Raphael Stevens

Visoot Uthairam | Moment | Getty ImagesThe Covid-19 delta variant originally discovered in India is now spreading around the world, becoming the dominant strain in some countries, such as the U.K., and likely to become so in others, like the U.S.On Wednesday, the World Health Organization said the variant had been detected in more than 80 countries and it continues to mutate as it spreads.The variant now makes up 10% of all new cases in the United States, up from 6% last week. Studies have shown the variant is even more transmissible than other variants.Scientists have warned that the data suggests the delta variant is around 60% more transmissible than the “alpha” variant (previously known as the U.K. or Kent variant which was itself a much more transmissible than the original version of the virus) and is more likely to lead to hospitalizations, as has been seen in countries like the U.K.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 variant could provoke different symptoms than the ones we’ve been advised to look out for when it comes to Covid-19.What to watch out for?Throughout the pandemic, governments around the world have warned that the main symptoms of Covid-19 are a fever, persistent cough and loss of taste or smell with some domestic variations and additions as we’ve learned more about the virus.The CDC’s updated list of symptoms, for example, includes fatigue, muscle or body aches, headache, a sore throat, congestion or runny nose, nausea or vomiting and diarrhea as possible symptoms of infection. There there are of course the millions of people who have had Covid-19 with no symptoms at all with the extent of asymptomatic transmission still being investigated by scientists.But the delta variant appears to be provoking a different range of symptoms, according to experts.Tim Spector, a professor of genetic epidemiology at King’s College London, runs the Zoe Covid Symptom study, an ongoing U.K.-based study which enables the public to enter their Covid symptoms on an app when enables scientists to then analyze the data.”Covid is also acting differently now,” Spector noted in a YouTube briefing last week. “It’s more like a bad cold in this younger population and people don’t realize that and that hasn’t come across in any of the government information.””Since the start of May, we have been looking at the top symptoms in the app users and they are not the same as they were,” he said. “The number one symptom is headache, then followed by sore throat, runny nose and fever.” More “traditional” Covid symptoms such as a cough and loss of smell were much rarer now he said, with younger people experiencing much more of a bad cold or “funny off feeling.”The alpha variant first discovered in the U.K. highlighted the emergence of a wider set of symptoms.A study of over a million people in England within the REACT study (which tracks community transmission of the virus in England) that was carried out between June 2020 and January 2021 — and hence over a period of time in which the alpha variant spread and became dominant — revealed additional symptoms that were linked with having the coronavirus including chills, loss of appetite, headache and muscle aches, in addition to the ‘classic” symptoms.Variant of concernThis week the delta variant was re-classified as a “variant of concern” by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention “based on mounting evidence that the delta variant spreads more easily and causes more severe cases when compared to other variants, including B.1.1.7 (Alpha),” it said in a statement to NBC News.Dr. Scott Gottlieb, a former Food and Drug Administration commissioner, said the delta variant will likely become the dominant strain in the U.S. and could “spike a new epidemic heading into fall,” during an interview with CBS’ “Face the Nation” Sunday.In the U.K., where the delta variant is now responsible for the bulk of new infections, cases have spiked among young people and the unvaccinated, leading to a rise in hospitalizations in those cohorts. The spread of the variant has also prompted the U.K. to delay further loosening of Covid-19 restrictions.It’s hoped that Covid-19 vaccination programs can stop the wild spread of the delta variant and so the race is on to protect younger people who might not be fully vaccinated. Analysis from Public Health England released on Monday showed that two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech or the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccines are highly effective against hospitalization from the delta variant.The U.K.’s situation shows how quickly the delta variant can quickly become dominant and the U.S. is certainly watching on with concern.Remarking on how rapidly the delta variant has become dominant in the U.K., Dr. Anthony Fauci, chief medical advisor to the president, noted last week that “we cannot let that happen in the United States,” as he pushed to get more people vaccinated, especially young adults.The latest study on the spread of the virus in England alone does nothing to allay the concerns of experts. The REACT study’s latest findings, published on Thursday, warned that cases were rising “exponentially” and said the “resurgence” of Covid-19 infections in England was “associated with increased frequency of Delta variant.”  