Raphael Stevens

A joint Government and NHS public information display indicates that a Covid-19 Variant of Concern has been identified locally and provides guidance for residents on 11th June 2021 in Hounslow, United Kingdom.Mark Kerrison | In Pictures | Getty ImagesDelta, the highly contagious Covid-19 variant first identified in India, is becoming the dominant strain of the disease worldwide, the World Health Organization’s chief scientist said Friday.That’s because of its “significantly increased transmissibility,” Dr. Soumya Swaminathan, the WHO’s chief scientist, said during a news conference at the agency’s Geneva headquarters. Studies suggest delta is around 60% more transmissible than alpha, the variant first identified in the U.K. that was more contagious than the original strain that emerged from Wuhan, China, in late 2019.The situation globally “is so dynamic because of the variants that are circulating,” she added.The variant has spread to more than 80 countries and it continues to mutate as it spreads across the globe, the WHO said Wednesday. It now makes up 10% of all new cases in the United States, up from 6% last week, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.CNBC Health & Science Read CNBC’s latest global coverage of the Covid pandemic:New Covid study hints at long-term loss of brain tissue, Dr. Scott Gottlieb warnsBiden administration to spend $3.2 billion on antiviral pills for Covid  Five years before a vaccine can ‘hold the line’ against Covid variants, England’s medical chief says President Biden’s Fourth of July Covid vaccination goals are in jeopardy The fast-spreading delta Covid variant could have different symptoms, experts sayCDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky on Friday urged Americans to get vaccinated against Covid, saying she expects delta to become the dominant coronavirus variant in the United States.”As worrisome as this delta strain is with regard to its hyper transmissibility, our vaccines work,” Walensky told the ABC program “Good Morning America.” If you get vaccinated, “you’ll be protected against this delta variant,” she added.The United Kingdom recently saw the delta variant become the dominant strain there, surpassing alpha, which was first detected in the country last fall. The delta variant now makes up more than 60% of new cases in the U.K.The WHO declared delta a “variant of concern” last month. A variant can be labeled as “of concern” if it has been shown to be more contagious, more deadly or more resistant to current vaccines and treatments, according to the health organization.WHO officials said Wednesday there were reports that the delta variant also causes more severe symptoms, but that more research is needed to confirm those conclusions. Still, there are signs that the delta strain could provoke different symptoms than other variants.Swaminathan said Friday that scientists still need more data on the variant, including its impact on the efficacy of Covid vaccines.German company CureVac earlier this week cited variants as one of the reasons its Covid vaccine proved to be just 47% effective in a 40,000-person clinical trial.An analysis from Public Health England released Monday found two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech or the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccines are highly effective against hospitalization from the delta variant.”How many are getting infected and of those how many are getting hospitalized and seriously ill?” Swaminathan said Friday. “This is something we’re watching very carefully.”– CNBC’s Holly Ellyatt and Rich Mendez contributed to this report. More

