ( 15·8–71·4) 1·2% ( 0·4–1·7) 0·2% ( 0·1–0·3) Portugal35 800 ( 29 600–42 200) 336·5 ( 278·3–396·6) 2 370 000 ( 1 890 000–3 080 000) 22·3 ( 17·8–28·9) 21·9% ( 17·5–28·2) 48·6% ( 36·8–59·9) 3·6% ( 3·1–4·0) 1·6% ( 1·1–2·2) San Marino98 ( 91–127) 295·7 ( 274·8–382·6) 14 300 ( 11 200–16 800) 43·1 ( 33·9–50·6) 40·7% ( 32·2–47·7) 41·8% ( 35·0–52·5) 3·2% ( 2·9–3·5) 0·7% ( 0·6–0·9) Spain145 000 ( 120 000–174 000) 314·3 ( 260·6–379·1) 11 800 000 ( 10 400 000–14 200 000) 25·5 ( 22·6–30·8) 24·9% ( 22·0–30·0) 45·3% ( 37·3–50·9) 4·1% ( 3·4–4·6) 1·2% ( 1·0–1·5) Andalusia20 900 ( 16 900–27 100) 254·2 ( 204·7–328·8) 2 150 000 ( 1 550 000–4 270 000) 26·1 ( 18·9–51·8) 25·6% ( 18·6–49·1) 41·4% ( 19·4–53·3) 2·9% ( 1·4–3·7) 1·1% ( 0·4–1·5) Aragon5320 ( 4370–6640) 412·0 ( 338·6–514·2) 381 000 ( 305 000–486 000) 29·5 ( 23·6–37·6) 28·8% ( 23·3–36·4) 44·9% ( 34·6–55·0) 4·9% ( 3·7–6·0) 1·4% ( 0·9–1·9) Asturias3010 ( 2390–3670) 300·9 ( 238·5–367·1) 176 000 ( 127 000–302 000) 17·6 ( 12·7–30·2) 17·3% ( 12·6–29·4) 43·8% ( 24·6–58·2) 6·9% ( 3·7–9·0) 1·8% ( 0·9–2·5) Balearic Islands2530 ( 1870–3220) 224·7 ( 166·6–286·0) 217 000 ( 149 000–388 000) 19·3 ( 13·3–34·5) 18·8% ( 13·0–32·6) 51·6% ( 27·0–70·0) 3·7% ( 1·9–5·0) 1·3% ( 0·7–2·0) Basque Country6830 ( 5700–8310) 316·3 ( 264·0–384·8) 477 000 ( 431 000–542 000) 22·1 ( 19·9–25·1) 21·6% ( 19·5–24·6) 60·7% ( 53·2–66·9) 4·8% ( 4·2–5·2) 1·5% ( 1·1–1·9) Canary Islands2930 ( 2220–3880) 138·9 ( 105·4–184·2) 390 000 ( 239 000–812 000) 18·5 ( 11·3–38·5) 18·1% ( 11·2–36·4) 29·3% ( 12·7–42·8) 2·5% ( 1·1–3·7) 0·9% ( 0·4–1·5) Cantabria1260 ( 967–1480) 222·4 ( 170·1–261·1) 104 000 ( 79 900–155 000) 18·4 ( 14·1–27·3) 18·1% ( 13·9–26·8) 48·0% ( 31·5–61·3) 4·5% ( 2·9–5·7) 1·3% ( 0·7–1·7) Castile and León8850 ( 7140–11 200) 376·8 ( 304·2–475·2) 644 000 ( 576 000–801 000) 27·4 ( 24·5–34·1) 27·0% ( 24·3–33·6) 49·2% ( 39·2–54·4) 5·1% ( 4·1–5·7) 1·4% ( 1·0–1·8) Castilla–La Mancha8180 ( 7170–9610) 411·4 ( 360·4–482·9) 552 000 ( 463 000–730 000) 27·7 ( 23·3–36·7) 27·3% ( 23·0–35·9) 46·4% ( 34·6–54·4) 3·6% ( 2·6–5·6) 1·5% ( 1·1–1·9) Catalonia32 000 ( 27 100–39 000) 426·0 ( 360·8–519·7) 2 250 000 ( 1 770 000–3 080 000) 30·0 ( 23·6–41·0) 29·0% ( 22·9–39·1) 47·0% ( 33·5–58·2) 3·0% ( 2·2–3·7) 1·5% ( 1·0–1·9) Ceuta224 ( 181–271) 269·8 ( 218·0–326·0) 18 100 ( 14 500–23 000) 21·8 ( 17·4–27·8) 18·3% ( 14·4–24·0) 43·4% ( 33·4–53·2) 2·7% ( 2·1–3·3) 1·3% ( 0·9–1·7) Community of Madrid24 500 ( 20 700–31 300) 375·1 ( 318·1–479·2) 2 270 000 ( 1 910 000–2 750 000) 34·8 ( 29·2–42·2) 34·0% ( 28·7–41·4) 41·4% ( 33·8–48·9) 6·3% ( 5·1–7·6) 1·1% ( 0·9–1·4) Extremadura3120 ( 2490–3680) 298·4 ( 238·8–352·4) 213 000 ( 169 000–325 000) 20·4 ( 16·2–31·1) 20·1% ( 16·0–30·6) 50·8% ( 32·1–61·7) 3·4% ( 2·1–4·1) 1·5% ( 1·0–2·0) Galicia5120 ( 4090–6120) 193·8 ( 154·7–231·7) 334 000 ( 283 000–408 000) 12·6 ( 10·7–15·4) 12·5% ( 10·6–15·2) 56·7% ( 45·9–66·2) 5·4% ( 4·3–6·3) 1·6% ( 1·1–1·9) La Rioja1120 ( 916–1440) 360·1 ( 295·6–464·1) 66 200 ( 58 500–86 400) 21·3 ( 18·9–27·9) 21·0% ( 18·6–27·5) 61·9% ( 47·0–69·4) 6·6% ( 5·0–7·4) 1·7% ( 1·3–2·3) Melilla254 ( 188–334) 300·1 ( 221·5–394·5) 37 100 ( 21 700–68 000) 43·9 ( 25·6–80·3) 39·8% ( 21·8–72·7) 33·4% ( 16·5–51·7) 2·7% ( 1·3–4·1) 0·8% ( 0·4–1·4) Murcia3190 ( 2550–3830) 218·4 ( 174·7–261·9) 275 000 ( 209 000–490 000) 18·8 ( 14·3–33·5) 18·6% ( 14·2–32·8) 55·1% ( 29·8–69·6) 4·4% ( 3·8–5·1) 1·2% ( 0·7–1·6) Navarre2020 ( 1650–2520) 315·1 ( 257·3–394·1) 199 000 ( 179 000–238 000) 31·1 ( 27·9–37·2) 30·2% ( 27·3–36·1) 57·8% ( 48·1–64·1) 2·9% ( 2·4–3·2) 1·0% ( 0·7–1·3) Valencian Community13 300 ( 10 500–16 100) 271·4 ( 215·4–329·2) 997 000 ( 829 000–1 220 000) 20·4 ( 16·9–25·0) 20·0% ( 16·6–24·5) 54·8% ( 44·2–65·0) 4·3% ( 3·5–5·2) 1·4% ( 1·0–1·8) Sweden16 600 ( 15 100–19 000) 162·8 ( 147·6–186·3) 2 320 000 ( 1 980 000–2 800 000) 22·7 ( 19·3–27·4) 22·4% ( 19·2–27·0) 52·2% ( 42·7–60·6) 2·6% ( 2·1–3·0) 0·7% ( 0·6–0·9) Switzerland13 000 ( 11 000–15 700) 147·7 ( 125·3–179·1) 1 770 000 ( 1 490 000–2 200 000) 20·2 ( 17·0–25·0) 19·7% ( 16·7–24·4) 56·7% ( 45·4–66·7) 2·1% ( 1·6–2·4) 0·8% ( 0·6–1·0) UK168 000 ( 167 000–171 000) 250·5 ( 248·6–254·1) 19 400 000 ( 18 200 000–20 600 000) 28·8 ( 27·0–30·7) 27·7% ( 26·1–29·5) 54·2% ( 51·0–57·5) 3·1% ( 2·9–3·3) 0·9% ( 0·8–0·9) England143 000 ( 143 000–143 000) 252·1 ( 252·1–252·1) 16 700 000 ( 15 500 000–17 900 000) 29·4 ( 27·4–31·6) 28·3% ( 26·4–30·4) 53·5% ( 49·9–57·2) 3·1% ( 2·9–3·3) 0·9% ( 0·8–0·9) Northern Ireland4420 ( 3770–5790) 228·4 ( 194·8–299·0) 474 000 ( 421 000–582 000) 24·5 ( 21·8–30·1) 23·6% ( 21·0–28·5) 66·8% ( 54·0–74·2) 3·1% ( 2·5–3·5) 1·0% ( 0·7–1·4) Scotland12 500 ( 11 900–14 300) 227·2 ( 216·3–258·3) 1 430 000 ( 1 300 000–1 580 000) 26·0 ( 23·6–28·7) 25·0% ( 22·8–27·5) 54·1% ( 48·8–59·5) 2·9% ( 2·6–3·1) 0·9% ( 0·8–1·1) Wales8800 ( 8800–8800) 276·0 ( 276·0–276·0) 817 000 ( 724 000–1 010 000) 25·6 ( 22·7–31·6) 24·7% ( 22·0–30·1) 61·4% ( 49·6–68·8) 4·6% ( 3·7–5·1) 1·1% ( 0·9–1·2) Latin America and Caribbean2 470 000 ( 1 870 000–3 370 000) 423·2 ( 320·3–576·3) 375 000 000 ( 334 000 000–417 000 000) 64·1 ( 57·2–71·3) 57·4% ( 51·7–63·1) 10·8% ( 9·7–12·1) 0·9% ( 0·8–1·1) 0·7% ( 0·5–0·9) Andean Latin America530 000 ( 375 000–755 000) 833·9 ( 590·3–1186·7) 50 400 000 ( 36 500 000–60 500 000) 79·3 ( 57·4–95·1) 69·0% ( 52·9–83·1) 6·6% ( 5·4–9·0) 0·9% ( 0·7–1·3) 1·1% ( 0·7–1·7) Bolivia135 000 ( 87 000–205 000) 1125·0 ( 723·9–1708·8) 12 600 000 ( 9 320 000–14 500 000) 104·9 ( 77·6–121·0) 85·8% ( 69·1–91·0) 4·3% ( 3·7–5·7) 0·7% ( 0·5–1·1) 1·1% ( 0·7–1·8) Ecuador94 200 ( 66 900–134 000) 535·3 ( 380·6–764·5) 14 100 000 ( 10 100 000–17 000 000) 80·2 ( 57·2–96·7) 70·2% ( 53·5–83·8) 3·8% ( 3·1–5·2) 0·8% ( 0·7–1·2) 0·7% ( 0·5–1·1) Peru301 000 ( 217 000–420 000) 885·6 ( 639·2–1234·9) 23 700 000 ( 15 900 000–30 900 000) 69·8 ( 46·8–90·8) 62·3% ( 44·5–80·9) 9·6% ( 7·2–14·0) 1·0% ( 0·9–1·4) 1·3% ( 0·9–2·0) Caribbean87 200 ( 54 600–147 000) 184·8 ( 115·7–312·5) 12 100 000 ( 6 460 000–17 300 000) 25·7 ( 13·7–36·7) 25·0% ( 13·5–35·2) 17·4% ( 11·3–30·2) 1·1% ( 0·8–1·8) 0·8% ( 0·5–1·4) Antigua and Barbuda114 ( 114–114) 128·7 ( 128·7–128·7) 17 400 ( 10 100–26 000) 19·7 ( 11·4–29·4) 16·9% ( 9·1–26·3) 25·1% ( 15·7–40·7) 1·1% ( 0·9–1·5) 0·7% ( 0·4–1·2) The Bahamas897 ( 660–1440) 238·0 ( 175·2–383·2) 116 000 ( 59 400–178 000) 30·8 ( 15·8–47·1) 29·5% ( 15·0–44·8) 21·3% ( 12·7–38·1) 1·3% ( 1·0–1·8) 0·9% ( 0·5–1·6) Barbados394 ( 211–635) 132·4 ( 70·9–213·2) 48 400 ( 35 200–64 200) 16·3 ( 11·8–21·6) 15·4% ( 11·1–20·5) 52·5% ( 38·5–69·6) 1·7% ( 1·3–2·4) 1·1% ( 0·7–1·6) Belize805 ( 535–1360) 196·2 ( 130·5–331·4) 170 000 ( 74 200–287 000) 41·5 ( 18·1–70·0) 38·6% ( 17·6–62·5) 20·1% ( 10·5–40·4) 0·8% ( 0·6–1·2) 0·6% ( 0·3–1·3) Bermuda140 ( 106–206) 219·1 ( 165·8–321·7) 10 000 ( 8430–13 200) 15·6 ( 13·2–20·6) 12·1% ( 10·2–16·3) 58·0% ( 43·4–67·9) 2·7% ( 1·9–3·8) 1·4% ( 1·0–2·1) Cuba25 100 ( 13 400–52 900) 220·6 ( 118·0–465·5) 2 080 000 ( 1 510 000–3 000 000) 18·3 ( 13·3–26·4) 17·9% ( 13·2–25·4) 47·9% ( 32·1–63·5) 2·2% ( 1·6–2·9) 1·2% ( 0·6–2·1) Dominica105 ( 55–178) 152·8 ( 80·2–258·7) 13 900 ( 9080–21 100) 20·2 ( 13·2–30·7) 18·1% ( 11·6–28·6) 44·4% ( 27·8–63·9) 1·1% ( 0·8–1·6) 0·9% ( 0·5–1·5) Dominican Republic17 900 ( 8510–31 900) 164·7 ( 78·2–293·3) 3 680 000 ( 1 530 000–5 630 000) 33·8 ( 14·1–51·7) 33·3% ( 14·0–50·6) 12·4% ( 7·2–26·5) 0·8% ( 0·6–1·3) 0·5% ( 0·3–1·1) Grenada247 ( 200–412) 239·3 ( 193·6–399·0) 25 100 ( 11 600–38 000) 24·3 ( 11·3–36·8) 23·0% ( 10·4–35·2) 25·9% ( 15·5–50·6) 1·3% ( 1·0–1·8) 1·1% ( 0·6–2·3) Guyana2200 ( 968–4290) 285·1 ( 125·6–556·6) 351 000 ( 142 000–600 000) 45·6 ( 18·5–77·9) 42·7% ( 18·0–69·9) 12·2% ( 6·3–26·3) 0·9% ( 0·6–1·4) 0·7% ( 0·4–1·6) Haiti22 200 ( 9690–40 600) 178·7 ( 78·1–327·3) 3 790 000 ( 1 120 000–6 410 000) 30·5 ( 9·0–51·7) 29·6% ( 9·0–49·0) 0·8% ( 0·4–2·2) 0·6% ( 0·4–1·2) 0·8% ( 0·3–2·3) Jamaica5400 ( 2710–9530) 192·1 ( 96·4–339·1) 582 000 ( 296 000–894 000) 20·7 ( 10·5–31·8) 20·6% ( 10·5–31·6) 17·1% ( 10·2–30·7) 1·4% ( 1·1–1·9) 1·0% ( 0·5–1·9) Puerto Rico5360 ( 3890–6480) 152·2 ( 110·5–184·0) 450 000 ( 348 000–576 000) 12·8 ( 9·9–16·4) 12·6% ( 9·8–16·1) 42·5% ( 32·5–53·9) 2·2% ( 1·7–2·8) 1·2% ( 0·8–1·7) Saint Kitts and Nevis44 ( 28–68) 73·8 ( 46·9–113·4) 7120 ( 4610–11 700) 12·0 ( 7·8–19·6) 8·8% ( 4·4–17·7) 41·6% ( 23·9–60·3) 1·4% ( 1·0–1·9) 0·7% ( 0·4–1·2) Saint Lucia417 ( 266–711) 238·9 ( 152·3–407·1) 46 100 ( 24 500–75 200) 26·4 ( 14·0–43·0) 24·3% ( 12·9–39·2) 30·0% ( 17·0–52·1) 1·5% ( 1·1–2·0) 1·0% ( 0·6–1·9) Saint Vincent and the Grenadines195 ( 95–344) 172·0 ( 83·9–303·8) 20 400 ( 11 400–31 900) 18·1 ( 10·1–28·2) 16·5% ( 9·0–26·6) 34·2% ( 20·5–57·0) 1·3% ( 1·0–1·9) 1·0% ( 0·5–2·2) Suriname2230 ( 1190–4700) 387·4 ( 206·4–815·3) 321 000 ( 159 000–491 000) 55·8 ( 27·6–85·2) 52·1% ( 26·5–78·4) 17·4% ( 10·3–31·8) 1·1% ( 0·9–1·8) 0·8% ( 0·4–1·8) Trinidad and Tobago3030 ( 1850–5440) 218·6 ( 133·6–392·4) 362 000 ( 167 000–595 000) 26·1 ( 12·1–42·9) 25·1% ( 11·9–40·0) 20·9% ( 11·6–40·5) 1·5% ( 1·2–2·1) 1·2% ( 0·7–2·2) Virgin Islands459 ( 248–861) 441·6 ( 238·2–827·9) 26 800 ( 14 200–44 800) 25·7 ( 13·7–43·1) 23·4% ( 12·0–39·1) 30·0% ( 16·7–52·4) 0·8% ( 0·5–1·4) 1·9% ( 1·0–3·6) Central Latin America1 120 000 ( 794 000–1 560 000) 446·5 ( 317·5–625·5) 164 000 000 ( 143 000 000–185 000 000) 65·6 ( 57·2–74·0) 59·1% ( 52·2–65·9) 7·7% ( 6·7–8·7) 0·7% ( 0·6–0·8) 0·7% ( 0·5–1·0) Colombia156 000 ( 128 000–209 000) 327·3 ( 267·4–438·0) 23 200 000 ( 17 900 000–28 600 000) 48·5 ( 37·4–59·8) 45·2% ( 35·3–54·1) 22·2% ( 17·7–28·3) 0·9% ( 0·7–1·0) 0·7% ( 0·5–1·0) Costa Rica7210 ( 7210–7210) 153·0 ( 152·8–152·8) 2 260 000 ( 1 430 000–3 130 000) 48·0 ( 30·4–66·4) 44·6% ( 28·9–60·9) 26·2% ( 18·1–39·6) 1·4% ( 1·0–2·2) 0·3% ( 0·2–0·5) El Salvador22 600 ( 15 500–32 100) 361·7 ( 248·3–512·7) 2 340 000 ( 1 510 000–3 270 000) 37·4 ( 24·1–52·3) 36·0% ( 23·6–49·4) 5·4% ( 3·7–7·9) 0·7% ( 0·6–0·9) 1·0% ( 0·6–1·8) Guatemala43 900 ( 27 400–64 600) 246·9 ( 154·3–363·6) 12 500 000 ( 8 460 000–17 100 000) 70·4 ( 47·6–95·9) 62·8% ( 44·8–81·9) 5·1% ( 3·6–7·3) 0·4% ( 0·3–0·6) 0·4% ( 0·2–0·6) Honduras47 500 ( 30 900–76 500) 483·8 ( 314·5–779·1) 9 360 000 ( 7 040 000–11 500 000) 95·3 ( 71·7–117·4) 81·4% ( 66·4–91·7) 4·1% ( 3·3–5·4) 0·5% ( 0·4–0·7) 0·5% ( 0·3–0·8) Mexico678 000 ( 480 000–951 000) 542·6 ( 383·9–761·5) 92 200 000 ( 84 200 000–101 000 000) 73·8 ( 67·4–80·9) 65·7% ( 61·1–70·8) 4·2% ( 3·9–4·6) 0·7% ( 0·6–0·7) 0·7% ( 0·5–1·1) Aguascalientes5880 ( 4280–8080) 424·5 ( 309·1–583·3) 760 000 ( 380 000–1 050 000) 54·9 ( 27·4–76·0) 51·2% ( 26·7–70·0) 5·4% ( 3·5–9·8) 1·0% ( 0·6–1·8) 0·9% ( 0·5–1·7) Baja California19 200 ( 13 100–26 900) 496·7 ( 338·4–696·6) 3 540 000 ( 2 530 000–4 240 000) 91·6 ( 65·5–110·0) 79·2% ( 59·4–89·4) 2·4% ( 1·9–3·2) 0·6% ( 0·5–0·8) 0·6% ( 0·4–1·0) Baja California Sur3340 ( 3000–4560) 406·3 ( 364·9–554·2) 670 000 ( 430 000–931 000) 81·4 ( 52·3–113·1) 70·5% ( 48·6–88·6) 8·9% ( 6·1–13·3) 0·7% ( 0·5–1·1) 0·5% ( 0·3–0·8) Campeche4240 ( 3210–6010) 456·1 ( 345·7–646·6) 578 000 ( 398 000–848 000) 62·2 ( 42·8–91·2) 56·2% ( 40·1–78·6) 4·3% ( 2·9–6·1) 0·7% ( 0·5–1·0) 0·8% ( 0·5–1·3) Chiapas19 600 ( 13 300–27 500) 334·0 ( 225·7–468·1) 2 300 000 ( 1 320 000–3 550 000) 39·0 ( 22·4–60·3) 37·1% ( 21·9–55·6) 1·1% ( 0·7–1·8) 0·2% ( 0·1–0·4) 0·9% ( 0·5–1·5) Chihuahua21 200 ( 14 600–29 000) 601·2 ( 413·9–820·8) 1 530 000 ( 560 000–2 860 000) 43·4 ( 15·9–81·1) 41·5% ( 15·7–76·0) 6·2% ( 2·6–13·4) 1·3% ( 0·6–2·9) 1·9% ( 0·7–4·0) Coahuila17 700 ( 12 300–24 800) 565·5 ( 392·1–792·6) 2 880 000 ( 2 040 000–3 470 000) 91·9 ( 65·3–110·8) 80·4% ( 60·4–92·1) 3·5% ( 2·8–4·8) 0·5% ( 0·4–0·7) 0·7% ( 0·4–1·0) Colima2500 ( 2460–2800) 333·1 ( 328·5–374·2) 390 000 ( 224 000–590 000) 52·0 ( 29·9–78·7) 47·8% ( 28·8–69·7) 9·2% ( 5·6–14·8) 1·2% ( 0·7–1·9) 0·7% ( 0·4–1·1) Durango7120 ( 4770–9750) 396·9 ( 265·9–544·0) 1 510 000 ( 889 000–2 010 000) 84·1 ( 49·6–112·3) 73·2% ( 46·6–90·6) 3·6% ( 2·5–5·6) 0·4% ( 0·3–0·7) 0·5% ( 0·3–1·0) Guanajuato27 300 ( 19 300–38 600) 442·9 ( 312·8–627·0) 5 510 000 ( 3 820 000–6 920 000) 89·3 ( 62·0–112·3) 78·2% ( 57·9–92·1) 3·7% ( 2·8–5·2) 0·5% ( 0·4–0·7) 0·5% ( 0·3–0·9) Guerrero13 600 ( 9510–18 900) 366·2 ( 256·6–510·9) 2 000 000 ( 1 600 000–2 340 000) 54·0 ( 43·3–63·1) 50·6% ( 41·9–59·0) 3·9% ( 3·3–4·8) 0·6% ( 0·5–0·8) 0·7% ( 0·5–1·0) Hidalgo13 800 ( 9910–19 500) 456·7 ( 327·6–643·2) 2 630 000 ( 1 840 000–3 340 000) 87·0 ( 60·8–110·6) 75·4% ( 55·7–89·4) 2·5% ( 1·9–3·4) 0·7% ( 0·5–0·9) 0·5% ( 0·3–0·9) Jalisco29 400 ( 22 900–41 300) 359·5 ( 280·3–505·2) 4 980 000 ( 3 670 000–6 590 000) 61·0 ( 44·9–80·7) 56·0% ( 42·5–71·6) 3·4% ( 2·5–4·5) 0·7% ( 0·5–1·0) 0·6% ( 0·4–0·9) México124 000 ( 87 400–176 000) 717·5 ( 504·4–1017·3) 13 300 000 ( 10 300 000–16 500 000) 76·9 ( 59·2–95·3) 69·9% ( 55·0–82·7) 3·0% ( 2·3–3·8) 0·7% ( 0·6–0·9) 1·0% ( 0·6–1·4) Mexico City90 700 ( 64 900–127 000) 1029·0 ( 735·8–1436·0) 8 450 000 ( 7 030 000–9 510 000) 95·9 ( 79·7–107·9) 83·5% ( 71·3–89·1) 11·8% ( 10·4–14·1) 1·0% ( 0·9–1·2) 1·1% ( 0·7–1·6) Michoacán de Ocampo17 200 ( 11 800–24 600) 368·5 ( 253·4–526·1) 2 300 000 ( 1 740 000–2 970 000) 49·3 ( 37·3–63·7) 46·5% ( 36·0–59·4) 3·3% ( 2·5–4·2) 0·7% ( 0·5–0·9) 0·8% ( 0·5–1·2) Morelos9600 ( 7010–13 700) 487·3 ( 356·0–698·2) 1 500 000 ( 1 010 000–2 170 000) 76·4 ( 51·4–110·2) 69·0% ( 48·9–90·8) 3·5% ( 2·3–4·9) 0·7% ( 0·5–1·0) 0·7% ( 0·4–1·1) Nayarit3640 ( 3120–4950) 296·5 ( 253·7–403·0) 726 000 ( 496 000–1 040 000) 59·1 ( 40·4–84·3) 54·0% ( 38·1–75·3) 4·9% ( 3·3–6·9) 0·9% ( 0·6–1·3) 0·5% ( 0·3–0·8) Nuevo León27 900 ( 19 700–39 500) 530·1 ( 373·7–748·9) 4 660 000 ( 3 620 000–5 310 000) 88·3 ( 68·7–100·7) 76·0% ( 62·3–84·9) 4·5% ( 3·9–5·7) 0·7% ( 0·6–0·9) 0·6% ( 0·4–0·9) Oaxaca15 000 ( 10 100–21 200) 361·8 ( 244·9–510·4) 2 090 000 ( 1 490 000–2 700 000) 50·5 ( 35·9–65·2) 47·2% ( 34·2–58·7) 4·1% ( 3·1–5·6) 0·6% ( 0·4–0·8) 0·7% ( 0·5–1·3) Puebla43 600 ( 30 600–63 100) 672·6 ( 471·4–973·8) 5 820 000 ( 4 420 000–6 880 000) 89·7 ( 68·2–106·1) 78·0% ( 62·4–88·2) 2·2% ( 1·8–2·8) 0·5% ( 0·5–0·7) 0·8% ( 0·5–1·4) Querétaro8970 ( 6900–12 300) 410·4 ( 315·9–564·0) 1 130 000 ( 394 000–2 040 000) 51·9 ( 18·0–93·2) 48·0% ( 17·8–80·8) 11·2% ( 4·9–25·2) 1·3% ( 0·6–3·0) 1·0% ( 0·4–2·3) Quintana Roo7570 ( 5200–10 700) 444·0 ( 304·6–625·0) 1 710 000 ( 1 300 000–2 050 000) 100·0 ( 76·2–119·9) 82·6% ( 66·5–91·0) 3·6% ( 2·9–4·6) 0·5% ( 0·4–0·7) 0·5% ( 0·3–0·7) San Luis Potosí14 200 ( 10 000–20 000) 505·6 ( 355·1–709·6) 1 690 000 ( 1 220 000–2 160 000) 60·0 ( 43·4–76·8) 55·6% ( 41·8–69·4) 6·4% ( 4·9–8·6) 0·7% ( 0·5–0·9) 0·9% ( 0·6–1·4) Sinaloa15 200 ( 10 300–21 700) 516·3 ( 348·2–736·2) 2 470 000 ( 1 740 000–3 190 000) 83·7 ( 58·9–108·1) 72·8% ( 54·5–86·4) 3·1% ( 2·3–4·3) 0·8% ( 0·6–1·0) 0·6% ( 0·4–1·0) Sonora15 700 ( 10 700–21 900) 526·9 ( 358·6–736·7) 2 530 000 ( 1 990 000–3 110 000) 84·9 ( 66·9–104·6) 74·4% ( 60·8–85·3) 4·7% ( 3·8–6·0) 0·7% ( 0·6–0·9) 0·6% ( 0·4–1·0) Tabasco13 700 ( 9290–19 400) 551·5 ( 373·8–780·4) 2 330 000 ( 1 710 000–2 820 000) 93·9 ( 68·9–113·7) 79·3% ( 61·5–88·9) 6·3% ( 5·1–8·4) 0·5% ( 0·4–0·7) 0·6% ( 0·4–1·0) Tamaulipas18 500 ( 12 600–26 500) 527·8 ( 359·0–757·7) 2 500 000 ( 1 730 000–3 310 000) 71·4 ( 49·3–94·4) 63·6% ( 46·6–80·7) 4·3% ( 3·1–6·0) 0·5% ( 0·4–0·7) 0·8% ( 0·4–1·2) Tlaxcala11 500 ( 7940–16 400) 860·8 ( 594·6–1230·1) 1 100 000 ( 810 000–1 420 000) 82·4 ( 60·6–106·3) 73·8% ( 57·7–89·9) 2·7% ( 2·1–3·6) 0·6% ( 0·4–0·8) 1·1% ( 0·7–1·7) Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave37 900 ( 26 300–54 200) 464·7 ( 323·1–665·0) 5 540 000 ( 3 820 000–7 410 000) 67·9 ( 46·8–90·9) 60·8% ( 43·8–76·6) 2·3% ( 1·7–3·3) 0·6% ( 0·4–0·8) 0·7% ( 0·4–1·1) Yucatán9640 ( 6480–14 000) 441·3 ( 296·6–639·3) 2 190 000 ( 1 390 000–2 630 000) 100·2 ( 63·4–120·2) 82·2% ( 57·4–91·7) 3·6% ( 2·8–5·4) 0·6% ( 0·4–0·8) 0·5% ( 0·3–0·8) Zacatecas8240 ( 5780–11 500) 514·1 ( 360·6–714·4) 915 000 ( 574 000–1 300 000) 57·1 ( 35·8–80·8) 53·6% ( 34·7–73·0) 4·8% ( 3·2–7·3) 0·8% ( 0·5–1·1) 0·9% ( 0·6–1·5) Nicaragua17 600 ( 11 400–25 400) 270·2 ( 175·4–390·1) 3 860 000 ( 3 120 000–4 500 000) 59·3 ( 48·0–69·1) 55·4% ( 46·1–63·5) 3·9% ( 2·7–4·9) 0·6% ( 0·5–0·8) 0·5% ( 0·3–0·7) Panama8940 ( 7330–12 900) 214·9 ( 176·2–309·6) 1 740 000 ( 1 330 000–2 230 000) 41·8 ( 32·0–53·5) 40·5% ( 31·4–51·1) 28·0% ( 21·4–35·8) 0·7% ( 0·6–0·9) 0·5% ( 0·3–0·8) Venezuela134 000 ( 86 800–193 000) 478·1 ( 309·1–687·4) 16 600 000 ( 13 500 000–19 400 000) 59·3 ( 48·0–69·1) 54·3% ( 45·1–62·7) 7·6% ( 6·2–9·8) 0·9% ( 0·7–1·1) 0·8% ( 0·5–1·2) Tropical Latin America739 000 ( 651 000–933 000) 330·5 ( 290·9–417·2) 148 000 000 ( 122 000 000–174 000 000) 66·1 ( 54·6–78·0) 59·2% ( 50·1–68·1) 15·4% ( 12·9–18·4) 1·2% ( 1·0–1·5) 0·5% ( 0·4–0·6) Brazil720 000 ( 634 000–907 000) 332·1 ( 292·7–418·5) 143 000 000 ( 118 000 000–169 000 000) 66·0 ( 54·4–78·0) 59·0% ( 50·0–68·1) 15·5% ( 13·0–18·7) 1·2% ( 1·0–1·5) 0·5% ( 0·4–0·6) Acre2200 ( 1840–2750) 237·4 ( 198·2–297·0) 501 000 ( 307 000–735 000) 54·1 ( 33·1–79·4) 49·8% ( 31·9–69·2) 18·4% ( 12·0–28·7) 0·9% ( 0·6–1·4) 0·5% ( 0·3–0·7) Alagoas6660 ( 6320–8280) 181·9 ( 172·6–226·3) 2 130 000 ( 1 080 000–3 320 000) 58·1 ( 29·4–90·8) 52·8% ( 28·1–77·5) 12·3% ( 7·3–22·4) 1·0% ( 0·6–1·9) 0·3% ( 0·2–0·6) Amapá2890 ( 1990–3820) 342·5 ( 235·2–452·4) 653 000 ( 470 000–821 000) 77·3 ( 55·6–97·2) 68·1% ( 51·3–82·2) 19·4% ( 15·1–26·3) 0·9% ( 0·7–1·2) 0·5% ( 0·3–0·6) Amazonas17 900 ( 13 800–24 000) 424·0 ( 325·9–568·4) 3 260 000 ( 2 180 000–4 370 000) 77·3 ( 51·8–103·4) 67·7% ( 48·7–86·2) 13·6% ( 9·8–19·7) 1·1% ( 0·8–1·6) 0·6% ( 0·4–0·8) Bahia39 800 ( 29 800–52 600) 249·5 ( 186·8–330·0) 10 600 000 ( 6 230 000–14 400 000) 66·5 ( 39·0–90·1) 59·7% ( 37·4–77·1) 12·4% ( 8·7–20·2) 0·7% ( 0·5–1·1) 0·4% ( 0·3–0·7) Ceará45 400 ( 34 800–59 100) 452·2 ( 346·6–588·6) 7 860 000 ( 5 700 000–10 300 000) 78·4 ( 56·8–102·7) 68·5% ( 52·4–85·7) 12·4% ( 9·2–16·6) 0·8% ( 0·6–1·1) 0·6% ( 0·4–0·8) Distrito Federal11 000 ( 10 900–11 500) 362·7 ( 361·5–381·3) 1 750 000 ( 805 000–3 600 000) 57·9 ( 26·6–118·7) 51·5% ( 25·8–91·3) 35·5% ( 14·4–64·2) 3·0% ( 1·2–5·4) 0·8% ( 0·3–1·4) Espírito Santo15 200 ( 13 000–19 800) 382·7 ( 327·9–497·3) 2 890 000 ( 1 980 000–4 050 000) 72·7 ( 49·8–101·9) 64·2% ( 45·8–81·8) 22·2% ( 15·2–31·2) 0·5% ( 0·3–0·7) 0·6% ( 0·4–0·9) Goiás26 900 ( 24 300–33 800) 391·4 ( 353·5–491·3) 6 190 000 ( 4 990 000–7 130 000) 90·1 ( 72·5–103·7) 78·0% ( 63·4–86·1) 15·2% ( 13·0–18·6) 1·1% ( 1·0–1·4) 0·4% ( 0·4–0·6) Maranhão28 400 ( 19 600–44 100) 339·2 ( 234·3–527·7) 6 460 000 ( 2 250 000–9 300 000) 77·3 ( 26·9–111·2) 67·1% ( 26·1–90·6) 6·5% ( 3·9–16·2) 0·3% ( 0·2–0·8) 0·5% ( 0·3–1·2) Mato Grosso14 700 ( 13 700–18 800) 408·7 ( 380·8–523·0) 2 900 000 ( 2 190 000–3 590 000) 80·4 ( 61·0–99·7) 70·2% ( 55·5–84·7) 19·3% ( 15·3–25·0) 1·0% ( 0·8–1·3) 0·5% ( 0·4–0·7) Mato Grosso do Sul9690 ( 9650–10 400) 341·1 ( 339·5–367·1) 1 920 000 ( 1 110 000–2 840 000) 67·7 ( 38·9–100·1) 60·5% ( 37·0–80·8) 20·7% ( 13·3–34·2) 1·7% ( 1·1–2·8) 0·5% ( 0·3–0·9) Minas Gerais65 600 ( 55 800–85 800) 302·6 ( 257·4–395·5) 18 900 000 ( 12 600 000–24 800 000) 87·1 ( 58·3–114·5) 75·4% ( 53·8–93·2) 12·1% ( 8·9–17·4) 1·0% ( 0·7–1·4) 0·4% ( 0·2–0·6) Pará21 700 ( 16 700–29 600) 234·7 ( 181·1–320·3) 5 950 000 ( 3 370 000–8 410 000) 64·4 ( 36·5–90·9) 57·9% ( 34·7–76·4) 10·8% ( 7·2–18·0) 0·8% ( 0·5–1·3) 0·4% ( 0·3–0·6) Paraíba9470 ( 9460–9690) 216·2 ( 215·8–221·1) 3 220 000 ( 1 980 000–4 460 000) 73·5 ( 45·1–101·8) 65·0% ( 42·2–85·7) 14·8% ( 10·3–23·3) 0·9% ( 0·6–1·4) 0·3% ( 0·2–0·5) Paraná41 600 ( 40 500–49 000) 365·4 ( 355·7–430·5) 7 290 000 ( 5 560 000–9 120 000) 64·0 ( 48·8–80·0) 57·9% ( 45·5–70·2) 22·0% ( 17·3–28·3) 1·7% ( 1·4–2·2) 0·6% ( 0·5–0·8) Pernambuco28 100 ( 21 100–36 400) 277·1 ( 208·8–359·2) 4 960 000 ( 3 240 000–6 380 000) 48·9 ( 32·0–63·0) 45·6% ( 30·6–57·8) 13·4% ( 10·0–19·7) 0·8% ( 0·6–1·2) 0·6% ( 0·4–0·9) Piauí8940 ( 7130–11 000) 242·1 ( 192·9–297·6) 2 610 000 ( 1 490 000–3 580 000) 70·6 ( 40·3–97·0) 62·6% ( 38·1–80·4) 13·0% ( 9·0–21·6) 0·9% ( 0·6–1·5) 0·4% ( 0·2–0·6) Rio de Janeiro73 400 ( 68 600–92 400) 415·5 ( 388·0–522·6) 8 760 000 ( 6 300 000–11 800 000) 49·6 ( 35·6–66·8) 46·0% ( 34·3–58·8) 15·7% ( 11·3–21·2) 2·0% ( 1·4–2·7) 0·9% ( 0·6–1·2) Rio Grande do Norte8080 ( 7400–9770) 216·0 ( 198·0–261·3) 1 930 000 ( 1 450 000–2 490 000) 51·6 ( 38·8–66·6) 47·8% ( 37·1–59·1) 20·0% ( 15·2–26·1) 1·0% ( 0·7–1·3) 0·4% ( 0·3–0·6) Rio Grande do Sul35 900 ( 35 800–37 700) 317·8 ( 316·5–333·8) 4 010 000 ( 2 930 000–7 750 000) 35·5 ( 25·9–68·6) 33·6% ( 25·1–62·1) 39·5% ( 19·2–50·8) 3·0% ( 1·4–3·8) 1·0% ( 0·5–1·2) Rondônia8380 ( 6600–10 200) 471·6 ( 371·5–572·4) 1 320 000 ( 1 020 000–1 690 000) 74·6 ( 57·7–95·1) 66·0% ( 52·1–80·2) 21·2% ( 16·3–26·9) 1·1% ( 0·8–1·4) 0·6% ( 0·5–0·9) Roraima2040 ( 2020–2210) 340·8 ( 337·4–369·5) 489 000 ( 373 000–635 000) 81·7 ( 62·3–106·0) 71·1% ( 55·3–89·8) 26·8% ( 20·1–34·3) 0·9% ( 0·7–1·2) 0·4% ( 0·3–0·6) Santa Catarina19 900 ( 19 800–21 000) 277·8 ( 276·8–293·2) 5 470 000 ( 4 180 000–7 460 000) 76·4 ( 58·4–104·3) 67·5% ( 52·8–88·1) 23·0% ( 16·5–29·4) 1·4% ( 1·0–1·7) 0·4% ( 0·3–0·5) São Paulo165 000 ( 153 000–212 000) 361·9 ( 335·7–465·0) 28 800 000 ( 22 200 000–35 600 000) 63·2 ( 48·9–78·1) 57·4% ( 45·2–70·2) 15·6% ( 12·4–19·9) 1·8% ( 1·5–2·3) 0·6% ( 0·5–0·9) Sergipe6050 ( 6030–6360) 251·2 ( 250·4–264·2) 852 000 ( 666 000–1 690 000) 35·4 ( 27·7–70·0) 33·5% ( 26·9–63·3) 34·1% ( 16·5–41·7) 1·9% ( 0·9–2·4) 0·7% ( 0·4–0·9) Tocantins4900 ( 3890–6010) 298·5 ( 237·0–365·9) 1 400 000 ( 896 000–1 810 000) 85·2 ( 54·6–110·3) 73·5% ( 50·0–90·0) 17·1% ( 12·8–25·9) 0·7% ( 0·5–1·0) 0·4% ( 0·3–0·5) Paraguay19 600 ( 16 400–26 700) 282·3 ( 236·9–384·6) 4 830 000 ( 3 370 000–6 210 000) 69·7 ( 48·6–89·7) 62·8% ( 45·5–76·7) 9·8% ( 7·4–13·7) 1·1% ( 0·9–1·4) 0·4% ( 0·3–0·6) North Africa and Middle East1 430 000 ( 986 000–2 160 000) 235·6 ( 162·0–354·6) 382 000 000 ( 281 000 000–481 000 000) 62·7 ( 46·2–79·0) 55·3% ( 40·8–67·1) 6·8% ( 5·2–8·9) 1·0% ( 0·8–1·5) 0·4% ( 0·2–0·7) Afghanistan164 000 ( 92 400–274 000) 429·1 ( 241·3–715·9) 39 600 000 ( 19 600 000–47 100 000) 103·4 ( 51·2–123·1) 84·8% ( 47·4–93·4) 0·4% ( 0·3–0·8) 0·5% ( 0·3–0·9) 0·5% ( 0·2–1·1) Algeria44 300 ( 31 900–62 000) 105·7 ( 76·2–148·1) 7 800 000 ( 4 760 000–13 100 000) 18·6 ( 11·4–31·3) 18·4% ( 11·3–30·5) 2·9% ( 1·6–4·4) 1·2% ( 0·9–1·7) 0·6% ( 0·3–1·1) Bahrain3570 ( 2510–5160) 247·4 ( 174·1–357·7) 875 000 ( 552 000–1 180 000) 60·6 ( 38·3–82·1) 55·2% ( 36·0–71·7) 32·9% ( 23·4–50·2) 1·3% ( 1·0–1·6) 0·4% ( 0·2–0·7) Egypt204 000 ( 143 000–292 000) 206·2 ( 144·7–294·9) 75 300 000 ( 15 200 000–114 000 000) 76·0 ( 15·3–114·9) 65·4% ( 15·1–89·4) 0·7% ( 0·3–2·3) 1·0% ( 0·8–1·4) 0·4% ( 0·2–1·8) Iran234 000 ( 154 000–389 000) 277·5 ( 183·1–461·9) 56 900 000 ( 40 500 000–86 000 000) 67·5 ( 48·0–102·0) 60·5% ( 45·1–85·3) 11·1% ( 7·1–15·1) 1·3% ( 1·0–1·8) 0·4% ( 0·2–0·8) Iraq156 000 ( 97 500–265 000) 370·8 ( 231·5–628·3) 41 900 000 ( 26 200 000–50 200 000) 99·4 ( 62·1–119·2) 82·4% ( 57·1–91·7) 5·1% ( 4·1–8·0) 0·9% ( 0·7–1·3) 0·4% ( 0·2–0·8) Jordan21 100 ( 13 200–34 300) 181·3 ( 113·5–295·0) 8 330 000 ( 5 440 000–10 300 000) 71·6 ( 46·8–88·1) 64·9% ( 44·9–77·4) 11·5% ( 9·1–17·1) 0·8% ( 0·6–1·3) 0·3% ( 0·2–0·5) Kuwait3140 ( 2460–4460) 70·8 ( 55·5–100·8) 1 970 000 ( 1 110 000–3 320 000) 44·4 ( 25·1–75·1) 41·9% ( 24·6–66·3) 23·0% ( 12·4–37·2) 1·2% ( 1·0–1·5) 0·2% ( 0·1–0·3) Lebanon30 300 ( 20 800–50 400) 585·2 ( 401·6–974·0) 3 750 000 ( 2 430 000–4 880 000) 72·5 ( 46·9–94·3) 67·3% ( 45·6–83·7) 18·3% ( 13·6–27·4) 1·8% ( 1·4–2·2) 0·9% ( 0·5–1·5) Libya29 600 ( 18 800–47 400) 439·8 ( 279·7–703·3) 6 880 000 ( 4 660 000–8 110 000) 102·1 ( 69·1–120·5) 83·8% ( 63·8–91·7) 5·5% ( 4·6–8·0) 1·3% ( 1·0–1·8) 0·5% ( 0·3–0·8) Morocco136 000 ( 86 600–233 000) 377·6 ( 240·7–649·2) 27 800 000 ( 13 600 000–39 100 000) 77·3 ( 37·8–108·9) 67·2% ( 36·0–86·3) 3·7% ( 2·4–7·0) 0·9% ( 0·7–1·4) 0·5% ( 0·3–1·1) Oman10 800 ( 7990–14 200) 234·9 ( 174·2–310·2) 2 060 000 ( 1 340 000–2 980 000) 44·9 ( 29·3–64·9) 42·0% ( 28·1–61·0) 15·4% ( 10·3–22·7) 1·1% ( 0·7–1·6) 0·5% ( 0·3–0·9) Palestine10 600 ( 7010–16 000) 214·8 ( 141·5–322·4) 4 730 000 ( 3 000 000–5 830 000) 95·4 ( 60·6–117·7) 79·9% ( 56·3–90·5) 9·4% ( 7·3–14·3) 0·8% ( 0·6–1·2) 0·2% ( 0·1–0·4) Qatar1340 ( 898–1890) 46·9 ( 31·4–66·1) 1 950 000 ( 1 230 000–2 380 000) 68·0 ( 43·0–83·2) 61·0% ( 41·4–72·8) 12·9% ( 10·2–19·7) 1·8% ( 1·4–2·8) 0·1% ( 0·0–0·1) Saudi Arabia27 900 ( 19 600–38 200) 78·1 ( 55·0–106·9) 8 150 000 ( 4 870 000–13 900 000) 22·8 ( 13·6–38·9) 22·4% ( 13·6–37·3) 7·2% ( 4·0–11·3) 1·1% ( 0·8–1·4) 0·4% ( 0·2–0·6) Sudan66 200 ( 42 900–101 000) 162·2 ( 105·1–248·1) 21 100 000 ( 7 720 000–34 900 000) 51·7 ( 18·9–85·6) 49·7% ( 18·8–77·6) 0·2% ( 0·1–0·5) 0·7% ( 0·5–1·0) 0·4% ( 0·2–1·0) Syria21 200 ( 14 000–30 300) 146·4 ( 96·6–209·4) 3 010 000 ( 1 350 000–5 160 000) 20·7 ( 9·3–35·6) 20·2% ( 9·2–33·9) 1·8% ( 0·9–3·5) 1·3% ( 1·0–1·8) 0·8% ( 0·4–1·5) Tunisia62 400 ( 43 900–102 000) 539·5 ( 379·2–880·4) 10 600 000 ( 6 280 000–13 600 000) 91·6 ( 54·3–117·8) 77·9% ( 51·1–91·2) 7·0% ( 5·3–11·5) 1·8% ( 1·3–2·3) 0·6% ( 0·4–1·2) Turkey145 000 ( 104 000–217 000) 178·2 ( 127·7–267·3) 44 100 000 ( 26 200 000–70 200 000) 54·2 ( 32·2–86·3) 49·6% ( 31·1–76·6) 23·0% ( 13·6–36·4) 1·4% ( 1·1–1·8) 0·4% ( 0·2–0·7) United Arab Emirates8600 ( 5540–12 800) 93·0 ( 59·9–138·0) 2 460 000 ( 1 350 000–3 690 000) 26·6 ( 14·6–40·0) 26·0% ( 14·5–38·4) 32·4% ( 20·1–54·9) 1·3% ( 1·0–1·8) 0·4% ( 0·2–0·7) Yemen53 900 ( 28 800–91 300) 171·2 ( 91·5–289·8) 12 500 000 ( 4 210 000–26 200 000) 39·6 ( 13·4–83·2) 37·5% ( 13·1–71·1) 0·1% ( 0·0–0·2) 0·6% ( 0·4–1·0) 0·6% ( 0·2–1·6) South Asia4 500 000 ( 3 190 000–6 340 000) 249·1 ( 176·8–351·0) 1 340 000 000 ( 1 200 000 000–1 490 000 000) 74·3 ( 66·5–82·6) 65·8% ( 59·5–71·5) 2·8% ( 2·5–3·2) 1·2% ( 0·9–1·8) 0·3% ( 0·2–0·5) Bangladesh353 000 ( 236 000–508 000) 221·7 ( 148·4–319·2) 137 000 000 ( 98 900 000–185 000 000) 86·0 ( 62·1–116·0) 74·3% ( 57·2–92·4) 1·2% ( 0·9–1·6) 1·3% ( 1·0–2·0) 0·3% ( 0·2–0·4) Bhutan108 ( 55–158) 14·3 ( 7·3–20·9) 20 200 ( 14 200–27 500) 2·7 ( 1·9–3·6) 2·2% ( 1·3–3·3) 13·4% ( 9·5–18·4) 1·1% ( 0·8–1·5) 0·5% ( 0·3–0·8) India3 480 000 ( 2 520 000–4 910 000) 250·1 ( 181·6–353·4) 1 000 000 000 ( 881 000 000–1 120 000 000) 72·1 ( 63·4–80·3) 64·3% ( 57·7–70·4) 3·4% ( 3·1–3·9) 1·2% ( 0·9–1·9) 0·3% ( 0·3–0·5) Andhra Pradesh166 000 ( 119 000–252 000) 307·2 ( 219·0–465·6) 43 600 000 ( 28 400 000–61 000 000) 80·5 ( 52·4–112·5) 70·2% ( 48·4–93·4) 5·0% ( 3·4–7·3) 1·5% ( 1·1–2·1) 0·4% ( 0·2–0·8) Arunachal Pradesh1520 ( 767–2310) 88·5 ( 44·6–133·9) 675 000 ( 434 000–1 230 000) 39·2 ( 25·2–71·4) 37·1% ( 24·3–64·9) 8·8% ( 4·6–12·7) 1·0% ( 0·7–1·5) 0·2% ( 0·1–0·4) Assam101 000 ( 66 000–145 000) 279·7 ( 183·1–403·5) 28 700 000 ( 18 400 000–39 700 000) 79·6 ( 50·9–110·1) 71·7% ( 47·2–95·8) 2·3% ( 1·6–3·4) 1·1% ( 0·8–1·8) 0·4% ( 0·2–0·7) Bihar276 000 ( 175 000–396 000) 226·3 ( 143·1–324·1) 94 900 000 ( 39 700 000–117 000 000) 77·7 ( 32·5–95·8) 69·1% ( 31·2–83·3) 0·8% ( 0·6–1·8) 0·9% ( 0·7–1·5) 0·3% ( 0·2–0·7) Chhattisgarh130 000 ( 88 700–188 000) 409·0 ( 279·8–593·9) 23 100 000 ( 17 300 000–34 000 000) 73·0 ( 54·5–107·1) 65·3% ( 50·5–89·4) 4·5% ( 3·0–5·8) 1·1% ( 0·8–1·8) 0·6% ( 0·3–1·0) Delhi53 000 ( 33 500–81 300) 272·4 ( 172·0–417·9) 19 400 000 ( 13 700 000–23 200 000) 99·9 ( 70·6–119·3) 82·7% ( 63·5–91·7) 7·6% ( 6·2–10·5) 1·4% ( 1·1–1·9) 0·3% ( 0·2–0·4) Goa3670 ( 3490–5210) 239·7 ( 228·4–341·0) 917 000 ( 614 000–1 300 000) 60·0 ( 40·2–85·3) 55·1% ( 38·4–74·1) 20·2% ( 13·7–29·1) 1·9% ( 1·6–2·5) 0·4% ( 0·3–0·6) Gujarat111 000 ( 78 500–147 000) 160·4 ( 113·3–212·0) 53 600 000 ( 29 000 000–74 000 000) 77·4 ( 41·8–106·9) 67·9% ( 39·4–85·6) 1·6% ( 1·1–2·9) 1·2% ( 0·9–1·8) 0·2% ( 0·1–0·4) Haryana113 000 ( 78 900–164 000) 389·4 ( 270·8–562·3) 21 900 000 ( 15 500 000–28 800 000) 75·3 ( 53·1–98·7) 67·1% ( 48·2–83·2) 3·6% ( 2·7–5·0) 1·3% ( 1·0–2·0) 0·5% ( 0·3–0·9) Himachal Pradesh28 400 ( 17 900–41 600) 373·1 ( 235·4–545·9) 4 030 000 ( 2 950 000–5 740 000) 52·9 ( 38·7–75·5) 49·1% ( 37·4–66·3) 5·8% ( 4·0–7·7) 1·5% ( 1·2–2·2) 0·7% ( 0·4–1·2) Jammu and Kashmir35 100 ( 23 100–49 100) 250·7 ( 165·1–350·4) 7 230 000 ( 3 960 000–9 500 000) 51·6 ( 28·2–67·8) 47·8% ( 27·5–62·3) 5·1% ( 3·8–9·0) 1·2% ( 0·9–1·7) 0·5% ( 0·3–0·8) Jharkhand70 500 ( 48 500–93 800) 186·1 ( 127·9–247·6) 24 500 000 ( 8 010 000–40 700 000) 64·6 ( 21·2–107·4) 58·3% ( 20·5–89·9) 1·7% ( 0·9–4·4) 1·1% ( 0·8–1·8) 0·3% ( 0·1–0·9) Karnataka244 000 ( 173 000–363 000) 358·3 ( 254·1–533·6) 47 200 000 ( 26 400 000–60 100 000) 69·4 ( 38·8–88·4) 62·3% ( 37·2–76·7) 6·5% ( 5·0–11·3) 1·3% ( 1·0–2·0) 0·5% ( 0·3–0·9) Kerala96 300 ( 68 000–141 000) 275·5 ( 194·5–402·6) 16 100 000 ( 9 300 000–31 600 000) 46·0 ( 26·6–90·3) 43·9% ( 26·0–85·2) 35·4% ( 16·2–55·1) 2·0% ( 1·6–2·5) 0·7% ( 0·3–1·1) Madhya Pradesh191 000 ( 136 000–262 000) 215·1 ( 153·1–295·8) 61 600 000 ( 27 800 000–85 800 000) 69·4 ( 31·3–96·7) 62·1% ( 30·2–80·8) 1·4% ( 0·9–2·9) 1·1% ( 0·8–1·7) 0·3% ( 0·2–0·7) Maharashtra530 000 ( 372 000–775 000) 425·0 ( 