The study estimated that roughly 1 in 670 have the virus, a sharp increase compared to the study’s previous findings, when 1 in 1,000 people had the virus as of May 3. The findings were published Thursday and are based on almost 110,000 home swab tests taken between May 20 and June 7.Led by Imperial College London, the scientists estimate that the reproduction number is now 1.44 in England, meaning 10 infected people would pass the virus on to 14 others on average, “resulting in fast growth of the epidemic.”Professor Paul Elliott, director of the REACT program from Imperial’s School of Public Health, said “we found strong evidence for exponential growth in infection from late May to early June … These data coincide with the Delta variant becoming dominant and show the importance of continuing to monitor infection rates and variants of concern in the community.”Most infections are happening in children and young adults, but they are rising in older people too, the study found.While it had found that the link between infections, hospitalizations and deaths had been weakening since February, suggesting infections were leading to fewer hospital admissions and deaths due to the vaccination programme, since late April, the trend has been reversing for hospitalizations.- CNBC’s Rich Mendez contributed reporting to this story. 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Andrew Ocalliham | EyeEm | Getty ImagesThe United States is now home to over 100 gigawatts of solar photovoltaic capacity, according to a new report, although rising costs could pose challenges to the sector.The figures come from the latest U.S. Solar Market Insight report, released on Tuesday by the Solar Energy Industries Association and Wood Mackenzie.It found that America’s solar industry installed slightly more than 5 GW of photovoltaic capacity in the first three months of 2021. This represents a record for the first quarter and is 46% higher than the same period in 2020.On a state by state level, Texas came out on top, installing more than 1.52 GW of capacity, followed by California and Florida, where 563 and 525 megawatts were installed.Looking at the bigger picture, the report states that solar made up “58% of all new electricity-generating capacity added” in the United States during the first quarter. Wind, it says, was responsible for “most of the remainder.”While the U.S. solar industry has now surpassed 100 GW of capacity, other markets have already reached that milestone. Toward the end of 2020, SolarPower Europe said capacity in the European Union stood at more than 137 GW.The above figures relate to direct current, or DC, ratings as opposed to alternating current. Capacity is the maximum amount that installations can produce, not necessarily what they are currently generating, while photovoltaic refers to a way of directly converting light from the sun into electricity.Challenges aheadWhile the amount of installations in the U.S. appears to be encouraging, the sector faces some potential headwinds going forward.”Over the last several quarters,” the report’s executive summary states, “critical components for solar equipment — polysilicon, steel, aluminum, semiconductor chips, copper and other metals — have become increasingly supply-constrained.”It adds that a growing demand for solar, “combined with pandemic-related macroeconomic realities” — which include the availability of microchips and a hike in shipping costs — had seen commodity prices increase and deliveries delayed.”There is a lag between commodity prices and subsequent solar system prices,” said Michelle Davis, principal analyst at Wood Mackenzie Power & Renewables and lead author of the report.”But there’s no doubt this is impacting the solar industry,” she added. “Installers are managing current equipment shortages and having to decide whether to renegotiate contracts.”While the increase in solar installations is likely to be welcome news to advocates of renewable energy, any move away from fossil fuels will be a significant challenge that requires a huge amount of change.In the U.S., preliminary figures from the U.S. Energy Information Administration show that natural gas and coal’s shares of utility-scale electricity generation in 2020 were 40.3% and 19.3%, respectively. More

Ramping up vaccination rates for Covid-19 will help boost the recovery in the travel and tourism industry, a panel of experts told CNBC.Vaccination is the only comprehensive way to fight the impact of the coronavirus, Ritesh Agarwal, CEO and founder of Indian budget hotel chain start-up Oyo, told Nancy Hungerford during the virtual CNBC Evolve Global Summit on Wednesday.Global travel and tourism took a massive hit last year and many airlines are still struggling to stay afloat. The coronavirus pandemic shut down borders and suspended most international travel. With vaccination rates picking up, especially in the West, many countries are slowly opening up their economies and borders.”I believe travel is here to stay. Domestic travel will lead the recovery but vaccination is the only comprehensive and conclusive way of resolution,” Agarwal said.Oyo, a SoftBank-backed start-up, saw its daily bookings for the summer season more than double in Europe