Covid 19

SINGAPORE - Five more people have died from Covid-19 complications in Singapore, the Ministry of Health (MOH) said on Tuesday (Sept 28). They comprised four Singaporean men aged between 69 and 79, and a 77-year-old Singaporean woman. Two of them were unvaccinated, while one was partially vaccinated. The other two were inoculated against the virus. All had various underlying medical conditions, MOH said, without giving details of these conditions in its statement. It was the ninth consecutive day that deaths from Covid-19 were reported. So far, 85 people here have died because of the virus. The latest fatalities bring the total number of people who have died of Covid-19 this month to 30, compared with 18 last month. The number of new cases here hit 2,236 on Tuesday – surpassing the 2,000 mark for the first time. It was also 589 more than Monday’s figure. The total number of cases in Singapore now stands at 91,775. The latest case figure includes 1,711 cases …

Continue Reading about 5 seniors die from Covid-19 complications; 2,236 new cases in Singapore →

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin What role do offices play? It’s the sort of question that has exercised the minds of leaders since Covid-19 began. Some are desperate to get back behind the desk; others would rather abandon it entirely. Most of the focus has been on the direct impact offices have on people’s working day: Are they better for collaboration, or worse? Do they lead to more productivity, or less? Do they enhance creativity, or limit it? There has been precious little debate on the wider effect office life has on people’s wider lives – their whole being. Like any physical meeting place, offices foster interactions and – it seems –integration. By contrast, homeworking triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic could spark an increase in prejudice and racism, according to interfaith research body the Woolf Institute at Cambridge University. The office acts as a real-life melting pot: bringing together people of different creeds, colors and cultures who …

Continue Reading about Has Covid-19 Sparked An Increase In Prejudice From Our Home Office? →

- A + A (Sept 28): Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE on Tuesday submitted initial trial data for their COVID-19 vaccine in 5-11-year-olds and said they would make a formal request with U.S. regulators for emergency use in the coming weeks. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said earlier this month it would look to complete its data review for this age group as quickly as possible, likely in a matter of weeks rather than months. That could mean an authorization of the shot for children by the end of October, sources have told Reuters. A decision on the vaccine's use in younger children is eagerly awaited by millions of Americans as coronavirus infections have soared in children to hit their highest point in early September, according to data from the American Academy of Pediatrics. The vaccine, which is already authorized for 12 to 15-year-olds and fully approved for ages 16 and up, induced a strong immune response in the target age group in a 2,268-participant clinical …

Continue Reading about Pfizer submits data for COVID-19 vaccine use in younger kids →

- A + A BENGALURU/DETROIT (Sept 28): Ford Motor Co said on Tuesday its US salaried employees would be required to submit their vaccination status against Covid-19 by Oct 8 and that it had asked its hourly employees to do the same. Ford follows rival General Motors Co in asking for vaccination status of its employees but not mandating the shots. "This will aid our efforts to comply with federal Covid-19 vaccination requirements," Ford said in a statement. UAW spokesman Brian Rothenberg confirmed that the process is voluntary for union's hourly members who work at the company. Ford chief executive Jim Farley said in an interview with CNBC that the company's leadership team was vaccinated against Covid-19 and that it was conducting a survey to find out how many employees were vaccinated. …

Continue Reading about Ford says US salaried employees required to disclose Covid-19 vaccination status →

Forteza We really had to hold on to each other for strength in order to get through it,” said actress Barbie Forteza, who admitted experiencing one of the most difficult times last month because some members of her family got infected with the COVID-19 virus. “We had a COVID-19 surge in the family,” the actress told Inquirer Entertainment during the postevent interview for the September edition of Inquirer Read-Along, which was hosted by Herbalife Nutrition and where she was the celebrity storyteller. “For me, it’s not a joke. It’s not merely the subject of news anymore. The virus is real. It has infected my family,” said Barbie, who added that she would rather not go into specifics. “I’m really frustrated because, even now that we’re already on our second year in this pandemic, some people still don’t believe it exists. Some still question the use of vaccines, and the importance of wearing masks and taking the necessary precautions.” Research She also expressed …

Continue Reading about Realizations from recent COVID-19 surge in Barbie’s family →

