Kaohoon Morning Brief – 27 December 2021

 

1) U.K. study indicated far less hospitalization on omicron cases 

A publication from a U.K. government study indicated that people infected with a Covid-19 omicron variant are less likely to be hospitalized.

31% and 45% of individuals with omicron are less likely to attend emergency departments compared to those with delta and 50-70% less likely to require hospital admission, reported the study.

Still, the U.K. Health Security Agency said that the study is preliminary and highly uncertain due to the small numbers of omicron cases currently in hospital, resulting in an inability to effectively measure all previous infections.

 

2) China’s industrial profit growth in November slowed down

Profit of China’s industrial firms expanded at a much slower pace in November, rising 9.0% to 805.96 billion yuan, compared to a 24.6% increase in October. A shrink in profit growth was due to a decline in some raw material prices, a faltering property market and weaker consumer demand.

 

3) U.S. and Japan’s retail sales grew

Japan’s retail sales grew faster than expected in November due to lower Covid-19 cases for the month, fueling spending on goods and services. The figure in November indicated a gain of 1.9% compared to the same period of last year and a 1.0% gain in October.

Meanwhile, U.S. retail sales rose 8.5% during this shopping season from November 1 to December 24, powered by a skyrocket e-Commerce sales, according to a report by Mastercard.