Japan finds nearly 100 cases of new coronavirus strain
THE TOKEN HAS ADDED MORE THAN $415 BILLION OF VALUE IN 2021 TO ABOUT $956 BILLION
TOKYO/GENEVA: Japan confirmed a new variant of Covid-19, and an infection cluster emerged at a Tokyo immigration facility, presenting new challenges as the country tries to overcome a third wave of the pandemic.
The new variant has been found in 91 cases in the Kanto area of eastern Japan and in two cases at airports, chief cabinet secretary Katsunobu Kato told reporters on Friday. The government is raising surveillance against mutant varieties as they may be more resistant to vaccines, which Japan started to distribute this week.
The new strain appears to have originated overseas but is different from other types that have been found sporadically in Japan, according to the National Institute of Infectious Diseases.
Did badgers and rabbits spread virus to humans?
World Health Organization (WHO) experts investigating the virus’s origins suggest that badgers and rabbits, which were sold at a market in Wuhan, China, may have played a role in spreading the coronavirus to humans, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal.
The investigators reportedly noted that there’s need for probe into suppliers of such animals as well ass other types. They have yet to ascertain a full list of live and dead animals sold legally or illegally at the Wuhan market.
Study: Pfizer jab 85% effective after 1st shot
The first dose of Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine is 85% effective, a study of health care workers at an Israeli hospital has found. The Sheba Medical Center’s findings compare with overall efficacy of around 95% in a two-dose regimen 21 days apart for the shot developed with BioNTech. The study, to be published in The Lancet medical journal, comes a day after Canadian researchers said the second Pfizer dose be delayed given the high level of protection from the first shot.
Rich nations stockpiling 1bn extra shots: Report
Rich countries are on course to have over a billion more doses of vaccines than they need, leaving poorer nations scrambling for leftover supplies, a report by anti-poverty campaigners found on Friday. In an analysis of supply deals, ONE Campaign said wealthy countries, such as the US and Britain, should share the excess doses to “supercharge” a global response to the crisis.
Bitcoin is closing in on a market value of $1 trillion, a surge that’s helping cryptocurrency returns far outstrip the performance of more traditional assets like stocks and gold.
The largest token has added more than $415 billion of value in 2021 to about $956 billion, data compiled by Bloomberg show. The Bloomberg Galaxy Crypto Index, which includes Bitcoin and four other coins, has more than doubled.
Speculators, corporate treasurers and institutional investors are thought to have stoked Bitcoin’s volatile ascent. Crypto believers are dueling with skeptics for the dominant narrative around the climb: the former see an asset being embraced for its ability to hedge risks such as inflation, while the latter sense a precarious mania riding atop waves of monetary and fiscal
stimulus. FOMO—fear of missing out—may be at play, said Shane Oliver, head of investment strategy with AMP Capital Investors Ltd in Sydney, adding that “in times of easy money this gets
magnified and it’s partly what’s driving the current interest.”
Bitcoin traded at around $51,300 as of 1:30 pm on Friday in Hong Kong after quintupling in the past year. The crypto index’s performance towers over stocks, gold, commodities and bonds in 2021.
This month, Tesla Inc. disclosed a $1.5 billion investment and MicroStrategy Inc. boosted a sale of convertible bonds to $900 million to buy even more of the token. That brought the coin closer to corporate America.
“If companies’ fundamentals are going to become closely tied to movements in Bitcoin because they’ve suddenly become speculators on the side, we’re going to be in bubble territory before you know it,” said Craig Erlam, senior market analyst with Oanda Europe Ltd.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk posted a somewhat cryptic tweet Friday that appeared in part to defend the company’s action, saying Bitcoin “is simply a less dumb form of liquidity than cash” while adding that the electric vehicle maker’s decision isn’t “directly reflective of my opinion.”