In this articlePLNTPTONA customer wears a face mask as they lift weights while working out inside a Planet Fitness gym as the location reopens after being closed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, on March 16, 2021 in Inglewood, California.Patrick T. Fallon | AFP | Getty ImagesAs Covid restrictions ease across the country, vaccines are jabbed into arms and fitness centers revoke mask-wearing policies, more people are heading back to the gym, new research shows.Jefferies has been tracking visits to fitness chains such as Planet Fitness and 24 Hour Fitness and monitoring online searches for gyms and digital fitness programs such as Peloton. While many Americans invested in the latter during the health crisis, aspiring to break a sweat at home, that demand appears to be fading.Online searches for “gym near me” accelerated in May relative to April, Jefferies found, returning to all-time-high levels dating back to January 2020. Jefferies said the search interest in finding a gym close by mimics what is normally tracked at the start of the New Year — a time when many people commit to living a healthier lifestyle. The firm noted that searches for Crunch Fitness and Blink Fitness have rebounded the strongest among the national gym chains, year to date.Traffic flow into fitness centers, meanwhile, has been steadily improving throughout this year. As of last month, Jefferies said, traffic at gyms nationwide was back to 83% of January 2020 levels and down just 6% from the same period in 2019.Nationwide Fitness Center TrafficZoom In IconArrows pointing outwardsSource: Jefferies, SafegraphGym visits appear highest in Georgia, Florida and Texas, where Covid restrictions have been lighter compared with many states in the Northeast and along the West Coast, Jefferies noted.The high-end fitness chain Equinox is the biggest laggard in the group, likely impacted by its customers moving out to the suburbs, Jefferies added. Most of Equinox’s locations are around the New York City area.As more people leave the house to get back to the gym, searches for at-home fitness equipment and digital fitness players is moderating, according to Jefferies’ research. The firm has been looking at searches for exercise balls, dumbbells, yoga mats, jumping ropes, massage guns, weights, foam rollers and exercise bikes. And interest has been tumbling since this past January.At-home Fitness Equipment InterestZoom In IconArrows pointing outwardsSource: Jefferies, SafegraphMore internet users are visiting the websites of gym chains like Orangetheory Fitness — likely looking to rebook a membership or check out a location’s mask policy — while traffic to digital workout platforms, such as Tonal and NordicTrack, is also decelerating. Interest in at-home fitness equipment peaked in April 2020, Jefferies said, and has since dropped to an all-time pandemic low.”We believe that people will employ a hybrid approach, using the plethora of digital concepts and traditional gym experience,” Jefferies analyst Randy Konik said. “Gyms that champion this model will emerge as winners in years to come.”Businesses including cycle manufacturer Peloton and rowing machine maker Hydrow — which reaped incredible benefits from consumers looking for at-home workout gear last year — are trying to find ways to keep the momentum growing. Peloton, for example, is expanding outside of the U.S. and continues to add new instructors and new content, such as Pilates, to its roster.Peloton shares are down more than 28% year to date, while Planet Fitness’ stock has dropped about 4% over the same time period. More

In this articleHASMATA shopper wearing a face mask due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic browses toys at a Target store in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, November 20, 2020.Mark Makela | ReutersThere may be fewer boxes under the tree this holiday season, as toymakers grapple with the possibility of a massive shortage in everything from dolls and action figures to vehicles and puzzles.The coronavirus pandemic created a bottleneck in the global transportation pipeline, which was later worsened by the blockage of the Suez Canal in March. These shipping delays have hit almost every industry, including electronics, apparel and food.Exacerbating these troubles is a fresh wave of Covid outbreaks in China. All the while, inventory continues to pile up, leading to manufacturing delays. With shipping containers scarce — or worse, more than double pre-pandemic prices — toymakers are faced with tough decisions ahead of the industry’s most important sales season.”We’re not seeing any panic yet about the flow of holiday goods,” said Jefferies analyst Stephanie Wissink.She noted that toy companies are just entering the ramp-up period of production for products that ship in September and October for the holidays.”If we see persistent constraints into late-summer, then we will start to worry a bit more,” Wissink said.Currently, the industry is seeing delays of two to three weeks, Wissink said. This is consistent with a report from Davidson analyst Linda Bolton Weiser that was published Friday, although Weiser said delays could be as long as a month.Weiser told CNBC that the toy industry has faced shipping challenges in the past and persevered. She noted that several years ago, there was a workers strike at the Port of Los Angeles that threatened holiday sales.”Toy stocks tanked, but [Christmas] went off without a hitch,” she said. “Toy companies were able to get their toys loaded on the tops of freighters and unloaded the fastest.”Weiser said her most recent chat with Mattel a few days ago indicated the company was “still quite confident about their sales growth for the year.”Representatives for Hasbro and Mattel did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment.Toy companies are keeping a careful eye on developments overseas, hoping that pressure on the ports will loosen as vaccines are more widely distributed globally, outbreaks are more isolated and more air traffic routes reopen.For now, toy companies have not passed on additional shipping costs to the customer, Wissink said. However, there is always a possibility that this could change if the shipping situation does not alleviate.”We note that holiday purchases are very much oriented toward gifting so price sensitivity is somewhat less,” she said. “That said, consumers will notice if there’s a dramatic increase in prices, but we don’t expect that at this stage.”Both Mattel and Habro shares were recently trading down more than 1% on Friday. Mattel’s stock has gained nearly 9% since January, putting its market value at $6.64 billion. Hasbro’s stock is down 3% year to date, which puts its market value at $12.5 billion. More