298·2–621·4) 73 200 000 ( 52 700 000–116 000 000) 58·7 ( 42·3–92·8) 53·6% ( 39·8–78·3) 9·4% ( 5·7–12·6) 1·4% ( 1·1–2·0) 0·8% ( 0·3–1·3) Manipur14 900 ( 9280–22 700) 424·9 ( 264·4–647·7) 2 950 000 ( 1 860 000–3 660 000) 84·1 ( 52·9–104·4) 76·0% ( 49·7–90·4) 4·4% ( 3·4–6·7) 1·3% ( 0·9–1·9) 0·5% ( 0·3–0·9) Meghalaya7530 ( 4600–10 800) 220·5 ( 134·7–314·9) 2 440 000 ( 1 650 000–3 370 000) 71·5 ( 48·4–98·7) 66·4% ( 45·6–90·6) 3·6% ( 2·5–5·1) 1·0% ( 0·7–1·6) 0·3% ( 0·2–0·5) Mizoram2170 ( 1340–3280) 170·4 ( 105·2–257·2) 810 000 ( 628 000–906 000) 63·5 ( 49·3–71·0) 62·1% ( 48·4–68·9) 16·7% ( 14·7–21·2) 1·2% ( 0·9–1·7) 0·3% ( 0·2–0·4) Nagaland4490 ( 2600–7110) 229·5 ( 133·1–363·5) 1 300 000 ( 823 000–2 000 000) 66·3 ( 42·1–102·4) 60·3% ( 40·1–90·1) 2·6% ( 1·6–3·9) 1·1% ( 0·8–1·6) 0·4% ( 0·2–0·6) Odisha110 000 ( 78 600–152 000) 235·6 ( 168·5–325·9) 44 900 000 ( 29 700 000–50 900 000) 96·3 ( 63·6–109·1) 84·0% ( 59·2–89·9) 2·4% ( 2·1–3·6) 1·3% ( 0·9–2·0) 0·3% ( 0·2–0·4) Punjab115 000 ( 76 100–175 000) 371·5 ( 244·9–563·8) 19 000 000 ( 10 200 000–23 700 000) 61·0 ( 32·8–76·3) 55·4% ( 31·7–66·9) 3·4% ( 2·5–5·9) 1·6% ( 1·3–2·3) 0·6% ( 0·4–1·2) Rajasthan115 000 ( 78 300–160 000) 143·1 ( 97·4–199·1) 51 900 000 ( 30 600 000–66 900 000) 64·5 ( 38·1–83·3) 58·2% ( 36·6–73·3) 2·0% ( 1·4–3·1) 1·1% ( 0·8–1·6) 0·2% ( 0·1–0·4) Sikkim831 ( 489–1240) 125·7 ( 74·1–187·3) 330 000 ( 229 000–486 000) 49·9 ( 34·6–73·6) 46·8% ( 33·4–67·4) 10·1% ( 6·6–14·1) 1·3% ( 1·0–1·8) 0·3% ( 0·1–0·4) Tamil Nadu220 000 ( 142 000–312 000) 276·0 ( 178·5–391·4) 59 700 000 ( 50 700 000–69 800 000) 74·8 ( 63·5–87·4) 66·8% ( 57·4–76·4) 4·6% ( 3·9–5·4) 1·7% ( 1·3–2·4) 0·4% ( 0·2–0·5) Telangana46 600 ( 32 900–63 300) 119·8 ( 84·6–162·5) 28 300 000 ( 13 600 000–39 900 000) 72·7 ( 35·0–102·6) 64·3% ( 33·5–85·8) 2·5% ( 1·7–5·0) 1·3% ( 1·0–1·8) 0·2% ( 0·1–0·4) Tripura7820 ( 4980–11 500) 194·3 ( 123·6–284·7) 2 170 000 ( 1 590 000–3 200 000) 54·0 ( 39·4–79·6) 49·6% ( 36·7–68·7) 4·0% ( 2·6–5·3) 1·2% ( 0·9–1·8) 0·4% ( 0·2–0·6) Uttar Pradesh443 000 ( 297 000–628 000) 182·3 ( 122·3–258·6) 200 000 000 ( 119 000 000–267 000 000) 82·2 ( 49·1–110·0) 72·1% ( 46·1–93·8) 0·9% ( 0·6–1·4) 1·0% ( 0·7–1·6) 0·2% ( 0·1–0·4) Uttarakhand55 900 ( 35 900–82 500) 472·7 ( 303·6–697·8) 7 960 000 ( 4 880 000–11 300 000) 67·3 ( 41·3–95·7) 61·3% ( 38·4–82·2) 4·5% ( 3·0–7·0) 1·3% ( 1·0–1·9) 0·7% ( 0·4–1·2) West Bengal184 000 ( 119 000–271 000) 184·5 ( 119·3–272·0) 61 400 000 ( 16 300 000–89 000 000) 61·6 ( 16·3–89·4) 55·7% ( 16·2–77·0) 3·1% ( 1·8–9·9) 1·4% ( 1·0–1·9) 0·4% ( 0·2–1·2) Nepal105 000 ( 71 800–153 000) 344·4 ( 236·0–501·6) 25 400 000 ( 21 600 000–36 400 000) 83·5 ( 71·0–119·6) 73·4% ( 63·0–95·3) 3·3% ( 2·3–3·8) 1·1% ( 0·8–1·7) 0·4% ( 0·2–0·6) Pakistan561 000 ( 323 000–823 000) 250·5 ( 144·2–367·5) 176 000 000 ( 128 000 000–219 000 000) 78·4 ( 57·1–97·5) 68·3% ( 51·6–81·5) 0·7% ( 0·6–1·0) 0·8% ( 0·6–1·3) 0·3% ( 0·2–0·5) Azad Jammu & Kashmir11 000 ( 6820–15 800) 253·0 ( 157·3–365·1) 3 510 000 ( 2 390 000–4 730 000) 80·9 ( 55·1–109·1) 71·4% ( 51·9–90·9) 1·0% ( 0·7–1·4) 1·1% ( 0·8–1·6) 0·3% ( 0·2–0·5) Balochistan15 000 ( 7900–23 700) 111·7 ( 59·0–176·5) 8 310 000 ( 3 620 000–12 300 000) 62·0 ( 27·1–91·8) 57·3% ( 26·7–80·5) 0·4% ( 0·3–0·9) 0·6% ( 0·4–1·0) 0·2% ( 0·1–0·5) Gilgit-Baltistan4350 ( 2340–6720) 195·5 ( 105·1–301·7) 1 740 000 ( 1 030 000–2 070 000) 78·1 ( 46·4–92·9) 78·1% ( 46·4–92·9) 0·6% ( 0·5–1·0) 0·6% ( 0·4–1·0) 0·3% ( 0·1–0·5) Islamabad Capital Territory3190 ( 2190–4260) 148·2 ( 101·7–197·5) 1 260 000 ( 652 000–1 800 000) 58·7 ( 30·3–83·4) 53·9% ( 29·2–72·4) 9·1% ( 6·0–16·5) 1·1% ( 0·7–2·1) 0·3% ( 0·2–0·5) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa157 000 ( 75 100–255 000) 412·1 ( 197·1–669·6) 39 500 000 ( 26 400 000–46 800 000) 103·6 ( 69·4–122·9) 84·9% ( 63·0–91·9) 0·5% ( 0·4–0·7) 0·7% ( 0·4–1·2) 0·4% ( 0·2–0·7) Punjab265 000 ( 163 000–384 000) 233·0 ( 143·1–336·6) 75 500 000 ( 43 100 000–104 000 000) 66·3 ( 37·8–91·1) 59·8% ( 35·9–79·3) 0·6% ( 0·4–1·0) 0·9% ( 0·7–1·5) 0·4% ( 0·2–0·6) Sindh105 000 ( 69 800–147 000) 211·0 ( 139·8–294·2) 45 900 000 ( 29 100 000–55 000 000) 92·0 ( 58·3–110·3) 77·9% ( 53·4–89·1) 1·1% ( 0·9–1·6) 0·8% ( 0·6–1·2) 0·2% ( 0·1–0·4) Southeast Asia, east Asia, and Oceania1 060 000 ( 723 000–1 660 000) 48·9 ( 33·5–77·0) 281 000 000 ( 181 000 000–382 000 000) 13·0 ( 8·4–17·7) 12·1% ( 8·0–15·9) 5·4% ( 3·8–8·1) 1·4% ( 1·1–2·0) 0·4% ( 0·3–0·6) East Asia16 200 ( 8820–23 300) 1·1 ( 0·6–1·6) 2 630 000 ( 1 470 000–4 790 000) 0·2 ( 0·1–0·3) 0·2% ( 0·1–0·3) 5·6% ( 2·8–9·2) 0·2% ( 0·1–0·4) 0·7% ( 0·3–1·0) China14 700 ( 7490–21 900) 1·0 ( 0·5–1·5) 2 460 000 ( 1 340 000–4 550 000) 0·2 ( 0·1–0·3) 0·2% ( 0·1–0·3) 5·3% ( 2·5–8·8) 0·2% ( 0·1–0·4) 0·6% ( 0·3–1·0) North Korea593 ( 417–957) 2·3 ( 1·6–3·6) 76 100 ( 49 800–128 000) 0·3 ( 0·2–0·5) 0·3% ( 0·2–0·5) 1·5% ( 1·1–1·9) 2·1% ( 1·6–2·8) 0·8% ( 0·6–1·0) Taiwan ( province of China) 845 ( 845–845) 3·6 ( 3·6–3·6) 99 700 ( 65 100–166 000) 0·4 ( 0·3–0·7) 0·4% ( 0·3–0·7) 17·7% ( 10·0–25·4) 4·5% ( 3·7–5·2) 0·9% ( 0·5–1·3) Oceania11 600 ( 6280–19 300) 87·1 ( 47·3–145·3) 4 540 000 ( 2 310 000–6 970 000) 34·2 ( 17·4–52·5) 32·1% ( 16·8–47·4) 2·6% ( 1·5–4·6) 0·9% ( 0·6–1·5) 0·3% ( 0·2–0·6) Fiji1300 ( 832–2140) 143·1 ( 91·3–234·7) 307 000 ( 149 000–457 000) 33·7 ( 16·4–50·2) 32·8% ( 16·3–48·0) 18·6% ( 11·5–35·1) 1·4% ( 1·1–2·1) 0·5% ( 0·3–1·0) Guam295 ( 259–439) 172·6 ( 151·8–257·1) 83 900 ( 56 500–120 000) 49·2 ( 33·1–70·4) 45·3% ( 30·5–62·9) 23·9% ( 15·9–33·9) 1·8% ( 1·5–2·2) 0·4% ( 0·2–0·5) Northern Mariana Islands7 ( 4–10) 16·3 ( 10·6–22·7) 3010 ( 1960–4490) 7·1 ( 4·6–10·6) 1·2% ( 0·3–2·7) 21·1% ( 13·6–30·7) 0·0% ( 0·0–0·0) 0·3% ( 0·1–0·4) Papua New Guinea9920 ( 5200–17 100) 100·6 ( 52·7–173·1) 4 150 000 ( 1 960 000–6 510 000) 42·0 ( 19·9–66·0) 39·3% ( 19·4–59·0) 0·9% ( 0·5–1·8) 0·9% ( 0·6–1·4) 0·3% ( 0·1–0·6) Vanuatu36 ( 13–69) 12·1 ( 4·4–23·6) 2950 ( 1080–6660) 1·0 ( 0·4–2·3) 0·8% ( 0·3–2·1) 0·3% ( 0·1–0·5) 0·7% ( 0·5–1·2) 1·5% ( 0·5–4·2) Southeast Asia1 030 000 ( 702 000–1 630 000) 152·5 ( 104·1–242·4) 274 000 000 ( 175 000 000–372 000 000) 40·7 ( 25·9–55·3) 37·7% ( 24·8–49·7) 5·5% ( 3·9–8·3) 1·4% ( 1·1–2·0) 0·4% ( 0·3–0·6) Cambodia14 300 ( 9720–21 700) 86·1 ( 58·5–130·4) 3 700 000 ( 1 630 000–5 720 000) 22·3 ( 9·8–34·4) 21·7% ( 9·7–32·8) 3·6% ( 2·1–7·4) 1·0% ( 0·8–1·5) 0·4% ( 0·3–1·0) Indonesia639 000 ( 410 000–1 090 000) 246·2 ( 158·2–419·2) 161 000 000 ( 97 100 000–229 000 000) 62·1 ( 37·4–88·4) 56·6% ( 35·4–76·2) 2·8% ( 1·9–4·4) 1·4% ( 1·1–2·0) 0·4% ( 0·3–0·7) Laos1090 ( 669–1680) 15·2 ( 9·3–23·4) 1 250 000 ( 583 000–2 070 000) 17·5 ( 8·1–28·9) 17·1% ( 8·0–28·1) 6·3% ( 3·2–11·4) 1·0% ( 0·7–1·5) 0·2% ( 0·1–0·5) Malaysia40 700 ( 30 600–59 300) 130·0 ( 97·7–189·3) 10 200 000 ( 6 780 000–14 300 000) 32·4 ( 21·7–45·8) 31·7% ( 21·4–44·2) 26·6% ( 18·2–38·5) 1·7% ( 1·4–2·0) 0·4% ( 0·3–0·6) Maldives270 ( 247–362) 54·2 ( 49·5–72·6) 187 000 ( 140 000–324 000) 37·5 ( 28·1–65·0) 35·4% ( 26·8–58·3) 51·3% ( 28·1–65·1) 1·3% ( 1·1–1·5) 0·2% ( 0·1–0·2) Mauritius269 ( 266–292) 21·1 ( 20·8–22·9) 181 000 ( 117 000–265 000) 14·2 ( 9·2–20·7) 14·1% ( 9·1–20·5) 31·4% ( 19·9–45·8) 2·0% ( 1·6–2·4) 0·4% ( 0·2–0·6) Myanmar85 900 ( 53 500–140 000) 157·1 ( 97·8–256·3) 17 800 000 ( 9 630 000–25 300 000) 32·6 ( 17·6–46·3) 31·4% ( 17·2–43·8) 3·1% ( 2·1–5·4) 1·4% ( 1·0–2·1) 0·5% ( 0·3–0·9) Philippines158 000 ( 111 000–236 000) 140·5 ( 99·3–210·2) 59 200 000 ( 36 900 000–84 800 000) 52·8 ( 32·9–75·6) 48·6% ( 31·3–66·6) 5·1% ( 3·3–7·7) 1·2% ( 0·9–1·7) 0·3% ( 0·2–0·5) Seychelles121 ( 120–122) 118·3 ( 117·6–119·7) 52 600 ( 41 700–60 500) 51·5 ( 40·9–59·3) 45·8% ( 37·6–51·1) 44·3% ( 38·3–55·4) 1·5% ( 1·3–1·9) 0·2% ( 0·2–0·3) Sri Lanka14 000 ( 14 000–14 100) 64·1 ( 64·0–64·6) 3 400 000 ( 2 520 000–4 460 000) 15·6 ( 11·5–20·4) 15·3% ( 11·4–19·9) 17·0% ( 12·6–22·3) 2·0% ( 1·7–2·4) 0·4% ( 0·3–0·6) Thailand28 300 ( 21 600–36 900) 40·3 ( 30·8–52·7) 8 100 000 ( 4 370 000–12 800 000) 11·6 ( 6·2–18·3) 11·4% ( 6·2–18·0) 28·3% ( 16·3–47·9) 2·7% ( 2·2–3·2) 0·4% ( 0·2–0·7) Timor-Leste1120 ( 741–1730) 84·1 ( 55·5–129·7) 410 000 ( 209 000–619 000) 30·7 ( 15·7–46·4) 29·6% ( 15·3–43·8) 5·3% ( 3·2–9·5) 0·9% ( 0·6–1·3) 0·3% ( 0·2–0·5) Vietnam45 200 ( 28 100–69 600) 46·9 ( 29·1–72·2) 8 460 000 ( 4 760 000–14 900 000) 8·8 ( 4·9–15·4) 8·7% ( 4·9–15·3) 15·1% ( 8·1–25·1) 1·9% ( 1·5–2·4) 0·7% ( 0·4–1·0) Sub-Saharan Africa1 750 000 ( 1 100 000–2 560 000) 162·6 ( 102·0–237·8) 855 000 000 ( 744 000 000–932 000 000) 79·3 ( 69·0–86·4) 70·5% ( 61·6–75·9) 0·7% ( 0·7–0·8) 0·6% ( 0·4–0·9) 0·2% ( 0·1–0·3) Central sub-Saharan Africa161 000 ( 95 900–244 000) 122·2 ( 72·9–185·3) 117 000 000 ( 76 100 000–138 000 000) 89·2 ( 57·9–104·6) 76·3% ( 52·8–86·1) 0·2% ( 0·1–0·3) 0·5% ( 0·4–0·9) 0·1% ( 0·1–0·2) Angola53 200 ( 32 100–80 800) 176·6 ( 106·5–267·9) 30 000 000 ( 15 300 000–37 000 000) 99·7 ( 50·8–122·9) 84·0% ( 47·5–95·8) 0·2% ( 0·2–0·4) 0·5% ( 0·4–0·8) 0·2% ( 0·1–0·4) Central African Republic12 000 ( 6660–21 300) 226·6 ( 125·8–401·2) 3 640 000 ( 2 620 000–5 330 000) 68·7 ( 49·4–100·6) 61·9% ( 46·2–84·0) 0·3% ( 0·2–0·4) 0·4% ( 0·3–0·9) 0·3% ( 0·2–0·6) Congo ( Brazzaville) 8880 ( 5780–13 400) 168·7 ( 109·7–254·2) 4 330 000 ( 3 090 000–5 270 000) 82·2 ( 58·7–100·0) 71·7% ( 53·3–85·9) 0·4% ( 0·4–0·6) 0·5% ( 0·4–0·9) 0·2% ( 0·1–0·4) DR Congo81 100 ( 48 400–133 000) 92·5 ( 55·2–151·9) 76 900 000 ( 46 300 000–91 000 000) 87·7 ( 52·8–103·8) 75·1% ( 48·5–86·0) 0·1% ( 0·1–0·1) 0·5% ( 0·3–0·9) 0·1% ( 0·1–0·2) Equatorial Guinea2280 ( 1510–3600) 160·6 ( 106·3–253·3) 1 100 000 ( 797 000–1 340 000) 77·4 ( 56·1–94·2) 70·2% ( 53·6–83·6) 1·2% ( 1·0–1·7) 0·5% ( 0·4–0·8) 0·2% ( 0·1–0·4) Gabon3170 ( 2120–4420) 181·4 ( 121·3–252·8) 1 300 000 ( 652 000–1 870 000) 74·5 ( 37·3–107·1) 65·5% ( 35·9–86·5) 3·1% ( 2·0–5·7) 0·7% ( 0·6–1·1) 0·3% ( 0·2–0·6) Eastern sub-Saharan Africa827 000 ( 509 000–1 300 000) 200·8 ( 123·5–316·2) 344 000 000 ( 304 000 000–378 000 000) 83·5 ( 73·7–91·9) 72·9% ( 64·3–79·2) 0·5% ( 0·4–0·5) 0·5% ( 0·4–0·9) 0·2% ( 0·1–0·4) Burundi4080 ( 2580–6320) 34·2 ( 21·6–52·9) 1 850 000 ( 1 360 000–2 400 000) 15·5 ( 11·4–20·1) 15·3% ( 11·3–19·8) 1·1% ( 0·8–1·5) 0·5% ( 0·3–0·9) 0·2% ( 0·1–0·4) Comoros1200 ( 743–1760) 168·0 ( 104·1–246·6) 479 000 ( 362 000–606 000) 67·0 ( 50·7–84·9) 67·0% ( 50·7–84·8) 0·9% ( 0·7–1·2) 0·6% ( 0·5–1·1) 0·3% ( 0·2–0·4) Djibouti3250 ( 2070–4690) 270·2 ( 172·3–389·6) 770 000 ( 450 000–1 180 000) 64·0 ( 37·4–98·4) 58·2% ( 35·5–84·3) 1·8% ( 1·1–3·0) 0·7% ( 0·5–1·1) 0·4% ( 0·2–0·7) Eritrea4110 ( 2490–6280) 61·3 ( 37·1–93·6) 1 910 000 ( 1 430 000–2 490 000) 28·4 ( 21·3–37·1) 27·7% ( 20·8–36·1) 0·4% ( 0·3–0·5) 0·6% ( 0·4–1·0) 0·3% ( 0·2–0·5) Ethiopia170 000 ( 99 100–273 000) 158·2 ( 92·1–253·5) 105 000 000 ( 81 900 000–124 000 000) 97·8 ( 76·1–115·0) 83·2% ( 67·9–90·9) 0·4% ( 0·3–0·5) 0·5% ( 0·3–0·8) 0·2% ( 0·1–0·3) Kenya145 000 ( 88 500–244 000) 288·1 ( 176·3–486·4) 50 700 000 ( 40 700 000–57 600 000) 101·0 ( 81·1–114·6) 84·1% ( 71·6–92·3) 0·5% ( 0·4–0·6) 0·6% ( 0·4–1·0) 0·3% ( 0·2–0·5) Madagascar52 400 ( 32 400–87 200) 196·4 ( 121·3–326·6) 23 400 000 ( 18 500 000–29 000 000) 87·7 ( 69·3–108·7) 75·5% ( 63·0–90·2) 0·2% ( 0·2–0·2) 0·5% ( 0·4–0·9) 0·2% ( 0·1–0·4) Malawi45 700 ( 29 500–70 800) 247·9 ( 160·0–383·8) 17 000 000 ( 11 100 000–19 100 000) 92·4 ( 60·0–103·5) 86·7% ( 57·3–94·4) 0·4% ( 0·3–0·6) 0·6% ( 0·4–1·0) 0·3% ( 0·2–0·5) Mozambique63 900 ( 41 000–88 500) 216·4 ( 138·9–299·8) 30 300 000 ( 23 000 000–33 500 000) 102·6 ( 77·8–113·4) 89·3% ( 68·9–98·1) 0·5% ( 0·5–0·7) 0·5% ( 0·4–0·9) 0·2% ( 0·1–0·3) Rwanda18 600 ( 12 500–26 800) 146·4 ( 98·5–211·5) 5 980 000 ( 3 350 000–9 270 000) 47·1 ( 26·4–73·1) 44·2% ( 25·4–66·0) 1·8% ( 1·1–3·0) 0·6% ( 0·5–1·0) 0·3% ( 0·2–0·6) Somalia75 400 ( 36 900–143 000) 370·6 ( 181·3–702·7) 19 500 000 ( 15 700 000–23 700 000) 95·8 ( 77·4–116·7) 80·5% ( 68·4–90·0) 0·1% ( 0·1–0·1) 0·4% ( 0·3–0·8) 0·4% ( 0·2–0·9) South Sudan12 400 ( 6520–20 300) 133·4 ( 70·3–218·4) 5 620 000 ( 3 370 000–9 350 000) 60·6 ( 36·3–100·7) 56·5% ( 35·5–88·4) 0·2% ( 0·1–0·4) 0·4% ( 0·3–0·8) 0·2% ( 0·1–0·5) Tanzania101 000 ( 62 300–165 000) 178·5 ( 109·9–290·8) 40 700 000 ( 33 800 000–45 500 000) 71·7 ( 59·5–80·3) 64·7% ( 55·1–71·5) 0·4% ( 0·3–0·5) 0·6% ( 0·5–1·0) 0·3% ( 0·2–0·4) Uganda61 200 ( 41 600–92 500) 148·8 ( 101·2–224·9) 22 700 000 ( 16 500 000–30 900 000) 55·1 ( 40·2–75·1) 51·4% ( 37·6–69·5) 0·6% ( 0·4–0·8) 0·5% ( 0·4–0·9) 0·3% ( 0·2–0·4) Zambia68 400 ( 44 600–113 000) 375·1 ( 244·8–618·7) 17 700 000 ( 12 100 000–20 300 000) 97·0 ( 66·2–111·1) 87·7% ( 60·8–98·7) 1·2% ( 1·0–1·7) 0·6% ( 0·5–1·0) 0·4% ( 0·2–0·7) Southern sub-Saharan Africa378 000 ( 273 000–533 000) 481·5 ( 347·5–678·1) 58 200 000 ( 47 800 000–67 900 000) 74·1 ( 60·8–86·4) 67·8% ( 56·3–77·3) 6·1% ( 5·1–7·3) 1·0% ( 0·8–1·2) 0·7% ( 0·5–1·0) Botswana14 800 ( 10 000–20 900) 633·5 ( 428·8–893·6) 1 600 000 ( 749 000–2 300 000) 68·5 ( 32·0–98·5) 65·8% ( 31·4–94·8) 13·6% ( 8·4–25·9) 0·9% ( 0·7–1·2) 1·0% ( 0·5–2·3) Eswatini11 300 ( 7440–17 900) 985·6 ( 651·5–1568·4) 866 000 ( 451 000–1 280 000) 75·8 ( 39·5–112·3) 67·4% ( 38·0–94·3) 5·8% ( 3·6–10·3) 0·7% ( 0·5–0·9) 1·4% ( 0·8–2·7) Lesotho15 200 ( 9540–23 900) 725·6 ( 456·3–1140·9) 1 430 000 ( 713 000–2 190 000) 68·3 ( 34·1–104·8) 61·9% ( 32·1–90·9) 1·7% ( 1·0–3·0) 0·8% ( 0·6–1·0) 1·2% ( 0·6–2·9) Namibia15 200 ( 10 700–23 200) 634·5 ( 444·4–963·9) 1 720 000 ( 1 010 000–2 450 000) 71·6 ( 41·8–102·1) 66·4% ( 39·9–93·7) 7·9% ( 5·3–12·8) 0·9% ( 0·7–1·2) 0·9% ( 0·6–1·7) South Africa257 000 ( 190 000–370 000) 461·9 ( 341·4–664·9) 38 600 000 ( 30 500 000–46 100 000) 69·4 ( 54·9–82·9) 64·0% ( 50·8–75·1) 7·8% ( 6·4–9·7) 1·1% ( 0·9–1·4) 0·7% ( 0·5–1·1) Zimbabwe65 000 ( 41 400–93 400) 433·3 ( 276·1–622·0) 14 000 000 ( 6 470 000–16 100 000) 93·3 ( 43·1–107·4) 83·1% ( 40·9–95·6) 1·0% ( 0·8–2·1) 0·7% ( 0·5–0·9) 0·5% ( 0·3–1·0) Western sub-Saharan Africa387 000 ( 235 000–548 000) 84·9 ( 51·5–120·1) 336 000 000 ( 270 000 000–387 000 000) 73·7 ( 59·2–84·8) 67·0% ( 55·5–77·2) 0·2% ( 0·2–0·3) 0·5% ( 0·4–0·9) 0·1% ( 0·1–0·2) Benin7000 ( 4520–10 500) 55·2 ( 35·7–82·7) 4 260 000 ( 2 520 000–6 580 000) 33·6 ( 19·9–52·0) 32·2% ( 19·5–49·0) 0·6% ( 0·4–1·0) 0·5% ( 0·4–0·9) 0·2% ( 0·1–0·3) Burkina Faso14 400 ( 8450–23 800) 63·7 ( 37·2–104·7) 17 100 000 ( 11 700 000–22 800 000) 75·4 ( 51·7–100·3) 68·5% ( 49·1–86·7) 0·1% ( 0·1–0·1) 0·5% ( 0·4–0·8) 0·1% ( 0·1–0·2) Cape Verde560 ( 421–801) 99·3 ( 74·7–142·2) 368 000 ( 196 000–508 000) 65·3 ( 34·8–90·2) 65·2% ( 34·6–90·1) 11·1% ( 7·5–19·5) 1·0% ( 0·8–1·4) 0·2% ( 0·1–0·3) Cameroon33 400 ( 21 300–49 400) 114·9 ( 73·1–169·7) 20 200 000 ( 2 570 000–30 400 000) 69·4 ( 8·8–104·5) 61·8% ( 8·8–86·8) 0·9% ( 0·3–4·2) 0·5% ( 0·4–0·8) 0·3% ( 0·1–1·5) Chad12 600 ( 6640–19 700) 76·7 ( 40·5–120·2) 9 070 000 ( 4 990 000–14 600 000) 55·3 ( 30·4–88·8) 54·0% ( 30·0–85·6) 0·1% ( 0·0–0·1) 0·4% ( 0·3–0·7) 0·2% ( 0·1–0·3) Côte d'Ivoire28 200 ( 16 900–41 700) 107·8 ( 64·4–159·2) 20 000 000 ( 13 900 000–25 200 000) 76·4 ( 53·0–96·1) 68·2% ( 49·4–80·7) 0·3% ( 0·2–0·4) 0·5% ( 0·4–0·9) 0·1% ( 0·1–0·2) The Gambia5370 ( 3490–7590) 239·2 ( 155·5–338·0) 1 980 000 ( 1 300 000–2 580 000) 88·4 ( 58·0–114·7) 75·2% ( 53·2–89·8) 0·5% ( 0·4–0·8) 0·5% ( 0·4–0·9) 0·3% ( 0·2–0·4) Ghana28 300 ( 19 600–38 900) 89·7 ( 62·2–123·3) 21 800 000 ( 14 800 000–26 700 000) 69·0 ( 46·8–84·5) 62·3% ( 44·1–75·0) 0·6% ( 0·5–0·9) 0·7% ( 0·5–1·1) 0·1% ( 0·1–0·2) Guinea22 500 ( 12 800–37 300) 177·9 ( 101·6–294·9) 11 500 000 ( 7 760 000–15 100 000) 91·0 ( 61·4–119·3) 77·5% ( 57·5–91·6) 0·3% ( 0·2–0·4) 0·5% ( 0·4–0·9) 0·2% ( 0·1–0·4) Guinea-Bissau3600 ( 2180–5130) 189·2 ( 114·6–270·0) 1 340 000 ( 799 000–2 080 000) 70·5 ( 42·0–109·7) 65·3% ( 41·4–87·7) 0·5% ( 0·3–0·8) 0·5% ( 0·3–0·8) 0·3% ( 0·2–0·6) Liberia6790 ( 4300–10 100) 141·8 ( 89·7–210·9) 3 230 000 ( 2 020 000–4 510 000) 67·5 ( 42·1–94·2) 60·8% ( 39·9–80·5) 0·2% ( 0·1–0·3) 0·6% ( 0·5–1·0) 0·2% ( 0·1–0·4) Mali25 300 ( 15 500–36 800) 115·3 ( 70·6–168·0) 17 500 000 ( 10 900 000–22 200 000) 79·7 ( 49·6–101·2) 75·0% ( 48·2–93·3) 0·1% ( 0·1–0·2) 0·5% ( 0·4–0·8) 0·2% ( 0·1–0·3) Mauritania6340 ( 3660–9250) 158·0 ( 91·3–230·5) 2 970 000 ( 1 730 000–4 510 000) 74·0 ( 43·2–112·3) 67·6% ( 41·8–90·7) 1·4% ( 0·9–2·2) 0·7% ( 0·5–1·0) 0·2% ( 0·1–0·4) Niger12 900 ( 6910–19 600) 55·2 ( 29·7–83·9) 12 600 000 ( 6 640 000–18 900 000) 54·2 ( 28·5–81·0) 51·0% ( 28·0–72·3) 0·1% ( 0·0–0·1) 0·4% ( 0·3–0·7) 0·1% ( 0·1–0·3) Nigeria133 000 ( 68 300–197 000) 62·0 ( 31·8–91·9) 170 000 000 ( 126 000 000–217 000 000) 79·2 ( 58·5–101·2) 72·3% ( 55·1–88·5) 0·1% ( 0·1–0·2) 0·5% ( 0·4–0·8) 0·1% ( 0·0–0·1) São Tomé and Príncipe201 ( 132–284) 98·1 ( 64·0–138·4) 109 000 ( 82 700–137 000) 52·9 ( 40·3–66·9) 52·9% ( 40·2–66·8) 3·4% ( 2·6–4·4) 0·5% ( 0·4–0·9) 0·2% ( 0·1–0·3) Senegal32 900 ( 21 100–50 700) 217·4 ( 139·7–334·9) 13 800 000 ( 10 700 000–16 500 000) 91·2 ( 70·5–108·8) 78·3% ( 65·1–87·4) 0·5% ( 0·4–0·7) 0·5% ( 0·4–0·9) 0·2% ( 0·2–0·4) Sierra Leone6330 ( 4070–9140) 76·4 ( 49·2–110·3) 3 520 000 ( 2 160 000–4 930 000) 42·5 ( 26·1–59·5) 40·5% ( 25·5–55·3) 0·2% ( 0·1–0·3) 0·5% ( 0·4–0·9) 0·2% ( 0·1–0·3) Togo7490 ( 4910–10 900) 94·5 ( 62·0–138·1) 4 690 000 ( 3 220 000–6 130 000) 59·3 ( 40·7–77·4) 53·9% ( 38·5–68·7) 0·6% ( 0·4–0·8) 0·6% ( 0·4–1·0) 0·2% ( 0·1–0·3) Data are estimates ( 95% uncertainty interval). Open table in a new tab Figure 3Cumulative proportion of the population infected with SARS-CoV-2 at least once by Nov 14, 2021, by country and territoryShow full captionThe first administrative level is mapped for countries that are modelled at that level and have a population greater than 100 million.View Large Image Figure ViewerDownload Hi-res image Download ( PPT)
Data are estimates ( 95% uncertainty interval).
The first administrative level is mapped for countries that are modelled at that level and have a population greater than 100 million.
Cumulative total COVID-19 deaths and death rates on Nov 14, 2021, can be found in the table and appendix 1 ( section 9.4). Although roughly 5·6 million deaths due to COVID-19 had been reported by this date, estimated total deaths attributable to COVID-19 were nearly three times as high at 15·1 million ( 95% UI 11·2–20·2) —a rate of 195 deaths per 100 000 people ( 145–262). Across all countries and territories, the estimated death rate ranged from no more than 1 per 100 000 people in New Zealand and China to 1125 ( 724–1709) in Bolivia. Death rates over 450 per 100 000 were estimated in 23 countries, as well as many states in Mexico; multiple states in Brazil, Italy, and the USA; and one in India. At least one country in every super-region except southeast Asia, east Asia, and Oceania surpassed 300 estimated deaths per 100 000, 51 in total. Estimated death rates remained very low throughout much of east and southeast Asia, high-income Asia Pacific, Australasia, and select countries such as Norway, Iceland, and Qatar.
Posterior estimates of the IDR showed that 44·6% ( 95% UI 42·3–47·2) of COVID-19 infections were detected in the high-income super-region, with 18 countries and parts of Canada, Italy, Spain, and the USA detecting over half of the COVID-19 infections that occurred in those locations by Nov 14, 2021. Countries in Latin America and the Caribbean and central Europe, eastern Europe, and central Asia detected about 10% of infections on average, and fewer than 10% of infections were identified in each of the remaining four super-regions ( table). The IHR varied by a factor of four across super-regions, and the IFR by a factor of five. The highest IHR and IFR were estimated primarily in countries with older population structures, such as Japan. The lowest IDR, IHR, and IFR were all detected in sub-Saharan Africa, where only the southern region exceeded 0·5% for any ratio ( table).
During the first 20 months of the pandemic, Reffective varied widely across locations and time, from lower than 0·1 to higher than 2·0. Only 39% of location-weeks for which total immunity was under 10% had Reffective lower than 1. Between 10% and 20% total immunity, this proportion increased to 56%, and between 20% and 30% total immunity, we observed an additional increase to 65% of location-weeks with an Reffective lower than 1 ( figure 4). However, over the range of 30–60% total immunity, the percentage of observations with Reffective lower than 1 decreased back to 55%. This absence of a clear relationship highlights the many other factors such as seasonality, physical distancing mandates, mask use, and new variant spread that have influenced Reffective over time. From 60% to 70% total immunity, we observed 60% of observations with Reffective lower than 1, and above 70% total immunity, 72% of location-weeks had an Reffective lower than 1. Although these data suggest transmission to be somewhat lower at the highest levels of total immunity observed thus far, even with total immunity at 80%, we saw no indication of an abrupt drop in Reffective.Figure 4Reffective by total immunityShow full captionProportion of total immunity shown starting at 1%. Reffective=effective reproductive number.View Large Image Figure ViewerDownload Hi-res image Download ( PPT)
Proportion of total immunity shown starting at 1%. Reffective=effective reproductive number.
In this study, we estimated that global daily SARS-CoV-2 infections fluctuated between 3 million and 17 million new cases per day from April, 2020, to October, 2021. In total, we estimated that between the start of the pandemic and Nov 14, 2021, there were 3·80 billion ( 95% UI 3·44–4·08) total SARS-CoV-2 infections and reinfections combined and that 3·39 billion ( 3·08–3·63) individuals had been infected with SARS-CoV-2 one or more times. The proportion of the population that had been infected at least once ranged from under 1% to over 80% across countries and territories. The highest cumulative infection rates were estimated in sub-Saharan Africa; central Europe, eastern Europe, and central Asia; and south Asia. Translating daily infections into Reffective showed no clear herd immunity threshold.
Cumulative infection rates through Nov 14, 2021, varied greatly across countries and territories and between subnational units within countries. This variation can be explained by a combination of factors including policies enacted by governments to encourage mask use and reduce social interaction,48Walker PGT Whittaker C Watson OJ et al.The impact of COVID-19 and strategies for mitigation and suppression in low- and middle-income countries.Science. 2020; 369: 413-422Google Scholar, 49Qualls N Levitt A Kanade N et al.Community mitigation guidelines to prevent pandemic influenza—United States, 2017.MMWR Recomm Rep. 2017; 66: 1-34Google Scholar, 50Reiner Jr, RC Barber RM Collins JK et al.Modeling COVID-19 scenarios for the United States.Nat Med. 2021; 27: 94-105Google Scholar presence of escape variants, testing and contact tracing capacity,51Kretzschmar ME Rozhnova G Bootsma MCJ van Boven M van de Wijgert JHHM Bonten MJM Impact of delays on effectiveness of contact tracing strategies for COVID-19: a modelling study.Lancet Public Health. 2020; 5: e452-e459Google Scholar, 52Ferretti L Wymant C Kendall M et al.Quantifying SARS-CoV-2 transmission suggests epidemic control with digital contact tracing.Science. 2020; 368eabb6936Google Scholar previous exposure to other coronaviruses,53Yaqinuddin A Cross-immunity between respiratory coronaviruses may limit COVID-19 fatalities.Med Hypotheses. 2020; 144110049Google Scholar baseline patterns of social interaction, and more. For instance, greatly different levels of cumulative infection were found in some neighbouring countries with similar patterns of non-COVID-19 disease burden, such as Norway and Sweden.43Vos T Lim SS Abbafati C et al.Global burden of 369 diseases and injuries in 204 countries and territories, 1990-2019: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019.Lancet. 2020; 396: 1204-1222Google Scholar In these two countries, testing and contact tracing strategies, government restrictions, and mobility patterns varied substantially,54Yarmol-Matusiak EA Cipriano LE Stranges S A comparison of COVID-19 epidemiological indicators in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and Finland.Scand J Public Health. 2021; 49: 69-78Google Scholar contributing to substantially different SARS-CoV-2 infection outcomes. Other countries, such as Australia and New Zealand, have shown how early and effective lockdowns, combined with geographical isolation and travel restrictions, have kept transmission low throughout the study period.18Kontis V Bennett JE Rashid T et al.Magnitude, demographics and dynamics of the effect of the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic on all-cause mortality in 21 industrialized countries.Nat Med. 2020; 26: 1919-1928Google Scholar, 55Adekunle A Meehan M Rojas-Alvarez D Trauer J McBryde E Delaying the COVID-19 epidemic in Australia: evaluating the effectiveness of international travel bans.Aust N Z J Public Health. 2020; 44: 257-259Google Scholar, 56Jefferies S French N Gilkison C et al.COVID-19 in New Zealand and the impact of the national response: a descriptive epidemiological study.Lancet Public Health. 2020; 5: e612-e623Google Scholar Excess mortality and seroprevalence data available suggest that some of the most severe COVID-19 epidemics occurred in eastern Europe and central Asia. This might be related to comparatively less public intervention, such as mask mandates or stay-at-home orders.57King EJ Dudina VI COVID-19 in Russia: should we expect a novel response to the novel coronavirus?.Glob Public Health. 2021; 16: 1237-1250Google Scholar, 58Blavatnik School of GovernmentUniversity of OxfordRelationship between number of COVID-19 cases and government response.https: //covidtracker.bsg.ox.ac.uk/stringency-scatterDate: 2021Date accessed: June 29, 2021Google Scholar But, although it might be tempting to ascribe all variations in cumulative infections to effective public health action in different countries, the April–September, 2021, surges in many southeast Asian countries where, up to the end of March, public health responses to the pandemic had been swift and believed to be effective,59Tran TPT Le TH Nguyen TNP Hoang VM Rapid response to the COVID-19 pandemic: Vietnam government's experience and preliminary success.J Glob Health. 2020; 10020502Google Scholar, 60Nguyen TA Nguyen BTC Duong DT Marks GB Fox GJ Experience in responding to COVID-19 outbreaks from Vietnam.Lancet Reg Health West Pac. 2021; 7100077Google Scholar, 61Marome W Shaw R COVID-19 response in Thailand and its implications on future preparedness.Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021; 181089Google Scholar suggest that other factors might also be contributing to these patterns.57King EJ Dudina VI COVID-19 in Russia: should we expect a novel response to the novel coronavirus?.Glob Public Health. 2021; 16: 1237-1250Google Scholar, 58Blavatnik School of GovernmentUniversity of OxfordRelationship between number of COVID-19 cases and government response.https: //covidtracker.bsg.ox.ac.uk/stringency-scatterDate: 2021Date accessed: June 29, 2021Google Scholar
The empirical measurements of the IDR suggest that it was low early in the pandemic, when testing was scarce, and increased as testing capacity expanded. On average, the IDR increased steadily, especially over the course of the first year of the pandemic, but with marked variation across countries. This variation highlights how analyses based on the assumption that SARS-CoV-2 IDR is constant across location and time7US Centers for Disease Control and PreventionEstimated COVID-19 infections, symptomatic illnesses, hospitalizations, and deaths in the United States.https: //www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/cases-updates/burden.htmlDate: 2021Date accessed: June 24, 2021Google Scholar could be very misleading. Although we expect that, in general, IDR increased as testing capacity increased, national guidance on who should be tested, and changes in that guidance over the course of the pandemic, might also affect the IDR. For example, on May 1, 2021, the CDC issued guidance not to test vaccinated individuals who had been exposed to COVID-19 but did not have symptoms.62US Centers for Disease Control and PreventionStay up to date with your COVID-19 vaccines.https: //www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/fully-vaccinated.htmlDate: 2021Date accessed: June 29, 2021Google Scholar Likewise, the advent of workplace and school testing programmes in the later months of 2021 might also shift the IDR up in some countries. Great care needs to be taken when interpreting trends based only on reported cases in the later phases of the pandemic. In many settings, hospitalisations—which tend to be a robust measure of more severe disease—are likely to be more informative than confirmed infections.