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Royal Caribbean stock (NYSE: RCL) has risen by almost 8% over the last week (five trading days), compared to the S&P 500 which was up 0.6% over the same period. The stock is also up by about 8.7% over the last month. There are likely a couple of factors driving the stock higher. Firstly, the recent Covid-19 wave in the U.S. caused by the highly infectious delta virus variant appears to have peaked and investors are likely to seeing value in RCL stock which fell by almost 20% between June and early September. Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine received full FDA approval for individuals 16 years of age and older late last month. With a fully approved vaccine available, the U.S. is looking to impose new vaccine mandates on federal workers, large employers, and health care staff, in a move that could help to moderate the spread of Covid-19. This augurs well for travel stocks. Now, is RCL stock poised to grow? Based on our machine …

Continue Reading about Royal Caribbean Stock Rises As U.S. Covid Cases Show Declining Trend. What’s Next? →

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Since its inception in July 2015, brands have been working hard to maximize one of the biggest sales events of the year: Amazon Prime Day. And this year’s Prime Day was no different. According to a recent Prosper Insights & Analytics survey, more than half of Adults 18 and older planned to shop on Amazon Prime Day. With back-to-school right around the corner, 60 percent said they planned their shopping around large retail events like Prime Day and nearly 50 percent said that they planned to make a back-to-school purchase during the sales event. As anticipated, this year’s Prime Day did not disappoint sellers, but the pandemic sales plateaued slightly compared to the surge in online shopping that occurred in 2020. Prime Day total sales were up just 7.6 percent ($11.19B) compared to the 48-hour event in October 2020 ($10.39B). Interestingly, 3rd party sellers reaped significant Prime Day benefits this year - sales …

Continue Reading about Wins And Losses: How Prime Day Set The Stage For The Future Of Online Retail →

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin We think that Humana stock (NYSE: HUM) currently is a better pick compared to Cigna stock , despite Humana being more expensive of the two. Humana trades at about 0.7x trailing revenues, compared to 0.4x for Cigna. Although both the companies have benefited from the rise in total number of enrollments for Medicare plans over the recent years, Humana’s financial performance has been better during the pandemic, driven by higher Medicare Advantage premium income as well as increased healthcare services revenues. However, there is more to the comparison. Let’s step back to look at the fuller picture of the relative valuation of the two companies by looking at historical revenue growth as well as operating margin growth. Our dashboard Humana vs Cigna : Industry Peers; Which Stock Is A Better Bet? has more details on this. Parts of the analysis are summarized below. 1. Humana’s Recent Revenue Growth Has Been Stronger …

Continue Reading about Here’s Why Humana Stock May See Higher Levels →

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Carnival stock (NYSE: CCL), one of the largest U.S. cruise operators, has risen by about 9.5% over the last week (five trading days). This compares to the S&P 500 which was up by just about 1% over the same period. The recent gains come as the cruise line operator published its Q3 business update, indicating that bookings for cruises over the second half of 2022 were trending higher than pre-pandemic levels, giving investors more confidence about the post-Covid prospects for the cruising industry. The company also said that its voyages for Q3 2021 were cash flow positive and noted that the trend was expected to continue. Separately, Covid-19 cases in the U.S. have seen a declining trend in recent weeks after a big surge through the summer due to the highly infectious Delta variant of the virus. This could be making travel stocks such as Carnival, which remains down by about 17% since early June, more attractive to …

Continue Reading about Up 10% Last Week, Are More Gains In The Cards For Carnival Stock? →

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Bitcoin prices have declined by almost 7% since Friday, to levels of around $42,000 a unit although it recovered a bit over the weekend. The cryptocurrency also remains down by about 11% over the past month. The recent volatility comes as China’s central bank announced that all cryptocurrency transactions in the country were illegal. While a ban on crypto trading came into effect in China in 2019, it apparently continued via offshore exchanges. With the latest developments, crypto trading of all forms is likely to be shut down in China, and this likely caused liquidation of cryptos, putting pressure on prices. While China’s crypto crackdown is a setback, it probably doesn’t change the course for the broader adoption of cryptocurrencies, which have the potential to be one of the most disruptive technologies of our time. Investors who want to play the long-term upside in cryptocurrency adoption, without exposing themselves to …

Continue Reading about Bitcoin Falls On China’s Crypto Crackdown. Are These Crypto Stocks Better Picks? →