After witnessing a quiet day on Thursday due to the Thanksgiving holiday in the United States, market participants grapple with risk aversion on Friday as coronavirus concerns weigh on sentiment.
Among the key catalysts were talks about the version of the virus, formally named B.1.1.529, which is linked to South Africa and is immune to vaccines.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has called a special meeting to discuss the new version of the virus and the fears emanating from it to confirm its status as “variant of concern“The scientists said, according to Reuters reports:” The variant, detected in South Africa, may be able to evade immune responses. British authorities believe it to be the most significant variant to date, they fear that he may resist vaccines and have been quick to impose travel restrictions on South Africa. “
It is worth noting that the news of finding two cases of the new virus variant in parts of southern Africa, of two travelers arriving in Hong Kong, also weighs on sentiment.
In other places, Germany marks a jump in the coronavirus that has taken deaths to cross 100,000. Reuters said: “Another 351 people have died of coronavirus, bringing the total since the start of the pandemic to 100,119, data from the Robert Koch Institute for Infectious Diseases showed. The number of new daily cases reached a new record high of 75,961. “.
Austria already announced local blockades due to the virus outbreak, while the French Health Minister Olivier Veran said on Thursday that they will not announce any new blockade or curfew related to the coronavirus, as reported by Reuters.
On the other side, the Chief Cabinet Secretary of Japan, Hirokazu Matsuno, expressed concern about the variant of the virus and said: “If new coronavirus variants are identified, we will reconsider our border controls as necessary.“.
What’s more, Australia’s daily covid cases rise to highest levels since October 29, according to ABC News.
It should be noted that the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) calls for a technical meeting to discuss the variant, which in turn becomes important and weighs on market sentiment.
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