Our analysis suggests that the cumulative IFR across countries and territories ranged from 0·1% to 2·0% as of Nov 14, 2021. Age standardisation has been shown to explain a considerable portion of this variation,40COVID-19 Forecasting TeamVariation in the COVID-19 infection–fatality ratio by age, time, and geography during the pre-vaccine era: a systematic analysis.Lancet. 2022; ( published online Feb 24.) https: //doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736 ( 21) 02867-1Google Scholar but substantial differences remain in the available data. Some of this variation appears to be due to the prevalence of certain comorbidites,63Huang Y Lu Y Huang Y-M et al.Obesity in patients with COVID-19: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Metabolism. 2020; 113154378Google Scholar and some could be residual errors in the estimation of excess mortality or seroprevalence in the available data. Nevertheless, it might turn out that other factors, such as previous exposure to other coronaviruses, help explain the considerable variation in the age-standardised IFR that is observed in the data. Such variation in the IFR should caution against studies that assume the IFR ( either all-age or age-standardised) is constant across locations and over time. The temporal analysis of the IFR supports the clinical observation that the IFR was initially much higher in March and April, 2020, and subsequently declined as clinical practice improved, particularly in approaches to oxygenation and the use of corticosteroids.64Dennis JM McGovern AP Vollmer SJ Mateen BA Improving survival of critical care patients with coronavirus disease 2019 in England: a national cohort study, March to June 2020.Crit Care Med. 2021; 49: 209-214Google Scholar, 65Horwitz LI Jones SA Cerfolio RJ et al.Trends in COVID-19 risk-adjusted mortality rates.J Hosp Med. 2021; 16: 90-92Google Scholar, 66Sterne JAC Murthy S Diaz JV et al.Association between administration of systemic corticosteroids and mortality among critically ill patients with COVID-19: a meta-analysis.JAMA. 2020; 324: 1330-1341Google Scholar, 67Monedero P Gea A Castro P et al.Early corticosteroids are associated with lower mortality in critically ill patients with COVID-19: a cohort study.Crit Care. 2021; 25: 2Google Scholar Trials of some oral antivirals have shown substantial effectiveness in preventing severe disease and death, suggesting that the IFR might decline further in the coming months if these and other antivirals become widely available and if diagnostic capacity is able to support early treatment.68Wang Y Li P Solanki K et al.Viral polymerase binding and broad-spectrum antiviral activity of molnupiravir against human seasonal coronaviruses.Virology. 2021; 564: 33-38Google Scholar, 69MerckMerck and Ridgeback's investigational oral antiviral molnupiravir reduced the risk of hospitalization or death by approximately 50 percent compared to placebo for patients with mild or moderate COVID-19 in positive interim analysis of phase 3 study.https: //www.merck.com/news/merck-and-ridgebacks-investigational-oral-antiviral-molnupiravir-reduced-the-risk-of-hospitalization-or-death-by-approximately-50-percent-compared-to-placebo-for-patients-with-mild-or-moderat/Date: 2021Date accessed: October 28, 2021Google Scholar
We did not find a clear relationship between Reffective and total immunity up to 60%. Over 60%, Reffective was more often under 1·0 than over 1·0. Despite this finding, we observed no obvious herd immunity threshold in the data. The generally weak relationship between Reffective and the total immunity highlights the powerful role of other factors driving infection, including physical distancing mandates, seasonality, mask use, and the emergence of new variants over the study period ( especially the delta variant) in mediating this relationship. Although figure 4 does not show us the prospects for reaching herd immunity in each location for any given season or variant, the overall relationship points to the very high degree of combined natural and vaccine-derived immunity that might be needed to block community transmission ( especially in the winter months).
This empirical analysis has several important limitations. First, some seroprevalence surveys ( such as the CDC monitoring of laboratory data) might be biased, but the direction of the bias is difficult to ascertain. Additionally, in reporting serosurveys, various corrections can be applied to produce estimates, including the use of sampling weights, correcting for manufacturing sensitivity and specificity, or, in some instances, full correction for waning detectability. Where possible, we attempted to standardise for this by extracting data that were adjusted for sampling frame and manufacturing sensitivity, but not more complex corrections. If this was not possible, we used the raw numerator and denominator as reported. In some instances, no metadata were provided to describe whether any correction had been applied. In all instances, these values were treated as equivalent. Second, we have assumed that one of the key covariates for the IDR is demonstrated testing capacity. By construction, this variable can not decline as it is the maximum value of previously observed daily testing rates. In some countries, changes in guidance on who gets tested could lead to declines in effective testing and the IDR, and we may have missed these changes. The CDC guidance in spring, 2021, not to test vaccinated individuals who were asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic is an example of such a policy. Third, vaccination increases the proportion of the population who test positive on anti-spike antibody tests. We note in some locations, particularly in the UK, attempts to account for vaccination rates resulted in decreasing estimates of seroprevalence over time, suggesting that assumptions about the probability of vaccinated individuals being identified in serological surveys in those locations are incompatible with the data collected; in these instances, we excluded the seroprevalence data from the analysis. Fourth, matched seroprevalence surveys with reported cumulative cases, hospitalisations, and deaths provide an interval measure of the IDR, IHR, and IFR from the beginning of the pandemic to the period of the survey. We used these interval measures to derive relationships for the daily IDR, IHR, and IFR. This approach decreases our ability to identify drivers of shorter-term fluctuations in these key rates. Fifth, the availability of hospital admissions data in low-income and middle-income settings was generally low, minimising its effect on the estimation process in many countries. Sixth, we used estimates of total COVID-19 mortality based on the measurement or estimation of excess mortality multiplied by a statistical estimate of the proportion of excess mortality directly attributable to infection with SARS-CoV-2. This statistical estimation was based on removing the effect of a low IDR and reduced mobility that might be a proxy for deferred care and other health effects of isolation. This estimate of the proportion of excess mortality that is total COVID-19 has wide UIs. Eventually, better data will emerge on causes of death during the pandemic that will hopefully refine the estimate of total COVID-19 deaths. The wide uncertainty in the ratio of total COVID-19 to reported COVID-19 is reflected in the uncertainty analysis in this study. Seventh, our model permitted a maximum of two infections per individual—in the case where a person gets an ancestral or alpha variant infection, they might also be infected with a beta, gamma, or delta variant. There is evidence of waning naturally derived immunity, suggesting that an individual might become more broadly susceptible to reinfection sometime after exposure.70Gazit S Shlezinger R Perez G et al.Comparing SARS-CoV-2 natural immunity to vaccine-induced immunity: reinfections versus breakthrough infections.medRxiv. 2021; ( published online Aug 25.) ( preprint).https: //doi.org/10.1101/2021.08.24.21262415Google Scholar
This empirical analysis of past COVID-19 infections ends at the point where the omicron ( B.1.1.529) wave was first detected in Gauteng province in South Africa. Omicron is much more transmissible than previous variants and has shown immune escape.71Pulliam JRC van Schalkwyk C Govender N et al.Increased risk of SARS-CoV-2 reinfection associated with emergence of the omicron variant in South Africa.medRxiv. 2021; ( published online Dec 2.) ( preprint).https: //doi.org/10.1101/2021.11.11.21266068Google Scholar Since Nov 14, 2021, the omicron wave has taken off in all countries and territories. Because of much lower severity of disease, the IDR is likely to have dropped considerably during the omicron wave. Models suggest that more than 50% of the world might have been infected with omicron already—however, a detailed analysis will have to await new seroprevalence data emerging in the coming months. Cumulative infections for COVID-19 through to March, 2022, might be nearly double what occurred through Nov 14, 2021.
COVID-19 has had a staggering impact on the world, with 3·39 billion ( 95% UI 3·08–3·63) people infected with SARS-CoV-2 at least once as of Nov 14, 2021. These findings highlight the potential for COVID-19 to have a continued and profound impact on the world's population. The vast differences in cumulative proportion of the population infected across countries and territories can help policy makers identify locations whose transmission-prevention strategies should be emulated, as well as those populations at greatest risk of future infection—a factor that should be considered in global vaccine prioritisation. Our statistical approach to estimating SARS-CoV-2 infection, which can be applied routinely and will allow for rapid availability of estimates, will be crucially important for research, science, and policy efforts towards pandemic preparedness, response, and control in the coming months and years. It has and continues to be made freely available to all on a routine basis.
For the analysis code see https: //github.com/ihmeuw/covid-historical-model and https: //github.com/ihmeuw/covid-model-infectionsFor the latest estimates of daily infections see https: //covid19.healthdata.org
For the analysis code see https: //github.com/ihmeuw/covid-historical-model and https: //github.com/ihmeuw/covid-model-infections
For the latest estimates of daily infections see https: //covid19.healthdata.org
Ryan M Barber, Reed J D Sorensen, David M Pigott, Catherine Bisignano, Austin Carter, Joanne O Amlag, James K Collins, Cristiana Abbafati, Christopher Adolph, Adrien Allorant, Aleksandr Y Aravkin, Bree L Bang-Jensen, Emma Castro, Suman Chakrabarti, Rebecca M Cogen, Emily Combs, Haley Comfort, Kimberly Cooperrider, Xiaochen Dai, Farah Daoud, Amanda Deen, Lucas Earl, Megan Erickson, Samuel B Ewald, Alize J Ferrari, Abraham D Flaxman, Joseph Jon Frostad, Nancy Fullman, John R Giles, Gaorui Guo, Jiawei He, Monika Helak, Erin N Hulland, Bethany M Huntley, Alice Lazzar-Atwood, Kate E LeGrand, Stephen S Lim, Akiaja Lindstrom, Emily Linebarger, Rafael Lozano, Beatrice Magistro, Deborah Carvalho Malta, Johan Månsson, Ana M Mantilla Herrera, Ali H Mokdad, Lorenzo Monasta, Mohsen Naghavi, Shuhei Nomura, Christopher M Odell, Latera Tesfaye Olana, Samuel M Ostroff, Maja Pasovic, Spencer A Pease, Robert C Reiner Jr, Grace Reinke, Antonio Luiz P Ribeiro, Damian F Santomauro, Aleksei Sholokhov, Emma E Spurlock, Ruri Syailendrawati, Roman Topor-Madry, Anh Truc Vo, Theo Vos, Rebecca Walcott, Ally Walker, Kirsten E Wiens, Charles Shey Wiysonge, Nahom Alemseged Worku, Peng Zheng, Simon I Hay, Emmanuela Gakidou, Christopher J L Murray.
Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation ( R M Barber BS, R J D Sorensen PhD, D M Pigott PhD, C Bisignano MPH, A Carter MPH, J O Amlag MPH, J K Collins BS, A Allorant PhD, A Y Aravkin PhD, B L Bang-Jensen MA, E Castro MS, S Chakrabarti MA, R M Cogen BA, E Combs BA, H Comfort MPH, K Cooperrider BA, X Dai PhD, F Daoud BS, A Deen MPH, L Earl MSc, M Erickson MA, S B Ewald MS, A J Ferrari PhD, A D Flaxman PhD, J J Frostad MPH, N Fullman MPH, J R Giles PhD, G Guo MPH, J He MSc, M Helak BA, E N Hulland MPH, B M Huntley BA, A Lazzar-Atwood BSc, K E LeGrand MPH, Prof S S Lim PhD, E Linebarger BA, Prof R Lozano MD, J Månsson MS, A H Mokdad PhD, Prof M Naghavi PhD, C M Odell MPP, S M Ostroff PhD, M Pasovic MEd, S A Pease BS, R C Reiner Jr PhD, G Reinke MA, D F Santomauro PhD, A Sholokhov MSc, E E Spurlock MPH, R Syailendrawati MA, A T Vo BSc, Prof T Vos PhD, A Walker MA, P Zheng PhD, Prof S I Hay DSc, Prof E Gakidou PhD, Prof C J L Murray DPhil), Department of Global Health ( R J D Sorensen, S Chakrabarti, E N Hulland), Department of Health Metrics Sciences, School of Medicine ( D M Pigott, A Y Aravkin, X Dai, A D Flaxman, Prof S S Lim, Prof R Lozano, A H Mokdad, Prof M Naghavi, R C Reiner Jr, Prof T Vos, P Zheng, Prof S I Hay, Prof E Gakidou, Prof C J L Murray), Department of Political Science ( Prof C Adolph PhD), Center for Statistics and the Social Sciences ( Prof C Adolph), Department of Applied Mathematics ( A Y Aravkin), Henry M Jackson School of International Studies ( S M Ostroff), Evans School of Public Policy & Governance ( R Walcott MPH), University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA; Department of Juridical and Economic Studies ( C Abbafati PhD), La Sapienza University, Rome, Italy; School of Public Health ( A J Ferrari, A Lindstrom MEpi, A M Mantilla Herrera PhD, D F Santomauro), The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia; School of Public Health ( A Lindstrom), West Moreton Hospital Health Services ( A M Mantilla Herrera), Policy and Epidemiology Group ( D F Santomauro), Queensland Centre for Mental Health Research, Wacol, QLD, Australia; Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy ( B Magistro PhD), University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada; Department of Maternal and Child Nursing and Public Health ( Prof D C Malta PhD), Department of Internal Medicine ( Prof A P Ribeiro MD), Centre of Telehealth ( Prof A P Ribeiro), Federal University of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil; Clinical Epidemiology and Public Health Research Unit ( L Monasta DSc), Burlo Garofolo Institute for Maternal and Child Health, Trieste, Italy; Department of Health Policy and Management ( S Nomura PhD), Keio University, Tokyo, Japan; Department of Global Health Policy ( S Nomura), University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan; School of Electrical and Computer Engineering ( L T Olana BSc), Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Yale School of Public Health - Social and Behavioral Sciences ( E E Spurlock), Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA; Institute of Public Health ( R Topor-Madry PhD), Jagiellonian University Medical College, Kraków, Poland; Agency for Health Technology Assessment and Tariff System, Warsaw, Poland ( R Topor-Madry); Department of Epidemiology ( K E Wiens PhD), Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA; Cochrane South Africa ( Prof C S Wiysonge MD), South African Medical Research Council, Cape Town, South Africa; School of Public Health and Family Medicine ( Prof C S Wiysonge), University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa; National Data Management Center for Health ( N A Worku MSc), Ethiopian Public Health Institute, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Please see appendix 1 ( section 12) for more detailed information about individual author contributions to the research, divided into the following categories: managing the estimation or publication process; writing the first draft of the manuscript; primary responsibility for applying analytical methods to produce estimates; primary responsibility for seeking, cataloguing, extracting, or cleaning data; designing or coding figures; providing data or critical feedback on data sources; developing methods or computational machinery; providing critical feedback on methods or results; drafting the manuscript or revising it critically for important intellectual content; and managing the overall research enterprise. Members of the core research team for this topic area had full access to the underlying data used to generate estimates presented in this paper. All other authors had access to, and reviewed, estimates as part of the research evaluation process.
To download the data used in these analyses, please visit the Global Health Data Exchange website ( http: //ghdx.healthdata.org/record/ihme-data/covid 19 cumulative infections). Data sources are also listed by location and institution in appendix 2.
C Adolph reports support for the present manuscript from the Benificus Foundation for collection of data on state level social distancing policies in the USA. X Dai reports support for the present manuscript from paid salary through their employment at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation and the University of Washington. A Flaxman reports stock or stock options from Agathos for technical advising on health metrics; and other support from Janssen, SwssRe, Merck for Mothers, and Sanofi for technical advising on simulation modelling, all outside the submitted work. N Fullman reports funding support for work unrelated to this Article from WHO as a consultant from June to September, 2019, and Gates Ventures since June, 2020, all outside the submitted work. S Nomura reports support for the present manuscript from a Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan grant. D M Pigott reports support for the present manuscript from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. All other authors declare no competing interests.
Funding was provided by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, J Stanton, T Gillespie, and J and E Nordstrom. A J Ferrari is supported by a National Health and Medical Research Council Early Career Fellowship Grant APP1121516 and is employed by the Queensland Centre for Mental Health Research, which receives core funding from the Queensland Department of Health. S Nomura would like to acknowledge the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan. R C Reiner Jr was partly supported by the National Science Foundation ( award FAIN: 2031096). AL P Ribeiro was partly supported by CNPq ( 310679/2016-8 and 465518/2014-1), by FAPEMIG ( PPM-00428-17 and RED-00081-16) and CAPES ( 88887.507149/2020-00). D F Santomauro is employed by the Queensland Centre for Mental Health Research, which receives core funding from the Department of Health, Queensland Government. C S Wiysonge's work is supported by the South African Medical Research Council.
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How to interpret the total number of SARS-CoV-2 infectionsCounts of reported cases have been the key metric to monitor the COVID-19 pandemic. However, since the beginning, it has been clear that reported cases represent only a fraction of all SARS-CoV-2 infections.1 In The Lancet, Ryan Barber and colleagues, writing on behalf of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, report a comprehensive set of global and location-specific estimates of daily and cumulative SARS-CoV-2 infections and the proportion of the population infected for 190 countries and territories up to Nov 14, 2021. Full-Text PDF | tech |
Health-care provision for displaced populations arriving from Ukraine - The Lancet Infectious Diseases | More than 4·2 million people, including 208 000 non-Ukrainians, have fled Ukraine to other European countries in recent weeks,1Migration Data PortalRefugees and Asylum Seekers.https: //www.migrationdataportal.org/ukraine/crisis-movementsDate: 2022Google Scholar with the majority being women, children, and older people.2UN High Commissioner for RefugeesUNHCR warns of rising needs in Ukraine and neighbouring countries, calls for cessation of hostilities.https: //www.unhcr.org/uk/news/briefing/2022/3/623453f14/unhcr-warns-rising-needs-ukraine-neighbouring-countries-calls-cessation.htmlDate: 2022Date accessed: March 24, 2022Google Scholar The current crucial objectives are to ensure that people can safely leave the conflict zone and access basic facilities such as housing, food, water, sanitation, and emergency care. However, going forward, it is important for the governments of receiving countries and transit countries to develop clear short-term and long-term strategies for the provision of health services.3WHOPrioritizing the health of refugees and migrants: an urgent, necessary plan of action for countries and regions in our interconnected world.https: //www.euro.who.int/en/media-centre/sections/press-releases/2022/prioritizing-the-health-of-refugees-and-migrants-an-urgent, -necessary-plan-of-action-for-countries-and-regions-in-our-interconnected-worldDate: 2022Date accessed: March 24, 2022Google Scholar These strategies must include access to vaccination, maternal and child care services, screening programmes, and care for chronic conditions and mental health.
Many EU and European Economic Area ( EEA) countries have long since been grappling with questions about what level of health care should be offered to forcibly displaced migrants and other migrant groups, when and where in the migration trajectory provision should be made ( ie should it be at borders, reception centres, once settled, via specialist or routine services, or left to non-governmental organisations), and what their subsequent level of right to access the mainstream health-care system should be. Overall, European countries do not have a uniform approach to the provision of health care for these populations, with some countries more inclusive than others, and wide discrepancies between policy and practice. In a recent survey of 25 355 people, who were mostly migrants from non-EU or non-EEA countries residing in European cities,4Medecins du MondeUCL2021 observatory report.https: //www.doctorsoftheworld.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/2021-Observatory-Report.pdf? download=1Date: 2021Date accessed: March 24, 2022Google Scholar 78% had no entitlement to access health services, most pregnant women were not able to access antenatal services, and 91% were living below the poverty line—highlighting that thousands of migrants in Europe are currently excluded from accessing basic primary health care. In addition, migrants are often overlooked in health programmes, with high levels of drop-out and poor linkage to care.
In March, 2022, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control ( ECDC) published a technical report that focuses on infectious disease vulnerabilities among displaced populations from Ukraine; the report summarises key infectious diseases that might be particularly relevant for this group.5ECDCOperational public health considerations for the prevention and control of infectious diseases in the context of Russia's aggression towards Ukraine.https: //www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/publications-data/operational-public-health-considerations-prevention-and-control-infectiousDate: 2022Date accessed: March 10, 2022Google Scholar In the case of displaced people from Ukraine, as well as newly arrived migrants in general,6ECDCPublic health guidance on screening and vaccination for infectious diseases in newly arrived migrant within the EU/EEA.https: //www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/publications-data/public-health-guidance-screening-and-vaccination-infectious-diseases-newlyDate: 2018Date accessed: March 10, 2022Google Scholar the ECDC report highlights the importance of a holistic approach to providing health care, echoing previous research, with key considerations for host health systems summarised in the panel.7Noori T Hargreaves S Greenaway C et al.Strengthening screening for infectious diseases and vaccination among migrants in Europe: what is needed to close the implementation gaps?.Travel Med Infect Dis. 2021; 39101715Google Scholar, 8Knights F Munir S Ahmed H Hargreaves S Providing initial health assessments for newly arrived migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers.BMJ. 2022; ( in press).Google Scholar To align with the principles of Universal Health Coverage and the Right to Health, such an approach requires that all migrants should have the same level of health care access as host populations. The key health risks in the next 3 months for the people displaced from Ukraine include morbidity and mortality from cardiovascular diseases ( ie, heart attack and stroke), chronic respiratory diseases, diabetes, mental health distress, and chronic infectious diseases ( ie, tuberculosis, HIV, hepatitis B and C) due to disruption to the supply of medication and poor access to health-care professionals.9Health Cluster UkrainePublic health situation analysis—short form.https: //reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/ukraine-phsa-shortform-030322.pdfDate: 2022Date accessed: March 10, 2022Google Scholar In 2020, Ukraine reported the second-highest number of tuberculosis cases in the WHO European region, and 27·2% of new tuberculosis cases were multidrug resistant ( Ukraine is included in the ten countries globally with the highest rates of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis).10WHOTB profile, Ukraine.https: //worldhealthorg.shinyapps.io/tb profiles/? inputs & entity type=% 22country% 22 & lan=% 22EN% 22 & iso2=% 22UA% 22Date: 2022Date accessed: March 9, 2022Google Scholar As has been observed during other humanitarian crises, the risk for tuberculosis increases when people are placed in crowded settings and have poor access to health services, making tuberculosis a crucial concern for migrants coming from Ukraine. Data from 2020 highlight that cases of tuberculosis and HIV coinfection in Ukraine are among the highest in Europe ( 23% of coinfections are among new and relapsed tuberculosis cases), which should be considered by health-care providers. In addition, careful consideration should be given to mental distress and trauma because of the uncertainties of a life as a refugee and long stays in camp and transit conditions.11Bjertrup PJ Bouhenia M Mayaud P Perrin C Ben Farhat J Blanchet K A life in waiting: refugees ' mental health and narratives of social suffering after European Union border closures in March 2016.Soc Sci Med. 2018; 215: 53-60Google ScholarPanelCurrent key considerations for health systems in host countries•Universal access to health systems in host countries is paramount.•Facilitate access to health-care professionals immediately on arrival to address interruptions in supply of medicines and avoid excess morbidity and mortality from cardiovascular diseases ( ie, heart attack, stroke), chronic respiratory diseases, diabetes, mental health, and chronic infectious diseases ( tuberculosis, HIV, hepatitis B and C).•Ensure full access to vaccination systems in host countries as a key priority. Ukraine has historic and current low childhood vaccination coverage; therefore, consider offering routine and catch-up vaccinations ( with a focus on measles, mumps, rubella; and tetanus, diphtheria, and polio) to all new arrivals ( children, adolescents, and adults).•Ensure access to COVID-19 vaccines given the current low coverage in Ukraine.•The majority of people displaced will be women and children. Ensure access to appropriate services such as antenatal care, health visitors, and vaccination.•Careful consideration should be given to mental distress and trauma, which are common during humanitarian crises, and the impact of the migration process on peoples ' wider health.•Health-care professionals will need to invest time and effort into building trust with displaced communities to design and deliver health and vaccine services.
•Universal access to health systems in host countries is paramount.•Facilitate access to health-care professionals immediately on arrival to address interruptions in supply of medicines and avoid excess morbidity and mortality from cardiovascular diseases ( ie, heart attack, stroke), chronic respiratory diseases, diabetes, mental health, and chronic infectious diseases ( tuberculosis, HIV, hepatitis B and C).•Ensure full access to vaccination systems in host countries as a key priority. Ukraine has historic and current low childhood vaccination coverage; therefore, consider offering routine and catch-up vaccinations ( with a focus on measles, mumps, rubella; and tetanus, diphtheria, and polio) to all new arrivals ( children, adolescents, and adults).•Ensure access to COVID-19 vaccines given the current low coverage in Ukraine.•The majority of people displaced will be women and children. Ensure access to appropriate services such as antenatal care, health visitors, and vaccination.•Careful consideration should be given to mental distress and trauma, which are common during humanitarian crises, and the impact of the migration process on peoples ' wider health.•Health-care professionals will need to invest time and effort into building trust with displaced communities to design and deliver health and vaccine services.
Addressing vaccine-preventable infectious diseases such as polio, measles, and COVID-19 will be an important priority.5ECDCOperational public health considerations for the prevention and control of infectious diseases in the context of Russia's aggression towards Ukraine.https: //www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/publications-data/operational-public-health-considerations-prevention-and-control-infectiousDate: 2022Date accessed: March 10, 2022Google Scholar, 9Health Cluster UkrainePublic health situation analysis—short form.https: //reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/ukraine-phsa-shortform-030322.pdfDate: 2022Date accessed: March 10, 2022Google Scholar An outbreak of polio was reported in Ukraine in 2021, with the country reporting the second-highest number of measles cases in Europe in the same year. Childhood vaccination coverage in Ukraine is among the lowest in the WHO European region,5ECDCOperational public health considerations for the prevention and control of infectious diseases in the context of Russia's aggression towards Ukraine.https: //www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/publications-data/operational-public-health-considerations-prevention-and-control-infectiousDate: 2022Date accessed: March 10, 2022Google Scholar, 9Health Cluster UkrainePublic health situation analysis—short form.https: //reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/ukraine-phsa-shortform-030322.pdfDate: 2022Date accessed: March 10, 2022Google Scholar which could mean that catch-up vaccinations for older age groups are warranted, with a focus on measles, mumps, rubella, tetanus, diphtheria, and polio.6ECDCPublic health guidance on screening and vaccination for infectious diseases in newly arrived migrant within the EU/EEA.https: //www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/publications-data/public-health-guidance-screening-and-vaccination-infectious-diseases-newlyDate: 2018Date accessed: March 10, 2022Google Scholar Temporary reception centres across Europe are known to have had outbreaks involving adults who missed vaccinations, doses, and boosters in their home countries as children.12Deal A Halliday R Crawshaw AF et al.Migration and outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases in Europe.Lancet Infect Dis. 2021; 21: e387-e398Google Scholar For individuals who express uncertainty about the vaccinations they have had, ECDC recommends considering them as unvaccinated and offering a new course of routine vaccines.5ECDCOperational public health considerations for the prevention and control of infectious diseases in the context of Russia's aggression towards Ukraine.https: //www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/publications-data/operational-public-health-considerations-prevention-and-control-infectiousDate: 2022Date accessed: March 10, 2022Google Scholar, 6ECDCPublic health guidance on screening and vaccination for infectious diseases in newly arrived migrant within the EU/EEA.https: //www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/publications-data/public-health-guidance-screening-and-vaccination-infectious-diseases-newlyDate: 2018Date accessed: March 10, 2022Google Scholar COVID-19 vaccine uptake in Ukraine has to date been low, with only 34% population coverage with two doses ( and 2% coverage with the booster dose), and there are high levels of vaccine hesitancy; therefore, host countries will need to devise strategies to ensure access to COVID-19 vaccines.9Health Cluster UkrainePublic health situation analysis—short form.https: //reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/ukraine-phsa-shortform-030322.pdfDate: 2022Date accessed: March 10, 2022Google Scholar, 13ECDCGuidance for the prevention and control of COVID-19 in temporary reception centres in the context of the large numbers of people fleeing Ukraine.https: //www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/publications-data/guidance-prevention-control-covid-19-temporary-reception-centres-people-fleeing-ukraineDate: 2022Date accessed: March 24, 2022Google Scholar
A holistic and patient-centred approach to health is vital, and several countries, including Ireland and Poland, have promised free access to health services for Ukrainians. When organising health service delivery, health-care professionals will need to invest time and effort into building trust with displaced communities. The EU's decision to offer temporary protection for 1 year to people fleeing Ukraine, which implies the right to residency, to work, and to free health care, is essential.14European CouncilUkraine: council unanimously introduces temporary protection for persons fleeing the war.https: //www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2022/03/04/ukraine-council-introduces-temporary-protection-for-persons-fleeing-the-war/Date: 2022Date accessed: March 10, 2022Google Scholar Yet, this policy raises many unanswered questions about the levels of provision currently afforded to the thousands of other forcibly displaced migrants who are already in the EU. Opening national borders and providing refuge to Ukrainians must go hand in hand with building sustainable and long-term access to health care for all migrant groups, informing and training health-care professionals, and ensuring that displaced populations are aware of their rights and the routes to receiving care.
We declare no competing interests. AK is funded by the Niels Stensen Fellowship. SH acknowledges funding from the National Institute for Health Research ( NIHR Advanced Fellowship NIHR300072), The Academy of Medical Sciences ( SBF005\1111), Novo Nordisk Foundation/La Caixa Foundation ( Mobility – Global Medicine and Health Research grant), and WHO. FK is supported by a Health Education England, National Institute for Health Research Academic Clinical Fellowship. AR-M is funded by the Strategic Research Program in Epidemiology at the Karolinska Institutet. | tech |
Oil prices drift lower, set for 3% weekly fall due to massive stocks release | Oil prices drifted lower on Friday and were set to drop around 3% for the week as consuming countries ' planned release of 240 million barrels from emergency stocks offset some concerns over reduced supplies from Russia due to western sanctions, Trend reports with reference to Reuters.
Brent crude futures edged lower by 55 cents, or 0.6% to $ 100.03 a barrel at 0403 GMT after gaining more than $ 1 in the early morning.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate ( WTI) crude futures lost 34 cents, or 0.4%, to $ 95.67 a barrel.
Analysts said the emergency oil release, amounting to about 1 million barrels per day from May to the end of the year, might cap price rises in the short term, but would not fully cover volumes lost if more countries impose sanctions against Russia.
`` Although this is the biggest release since the stockpile was created in 1980, it will fail to ultimately change the fundamentals in the oil market. It is likely to delay further increases in output from key producers, '' ANZ Research analysts said in a note.
The release may deter producers, including the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries ( OPEC) and U.S. shale producers, from accelerating output increases even with oil prices around $ 100 a barrel, they said.
Investors are also assessing the fundamentals in the oil market amid uncertainties over slowing demand in China, where cities have been locked down due to the latest wave of coronavirus infections, and the loss of supplies from Russia.
`` Only time can give a clear answer, '' said analysts from Haitong Futures.
A think tank affiliated to China's state-backed CNPC lowered its view on China's second-quarter oil demand by 180,000 bpd from its previous estimate due to the lockdowns there.
At the same time, the European Union's consideration of a ban on Russian oil, following its plan to embargo Russian coal, will limit any drop in oil prices in the near term.
`` In the court of public opinion, pressure is mounting on Brussels to act, and if that pressure valve pops and the EU sanctions Russian oil, we could see Brent crude at $ 120 in a heartbeat, '' Stephen Innes, managing director of SPI Asset Management, said in a note. | general |
COVID-19 vaccine waning and effectiveness and side-effects of boosters: a prospective community study from the ZOE COVID Study - The Lancet Infectious Diseases | BackgroundWith the surge of new SARS-CoV-2 variants, countries have begun offering COVID-19 vaccine booster doses to high-risk groups and, more recently, to the adult population in general. However, uncertainty remains over how long primary vaccination series remain effective, the ideal timing for booster doses, and the safety of heterologous booster regimens. We aimed to investigate COVID-19 primary vaccine series effectiveness and its waning, and the safety and effectiveness of booster doses, in a UK community setting.MethodsWe used SARS-CoV-2 positivity rates in individuals from a longitudinal, prospective, community-based study ( ZOE COVID Study), in which data were self-reported through an app, to assess the effectiveness of three COVID-19 vaccines ( ChAdOx1 nCov19 [ Oxford-AstraZeneca ], BNT162b2 [ Pfizer-BioNtech ], and mRNA1273 [ Moderna ]) against infection in the 8 months after completion of primary vaccination series. In individuals receiving boosters, we investigated vaccine effectiveness and reactogenicity, by assessing 16 self-reported systemic and localised side-effects. We used multivariate Poisson regression models adjusting for confounders to estimate vaccine effectiveness.FindingsWe included 620 793 participants who received two vaccine doses ( 204 731 [ 33·0% ] received BNT162b2, 405 239 [ 65·3% ] received ChAdOx1 nCoV-19, and 10 823 [ 1·7% ] received mRNA-1273) and subsequently had a SARS-CoV-2 test result between May 23 ( chosen to exclude the period of alpha [ B.1.1.7 ] variant dominance) and Nov 23, 2021. 62 172 ( 10·0%) vaccinated individuals tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 and were compared with 40 345 unvaccinated controls ( 6726 [ 16·7% ] of whom tested positive). Vaccine effectiveness waned after the second dose: at 5 months, BNT162b2 effectiveness was 82·1% ( 95% CI 81·3–82·9), ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 effectiveness was 75·7% ( 74·9–76·4), and mRNA-1273 effectiveness was 84·3% ( 81·2–86·9). Vaccine effectiveness decreased more among individuals aged 55 years or older and among those with comorbidities. 135 932 individuals aged 55 years or older received a booster ( 2123 [ 1·6% ] of whom tested positive). Vaccine effectiveness for booster doses in 0–3 months after BNT162b2 primary vaccination was higher than 92·5%, and effectiveness for heterologous boosters after ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 was at least 88·8%. For the booster reactogenicity analysis, in 317 011 participants, the most common systemic symptom was fatigue ( in 31 881 [ 10·1% ] participants) and the most common local symptom was tenderness ( in 187 767 [ 59·2% ]). Systemic side-effects were more common for heterologous schedules ( 32 632 [ 17·9% ] of 182 374) than for homologous schedules ( 17 707 [ 13·2% ] of 134 637; odds ratio 1·5, 95% CI 1·5–1·6, p < 0·0001).InterpretationAfter 5 months, vaccine effectiveness remained high among individuals younger than 55 years. Booster doses restore vaccine effectiveness. Adverse reactions after booster doses were similar to those after the second dose. Homologous booster schedules had fewer reported systemic side-effects than heterologous boosters.FundingWellcome Trust, ZOE, National Institute for Health Research, Chronic Disease Research Foundation, National Institutes of Health, Medical Research Council
With the surge of new SARS-CoV-2 variants, countries have begun offering COVID-19 vaccine booster doses to high-risk groups and, more recently, to the adult population in general. However, uncertainty remains over how long primary vaccination series remain effective, the ideal timing for booster doses, and the safety of heterologous booster regimens. We aimed to investigate COVID-19 primary vaccine series effectiveness and its waning, and the safety and effectiveness of booster doses, in a UK community setting.
We used SARS-CoV-2 positivity rates in individuals from a longitudinal, prospective, community-based study ( ZOE COVID Study), in which data were self-reported through an app, to assess the effectiveness of three COVID-19 vaccines ( ChAdOx1 nCov19 [ Oxford-AstraZeneca ], BNT162b2 [ Pfizer-BioNtech ], and mRNA1273 [ Moderna ]) against infection in the 8 months after completion of primary vaccination series. In individuals receiving boosters, we investigated vaccine effectiveness and reactogenicity, by assessing 16 self-reported systemic and localised side-effects. We used multivariate Poisson regression models adjusting for confounders to estimate vaccine effectiveness.
We included 620 793 participants who received two vaccine doses ( 204 731 [ 33·0% ] received BNT162b2, 405 239 [ 65·3% ] received ChAdOx1 nCoV-19, and 10 823 [ 1·7% ] received mRNA-1273) and subsequently had a SARS-CoV-2 test result between May 23 ( chosen to exclude the period of alpha [ B.1.1.7 ] variant dominance) and Nov 23, 2021. 62 172 ( 10·0%) vaccinated individuals tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 and were compared with 40 345 unvaccinated controls ( 6726 [ 16·7% ] of whom tested positive). Vaccine effectiveness waned after the second dose: at 5 months, BNT162b2 effectiveness was 82·1% ( 95% CI 81·3–82·9), ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 effectiveness was 75·7% ( 74·9–76·4), and mRNA-1273 effectiveness was 84·3% ( 81·2–86·9). Vaccine effectiveness decreased more among individuals aged 55 years or older and among those with comorbidities. 135 932 individuals aged 55 years or older received a booster ( 2123 [ 1·6% ] of whom tested positive). Vaccine effectiveness for booster doses in 0–3 months after BNT162b2 primary vaccination was higher than 92·5%, and effectiveness for heterologous boosters after ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 was at least 88·8%. For the booster reactogenicity analysis, in 317 011 participants, the most common systemic symptom was fatigue ( in 31 881 [ 10·1% ] participants) and the most common local symptom was tenderness ( in 187 767 [ 59·2% ]). Systemic side-effects were more common for heterologous schedules ( 32 632 [ 17·9% ] of 182 374) than for homologous schedules ( 17 707 [ 13·2% ] of 134 637; odds ratio 1·5, 95% CI 1·5–1·6, p < 0·0001).
After 5 months, vaccine effectiveness remained high among individuals younger than 55 years. Booster doses restore vaccine effectiveness. Adverse reactions after booster doses were similar to those after the second dose. Homologous booster schedules had fewer reported systemic side-effects than heterologous boosters.
The two-dose COVID-19 vaccination campaign substantially reduced hospitalisations and deaths despite high infection rates.1Haas EJ McLaughlin JM Khan F et al.Infections, hospitalisations, and deaths averted via a nationwide vaccination campaign using the Pfizer-BioNTech BNT162b2 mRNA COVID-19 vaccine in Israel: a retrospective surveillance study.Lancet Infect Dis. 2021; 22: 357-366Google Scholar, 2Lopez Bernal J Andrews N Gower C et al.Effectiveness of the Pfizer-BioNTech and Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines on COVID-19 related symptoms, hospital admissions, and mortality in older adults in England: test negative case-control study.BMJ. 2021; 373n1088Google Scholar, 3Cabezas C Coma E Mora-Fernandez N et al.Associations of BNT162b2 vaccination with SARS-CoV-2 infection and hospital admission and death with COVID-19 in nursing homes and healthcare workers in Catalonia: prospective cohort study.BMJ. 2021; 374n1868Google Scholar However, the effectiveness against infection, as happens also for other vaccines, wanes within months of the second dose.4Levin EG Lustig Y Cohen C et al.Waning immune humoral response to BNT162b2 COVID-19 vaccine over 6 months.N Engl J Med. 2021; 385: e84Google Scholar, 5Shekhar R Garg I Pal S Kottewar S Sheikh AB COVID-19 vaccine booster: to boost or not to boost.Infect Dis Rep. 2021; 13: 924-929Google Scholar Studies in Qatar showed substantial waning6Tang P Hasan MR Chemaitelly H et al.BNT162b2 and mRNA-1273 COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness against the SARS-CoV-2 delta variant in Qatar.Nat Med. 2021; 27: 2136-2143Google Scholar, 7Chemaitelly H Yassine HM Benslimane FM et al.mRNA-1273 COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness against the B.1.1.7 and B.1.351 variants and severe COVID-19 disease in Qatar.Nat Med. 2021; 27: 1614-1621Google Scholar in effectiveness against SARS-CoV-2 infection from month 4 after the second dose for BNT162b2 ( tozinameran; Pfizer-BioNtech),6Tang P Hasan MR Chemaitelly H et al.BNT162b2 and mRNA-1273 COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness against the SARS-CoV-2 delta variant in Qatar.Nat Med. 2021; 27: 2136-2143Google Scholar, 7Chemaitelly H Yassine HM Benslimane FM et al.mRNA-1273 COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness against the B.1.1.7 and B.1.351 variants and severe COVID-19 disease in Qatar.Nat Med. 2021; 27: 1614-1621Google Scholar although effectiveness against severe disease, hospitalisation, and death remained high 6 months after vaccination for both BNT162b2 and mRNA-1273 ( elasomeran; Moderna).6Tang P Hasan MR Chemaitelly H et al.BNT162b2 and mRNA-1273 COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness against the SARS-CoV-2 delta variant in Qatar.Nat Med. 2021; 27: 2136-2143Google Scholar, 7Chemaitelly H Yassine HM Benslimane FM et al.mRNA-1273 COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness against the B.1.1.7 and B.1.351 variants and severe COVID-19 disease in Qatar.Nat Med. 2021; 27: 1614-1621Google Scholar, 8Chemaitelly H Tang P Hasan MR et al.Waning of BNT162b2 vaccine protection against SARS-CoV-2 infection in Qatar.N Engl J Med. 2021; 385: e83Google Scholar
A systematic review of 39 studies showed vaccine effectiveness against symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection in the general population to be 89–97% for BNT162b2, 92% for ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 ( Oxford-AstraZeneca), and 94% for mRNA-1273.9Cheng C-J Lu C-Y Chang Y-H et al.Effectiveness of the WHO-authorized COVID-19 vaccines: a rapid review of global reports till 30 June 2021.Vaccines ( Basel). 2021; 91489Google Scholar However, vaccine effectiveness has been reported to drop to 44·1% with ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 or to 62·5% with BNT162b2 by week 20 after the second dose.10Andrews N Stowe J Kirsebom F Gower C Ramsay M Bernal JL Effectiveness of BNT162b2 ( Comirnaty, Pfizer-BioNTech) COVID-19 booster vaccine against COVID-19 related symptoms in England: test negative case-control study.bioRxiv. 2021; ( published online Nov 15.) ( preprint).https: //doi.org/10.1101/2021.11.15.21266341Google Scholar, 11Mahase E COVID-19: booster vaccine gives “ significant increased protection ” in over 50s.BMJ. 2021; 375n2814Google Scholar Risk of infection also increased considerably 6 months after vaccination in data from the National Israeli database12Goldberg Y Mandel M Bar-On YM et al.Waning immunity after the BNT162b2 vaccine in Israel.N Engl J Med. 2021; 385: e85Google Scholar and in a study of 780 225 individuals in the USA, with the increased risk being lower for mRNA vaccines ( BNT162b2 and mRNA-123) than for Ad.26.COV2.S ( Janssen), a viral vector vaccine.13Cohn BA Cirillo PM Murphy CC Krigbaum NY Wallace AW SARS-CoV-2 vaccine protection and deaths among US veterans during 2021.Science. 2021; 375: 331-336Google Scholar With the addition of novel COVID-19 variants of concern,14Urbanowicz RA Tsoleridis T Jackson HJ et al.Two doses of the SARS-CoV-2 BNT162b2 vaccine enhance antibody responses to variants in individuals with prior SARS-CoV-2 infection.Sci Transl Med. 2021; 13eabj0847Google Scholar several countries have offered COVID-19 vaccine boosters to the highest-risk groups to mitigate the pandemic.15Furlong A Deutsch J A country-by-country guide to coronavirus vaccine booster plans.Politico. 2021; https: //www.politico.eu/article/vaccine-booster-coronavirus-covid-19-europe-delta-varian-who/Date accessed: December 2, 2021Google Scholar A booster dose of the BNT162b2 vaccine reduced the rates of both infection and severe COVID-19 illness in the Israeli population older than 60 years16Bar-On YM Goldberg Y Mandel M et al.Protection of BNT162b2 vaccine booster against COVID-19 in Israel.N Engl J Med. 2021; 385: 1393-1400Google Scholar and overall.17Barda N Dagan N Cohen C et al.Effectiveness of a third dose of the BNT162b2 mRNA COVID-19 vaccine for preventing severe outcomes in Israel: an observational study.Lancet. 2021; 398: 2093-2100Google Scholar Boosters of mRNA-based vaccines were also safe and effective in randomised controlled trials,18Munro APS Janani L Cornelius V et al.Safety and immunogenicity of seven COVID-19 vaccines as a third dose ( booster) following two doses of ChAdOx1 nCov-19 or BNT162b2 in the UK ( COV-BOOST): a blinded, multicentre, randomised, controlled, phase 2 trial.Lancet. 2021; 398: 2258-2276Google Scholar, 19Liu X Shaw RH Stuart ASV et al.Safety and immunogenicity of heterologous versus homologous prime-boost schedules with an adenoviral vectored and mRNA COVID-19 vaccine ( Com-COV): a single-blind, randomised, non-inferiority trial.Lancet. 2021; 398: 856-869Google Scholar with good immunogenicity observed for both homologous and heterologous booster doses.18Munro APS Janani L Cornelius V et al.Safety and immunogenicity of seven COVID-19 vaccines as a third dose ( booster) following two doses of ChAdOx1 nCov-19 or BNT162b2 in the UK ( COV-BOOST): a blinded, multicentre, randomised, controlled, phase 2 trial.Lancet. 2021; 398: 2258-2276Google Scholar After receiving a booster dose, protection against symptomatic infection increased to over 93·1%,10Andrews N Stowe J Kirsebom F Gower C Ramsay M Bernal JL Effectiveness of BNT162b2 ( Comirnaty, Pfizer-BioNTech) COVID-19 booster vaccine against COVID-19 related symptoms in England: test negative case-control study.bioRxiv. 2021; ( published online Nov 15.) ( preprint).https: //doi.org/10.1101/2021.11.15.21266341Google Scholar, 11Mahase E COVID-19: booster vaccine gives “ significant increased protection ” in over 50s.BMJ. 2021; 375n2814Google Scholar resulting in a proposed regimen of universal boosters 6 months after the second dose.20Campbell D Millions to be offered COVID booster jabs earlier to protect NHS over winter. The Guardian, 2021https: //www.theguardian.com/politics/2021/nov/13/millions-of-people-across-uk-to-be-offered-covid-booster-jabs-earlierDate accessed: November 23, 2021Google Scholar, 21LaFraniere S Weiland N FDA authorizes coronavirus booster shots for all adults.The New York Times. 2021; https: //www.nytimes.com/2021/11/19/us/politics/coronavirus-boosters-fda.htmlDate: 2021Date accessed: November 23, 2021Google Scholar
Research in contextEvidence before the studyWe searched PubMed for articles published up to Dec 20, 2021, using the terms “ vaccine effectiveness waning ” or “ vaccine booster ” and “ COVID-19 ”. We found reviews summarising that titres of binding and neutralising antibodies wane over time for all vaccines and that this is also applicable to COVID-19 vaccines. For SARS-CoV-2, a preprint suggested that vaccine effectiveness was 44·1% for ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 ( Oxford-AstraZeneca) and 62·5% for BNT162b2 ( Pfizer-BioNtech) at least 20 weeks after receiving the second dose. Similar results have been reported in Qatar, but effectiveness against hospitalisation and death remained high after 6 months. Risk of infection has also been shown to increase considerably 6 months after vaccination in a large study in US veterans, with the increase in risk being much lower for mRNA-based vaccines than for Ad.26.COV2.S ( Janssen), a viral vector-based vaccine. Two Israeli studies reported that a booster dose after vaccination with BNT162b2 could raise protection against symptomatic infection up to 93·1%. The COV-BOOST randomised controlled trial found that booster schedules increased both humoral and cellular responses to SARS-CoV-2, and that the side-effects were similar to those seen with primary vaccination.There is a gap in knowledge regarding the actual waning in vaccine effectiveness against infection of both viral vector and mRNA COVID-19 vaccines after 5 months by demographic groups, and the restoration of effectiveness by boosters, particularly that of heterologous booster schedules, along with the side-effect profiles for homologous and heterologous boosters in the community.Added value of this studyWe report that both for mRNA ( mRNA-1273 [ Moderna ] and BNT162b2) and viral vector ( ChAdOx1 nCov-19) COVID-19 vaccines, effectiveness against infection substantially decreased over 5–8 months compared with 1 month after the second dose. Vaccine waning was lower among the younger age group ( < 55 years), with effectiveness above 76·7% 5 months after the second dose. We report no differences in effectiveness between months 5 and 6 for any of the vaccines. We also found that a booster dose at 6 months restored vaccine effectiveness to higher levels than those seen 1 month after the second dose. Systemic side-effects after booster vaccination were minor and affected 50 339 ( 15·9%) of 317 011 individuals, but post-vaccine systemic reactogenicity was higher in those receiving a heterologous booster schedule than in those receiving a homologous booster.Implications of all the available evidenceThe effectiveness against infection of COVID-19 vaccines waned considerably 5–8 months after primary vaccination, although it remained high, particularly among people younger than 55 years. Vaccine boosters were effective in restoring protection against infection and had a good safety profile in the community. The safety profile was better for homologous booster schedules than for heterologous ones.
We searched PubMed for articles published up to Dec 20, 2021, using the terms “ vaccine effectiveness waning ” or “ vaccine booster ” and “ COVID-19 ”. We found reviews summarising that titres of binding and neutralising antibodies wane over time for all vaccines and that this is also applicable to COVID-19 vaccines. For SARS-CoV-2, a preprint suggested that vaccine effectiveness was 44·1% for ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 ( Oxford-AstraZeneca) and 62·5% for BNT162b2 ( Pfizer-BioNtech) at least 20 weeks after receiving the second dose. Similar results have been reported in Qatar, but effectiveness against hospitalisation and death remained high after 6 months. Risk of infection has also been shown to increase considerably 6 months after vaccination in a large study in US veterans, with the increase in risk being much lower for mRNA-based vaccines than for Ad.26.COV2.S ( Janssen), a viral vector-based vaccine. Two Israeli studies reported that a booster dose after vaccination with BNT162b2 could raise protection against symptomatic infection up to 93·1%. The COV-BOOST randomised controlled trial found that booster schedules increased both humoral and cellular responses to SARS-CoV-2, and that the side-effects were similar to those seen with primary vaccination.
