I’m blessed with a glass-half-full demeanour, a precondition perhaps for mental health if you’re an entrepreneur and South African. So it’s possible I’m seeing greenshoots in mid-winter. But there does seem to be a strong case to believe the war against Covid-19 has turned. That the worst is behind us.
The piece from our partners at The Financial Times in London is sure to nudge your thinking in that direction. As Brian Pottinger shared with us yesterday, as coronaviruses constantly mutate they lose their pathogenic intensity. Omicron is following this path. Infections among those without “antidotes” (as Pottinger describes vaccines) are in far less danger than during previous waves.
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As this sinks in, global investment markets are rebounding (see above). The S&P’s 2% improvement last night helped wipe out all last week’s losses. Investors are concluding that Omicron will have less of an impact on our lives, the economy and thus business. Travel stocks, for instance, have run strongly this week.
Here in SA, the government’s reaction to the new variant also reflects an understanding of Pottinger’s “Viruses 101”. Business Day reports that at NEDLAC yesterday, labour minister Thulas Nxesi rejected calls for mandatory vaccines, throwing the proposal firmly into business’s court. Holding the lockdown at Level One also signals Pretoria’s optimism. After two very tough years, hope springs.
More for you to read today:
* US Stocks Close Higher, Oil Gains on Omicron Optimism. GlaxoSmithKline and Vir say their antibody drug works against new Covid-19 variant.
* Omicron: Keep Calm and Carry On. ‘Mutation’ sounds scary, but mutations can make a pathogen less dangerous.
* Today’s Trustee has produced a “Tribute Issue” to Allan Greenblo, honouring its late founder, the financial editor who dedicated his life to serving SA.
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