Powerscourt Coronavirus Briefing – 05 September 2020

It is the week that has seen many children in the UK return to school but according to ONS data, they are not alone as some 50% of UK workers returned to the office by the last week of August, up from 30% in June. This will please the Prime Minister who  encouraged companies to reopen workplaces, particularly in cities where lockdown measures have hit the hardest.

Figures out from Public Health England have revealed that two thirds of confirmed infections are now to be found in those under 40 years old, while numbers have dropped off in the older generations, raising hopes that deaths can be kept low and the need for further lockdowns could be reduced.

There were further woes however for the UK high street as data published by the British Retail Consortium pointed to high street retail footfall plummeting in August with a 42% drop compared with the same period last year.

Big news out of Russia as controversial Sputnik V COVID vaccine is reported to have generated a strong immune response in all participants during the initial trials without any “serious adverse effects”. The studies, conducted across 76 participants, indicate that the trial generated levels of antibodies up to 1.5 times higher than in patients recovering from COVID-19. Initial results from the fast-tracked phase 3 trials are expected in October or November. However, optimism that a vaccine could be on its way was tempered by other developers who criticised the news, arguing that no data had been published on the vaccine and that this expedited process may not be effective when rolled out in a mass-scale immunisation programme.

The party scene has returned in China, reports the FT, with people shedding their face masks as bars, nightclubs and beach venues across the country are filling up following months of strict pandemic controls. Last weekend hundreds in the capital attended a beachfront music festival at Beidaihe. Party-goers had to scan their government designed track and trace apps and have their temperatures taken but, once inside, they could throw caution to the wind and forget about the global epidemic with revelers in Beijing believing that they had earned the “freedom to party” following the strict social distancing measures enforced since late January.

In corporate news flow, European equity markets took a further hit as the global sell off in the tech sector took hold. Better than expected US data saw the US dollar strengthen while concerns over the progress levels in Brexit negotiations continued to weigh on Sterling. The housebuilders were hit on news out of the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) that it plans to take a deeper look into the impact of leaseholds on consumers. Virgin Atlantic is set to cut 1,150 jobs, following on from the 3,000 cuts made earlier in the year, as part of a £1.2bn rescue plan to save the transatlantic carrier.

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