There is a gap in knowledge regarding the actual waning in vaccine effectiveness against infection of both viral vector and mRNA COVID-19 vaccines after 5 months by demographic groups, and the restoration of effectiveness by boosters, particularly that of heterologous booster schedules, along with the side-effect profiles for homologous and heterologous boosters in the community.
We report that both for mRNA ( mRNA-1273 [ Moderna ] and BNT162b2) and viral vector ( ChAdOx1 nCov-19) COVID-19 vaccines, effectiveness against infection substantially decreased over 5–8 months compared with 1 month after the second dose. Vaccine waning was lower among the younger age group ( < 55 years), with effectiveness above 76·7% 5 months after the second dose. We report no differences in effectiveness between months 5 and 6 for any of the vaccines. We also found that a booster dose at 6 months restored vaccine effectiveness to higher levels than those seen 1 month after the second dose. Systemic side-effects after booster vaccination were minor and affected 50 339 ( 15·9%) of 317 011 individuals, but post-vaccine systemic reactogenicity was higher in those receiving a heterologous booster schedule than in those receiving a homologous booster.
The effectiveness against infection of COVID-19 vaccines waned considerably 5–8 months after primary vaccination, although it remained high, particularly among people younger than 55 years. Vaccine boosters were effective in restoring protection against infection and had a good safety profile in the community. The safety profile was better for homologous booster schedules than for heterologous ones.
The COV-BOOST multicentre, phase 2 randomised controlled trial in the UK ( n=2878) found that booster schedules increased both neutralising antibodies and cellular responses within 28 days of administration.18Munro APS Janani L Cornelius V et al.Safety and immunogenicity of seven COVID-19 vaccines as a third dose ( booster) following two doses of ChAdOx1 nCov-19 or BNT162b2 in the UK ( COV-BOOST): a blinded, multicentre, randomised, controlled, phase 2 trial.Lancet. 2021; 398: 2258-2276Google Scholar No safety concerns were raised, and side-effect profiles were similar to those seen with primary vaccination. As booster doses are offered to increasingly younger and less at-risk groups, assessing the number of months up to which vaccination is effective, and thus determining the ideal timing for boosters, becomes crucial for public health policy and resource optimisation. Moreover, issues regarding the safety of mix-and-match boosters are of considerable public concern, hence the need to compare systemic and localised side-effects for heterologous versus homologous boosters.
Here, we aimed to investigate vaccine effectiveness ( of ChAdOx1 nCov19, BNT162b2, and mRNA1273) against infection in the 8 months following primary vaccination in a large prospective longitudinal community study of app users undergoing regular and ad-hoc SARS-CoV-2 testing. We further investigated the improved effectiveness and reactogenicity of a booster dose in a subset of individuals who had received one by Nov 23, 2021.
This prospective cohort study analysed data acquired from UK voluntary participants in the ZOE COVID Study,22Menni C Valdes AM Freidin MB et al.Real-time tracking of self-reported symptoms to predict potential COVID-19.Nat Med. 2020; 26: 1037-1040Google Scholar who self-reported data through an app ( appendix p 2). We analysed data collected from May 23, 2021, ( to exclude the period of alpha [ B.1.1.7 ] variant dominance) to Nov 23, 2021, when there was a data freeze. A consort diagram with the study design is presented in the appendix ( p 6). Additional details for data sources, analyses, and selection of covariates are also provided in the appendix ( pp 2–5).
Upon registration to the ZOE app, participants provide consent for their data to be used in COVID-19 research. They self-report demographic characteristics including age, sex, body-mass index ( BMI), smoking, race or ethnicity, health-care worker status, and comorbidity data ( appendix p 2). Participants are prompted to report any symptoms, SARS-CoV-2 tests and results, vaccination and booster details, and health-care access daily through app notifications.23Menni C Klaser K May A et al.Vaccine side-effects and SARS-CoV-2 infection after vaccination in users of the COVID Symptom Study app in the UK: a prospective observational study.Lancet Infect Dis. 2021; 21: 939-949Google Scholar Individuals without symptoms are similarly encouraged to report through the app daily. Participants were asked if they had been vaccinated for COVID-19 and if so, to record the type of vaccine and date of administration. For 8 days from each vaccination day, users were asked daily whether they had any systemic or local side-effects, as previously described.23Menni C Klaser K May A et al.Vaccine side-effects and SARS-CoV-2 infection after vaccination in users of the COVID Symptom Study app in the UK: a prospective observational study.Lancet Infect Dis. 2021; 21: 939-949Google Scholar Test positivity ( regular or ad hoc) was self-reported through the app. The ZOE COVID Study app sends invites for testing to people reporting symptoms ( including symptoms not recognised at a given timepoint by the UK Government as indicative of SARS-CoV-2 infection). When people reported more than one PCR or lateral flow result after vaccination, we selected the first test if positive or the latest test if all were negative.
Ethical approval for use of the ZOE app for research purposes in the UK was obtained from King's College London Ethics Committee ( review reference LRS-19/20–18210), and all users provided consent for non-commercial use.
Our primary outcome was infection rates ( eg, self-reported lateral flow or PCR test positivity) in individuals 5–8 months after receiving both primary doses of the available vaccines and after receiving a booster shot with either BNT162b2 or mRNA-1273. Our secondary outcome was self-reported reactogenicity within 8 days of the booster dose.
As a sub-analysis, we also investigated illness severity, defined as having two of three respiratory symptoms ( chest pain, persistent cough, and shortness of breath),24Molteni E Sudre CH Canas LS et al.Illness duration and symptom profile in symptomatic UK school-aged children tested for SARS-CoV-2.Lancet Child Adolesc Health. 2021; 5: 708-718Google Scholar and hospital admission in individuals testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 5–6 months after receiving both primary doses of the available vaccines.
Statistical analysis was done with use of Python, version 3.7 ( pandas, NumPy, and SciPy).
In participants vaccinated with two doses of BNT162b2, ChAdOx1 nCoV-19, or mRNA-1273 who were subsequently tested for SARS-CoV-2 infection, we investigated changes in infection rates in the 8 months after the second dose, compared with those of unvaccinated app users.23Menni C Klaser K May A et al.Vaccine side-effects and SARS-CoV-2 infection after vaccination in users of the COVID Symptom Study app in the UK: a prospective observational study.Lancet Infect Dis. 2021; 21: 939-949Google Scholar After adjusting for age ( < 55 years and ≥55 years), sex, previous infection ( binary variable), health-care worker status ( binary variable), comorbidities ( binary variable, with or without comorbidities), number of tests, and weekly incidence per million individuals in the UK at the time of the infection to control for background positivity level as previously described,23Menni C Klaser K May A et al.Vaccine side-effects and SARS-CoV-2 infection after vaccination in users of the COVID Symptom Study app in the UK: a prospective observational study.Lancet Infect Dis. 2021; 21: 939-949Google Scholar we defined vaccine effectiveness, VE, as the following: VE = 1 – RRi, n where the risk ratio RR is the exponential of the treatment coefficient in the Poisson regression model, iε [ BNT162b1, ChAdOx1 nCoV-19, mRNA-1273 ] and nε [ 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 ]. Test results of individuals who received a booster were excluded after their booster date.
Additionally, we tested the role of covariates in risk of infection post-vaccination by running stratified Poisson models ( adjusted for confounders) on categories of age and comorbidities ( appendix p 2). We then did sensitivity analyses in individuals who test frequently ( ie, health-care workers), those who were previously infected, and those with symptomatic infection to ensure these were not a source of bias. We further assessed whether loss to follow-up was a source of bias, by comparing the baseline characteristics of individuals who stayed enrolled in the study and reported testing results several months post-vaccination with those of individuals who were lost to follow-up. We further investigated vaccine effectiveness against hospitalisation by running the same model, with hospitalisation as the endpoint.
We investigated the effectiveness of vaccine boosters in preventing infection in a subset of app users who received two primary doses of BNT162b2 or ChAdOx1 nCoV-19, received either a BNT162b2 or an mRNA-1273 booster dose between Sept 16 and Nov 22, 2021, and were aged 55 years or older. As a control group, we selected individuals aged 55 years or older who received two primary doses of BNT162b2 or ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 but had not yet taken up their booster dose. We used adjusted Poisson regressions to compare the positivity rates in individuals with booster doses versus those with only two doses. We obtained the estimate of the log difference in the positivity rates of individuals who received a booster and control individuals who received two vaccine doses from the Poisson regression model. We combined the estimated difference between these two groups to the estimated risk reduction compared with unvaccinated individuals ( measured at 0–3 months post-vaccination; more details in appendix p 3).
To investigate systemic and local adverse effects in individuals after receiving a booster, we computed the percentage of users reporting side-effects in the 8 days following the injection. We also considered the symptomatology of the same people in the 8 days following their second dose to compare reactogenicity of third doses with that of second doses. We compared the reactogenicity of different vaccines using Pearl's adjustment ( appendix p 3).
ZOE developed the app for data collection as a not-for-profit endeavour. ZOE received a grant from the UK Department of Health and Social Care to provide ongoing surveillance data. Employees of the funder were involved in most aspects of the study.
For the analysis of vaccine effectiveness of two doses, we included 620 793 UK app users who reported being fully vaccinated and subsequently tested for SARS-CoV-2 with an RT-PCR-based test or a lateral flow test between May 23 ( once the SARS-CoV-2 delta [ B.1.617.2 ] variant became predominant) and Nov 23, 2021, and 40 345 unvaccinated users who had a PCR or lateral flow test result in the same period ( appendix p 6). 204 731 ( 33·0%) individuals received two doses of BNT162b2, 405 239 ( 65·3%) received two doses of ChAdOx1 nCoV-19, and 10 823 ( 1·7%) received two doses of mRNA-1273 ( demographic characteristics are shown in the table). The study sample was predominantly female ( 409 065 [ 61·9% ] of 661 138) and 137 939 ( 20·1%) were obese ( mean BMI 26·61 kg/m2, SD 5·33). On average, fully vaccinated individuals completed their second dose 3·84 months ( IQR 3–5) before the analysis.TableDescriptive characteristics of the study population, by type of vaccine used in the primary immunisation seriesBNT162b2 ( n=204 731) ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 ( n=405 239) mRNA-1273 ( n=10 823) Unvaccinated ( n=40 345) SexFemale134 032 ( 65·5%) 242 829 ( 59·9%) 6235 ( 57·6%) 25 969 ( 64·4%) Male70 699 ( 34·5%) 162 410 ( 40·1%) 4588 ( 42·4%) 14 376 ( 35·6%) Age, years50·0 ( 13·9); 52 ( 38–62) 54·8 ( 9·9); 56 ( 48–63) 39·1 ( 8·3); 39 ( 33–46) 37·7 ( 13·2); 34 ( 27–47) BMI, kg/m226·6 ( 5·6) 26·8 ( 5·3) 25·2 ( 4·6) 25·4 ( 5·3) Health-care workers27 110 ( 13·2%) 9522 ( 2·3%) 84 ( 0·7%) 1794 ( 4·4%) Comorbidities41 136 ( 20·1%) 66 471 ( 16·4%) 755 ( 7·0%) 3958 ( 9·8%) Infection post-vaccination16 037 ( 7·8%) 45 384 ( 11·2%) 751 ( 6·9%) 6726 ( 16·7%) * Infections during the study period.PCR confirmed11 491 ( 71·7%) 32 082 ( 70·7%) 525 ( 69·9%) 4868 ( 72·4%) * Infections during the study period.LFT confirmed4546 ( 28·3%) 13 302 ( 29·3%) 226 ( 30·1%) 1858 ( 27·6%) * Infections during the study period.Infections with symptom assessment15 320 ( 7·5%) 43 706 ( 10·8%) 739 ( 6·8%) 4962 ( 12·3%) Symptomatic infections post-vaccination13 682 ( 6·7%) 40 354 ( 10·0%) 646 ( 6·0%) 4575 ( 11·3%) * Infections during the study period.Booster98 008 ( 47·9%) †Data indicate that of 204 731 individuals who received two doses of BNT162b2 in the primary immunisation series, 98 008 received a booster dose, including 91 692 who received BNT162b2 and 6316 who received mRNA-1273.120 525 ( 29·7%) ‡Data indicate that of 405 239 individuals who received two doses of ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 in the primary immunisation series, 120 525 received a booster dose, including 102 780 who received BNT162b2 and 17 745 who received mRNA-1273.00Data are n, n (%), mean ( SD), or mean ( SD); median ( IQR). BMI=body-mass index. LFT=lateral flow test. * Infections during the study period.† Data indicate that of 204 731 individuals who received two doses of BNT162b2 in the primary immunisation series, 98 008 received a booster dose, including 91 692 who received BNT162b2 and 6316 who received mRNA-1273.‡ Data indicate that of 405 239 individuals who received two doses of ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 in the primary immunisation series, 120 525 received a booster dose, including 102 780 who received BNT162b2 and 17 745 who received mRNA-1273. Open table in a new tab
Data are n, n (%), mean ( SD), or mean ( SD); median ( IQR). BMI=body-mass index. LFT=lateral flow test.
We investigated changes in infection rates after completing the second dose. After the second dose, 62 172 ( 10·0%) of 620 793 vaccinated individuals and 6726 ( 16·7%) of 40 345 unvaccinated controls tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 infection. Data were available for up to 8 months after the second dose for BNT162b2, for up to 6 months for ChAdOx1 nCoV-19, and for up to 5 months for mRNA-1273. In line with our previous reports,23Menni C Klaser K May A et al.Vaccine side-effects and SARS-CoV-2 infection after vaccination in users of the COVID Symptom Study app in the UK: a prospective observational study.Lancet Infect Dis. 2021; 21: 939-949Google Scholar we observed that 1 month after the second dose, infection risk in the vaccinated group was significantly lower than in the unvaccinated population ( vaccine effectiveness of 91·6%, 95% CI 90·7–92·4, for BNT162b2; 83·1%, 82·2–84·0, for ChAdOx1 nCoV-19; and 94·1%, 92·3–95·5, for mRNA-1273), after adjusting for confounders using Poisson regressions25Hayat MJ Higgins M Understanding Poisson regression.J Nurs Educ. 2014; 53: 207-215Google Scholar ( figure 1, appendix pp 7–8). As depicted in figure 1A, vaccine effectiveness gradually started waning after the second shot. BNT162b2 effectiveness was 82·1% ( 81·3–82·9) at 5 months, 81·6% ( 80·8–82·4) at 6 months, and 75·7% ( 73·4–77·7) at 8 months; ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 effectiveness was 75·7% ( 74·9–76·4) at 5 months and 75·2% ( 74·3–76·1) at 6 months; and mRNA-1273 effectiveness was 84·3% ( 81·2–86·9) at 5 months ( appendix pp 7–8).Figure 1Primary immunisation series effectiveness against infection over time, overall ( A) and by age ( B) and presence of comorbidities ( C) Show full captionwThe graphs represent the risk reduction for infection of the vaccinated group compared with the unvaccinated group by vaccine type and months since vaccination. Dotted lines indicate 95% CIs.View Large Image Figure ViewerDownload Hi-res image Download ( PPT)
wThe graphs represent the risk reduction for infection of the vaccinated group compared with the unvaccinated group by vaccine type and months since vaccination. Dotted lines indicate 95% CIs.
For each vaccine, we observed a larger waning of effectiveness in individuals aged 55 years or older than in those younger than 55 years, with similar trends observed over time ( figure 1B). For this analysis, we included 300 944 participants who were doubly vaccinated and younger than 55 years, of whom 41 137 ( 13·7%) tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, and 319 849 aged 55 years or older, of whom 21 035 ( 6·6%) tested positive. The control group consisted of unvaccinated participants: 34 355 younger than 55 years, of whom 5992 ( 17·4%) tested positive, and 5990 aged 55 years or older, of whom 734 ( 12·3%) tested positive.
At 5 months, BNT162b2 vaccine effectiveness was 76·3% ( 74·0–78·5) in those aged 55 years or older compared with 83·0% ( 82·0–83·8) in those younger than 55 years; at the same timepoint, ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 effectiveness was 67·8% ( 65·1–70·2) in those aged 55 years or older compared with 76·7% ( 75·9–77·6) in those younger than 55 years.
We found that individuals with comorbidities who received the BNT162b2 or ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 vaccine had lower vaccine effectiveness than individuals without comorbidities ( eg, 77·5%, 74·9–79·9, vs 82·8%, 81·9–83·6, at 5 months with BNT162b2; and 70·8%, 68·0–73·5, vs 76·1%, 75·3–76·9, at 5 months with ChAdOx1 nCoV-19; figure 1C). For this analysis, 512 431 participants without comorbidities who were doubly vaccinated ( 52 058 [ 10·2% ] tested positive) were compared with 36 387 unvaccinated individuals with no comorbidities ( 6106 [ 16·8% ] tested positive); and 108 362 individuals with at least one comorbidity who were doubly vaccinated ( 10 114 [ 9·3% ] tested positive) were compared with 3958 unvaccinated individuals with at least one comorbidity ( 620 [ 15·7% ] tested positive). Because the mRNA-1273 vaccine was offered to younger individuals without comorbidities, we could not do analyses stratified by age or comorbidities.
We did sensitivity analyses in participants who test frequently ( ie, health-care workers), those who were previously infected, and those with symptomatic infection; we found that vaccine effectiveness at 5 months was not substantially different in any of these subgroups compared with the main analysis ( appendix p 9). To assess whether loss to follow-up was a source of bias, we compared the characteristics at baseline of individuals who stayed enrolled in the study and reported testing results several months post-vaccination with those of individuals who were lost to follow-up; we found that these groups were broadly similar ( table; appendix p 10).
Vaccine effectiveness against severe infection and hospitalisation remained high 5–6 months after completion of the primary vaccination series ( effectiveness against severe infection of 78·8%, 95% CI 77·1–80·3, and against hospitalisation of 84·1%, 81·0–86·7; appendix p 11). Moreover, vaccine effectiveness was higher among individuals younger than 55 years ( effectiveness against severe infection of 79·2%, 77·4–80·8, and against hospitalisation of 84·3%, 80·7–87·2) than among individuals aged 55 years and older ( effectiveness against severe infection of 66·5%, 57·5–73·5, and against hospitalisation of 80·4%, 70·7–86·9; appendix p 12). As the mRNA-1273 vaccine was offered to the younger age group with less severe infection outcomes, we could not do an analysis of effectiveness against severe illness or hospitalisation separately for this vaccine. For BNT162b2 and ChAdOx1 nCoV-19, vaccine effectiveness estimates were greater in younger than in older individuals ( appendix p 12).
During the study period, 194 472 app users registered receiving booster shots with BNT162b2 and 24 061 with mRNA-1273. We assessed the effectiveness of homologous and heterologous booster doses in 135 932 participants aged 55 years or older who received a booster dose ( 2123 [ 1·6% ] subsequently infected). For individuals who received a booster, we saw significant increases in effectiveness against infection in 0–3 months post-booster compared with the same time period after the second dose in 33 466 individuals aged 55 years or older doubly vaccinated without a booster ( 824 [ 2·5% ] subsequently infected; appendix p 13). This translated to a vaccine effectiveness versus unvaccinated individuals aged 55 years or older of 95·3% ( 92·3–97·1) for homologous BNT162b2 schedules ( n=63 632), 91·0% ( 89·2–92·5) for those receiving a BNT162b2 booster after two primary ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 doses ( n=63 922), 88·8% ( 84·4–92·0) for those receiving an mRNA-1273 booster after two primary ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 doses ( n=6000), and 92·5% ( 86·0–96·0) for those receiving an mRNA-1273 booster after two primary doses of BNT162b2 ( n=2378; figure 2, appendix p 13).Figure 2Effectiveness against infection of homologous and heterologous booster doses in individuals aged 55 years or olderShow full captionError bars indicate 95% CI. Vaccine effectiveness estimates for booster doses ( or two doses) in 0–3 months after immunisation compared with no vaccination are shown.View Large Image Figure ViewerDownload Hi-res image Download ( PPT)
Error bars indicate 95% CI. Vaccine effectiveness estimates for booster doses ( or two doses) in 0–3 months after immunisation compared with no vaccination are shown.
We further investigated the occurrence of systemic and local adverse effects within 8 days after administration of the booster dose. 317 011 participants completed at least one daily report of systemic and local side-effects after receiving the booster ( appendix pp 14–15). Of these, 27 761 ( 8·8%) received an mRNA-1273 third dose and 289 250 ( 91·2%) received BNT162b2; 134 637 ( 42·5%) participants received homologous prime–boost schedules and 182 374 ( 57·5%) received heterologous schedules. On average, the mean age of participants who received a booster was 65·4 years ( SD 10·6) and the mean BMI was 26·5 kg/m2 ( 5·1).
After the booster, 50 339 ( 15·9%) of 317 011 individuals reported having at least one systemic adverse effect and 232 596 ( 73·4%) reported one or more local effects within 8 days of the injection. The most commonly reported systemic side-effects were fatigue and headache, and the most frequently reported local side-effects were tenderness and pain around the site of injection ( appendix p 14), the same as what was reported after the first two vaccine doses.23Menni C Klaser K May A et al.Vaccine side-effects and SARS-CoV-2 infection after vaccination in users of the COVID Symptom Study app in the UK: a prospective observational study.Lancet Infect Dis. 2021; 21: 939-949Google Scholar For those receiving homologous BNT162b2 schedules, the proportion of participants who reported systemic side-effects after the booster was slightly lower than after the second dose ( 13·2%, 95% CI 13·0–13·3, for the third dose vs 19·2%, 19·0–19·4, for the second dose; odds ratio [ OR ] 1·6, 95% CI 1·5–1·6; p < 0·0001) after adjusting for covariates ( figure 3, appendix p 16).Figure 3Proportion of participants self-reporting adverse effects to the ZOE COVID Study app within 8 days after receiving a boosterShow full captionSystemic and local side-effects after the booster are presented for homologous and heterologous dose combinations.View Large Image Figure ViewerDownload Hi-res image Download ( PPT)
Systemic and local side-effects after the booster are presented for homologous and heterologous dose combinations.
Individuals who received a heterologous booster dose had higher rates of systemic adverse effects ( 17·9%, 17·7–18·1; 32 632 of 182 374) than those who received a homologous booster dose ( 13·2%; 17 707 of 134 637; OR 1·5, 1·5–1·6, p < 0·0001, vs homologous BNT162b2). Among those on a heterologous schedule, participants receiving a third mRNA-1273 dose after a second BNT162b2 or ChadOx nCoV-19 dose were more likely to report systemic side-effects ( 18·0%, 95% CI 17·1–18·8) than those receiving the other heterologous combination ( 16·1%, 15·9–16·2, for ChadOx1 nCoV-19 followed by BNT162b2; OR 1·2, 1·2–1·3, p < 0·0001).
Similarly, local side-effects after the third BNT162b2 dose were less frequent than those after the second dose ( 71·2%, 95% CI 71·0–71·5, after the third dose vs 76·6%, 76·0–76·8, after the second dose; OR 1·2, 1·2–1·3, p < 0·0001). However, as before, people receiving heterologous booster doses reported on average more local side-effects than those receiving a homologous dose, with participants receiving a third mRNA-1273 booster after BNT162b2 more likely to report local side-effects than those receiving other heterologous combinations ( figure 3; appendix p 16).
In this large-scale, community-based study of over 600 000 people, we found that, although there was substantial waning of COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness against infection 5–8 months after the second vaccine dose, effectiveness against infection remained high overall ( above 75%) and particularly so among healthy individuals and those younger than 55 years ( 76·1% for all vaccine types). We also found that receiving a booster dose of BNT162b2 or mRNA-1273 6 months after the second primary dose restored vaccine effectiveness to higher levels than those seen 1 month after the second dose, for both BNT1622b2 and ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 primary immunisation series. Effectiveness against infection after boosters was higher than 88·8% for all heterologous and homologous schedules, supporting current policies in several countries,15Furlong A Deutsch J A country-by-country guide to coronavirus vaccine booster plans.Politico. 2021; https: //www.politico.eu/article/vaccine-booster-coronavirus-covid-19-europe-delta-varian-who/Date accessed: December 2, 2021Google Scholar which encourage booster doses to reduce transmission of SARS-CoV-2. The values for effectiveness against infection seen in our study are consistent with those reported by a smaller UK-based study in individuals older than 50 years10Andrews N Stowe J Kirsebom F Gower C Ramsay M Bernal JL Effectiveness of BNT162b2 ( Comirnaty, Pfizer-BioNTech) COVID-19 booster vaccine against COVID-19 related symptoms in England: test negative case-control study.bioRxiv. 2021; ( published online Nov 15.) ( preprint).https: //doi.org/10.1101/2021.11.15.21266341Google Scholar and by a large Israeli study.16Bar-On YM Goldberg Y Mandel M et al.Protection of BNT162b2 vaccine booster against COVID-19 in Israel.N Engl J Med. 2021; 385: 1393-1400Google Scholar
Waning of effectiveness against infection for COVID-19 vaccines that use novel technologies such as mRNA-based delivery is in line with what has been observed for more traditional vaccines such as the ones used for influenza, where the odds of testing positive for influenza increases by 16% per 28-day period between vaccination and testing.26Lipsitch M Challenges of vaccine effectiveness and waning studies.Clin Infect Dis. 2019; 68: 1631-1633Google Scholar However, consistent with what is expected of vaccines that induce high T-cell responses,27Ewer KJ Barrett JR Belij-Rammerstorfer S et al.T cell and antibody responses induced by a single dose of ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 ( AZD1222) vaccine in a phase 1/2 clinical trial.Nat Med. 2021; 27: 270-278Google Scholar we found that ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 effectiveness against infection remained stable after 3 months, albeit lower than for BNT162b2, with no significant drop in effectiveness seen between months 3 and 6 in our data.
In addition to effectiveness against infection, our data show that 5–8 months after vaccination, individuals have additional protection against severe illness and hospitalisation, even if infected with SARS-CoV-2. For those aged 55 years or older, vaccine effectiveness against hospitalisation due to COVID-19 was over 80%, compared with that of individuals in the same age group who were unvaccinated and infected with SARS-CoV-2.
Our data show higher effectiveness against infection ( measured as test positivity) after 5 months than those reported in other studies. For example, a study from Qatar8Chemaitelly H Tang P Hasan MR et al.Waning of BNT162b2 vaccine protection against SARS-CoV-2 infection in Qatar.N Engl J Med. 2021; 385: e83Google Scholar reported complete waning against infection at 7 months or more after primary vaccination with BNT162b2, but the analysis included only 297 vaccinated people. Similar findings were reported among individuals older than 50 years in the UK.10Andrews N Stowe J Kirsebom F Gower C Ramsay M Bernal JL Effectiveness of BNT162b2 ( Comirnaty, Pfizer-BioNTech) COVID-19 booster vaccine against COVID-19 related symptoms in England: test negative case-control study.bioRxiv. 2021; ( published online Nov 15.) ( preprint).https: //doi.org/10.1101/2021.11.15.21266341Google Scholar A much larger study28Tartof SY Slezak JM Fischer H et al.Effectiveness of mRNA BNT162b2 COVID-19 vaccine up to 6 months in a large integrated health system in the USA: a retrospective cohort study.Lancet. 2021; 398: 1407-1416Google Scholar from a health-care provider in the USA found 90% effectiveness of BNT162b2 after 5 months against hospitalisation but only 53% against infection. There are two crucial differences between these studies and ours. First, these studies assessed vaccine effectiveness including asymptomatic infections ( which are more common than symptomatic ones), but our database contains primarily symptomatic infections and mostly fails to include this group. Second, our analyses are adjusted for previous infection. As time since vaccination increases, a higher proportion of the unvaccinated population becomes infected, hence the relative vaccine effectiveness against infection decreases regardless of actual waning, simply because of the increased levels of immunity in the control group. Therefore, it is probable that, by adjusting for this factor, our rates of vaccine effectiveness were higher than those of other studies.
The choice of a control sample is crucial, as highlighted by an Israeli study on vaccine effectiveness waning of BNT162b2.8Chemaitelly H Tang P Hasan MR et al.Waning of BNT162b2 vaccine protection against SARS-CoV-2 infection in Qatar.N Engl J Med. 2021; 385: e83Google Scholar, 12Goldberg Y Mandel M Bar-On YM et al.Waning immunity after the BNT162b2 vaccine in Israel.N Engl J Med. 2021; 385: e85Google Scholar, 28Tartof SY Slezak JM Fischer H et al.Effectiveness of mRNA BNT162b2 COVID-19 vaccine up to 6 months in a large integrated health system in the USA: a retrospective cohort study.Lancet. 2021; 398: 1407-1416Google Scholar In that study, waning was assessed by comparing the likelihood of infection for the same individual at an earlier timepoint, because the majority of the Israeli population is vaccinated and the unvaccinated population is likely to be a biased sample. However, those vaccine effectiveness estimates assessed not merely waning, but also differences in vaccine effectiveness against changing dominant SARS-CoV-2 variants.
We report that systemic adverse effects, including headache and fatigue, affected 15·9% of participants after receiving the booster dose, and local effects affected 73·4% of participants. However, systemic side-effects were significantly higher after heterologous booster doses ( affecting more than 17% of individuals) than after homologous booster schedules, which affected fewer than 12% of participants.
Our study has several strengths, among which are the large sample size, the fact that vaccine effectiveness for both the primary immunisation series and booster doses was assessed when infection pressure from the delta variant was the same, and reactogenicity reporting in a large sample of participants.
Our study also has some limitations. First, we used self-reported data, which can introduce information bias, including misclassification, or collider bias. Additionally, because of privacy concerns, we were unable to cross-reference participants ' responses with national databases for infection or immunisation. We also assumed that all participants report symptoms in the same way. Second, participants using the app were a self-selected group and might not be fully representative of the general population. However, our app is able to produce estimates of population-level disease prevalence that agree with surveys with a representative design,29Varsavsky T Graham MS Canas LS et al.Detecting COVID-19 infection hotspots in England using large-scale self-reported data from a mobile application: a prospective, observational study.Lancet Public Health. 2021; 6: e21-e29Google Scholar suggesting behavioural issues are not substantially biasing our population. Moreover, we can not rule out the presence of selection bias in who was tested after vaccination, as they might not be representative of the whole vaccinated population. Third, our measurements are limited by the booster rollout's focus on health-care workers, older age groups, and clinically vulnerable individuals, which was the UK Government's policy until Dec 1, 2021.30Wise J COVID-19: booster doses to be offered to 30 million people in UK.BMJ. 2021; 374n2261Google Scholar, 31UK Health Security AgencyCOVID-19 vaccination: a guide to booster vaccination for individuals aged 40 years and over.https: //www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-vaccination-booster-dose-resources/covid-19-vaccination-a-guide-to-booster-vaccinationDate: 2021Date accessed: December 2, 2021Google Scholar Finally, our study focused on the timescale of the predominant delta variant and might not be generalisable to other variants.
Overall, our data suggest that young, healthy adults 6 months after primary vaccination retain substantial immunity to SARS-CoV-2 variants dominant up until November, 2021. Our data indicate that booster doses are safe and effective, and systemic side-effects are less frequent for participants receiving homologous than heterologous doses.
JW, TDS, and SO acquired funding. CM, AMV, and TDS conceptualised the study. AM, LP, and JC did the formal analysis. JC, AM, and LP curated the data. PL, CH, SO, and CJS were responsible for tools and methods. JC, AM, and LP verified the underlying data. CM, AM, LP, JC, and AMV wrote the original draft. All authors reviewed and edited the manuscript. All authors had access to all data in the study and the corresponding author had final responsibility for the decision to submit for publication.
Anonymised research data are shared with third parties through the centre for Health Data Research UK ( https: //www.HDRUK.ac.uk). US investigators are encouraged to coordinate data requests through the COPE Consortium ( https: //www.monganinstitute.org/cope-consortium). Data updates can be found on https: //covid.joinzoe.com.
TDS, AMV, CJS, and SO are consultants to ZOE. JW, AM, LP, and JC are employees of ZOE. All other authors declare no competing interests.
This work was supported by ZOE through a grant from the UK Department of Health and Social Care. This research was funded in whole, or in part, by the Wellcome Trust ( WT212904/Z/18/Z; WT203148/Z/16/Z). For the purpose of open access, the authors have applied a CC BY public copyright to any Author Accepted Manuscript version arising from this submission. TwinsUK is funded by the Wellcome Trust ( 212904/Z/18/Z), Medical Research Council ( MRC), Versus Arthritis, EU Horizon 2020, Chronic Disease Research Foundation ( CDRF), ZOE Global, and the National Institute for Health Research ( NIHR) Clinical Research Network and Biomedical Research Centre based at Guy's and St Thomas ' National Health Service ( NHS) Foundation Trust in partnership with King's College London ( London, UK). CM is funded by CDRF. AMV is funded by the UK Research and Innovation–MRC Covid-Rapid Response grant MR/V027883/1. This work was supported by core funding from the Wellcome–Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council Centre for Medical Engineering ( WT203148/Z/16/Z). This research was funded or supported by the NIHR Biomedical Research Centre based at Guy's and St Thomas ' NHS Foundation Trust and King's College London and supported by the NIHR Clinical Research Facility at Guy's and St Thomas '. The views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the NHS, the NIHR, or the UK Department of Health. We express our sincere thanks to all the participant users of the app, including study volunteers enrolled in cohorts within the Coronavirus Pandemic Epidemiology consortium. We thank the staff of ZOE, the Department of Twin Research at King's College London, the Clinical and Translational Epidemiology Unit at Massachusetts General Hospital ( Boston, MA, USA), and researchers and staff at Lund University ( Lund, Sweden) for their tireless work in contributing to the running of the study and data collection.
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Remarkable Tiger Woods in Masters hunt after opening 71 | Augusta, Georgia – Back playing in the Masters after a career-threatening car crash, Tiger Woods said he thought he could win a sixth green jacket and on Thursday made a few more believers after carding a solid opening 71.
In his first competitive round of golf in 508 days, Woods mixed three birdies with two bogeys at Augusta National to sit in a tie for 10th four back of South Korea’ s Im Sung-jae, who is alone atop the leaderboard after posting a five-under 67 highlighted by an eagle at the par-five 13th.
Australian Cameron Smith, who in March won golf’ s unofficial fifth major, the Players Championship, lurks one back at four-under 68.
World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, 2020 Masters champion Dustin Johnson, 2016 Masters winner Briton Danny Willett and Chilean Joaquin Niemann all had 69s to sit one further adrift.
Smith and Im have come close to a green jacket once before, finishing in a tie for second behind Johnson two years ago.
Although the year’ s first major featured all of golf’ s best, there was only one man most had come to see — the world’ s 973rd-ranked player Woods.
It was a remarkable effort from the 15-time major champion just 14 months after doctors had considered the possibility of having to amputate his right leg, mangled in the single car accident.
“ The place was electric, ” said Woods. “ I hadn’ t played like this since 2019 when I won because in 2020 we had COVID and we had no one here, and I didn’ t play last year.
“ So, to have the patrons fully out and to have that type of energy out there was awesome to feel.
Woods said he was prepared to play with pain and at times noticeably limped as he made his way around the undulating layout regarded as one of the toughest walks on the PGA Tour.
After COVID-19 limited the number of spectators allowed onto the grounds over the last two years, the crowds were back in force and bringing with them the familiar roars that echo through the tall Georgia pines.
The start was delayed 30 minutes due to thunderstorms but the dreary weather could not dampen the buzz as golf fans lucky enough to have secured one of sport’ s most coveted tickets moved quickly to stake out their places around some of the sport’ s most famous holes and wait for Woods to appear.
The 46-year-old, wearing a pink shirt and black pants, had his game face on as he walked out to the first tee where the entire length of the par-four 445-yard opening hole was lined with thousands of spectators.
After five consecutive pars, Woods nearly aced the par-three sixth hole where his tee shot stopped two feet from the cup to set up his first birdie which was followed by his first bogey at the eighth.
Even par entering Amen Corner, Woods made it through the infamous stretch of holes unscathed, picking up his second birdie at 13.
That was followed by another bogey at 14 but the 16th provided vintage Woods as he rolled in a monster 29-foot birdie putt and celebrated with a trademark fist pump.
“ I did something positive today, ” said Woods. “ I was able to finish up in the red.
Japan’ s Hideki Matsuyama opened his defense of his Masters title with an even par 72.
Matsuyama, seeking his second major title, received a big cheer from the crowd as he teed off on the first hole. But he said it did not weigh on him mentally with Woods, playing in the group in front of him, getting even bigger attention.
“ The gallery all went to him so it was nothing, ” joked Matsuyama. “ I didn’ t have that many good shots but it wasn’ t a bad start. ”
Wedge shots came to Matsuyama’ s rescue as he saved par on No. 1 and 4 and he got his first birdie of the tournament on the par-5 eighth hole, having landed his 18-meter, third shot from the rough near the pin.
Matsuyama said he felt “ nearly no ” pain from the neck injury that has troubled him since early March. Bogeys on No. 3, 11 and 12 did set Matsuyama back but he made sure of quick recoveries on both the front and back nine — birdieing on No. 13 and 15 — to end the day even.
“ I believe it will be windy ( in the second round) and I’ ll be looking to manage that well, ” he said.
Of the two other Japanese players in the tournament, amateur Keita Nakajima, making his Masters debut, also had a 72. Takumi Kanaya shot a 75. | tech |
Natuzzi S.p.A.: Shareholder Letter and Financial Results | 2021 – FOURTH QUARTER AND FISCAL YEAR RESULTS
FOURTH QUARTER 2021 HIGHLIGHTS
FISCAL YEAR 2021 HIGHTLIGHTS
SANTERAMO IN COLLE, Bari, Italy -- ( BUSINESS WIRE) -- The Board of Directors of Natuzzi S.p.A. ( NYSE: NTZ) ( “ we ”, “ Natuzzi ” or the “ Company ” and, together with its subsidiaries, the “ Group ”) announced its 2021 fourth quarter and full year unaudited consolidated financial results and approved the Company’ s draft stand-alone financial statements.
Pasquale Natuzzi, Chairman of the Group commented: “ The year just passed has turned out to be a very tumultuous year, especially on the supply chain side. Nevertheless, we have been able to deliver a double digit increase in invoiced sales and a positive result from our operations vs the two prior years. I am particularly encouraged, beyond numbers, by the leadership that the CEO and the new governance is providing to our business, and I am confident that we have now the conditions to regain the global leadership that our brands and our Group deserve ”
Antonio Achille, CEO of the Group commented: “ The demand for our products has remained robust, exceeding our expectations thanks to the strength of our Brands, Natuzzi Italia, our luxury Brand completely designed and made in Italy, and Natuzzi Editions, our contemporary Brand entirely designed in Italy and strategically manufactured to efficiently serve individual markets. We ended 2021 with a double digit increase in written orders versus 2020 ( +17.6%) and we ended the year with written orders which are 14.5% higher before the start of covid pandemic in 2019. Demand was strong across main geographies with reference to North America, China and Emerging markets.
Supply chain complications in the industry throughout most of 2021, such as the low availability of raw materials and semi-finished goods as well as shipping shortage and delays, have limited our ability to keep pace with continued growing demand.
As a consequence of the combined effect of the accelerated growth of the demand for our products and multiple supply chain bottlenecks, we ended 2021 with an order portfolio at €114.4 million vs €103.3 million at the end of 2020, mainly concentrated in our European factories. While this represents a solid base for future business, we are focused on enhancing our production capacity so to increase the service level for our customers and clients. This is particularly important since the demand for our products continues to be robust, with written orders for the first 12 weeks being +32.3% vs same period in 2021.
We reported increasing gross margins both on a quarterly and yearly basis, despite the challenges of a generalized inflationary environment, with escalating commodity and freight costs that put pressures on margins, particularly evident in 2021 fourth quarter.
In order to mitigate such supply-chain related issues, we are progressing with a series of initiatives which are aimed at enhancing the modernization of our factories, increasing efficiency and production capacity.
As anticipated in November, we started the “ Factory 4.0 ” pilot in one of our factories in Italy. This program, completely inspired by the automotive industry, leverages on innovative technologies and provides for a greater involvement of our vendors in the process, so that everyone in the value chain, our suppliers included, can contribute to identify opportunities to improve and stabilize the overall process flow. This program, once fine-tuned in our pilot plant, will be gradually extended to the main Group’ s owned remaining factories in Italy as well as in China, Romania and Brazil.
Last year also saw significant changes on our organization which are now impacting positively on the way our team works. In November, we launched the new commercial organization, which pivots on the Brands rather than the distribution channels. This represents an important step forward in supporting our journey to become a lifestyle brand and a retailer with a clear strategy and a different positioning for each of the two brands. Each Chief Brand Officer is now fully on board and in charge of setting the brand marketing and merchandising strategy while interacting closely with the Regions to define the distribution priorities. We believe this has been a key step in the direction of becoming a Consumer and Brand Centric organization. The growth of both Brands in the first 12 weeks of 2022 confirms the positive impact of the new organization on our business.
We also introduced a new Business Unit to capture and develop further our Furnishing & Accessories business. Furnishings and accessories have been experiencing significant growth, increasing in 2021 by 28.6% vs 2020 and we believe this is a great opportunity to increase the average order tickets of our stores.
This business unit, which will oversee the entire value chain, will adopt an “ asset light ” business model, as suppliers will be directly involved in both production and inventory management. The manager of this new division will join us in April. Mr. Massimiliano Giacomelli, with thirty years of experience in the home furnishings industry, joins us from an Italian high-end furniture company where he served as CEO. Massimiliano will report to the CEO and will act in close relation with both Chief Brand Officers and the Creative director to ensure coherence of the merchandising proposition with the strategy of each brand, so to further enhance the retail experience.
We keep on working to strengthen our organization to support and accelerate our transformation. To execute our plans, we are still looking for a few specific talents to complement our team. I want to have in all key positions of the new organization managers which have an entrepreneurial mindset and share passion towards the vision we have developed to regain our Global Leadership position by 2026.
The other front we keep on working is retail, in an effort to complete our transition to a Brand Retailer group. On this front, I am pleased that our stores continue improving their performance, most notably in the US, which remains one of our strongest retail opportunities. During 2021, like-for-like sales of our DOS located in the US grew by 64.8% and 35.6% over 2020 and 2019, respectively.
We are also very pleased with the pace of development and performance of retail in China, which is predominately served with franchising monoband stores. During 2021, our JV added 84 new monoband stores, bringing the total number of stores to 340. We are seeing continuous growth in revenues, not only as a result of retail expansion, but also in terms of organic growth.
We also concluded an important JV agreement to accelerate the growth of the rest of Apac and to reinforce our production capabilities in Vietnam. I am particularly glad that Mr. Mai Huu Tin, Executive Chairman of TTF, has completed his 20% acquisition in our subsidiary Natuzzi Singapore. Mr. Tin completely shares the values of our Company and the vision for growing our Brands in the Region, both through retail and the growing contract business. With this partnership now in place, I am confident that we have the necessary ingredients to accelerate the development of our business in the region. ”
* * *
The economic and geopolitical context remains extremely delicate. For this reason, we are applying a tight approach to cost management, reducing costs whenever it is possible without jeopardizing the current growth momentum. In addition, as we work to execute our 2022 budget, which is inspired by the ambition to strengthen our growth trajectory, we keep monitoring closely the evolution of the key markets we operate in, so to be ready, if needed, to timely take appropriate initiatives to adjust our cost structure and operating model to the evolving context.
4Q 2021 CONSOLIDATED REVENUE
4Q 2021 consolidated revenue amounted to €115.6 million, an increase of 15.7% from €99.9 million in 4Q 2020 and of 15.0% from €100.6 million in 4Q 2019.
Excluding “ other sales ” of €3.9 million, 4Q 2021 invoiced sales from upholstered and other home furnishings products amounted to €111.7 million, an increase of 17.1% compared to 4Q 2020 and of 16.7% compared to 4Q 2019.
To provide a better understanding of the different growth drivers of our operating model, invoiced sales from upholstered and other home furnishings are hereafter described according to the main dimensions of the Group’ s business:
A. BRANDED/UNBRANDED BUSINESS
The Group operates in the branded business ( with the Natuzzi Italia, Natuzzi Editions and Divani & Divani by Natuzzi) and the unbranded business, the latter with collections dedicated to large-scale distribution.
A1. Branded business.
Within the branded business, Natuzzi is pursuing a dual-brands strategy:
In 4Q 2021, Natuzzi’ s branded invoiced sales amounted to €98.9 million, an increase of 21.5% compared to 4Q 2020 and of 21.9% compared to 4Q 2019. In 4Q 2021, invoiced branded sales represented 88.6% of upholstered and other home furnishings sales, compared to 85.3% in 4Q 2020 and 84.8% in 4Q 2019. The following is the contribution of each Brand to 4Q 2021 invoiced sales:
A2. Unbranded business. Invoiced sales from our unbranded business amounted to €12.8 million, a decrease of 8.8% compared to 4Q 2020 and a decrease of 12.0% compared to 4Q 2019. The Group’ s strategy is to focus on fewer selected large accounts and serve them with a more efficient go-to-market model.
B. Distribution
As of December 31, 2021, the Group distributed its branded collections in 110 countries according to the following table.
Direct Retail
FOS * *
Galleries * *
Total
North America
12
6
184
202
West & South Europe
37
97
135
269
Greater China
24 ( 1)
316
─
340
Emerging Markets
─
72
142
214
Rest of the World
16 *
82
91
189
Total
89
573
552
1,214
* It includes 11 Natuzzi Concessions ( store-in-store points of sale) directly managed by the Mexican subsidiary of the Group. * * Managed by independent partners. ( 1) All directly operated by our Joint Venture in China. As the Natuzzi Group owns a 49% stake in the Joint Venture, we consolidate only the sell-in from such DOS.
During 2021, Group’ s direct retail invoiced sales amounted to €68.4 million, an increase of 26.0% compared to 2020 and of 6.2% compared to 2019, mainly due to the continued positive momentum in our DOS located in the U.S. ( +62.6% and +35.0% compared to 2020 and 2019, respectively).
In 2021, invoiced sales from franchise stores amounted to €135.3 million, an increase of 31.7% compared to 2020, and of 43.6% compared to 2019.
We continue executing our strategy to become a Brand Retailer. The weight of Retail ( DOS and FOS) on total upholstered and home furnishings business in 2021 was 49.2% vs 43.0% in 2019. In 2021 we added 103 new monobrand stores, of which 2 DOS in Australia and 101 FOS, of which 84 located in China, 3 in each of Italy and India, and 1 in each of the USA, UK and other countries.
The Group also sells its products through the wholesale channel, consisting primarily of Natuzzi-branded galleries in multi-brand stores as well as mass distributors selling unbranded products.
In 2021, invoiced sales from the wholesale channel amounted to €210.0 million, an increase of 34.2% compared to 2020, reaching the same level as in 2019.
4Q 2021 GROSS MARGIN
In 4Q 2021, we had a gross margin of 35.6%, which increased from 31.4% in 4Q 2020 and 31.9% in 4Q 2019, mainly due to a better brand mix and a higher operating leverage, notwithstanding increasing raw materials the whole industry has been experiencing for the last twelve months. Gross margin also benefitted from the adoption of price increase applied in the second part of last year to mitigate such inflationary environment.
We remain vigilant in finding solutions to mitigate this inflationary pressure on gross margin, as we do not see yet signs of a return to a more stabilized trend in the cost of materials.
4Q 2021 OPERATING EXPENSES
During 4Q 2021, operating expenses ( which include selling expenses, administrative expenses, other operating income/expenses, and the impairment of trade receivables) were €40.6 million ( or 35.2% on revenues), increasing from €29.0 million ( or 29.0% on revenues) in 4Q 2020 and from €35.1 million ( or 34.9% on revenues) in 4Q 2019.
The main driver beyond the increase in operating expenses was transportation. Out of the €11.6 million increase in the operating expenses, €6.7 million were caused by transportation cost as result of €6.2 million increase deriving from the spike in carriage tariffs and the remaining €0.5 million increase mainly due to a different geographic mix in shipping.
GROUP’ S JOINT VENTURE IN GREATER CHINA
Given the relevance of the Chinese market for the Group, we herewith provide an update on our retail operations in that Region.
The Group’ s commercial and distribution activities in Greater China, which includes China Mainland, Hong Kong and Macau, are managed by Natuzzi Trading ( Shanghai) Co., Ltd., which has become a joint venture ( the “ Joint Venture ”) between the Company and Kuka Furniture ( Ningbo) co., Ltd. ( “ Kuka ”), following the agreement ( the “ Agreements ”) signed in March 2018 and finalized in July of the same year.
This Joint Venture distributes Natuzzi Italia and Natuzzi Editions branded products through a network of single-brand directly operated and franchised operated stores in Greater China. As of December 31, 2021, there were 340 points of sales ( of which 98 Natuzzi Italia and 242 Natuzzi Edition stores).
Under the Agreements, Natuzzi and Kuka own, respectively, a 49% and a 51% stake in the Joint Venture. Consequently, the Company’ s former wholly-owned subsidiary, Natuzzi Trading Shanghai Co. Ltd., has been deconsolidated since July 27, 2018. Consequently, in accordance with IFRS accounting principles, Natuzzi accounts for:
- the sell-in generated by the Joint Venture under the consolidated revenue, and - the Joint Venture’ s 49% result of the period under the caption “ Share of profit/ ( loss) of equity-method investees ”.