In this article9104.T-JPSGRE-ESYS graphic | Moment | Getty ImagesSiemens Gamesa Renewable Energy is to supply 79 “typhoon-proof turbines” to a major onshore wind development in Japan, as the country attempts to reduce its reliance on fossil fuels and develop more renewable energy installations.The 339.7 megawatt Dohuku project will be located on the island of Hokkaido, Siemens Gamesa said in a statement Wednesday, and consist of four facilities set to be developed by Japan’s Eurus Energy.The 4.3 MW “typhoon-class” turbines have been designed to cope with the “very high wind speeds” seen in Japan, Siemens Gamesa explained.Read more about clean energy from CNBC ProMorgan Stanley says Sunrun is ‘most compelling clean energy stock,’ sees shares doublingGoldman Sachs: These renewable energy stocks are set for ‘unprecedented growth’These stocks will benefit from the eventual rollout of the infrastructure bill, Citi saysLast October, Japan’s Prime Minister, Yoshihide Suga, said the country would target net zero greenhouse gas emissions by the year 2050. In April 2021, he said Japan would target a 46% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions compared to 2013.Work still needs to be done for the country to achieve its aims. In 2019, its Agency for Natural Resources and Energy said the country was “largely dependent on fossil fuels” like coal, oil and liquefied natural gas.Published in March, an Energy Policy Review of Japan by the International Energy Agency laid out the scale of the challenge: “Achieving the aim of carbon-neutrality by 2050 will require Japan to substantially accelerate the deployment of low-carbon technologies, address regulatory and institutional barriers, and further enhance competition in its energy markets.” This year has still seen a number of interesting renewable energy projects take shape in the country, however. In February, a tidal turbine built and tested in Scotland was installed in waters off Naru Island, which is part of the larger Goto Island chain.And in January, it was announced that shipping giant Mitsui O.S.K. Lines would partner with a company called Bombora Wave Power to scope for potential project sites in Japan and surrounding regions.   More

In this articleBBYTGTWMTAMZNJustin Sullivan | Getty ImagesAs Amazon prepares for its annual Prime Day megasale, its reign as the biggest online retailer in the country is eye-popping: It’s projected to be raking in more than 40% of the nation’s e-commerce sales by the end of 2021.Amazon’s dominance on the internet has only grown as shopping online becomes second nature for many consumers. That’s exactly what has transpired over the past 13 years.In 2008, e-commerce sales accounted for just 3.6% of total retail sales in the United States, according to data from eMarketer. Following gradual growth year after year, that figure skyrocketed to 14% in 2020, as the Covid pandemic fueled online spending on everything from groceries and toilet paper to spin bikes and workout clothes. E-commerce sales are predicted to account for 15.3% of total retail sales by the end of this year and jump to 23.5% by 2025, eMarketer said.Zoom In IconArrows pointing outwardsFalling second to Amazon and far behind, big-box chain Walmart is predicted to take about 7% of the digital retail market this year. The two are followed by eBay, Apple, Home Depot, Target and Best Buy, according to eMarketer.Walmart and Target are holding competing deals events — as they have in past years — to coincide with Amazon Prime Day 2021. Both discounters will start sales on Sunday, but Walmart’s offers extend through Wednesday, while Target and Amazon end on Tuesday. Both Walmart and Target hope to reach customers who are already browsing the web on Prime Day for summer discounts.Zoom In IconArrows pointing outwardsAccording to a recent research report from JPMorgan, Amazon is on track to overtake Walmart as the largest U.S. retailer in 2022, as it gains a greater and greater share of the total e-commerce market. Consumers’ accelerated adoption of internet shopping during the Covid pandemic has also provided a lift to other areas of Amazon’s business, too, JPMorgan said.EMarketer is forecasting that total digital sales in the U.S. on Prime Day will jump 17.3% year over year to $12.18 billion. Sales made exclusively on Amazon on Prime Day will grow 18.3% from 2020 levels, to $7.31 billion, it said.Last year, Amazon’s typical July timing for its shopping extravaganza was postponed all the way into October because of the pandemic. Prime Day ended up marking the unofficial kick-off to the holiday shopping season.Back on a more normal schedule, this year’s event has been moved up slightly into June. Experts say the company is looking to boost spending in what is normally a slower time in the retail calendar. The new timing could also prompt an earlier kickoff to back-to-school shopping.”Amazon will be coy, when they announce … and so they have the benefit of knowing what they’re doing to make sure that they’re in a good position,” Rod Sides, a vice chairman of retail and distribution at Deloitte, said in an interview. “Whereas the others are responding.”—CNBC’s Nate Rattner contributed to this report. More