For the year 2021, Natuzzi’ s invoiced sales in Greater China were €48.4 million, up 27.1% compared to full year 2020 and up 24.1% compared to full year 2019.
In 2021, net profit deriving from the 49% share of the Chinese commercial partnership vehicle was €3.6 million compared to €1.5 million in 2020 and to €1.0 million in 2019.
As at the end of 2021, cash and cash equivalents in our Joint Venture in China amounted to €61.9 million, compared to €43.7 million and €37.0 million at the end of 2020 and 2019, respectively.
FULL YEAR 2021 RESULTS AND A PERSPECTIVE ON OUR MULTI-YEAR TRANSFORMATION JOURNEY
In 2021, the Company returned to top line growth and improved results on all key dimensions of its P & L not only versus 2020 but also versus 2019, the year before COVID:
We believe it is useful to put 2021 numbers in the perspective of our multi-year transformation journey. In 2019, in fact, Natuzzi defined a new strategic plan, which has been than reconfirmed and further articulated in 2021, when the new CEO took position and the new governance became effective. Despite the COVID -19 did not provide a favourable environment to execute our transformation program, we are encouraged by the early signs of the impact on the P & L of our strategy and long-term plan.
The attached table summarize the key dimensions of our business from 2018 to 2021.
2021
2020
2019
2018
427.4
328.3
387.0
428.5
30.2%
( 15.1)%
( 9.7)%
( 4.5)%
87.2%
85.4%
80.2%
76.9%
153.8
103.2
115.0
120.3
36.0%
31.4%
29.7%
28.1%
4.9
( 10.6)
( 22.5)
( 25.5)
1.1%
( 3.2)%
( 5.8)%
( 5.9)%
24.9
12.3
1.0
( 15.5)
5.8%
3.8%
0.3%
( 3.6)%
2021
2020
2019
2018
26.9
16.6
20.0
14.6
3.1
( 1.0)
1.0
( 1.0)
2021
2020
2019
2018 ( 1)
53.5
48.2
39.8
26.6
Figures in €/million, except% data; Unaudited ( 1) As of December 31, 2018, the Group’ s cash and cash equivalents amounted to €62.1 million, as a result of the €35.5 million received by the Company as net proceeds following the finalization of the Joint Venture in China, signed on July 27, 2018, with KUKA. For the way in which the Company calculates the Adjusted EBITDA, please refer to our most recent Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with SEC.
BALANCE SHEET AND CASH FLOW
During 2021, the Company provided €0.5 million from operating activities as a result of:
During 2021, €7.0 million of cash were provided by investing activities, mainly due to €4.5 million deriving from the sale of a land in High Point, USA ( NC) and of two idle buildings near the Company’ s headquarters, and €5.5 million deriving from the sale of one of its Italian subsidiaries, partially offset by €5.0 million invested in capital expenditures.
In the same period, €2.0 million of cash were used in financing activities.
As a result, as of December 31, 2021, cash and cash equivalents was €53.5 million, compared to €48.2 million as of December 31, 2020.
As of December 31, 2021, we had a net financial position before lease liabilities ( cash and cash equivalents minus long-term borrowings minus bank overdraft and short-term borrowings minus current portion of long-term borrowings) of ( €0.1) million compared to €0.9 million as of December 31, 2020.
115.6
99.9
15.7%
100.0%
100.0%
( 74.4)
( 68.5)
8.6%
-64.4%
-68.6%
41.2
31.4
31.2%
35.6%
31.4%
1.4
0.9
1.2%
0.9%
( 32.0)
( 21.7)
47.6%
-27.6%
-21.7%
( 9.9)
( 7.5)
31.7%
-8.6%
-7.5%
( 0.0)
0.0
0.0%
0.0%
( 0.2)
( 0.7)
-0.1%
-0.7%
0.6
2.4
0.5%
2.4%
0.2
0.1
0.1%
0.1%
( 1.5)
( 3.1)
-1.3%
-3.1%
2.8
( 0.8)
2.4%
-0.8%
0.3
0.2%
0.0%
1.7
( 3.8)
1.5%
-3.8%
0.8
0.5
0.7%
0.5%
3.1
( 0.8)
2.7%
-0.8%
( 1.2)
( 2.8)
-1.1%
-2.8%
1.9
( 3.6)
1.6%
-3.6%
1.5
( 3.9)
0.4
0.3
0.03
( 0.07)
427.4
328.3
30.2%
100.0%
100.0%
( 273.6)
( 225.2)
21.5%
-64.0%
-68.6%
153.8
103.2
49.0%
36.0%
31.4%
6.4
3.9
1.5%
1.2%
( 121.6)
( 84.5)
43.9%
-28.5%
-25.7%
( 33.3)
( 29.4)
13.1%
-7.8%
-9.0%
( 0.1)
( 1.8)
0.0%
-0.5%
( 0.3)
( 1.9)
-0.1%
-0.6%
4.9
( 10.6)
1.1%
-3.2%
0.2
0.3
0.1%
0.1%
( 6.8)
( 7.8)
-1.6%
-2.4%
1.9
( 3.9)
0.4%
-1.2%
5.0
1.2%
0.0%
0.3
( 11.4)
0.1%
-3.5%
3.6
1.5
0.8%
0.4%
8.8
( 20.6)
2.1%
-6.3%
( 4.4)
( 4.3)
-1.0%
-1.3%
4.4
( 24.9)
1.0%
-7.6%
3.6
( 24.7)
0.8
( 0.2)
0.07
( 0.45)
189.6
184.0
200.4
172.0
390.0
356.0
82.3
74.3
1.5
1.0
107.5
104.0
198.7
176.7
390.0
356.0
0.5
12.3
7.0
2.3
( 2.0)
( 5.6)
5.5
9.0
46.1
37.8
0.6
( 0.8)
52.2
46.1
53.5
48.2
( 1.2)
( 2.1)
52.2
46.1
CAUTIONARY STATEMENT CONCERNING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
Certain statements included in this press release constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These statements may be expressed in a variety of ways, including the use of future or present tense language. Words such as “ estimate, ” “ forecast, ” “ project, ” “ anticipate, ” “ likely, ” “ target, ” “ expect, ” “ intend, ” “ continue, ” “ seek, ” “ believe, ” “ plan, ” “ goal, ” “ could, ” “ should, ” “ would, ” “ may, ” “ might, ” “ will, ” “ strategy, ” “ synergies, ” “ opportunities, ” “ trends, ” “ ambition, ” “ objective, ” “ aim, ” “ future, ” “ potentially, ” “ outlook ” and words of similar meaning may signify forward-looking statements. These statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause the Company’ s actual results to differ materially from those stated or implied by such forward-looking statements including, but not limited to, potential risks and uncertainties described at page 3 of this document relating to the supply-chain, the cost and availability of raw material, production and shipping and the modernization of our Italian manufacturing and those relating to the duration, severity and geographic spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, actions that may be taken by governmental authorities to contain the COVID-19 pandemic or to mitigate its impact, the potential negative impact of COVID-19 on the global economy, consumer demand and our supply chain, and the impact of COVID-19 on the Company's financial condition, business operations and liquidity. Additional information about potential factors that could affect the Company’ s business and financial results is included in the Company’ s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including the Company’ s most recent Annual Report on Form 20-F. The Company undertakes no obligation to update any of the forward-looking statements after the date of this press release.
Additional Information
This news release is just one part of the Company’ s financial disclosures and should be read in conjunction with other information filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, available at https: //www.natuzzigroup.com/en-EN/ir/financial-release.html under the “ SEC Filings ” section.
About Natuzzi S.p.A. | general |
Renault chief to meet Nissan execs in Japan as woes cloud alliance | Renault SA’ s top executives are planning their first in-person meetings since the pandemic with their counterparts at Nissan Motor Co. in Japan next month as the French carmaker’ s weak financial position and possible breakup threaten to further strain their alliance.
Among topics for discussion will be emerging plans for a possible separate listing of Renault’ s electric-vehicle unit and potential new partner for the legacy operations, according to people familiar with the matter. Discussions on Renault’ s costly retreat from Russia will also feature prominently, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the talks are private.
There are no signs of any imminent structural change in the three-way alliance that includes Mitsubishi Motors Corp.
The executive meetings next month would be the first trip to Japan for Luca de Meo since he became CEO and his first in-person meeting with Nissan Chief Operating Officer Ashwani Gupta. Renault Chairman Jean-Dominique Senard, who is also vice-chairman of Nissan, has also been prevented from traveling to Japan due to COVID-19 restrictions.
The possibility of a transformational change at Renault is taking shape against a backdrop of mounting hurdles to its turnaround plan, including a forced pullout from Russia due to the war in Ukraine and ongoing shortages of semiconductors and supply-chain bottlenecks. While the carmaker raised the possibility of a breakup in February, de Meo last week provided more details to analysts.
Renault has given Nissan scant details about its breakup plan and executives at the Japanese carmaker are concerned about their partner’ s response to the Russia situation, people said. The French automaker warned last month that it will book a €2.2 billion ( $ 2.4 billion) non-cash charge. Its shares have slumped more than 30% since the outbreak of war. Nissan’ s stock was down 1.1% as of the mid-day trading break in Tokyo Friday.
The potential structural overhaul at Renault would be another wrinkle in the alliance since the three-member partnership was nearly destroyed by the 2018 arrest of its former leader, Carlos Ghosn, in Japan. The three-member alliance is working to cooperate more effectively as automakers globally grapple with the expensive shift to electrified, autonomous vehicles. The manufacturers are looking to use common batteries and other key components to bring cost-savings.
The alliance has “ substantial synergy potential although the companies had material challenges to realize this in the past, ” rating firm Moody’ s Corp. said in an April 6 report reaffirming Renault’ s negative outlook. It pointed to the carmaker’ s low returns, slow progress on turning around and suspension of the Russia operations.
At last week’ s meeting with analysts, de Meo raised the possibility of splitting Renault into a new mobility company made up of EV and car-sharing assets, and a legacy entity, Stifel analysts including Pierre Quemener wrote in a note. “ The CEO added that the latter could be combined with the ones of a potential partner, ” the note said. “ An IPO of New Mobility assets could be contemplated for 2023. ”
It’ s unclear whether the move would change the shareholding imbalance within the alliance that has long stoked tension. Renault holds a 43% stake in the bigger Japanese company with voting rights, while Nissan owns 15% of Renault and has no voting rights.
Selling all or part of the stake in Nissan would generate as much as €7.2 billion for Renault, which is about the same as its current market value. Nissan halted dividend payouts in 2019, depriving Renault of a key source of cash.
In January, the alliance outlined a plan to deepen operational ties and invest in electrification.
Renault last month halted its Moscow plant and said it’ s considering the future of its longstanding AvtoVaz venture while revising downward its financial outlook for this year. | tech |
Japan to launch mass vaccination drive for university students | Japan plans to promote mass COVID-19 vaccinations among university students using vaccination venues operated by municipalities, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Thursday.
The plan to vaccinate students at such venues with available slots is aimed at accelerating booster vaccinations among young people, lagging in receiving the shots. The central government will pay part of the costs to implement the plan.
Kishida presented the plan to reporters after a meeting with relevant ministers at the Prime Minister’ s Office to discuss measures to address the recent rebound in new COVID-19 cases.
“ Signs of a resurgence can be seen ” in the current state of infections, he said, adding every citizen should cooperate in preventing a rapid spread of the coronavirus.
He pointed to the importance of vaccinations especially among young people amid an increase in the proportion of infected people in their 20s.
Kishida urged the public to thoroughly implement basic prevention measures, such as avoiding closed, crowded and close-contact settings in addition to getting vaccinations, noting that “ it is the season when opportunities to go out, such as parties and vacations, increase. ”
He also called for active use of coronavirus testing in everyday life, including such occasions as group dining and business trips.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks to reporters at the Prime Minister’ s Office on Thursday. | KYODO
The government will investigate whether the country’ s 47 prefectures have strengthened their medical systems and will disclose the results, Kishida said.
He avoided making comments about a proposed government-subsidized event discount program for people who have received their booster shots, in view of the recent state of infections.
Kishida also had discussions with Shigeru Omi, head of the government’ s expert panel on the COVID-19 crisis, and others the same day.
Omi advised the prime minister to consider the possibility of reinstating coronavirus quasi-emergency measures. | tech |
Singapore and Malaysia reunite, if only for cake | They came to hug parents, hold loved ones and cradle babies they made but hadn’ t met. They loaded up on cakes, grabbed cheap massages and pumped gas.
After two years of tight restrictions, the border between Singapore and Malaysia, one of the world’ s busiest crossings, has finally reopened. In the process, a key export resumed to the city-state’ s larger neighbor about half a mile across the water: people.
This is about more than tearful reunions, as heartening as they are. It’ s a big milestone in Southeast Asia’ s journey from trying to quash COVID-19 to living with the disease. The economic recovery in either country can’ t be complete without a relatively free flow of human capital alongside investment.
Before COVID-19, more than 300,000 people crossed the boundary each day. As much as Singaporeans and Malaysians complain about each other, and for all the differences in politics and relative wealth, the resumption of cross-border travel has underscored just what’ s been missing during the peak of the pandemic.
In the hours after the border fully reopened after midnight on April 1, thousands of Singapore residents streamed across the bridge over the Strait of Johor. That brought valuable cash into Johor Bahru — and the promise of more money to come.
That prospect is lifting confidence among consumers and business in the Malaysian city. Six decades after Singapore divorced Malaysia and became a republic, the two countries remain intimately linked. Singapore gets power, water and labor from Malaysia. High-rise apartments lining the Johor coast are occupied by people who work in Singapore, or did before COVID-19. Think of New York and New Jersey, just add passports.
The state of Johor accounts for about 10% of Malaysian gross domestic product and has been one of the hardest hit parts of the country. Singapore was Malaysia’ s top source of visitors in 2019 with about 10 million arrivals. Just a fraction made it the following year, and most of those were crammed into the early months before lockdowns. “ Johor suffered disproportionately, ” Serina Rahman, visiting fellow at Singapore’ s ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute, wrote in a report last year.
As Singapore prospered in the decades since separation, costs of manufacturing soared. Factories began to move across the water. Malaysia has land and relatively cheap labor, vital ingredients Singapore lacks, explained Teh Kee Sin, founding president of the SME Association of Johor Selatan. “ The past two years have reminded us how important we are to each other, ” Teh said in an interview at the factory he runs that makes parts for printers, bicycles and fishing reels. “ Malaysian politicians sometimes say ‘ Oh we don’ t want to be Singapore’ s backyard.’ I say, ‘ What are you talking about?’ ”
For all the optimism, Johor is yet to see the big bucks from across the water. Many of those who came the first week were visiting family and quickly returned after the weekend, or even before. Spending isn’ t their first priority, small business owners sat. Revenue is up roughly 20% since the weekend, said Lim Meng Chin, owner of Hiap Joo bakery, a haunt for devotees of banana bread, which was established in 1919. That still only takes it to around 80% of pre-COVID-19 levels. “ Before COVID, they were lined up to the end of the road, ” he said in an interview. “ Two things Singaporeans love are banana bread and fish-head curry. ”
In KSL mall, near the border checkpoint, Ching Ching is posting job openings at her foot reflexology business. Ching says she saw lots of traffic from Singaporeans the past weekend. Price is her advantage, with an hourlong foot treatment costing 48 Malaysian ringgit ( $ 11.40), about a third of what’ s charged in Singapore’ s suburbs. “ Locals rarely come here, ” Ching said.
There’ s also a backlash building. Malaysian newspapers carried front page stories Wednesday complaining about Singaporeans allegedly filling up on gas that the Malaysian government subsidizes. The Johor division of Malaysia’ s Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs said it will step up enforcement against operators caught selling the fuel to foreign-registered cars, with companies liable for fines of up to 2 million ringgit. Former Prime Minister Najib Razak, scouting for themes to advance his comeback after a corruption conviction, has highlighted the issue. A national election is due in about a year.
( Malaysia previously banned the sale of 95-RON gasoline to foreigners because that grade of petrol is subsidized for locals. Singapore sells that type at multiples of what it costs in Malaysia. Singapore wants tanks to be three-quarters full before departing the island.)
Most shops in an arcade surrounding a bus depot across the border were shuttered on a recent afternoon. Padmini Perihsamy, however, is convinced things are looking up. Her stall selling South Asian pastries reopened last weekend and did brisk business. During the peak of the pandemic, she switched to online sales and wholesale. Perihsamy is confident those kiosks will be open soon.
Daniel Moss is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering Asian economies. | tech |
U.S. House speaker postpones Asia trip after positive COVID test | Taipei/Washington – U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi has postponed her planned trip to Asia after testing positive for the coronavirus, her spokesman said Thursday.
Pelosi was expected to visit Tokyo later this week to meet Prime Minister Fumio Kishida as part of efforts by the United States and Japan to affirm close cooperation amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Taiwan media said Pelosi was also planning to visit the self-ruled island from Sunday, in what would have been the first trip to Taiwan by a House speaker in 25 years.
`` It is regrettable that ( her visit) was canceled, but we wish a swift recovery of the lower house speaker, '' Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno in Tokyo, adding it would have been an `` important occasion to further strengthen Japan-U.S. ties and affirm bilateral cooperation toward realizing a free and open Indo-Pacific region. ''
After testing negative for COVID-19 earlier this week, Pelosi received a positive test result and is currently asymptomatic, Drew Hammill, deputy chief of staff for the speaker, tweeted Thursday morning.
While she is fully vaccinated and has also received a booster shot for additional protection, the Congressional delegation to Asia intended to be led by Pelosi will be `` postponed to a later date, '' Hammill said.
According to media reports, Pelosi was to lead a delegation on the first trip to Taiwan by a serving House speaker since Newt Gingrich traveled there in 1997.
Sunday marks the 43rd anniversary of the enactment of the Taiwan Relations Act, which the U.S. Congress passed in 1979 after Washington switched its diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing.
It is a piece of legislation that governs the unofficial ties between the United States and Taiwan and makes available supplies of arms and spare parts to enable the island to maintain sufficient self-defense capabilities.
The administration of U.S. President Joe Biden has been enhancing ties with Taipei as China increases its pressure on the democratic island, which it views as a renegade province awaiting reunification, by force if necessary.
China's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian told a news conference that Pelosi's visit would bring serious damage to the foundation of China-U.S. relations and that Beijing firmly opposes the plan.
A U.S. delegation led by Mike Mullen, a former chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, met with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen last month and reiterated Washington's commitment to peace and stability in the region. | tech |
Over 35% in Japan feel lonely amid pandemic, with young people hit harder | More than 35% of people in Japan feel lonely and isolated due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with young people in their 20s and 30s hit harder than the elderly as the result of limited social interaction, a government survey showed Friday.
The survey polled 20,000 people age 16 and older nationwide as of December in a random sample, before the highly transmissible omicron variant rapidly spread across the country in a sixth wave of the pandemic that pushed coronavirus cases to record levels.
Asked about whether they feel lonely, 4.5% said they often or always feel that way, while 14.5% said they feel it sometimes and 17.4% responded they experience loneliness every once in a while.
In a question allowing multiple answers, many said their loneliness was triggered because they live alone or due to the death of a family member. Feeling sick and starting at a new school or job were also cited among the reasons.
Among those who often or always feel lonely, those in their 30s were the highest at 7.9%, followed by those in their 20s at 7.7%. The lowest was those in their 70s at 1.8%.
The survey, which yielded valid responses from 11,867 people, showed that about 62% said they either hardly or absolutely do not feel lonely due to the pandemic.
Asked how frequently they met friends or family members other than those they live with, respondents who said less than once a month accounted for the most at 15.2%, while 11.2% said they did not meet anyone at all outside their homes.
The government was conducting a nationwide survey on loneliness for the first time, as issues such as suicide and domestic violence came to the fore as the pandemic deepened.
COVID-19 restrictions such as halting businesses under a state or quasi-state of emergency to curb the virus’ s spread have also left many businesses reeling, putting a strain on the economy. Under the emergencies, people were also asked to refrain from nonessential outings or travel.
The survey also found that among those who often or always feel lonely, the lower their income was, the lonelier the people felt, with 12.5% saying they were unemployed.
Meanwhile, a separate survey by the health ministry showed that over 20% of people in Japan had seen their mental health worsen in the last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The survey, conducted in November, showed 22.3% of respondents said their mental health worsened in the past year due to the pandemic.
The proportion of women who reported worsened mental health was 26.7%, higher than 18.2% for men, although it was exceeded by the figure by age group of 30% for women in their 30s and 50s.
In the survey, 46.6% of respondents said they became nervous or felt depressed between April and June 2021, and 45.9% said they felt the same way between July and September that year. A COVID-19 state of emergency was in place in parts of the country in both periods.
The proportion fell to 27.3% in October and November after the state of emergency was lifted due to a drop in infection cases.
Asked to choose what made them feel anxious, with multiple answers allowed, the biggest percentage, at 62.8% between April and June, had anxiety about coronavirus infecting themselves or their family members.
Nearly 20% of respondents said they had anxiety about the stay-at-home trend and other factors changing their lifestyles.
Out of all respondents, 1 in 4 respondents said they had no anxiety, with men representing a higher proportion than women at over 30%.
With multiple answers allowed, 47.2% of respondents said it was stressful that they could not go on a trip or do recreational activities. Uncertainty about when the pandemic will come to an end was picked by 43.0%.
Currently, Japan no longer has any emergency measures in place, having lifted its latest quasi-state of emergency in 18 prefectures in late March, amid a declining trend in new infections.
However, in recent weeks the government has warned of signs of a resurgence in coronavirus infections, with health experts urging that measures be taken to avoid a seventh wave of the pandemic. | tech |
Japan economy watchers ' sentiment up for first time in three months | Sentiment among so-called economy watchers in Japan, or people working in industries sensitive to economic swings, improved for the first time in three months in March, a government survey showed Friday.
The seasonally adjusted index on economy watchers’ sentiment about current economic conditions soared 10.1 points from the previous month to 47.8, reflecting the full lifting of the government’ s COVID-19 pre-emergency measures March 21.
Based on the survey, conducted from March 25 to 31, the Cabinet Office revised up its basic assessment, citing signs of recovery. In the February survey, it pointed to some weakness in the pickup of the economy.
In March, the current sentiment index improved 13.1 points for household activities, 7.4 points for employment and 2.4 points for corporate activities.
The index improved in all surveyed regions. The best performer was Hokkaido, which saw an improvement of 16.8 points.
The index on economy watchers’ outlook for the economy two to three months ahead grew 5.7 points. But concerns are growing over soaring energy prices, worsened by Russia’ s invasion of Ukraine.
“ Consumers will be even more budget-minded following a series of prices hikes for electricity, gasoline and others, ” an employee of a supermarket in central Japan was quoted as saying in the latest survey.
Backing up that sentiment, a government survey showed Japanese consumer sentiment dropped for the third straight month in March, dampened by higher prices exacerbated by the war in Ukraine.
The seasonally adjusted consumer confidence index fell by 2.4 points from the preceding month to 32.8, logging the fourth-biggest decline under the current survey format, which began in April 2014, the Cabinet Office said.
The government agency revised down its assessment for the third straight month, saying that weakness is seen in consumer sentiment. In the previous month, the agency noted signs of weakness.
“ Sentiment was pushed down as prices of daily necessities continued to increase amid elevated uncertainty from the Ukrainian crisis, ” a senior official said.
The index, covering households with two or more members, measures consumer sentiment over the coming six months based on indicators on overall livelihood, income growth, employment and willingness to buy durable goods. All four component indicators fell in the latest survey, conducted March 8-22.
The share of households expecting prices to be higher in a year’ s time rose 1.1 percentage points to 92.8%, renewing its record high for the second straight month. | tech |
English cricketers brave spring chill at start of season | Chelmsford, England – Players warming up in woolly hats and multiple layers. A biting wind whipping across the lush green grass. Welcome to the first day of the English county cricket season.
While global stars strut their stuff in the cauldron of the Indian Premier League, Essex and Kent faced off in the first act of a six-month drama in the small city of Chelmsford.
First-class county cricket has long been a target for criticism, seen by some as a niche activity that fails to produce players of test quality and watched by sparse crowds.
The four-day County Championship has been shunted around to accommodate various forms of limited-overs, or white-ball, cricket including the newly arrived Hundred competition.
And in recent months the game has been damaged by a racism scandal, with Yorkshire in the spotlight over the club’ s treatment of former bowler Azeem Rafiq.
Essex themselves commissioned an independent investigation into historical allegations of racism at the club.
But the hundreds of supporters braving the bracing early spring temperatures in Chelmsford on Thursday were keen for the action to start.
The players stood for a moment of reflection alongside the umpires to remember cricketers who had died in recent months as well as victims of the war in Ukraine and the coronavirus pandemic.
An announcer at the ground, about 64 kilometers northeast of London, read out a statement stressing the “ shared determination ” to tackle discrimination and racism as the few hundred fans stood in silence under grey skies.
“ We embrace and celebrate differences everywhere, knowing that with diversity we are stronger, ” he said.
Then former England Test captain Alastair Cook walked out to the middle with fellow opening batsman Nick Browne to face the first overs in the first division fixture.
Kent’ s Matt Milnes ( left) fields the ball after bowling to Essex opening batsman Alastair Cook during their county cricket match at The Cloud County Ground in Chelmsford. | AFP-JIJI
Players lost their caps and sunglasses as a strong wind ruffled their traditional white kit and a few raindrops fell, but the game got under way on time.
Keith Buckley, 75, has been watching Essex for more than 60 years, starting with a match against the visiting Australians in 1961.
Buckley, wearing a panama hat and blazer, used to be a keen follower of Premier League football club West Ham but says cricket is the game in his heart.
“ I just love the appeal of four-day county cricket, ” he said. “ It ebbs and flows. It’ s more for the purists than the white-ball game. ”
Kevin Brazier, 55, bringing his seven-year-old Australian grandson Spencer to his first game, had already secured autographs from Cook and other players before the start of play.
“ This time of year it can be hard for the players, ” said the part-time teacher, wearing an Essex cap. “ Conditions are tough for batting but cricket is a staple diet for Englishmen. ”
Jean Connolly, 65, is looking forward to a cricket-filled retirement.
“ I used to fit in a game but now I’ m just retired and I’ m a member so I can come to every game, ” she said. “ I love cricket. My mum was a cricket lover, she loved test cricket. ”
Connolly, wrapped up against the cold, said the four-day game needed to be better promoted alongside the shorter formats, which draw much bigger crowds.
The four-day format has seen spectators decrease in recent years as limited-overs cricket such as the newly arrived Hundred competition has grown in popularity. | AFP-JIJI
“ I’ m a fan of the Hundred because it gives people an insight into the game, ” she said. “ If people aren’ t brought up with cricket they don’ t know the ins and outs of the game.
“ Lots of people who went to watch the Hundred ( which started last year) have asked about other forms of the game. We need to bring new fans into the game. ”
The supporters who were at the ground enjoyed the first session of play as Essex reached 86 without loss at lunch.
Applause greeted the players as they walked off. Even the sun came out. | tech |
Seiya Suzuki gets first MLB hit as Cubs win on opening day | Chicago – Seiya Suzuki went 1-for-2 and drew two walks in his Major League Baseball debut Thursday as the Chicago Cubs outfielder helped his new team edge the Milwaukee Brewers 5-4 on opening day.
Welcomed by a huge cheer from the home crowd at Wrigley Field, the 27-year-old former Hiroshima Carp slugger got his first hit in MLB off last year's National League Cy Young winner, Corbin Burnes. The hit sparked a three-run fifth inning that turned the game.
The biggest name coming out of Japan in the offseason, Suzuki batted at least.300 and had 25-plus home runs in six straight seasons. He drew a walk at his first at-bat in the second inning and again in the sixth before striking out looking in the eighth.
`` It was really fun. I could play relaxed, '' said Suzuki. `` I was always focused on getting on base. I think it went well but the season is long, so I 'll have to keep it up. ''
Batting sixth and playing right field, Suzuki said he had `` never seen one ( like that) '' and was `` amazed '' by a breaking pitch thrown by right-hander Burnes in his first at-bat.
But Suzuki adjusted quickly in his next trip to the plate and led the fifth inning by singling to left on a 0-1 slider. Suzuki tied the game at 1-1 on a Patrick Wisdom sacrifice fly before Nico Hoerner went deep for a 3-1 lead.
`` I went into the box excited. Things went well today, '' Suzuki said. `` I came over here wanting to face pitchers like him. ''
Ian Happ's two-run double in the seventh broke a 3-3 tie as the Cubs held on for the win.
Yu Darvish scattered four walks without giving up one hit over six innings in his second straight Opening Day start for the San Diego Padres, but a wild ninth inning from former Hanshin Tigers closer Robert Suarez ( 0-1) paved the way for the Arizona Diamondbacks ' 4-2 walk-off win.
Even without his best command, Darvish mixed up his wealth of breaking balls to good effect to keep the Diamondbacks at bay in a 92-pitch outing.
`` I realized I had a no-hitter going around the fourth inning, but it's not like I was going to throw 120 or 130 pitches on Opening Day, '' Darvish said. `` I knew ( staying in) was never going to happen. Pitching well for six innings was a positive. ''
Suarez, who spent six seasons in Japan, walked two batters and hit one without retiring a batter while allowing three runs in his MLB debut.
Shohei Ohtani ( 0-1), the 2021 American League MVP, struck out nine batters but allowed a run over 4-2/3 innings in his first MLB starting pitching assignment and went 0-for-4 as the Angels ' leadoff hitter and designated hitter in their 3-1 loss to the Houston Astros.
Yoshitomo Tsutsugo batted cleanup and went 2-for-3 as he began the season on a positive note, although he was unable to prevent his Pittsburgh Pirates from getting trounced 9-0 by the St. Louis Cardinals.
`` I wouldn't say my feel for my batting is super good, but it has come along fine, '' Tsutsugo said after playing in front of 46,256 people at Busch Stadium after two Opening Days without fans due to the coronavirus pandemic.
`` I had a different offseason from before and the biggest thing was getting that sense that I 've changed hugely both mentally and physically. '' | tech |
Max Verstappen wary that off-track demands could hurt performance | Melbourne – Formula One world champion Max Verstappen said he will try to keep his off-track commitments in check and focus on his day job as a racer, wary that his title defense might suffer with too many distractions.
The Dutch Red Bull driver is hot property for media, sponsors and fans after his 2021 triumph, and the relaxation of biosecurity protocols could mean more demands on his time.
“ Even if there is no COVID for sure I’ m not going to do more … on weekends because I’ m there to race, I’ m not there to entertain the crowds, ” he told a small group of reporters on Thursday at Albert Park ahead of Sunday’ s Australian Grand Prix.
“ I’ ll entertain them by doing that on the track. Otherwise you get upset, you don’ t feel good and it’ s going to hurt your performance.
“ So you need to just keep it exactly the same, the same approach as other race weekends. ”
Verstappen said he felt sympathy for McLaren’ s Australian driver Daniel Ricciardo, having seen him battle through busy schedules at his home Grand Prix when they were Red Bull teammates.
“ I always felt sorry for him because he was always so busy, ” said Verstappen.
“ He actually never really got to fully enjoy it. Maybe he manages it differently now but I remember when he was here it was tough, he was super busy in the week leading up to the Grand Prix.
“ So I hope for him that at least he can enjoy it a bit more now because I think it is very special to have a home Grand Prix. ”
Verstappen, who became the youngest driver to compete in F1 when he debuted at the 2015 Australian Grand Prix as a 17-year-old, said experience had taught him how to balance his schedule.
“ You need the right people around you as well to manage you in that, ” added the 24-year-old.
“ Of course at one point as a driver you know what you need to feel good in the car and you really know how many commitments you can do on a weekend.
“ But you should be able to say ‘ no’ to certain commitments. At the end of the day you are here to drive and to race because that’ s what you live for and what you get paid to do. ” | tech |
Oil suffers second weekly fall after release of crude reserves | Oil futures ended higher Friday, but logged a second, consecutive weekly decline as several countries joined the U.S. in releasing crude reserves.
Price action
West Texas Intermediate crude for May delivery
CL.1,
+1.95%
CL00,
+1.95%
CLK22,
+1.95%
rose $ 2.23, or 2.3%, to close at $ 98.26 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, leaving the U.S. benchmark with a weekly fall of 1%.
June Brent crude
BRN00,
-0.37%
BRNM22,
-0.37%
,
the global benchmark, gained $ 2.20, or 2.2%, to finish at $ 102.78 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe, leaving it with a weekly drop of 1.5%.
May natural-gas futures
NG00,
-0.57%
NGK22,
-0.57%
fell 1.3% to $ 6.278 per million British thermal units, after ending Thursday at a 13-year high. The fuel logged a nearly 10% weekly rise.
May gasoline
RBK22,
+2.43%
rose 3% to $ 3.132 a gallon, while May heating oil
HOK22,
+1.60%
rose 1.5% to $ 3.3176 a gallon.
Market drivers
Crude has seen volatile trade since Russia’ s late-February invasion of Ukraine, with the U.S. benchmark briefly trading at a roughly 14-year high above $ 130 a barrel in early March, while Brent came within a whisker of $ 140. WTI had closed at $ 92.10 a barrel on the eve of the invasion on Feb. 23, while Brent had traded at $ 94.05.
The Biden administration last week announced it would release 180 million barrels of crude — at a pace of 1 million barrels a day for six months — from the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve. The International Energy Agency this week said its member nations would join in,
releasing another 60 million barrels
that would be matched by the U.S. as part of its 180 million barrel release.
The “ massive ” release of oil from emergency reserves was expected to noticeably ease the supply situation, said Carsten Fritsch, analyst at Commerzbank.
Meanwhile, the lockdown of Shanghai by Chinese authorities in response to COVID-19 cases has been extended, adding to price weakness, Fritsch wrote.
“ This means that the business metropolis with its 25 million inhabitants, which accounts for around 4% of Chinese oil demand, is condemned to remain at a standstill, ” he said.
Oil maintained gains after oil-field services company Baker Hughes said the number of U.S. oil rigs were
up 13 from last week to 546
. Compared to a year earlier, the number of oil rigs was up by 209.
Meanwhile, natural-gas production “ remains in a disappointing range based on the daily data we look at, coal prices are high and stocks are low, tightening the coal-to-gas displacement band, ” said Christopher Louney, analyst at RBC Capital Markets, in a note. “ Nuclear outages are high and cold weather has gyrated in certain regions, all while the global gas picture remains tense and Russia’ s war in Ukraine continues. ”
Read:
U.S. natural gas prices just hit a 13-year high. Blame coal, say analysts | business |
Oil futures: Prices narrowly up as IEA release, Covid cases, weigh on market | Crude oil futures Friday were slightly higher as the impact of the huge IEA stocks release continues to ripple through markets, while further lockdowns in China flagged demand concerns.
Front-month June ICE Brent futures were trading at $ 101.25/barrel ( 1710 GMT), compared to Thursday's settle of $ 100.58/b.
At the same time, May NYMEX WTI was trading $ 96.73/b, versus Thursday's settle of $ 96.03/b.
Both benchmarks were heading for weekly falls of 2.5-3%, with the losses sustained in the second half of the week.
The International Energy Agency on Thursday confirmed that its coordinated strategic release of crude reserves will take place over six months and will be in addition to a 180-million release planned by the US.
In a statement that clarifies the timeline for the first time, the agency said 240 million barrels will be released over a six-month period, a rate equivalent to 1.25 million bpd.
`` The unprecedented decision to launch two emergency oil stock releases just a month apart, and on a scale larger than anything before in the IEA's history, '' said IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol.
Since the stock release, prices have retreated sharply while forward structures have also flattened considerably.
`` The massive IEA crude reserve release plan will provide short-term relief for oil prices but that is also happening as China's Covid lockdowns are becoming a bigger hit on crude demand, '' said Ed Moya, senior market analyst at brokerage Oanda.
However, markets found some support with Russian production seen likely to drop 5% this month, while pressure increases on the EU to impose a full embargo on Russian energy.
Beijing has introduced its strictest Covid controls since the early stages of the pandemic, while Shanghai remains under lockdown with no end in sight.
Meanwhile, the EU's attempts to get tough on Russian energy imports hit a hurdle Thursday, with a full ban on coal imports now not set to take effect until mid-August – a month after initially planned.
Crude prices also came under pressure this week after the dollar rallied following the Fed minutes that showed a strong commitment to fighting inflation. The dollar index Friday was trading close to 100 points, the highest level in nearly two years. | general |
Worldwide Optical Lens Edger Industry to 2027 - North America Dominates the Market - ResearchAndMarkets.com | DUBLIN -- ( BUSINESS WIRE) -- The `` Optical Lens Edger Market - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts ( 2022 - 2027) '' report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.
The Optical Lens Edger market is projected to grow with a CAGR of nearly 5.6% over the forecast period.
The major factor attributing to the growth of the market is the rising prevalence of vision impairment and the increasing geriatric population.
Companies Mentioned
Key Market Trends
Automatic Optical Lens Edger segment to dominate the optical lens edger market globally
The design and construction of optical lens edging machines are pretty increasingly simplified, as greater efficiency is reached through automation in their operations. This permits less manual interference, making the edging process speedy. The machines include an incorporated 3-D drilling unit with the regulator by a 5-axis mechanism. This type of unit offers high-quality beveling and grooving performance to deliver a striking edge surface.
The major driving factors that boost the market growth of the segment are the increasing vision impairment patient pool and increasing demand of the edgers in photography and Ophthalmology industries.
North America Dominates the Market and Expected to do Same in the Forecast Period
North America is expected to dominate the overall optical lens edger market, throughout the forecast period. The largest share is mainly due to the presence of a larger patient pool and increases in a geriatric population.
Furthermore, well-established insurance policies and the availability of advanced healthcare infrastructure are few of the other factors boosting the market in this region. In the North America region, the United States holds the largest market share due to the factors such as the increasing number of geriatric populations, along with a growing number of patient pool in the country. According to the National Federation of the Blind, 7,675,600 people in the United States are vision impaired. According to the statistics, a large number of patients boost the market in this region.
Key Topics Covered:
1 INTRODUCTION
1.1 Study Deliverables
1.2 Study Assumptions
1.3 Scope of the Study
2 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
4 MARKET DYNAMICS
4.1 Market Overview
4.2 Market Drivers
4.2.1 Increasing demand for optical edgers by opthalmology and camera industries
4.2.2 High prevalence of patients with vision impairment
4.2.3 Increasing geriatric population
4.3 Market Restraints
4.3.1 Declining rate of product improvement
4.3.2 Increasing use of contact lens
4.4 Porter's Five Force Analysis
4.4.1 Threat of New Entrants
4.4.2 Bargaining Power of Buyers/Consumers
4.4.3 Bargaining Power of Suppliers
4.4.4 Threat of Substitute Products
4.4.5 Intensity of Competitive Rivalry
5 MARKET SEGMENTATION
5.1 By Type
5.1.1 Manual Optical Lens Edger
5.1.2 Automatic Optical Lens Edger
5.1.3 Semi-automatic Optical Lens Edger
5.2 By Application
5.2.1 Eyeglass Lens
5.2.2 Microscope Lens
5.2.3 Camera Lens
5.3 Geography
5.3.1 North America
5.3.1.1 US
5.3.1.2 Canada
5.3.1.3 Mexico
5.3.2 Europe
5.3.2.1 Germany
5.3.2.2 UK
5.3.2.3 France
5.3.2.4 Italy
5.3.2.5 Spain
5.3.2.6 Rest of Europe
5.3.3 Asia-Pacific
5.3.3.1 China
5.3.3.2 Japan
5.3.3.3 India
5.3.3.4 Australia
5.3.3.5 South Korea
5.3.3.6 Rest of Asia-Pacific
5.3.4 Middle-East and Africa
5.3.4.1 GCC
5.3.4.2 South Africa
5.3.4.3 Rest of Middle-East and Africa
5.3.5 South America
5.3.5.1 Brazil
5.3.5.2 Argentina
5.3.5.3 Rest of South America
6 COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE
6.1 Company Profiles
6.1.1 Essilor International S.A
6.1.2 Topcon Corporation
6.1.3 NIDEK CO., LTD
6.1.4 Coburn Technologies Inc
6.1.5 Huvitz Corp
6.1.6 Mei Srl | general |
Anne Cronin: Is Limerick’ s directly-elected mayor a lost cause? | Limerick City and County Council is involved in a house purchase programme where they are buying homes for twice their value. Picture: Dan Linehan
In Limerick last week a derelict semi-detached house located beside a petrol station on the busy Ennis Road fetched a sale price of €740,000. While the road in question is considered one of the most affluent parts of the city to make a purchase, this house has been boarded up for years and resembles an image taken in the ghost estates of the last decade.
A concerning trend has developed in the city, where houses are selling for far in excess of what they were bought for in the previous couple of months. Alarmingly, many of these homes in Limerick and across the country are being bought by the local authority.
Limerick City and County Council is involved in a house purchase programme where they are buying homes for twice their value, mere months beforehand. Yes, we need more social housing, but this seems like the worst possible means of achieving that end.
Limerick and Waterford are witnessing the fastest-growing house prices in Irish cities and housing prices are now almost 8% higher than they were this time last year in Limerick City. Yet as much as the price tag determines our house purchasing ability, so too does availability. Currently, there are 34 three-bed houses in Limerick city for sale, just priced over the median for Limerick, at €225K.
As you trawl through the listings, some have gardens, some do not. Most are terraced and semi-detached and pepper-potted across suburban estates at various corners of the city. However, for those reliant on renting a family home, there is one home to rent in Limerick city, with three bedrooms — a standard set for family living.
In truth, house-hunting in Limerick in 2022 is becoming an increasingly futile exercise.
In this ‘ post-homeownership society’ that Michael Byrne, Professor of Social Policy in UCD, describes as being rooted in generational and class-based inequality, the future looks increasingly precarious for young working-class families who face the onslaught of increasing rents, childcare costs, energy and food costs.
Access to healthcare is precarious if these families are reliant on the public health system, and while Covid is still an ever-present in our society it continues to impact our ability to work, and maintain childcare, all the while impacting female-headed households to a far greater extent.
In the backdrop looms humanity’ s planetary crisis, overshadowing our very existence, hitting those on low incomes or trapped in poverty. For many burdened with increasing costs of living, measures to avert the climate crisis become far-fetched and a privileged position to inhabit, so much so that those calling for climate mitigation measures are vilified for being out of touch.
The frailty of the notion of a common good or the true social order of equality, as set out in our constitution, has never been so obvious.
Limerick's directly-elected mayor | general |
'Every point is golden ' So how will Europe's elite approach double dates? | A new format kicks in the Champions Cup this weekend with the first leg of two legged ties. But the ultimate prize still remains the same
Are two legs better than one? We are about to find out as far as professional rugby is concerned as European club cup rugby enters into the unknown over the next fortnight.
The first Round of 16 match in the Heineken Champions Cup kicks off in Galway tonight when Connacht hosts Leinster, the first of eight ties that will be decided by the aggregate score of home and away legs. That the team playing on the road first up has the advantage of knowing exactly what is required from the second leg on home soil seems as close to a given as is possible in this leap into unfamiliar territory.
This week’ s UEFA Champions League quarter-final first legs proceeded without fuss, unless you were Chelsea goalkeeper Edouard Mendy that is, just have they have done in football and many other sports for decades.
Yet when it comes to rugby, only in World Cup regional qualifying play-offs has the two-legged knockout round become a fixture. Whether it becomes a mainstay in the Champions Cup has yet to be decided but it was introduced as part of a competition revamp to deal with the effects of the Covid pandemic when the number of pool games was reduced from six to four and organisers introduced home and away quarter-finals to give qualifying teams a guaranteed revenue stream to make up for the shortfall. Such was the havoc caused by the pandemic on the fixture schedule that those two-legged quarters did not materialise last season and so here we are, with a home and away Round of 16.
Reaction to the development has been mixed in Ireland with players such as Connacht’ s Conor Oliver and Leinster’ s Dan Sheehan rigidly maintaining their next-game focus. | general |
Premarket: Recession-proof stocks are having a moment | A version of this story first appeared in CNN Business ' Before the Bell newsletter. Not a subscriber? You can sign up
right here
. You can listen to an audio version of the newsletter by clicking the same link.
London ( CNN Business)
Investors are worried that the
risks of a recession
are rising in the United States. In Europe, they fear economies could also stall while inflation soars, delivering the toxic combination known as `` stagflation. ''
That's encouraging Wall Street to buy up defensive stocks that have historically performed well even under difficult circumstances.
Health care companies in the S & P 500 are up 3.8% in April, while the broader index is down 0.7%. The utilities sector has climbed 3.1%, and companies that make consumer staples like food and hygiene products have risen 3.6%.
In Europe, health care companies in the benchmark STOXX 600 are up 6% this month, while the broader index is just 1% higher. Utilities have increased 3.5% in April.
`` Given high levels of uncertainty, we do recommend investors add to hedges, including defensive sectors such as global healthcare, '' strategists at UBS Global Wealth Management told clients this week.
Read More
Pfizer was one of the best performing stocks in the United States on Thursday after it announced it was buying ReViral, which is developing drugs to treat a common respiratory virus.
Pfizer
(
PFE
)
shares rose 4%, and are now almost 7% higher this month.
Health care is the favored defensive pick among Citi strategists, too. They said revenue from Covid-19 vaccines and treatments, as well as `` an ongoing need for boosters, '' will continue to support companies in the sector, and that industry mergers are likely to intensify.
Traders aren't in
full-blown fear mode
, as they were one month ago, but there's enough uncertainty about the outlook to inspire a degree of caution.
Why play defense? In Europe, as the war in Ukraine continues, there's a growing consensus that sky-high energy prices will wreak havoc on the region's economy.
`` If energy prices were to return to early-March highs and stay there, the eurozone could slip into recession, '' said Simon Wells, chief European economist at HSBC. `` Stagflation is a real risk. ''
In the United States, meanwhile, Deutsche Bank is
forecasting a recession
next year as the Federal Reserve pulls back support for the economy in a bid to cap inflation. On Friday, Michael Hartnett, Bank of America's chief investment strategist, said he believes a `` recession shock '' is coming to markets.
Wall Street is currently locked in a debate about whether anxiety about the economy is fully reflected in stock market prices. If not, defensive shares could continue to outperform.
Lockdowns in China pose a growing threat to the economy
China's unwavering commitment to stamping out Covid by locking down big cities such as Shanghai threatens to deal a hefty shock to its vast economy, place more strain on global supply chains and further fuel inflation.
Lockdowns in Shanghai and other Chinese cities pose a growing threat to the economy
The latest: Shanghai — home to China's leading financial center and some of its largest sea and airports — has been under lockdown for 12 days, and there's no sign the restrictions will lift soon, my CNN Business colleague Laura He reports.
Small businesses have been hit hard, with shops and restaurants being forced to shut down. Tesla, as well as many Chinese manufacturers, are unclear about when they can restart their factories. Meanwhile, port delays are getting worse, and air freight rates are soaring, putting even more pressure on global trade.
The stringent restrictions have dispelled any expectations that the country may relax its zero-tolerance approach towards Covid-19.
`` The surging cases in Shanghai convinced top leaders that there is no middle ground between zero-Covid and living with Covid. From now on, snap lockdown could be the prevailing strategy, '' said Larry Hu, chief economist for Greater China at Macquarie, in a research report this week.
President Xi Jinping has pledged to `` minimize '' the economic impact of his Covid policy, but the deteriorating situation in Shanghai — and the extended lockdown — raises tough questions about Beijing's approach to outbreaks of Omicron, a much more infectious variant of the original virus.
`` The Omicron variant is highly infectious, and it has become increasingly challenging for China to reach its 'zero-Covid ' objectives while most other countries opt for a 'living with Covid ' approach, '' Ting Lu, managing director and chief China economist for Nomura, wrote in a research note.
He believes that China's rising cases and escalating lockdowns in Shanghai and several other cities will suppress activity across a wide range of sectors, including in-person services, travel, logistics, construction and some manufacturing.
`` The economic costs could be staggering, '' Lu said, adding that global investors may be `` underestimating '' the impact of China's zero-Covid policy on its economy and the markets.
Good news on student loans was bad for this stock
The Biden administration's decision to
extend a pause on federal student loan repayments
through the end of August was cause for celebration among 43 million Americans.
Not so much for the fintech company SoFi, whose
shares plunged
on Thursday, my CNN Business colleague Paul R. La Monica reports.
SoFi offers private student loans and refinancing to undergraduates and their parents, as well as to grad students.
That means the White House's move to extend its payment moratorium this week will dent its sales and profits, the company said.
And SoFi doesn't expect the situation to change any time soon, pointing to the fall midterm elections. It said it thinks the pause will be extended again and remain in place throughout 2022.
It now expects earnings of about $ 100 million this year. Its previous forecast was for a profit of $ 180 million.
That said: The extension of the moratorium could help the broader stock market if it buttresses the US economy. While the pause costs the US government about $ 4 billion a month, it provides debt relief equivalent to an average of $ 5,500 per borrower, according to a recent analysis by the nonprofit Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.
Up next
India's central bank announces its latest policy decision.
Coming next week: US inflation data for March could supercharge the debate about how aggressive the Federal Reserve needs to be and whether the central bank could tip the economy into a recession. | general |
Lockdowns in Shanghai and other Chinese cities pose growing threat to the economy |
China's
unwavering commitment
to stamping out Covid by locking down big cities such as
Shanghai
threatens to deal a hefty shock to
its vast economy
, place more strain on
global supply chains
and further fuel inflation.
Shanghai — home to China's leading financial center and some of its largest sea and airports —
has been under lockdown for 12 days, and there's no sign of it ending.
A lockdown continues in Shanghai on April 6, 2022, to curb coronavirus infections. ( Photo by Kyodo News via Getty Images)
Small businesses have been hit hard, with shops and restaurants being forced to shut down. Tesla, as well as many Chinese and Taiwanese manufacturers, are unclear about when they can restart their factories.
Meanwhile,
port delays
are getting worse, and air freight rates are soaring, putting even more pressure on global trade.
The stringent restrictions have dispelled any expectations that the country may relax its zero-tolerance approach towards Covid-19.
`` The surging cases in Shanghai convinced top leaders that there is no middle ground between zero-Covid and living with Covid. From now on, snap lockdown could be the prevailing strategy, '' said Larry Hu, chief economist for Greater China at Macquarie, in a research report this week.
Read More
President Xi Jinping has
pledged
to `` minimize '' the economic impact of his Covid policy, but the deteriorating situation in Shanghai — and the extended lockdown — raise tough questions about Beijing's approach to outbreaks of Omicron, a much more infectious variant of the original virus.
Frustration spills over in Shanghai as lockdown drags on. Here's what you need to know
`` The Omicron variant is highly infectious, and it has become increasingly challenging for China to reach its 'zero-Covid ' objectives while most other countries opt for a 'living with Covid ' approach, '' Ting Lu, managing director and chief China economist for Nomura, wrote in a note earlier this week.
He believes that China's rising cases and escalating lockdowns in Shanghai and several other cities will suppress activity across a wide range of sectors, including in-person services, travel, logistics, construction and some manufacturing.
`` The economic costs could be staggering, '' Lu said,
adding that global investors may be `` underestimating '' the impact of China's zero-Covid policy on its economy and the markets.
Businesses hurting
Since last month, full or partial lockdowns have been implemented in about 23 cities, according to latest estimates by Nomura. Those cities have around 193 million residents combined — 13.6% of China's population — and contribute 23 trillion yuan ( $ 3.6 trillion) worth of GDP — 22% of the country's economy.
`` These figures could significantly underestimate the full impact, as many other cities have been mass testing district by district, and mobility has been significantly restricted in most parts of China, '' Lu said.
Tesla unable to restart Shanghai production on Monday
By Thursday, at least 40 Chinese companies had been forced to suspend operations in Shanghai and other regions, according to
stock exchange filings
in Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Beijing.
Meanwhile, more than 90 Taiwanese companies have reported that their operations in Shanghai and the neighboring city of Kunshan were affected by the lockdowns, including printed circuit board manufacturer Unimicron Technology and top bike maker Giant Manufacturing, according to
filings
to the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
Growing wounds
The World Bank and some investment banks have recently warned that the damage caused by China's zero-Covid policy to the economy is growing.
The World Bank on Tuesday slashed
China's 2022 growth forecast
, estimating that the world's second largest economy will now grow at 5% this year, sharply down from
last year's 8.1%
. That's also lower than China's
official target of about 5.5%.
`` The continuation of China's zero-Covid policies in the face of the Omicron variant will hurt economic activity in China and have negative spillovers onto the rest of the region, '' the World Bank said in its latest economic update for the East Asia and Pacific region.
Goldman Sachs on Monday maintained its 2022 growth forecast for China at 4.5%, a full point below the official growth target. But the bank pointed out that the latest outbreak and the lockdown in Shanghai are starting to `` weigh more heavily '' on economic activity in China.
Citi, meanwhile, has said that the Omicron wave could drag down China's GDP growth by 1 percentage point in the first quarter. A prolonged Omicron wave could deduct between 0.6 and 0.9 percentage point from GDP growth in the second quarter, it estimated in a report this week.
It could get worse
The Shanghai lockdown comes at a time when the country's economy is already struggling.
Services and manufacturing were both hit hard last month. The Caixin Purchasing Managers ' Index ( PMI) for services recorded its sharpest decline since the initial Covid-19 outbreak in Wuhan in February 2020.
The Caixin manufacturing PMI also contracted at the quickest pace in two years. The deterioration in economic conditions was also reflected in
official PMI data.
April's data could be even worse, economists warned, as lockdowns continue
to hurt domestic demand.
`` Following several rounds of lockdowns, many individuals are worn out, unemployed or underemployed, and have drained their savings to a level at which they now have to reduce spending, '' said Lu from Nomura.
Spillover effects
The crisis in China is also a problem for the world.
The World Bank labeled China's slowdown as one of the major shocks facing Asian economies this year, along with the war in Ukraine and rate hikes by the Fed.
The situation in Shanghai, which has the world's largest container port, has caused shipping delays to worsen, putting more pressure on global supply chains. Although Chinese authorities said the Shanghai port remains operational,
industry data
showed last week that the number of vessels waiting to load or discharge had skyrocketed to an all-time high.
`` Shutdowns affect supply chains from many angles including factory shutdowns, port slowdowns and shortages of truck drivers, '' said Zvi Schreiber, CEO of Hong Kong-based freight booking platform Freightos.
Why the global supply chain mess is getting so much worse
It could cause `` extra inflationary pressures '' on goods imported from China.
Air freight rates are rising too. All passenger flights to Shanghai, one of the world's busiest airports, have been canceled. Schreiber said air cargo rates between Shanghai and northern Europe shot up 43% last week from the level before the outbreak.
Factory closures in Shanghai and neighboring cities could add to the disruptions to key supply chains for electronics and automotives.
For example, Kunshan-based Unimicron Technology supplies printed circuit boards to customers such as Apple, while Eson Precision is an affiliate of Foxconn, which makes iPhones. Eson Precision also supplies components to Tesla.
`` It is very likely that given the severity of the current outbreak in China, electronics and automotive supply chains will experience significant disruption due to supplier outages in the coming 7-10 days, '' said Julie Gerdeman, CEO of supply chain analytics firm Everstream.
— CNN's Beijing bureau contributed to this report. | general |
Lockdowns in Shanghai and other Chinese cities pose growing threat to the economy | Shanghai — home to China's leading financial center and some of its largest sea and airports — has been under lockdown for 12 days, and there's no sign of it ending.
Small businesses have been hit hard, with shops and restaurants being forced to shut down. Tesla, as well as many Chinese and Taiwanese manufacturers, are unclear about when they can restart their factories. Meanwhile, port delays are getting worse, and air freight rates are soaring, putting even more pressure on global trade.
The stringent restrictions have dispelled any expectations that the country may relax its zero-tolerance approach towards Covid-19.
`` The surging cases in Shanghai convinced top leaders that there is no middle ground between zero-Covid and living with Covid. From now on, snap lockdown could be the prevailing strategy, '' said Larry Hu, chief economist for Greater China at Macquarie, in a research report this week.
President Xi Jinping has pledged to `` minimize '' the economic impact of his Covid policy, but the deteriorating situation in Shanghai — and the extended lockdown — raise tough questions about Beijing's approach to outbreaks of Omicron, a much more infectious variant of the original virus.
`` The Omicron variant is highly infectious, and it has become increasingly challenging for China to reach its 'zero-Covid ' objectives while most other countries opt for a 'living with Covid ' approach, '' Ting Lu, managing director and chief China economist for Nomura, wrote in a note earlier this week.
He believes that China's rising cases and escalating lockdowns in Shanghai and several other cities will suppress activity across a wide range of sectors, including in-person services, travel, logistics, construction and some manufacturing.
`` The economic costs could be staggering, '' Lu said, adding that global investors may be `` underestimating '' the impact of China's zero-Covid policy on its economy and the markets.
Businesses hurting
Since last month, full or partial lockdowns have been implemented in about 23 cities, according to latest estimates by Nomura. Those cities have around 193 million residents combined — 13.6% of China's population — and contribute 23 trillion yuan ( $ 3.6 trillion) worth of GDP — 22% of the country's economy.
`` These figures could significantly underestimate the full impact, as many other cities have been mass testing district by district, and mobility has been significantly restricted in most parts of China, '' Lu said.
By Thursday, at least 40 Chinese companies had been forced to suspend operations in Shanghai and other regions, according to stock exchange filings in Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Beijing.
Meanwhile, more than 90 Taiwanese companies have reported that their operations in Shanghai and the neighboring city of Kunshan were affected by the lockdowns, including printed circuit board manufacturer Unimicron Technology and top bike maker Giant Manufacturing, according to filings to the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
Growing wounds
The World Bank and some investment banks have recently warned that the damage caused by China's zero-Covid policy to the economy is growing.
The World Bank on Tuesday slashed China's 2022 growth forecast, estimating that the world's second largest economy will now grow at 5% this year, sharply down from last year's 8.1%. That's also lower than China's official target of about 5.5%.
`` The continuation of China's zero-Covid policies in the face of the Omicron variant will hurt economic activity in China and have negative spillovers onto the rest of the region, '' the World Bank said in its latest economic update for the East Asia and Pacific region.
Goldman Sachs on Monday maintained its 2022 growth forecast for China at 4.5%, a full point below the official growth target. But the bank pointed out that the latest outbreak and the lockdown in Shanghai are starting to `` weigh more heavily '' on economic activity in China.
Citi, meanwhile, has said that the Omicron wave could drag down China's GDP growth by 1 percentage point in the first quarter. A prolonged Omicron wave could deduct between 0.6 and 0.9 percentage point from GDP growth in the second quarter, it estimated in a report this week.
It could get worse
The Shanghai lockdown comes at a time when the country's economy is already struggling.
Services and manufacturing were both hit hard last month. The Caixin Purchasing Managers ' Index ( PMI) for services recorded its sharpest decline since the initial Covid-19 outbreak in Wuhan in February 2020.
The Caixin manufacturing PMI also contracted at the quickest pace in two years. The deterioration in economic conditions was also reflected in official PMI data.
April's data could be even worse, economists warned, as lockdowns continue to hurt domestic demand.
`` Following several rounds of lockdowns, many individuals are worn out, unemployed or underemployed, and have drained their savings to a level at which they now have to reduce spending, '' said Lu from Nomura.
Spillover effects
The crisis in China is also a problem for the world.
The World Bank labeled China's slowdown as one of the major shocks facing Asian economies this year, along with the war in Ukraine and rate hikes by the Fed.
The situation in Shanghai, which has the world's largest container port, has caused shipping delays to worsen, putting more pressure on global supply chains. Although Chinese authorities said the Shanghai port remains operational, industry data showed last week that the number of vessels waiting to load or discharge had skyrocketed to an all-time high.
`` Shutdowns affect supply chains from many angles including factory shutdowns, port slowdowns and shortages of truck drivers, '' said Zvi Schreiber, CEO of Hong Kong-based freight booking platform Freightos.
It could cause `` extra inflationary pressures '' on goods imported from China.
Air freight rates are rising too. All passenger flights to Shanghai, one of the world's busiest airports, have been canceled. Schreiber said air cargo rates between Shanghai and northern Europe shot up 43% last week from the level before the outbreak.
Factory closures in Shanghai and neighboring cities could add to the disruptions to key supply chains for electronics and automotives.
For example, Kunshan-based Unimicron Technology supplies printed circuit boards to customers such as Apple, while Eson Precision is an affiliate of Foxconn, which makes iPhones. Eson Precision also supplies components to Tesla.
`` It is very likely that given the severity of the current outbreak in China, electronics and automotive supply chains will experience significant disruption due to supplier outages in the coming 7-10 days, '' said Julie Gerdeman, CEO of supply chain analytics firm Everstream.
— CNN's Beijing bureau contributed to this report. | business |
'Incredible honor ' -Jackson's confirmation celebrated | History was celebrated in Washington, Friday, as President Joe Biden's Supreme Court appointee Ketanji Brown Jackson spoke about the magnitude of her confirmation as the first Black woman to serve on the nation's top court.
`` It has taken 232 years and 115 prior appointments for a Black woman to be selected to serve on the Supreme Court of the United States. But we 've made it - we 've made it - all of us, all of us. ''
Jackson, a federal appellate judge, was confirmed to the lifetime post by the Senate on Thursday with a 53-47 vote - both a victory for the president and a milestone for the United States.
BIDEN: `` It's real. We're going to look back and see this is a moment of real change in American history. ''
But, Biden admitted Jackson's confirmation hearings in front of the Judiciary Committee were painful to watch:
``... it was verbal abuse, the anger, the constant interruptions, the most vile, baseless assertions and accusations. In the face of it all, Judge Jackson showed the incredible character and integrity she possesses.... ''
Jackson will replace retiring Liberal Justice Stephen Breyer, who is set to step down after the court's current term that runs through June.
Jackson on Friday said she will rule independently on the high court, and thanked President Biden for the honor, along with civil rights icons who she says charted her path:
``... Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Justice Thurgood Marshall and my personal heroine, Judge Constance Baker Motley - they and so many others did the heavy lifting that made this day possible. ''
A breeze carried the applause on the White House lawn.
The outdoor setting was chosen in part as a nod to COVID-19 safety, according to the White House, amid a rise in cases in Washington... and in Biden's inner circle. | business |
DeSantis tops $ 100 million for Florida reelection race -- and sends signal to 2024 Republican field | The staggering sum not only gives DeSantis an unprecedented leg up on the Democrats attempting to unseat him this November, it also sends an indisputable message to the potential field of 2024 Republican presidential hopefuls that there is already a promising contender with deep support from major donors and grassroots voters alike.
It's the kind of fundraising chops that `` catapults him into the top tier of potential GOP candidates, '' said Scott Reed, a veteran GOP operative and former top strategist for the US Chamber of Commerce.
`` He's been asking for big licks -- $ 5 million and $ 10 million per fundraiser -- and he's getting them and that's a warning sign, '' Reed said. `` DeSantis is the talk of every Republican cocktail party and every organizational meeting. His support spans the money class and the movement conservatives. And that's a strong combination early in the game. ''
The latest fundraising numbers for DeSantis won't become official until Monday, the state's deadline to report March totals. However, a CNN review of contributions posted to the website of his political committee, Friends of Ron DeSantis, showed a March haul of $ 6.1 million. His campaign and political committee, which are separate entities both working toward his reelection, had previously reported raising a combined $ 96 million this cycle through February.
While the proliferation of political committees and differences in campaign finance laws makes it difficult to compare fundraising numbers across state boundaries, it appears DeSantis is the first candidate in any state to eclipse $ 100 million entirely on donations. According to data maintained by the campaign finance watchdog OpenSecrets, the two past gubernatorial candidates who amassed $ 100 million campaigns -- former business executive and 2010 GOP nominee for California governor Meg Whitman and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, whose family owns Hyatt Hotels -- funded their campaigns almost entirely with their own money.
DeSantis, though, is not independently wealthy. Prior to becoming governor in 2019, DeSantis served less than three terms in Congress. Before that, he was a lawyer in the Navy. His net worth is $ 348,000, according to his most recent financial disclosure form.
Instead, DeSantis has broken fundraising records by relying on a mix of sources. He has received significant contributions from the state and national parties and has crisscrossed the country to raise money from wealthy GOP donors. His political committee has collected large checks from influential Florida businesses and small donations from all 50 states.
DeSantis has also tapped into former President Donald Trump's donor network, including Home Depot co-founder Bernie Marcus, WeatherTech CEO David MacNeil and shipping magnate Richard Uihlein and his wife, Elizabeth. All have given six-figure sums to DeSantis ' political committee.
Because the money was raised for a state race, it is unlikely it can be used to assist DeSantis in a federal campaign, should he run in the future. But former President George W. Bush demonstrated how a relentless fundraising blitz in a state race can boost a prospective presidential bid.
Like DeSantis, Bush in 1998 was a Republican incumbent widely seen as a serious contender for the next presidential race. Bush signaled he would be a formidable candidate for the White House by putting up gaudy fundraising numbers en route to a historic margin of victory in the Lonestar State.
`` I 've seen a lot of people raise that kind of money before. It doesn't always mean success, '' said Charlie Black, who worked on Bush's presidential campaign. `` Bush was successful with that strategy. The biggest thing DeSantis has to do is keep his eye on the ball and make sure he gets reelected. ''
Other potential 2024 contenders are noticing DeSantis ' fundraising prowess -- including Trump. The former President has closely monitored which former donors have opened up their checkbooks to the Florida governor, people close to Trump previously told CNN.
Trump reiterated to The Washington Post this week his belief that he `` made '' DeSantis when he endorsed the underfunded and lesser-known congressman in the 2018 GOP primary for Florida governor. He added that he doesn't believe DeSantis -- or any other ally -- will run in 2024 if the former President is in the race.
`` If I ran, I can't imagine they 'd want to run, '' Trump said. `` Some out of loyalty would have had a hard time running. ''
One adviser to a potential presidential candidate acknowledged that important Republican donors likely see in DeSantis `` an opportunity to get in on the ground floor '' of a future presidential campaign -- one featuring the only candidate who comes close to rivaling Trump's support in early 2024 polling. But the adviser added that there is more for DeSantis to prove than being a successful fundraiser.
`` Despite all the attention he's getting, DeSantis is largely untested, '' the adviser said. `` When you look at the potential 2024 field, he stands out as the person who has never faced a monumental challenge and that's bound to happen over the next year and a half. It's going to be a pivotal moment for him. ''
The DeSantis advantage
Other 2024 hopefuls may have to tiptoe around Trump and raise money through political action committees with vague mission statements about helping elect Republicans. But as a candidate running for reelection in a high-profile state, DeSantis doesn't have to make excuses to have an audience with big-name Republican donors.
The list of donors to his gubernatorial campaign is a who's who of the GOP money class: businessman John Childs, hedge fund manager Paul Tudor Jones, ex-private equity financier and former Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner, San Francisco Giants owner Charles Johnson and beef jerky mogul Troy Link, among others.
It's a mix of past backers to presidential campaigns, Trump allies and some people, such as hedge fund manager Ken Griffin and Interactive Brokers Group chairman Thomas Peterffy, who are looking beyond Trump in 2024. Peterffy told Bloomberg News last year that he would prefer to see DeSantis as the Republican presidential nominee in 2024 because he is less impulsive than Trump. Griffin ruled out backing Trump if he runs again.
Rob Stutzman, a California-based GOP consultant, said DeSantis ' fundraising to date `` certainly confirms conventional wisdom that he is the non-Trump front-runner for the nomination. ''
`` Demonstrating that kind of fundraising network is what other candidates will notice as they assess whether to enter the field to compete against him, '' he said. `` It may be an issue that continues to engender Donald Trump's jealousy, too. ''
Nick Iarossi, a lobbyist and top DeSantis fundraiser, said the governor's support among donors grew during the coronavirus pandemic, when he bucked medical experts and lifted restrictions on businesses and schools before most other states. He's picked up more support as he's become a frequent foil for President Joe Biden, often challenging White House policies on coronavirus mitigation measures, vaccines and immigration.
`` It makes him a formidable national contender for sure, '' Iarossi said of DeSantis ' growing fundraising network. `` But I also think there's a bigger message and one the governor hopes the people in the party see and that is doing what you say you're going to do and being unapologetic about it is going to lead to support. ''
DeSantis has another advantage fueling his record-breaking fundraising push: Florida campaign finance laws do not limit contributions to political committees. As it is, deep-pocketed Republican donors from across the country and prominent Florida corporations have cut five- and six-figure checks to directly support DeSantis ' reelection effort. Griffin contributed $ 5 million in a single donation. The Republican Governors Association has put in more than $ 10 million.
It's an edge also shared by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, another potential 2024 GOP contender first facing a reelection fight this year. Abbott raised $ 93 million through February 19 for his race against Democrat Beto O'Rourke, according to OpenSecrets.
Pete Quist, the deputy research director at OpenSecrets, has studied gubernatorial fundraising data for years. He said incumbents benefit when there are no contribution limits `` because they get money from interests and the checks come in earlier and they come in larger. ''
DeSantis ran for governor in 2018 as the antidote to a state government that he portrayed as overrun by lobbyists and corporate money.
DeSantis ' campaign called his Republican primary opponent, establishment favorite Adam Putnam, a shill for `` special interest money '' and a `` swamp dweller. '' Borrowing a line from Trump, DeSantis promised to `` drain the swamp in Tallahassee that needs to be drained just like Washington. ''
Since getting elected, though, DeSantis ' political ambitions have benefited from the largesse of some of Florida's most powerful and politically connected entities. His political committee has raised nearly $ 3 million from the same companies and industry-affiliated political committees that donated more than $ 150,000 to Putnam, including Disney, utility companies and a PAC run by state Realtors.
DeSantis ' campaign declined to comment for this story.
Democrats are campaigning from behind
Florida, with its diverse and disparate communities spread across a half dozen major television markets, is a notoriously costly state to mount a campaign. Candidates are expected to raise fistfuls of cash or pony up from their own pocketbooks to be competitive in statewide races.
But even by Florida standards, DeSantis has become an outlier. He has already surpassed the record $ 88 million raised during the 2014 election cycle by his predecessor, now-Sen. Rick Scott, a former health care executive who helped finance his own campaign. DeSantis is on pace to soon eclipse the $ 113 million he and his 2018 opponent, Democrat Andrew Gillum, combined to raise in their costly, tight race for governor. And there are still seven months until Election Day.
Meanwhile, the Democrats attempting to defeat DeSantis are still finding their footing. Through February, US Rep. Charlie Crist, a onetime governor as a Republican and the Democratic nominee for governor in 2014, had raised $ 7.1 million with $ 4.7 million still on hand. State Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried had about $ 3.6 million left of the $ 6 million she reported raising through February, while a third candidate, state Sen. Annette Taddeo, had raised less than $ 1 million. The primary election is August 23.
The Florida Democratic Party did not respond to questions about its plan to compete with DeSantis ' fundraising advantage. Steve Schale, a Democratic campaign consultant, expects money to flood into Florida once the party has a nominee, but DeSantis, he said, `` is still going to outspend, even in the rosiest scenarios on my side. '' The gap in resources will allow DeSantis to `` completely dictate the terms of the conversation '' throughout the campaign, Schale added.
`` When you're underfunded, you have to constantly make bad choices, '' said Schale, who was involved in past gubernatorial campaigns. `` You're choosing between cutting off your right arm or your left arm and hoping you don't bleed to death. ''
Perhaps most daunting for Democrats is how much cash DeSantis is still sitting on. His campaign had $ 88.5 million on hand through February.
One longtime Tallahassee-based Republican adviser said the joke around the capital is that the DeSantis campaign team is the `` poorest group of rich people in the state. '' Not unlike Trump, DeSantis has a reputation for scrutinizing every dollar spent by his campaign. Despite his growing political profile, DeSantis didn't have campaign staff until relatively recently, and it remains a pretty slim operation.
`` Eventually, those resources will be deployed, '' Iarossi said. `` He's frugal. That's his reputation. And that's part of the reason people feel good giving to him. ''
Last year, the second-largest expense for DeSantis ' political committee was $ 560,000 spent on inventory for campaign merchandise. That's not typical for a campaign with this kind of cash flow. But DeSantis has generated several rounds of headlines -- known in the political world as earned media -- by pushing out provocative campaign swag, like `` Don't Fauci My Florida '' koozies and `` Fauci Can Pound Sand '' flip flops -- after chief Biden medical adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci -- and a sleeve of two golf balls that says `` Florida's Governor Has a Pair. ''
`` Most of those, like the flip flops, he comes up with the ideas, '' Iarossi said. `` He's reviewing budgets and new hires and how much is being paid. He does not want to waste campaign dollars. He's very particular. ''
CLARIFICATION: This story has been updated to note that hedge fund manager Ken Griffin did not previously back former President Donald Trump.
This story has also been updated with additional details. | business |
Sarah Jessica Parker testing positive for Covid cancels 'Plaza Suite ' on Broadway |
Two days after Matthew Broderick was sidelined from the Broadway play `` Plaza Suite ''
because he tested positive for Covid-19
, his wife and costar Sarah Jessica Parker has tested positive as well.
Performance of the play have been canceled through Sunday, according to
a statement Friday on the show's official Twitter account
, which also announced Parker's diagnosis on Thursday.
`` Everyone wishes Matthew and Sarah Jessica a speedy recovery, '' Friday's statement said.
Ticket holders were directed how to receive a refund or reschedule for a future date.
The show's producers offered no further details about when the show might return, saying only that news about future performances `` will be announced shortly. ''
Read More
The revival of the classic 1968 Neil Simon play was currently slated to run through late June. But to make up for the canceled shows the producers announced Friday they 've extended `` Plaza Suite's '' run through July 1.
After Broderick's positive test was announced his understudy, Michael McGrath,
stepped in for him
-- opposite Parker -- for Tuesday's and Wednesday's shows.
Broderick and Parker portray three different pairs of guests at New York City's famed Plaza Hotel in the three-act comedy. | general |
DeSantis tops $ 100 million for Florida reelection race -- and sends signal to 2024 Republican field |
Florida Gov.
Ron DeSantis
has raised more than $ 100 million for his reelection effort, the first gubernatorial candidate in the
Sunshine State
-- and perhaps the entire country -- to reach the nine-figure milestone solely through donations.
The staggering sum not only gives DeSantis an unprecedented leg up on the Democrats attempting to unseat him this November, it also sends an indisputable message to the
potential field
of 2024 Republican presidential hopefuls that there is already a promising contender with deep support from major donors and grassroots voters alike.
It's the kind of fundraising chops that `` catapults him into the top tier of potential GOP candidates, '' said Scott Reed, a veteran GOP operative and former top strategist for the US Chamber of Commerce.
`` He's been asking for big licks -- $ 5 million and $ 10 million per fundraiser -- and he's getting them and that's a warning sign, '' Reed said. `` DeSantis is the talk of every Republican cocktail party and every organizational meeting. His support spans the money class and the movement conservatives. And that's a strong combination early in the game. ''
The latest fundraising numbers for DeSantis won't become official until Monday, the state's deadline to report March totals. However, a CNN review of contributions posted to the website of his political committee, Friends of Ron DeSantis, showed a March haul of $ 6.1 million. His campaign and political committee, which are separate entities both working toward his reelection, had previously reported raising a combined $ 96 million this cycle through February.
Read More
While the proliferation of political committees and differences in campaign finance laws makes it difficult to compare fundraising numbers across state boundaries, it appears DeSantis is the first candidate in any state to eclipse $ 100 million entirely on donations. According to
data maintained by the campaign finance watchdog OpenSecrets
, the two past gubernatorial candidates who amassed $ 100 million campaigns -- former business executive and 2010 GOP nominee for California governor Meg Whitman and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, whose family owns Hyatt Hotels -- funded their campaigns almost entirely with their own money.
DeSantis, though, is not independently wealthy. Prior to
becoming governo
r in 2019, DeSantis served less than three terms in Congress. Before that, he was a lawyer in the Navy. His net worth is $ 348,000, according to his most recent financial disclosure form.
Instead, DeSantis has broken fundraising records by relying on a mix of sources. He has received significant contributions from the state and national parties and has crisscrossed the country to raise money from wealthy GOP donors. His political committee has collected large checks from influential Florida businesses and small donations from all 50 states.
DeSantis vs. Disney showdown bolsters Florida governor's standing in GOP
DeSantis has also tapped into former
President Donald Trump
's donor network, including Home Depot co-founder Bernie Marcus, WeatherTech CEO David MacNeil and shipping magnate Richard Uihlein and his wife, Elizabeth. All have given six-figure sums to DeSantis ' political committee.
Because the money was raised for a state race, it is unlikely it can be used to assist DeSantis in a federal campaign, should he run in the future. But former President George W. Bush demonstrated how a relentless fundraising blitz in a state race can
boost a prospective presidential bid
.
Like DeSantis, Bush in 1998 was a Republican incumbent widely seen as a serious contender for the next presidential race. Bush signaled he would be a formidable candidate for the White House by putting up gaudy fundraising numbers en route to a historic margin of victory in the Lonestar State.
`` I 've seen a lot of people raise that kind of money before. It doesn't always mean success, '' said Charlie Black, who worked on Bush's presidential campaign. `` Bush was successful with that strategy. The biggest thing DeSantis has to do is keep his eye on the ball and make sure he gets reelected. ''
Other potential 2024 contenders are noticing DeSantis ' fundraising prowess --
including Trump
. The former President has closely monitored which former donors have opened up their checkbooks to the Florida governor, people close to Trump previously told CNN.
DeSantis ' rising star -- and fraught relationship with Trump -- on display as CPAC kicks off in Florida
Trump reiterated to
The Washington Post
this week his belief that he `` made '' DeSantis when he endorsed the underfunded and lesser-known congressman in the 2018 GOP primary for Florida governor. He added that he doesn't believe DeSantis -- or any other ally -- will run in 2024 if the former President is in the race.
`` If I ran, I can't imagine they 'd want to run, '' Trump said. `` Some out of loyalty would have had a hard time running. ''
One adviser to a potential presidential candidate acknowledged that important Republican donors likely see in DeSantis `` an opportunity to get in on the ground floor '' of a future presidential campaign -- one featuring the only candidate who comes close to rivaling Trump's support in
early 2024 polling
. But the adviser added that there is more for DeSantis to prove than being a successful fundraiser.
`` Despite all the attention he's getting, DeSantis is largely untested, '' the adviser said. `` When you look at the potential 2024 field, he stands out as the person who has never faced a monumental challenge and that's bound to happen over the next year and a half. It's going to be a pivotal moment for him. ''
The DeSantis advantage
Other 2024 hopefuls may have to tiptoe around Trump and raise money through political action committees with vague mission statements about helping elect Republicans. But as a candidate running for reelection in a high-profile state, DeSantis doesn't have to make excuses to have an audience with big-name Republican donors.
The list of donors to his gubernatorial campaign is a who's who of the GOP money class: businessman John Childs, hedge fund manager Paul Tudor Jones, ex-private equity financier and former Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner, San Francisco Giants owner Charles Johnson and beef jerky mogul Troy Link, among others.
It's a mix of past backers to presidential campaigns, Trump allies and some people, such as hedge fund manager Ken Griffin and Interactive Brokers Group chairman Thomas Peterffy, who are looking beyond Trump in 2024. Peterffy
told Bloomberg News
last year that he would prefer to see DeSantis as the Republican presidential nominee in 2024 because he is less impulsive than Trump. Griffin
ruled out
backing Trump if he runs again.
Ron DeSantis follows the Trump playbook ahead of 2024
Rob Stutzman, a California-based GOP consultant, said DeSantis ' fundraising to date `` certainly confirms conventional wisdom that he is the non-Trump front-runner for the nomination. ''
`` Demonstrating that kind of fundraising network is what other candidates will notice as they assess whether to enter the field to compete against him, '' he said. `` It may be an issue that continues to engender Donald Trump's jealousy, too. ''
Nick Iarossi, a lobbyist and top DeSantis fundraiser, said the governor's support among donors grew
during the coronavirus pandemic
, when he bucked medical experts and lifted restrictions on businesses and schools before most other states. He's picked up more support as he's become a
frequent foil
for President Joe Biden, often challenging White House policies on coronavirus mitigation measures, vaccines and
immigration
.
`` It makes him a formidable national contender for sure, '' Iarossi said of DeSantis ' growing fundraising network. `` But I also think there's a bigger message and one the governor hopes the people in the party see and that is doing what you say you're going to do and being unapologetic about it is going to lead to support. ''
DeSantis has another advantage fueling his record-breaking fundraising push: Florida campaign finance laws do not limit contributions to political committees. As it is, deep-pocketed Republican donors from across the country and prominent Florida corporations have cut five- and six-figure checks to directly support DeSantis ' reelection effort. Griffin contributed $ 5 million in a single donation. The Republican Governors Association has put in more than $ 10 million.
It's an edge also shared by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, another potential 2024 GOP contender first facing a reelection fight this year. Abbott raised $ 93 million through February 19 for his race against Democrat Beto O'Rourke,
according to OpenSecrets
.
Pete Quist, the deputy research director at OpenSecrets, has studied gubernatorial fundraising data for years. He said incumbents benefit when there are no contribution limits `` because they get money from interests and the checks come in earlier and they come in larger. ''
Fact check: Emails show one of DeSantis ' stories backing the rationale for so-called 'Don't Say Gay ' law didn't happen as the governor says
DeSantis ran for governor in 2018 as the antidote to a state government that he portrayed as overrun by lobbyists and corporate money.
DeSantis ' campaign called his Republican primary opponent, establishment favorite Adam Putnam, a shill for `` special interest money '' and a `` swamp dweller. '' Borrowing a line from Trump, DeSantis promised to `` drain the swamp in Tallahassee that needs to be drained just like Washington. ''
Since getting elected, though, DeSantis ' political ambitions have benefited from the largesse of some of Florida's most powerful and politically connected entities. His political committee has raised nearly $ 3 million from the same companies and industry-affiliated political committees that donated more than $ 150,000 to Putnam, including Disney, utility companies and a PAC run by state Realtors.
DeSantis ' campaign declined to comment for this story.
Democrats are campaigning from behind
Florida, with its diverse and disparate communities spread across a half dozen major television markets, is a notoriously costly state to mount a campaign. Candidates are expected to raise fistfuls of cash or pony up from their own pocketbooks to be competitive in statewide races.
But even by Florida standards, DeSantis has become an outlier. He has already surpassed the record $ 88 million raised during the 2014 election cycle by his predecessor, now-Sen.
Rick Scott
, a former health care executive who helped finance his own campaign. DeSantis is on pace to soon eclipse the $ 113 million he and his 2018 opponent, Democrat
Andrew Gillum
, combined to raise in their costly, tight race for governor. And there are still seven months until Election Day.
Meanwhile, the Democrats attempting to defeat DeSantis are still finding their footing. Through February, US Rep.
Charlie Crist
, a onetime governor as a Republican and the Democratic nominee for governor in 2014, had raised $ 7.1 million with $ 4.7 million still on hand. State Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried had about $ 3.6 million left of the $ 6 million she reported raising through February, while a third candidate, state Sen. Annette Taddeo, had raised less than $ 1 million. The primary election is August 23.
Florida was once the perennial swing state. 2022 may prove how red it has become
The Florida Democratic Party did not respond to questions about its plan to compete with DeSantis ' fundraising advantage. Steve Schale, a Democratic campaign consultant, expects money to flood into Florida once the party has a nominee, but DeSantis, he said, `` is still going to outspend, even in the rosiest scenarios on my side. '' The gap in resources will allow DeSantis to `` completely dictate the terms of the conversation '' throughout the campaign, Schale added.
`` When you're underfunded, you have to constantly make bad choices, '' said Schale, who was involved in past gubernatorial campaigns. `` You're choosing between cutting off your right arm or your left arm and hoping you don't bleed to death. ''
Perhaps most daunting for Democrats is how much cash DeSantis is still sitting on. His campaign had $ 88.5 million on hand through February.
One longtime Tallahassee-based Republican adviser said the joke around the capital is that the DeSantis campaign team is the `` poorest group of rich people in the state. '' Not unlike Trump, DeSantis has a reputation for scrutinizing every dollar spent by his campaign. Despite his growing political profile, DeSantis didn't have campaign staff until relatively recently, and it remains a pretty slim operation.
`` Eventually, those resources will be deployed, '' Iarossi said. `` He's frugal. That's his reputation. And that's part of the reason people feel good giving to him. ''
Last year, the second-largest expense for DeSantis ' political committee was $ 560,000 spent on inventory for campaign merchandise. That's not typical for a campaign with this kind of cash flow. But DeSantis has generated several rounds of headlines -- known in the political world as earned media -- by pushing out provocative campaign swag, like `` Don't Fauci My Florida '' koozies and `` Fauci Can Pound Sand '' flip flops -- after chief Biden medical adviser Dr.
Anthony Fauci
-- and a sleeve of two golf balls that says `` Florida's Governor Has a Pair. ''
`` Most of those, like the flip flops, he comes up with the ideas, '' Iarossi said. `` He's reviewing budgets and new hires and how much is being paid. He does not want to waste campaign dollars. He's very particular. ''
CLARIFICATION: This story has been updated to note that hedge fund manager Ken Griffin did not previously back former President Donald Trump.
This story has also been updated with additional details. | general |
COVID-19 tracker: Japan logs 51,953 cases, up by 2,600 from last week | Japan reported 51,953 new COVID-19 cases Friday, up by about 2,600 from the week before, along with 69 new deaths.
The number of severely ill COVID-19 patients dropped by 10 from Thursday to 484.
The Tokyo Metropolitan Government confirmed 8,112 new cases, up by 130 from a week before. Nine deaths were reported among those infected.
The seven-day average of new infections in Tokyo stood at 7,451.9, down from 7,628.9 a week earlier, according to the metropolitan government.
The number of COVID-19 patients with severe symptoms under the metropolitan government’ s criteria stood at 30, increasing by one from Thursday.
Elsewhere, Osaka Prefecture logged 3,908 cases and 17 deaths, Aichi Prefecture saw 2,853 cases and three deaths, Chiba Prefecture marked 2,627 cases and two deaths and Hokkaido reported 2,216 cases and four deaths.
On Thursday, 54,995 new COVID-19 cases were reported nationwide, up about 3,000 from a week before, while 69 fatalities were confirmed.
Iwate and Fukushima prefectures logged record-high daily infection figures, at 429 and 694, respectively. | tech |
Insights on the Corneal Topographers Global Market to 2027 - Featuring Topcon Medical Systems, Carl Zeiss Meditec and Cassini Technologies Among Others - ResearchAndMarkets.com | DUBLIN -- ( BUSINESS WIRE) -- The `` Corneal Topographers Market - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts ( 2022 - 2027) '' report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.
The corneal topographers market studied was anticipated to grow with a CAGR of nearly 6.2% during the forecast period.
The major factors driving the growth of the market are the global prevalence of various ophthalmic disorders such as refractive errors, cataracts, diabetic retinopathy, etc. and rise in the geriatric population.
Companies Mentioned
North America Dominates the Market and Expected to do Same in the Forecast Period.
North America is expected to dominate the overall corneal topographers market throughout the forecast period a steep rise in incidences of limbal dermoid, Corneal pterygium, and localized corneal scars along with rapid growth of elder population in the region.
Furthermore, an increase in the investment by the key players and a huge pipeline of products in the ophthalmic devices sector along with a rise in approvals from the USFDA is expected to boost the growth of the market in the forecast period. For instance, according to the factsheet published by the World Health Organization ( WHO) in 2019, about 2.2 billion people globally have a vision impairment or blindness and is expected to continue with rise in geriatric population due to age-related macular degeneration which directly drives for growth of the market in the region propelling the global corneal topographers market revenue.
Competitive Landscape
The corneal topographers market is moderately competitive and consists of several major players. Few of the key players are developing the new products with upgraded technologies to compete with to the existing products trending in the market while others are making partnerships with distributors to increase their sales and market position globally.
Key Topics Covered:
1 INTRODUCTION
2 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
4 MARKET DYNAMICS
4.1 Market Overview
4.2 Market Drivers
4.2.1 Increased Global Incidence of Ophthalmic Disorders Coupled with Rise in Geriatric Patients
4.2.2 Rise in Government Support to Control Visual Impairment and Rapid Awareness of Eye Care
4.3 Market Restraints
4.3.1 Higher Cost of the Ophthalmic Devices and Treatment
4.3.2 Lack of Awareness and Skilled Ophthalmologists in Emerging Nations
4.4 Porter's Five Force Analysis
4.4.1 Threat of New Entrants
4.4.2 Bargaining Power of Buyers/Consumers
4.4.3 Bargaining Power of Suppliers
4.4.4 Threat of Substitute Products
4.4.5 Intensity of Competitive Rivalry
5 MARKET SEGMENTATION
5.1 By Technology
5.1.1 Scanning Slit Technology
5.1.2 Reflection Based Technology
5.2 By Application
5.2.1 Refractive Surgery Evaluation
5.2.2 Cataract Surgery Evaluation
5.2.3 Corneal Disorder Diagnosis
5.2.4 Contact Lens Fitting
5.2.5 Others
5.3 By Distribution Channel
5.3.1 Eye Clinics
5.3.2 Hospitals
5.3.3 Others
5.4 Geography
6 COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE
6.1 Company Profiles
6.1.1 Topcon Medical Systems Inc
6.1.2 Carl Zeiss Meditec AG
6.1.3 Cassini Technologies
6.1.4 Ziemer Group AG
6.1.5 Nidek Co Ltd
6.1.6 Optos plc
6.1.7 Eyenuk Inc
6.1.8 Aeon Imaging LLC
6.1.9 Luneau Technology Group | general |
Sarah Jessica Parker testing positive for Covid cancels 'Plaza Suite ' on Broadway | Performance of the play have been canceled through Sunday, according to a statement Friday on the show's official Twitter account, which also announced Parker's diagnosis on Thursday.
`` Everyone wishes Matthew and Sarah Jessica a speedy recovery, '' Friday's statement said.
Ticket holders were directed how to receive a refund or reschedule for a future date.
The show's producers offered no further details about when the show might return, saying only that news about future performances `` will be announced shortly. ''
The revival of the classic 1968 Neil Simon play was currently slated to run through late June. But to make up for the canceled shows the producers announced Friday they 've extended `` Plaza Suite's '' run through July 1.
After Broderick's positive test was announced his understudy, Michael McGrath, stepped in for him -- opposite Parker -- for Tuesday's and Wednesday's shows.
Broderick and Parker portray three different pairs of guests at New York City's famed Plaza Hotel in the three-act comedy.
| business |
COVID-19 By the Numbers: Nearly a Half Billion Global Cases and Counting | COVID-19 has killed more than six million people worldwide and almost one million in the U.S. alone. And the pandemic isn’ t over yet. It is possible it’ s on the downturn in the U.S., although there are still many questions about the second Omicron variant, BA.2., and how long immunity conferred by vaccines and previous infections will last. Read on for that and more updates about COVID-19.
In the third year of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine's COVID-19 Dashboard, there have been a total of 496,430,832 reported cases and 6,171,346 deaths. In addition, worldwide, there have been 11,088,063,204 vaccine doses administered. The figures for the U.S. are 80,289,264 confirmed cases and 984,571 deaths, with 562,271,963 vaccine doses administered.
To date, the U.S. government had spent a whopping $ 3.63 trillion in response to COVID-19, according to USASPending.gov. The total budgetary resources hit $ 4.57 trillion across 44 agencies, including the Department of the Treasury, Small Business Administration, Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Homeland Security and many others.
Currently, the second variant of Omicron, BA.2, is the dominant strain in the U.S. Although the variant is responsible for surges in the U.K. and a few other countries, it doesn’ t seem to be resulting in many new cases in the U.S., and hospitalizations and deaths are dropping. No one is completely certain why this is, and we don’ t want to rule out spikes in the near future, but it's suspected that the level of vaccination in the country, as well as previous infections, are such that for the most part, the U.S. has reached some version of herd immunity.
It’ s also possible that BA.2 isn’ t as deadly, despite being more infectious than previous strains. It does look as if people who were infected by Omicron BA.1 have immunity against infection by BA.2. It’ s also possible that, as the federal government cuts funding for testing and most testing is performed with in-home kits, the positive cases simply aren’ t being reported, particularly if they’ re asymptomatic or mild.
It would not be unexpected if the next couple of weeks demonstrates an increase in cases of COVID-19 in the U.S., likely a response to an uptick in travel and gathering over spring break and Easter vacations. Also, most states and communities have pulled back on mask mandates and restrictions for indoor gatherings. In addition, people who received their vaccines earlier may have waning immunity.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, MD, director of the National Institute of Allergy & Infectious Diseases ( NIAID) and the White House chief medical advisor, told Bloomberg that he also expects that there will be a surge of some sort in the fall, probably around October, adding, “ these are uncharted waters for us with this virus. ” But other viruses, such as influenza, typically become more prevalent in the fall and winter, and he expects the same with COVID-19.
“ I would think that we should expect that we are going to see some increase in cases as you get to the colder weather in the fall, ” Fauci said. “ That’ s the reason why the [ FDA ] and their advisory committee are meeting right now to plan a strategy, and we [ at the National Institutes of Health ] are doing studies now to determine what the best boost would be. ”
Three clinical trials that evaluated the antidepressant fluvoxamine suggest the drug decreases the risk of all-cause hospitalization in symptomatic COVID-19 adult outpatients. Fluvoxamine is a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor ( SSRI), which in addition to its anti-depressive properties, activates the sigma-1 receptor, which calms inflammation.
Researchers at McGill University in Montreal ran a systematic review and meta-analysis of three trials with 2,196 patients, pulling data from the World Health Organization ( WHO) International Clinical Trials Registry Platform and ClinicalTrials.gov on three trials that recruited unvaccinated COVID-19 outpatients with symptoms who tested positive within seven days of diagnosis but did not require supplemental oxygen. Earlier studies of the drug in COVID-19 patients had mixed results, with the Infectious Diseases Society of America ( IDSA) recently recommending against its use in COVID-19 outpatients, except in clinical trials.
Assuming you already have received your full vaccination against COVID-19 ( two shots with either Moderna or Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines and a single shot of the Johnson & Johnson), and then received a single booster shot, the FDA and CDC have authorized the fourth shot for people 50 years of age and older. Should you get it? And when?
The fourth shot has been authorized for the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines. If you are 50 and older and have received the previous three shots, you can get a second booster at least four months after the first booster. If you’ ve received two shots of the J & J vaccine, you’ re eligible for one of the mRNA vaccine shots four months after your last shot. | general |
Top 5 Supply Chain Processes That Need Better Collaboration | GEP® delivers transformative supply chain solutions that help global enterprises become more agile and resilient, operate more efficiently and effectively, gain competitive advantage, boost profitability, and increase shareholder value.
Collaboration has always been a challenge in the supply chain. That’ s because supply chains are formed from ever-changing, far-flung sets of partners with - at best - intersecting interests.
They also have different specializations. A Tier-1 supplier making auto parts lives in a very different world of expertise than a 3PL, shipping carrier, or warehouse operator.
These different perspectives and skillsets, covering a wide range of focus, inevitably lead to silos.
We’ ve learned much during the COVID-19 pandemic, one lesson being that collaboration is essential for a smooth-running, responsive supply chain. This remains important now, as logistics costs, volatile commodity prices, and inflation can add time and cost to the process.
Collaboration is critical in getting goods speedily to market, but also in achieving rapid response and effective problem-solving when the inevitable humps and bumps in global trade occur - whether natural disasters such as the current pandemic, labor unrest, or shifts in consumer trends.
The never-ending challenge is to figure out a way to efficiently break down silos and ensure timely, clear communication so that all supply chain partners are aligned. But there are also tools and processes that need to be established and made available for collaboration to flourish.
However, effective collaboration can’ t mean everyone talking to everyone about everything. That would add an intolerable burden on business. The trick is to identify the hotspots where collaboration can do the most good and go after those.
Here’ s where you might want to focus your collaborative efforts.
Placing orders with a supplier may sound easy - you place an order and the supplier ships it to you. But in the real world, it’ s a bit more complex.
Multiply this by all the components from all your suppliers, and the complexity quickly escalates. But if suppliers and manufacturers have solid, pre-agreed protocols for collaboratively communicating exactly what’ s going on with an order, including necessary lead times, and with any hiccups flagged for exception management, the process becomes far smoother.
You need to have accurate, real-time visibility of VMI information in order to optimize supply planning. Companies need ways to address vendor-managed risk and improve efficiency between the buyer and the vendor.
A strong collaborative process with well-managed information sharing is critical for success.
Technology is vital here to align with each other on inventory stock details and ongoing replenishment planning. Collaboration avoids bottlenecks at the last part of the pipeline.
Too often, a manufacturer doesn’ t actively share forecasting of production volume, and therefore anticipated supply needs, with their suppliers. They tend to panic, especially when it comes to forecasting months ahead, pad orders to suppliers accordingly, then change their minds nearer the time of delivery.
As a result, the supplier is second-guessing what the manufacturer will really need, leading to potential supply interruptions. A monthly or even weekly interface where the manufacturer shares its actual anticipated requirements, in good time, allows a vendor to plan more realistically for its own operations, and quickly respond to changes.
In a business environment, it’ s important to plan capacity so you know how much labor to hire, and what machinery and production space will be needed. But having visibility into your supplier’ s capacity can also be very helpful. This is a next-level form of collaboration because it could be described as cooperation: knowing whether the supplier’ s materials are allocated to you as a customer in time for it to produce supplies to meet your production schedule.
This kind of interface with suppliers allows you to do a better job of your own capacity planning. Without information being shared in a timely fashion, the supplier side can be blindsided, and not have enough time to fulfill your order.
The benefits of this type of collaboration can often be very tangible: suppliers with smooth production can help eliminate delays in setting up production capacity and tend to have lower costs, which they can then pass on to you.
High-end products such as computers or smartphones require strict quality control. Any problems with quality, or identified requirements for higher-quality parts, need to be shared with suppliers as soon and as effectively as possible - for example, by communicating immediately back to the supplier how a component performed when it was first installed.
In the post-COVID-19 world, consumer tastes and demands will turn on a dime. Collaboration that is based on using workflow-oriented technology is critical for success. It means you can align quality levels with your supplier quickly, so you can in turn align the quality of your products with the market.
GEP provides a uniquely blended mix of software and services to enable effectively, intuitive collaboration among all partners in the supply chain. Customers make use of its unified platform to effectively and efficiently collaborate on critical operational information.
GEP works with clients to drive process improvement and alleviate cultural resistance to change and is dedicated to enabling better supply chain efficiency through software that’ s powered by artificial intelligence. GEP is keenly aware that while one barrier to collaboration is the reluctance of businesses to share information, another is figuring out exactly what information should be shared. GEP software focuses on what is critical.
Putting everything on one platform - with intelligent filtering and predictive capabilities - means it’ s easy to bring suppliers into the loop without drowning them in non-critical data. GEP software helps identify rare insights into how the supply chain is functioning as a whole, and how to improve response times to market changes.
GEP helps create an information-sharing environment that works well for everyone, empowering partners to collaborate and improve business outcomes across the board. By providing an easily configurable workflow, information is exchanged via a managed platform, so tasks can flow efficiently between parties. Gaps and problems can be discovered early and corrected quickly.
For more information, visit gep.com/software
Why Supplier Collaboration Is Chaotic and Messy ( And How You Can Fix It) This paper outlines strategies for supply chain professionals looking to strengthen their supplier relationships to better manage disruption. Download Now!
Transforming Supply Chains for Higher Performance and Resiliency This study from Harvard Business Review Analytic Services commissioned by GEP explores the digital status quo of supply chains today, and how enterprises can and must revamp their supply chains to thrive in a never-normal world. Download Now!
GEP Outlook 2022 - Supply Chain & Procurement: Key Trends, Challenges, and Opportunities Get actionable insights to effectively deal with disruption and uncertainty and learn supply chain and procurement strategies that can help your business thrive in the new normal. Download Now!
The Digital Levers You Need To Achieve Sustainable Cost Reduction This white paper highlights the challenges and pressures that have forced enterprises to rethink their traditional approaches to cost optimization. Download Now!
OpenText™ operates the world’ s leading B2B network. Built on the strength… | general |
How To Mitigate the Impact of the Russia-Ukraine War on Your Global Supply Chain | GEP® delivers transformative supply chain solutions that help global enterprises become more agile and resilient, operate more efficiently and effectively, gain competitive advantage, boost profitability, and increase shareholder value.
As the Russia-Ukraine crisis escalates, supply chains, which are on the slow road to recovery owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, have to brace for another round of seismic disruptions across the world.
The fog of war will further complicate recovery, as nearly all markets and businesses will be affected, either directly or indirectly.
Even companies without a direct or Tier 1 supplier in the affected region will see an impact owing to disruptions lower down the supplier chain.
The immediate effect on the supply chain has been the sharp rise in the prices of commodities. This will be exacerbated by supply delays and stoppages from the two countries and the surrounding regions.
Sanctions against Russia, e.g., excluding its four largest banks from SWIFT, will put additional pressure on supply chains.
Price increase from Feb. 21, 2022 ( the day before Russia recognized Donbass) to Feb. 24, 2022 ( Russia declared war):
Logistics has been chaotic, expensive, and delayed ever since the pandemic began. A prolonged military battle and wider political instability will worsen already existing supply chain logjams.
Costs for all modes of transport will spike as a result of increased fuel costs, airspace bans, and market volatility. 336,500 TEUs ( twenty-foot equivalent units) of cargo were transported from China to the E.U by rail in the first half of 2021. Now, this volume will have to be transported via ocean or air instead of rail, which will cause ocean freight rates to rise from $ 10,000/container to $ 30,000/container. Airfreight rates and times may increase three- to four-fold ( 1).
In the long run, the Russia-Ukraine conflict has the potential to have an extended impact on supply chain strategies. The rising cost of manufacturing output and supply chain execution will force difficult choices on production and pricing, while reduced manufacturing will lead to further price inflation. Rising prices for consumers may reduce the market appetite for goods, especially nonessential and luxury items, which could be a catalyst for higher inflation.
Businesses that are not proactively planning for, and executing supply chain risk management processes will be the worst hit.
Partnering with procurement and supply chain consultants can give organizations access to up-to-date market intelligence, a wider network of suppliers, how their peers are handling the crisis, and innovative solutions to manage the situation.
( 1) Gregor Gowans, “ Updates as Russia’ s Ukraine invasion set to impact Europe’ s supply chains, ” trans.info, Feb 2021
The events of the past two years prove that disruptions happen all the time. For immature supply chains, the tendency is to be reactive and repeat supplier assessments, which remain largely the same as before but with adjustments reflecting the latest disruption. This is hardly useful in countering risk. After the immediate crisis is managed, companies must look at empowering themselves to handle such situations effectively.
Technology and Analytics: Regardless of the type of disruption, the task of supply chain assessment and management remains the same: to drive effective risk management. To achieve this, a robust infrastructure and systems are vital. Effective supply risk management does not come from one source; companies need advanced tools to analyze data from different sources for a holistic perspective.
Supply Chain Redesign: Redesigning the supply chain to increase flexibility and resilience and to include early warning functionalities will help companies manage suppliers competently and safeguard the business against risk. Capabilities such as end-to-end visibility, scenario planning, what-if analysis, and demand sensing will enable supply chains to deal with unforeseen events quicker and better.
The modern supply chain needs modern tools to help companies assess, monitor, and proactively act upon risks. From developing strong mitigation plans to increasing flexibility, empower your supply chain to ensure disruptions don’ t end up having dire consequences for your organization.
GEP helps enterprise procurement and supply chain teams at hundreds of Fortune 500 and Global 2000 companies rapidly achieve more efficient, more effective operations, with greater reach, improved performance, and increased impact. To learn more about how we can help you, contact us today.
Volker spearheads GEP’ s growth initiatives and consulting teams in the DACH region and leads large global engagements. He brings in 22 years of experience in consulting, focusing on procurement and supply chain management. He has managed accounts in the automotive, industrial, telecommunication, chemical/pharmaceutical, and consumer. LET 'S CONNECT
As a global leader in procurement and supply chain transformation, GEP has the expertise and tools to help you mitigate the immediate and evolving implications of the Russia-Ukraine war on your procurement and supply chain operations.
Let’ s discuss how we can work with you on this, together.
The Digital Levers You Need To Achieve Sustainable Cost Reduction This white paper highlights the challenges and pressures that have forced enterprises to rethink their traditional approaches to cost optimization. Download Now!
7 Practical Reasons to Upgrade to a Cloud Platform for Procurement & Supply Chain Management This white paper from TechTarget and GEP explains why cloud solutions are a prerequisite for successful digital transformation, and how procurement, supply chain, and IT leaders can benefit. Download Now!
The Cognitive Supply Chain: What Does It Take to Build One? In this survey, The Cognitive Supply Chain: What Does it Take to Build One?, GEP and CIO.com discuss the building blocks of an intelligent supply chain network, these are the key elements you’ ll need to build a digital, cognitive supply chain that gives your business a unique competitive advantage. Download Now!
Artificial Intelligence and Its Impact on Procurement and Supply Chain Through this paper, we intend to break down some of the essential AI concepts and showcase the game-changing applications that we believe are most relevant in procurement and the supply chain. Download Now! | general |
Israel's companies always strive to work in Azerbaijan based on trust between two countries - Israel's Minister of Tourism [ PHOTO/VIDEO ] | Israel’ s companies are always striving to work in Azerbaijan because there is trust between the countries, Minister of Tourism of Israel, Co-Chair of the Azerbaijan-Israel Joint Commission Yoel Razvozov, who is on a visit to Baku, said in an exclusive interview with Trend.
“ The program of the visit was very rich. I represent not only Israel’ s Ministry of Tourism but also the Israel-Azerbaijan Intergovernmental Commission. Co-Chair from the Azerbaijani side, Minister of Economy Mikayil Jabbarov and I are holding a number of meetings, particularly on increasing turnover between the two countries, as well as on cooperation in other economic areas. A lot of work has been done, and we are currently working on the next steps. During the visit, my first meeting was with President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev. We had a very warm meeting and discussed issues on the promotion of both states. I have also met with Minister of Youth and Sports Farid Gayibov, Minister of Defense Industry Madat Guliyev, and Chairman of Azerbaijan Airlines ( AZAL) CJSC Jahangir Askarov. All these meetings were fruitful, ” the minister said.
Razvozov noted that Israeli companies and Azerbaijani government agencies concluded two agreements.
“ We have signed documents with the State Tax Service of Azerbaijan, as well as with Azerbaijan Amelioration and Water Management OJSC, and many more agreements are yet to be signed, ” he said.
Yoel Razvozov also talked about the negotiations with the leadership of AZAL.
“ We agreed with the head of AZAL on increasing the number of flights provided by the company from two to five a week. Israeli companies are also to increase air travel to Azerbaijan. The presence of direct flights promotes the growth of tourist flow, thereby developing cooperation in tourism. The increasing number of flights always depends on economic factors. While 10,000 Israeli tourists visited Azerbaijan in 2016, this figure rose to nearly 50,000 before the COVID-19 pandemic, indicating a demand for the growing number of flights. There is also a big flow of tourists from Azerbaijan to Israel, ” the Israeli minister said.
According to Razvozov, the opening of the Trade and Tourist Offices in Israel by Azerbaijan in 2022 will contribute to the business development between the two countries.
“ It was a great honor for me to participate in the opening of the office, which was also attended by Chairman of Azerbaijan’ s State Tourism Agency Fuad Naghiyev. The office is located in a very good place in Tel Aviv. This bureau will help attract tourists not only from Israel, but also from all over the world, ” he said.
The minister noted that Azerbaijan is an interesting tourist destination for Israelis.
“ Azerbaijan has a lot of sights, as well as Israel has many attractions to be of interest to Azerbaijani tourists: Tel Aviv ( a city of start-ups that is 24/7 alive), Eilat, the Red Sea, and the Mediterranean Sea. Moreover, Israel develops gastronomic, wine and ethnic tourism. I think the Israelis may show interest in Azerbaijan’ s winter tourism. Azerbaijan is a wonderful country with nine types of climate zones out of eleven existing ones. After the COVID-19 restrictions are lifted, we are waiting for Azerbaijani tourists in our warm country. We sorely hope for cooperation in this direction, ” added Yoel Razvozov.
Noting that Israel and Azerbaijan are celebrating the 30th anniversary of establishing diplomatic relations this year, the minister stressed that tremendous work has been done during this time.
“ Colossal work has been done over 30 years, and now both countries are working on doing a lot more. Therefore, together with Azerbaijan’ s Minister of Economy Mikayil Jabbarov, we discuss setting up a platform for promoting economic relations. We are working to create the most favorable business conditions. Israel’ s companies are always striving to work in Azerbaijan based on trust and good relations between the two countries, ” he added.
Razvozov outlined close friendly relations between Azerbaijan and Israel.
“ These relations are of a strategic nature. Israel has always recognized the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan and welcomes its restoration. Israeli companies are ready to participate in liberated Karabakh projects such as water supply, the construction of smart cities, as well as cooperation in the energy sector. In case of demand, Israeli companies will also show interest in operating flights to Fuzuli International Airport. I think these days are not far off, ” he said.
In conclusion, the minister highly appreciated Azerbaijan’ s tolerance towards various peoples living in the country.
“ The Jewish community in Azerbaijan has always peacefully coexisted with representatives of other peoples. During the visit, I went to two synagogues in Baku and was pleasantly surprised by the religious tolerance of the country's leadership, which was expressed in the support of the Azerbaijani Jewish community. This is very valuable for Israel, and we are grateful to the Government of Azerbaijan for this, ” Razvozov said. | general |
Peter Sagan unlikely to ride Paris-Roubaix after illness | Peter Sagan is unlikely to start Paris-Roubaix, it has been reported, after health problems have left him unable to train or race to his full ability.
The TotalEnergies rider won the race in 2018, but has had a stop-start beginning to his 2022 season, his latest attempted comeback aborted this week, as he pulled out of the Circuit Cycliste Sarthe on stage two.
“ I don't feel well, I often feel tired and I’ ve got to find out why, ” Sagan told La Gazzetta dello Sport ( opens in new tab).
The Slovakian will undergo further tests in France to understand why he is feeling below his top level, on top of examinations that have already been performed.
Sagan tested positive for Covid for a second time in January and missed a key block of pre-season training, which has impacted his start to the season. He did not start the Tour of Flanders last week, which he is also a former winner of.
His best result this season was fourth on the second stage of Tirreno-Adriatico, though he abandoned the race ahead of the following stage after falling ill with a stomach bug. The three-time world champion then also finished fifth at Milano-Torino ahead of Milan-San Remo.
“ Peter hasn’ t been well recently. His legs hurt far more than normally and he finds it difficult to make big efforts. He sometimes feels light headed and is often really tired, ” Gabriele Ubaldi, his friend and press officer, told Tuttobiciweb.
He joined TotalEnergies over the winter after five years with Bora-Hansgrohe, during which time he won Paris-Roubaix and Gent-Wevelgem. It has been a different sight this season, seeing the rider who always present in the lead groups at the classics struggling to hold on.
Ubaldi continued: `` I have been working with him for nine years and I have never seen him retire from a race except for some bad fall. At the moment we do not know how his season will continue, he has the Paris-Roubaix scheduled but personally I think it is difficult that he can be at the start in good condition, even if clearly he will make the decision together with the team also based on the outcome of the exams he is taking.
`` The priority for everyone is obviously his health, so it is important to identify the cause of his discomfort. We are not worried that there may be something serious but we clearly need to resolve the situation. The team is very close to him and is helping him to try to get out of this bad situation as soon as possible. ''
Sagan will not ride the Giro d'Italia, where he won the points classification last year, due to his team not being invited. TotalEnergies are on the startlist for the Tour de France, however, so this is expected to be his major goal this year. | general |
German Bundestag rejects mandatory COVID-19 vaccination for over-60s | Germany's lower house of parliament, the Bundestag, on Thursday rejected to make COVID-19 vaccination mandatory for adults aged 60 years or older, Trend reports citing Xinhua.
A corresponding draft law was rejected with 378 votes against and 296 in favor. A general mandatory vaccination for all adults starting at age 18 was not up for vote because the proposal was not believed to win a necessary majority.
`` The only bill that would have introduced compulsory vaccination has just failed, '' said Minister of Health Karl Lauterbach on Twitter on Thursday. `` It is a very important decision, because now the fight against COVID-19 will be much harder in the fall. ''
The previous government under former Chancellor Angela Merkel had also rejected compulsory vaccination in Germany. Both Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Lauterbach, however, have spoken out in favor of such a step.
After weekly vaccinations administered peaked at around 7.6 million at the end of 2021, figures dropped to 338,000 weekly COVID-19 shots, according to the Robert Koch Institute ( RKI) for infectious diseases.
According to the RKI's data, around 49 million people in Germany have received at least one booster dose, while 19.5 million people are still not vaccinated. The number of unvaccinated people in Germany barely changed in recent months. | general |
Forward Pharma Reports Financial and Operating Results for | COPENHAGEN, Denmark, April 08, 2022 ( GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Forward Pharma A/S ( NASDAQ: FWP) ( “ we, ” “ Forward ” or the “ Company ” and, together with its subsidiaries, the “ Group ”), today reported consolidated financial results for the year ended December 31, 2021. Our net loss for the year ended December 31, 2021 was $ 1.9 million, or $ 0.02 per share, versus a net loss of $ 6.4 million, or $ 0.07 per share, for the year ended December 31, 2020. Our research, development, general and administrative costs increased from $ 3.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2020 to $ 3.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2021. Our net loss for the year ended December 31, 2021 was favorably impacted by a non-cash foreign exchange gain of $ 2.2 million that is primarily related to our U.S. Dollar cash holdings and the strengthening of the U.S. Dollar compared to the Danish Kroner.
Our research and development costs for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020 were $ 226,000 and $ 327,000, respectively. The decrease in research and development costs for the year ended December 31, 2021 is the result of lower costs incurred in connection with the EP2801355 patent ( “ ‘ 355 Patent ”) opposition in Europe ( “ Opposition Proceeding ”) and lower share-based compensation.
Our general and administrative costs for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020 were $ 3.6 million and $ 3.1 million, respectively. The increase in general and administrative costs for the year ended December 31, 2021 is the result of increased professional fees and insurance costs offset by a reduction in share-based compensation.
During the year ended December 31, 2021, the Group recognized a foreign exchange gain of $ 2.2 million, which resulted primarily from the strengthening of the U.S. Dollar compared to the Danish Kroner during the period. During the year ended December 31, 2020, the Group recognized a foreign exchange loss of $ 3.0 million, which resulted primarily from the weakening of the U.S. Dollar compared to the Danish Kroner during the period.
At December 31, 2021, the Group had cash and cash equivalents of $ 70.8 million and working capital of $ 70.8 million. The Group has no material long-term obligations. We believe we have sufficient liquidity to allow us to meet our planned operating activities in the normal course of business for the next several years. Unforeseen events, including a negative outcome in the tax audit being conducted in Germany, could negatively affect our ability to fund planned operations in the future.
On January 29, 2018, the Opposition Division of the European Patent Office ( “ EPO ”) concluded the oral proceedings concerning our ‘ 355 Patent. The Opposition Division revoked the ‘ 355 Patent after considering third-party oppositions from several opponents. We subsequently appealed the Opposition Division’ s decision to the Technical Board of Appeal ( “ TBA ”) of the EPO and after several postponements resulting from the coronavirus pandemic, the TBA heard our appeal on September 6, 2021. At the conclusion of the hearing on September 6, 2021, the TBA dismissed our appeal.
On January 27, 2022, we submitted a petition for review ( the “ Petition ”) to the Enlarged Board of Appeal ( the “ EBA ”) of the EPO, which requests that the EBA review the decision of the TBA in an effort to overturn the TBA’ s unfavorable ruling. We expect the EBA to decide whether to accept our Petition within about 6 to 12 months from the submission date. If the EBA accepts the Petition, the EBA will then need to rule on the matter. If the ruling of the EBA is favorable, the TBA will have to decide again on our appeal. The TBA may either confirm its previous decision or change its decision, after which the TBA may remit the case to the Opposition Division to resolve the remaining elements of the original Opposition Proceeding. In the favorable scenario, the steps from EBA acceptance of the Petition to completion of a new opposition proceeding is expected to take up to four years and possibly longer. The likelihood of the Petition being successful is low. The denial of the Petition would end the Opposition Proceeding in favor of the opponents. For all practical purposes, such denial of the Petition would represent an unsuccessful outcome of the Opposition Proceeding, resulting in no royalties being due to the Company from Biogen based on Biogen’ s net sales outside the United States, as defined in the settlement and license agreement entered into with subsidiaries of Biogen Inc. and certain other parties thereto.
Investors are encouraged to read Forward’ s Annual Report on Form 20-F that was filed today with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Forward’ s Annual Report includes important information about the Group that is not disclosed herein including, but not limited to, risk factors and our audited financial statements as of December 31, 2021 and 2020 and for each of the years then ended.
About Forward Pharma: Forward Pharma A/S is a Danish biopharmaceutical company that commenced development in 2005 of a proprietary formulation of DMF for the treatment of inflammatory and neurological indications. The Company granted to Biogen an irrevocable license to all of its IP through the License Agreement and received from Biogen a non-refundable cash fee of $ 1.25 billion in February 2017, with the return of EUR 917.7 million to shareholders through a capital reduction in September 2017. The Company has the opportunity to receive royalties from Biogen on Biogen’ s net sales of Tecfidera® or other DMF products for multiple sclerosis outside the U.S., dependent on, among other things, a favorable outcome in Europe with respect to the Opposition Proceeding, including any appeal thereto.
The principal executive offices are located at Østergade 24A, 1st floor, 1100 Copenhagen K, Denmark and our American Depositary Shares are publicly traded on the Nasdaq Capital Market ( FWP). For more information about the Company, please visit our website at http: //www.forward-pharma.com.
Investor Relationsinvestors @ forward-pharma.com
Solebury TroutMike Biegambiega @ soleburytrout.com
Certain statements in this press release may constitute “ forward-looking statements ” of Forward Pharma A/S within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements which contain language such as “ believe, ” “ expect, ” “ anticipate, ” “ estimate, ” “ would, ” “ may, ” “ plan, ” and “ potential. ” Forward-looking statements are predictions only, which involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results to be materially different from those expressed in such statements. Many such risks, uncertainties and other factors are taken into account as part of our assumptions underlying these forward-looking statements and include, among others, risks related to the following: our ability to obtain, maintain, enforce and defend issued patents with royalty-bearing claims; our ability to prevail in or obtain a favorable decision in the ‘ 355 patent European Opposition Proceeding, after all appeals, including the outcome of the Petition; the expected timing for key activities and an ultimate ruling in such legal proceedings; our ability to defend our tax filing positions; the outcome of the German tax audit, the solvency of our subsidiaries and the sufficiency of the Company's cash resources. Certain of these and other risk factors are identified and described in detail in certain of our filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, including our Annual Report on Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2021. We are providing this information as of the date of this release and do not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this press release as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. | general |
Parker University Hosts Official Grand Opening Ceremony | Dallas, Texas, April 08, 2022 ( GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- On Thursday, April 7, 2022, local dignitaries, Parker University staff, students, and community leaders gathered inside the new South Building on Parker University’ s campus to celebrate the Grand Opening of this new state-of-the-art facility.
On October 20, 2019, Parker University was struck by an F3 tornado. In the wake of the tragedy, and the loss of much of Parker University’ s campus structures, 350 contractors worked 12-hour days, with an accumulation of more than 25,000 hours, to restore the university to normal operations within only a week. Faculty, staff, and students even volunteered, showing the value of the team and family environment at Parker University. Yesterday’ s celebration served to honor everyone, like these individuals, who helped make Parker University all that it is today.
At the Grand Opening Ceremony, Floyd McLendon Jr., the Director of Institutional Advancement, served as the Master of Ceremonies. He introduced the attending platform party, including Parker University President Dr. William E. Morgan and Dr. Steven Brooks, Chairman of the Parker University Board of Trustees. Also in attendance were Dr. Raúl Carrillo, the National Medical Director at the Ministry of Sports CONADE, Mr. Tate Fehr, the State Senate District 2 District Aide for State Senator Bob Hall, and Ms. Scherron Richard, the Field Representative for U.S. House of Representative Marc Veasey. A special thank you was extended to Dr. John Donovan ( sponsor of the Donovan Lounge) and Dr. Tony DeRamus ( sponsor of several South Building classrooms), both also in attendance.
Without the fast-acting leadership of Dr. Morgan and the Executive Team, including Executive Vice President and Provost Dr. Jayne Moschella, Vice President and COO Mr. Donnie McNutt, and Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Mr. Clint Gilchrist, Parker University would not be where it is today, especially after such a disaster that was soon followed by the COVID-19 pandemic and an unprecedented winter storm in 2021. When Dr. Morgan spoke, he credited the Board of Trustees for their quick action to fast-track reopening, making it possible to secure disaster recovery services. “ We were able to rebuild this from rubble. Everyone took up the mantle and went to work, ” Dr. Morgan shared. “ At a time when only five percent of colleges grew, we were growing. ” When he spoke, Dr. Brooks added, “ Parker was always a beautiful place, but look at it now! It is amazing to see the transformation that has happened. We greatly appreciate you celebrating our success. ”
Tristan Hallman, Chief of Policy and Communications at Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson’ s office, spoke and said, “ Parker University is back and will be a big part in bringing northwest Dallas back, as well. This is big for economic development and partnerships. This isn’ t just a building that’ s been rebuilt. This is a partnership that’ s growing. This university is a committed partner with the city of Dallas. ”
The architecture firm, Perkins & Will, designed the new South Building, and the Skiles Group constructed it and the new ParkerFit Gym, which recently won the TEXO Distinguished Building Award. Senior Vice President and Project Lead of the Skiles Group, Mr. Michael Blakemore, highlighted the construction process for the audience. “ This building revolutionizes learning and sets the standard for higher education, ” he said. “ The completion of these projects, along with others, helped make this a truly magnificent campus. ”
In closing, in front of attendees, Drs. Morgan, Brooks, DeRamus, and Donovan cut the ribbon recognizing the official opening of the South Building. Following the ceremony, guided tours were offered to all in attendance.
Parker University is proud to thank everyone who helped make this new building and special ceremonial event so successful. To view the footage covering the tornado destruction and rebuild, that was shown to attendees during the ceremony, go to https: //youtu.be/mT0jSssi69g.
Parker University, the fourth-fastest growing college in Texas and the fastest-growing college in Dallas, was founded in 1982 by Dr. James William Parker ( formerly Parker College of Chiropractic). Today, Parker University has more than 1,800 students and more than 35 academic programs, including its famed chiropractic program, as well as master’ s degrees in neuroscience, clinical neuroscience, strength and human performance, and functional nutrition. Currently, Parker University’ s chiropractic cohort is the second largest of any campus in the world. Parker University has been recognized as a Great College to Work For®, one of the 25 Fastest-Growing Colleges in the U.S., and as a recipient of the 2021 FutureEdge 50 Awards. | general |
Investigation Alert: Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP is | RADNOR, Pa., April 07, 2022 ( GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The law firm of Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP ( www.ktmc.com) is currently investigating potential violations of the federal securities laws on behalf of investors of Stryker Corporation ( NYSE: SYK) ( Stryker).
Stryker is a medical technology company that operates through two segments: MedSurg and Neurotechnology and Orthopedics and Spine.
On April 6, 2022, Spruce Point Capital Management ( Spruce Point) published a report alleging that Stryker has failed to disclose certain material facts to investors concerning its operations. Specifically, Spruce Point stated that it `` Finds Evidence That Stryker Has Failed to Disclose Inventory Accounting Challenges and Made Various Changes to Accounting Policies Designed to Flatter Its Performance, Using Greater Non-GAAP Adjustments to Portray Margin Stability and Earnings Growth. ” Additionally, the report indicated, among other things, that Stryker has concealed from investors that its true exposure to elective procedures adversely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic was 50% of sales; that a critical ERP project to unify over 40 systems failed miserably; and that critical materials inventory continues to be hampered by supply chain challenges and inflationary pressures.
Following this news, the price of Stryker shares were down over 4% in early morning trading on April 6, 2022.
If you are a Stryker investor and would like to learn more about our investigation, please CLICK HERE to fill out our online form or contact Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP: James Maro, Esq. ( 484) 270-1453 or E-mail at info @ ktmc.com. You can also click on the following link or paste it in your browser: https: //www.ktmc.com/stryker-corporation-investigation? utm source=PR & utm medium=link & utm campaign=stryker
Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP prosecutes class actions in state and federal courts throughout the country involving securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duties and other violations of state and federal law. Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP is a driving force behind corporate governance reform, and has recovered billions of dollars on behalf of institutional and individual investors from the United States and around the world. The firm represents investors, consumers and whistleblowers ( private citizens who report fraudulent practices against the government and share in the recovery of government dollars). For more information about Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP, please visit www.ktmc.com.
Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLPJames Maro, Jr., Esq.280 King of Prussia RoadRadnor, PA 19087 ( 484) 270-1453info @ ktmc.com | general |
Tanzania Construction Market Report to 2025 - Size, Trends and Forecasts - ResearchAndMarkets.com | DUBLIN -- ( BUSINESS WIRE) -- The `` Tanzania Construction Market Size, Trends and Forecasts by Sector - Commercial, Industrial, Infrastructure, Energy and Utilities, Institutional and Residential Market Analysis, 2020-2025 '' report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.
Tanzania's construction industry remained relatively strong in 2020, as it expanded by 9.1% - although this reflects a slowdown from the annual average growth of 14.3% between 2016-2019.
In recent years, construction has been a major contributor to economic growth with increased investments in infrastructure, such as the construction of railways, roads, and airport, as well as spending on improving the provision of a wider and more reliable electricity network, the improvement of transportation services, and the increase in the extraction of minerals, especially gold and coal.
The government has also improved its fiscal position, benefiting from increased collection of taxes and improved efficiency in government operations. However, although there was a smooth succession following the death of President John Magufuli in March 2021, the government's handling of the COVID-19 crisis has been ineffective with a weak vaccination rate, and new waves of infection during August 2021 also disrupted economic activity. Moreover, with growth in the industry slowing down due to the deceleration in the economy, annual growth of 1.9% was recorded in Q2 2021, compared with 5.3% growth in Q1 2021. Nevertheless, GlobalData expects that industry growth will again build momentum in 2022. Indeed, the industry is predicted to grow by an annual average rate of 7.9% over 2022-2025.
Tanzania continues to attract foreign direct investment ( FDI); data from Tanzania Investment Center ( TIC) indicates that the country has registered 235 projects in the current fiscal year 2021/2022, up from 219 projects during the same period in the previous fiscal year 2020/2021. Moreover, during March-August 2021, the country registered 133 projects with an estimated investment of TZS7.5 trillion ( US $ 3 billion), up from 105 projects during the same period in 2020 with an investment of TZS1.2 trillion ( US $ 510 million).
Tanzania Development Vision 2025 is focused on supporting the private sector, industrialization, and job creation. It aims to improve the business climate by upgrading infrastructure, easing access to finance, and improving public resource management and administration. In the short term, there is still a risk of a decline in project financing in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, which will slow the progress on some of the country's flagship infrastructure projects, such as the cross-border standard-gauge railway ( SGR) with Rwanda and the expansion of energy infrastructure, though the government is committed to implementing such projects.
Over the medium to long term, the construction industry will be driven by the success in pushing ahead with major LNG projects and significant support from the International Monetary Fund ( IMF). In November 2021, the government announced that construction works on the planned TZS74.8 trillion ( US $ 30 billion) LNG plant at Lindi are expected to commence by 2023 and be completed by 2028, following the resumption of negotiation between the government and Norway's Equinor and Anglo-Dutch Shell.
In September 2021, the IMF approved TZS1.4 trillion ( US $ 567.25 million) in emergency financial assistance under the Rapid Credit Facility and Rapid Financing Instrument. The government announced that the fund will be used to implement infrastructure development projects in the education, water, health, and tourism sectors. Moreover, in November 2021, the government announced plans to borrow TZS5.8 trillion ( US $ 2.3 billion) from foreign sources to finance its proposed 2022/2023 budget. The budget will prioritize the implementation of key infrastructure projects, including the Mtwara-Mbamba Bay railway.
Scope
This report provides a comprehensive analysis of the construction industry in Tanzania. It provides -
Reasons to Buy
Key Topics Covered:
1. Construction Outlook
2. Construction Industry: At-A-Glance
3. Latest News and Developments
4. Project Analytics | general |
Avivagen Announces AGM Results and Update to Shareholders | Record Year of Progress for OxC-betaTM Adoption Worldwide
OTTAWA, Ontario -- ( BUSINESS WIRE) -- Avivagen Inc. ( TSXV: VIV, OTCQB: VIVXF) ( “ Avivagen ” or the “ Company ”), a life sciences corporation focused on developing and commercializing products for livestock, companion animal and human applications that safely enhances feed intake and supports immune function, thereby supporting general health and performance, today announced the results of its annual general meeting of shareholders and highlighted the significant progress made in the Corporation’ s efforts to drive further adoption of OxC-betaTM worldwide.
At the Company’ s AGM held today, Avivagen’ s Corporation’ s shareholders voted to support all of the resolutions that came before the meeting. The resolutions included the election of directors and the reappointment of McGovern Hurley LLP as Avivagen’ s auditor.
The voting results in respect of the election of directors are detailed below:
Nominee
% Of Votes Cast At The Meeting
Which Were Cast For the Election of Directors
% Of Votes Cast At The Meeting Which Were Withheld From Voting
Kym Anthony
78.5%
21.5%
Graham Burton
86.1%
13.9%
Aubrey Dan
92.3%
7.7%
David Hankinson
94.0%
6.0%
Jeffrey Kraws
91.7%
8.3%
Paul Mesburis
93.5%
6.5%
“ Like every business we’ ve had to overcome the challenges that the extended Covid-19 pandemic brought over the past year, but our growth since early 2021 is a testament to the opportunities for OxC-betaTM, ” says Kym Anthony, Chief Executive Officer, Avivagen. “ The past year has seen a series of important milestones, including growth throughout the countries we service in the Americas and Asia, new customer wins and distribution agreements, important leadership appointments and strong recognition from the scientific and investment communities. Avivagen is in its strongest position yet, and we’ ve only scratched the surface of the potential for OxC-betaTM adoption. ”
The past 12 months have seen a series of key milestones achieved in furthering adoption of OxC-betaTM in markets worldwide, including:
Distribution Agreements and Market Development Efforts
In October 2021, Avivagen struck an eight-year supply agreement with AB Vista, a leading global animal nutrition technology company. The agreement saw AB Vista become the exclusive distributor of OxC-betaTM for use with poultry, swine, ruminants and aquaculture in the United States, Brazil and Thailand, and also presents opportunities to collaborate on development efforts. It is believed that the agreement will drive greater adoption of OxC-betaTM in two of the world’ s three largest feed production markets.
In July 2021 Avivagen retained the services of industry leader Lesley Nernberg as a technical sales and marketing consultant focused on accelerating adoption of OxC-betaTM in Asia. Avivagen also secured regulatory approval for use of the Corporation’ s oxidized carotenoid-based feed additive product in Vietnam in February 2022, creating new market opportunities.
In February 2021, Avivagen signed an agreement with Meyenberg International Group to expand its OxC-betaTM sales efforts into five Central and South American markets. Meyenberg has been instrumental in securing new customer interest, driving trails of OxC-betaTM locally and finalizing new and recurring sales throughout Mexico, with continued progress in Central and South America.
Record Orders and Large Recurring Customers
In April 2021 Avivagen secured the largest OxC-betaTM order to date ( 4.4 metric tonnes) with long-standing customer UNAHCO in the Philippines. This was later followed up by another record 6.3 tonne order, as UNAHCO continues to gain market share despite current difficult economic conditions.
The Corporation has also secured and fulfilled first purchase orders with a number of landmark customers over the past year, including sales with a large integrated producer in Asia, and an initial order with a large, influential and industry-leading poultry producer in Mexico. Avivagen believes that the order size and volume of initial orders signals an opportunity for growth in OxC-betaTM adoption over the coming years.
Recognition from the Scientific Community and Trials
The growing interest and demand for new and innovative solutions for replacing AGP’ s ( Antibiotics as Growth Promoters) in feeds, has led to a number scientific papers from Avivagen being accepted and published in top-tier scientific publications over the past year. Of note, scientific papers written by Avivagen representatives have appeared recently in such esteemed publications as Poultry Science, the British Journal of Nutrition, Food and Chemical Toxicology, the Canadian Journal of Chemistry and the New Zealand Veterinary Journal.
The scientific community is now recognizing what distribution partners and customers have seen firsthand via trials of OxC-betaTM over the past several years – that the safety and utility of using OxC-betaTM in broilers, swine and cows is conclusive. Trials with several AB Vista customers in Brazil are currently underway which, if successful, could lead to a pipeline of new customer activity. Trials by two of Mexico’ s most important and influential livestock fed and dairy production associations, Asociación Nacional de Fabricantes de Alimentos Para Consumo Animal. S.C ( ANFACA) and Asociación Mexicana de Productores de Alimentos, A.C. ( AMEPA), are also underway.
Results from a dairy trial in New Zealand showing positive outcomes for use against sub-clinical mastitis were published in the New Zealand Veterinary Journal and have played a key role in driving purchasing decisions for customers as far away as Mexico. Similar trials with large industry leaders have also returned positive results that are expected to lead to continued adoption over the coming years.
Positive Corporate Developments
Along with continued customer and market success for OxC-betaTM, Avivagen has focused on strengthening its leadership and financials over the past year. The Corporation announced the appointment of James ( Jamie) Nickerson, PhD as President of Avivagen in January 2022 after 15 years of success in roles supporting the Corporation’ s business development and innovation efforts.
Avivagen also completed a bought deal financing of $ 7.5 million in February 2021, and a private placement of debentures and shares for gross proceeds of $ 5.678 million in March 2022. The proceeds from the debenture and share offering were used by Avivagen to retire principal and interest outstanding pursuant to existing debentures and for transaction expenses.
About Avivagen
Avivagen is a life sciences corporation focused on developing and commercializing products for livestock, companion animal and human applications. By unlocking an overlooked facet of β-carotene activity, a path has been opened to safely and economically support immune function, thereby promoting general health and performance in animals. Avivagen is a public corporation traded on the TSX Venture and OTCQB® Venture Market exchanges under the symbols VIV and VIVXF, and is headquartered in Ottawa, Canada, based in partnership facilities of the National Research Council of Canada and Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. For more information, visit www.avivagen.com. The contents of the website are expressly not incorporated by reference in this press release.
About OxC-beta™ Technology and OxC-beta™ Livestock
Avivagen’ s OxC-beta™ technology is derived from Avivagen discoveries about β-carotene and other carotenoids, compounds that give certain fruits and vegetables their bright colours. Through support of immune function the technology provides a non-antibiotic means of promoting health and growth. OxC-beta™ Livestock is a proprietary product shown to be an effective and economic alternative to the antibiotics commonly added to livestock feeds. The product is currently available for sale in the United States, Mexico, Philippines, Taiwan, New Zealand, Thailand, Australia and Malaysia.
Avivagen’ s OxC-beta™ Livestock product is safe, effective and could fulfill the global mandate to remove all in-feed antibiotics as growth promoters. Numerous international livestock trials with poultry and swine using OxC-beta™ Livestock have proven that the product performs as well as, and, sometimes, in some aspects, better than in-feed antibiotics.
Forward Looking Statements
This news release includes certain forward-looking statements that are based upon the current expectations of management. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties associated with the business of Avivagen Inc. and the environment in which the business operates. Any statements contained herein that are not statements of historical facts may be deemed to be forward-looking, including those identified by the expressions “ aim ”, “ anticipate ”, “ appear ”, “ believe ”, “ consider ”, “ could ”, “ estimate ”, “ expect ”, “ if ”, “ intend ”, “ goal ”, “ hope ”, “ likely ”, “ may ”, “ plan ”, “ possibly ”, “ potentially ”, “ pursue ”, “ seem ”, “ should ”, “ whether ”, “ will ”, “ would ” and similar expressions.
Statements set out in this news release relating to the market opportunities for the Company, the expectation that Avivagen’ s current position positions it for future growth, expectation as to further adoption of or orders for the Company’ s products, the possibility that trials underway could lead to additional orders in the future and the possibility for OxC-beta™ Livestock to replace antibiotics in livestock feeds as growth promoters are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from current expectations. For instance, unforeseen factors could limit the growth of the Company and the adoption of its products, customers are under no obligation to make additional orders and may not order increasing quantities of the Company’ s products, partnerships may not be as successful as hoped, trials may not be successful or may not lead to additional adoption of the Company’ s products, Avivagen’ s products may not gain market acceptance or regulatory approval in new jurisdictions or for new applications and may not be widely accepted as a replacement for antibiotics as growth promoters in livestock feeds, all of which could occur due to many factors, many of which are outside of Avivagen’ s control. Readers are referred to the risk factors associated with the business of Avivagen set out in Avivagen’ s most recent management’ s discussion and analysis of financial condition available at www.SEDAR.com. Except as required by law, Avivagen assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking statements, or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from those reflected in the forward-looking statements. | general |
NANOBIOTIX Announces Filing of the 2021 Universal Registration Document and the 2021 Annual Report on Form 20-F | PARIS & CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- ( BUSINESS WIRE) -- Regulatory News:
NANOBIOTIX ( Euronext: NANO – NASDAQ: NBTX – the ‘ ‘ Company’’), a late-stage clinical biotechnology company pioneering physics-based approaches to expand treatment possibilities for patients with cancer and other major diseases, today announced the filing of its universal registration document for the financial year ended December 31, 2021 with the French financial market authority ( Autorité des marchés financiers or AMF), as well as of the Annual Report on Form 20-F for the financial year ended December 31, 2021 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ( SEC).
These documents are available on the Nanobiotix website at https: //ir.nanobiotix.com/financial-information/annual-reports. In addition, the 2021 universal registration document is available on the AMF website ( www.amf-france.org) and the 2021 Annual Report on Form 20-F is available on the SEC website ( www.sec.gov).
In particular, the Company’ s 2021 universal registration document includes its: - 2021 annual financial report, - Management report including the report on corporate governance - Reports from the Company’ s statutory auditors and information on their fees - Required information in relation to the Company’ s share buyback program
2022 Financial Agenda
* * *
About NBTXR3
NBTXR3 is a novel, potentially first-in-class oncology product, composed of functionalized hafnium oxide nanoparticles that is administered via one-time intratumoral injection and activated by radiotherapy. The product candidate’ s physics-based mechanism of action ( MoA) is designed to induce significant tumor cell death in the injected tumor when activated by radiotherapy, subsequently triggering adaptive immune response and long-term anti-cancer memory. Given the MoA, Nanobiotix believes that NBTXR3 could be scalable across any solid tumor that can be treated with radiotherapy and across any therapeutic combination, particularly, with immune checkpoint inhibitors.
NBTXR3 is being evaluated in locally advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma ( HNSCC) as the primary development pathway. The company-sponsored phase I dose escalation and dose expansion study has produced favorable safety data and early signs of efficacy. In February 2020, the United States Food and Drug Administration granted regulatory Fast Track designation for the investigation of NBTXR3 activated by radiation therapy, with or without cetuximab, for the treatment of patients with locally advanced HNSCC who are not eligible for platinum-based chemotherapy.
Nanobiotix has also prioritized an Immuno-Oncology development program—beginning with a Company sponsored phase I clinical study, evaluating NBTXR3 activated by radiotherapy in combination with anti-PD-1 checkpoint inhibitors for patients with locoregional recurrent or recurrent/metastatic HNSCC and for patients with lung or liver metastases from any primary cancer eligible for anti-PD-1 therapy, either naïve or resistant to prior PD-1 ( either primary or secondary as per SITC criteria).
Given the Company’ s focus areas, and balanced against the scalable potential of NBTXR3, Nanobiotix has engaged in strategic collaborations to expand development of the product candidate in parallel with its priority development pathways. Pursuant to this strategy, in 2019 Nanobiotix entered into a broad, comprehensive clinical research collaboration with The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center to sponsor several phase I and phase II studies to evaluate NBTXR3 across tumor types and therapeutic combinations. In 2021, the Company entered into an additional strategic collaboration agreement with LianBio to support its global phase III study in Asia along with four future registrational studies.
About NANOBIOTIX
Nanobiotix is a late-stage clinical biotechnology company pioneering disruptive, physics-based therapeutic approaches to revolutionize treatment outcomes for millions of patients; supported by people committed to making a difference for humanity. The company’ s philosophy is rooted in the concept of pushing past the boundaries of what is known to expand possibilities for human life.
Incorporated in 2003, Nanobiotix is headquartered in Paris, France. The company also has subsidiaries in Cambridge, Massachusetts ( United States), France, Spain, Germany and Switzerland.
Nanobiotix has been listed on the regulated market of Euronext in Paris since 2012 and on the Nasdaq Global Select Market in New York City since December 2020.
Nanobiotix is the owner of more than 30 umbrella patents associated with three ( 3) nanotechnology platforms with applications in 1) oncology; 2) bioavailability and biodistribution; and 3) disorders of the central nervous system. The company's resources are primarily devoted to the development of its lead product candidate– NBTXR3 —which is the product of its proprietary oncology platform and has already achieved market authorization in Europe for the treatment of patients with soft tissue sarcoma under the brand name Hensify®.
For more information about Nanobiotix, visit us at www.nanobiotix.com or follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.
Disclaimer
This press release contains certain “ forward-looking ” statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws, including the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements may be identified by words such as “ at this time, ” “ anticipate, ” “ believe, ” “ expect, ” “ intend, ” “ on track, ” “ plan, ” “ scheduled, ” and “ will, ” or the negative of these and similar expressions. These forward-looking statements, which are based on our management’ s current expectations and assumptions and on information currently available to management, include statements about the timing and progress of clinical trials, the timing of our presentation of data, the results of our preclinical and clinical studies and their potential implications. Such forward-looking statements are made in light of information currently available to us and based on assumptions that Nanobiotix considers to be reasonable. However, these forward-looking statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, including with respect to the risk that subsequent studies and ongoing or future clinical trials may not generate favorable data notwithstanding positive early clinical results and the risks associated with the evolving nature of the duration and severity of the COVID-19 pandemic and governmental and regulatory measures implemented in response to it. Furthermore, many other important factors, including those described in our Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ( the SEC) on April 8, 2022 under “ Item 3.D. Risk Factors ” and those set forth in the universal registration document of Nanobiotix filed with the French Financial Markets Authority ( Autorité des Marchés Financiers – the AMF) on April 8, 2022, each as updated in our Half-Year Financial Report filed with the AMF and the SEC on September 8, 2021 ( a copy of which is available on www.nanobiotix.com), as well as other known and unknown risks and uncertainties may adversely affect such forward-looking statements and cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Except as required by law, we assume no obligation to update these forward-looking statements publicly, or to update the reasons why actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements, even if new information becomes available in the future.
Nanobiotix
Communications Department Brandon Owens VP, Communications +1 ( 617) 852-4835 contact @ nanobiotix.com
Investor Relations Department Kate McNeil SVP, Investor Relations +1 ( 609) 678-7388 investors @ nanobiotix.com
Media Relations
FR – Ulysse Communication Pierre-Louis Germain + 33 ( 0) 6 64 79 97 51 plgermain @ ulysse-communication.com
US – Porter Novelli Dan Childs +1 ( 781) 888-5106 Dan.childs @ porternovelli.com | general |
The US Hand Sanitizer Dispenser Market Will Grow to USD 37.21 Million by 2027, at a CAGR of 13.9% - ResearchAndMarkets.com | DUBLIN -- ( BUSINESS WIRE) -- The `` US Hand Sanitizer Dispenser Market ( 2022-2027) by Type, End User, Modality, Distribution Channel, Price Point, Competitive Analysis and the Impact of Covid-19 with Ansoff Analysis '' report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.
The US Hand Sanitizer Dispenser Market is estimated to be USD 19.41 Mn in 2022 and is expected to reach USD 37.21 Mn by 2027, growing at a CAGR of 13.9%.
Market Segmentation
Company Profiles
The report provides a detailed analysis of the competitors in the market. It covers the financial performance analysis for the publicly listed companies in the market. The report also offers detailed information on the companies ' recent development and competitive scenario. Some of the companies covered in this report are - American Specialties Inc, Toshi Automatic Systems Pvt Ltd, Bright Pancar Sdn Bhd, Hokwang Industries Co Ltd, Walex Products Company Inc., Kutol Products Company, Inc, etc.
Competitive Quadrant
The report includes Competitive Quadrant, a proprietary tool to analyze and evaluate the position of companies based on their Industry Position score and Market Performance score. The tool uses various factors for categorizing the players into four categories. Some of these factors considered for analysis are financial performance over the last 3 years, growth strategies, innovation score, new product launches, investments, growth in market share, etc.
Ansoff Analysis
The report presents a detailed Ansoff matrix analysis for the US Hand Sanitizer Dispenser Market. Ansoff Matrix, also known as Product/Market Expansion Grid, is a strategic tool used to design strategies for the growth of the company. The matrix can be used to evaluate approaches in four strategies viz. Market Development, Market Penetration, Product Development and Diversification. The matrix is also used for risk analysis to understand the risk involved with each approach.
The analyst analyses US Hand Sanitizer Dispenser Market using the Ansoff Matrix to provide the best approaches a company can take to improve its market position.
Based on the SWOT analysis conducted on the industry and industry players, the analyst has devised suitable strategies for market growth.
Market Dynamics
Drivers
Restraints
Opportunities
Challenges | general |
DEADLINE ALERT for SPWR, PLSE, BFLY, GWGH: Law Offices of | April 08, 2022 11:00 ET | Source: Law Offices of Howard G. Smith Law Offices of Howard G. Smith
BENSALEM, Pa., April 08, 2022 ( GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Law Offices of Howard G. Smith reminds investors that class action lawsuits have been filed on behalf of shareholders of the following publicly-traded companies. Investors have until the deadlines listed below to file a lead plaintiff motion.
Investors suffering losses on their investments are encouraged to contact the Law Offices of Howard G. Smith to discuss their legal rights in these class actions at 888-638-4847 or by email to howardsmith @ howardsmithlaw.com.
The complaint alleges that throughout the Class Period the defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose: ( 1) that certain connectors used by SunPower suffered from cracking issues; ( 2) that, as a result, the Company was reasonably likely to incur costs to remediate the faulty connectors; ( 3) that, as a result of the foregoing, SunPower’ s financial results would be adversely impacted; and ( 4) that, as a result of the foregoing, Defendants’ positive statements about the Company’ s business, operations, and prospects were materially misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis.
Pulse Biosciences, Inc. ( NASDAQ: PLSE) Class Period: January 12, 2021 – February 7, 2022Lead Plaintiff Deadline: April 18, 2022
The complaint alleges that throughout the Class Period the defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose: ( 1) that the IDE study evaluating the use of the CellFX System to treat sebaceous hyperplasia lesions failed to meet its primary endpoints; ( 2) that, as a result, there was a substantial risk that the FDA would reject Pulse’ s 510 ( k) submission seeking to expand the label for the CellFX System to treat sebaceous hyperplasia lesions; and ( 3) that, as a result of the foregoing, Defendants’ positive statements about the Company’ s business, operations, and prospects were materially misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis.
Butterfly Network, Inc. f/k/a Longview Acquisition Corp. ( NYSE: BFLY) Class Period: February 16, 2021 – November 15, 2021Lead Plaintiff Deadline: April 18, 2022
The complaint alleges that throughout the Class Period the defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: ( 1) Butterfly had overstated its post-Merger business and financial prospects; ( 2) notwithstanding the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Butterfly’ s financial projections failed to take into account the pandemic’ s broad consequences, which included healthcare logistical challenges, and medical personnel fatigue; ( 3) accordingly, Butterfly’ s gross margin levels and revenue projections were less sustainable than the Company had represented; ( 4) all the foregoing was reasonably likely to have a material negative impact on Butterfly’ s business and financial condition; and ( 5) as a result of the foregoing, Defendants’ public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times.
GWG Holdings, Inc. ( NASDAQ: GWGH) Class Period: June 2020 LBOLead Plaintiff Deadline: April 19, 2022
The complaint alleges that GWGH misrepresented its investment in Ben LP.
To be a member of these class actions, you need not take any action at this time; you may retain counsel of your choice or take no action and remain an absent member of the class action. If you wish to learn more about these class actions, or if you have any questions concerning this announcement or your rights or interests with respect to these matters, please contact Howard G. Smith, Esquire, of Law Offices of Howard G. Smith, 3070 Bristol Pike, Suite 112, Bensalem, Pennsylvania 19020, by telephone at ( 215) 638-4847, toll-free at ( 888) 638-4847, or by email to howardsmith @ howardsmithlaw.com, or visit our website at www.howardsmithlaw.com.
This press release may be considered Attorney Advertising in some jurisdictions under the applicable law and ethical rules.
ContactsLaw Offices of Howard G. SmithHoward G. Smith, Esquire215-638-4847888-638-4847howardsmith @ howardsmithlaw.comwww.howardsmithlaw.com | general |
FluroTech Provides Operational Update: Announces Pause on | April 08, 2022 19:30 ET | Source: FluroTech Ltd. FluroTech Ltd.
CALGARY, Alberta, April 08, 2022 ( GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- FluroTech Ltd. ( TSXV: TEST) ( OTCQB: FLURF) ( the “ Company ” or “ FluroTech ”), announces that it has decided to pause any further expenditures on development of its Pandemic and Emerging Disease Defense Platform ( “ PEDDP ”), initially targeting COVID-19, until it is able to obtain further financing. While management continues to believe that its COVID-19 testing technology will be viable and needed, the Company will require additional financing to complete the technology through to regulatory approvals in order to become commercial. To that end, management continues to pursue financing options.
Readers are cautioned that, although the Company has achieved proof of concept prototype, the testing method and device is still in the pre-approval stage and accordingly the Company is not currently making any express or implied claims that its PEDDP can, or will be able to, accurately detect the COVID-19 virus.
The goal of FluroTech’ s research and technology is to develop detection methods which are high speed, sensitive, specific and easy-to-use. By combining FluroTech’ s proprietary spectroscopy-based technology with laboratory robotics automation and cloud computing, FluroTech, through the application of its technology through its wholly-owned subsidiary FluroTest Diagnostics Systems Ltd. ( “ FluroTest ”), has created a unique solution addressing the current and future pandemics. Based upon technology that was first developed at the University of Calgary, the FluroTest SARS- CoV-2 test is designed to identify patients with active virus infection; this is not necessarily the case for most of the currently approved tests that are meant to identify patients with SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid.
This news release contains “ forward-looking information ” within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking information generally refers to information about an issuer's business, capital, technology or operations that is prospective in nature, and includes future-oriented financial information about the issuer’ s perspective financial performance or financial position. The forward-looking information in this news release includes disclosure about the Company’ s ability to obtain further financing and advance its PEDDP and the ability of the Company’ s testing devices to identify patients with active virus infection. The Company made certain material assumptions, including but not limited to prevailing market conditions and general business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties, the demand for its COVID-19 testing devices and their ability to perform as expected, to develop the forward-looking information in this news release. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.
Actual results may vary from the forward-looking information in this news release due to certain material risk factors described in the Corporation’ s Annual Information Form under the heading “ Risk Factors ”, the failure to develop and commercialize its testing devices in a timely manner or at all, the failure to recognize the anticipated benefits from the devices, the failure to obtain FDA or Health Canada approval for its products, the risk that regulatory approvals will not be received and the risk that changing circumstances will result in the decrease in demand for the Company’ s products. The Company cautions that the foregoing list of material risk factors and assumptions is not exhaustive.
The Company assumes no obligation to update or revise the forward-looking information in this news release unless it is required to do so under Canadian securities legislation.
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider ( as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy of this release.
This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any of the securities. The securities described herein have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the securities laws of any state and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to or for the benefit or account of U.S. persons, absent such registration or an applicable exemption from such registration requirements. | general |
Discovery and AT & T Close WarnerMedia Transaction | Combination of Discovery and WarnerMedia Creates Warner Bros. Discovery, Global Leader in Entertainment and Streaming
Warner Bros. Discovery to Begin Trading on the Nasdaq as “ WBD ” on Monday, April 11
NEW YORK & DALLAS -- ( BUSINESS WIRE) -- Today Discovery, Inc. and AT & T Inc. * ( NYSE: T) announced that they have closed their transaction to combine the WarnerMedia business with Discovery. The combination creates a premier standalone global media and entertainment company, Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc., which will begin trading on the Nasdaq with the start of trading on Monday, April 11, under the new ticker symbol “ WBD. ”
Warner Bros. Discovery will create and distribute the world’ s most differentiated and complete portfolio of content, brands and franchises across television, film and streaming. The new company combines WarnerMedia’ s premium entertainment, sports and news assets with Discovery’ s leading non-fiction and international entertainment and sports businesses, including Discovery Channel, discovery+, Warner Bros. Entertainment, CNN, CNN+, DC, Eurosport, HBO, HBO Max, HGTV, Food Network, Investigation Discovery, TLC, TNT, TBS, truTV, Travel Channel, MotorTrend, Animal Planet, Science Channel, New Line Cinema, Cartoon Network, Adult Swim, Turner Classic Movies and others.
“ Today’ s announcement marks an exciting milestone not just for Warner Bros. Discovery but for our shareholders, our distributors, our advertisers, our creative partners and, most importantly, consumers globally, ” said David Zaslav, Warner Bros. Discovery chief executive officer. “ With our collective assets and diversified business model, Warner Bros. Discovery offers the most differentiated and complete portfolio of content across film, television and streaming. We are confident that we can bring more choice to consumers around the globe while fostering creativity and creating value for shareholders. I can’ t wait for both teams to come together to make Warner Bros. Discovery the best place for impactful storytelling. ”
“ We are at the dawn of a new age of connectivity, and today marks the beginning of a new era for AT & T, ” said John Stankey, AT & T chief executive officer. “ With the close of this transaction, we expect to invest at record levels in our growth areas of 5G and fiber, where we have strong momentum, while we work to become America’ s best broadband company. At the same time, we’ ll sharpen our focus on returns to shareholders. We expect to invest for growth, strengthen our balance sheet and reduce our debt, all while continuing to pay an attractive dividend that puts us among the top dividend paying stocks in America.
“ In WarnerMedia, Discovery inherits a talented and innovative team and a dynamic growing and global company that is well positioned to lead the transformation that’ s taking place across media and entertainment, direct-to-consumer distribution and technology. The combination of the two companies will strengthen WarnerMedia’ s established and leading position in media and streaming. And our shareholders will now have a significant stake in Warner Bros. Discovery and its future successes. We look forward to seeing what the WBD team accomplishes with these industry-leading assets. ”
Under terms of the agreement, which was structured as a Reverse Morris Trust transaction, at close AT & T received $ 40.4 billion in cash and WarnerMedia’ s retention of certain debt. Additionally, shareholders of AT & T received 0.241917 shares of WBD for each share of AT & T common stock they held at close. As a result, AT & T shareholders received 1.7 billion shares of WBD, representing 71% of WBD shares on a fully diluted basis. Discovery’ s existing shareholders own the remainder of the new company. In addition to their new shares of WBD common stock, AT & T shareholders continue to hold the same number of shares of AT & T common stock they held immediately prior to close.
About DISCOVERY
Discovery, Inc. ( Nasdaq: DISCA, DISCB, DISCK) is a global leader in real life entertainment, serving a passionate audience of superfans around the world with content that inspires, informs and entertains. Discovery delivers over 8,000 hours of original programming each year and has category leadership across deeply loved content genres around the world. Available in 220 countries and territories and nearly 50 languages, Discovery is a platform innovator, reaching viewers on all screens, including TV Everywhere products such as the GO portfolio of apps; direct-to-consumer streaming services such as discovery+, Food Network Kitchen and MotorTrend OnDemand; digital-first and social content from Group Nine Media; a landmark natural history and factual content partnership with the BBC; and a strategic alliance with PGA TOUR to create the international home of golf. Discovery’ s portfolio of premium brands includes Discovery Channel, HGTV, Food Network, TLC, Investigation Discovery, Travel Channel, MotorTrend, Animal Planet, Science Channel, and the multi-platform JV with Chip and Joanna Gaines, Magnolia Network, as well as OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network in the U.S., Discovery Kids in Latin America, and Eurosport, the leading provider of locally relevant, premium sports and Home of the Olympic Games across Europe. For more information, please visit corporate.discovery.com and follow @ DiscoveryIncTV across social platforms.
About Warner Bros. Discovery
Warner Bros. Discovery ( NASDAQ: WBD) is a leading global media and entertainment company that creates and distributes the world’ s most differentiated and complete portfolio of content and brands across television, film and streaming. Available in more than 220 countries and territories and 50 languages, Warner Bros. Discovery inspires, informs and entertains audiences worldwide through its iconic brands and products including: Discovery Channel, discovery+, CNN, CNN+, DC, Eurosport, HBO, HBO Max, HGTV, Food Network, Investigation Discovery, TLC, TNT, TBS, truTV, Travel Channel, MotorTrend, Animal Planet, Science Channel, Warner Bros. Pictures, New Line Cinema, Cartoon Network, Adult Swim, Turner Classic Movies and others. For more information, please visit www.wbd.com.
* About AT & T
We help more than 100 million U.S. families, friends and neighbors connect in meaningful ways every day. From the first phone call 140+ years ago to our 5G wireless and multi-gig internet offerings today, we @ ATT innovate to improve lives. For more information about AT & T Inc. ( NYSE: T), please visit us at about.att.com. Investors can learn more at investors.att.com.
AT & T products and services are provided or offered by subsidiaries and affiliates of AT & T Inc. under the AT & T brand and not by AT & T Inc. Additional information is available at about.att.com. © 2022 AT & T Intellectual Property. All rights reserved. AT & T, the Globe logo and other marks are trademarks and service marks of AT & T Intellectual Property and/or AT & T affiliated companies. All other marks contained herein are the property of their respective owners.
© 2022 AT & T Intellectual Property. All rights reserved. AT & T and the Globe logo are registered trademarks of AT & T Intellectual Property.
Statement Concerning Forward-Looking Statements
Information set forth in this communication, including any financial estimates and statements as to the expected timing, completion and effects of the transaction between AT & T, Magallanes, Inc. ( “ Spinco ”), and Discovery constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These estimates and statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, and actual results might differ materially. Such estimates and statements include, but are not limited to, statements about the benefits of the transaction, including future financial and operating results, the combined Spinco and Discovery company’ s plans, objectives, expectations and intentions, and other statements that are not historical facts. Such statements are based upon the current beliefs and expectations of the management of AT & T and Discovery and are subject to significant risks and uncertainties outside of our control. Among the risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from those described in the forward-looking statements are the following: risks that the anticipated tax treatment of the transaction is not obtained; risks related to litigation brought in connection with the transaction; the risk that the integration of Discovery and Spinco being more difficult, time consuming or costly than expected; risks related to financial community and rating agency perceptions of each of AT & T and Discovery and its business, operations, financial condition and the industry in which it operates; risks related to disruption of management time from ongoing business operations due to the merger; failure to realize the benefits expected from the merger; effects of the announcement, pendency or completion of the merger on the ability of AT & T, Spinco or Discovery to retain customers and retain and hire key personnel and maintain relationships with their suppliers, and on their operating results and businesses generally; and risks related to the potential impact of general economic, political and market factors on the companies or the transaction. The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic may give rise to risks that are currently unknown or amplify the risks associated with the foregoing factors.
These risks, as well as other risks associated with the transaction, are more fully discussed in the proxy statement/prospectus included in the registration statement on Form S-4 filed by Discovery with the SEC in connection with the transaction, the registration statement on Form 10 filed by Spinco with the SEC in connection with the transaction and the information statement made available to AT & T’ s shareholders in connection with the transaction. Discussions of additional risks and uncertainties are contained in AT & T’ s and Discovery’ s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Neither AT & T nor Discovery is under any obligation, and each expressly disclaims any obligation, to update, alter, or otherwise revise any forward-looking statements, whether written or oral, that may be made from time to time, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. Persons reading this announcement are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements which speak only as of the date hereof. | general |
Pueblo Viejo Moves Forward with Life of Mine Extension | TORONTO, April 08, 2022 ( GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Barrick Gold Corporation ( NYSE: GOLD) ( TSX: ABX) announced today that the Dominican Government had completed its strategic review of the location of the new Tailings Storage Facility ( TSF) for the Pueblo Viejo mine. The new TSF forms part of the expansion project that is designed to extend the Tier One1 mine’ s life to beyond 2040 and support annual production in excess of 800,000 ounces2.
The Government, through their process, have identified a select number of alternatives for further assessment. At the same time, Barrick conducted its own alternatives assessment, completed by a multi-disciplinary team of external subject matter experts from various independent consulting companies. Several sites were initially identified and after various screening phases, which considered environmental, social, and technical factors, potentially feasible sites were identified for further evaluation.
The two separate assessments independently identified four alternative sites, of which two sites, located in the Sanchez Ramirez Province, would be put forward for further investigation.
Barrick president and chief executive Mark Bristow said that although these alternative sites existed as determined by the reviews, the final location and construction of the facility would be subject to the completion of an Environmental and Social Impact Assessment ( ESIA) in accordance with Dominican Republic legislation and international standards. Once completed, the ESIA would be submitted to the Government for evaluation and final decision.
The ESIA will identify and implement mechanisms to mitigate potential environmental impacts as well as initiatives to improve the livelihoods of the communities. Barrick is committed to following international standards and will adhere to the Global Industry Standard on Tailings Management in terms of design, construction, operation, and closure of the tailings facility.
The new TSF would enable operations at Pueblo Viejo to continue beyond 2040. As a major creator of value for the Dominican Republic, the project will stop the decline in production, and will facilitate the continued payment of taxes, exportation, jobs, national and local purchases, and social benefits the mine brings to the country.
In 2021 the Tier One mine paid $ 527 million in direct and indirect taxes which brings total tax payments since 2013 to more than $ 3 billion.
“ Our goal in the Dominican Republic, as elsewhere in the world, is to create long-term value for all our stakeholders through our strategy of sustainable development. Pueblo Viejo’ s expansion project is expected to increase total direct and indirect taxes to over $ 9 billion from the beginning of commercial production in 2013 through to the extended life of mine beyond 20403, ” Bristow said.
Pueblo Viejo is located in the Dominican Republic, approximately 100 kilometres northwest of the capital city of Santo Domingo and is operated by the Pueblo Viejo Dominicana Jersey 2 Limited – a joint venture between Barrick ( 60%) and Newmont ( 40%). Development of the Pueblo Viejo project started in 2009, with first production in 2012. The company’ s workforce is 97% Dominican. In 2020, the conversion of the mine’ s Quisqueya 1 power plant to natural gas was successfully completed. This conversion from fuel oil to natural gas is expected to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 30% and nitrogen oxide by 85%, further reducing Pueblo Viejo’ s impact on the environment. An agribusiness project is also under development to further contribute to the local communities.
Investor and Media RelationsKathy du Plessis+44 20 7557 7738Email: barrick @ dpapr.com
Certain information contained or incorporated by reference in this press release, including any information as to our strategy, projects, plans, or future financial or operating performance, constitutes “ forward-looking statements ”. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements. The words “ move forward ”, “ design ”, “ support ”, “ commit ”, ” continue ”, “ goal ”, “ expected ”, “ develop ”, “ extend ”, “ expand ”, “ would ”, “ will ”, “ potential ”, “ create ”, “ plan ”, “ vision ”, “ strategy ”, and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements. In particular, this press release contains forward-looking statements including, without limitation, with respect to the anticipated benefits of Pueblo Viejo’ s mine life extension project including to support targeted levels of production and extend the life of the mine beyond 2040 as well as planned investments, social benefits, economic contributions and direct and indirect taxes to the Dominican Republic; forecasted annual production; the completion of the independent strategic environmental assessment for the new TSF and the selection of the final location and construction of that facility following the completion of an ESIA and final decision by the government; Barrick’ s commitment to mitigating environmental impacts and improving the livelihoods of impacted communities in connection with the ESIA; Barrick’ s adherence to the Global Industry Standard on Tailings Management in the design, construction, operation, and closure of the TSF; Pueblo Viejo’ s commitment to protecting the environment, biodiversity and cultural heritage and Barrick’ s sustainability vision and partnership with its host governments, communities and other stakeholders.
Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions including material estimates and assumptions related to the factors set forth below that, while considered reasonable by Company as at the date of this press release in light of management’ s experience and perception of current conditions and expected developments, are inherently subject to significant business, economic, and competitive uncertainties and contingencies. Known and unknown factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements, and undue reliance should not be placed on such statements and information. Such factors include, but are not limited to: fluctuations in the spot and forward price of gold, copper, or certain other commodities ( such as silver, diesel fuel, natural gas, and electricity); the speculative nature of mineral exploration and development; changes in mineral production performance, exploitation, and exploration successes; the impact of inflation and the availability and increased costs associated with mining inputs and labor; risk of loss due to acts of war, terrorism, sabotage and civil disturbances; risks associated with projects in the early stages of evaluation, and for which additional engineering and other analysis is required; failure to comply with environmental and health and safety laws and regulations; timing of receipt of, or failure to comply with, necessary exploration permits and other permits approvals; uncertainty whether some or all of targeted investments and projects will meet the Company’ s capital allocation objectives and internal hurdle rate; changes in national and local government legislation, taxation, controls or regulations and/or changes in the administration of laws, policies and practices, expropriation or nationalization of property and political or economic developments in the Dominican Republic and other jurisdictions in which the Company or its affiliates do or may carry on business in the future; damage to the Company’ s reputation due to the actual or perceived occurrence of any number of events, including negative publicity with respect to the Company’ s handling of environmental matters or dealings with community groups, whether true or not; risks associated with artisanal and illegal mining; risks associated with new diseases, epidemics and pandemics, including the effects and potential effects of the global Covid-19 pandemic; litigation and legal and administrative proceedings; employee relations including loss of key employees; and increased costs and physical risks, including extreme weather events and resource shortages, related to climate change. In addition, there are risks and hazards associated with the business of mineral exploration, development and mining, including environmental hazards, industrial accidents, unusual or unexpected formations, pressures, cave-ins, flooding and gold bullion, copper cathode or gold or copper concentrate losses ( and the risk of inadequate insurance, or inability to obtain insurance, to cover these risks).
Many of these uncertainties and contingencies can affect our actual results and could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in any forward-looking statements made by, or on behalf of, us. Readers are cautioned that forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance. All of the forward-looking statements made in this press release are qualified by these cautionary statements. Specific reference is made to the most recent Form 40-F/Annual Information Form on file with the SEC and Canadian provincial securities regulatory authorities for a more detailed discussion of some of the factors underlying forward-looking statements and the risks that may affect Barrick’ s ability to achieve the expectations set forth in the forward-looking statements contained in this press release.
Barrick disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable law. | general |
New Covid-19 Advisory Group to replace Nphet | The Minister for Health has unveiled a new Covid-19 Advisory Group that will replace the expert team which has advised the Government throughout the pandemic.
Stephen Donnelly said the Covid-19 Advisory Group will take over the National Public Health Emergency Team ( Nphet).
The group will be chaired by outgoing chief medical officer Dr Tony Holohan.
Other members include deputy chief medical officer Dr Ronan Glynn, Professor Philip Nolan, as well as the HSE’ s Colm Henry.
As reported by the Irish Examiner, top scientists Luke O’ Neill, Mary Horgan and ventilation expert John Wenger are also in the group.
The Department of Health said the group will advise Mr Donnelly and the Government on how best to maximise Ireland’ s medium to long-term preparedness against Covid.
The group will note the evolving epidemiological assessment of Covid-19, as well as monitor new and emerging evidence with regard to existing technologies.
The group will advise the minister and Government on experiences in other countries and jurisdictions in relation to Covid-19, where there are implications or “ potential learnings or actions for Ireland ”.
It will also advise the Government on medium and long-term responses that may become necessary as part of the response to Covid-19.
Since the last meeting of the Nphet, Ireland has moved away from the emergency phase of the pandemic.
This very excellent group includes a wide range of expertise
In a statement, the department said: “ This new phase of Ireland’ s response to Covid-19 requires an approach that is informed by national and international evidence, grounded in best public health practice, with a broad, multidisciplinary membership encompassing members with specific expertise and experience in areas of strategic and/or operational responsibility. ” | general |
Passengers face more queues in early hours of the morning at Dublin Airport | Passengers flying from Dublin Airport in recent weeks have been greeted with long delays going through security. Picture: Sam Boal/Rollingnews.ie
More travel disruption greeted passengers at Dublin Airport on Friday morning as people faced more lengthy security queues.
Early morning travellers faced the security queues with the worst hit being in the early hours of Friday.
The worst of the queues were seen between 2.30am and 4.30am. Dublin Airport at its peak, it took some passengers 70 minutes to pass through security.
`` This was partly due to a large number of passengers arriving significantly earlier than forecast, ahead of flights that were departing much later in the morning, '' said Graeme McQueen, Media Relations Manager at DAA ( Dublin Airport Authority).
`` Queue times reduced quickly and considerably once additional security lanes were opened, as planned, to align with passengers arriving around three and a half hours before their departure times. ''
Mr McQueen added: `` DAA thanks passengers for heeding its advice to arrive up to three and a half hours before their departure time. In the days and weeks to come, adhering to this advice, rather than arriving at the airport much earlier, will help passengers get through security screening as quickly as possible. ''
One passenger took to social media shortly before 4am to say `` nothing '' was moving in Terminal 2 while another claimed it was a disaster.
Dublin Airport previously said it is still trying to rebound from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, and blamed the delays at security on a shortage of fully-trained staff.
Nothing moving at Terminal 2 # DublinAirport pic.twitter.com/iUpCRru9tz
@ DublinAirport worst Airport ever! What a disaster! pic.twitter.com/AeONsAcWiO
Earlier this week, it was announced that some Cork Airport security staff are to be temporarily reassigned to Dublin Airport to help deal with the queues.
That is one of the measures announced by the DAA in a bid to ease any future delays, especially as the busy Easter travel period approaches.
In a letter to the joint Oireachtas committee on transport and communications last Wednesday, the DAA said recruitment for more security staff is already underway.
It said that the temporary reassigning of Cork staff will not compromise passenger services at Cork Airport.
The recruitment of 100 new security staff is among the measures being taken by the DAA, with 250 candidates have been invited for interview next week.
The Dublin Airport operator has also contracted third-party security trainers to expand the training capacity for new security checking recruits.
Dalton Philips, DAA's chief executive, said in the letter that the challenges faced by Dublin Airport `` are endemic across major airports in the EU and the UK at this time ''.
Covid-related staff absences are also having an impact at the airport.
The committee said that it welcomed the update from the DAA, but still had `` serious questions in relation to the recruitment process ''.
We question whether the specific employment contract terms on offer are proving to be a major constraint on the recruitment of security checking staff, where we see only a possible of 20 hours per week on offer, together with the rate of pay on offer, and are requesting the DAA to revisit the employment terms here, '' said a statement. | general |
Munster’ s magic has dried up and the sparkle may be gone forever | Munster’ s Craig Casey and Shane Daly are dejected after the defeat to Leinster. Mandatory Credit ©INPHO/Dan Sheridan
All the best rugby teams are striving for the same things. An identity. A tight-knit culture. An environment in which words, eventually, are superfluous. Where what really matters is not individual ability but the unbreakable bond of togetherness. And where, after a while, winning becomes so natural it feels almost preordained.
Until, that is, the magic dries up. Star players retire or get injured, coaches come and go, supporters grow restless. Worse still, the arch rivals up the road are flying. History, all of a sudden, counts for little. Which is roughly where Munster, once the European Cup’ s ultimate feelgood story and guardians of what used to be the continent’ s most fabled culture, currently find themselves.
Ahead of their two-legged Champions Cup last-16 collision with Exeter Chiefs, the mind spools back to the great Paul O’ Connell’ s description of the Munster dressing-room in his aptly-titled autobiography, The Battle.
“ It was like having the craic in the pub with eight pints on board, except you’ re stone cold sober. If a guy broke up with his girlfriend and was really cut up about it, we’ d play ‘ It’ ll be Lonely this Christmas’ at full volume in the gym. When Marcus Horan found out he had a heart condition... we decided he needed to hear Feargal Sharkey singing ‘ A good heart these days is hard to find.’ ”
And so on. Towards the end of O’ Connell’ s playing career, the running “ joke ” was that he was visiting a local hospice each day after training to familiarise himself with the place. Brutal did not begin to cover it, which was one of the reasons why Munster were so relentlessly tough in adversity on the field.
And now? The “ Brave and the Faithful ” who followed their local heroes everywhere in the halcyon days are having their faith severely tested. It is more than a decade since the men in red last won any silverware, since when Leinster have accelerated away over the horizon as Ireland’ s most irresistible force.
Last weekend, in the keynote fixture of their United Rugby Championship campaign, Munster’ s blue-shirted nemesis cruised down to Limerick with some big name starters missing and still won 34-19. There were empty seats at Thomond Park, not all of which could be blamed on Covid-19 or the late kick-off.
Injuries are also stacking up, with key men such as Peter O’ Mahony, Tadhg Beirne, Joey Carbery, Dave Kilcoyne and Gavin Coombes all unavailable to play this weekend. Worst of all, there is still a vacuum where the clear-sighted plan for next season - and beyond - should be.
Munster’ s South African head coach Johann van Graan is off to Bath at the end of the season, as is his defence coach JP Ferreira. The club’ s senior coach, the ex-Wallaby outhalf Stephen Larkham, is also departing along with the Springbok World Cup winner Damian de Allende.
Even the ever-loyal O’ Mahony pointedly observed this week that the delay in naming Van Graan’ s replacement was “ not ideal ” from a playing perspective. The popular Graham Rowntree, currently coaching the forwards, has applied for the role but nothing is yet confirmed.
For those who live and breathe Munster it is all increasingly frustrating.
“ There’ s a lot of discontent here with the way the province is being run, ” says Donal Lenihan, the highly respected ex-Munster and Ireland captain who is now serving as president of Cork Constitution. Lenihan even uses the word “ delusional ” in relation to the current organisation.
“ It drives me bananas, ” he tells the Guardian, urging Munster’ s senior officials to get real and make significant structural changes if they wish to move forward.
“ Munster think they’ re Leinster, that’ s their biggest bloody problem. I chuckle a bit when we travel to France and England. It’ s like Manchester United in many ways. They’ re seen as being these giants but they’ re not. ”
There are also distant echoes of Bath and Leicester, two English sides who have spent the past decade chasing former glories. Even the now-resurgent Tigers finally had to accept that their time-honoured methods needed updating. Munster’ s issues, though, are arguably more deep-seated.
Big lads in Limerick, who would have gravitated to rugby 10-15 years ago, are now choosing hurling instead and the province is struggling to compete with the population advantages, private school nurseries and well-organised feeder systems that Leinster are now harnessing.
In Lenihan’ s opinion - “ They’ re in a different class off the field as well as on it and that’ s coming home to roost ” - there is no point in denying the existence of a gulf. Munster, he believes, need to front up to the challenge, install a more long-term focused director of rugby and re-engage more proactively with their local clubs. | general |
Wild Atlantic Bar is a swell offering on the Wild Atlantic Way | the Wild Atlantic Bar, Adrigole
NOW that the words “ Wild Atlantic ” are marketing gold, whoever buys the for-sale Wild Atlantic Bar in West Cork can get good leverage out of a phenomenally positive brand image, and make hay on social media, where any mention of the Wild Atlantic Way is an instant hit.
This is good news for whoever buys the bar, for sale with local auctioneer Denis Harrington of Harrington Estates, who is guiding the Beara Peninsula pub at €475,000.
It’ s the third high-profile hospitality move on the peninsula in recent weeks, with the long-vacant and expertly restored Dunboy Castle now set to become a “ destination ” hotel in the hands of developer Paddy McKillen Jnr and his business partner Matt Ryan of hospitality group Press Up, who bought it for €2.5m.
Also up for sale in an incredible waterfront location is the 16-bedroom Beara Coast Hotel for €1.5m, with Colliers International.
The owners, now vendors, of the Wild Atlantic Bar, in Trafrask East, bought the then derelict premises in 2015 and seven years later they have built up what Mr Harrington says is a “ powerful business ”.
They are selling up not because they want to, but because of other work commitments.
Mike Crowley works fulltime with the Cork Education and Training Board and his wife Kate works part-time with another company. Their four children are grown and pursuing their own careers.
“ We dearly love the bar and the people who come here, but we are both in our mid-50s and our children are adults now, doing their own thing, so we had to decide whether to continue to invest or to sell up.
“ It’ s been a really difficult decision for us. The bar is a core piece of the local community in Adrigole, ” Mike says.
It’ s a popular venue for parties and functions and Mr Harrington says it’ s built up a strong takeaway trade.
Instead of throwing in the towel when Covid arrived, the Crowleys refurbished an adjacent space that had once been a little shop, replacing it with a dining area for 20-30 people. The open plan bar and converted shop now provides seating for 90-95 people while an outside weather-proof beer garden offers 50 more coverings, plus another circa 30 open air.
They also hired chef Ian Coughlan, formerly of The Snug, a well-known spot in Bantry, and concentrated on delivering good quality fare. Mr Harrington says they have “ propelled the business forward, year-on-year ”.
“ I would say it’ s one of the top-performing establishments of its calibre in West Cork, ” Mr Harrington says. | general |
Mary Horgan and Luke O'Neill among members of new group that will replace Nphet | Mary Horgan, president of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland, at the unveiling of her portrait in February. She is one of the leading scientists and medics appointed to the new body. Picture: Gareth Chaney
Top scientists Luke O’ Neill, Mary Horgan and ventilation expert John Wenger are to be named today as leading members of the Government’ s new Covid-19 Advisory Group, the Irish Examiner can reveal.
The group, which will replace the National Public Health Emergency Team ( Nphet), will be accountable to Health Minister Stephen Donnelly, and will be chaired by the chief medical officer ( CMO).
The establishment of the group comes amid stubbornly high Covid-19 infection numbers that have caused considerable strain on health services in recent weeks.
The group will be established on a standing basis, will meet regularly — probably once a fortnight — and will have up to 20 members, less than half the number that sat on the now-defunct Nphet.
Prof O’ Neill emerged as one of the leading voices during the pandemic and is seen as a skilled communicator. Prof Wenger, a professor of physical chemistry at University College Cork ( UCC), is an authority on improving ventilation in schools and other public buildings. | general |
Brittany Ferries ' services in Cork key to life beyond Covid, Brexit | Cllr Susan McCarthy, Deputy Mayor of The County of Cork; Conor Mowlds, Chief Commercial Officer, Port of Cork Company; Jean-Marc Roué, President of Brittany Ferries and Honorary Council of Ireland in Brittany; Christophe Mathieu, CEO of Brittany Ferries; and Paula Cogan, President, Cork Chamber, celebrating the addition of a second weekly Brittany Ferries sailing between Cork and Roscoff. Picture: Michael O'Sullivan / OSM PHOTO
Loyalty to valued staff and reduction of CO2 emissions share top table priority in the ‘ co-op’ ethos of Brittany Ferries — sitting alongside the usual business concerns of delivering profits to shareholders, and giving customers quality service and value for money.
Founded in 1973 by a co-op of Breton farmers, led by visionary farmer Alexis Gourvennec, Brittany Ferries has just endured the two toughest financial years in its history. It is now emerging with a five-year plan to trade its way out of the debts taken on to weather the impacts of Brexit and Covid.
The French government gave Brittany Ferries a one-off €45m grant to help the company weather Covid and Brexit losses. Shipping group CMA CGM also invested €25m in its freight businesses.
The shareholders, still mostly comprising the Breton farmers who founded the company, are rock solid behind the recovery plan, including the commitment to its c.2,500 staff, all of whom reside in France. All nationalities can work for the company, but they must live in France.
Brittany Ferries ' five-year plan to trade its way back from its Covid-imposed debts contrasts markedly with both P & O and Irish Ferries, both of whom have drawn widespread criticism for laying off hundreds of UK and Irish-based staff and outsourcing the work to overseas agency workers.
“ With our business model, it was logical for the French Government to support us, but we are in no way a public company, ” said Christophe Mathieu, CEO of Brittany Ferries, visiting Cork this week to promote the permanence confirmed for new Cork-Roscoff midweek services. “ We serve our shareholders, who fully understand how Brexit and Covid have impacted the business.
“ We are coming out of Covid. We are asking some productivity efforts of our staff to help repay the Covid debts. Increasing productivity will mean less seafarers on board vessels doing more work to deliver the same high-quality service to passengers.
“ Thankfully, our raison d’ etre is not entirely focused on profit. It makes a big difference if your shareholders accept a reasonable profit margin. That means that we deliver a premium service, while we also remain competitive.
“ The French Government has compensated the company for around one-third of the losses caused by Covid. Two-thirds of the Covid debt remains, and it is up to the management and staff to work to reimburse that debt. We aim to repay the loan over the next five to six years. ”
Brittany Ferries employs around 2,500 people, including 1,600 seafarers. Some of the roles are seasonal, with winter crossings lighter than spring, summer and autumn. Its 12 vessels serve France, UK, Spain and Ireland via 14 maritime routes.
Covid has severely impacted the business. In 2019, it carried 2,498,354 passengers. In 2020, the total was 752,102 passengers. Freight of 201,554 units in 2019 fell to 160,377 units in 2020.
As UK-French trade dominates its books, with the majority of its revenue generated in UK pounds, Brittany Ferries has also been severely impacted by Brexit. Sterling currency fluctuations from the 2016 Brexit vote to its introduction in January 2021 hit its net profit by €115m.
Still, consolidated revenues totalling €469m were reported in 2019, comparable to previous years, thanks to positive action taken by the business. Covid impacts more than halved those revenues to €202m in 2020.
And yet the mood onboard the MV Armorique, docked in Ringaskiddy earlier this week, was distinctly upbeat. The new Cork service is one part of its diversification strategy, helping reduce a little the company’ s dependence on its core UK trade.
In 2022 and 2023, Brittany Ferries’ very first ships to be powered by more eco-friendly LNG will arrive, reducing CO2 emissions by 46%. It is working on an ‘ Atlantic Coast Rail Network’ project, which may at some future time see a modal shift from road to rail for onward freight transport.
Speaking onboard the MV Armorique, Brittany Ferries president, Jean-Marc Roué, who is also the newly appointed Honorary Council of Ireland in Brittany, reaffirmed the company’ s core values.
Mr Roué, who is also a farmer, said that he and Christophe Mathieu and the entire Brittany Ferries team continue to deliver the vision of Alexis Gourvennec, who passed away in 2007. | general |
GENFIT Recovers Post-Pandemic with Key Studies On ACLF and Cholestatic Diseases | GENFIT, the late-stage biopharmaceutical firm, delivered on its promise to improve its financial situation in the year to December 31, 2021, posting an income of $ 40.8 million USD from a loss of $ 20.3 million in the year prior. As of the year's end, the company saw its cash and cash equivalents rise from $ 185.5 million in the previous year to $ 280.7 million.
Much of its recovery is attributable to the $ 130 million initial payment it received from its licensing deal with Ipsen in December, plus a $ 30.37 million equity investment. The company was also approved for two state-guaranteed loans and other loans subsidies amounting to a total of $ 16.5 million.
In the last year, GENFIT was also able to get a CIR reimbursement worth $ 8.6 million and gain $ 51.5 million for the partial repurchase of Oceane convertible bonds.
But what was particularly interesting about GENFIT's bounce-back year was the apparent success in its attempt to change its direction in research and development to focus on cholestatic diseases and acute on chronic liver failure ( ACLF) programs.
`` We are pleased to have delivered on our key commitments which were to improve our financial situation, pursue our Phase 3 trial and strengthen our pipeline. We start 2022 having made great progress regarding ELATIVE, and our improved financial visibility will enable us to grow our pipeline and accelerate our existing programs, as we continue to seek therapeutic and diagnostic solutions that can improve the health and quality of life of patients affected by severe chronic liver diseases, '' commented Pascal Prigent, CEO of GENFIT, in a statement.
The company is preparing to start its Phase I study of NTZ in patients with renal impairment by the fourth quarter of 2022 as part of its ACLF project. This initiative presents a potentially huge milestone for GENFIT. If successful and positive, it could lead to the launch of a proof-of-concept trial in patients with ACLF and acute decompensated cirrhosis.
Another highlight was an update on GENFIT's Phase III ELATIVE clinical trial of elafibranor in patients diagnosed with primary biliary cholangitis ( PBC) and an incomplete response to ursodeoxycholic acid ( UDCA). Despite the COVID-19 restrictions and some disruptions to the company's operations, participant enrollment progressed steadily, allowing GENFIT to still meet its timelines.
In addition, Elifibranor was able to meet the primary endpoint based on primary and composite biochemical evaluation guidelines, paving the way for possible accelerated approval. The company is expected to share topline data as scheduled by the second quarter of 2023.
`` GENFIT will continue to grow and diversify its pipeline in 2022 by leveraging its expertise in bringing early-stage assets to late-development stages. To achieve this goal, we follow a dual-track approach based on repurposing of molecules approved in other indications and in-licensing of molecules developed by other companies, '' said the announcement. | general |
Tesla officially opens Texas Gigafactory | Tesla opened its Austin, Texas-based Gigafactory on Thursday, a crucial step in the company’ s delayed plans to begin production of its electric Cybertruck. To celebrate the opening, Tesla held an event, billed as a “ Cyber Rodeo, ” to which it invited 15,000 people to listen to live music, eat food, and pay homage to Elon Musk and his company.
“ We are really entering a new phase of Tesla’ s future, ” Musk told the audience. Clad in a black cowboy hat and aviator sunglasses, Musk said he was excited to begin working on Cybertruck production at last. “ I can’ t wait to see this baby in production, it’ s going to be epic. ”
Along with a new version of the Cybertruck, Musk also showed off a new Roadster vehicle, which is slated to begin production next year. He also teased a robotaxi he said would look “ quite futuristic ” but didn’ t elaborate or provide any details.
It is the company’ s fourth factory in the US, following the vehicle factory in Fremont, California, battery factory in Sparks, Nevada, and solar factory in Buffalo, New York. Tesla also has a vehicle factory outside Shanghai, China, and recently opened its first European factory near Berlin, Germany. Tesla spent an estimated $ 5 million purchasing the land outside Austin, plus another $ 1.1 billion to build the plant.
“ We need a place where we can be really big, and there’ s no place like Texas, ” Musk said. “ We going to move to a truly massive scale. ”
The milestone was achieved less than two years after Musk declared that Austin would be the site of the company’ s next Gigafactory and less than one year after Tesla officially moved its headquarters to Texas from California. In addition to the new Gigafactory, Musk also operates a SpaceX facility in Brownsville, Texas, and he reportedly has been living at the multimillion-dollar home of a friend along a lake in Austin. ( Musk denied that report, claiming he currently resides in a “ tiny home ” in Boca Chica.)
The addition of the new Gigafactory is expected to boost Tesla’ s capacity in the US, which has been long constrained by space limitations. In 2018, the company famously erected a tent outside its factory in Fremont, California, to help meet production goals of the Model 3. At the time, Musk said the company’ s California factory was “ bursting at the seams. ” Tesla has said it expects to make 1.5 million vehicles in 2022, after producing slightly less than 1 million vehicles last year — a 50 percent increase.
The Texas factory is expected to be the site where, starting in 2023, Tesla will make its long-delayed Cybertruck. Indications that the Cybertruck would be delayed first emerged last year, when the online reservation page was changed and then later withdrawn from the site. Musk had said that he expected a few trucks to be delivered to customers by the end of 2021, but no deliveries were ever made. The Cybertruck has already gone through some changes since its initial reveal in 2019 — including the addition of a comically oversized single windshield wiper, traditional folding mirrors, and invisible door handles.
In addition to the Cybertruck, Tesla also plans to build Model Ys and Model 3s destined for the East Coast, as well as the long-delayed Tesla Semi. The company has already started to build Model Y crossovers at the unfinished Texas Gigafactory in the fourth quarter of 2021, according to the company’ s latest earnings report.
The Texas Gigafactory is located on about 2,100 acres of land east of the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, with about two miles of exposure to Texas’ Colorado River. The company has said it will hire up to 5,000 workers at an average salary of $ 47,147, with entry-level positions starting at $ 35,000. Today, Tesla employs about 10,000 people at its only US car plant in Fremont.
In exchange, Texas’ local government has lavished tax breaks and incentives on the company worth millions of dollars. In 2020, the local school district voted to approve $ 50 million in tax breaks for Tesla, while Travis County commissioners approved a deal worth at least $ 14.7 million, according to Reuters.
But the welcome hasn’ t been entirely free of conflict. Last week, local conservationists sought to block Tesla’ s Cyber Rodeo celebration, citing traffic congestion, construction dust, and water pollution, according to Bloomberg. The company has also faced criticism from environmental groups for its Berlin factory project.
More broadly, Tesla has faced criticism over its labor practices and workplace safety concerns, mostly focused on its factory in Fremont. The company was sued by California’ s civil rights agency for operating what it describes as a “ racially segregated workplace. ” And last year, a judge awarded a Black former Tesla employee $ 137 million in damages after he reported a hostile work environment where he heard “ daily racist epithets ” including the n-word and was told to “ go back to Africa ” by colleagues.
Tesla began scouting the US for a spot to build a new factory back in early 2020. “ Scouting locations for Cybertruck Gigafactory. Will be central USA, ” Musk tweeted on March 10th. Nashville, Tennessee, was reportedly an early candidate, before Austin and Tulsa ultimately emerged as the finalists. Officials in ( and residents of) Tulsa put on a lot of flashy moves, like painting a 70-foot-tall statue of an oil driller to look like Musk.
The new facility opens as the company continues to struggle with shutdowns of its Shanghai factory as the city deals with strict lockdown measures brought by an uptick in COVID-19 cases. Despite this, the company is reporting vigorous sales in the first quarter of 2022, with 310,048 vehicles reaching customers.
| tech |
The healing power of a simple bike ride | I look at the smooth asphalt underneath my wheels and see the sun try to break through the clouds. My wheels make that comforting whoosh sound and my bike is without a single creak. It’ s one of those little joys every bike rider will appreciate. I chose to ride in the afternoon because the mornings are still very cold. The trees are still empty apart from the oak trees that desperately cling to last year’ s dead leaves. Isn’ t nature the perfect metaphor for life? The tendency to hold on to the old while you wait for a new unknown to come along?
I think of what is good in this world and cherish the peace I feel in my heart on this quiet stretch of road on a Wednesday in March. It’ s good to know that my body and mind still have the ability to calm down. I need to try and remember this when panic rages; need to remember that panic is not forever. I can make it stop.
The Gorges de la Nesque is a road that runs from Villes sur Auzon to Sault, one of the three start places of the Mont Ventoux climb. The climb to the top of the Ventoux is still closed as temperatures up there are below freezing. Even at the restaurant at Chalet Reynard, at 1,200 m ( 3,940 ft), it’ s still barely above 0 ºC. Staying down here to enjoy the early sunshine of a new spring is good enough.
The Gorges de la Nesque tops out at 737 m. It’ s 18.4 km long and an average gradient of 2.3%; a total climb of 423 metres. It takes me just over an hour. It’ s not a hard climb but it’ s one I love because I can do it with relative ease and enjoy it. It climbs in the beginning, becomes flat and even descends in the middle and gets steeper at the end. It has bumps and smooth surfaces.
This climb is the story of my life in the past year and I am sure you will recognize it too. We all climb mountains and we all fall off sometimes. It’ s how fast we get back up that makes the difference.
About a year ago the world started to get to me. One year of COVID. We were in lockdown again in the Netherlands and only gradually were we climbing out. Things had changed since the first lockdowns. Fear had turned to anger. Society became more divided than ever before. I tend to avoid conflict, so all the anger made my shoulders feel heavy.
My heart started pounding at the weirdest moments of the day and the night. A deep fear of choking overcame me and made it impossible to think of anything else than dying in that moment. Getting COVID myself exacerbated that feeling. Usually, the attacks happened when I was alone. I always thought about how no one would find me in time if I died on the spot.
Panic attacks are deeply irrational but they are all-consuming when you have one.
I ride on to the first corner where my dad, who is 69 but weighs 30 kg less than me, usually rides away from me. Turning 70 this year he is always in a hurry because who knows how long he will still be healthy enough. I smile at the memory of seeing him disappear into the distance when we ride in France together and feel blessed to still have my parents in my life. In May we will ride this road together again when we come back to stay at Camping Le Ventoux, where my mum makes omelettes for us.
Today I am alone but I have the campsite owner on speed dial. I am not afraid that something will happen to me on this desolate stretch of road but I am not the world’ s best bike handler and if something does happen and I crash or have a mechanical it’ s good to have back-up.
I try not to clasp the handlebars too hard, and try not to watch the numbers on my computer. I set out for this solo 75 km ride around the Gorges to be mindful and to relish this opportunity to ride the mountain by myself. I reflect on what has been and what will be.
I was here last September. Fears were raging through me every moment of the day. I was afraid to climb stairs because I would be out of breath at the top. I was afraid of going to the supermarket where dizziness suddenly came over me. I was afraid to commentate races because panic struck in the final of every stage. I was afraid to meet new people. Afraid to interview riders. I was afraid of living.
As I pedal on to that turn where the Mont Ventoux looms in the distance, I wonder what I was afraid of and why. But that’ s anxiety for you – you don’ t understand it, you are ashamed of your irrational fears, and yet they are the most real thing in your life at that moment.
The Gorges de la Nesque was made by a tiny little stream over many, many years. One little stream did all this; changed the scenery all by itself. It is small but it proved powerful. This place has seen war arrive and peace come. It’ s always been here, biding its time, and now it sees the world continue at an ever-more-frantic pace. This knowledge gives me perspective. Nature often does because it has no fear. It just is.
I pass the little house of a local beekeeper. The blue hives outside are waiting for the new spring to arrive, for the new flowers to bloom, for another circle of life to begin. This is the hardest part of the climb but I know I can do this. It’ s amazing what the body can do when the mind is quiet. There is no cell reception here but I have my Spotify playlist helping me forward.
Around the corner, towards the few tunnels that indicate the end of the climb, I again see the slopes of Mont Ventoux in the distance. There is blue on the horizon but it’ s overcast where I ride. That blue sky is something to long for, a situation that seems better than the place you are now. But in cycling you have to live in the moment. | general |
Carnival resumes cruises to Alaska and Canada | Cruise major plans to sail seven Holland America Line vessels to both destinations this year
Carnival Corp is resuming itineraries to Alaska and Canada after a two-year hiatus forced by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Arnold Donald-led owner of 91 ships announced on Friday that Holland America Line’ s 3,375-berth Koningsdam ( built 2016) will be the first cruise ship to return to Canada since the country banned cruising in March 2020.
The ship will call at Victoria, British Columbia, on Saturday on its maiden voyage and then end a seven-day cruise on Sunday at the Port of Vancouver.
Canada’ s two-year ban on cruising also prevented Carnival from sending ships to and from Alaska.
“ We are thrilled to be the first cruise line back into Canada after such a long absence, and we look forward to celebrating a great moment for everyone who loves to travel and for those in Canada and Alaska whose livelihoods depend on tourism, ” Holland America Line president Gus Antorcha said in a statement.
“ Holland America Line has a robust schedule of cruises that explore Canadian ports on both coasts with Alaska, Hawaii, transatlantic and Canada and New England itineraries. ”
Koningsdam’ s call at Victoria will mark 905 days since a cruise ship has visited the port.
This year, six Holland America Line ships will make 121 calls with 215,000 passengers combined to Victoria and Vancouver for the Alaska cruise season, Carnival said.
Holland America Line will also start sailing the 2,375-berth Nieuw Statendam ( built 2010) and 1,838-berth Zaandam ( built 2000) on voyages that will visit more than 12 Canadian ports as part of its Canada and New England itineraries. | general |
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