where the vaccination rate is relatively high, according to the CEO.Travelers tend to book rooms in hotels where the staff have been inoculated, he said, adding that Oyo provides certificates to show their staff have been vaccinated, Agarwal said.Asia’s vaccination driveWhere vaccination rates are concerned, some of the more populous countries in Asia have comparatively fallen behind their counterparts in Europe and the United States.Information collated by scientific online publication, Our World In Data, showed that as of June 15, 40% of North Americans have received at least one dose of Covid vaccine and 36% in Europe. In comparison, only 21% received at least one shot in Asia, though the pace of vaccination is picking up in the region.AirAsia chief executive Tony Fernandes said he remains very optimistic about vaccination rates, especially in Southeast Asia. “The distribution is there, the demand is there, and now supply is becoming consistent,” he said, adding that he expects most Southeast Asian countries to reach a vaccination rate of 60% for a first dose by September.I believe travel is here to stay. Domestic travel will lead the recovery but vaccination is the only comprehensive and conclusive way of resolution.Ritesh AgarwalCEO and founder, OyoBut he is less upbeat about the possibility of an internationally recognized vaccine passport — a digital app on a smartphone that can access an individual’s health data to confirm if they have been vaccinated against Covid-19.Support for digital health passports is split. Critics point to concerns over how secure a person’s data will be, as third-party apps will be communicating with databases containing sensitive personal health information.  What the travel industry needs, however, is consistency around regulation, according to the budget airline boss.Passengers crowd at Wuhan Railway Station on the first day of the Dragon Boat Festival holiday on June 12, 2021 in Wuhan, Hubei Province of China.Zhao Jun | Visual China Group | Getty Images”If you have got two vaccines, you don’t need to quarantine. That seems to vary country to country,” he said. Nations should also accept all vaccines that have been approved by the World Health Organization, Fernandes added.Major trends among travelersDomestic travel is already picking up in countries like China that have brought the pandemic under relatively good control. Cases have remained comparatively low while the vaccination rate climbed.Millions of people rushed to travel last month during a five-day Labor Day holiday in the country as bookings for hotels, car rentals and other travel soared.Jane Sun, CEO of Chinese travel booking site Trip.com, said that she is looking forward to a strong rebound for domestic travel in China. “We have seen strong pent-up demand through the data of our search volume,” she said.Sun explained there are three trends being observed among those who are traveling again since the start of the pandemic.First, they are booking more with hotels, airlines and local operators who are providing masks, hand sanitizers and other safety measures. Second, people are now traveling in much smaller groups. Finally, they are choosing packages with flexibility, that allow them to change, cancel or postpone their trips.AirAsia’s Fernandes agreed that the current situation required operators, including the low-cost carriers, to adapt and offer more flexibility to travelers — even if it may not be a sound business decision.”There’s too much uncertainty,” he said, adding that the airline may bring back some of its older, more strict policies once there is more certainty in travel. More

Dutch airline KLM said it intends to reinstate almost all of its international routes this year as vaccine rollouts offer hopes of revival for the travel industry.KLM’s president and CEO Pieter Elbers told CNBC the carrier will also add a new route to Saudi Arabia’s capital Riyadh, even as the capacity and frequency of all flights remain limited.”We do expect to be back in roughly 90-95% of all the destinations we were flying to prior to Covid,” Elbers told “Capital Connection” Wednesday.”However, we must say there’s going to be less capacity, so the frequency levels will be significantly lower as compared to the situation in 2019.”The speed and extent of that resumption will vary region by region, depending on vaccination rates, he said.Clearly, we do expect that the Europe-Asia part will be slower than some of the other recoveries.Pieter Elberspresident and CEO, KLMAlready, the U.S. domestic air travel market has shown strong signs of recovery amid rising vaccination rates, he said. Europe should follow suit as inoculation levels rise, improving the prospects for transatlantic travel too.Asia, however, will be slower to resume.”Clearly, we do expect that the Europe-Asia part will be slower than some of the other recoveries given the very tight regimes in some of the countries when it comes to quarantines or other measures for inbound travel,” said Elbers.Middle East expansionMeanwhile in the Middle East, broadly successful vaccine rollouts will see the company commence its new Riyadh route this summer, after postponing those plans last year.”The Middle East and many of the countries in the Middle East have done a big step forward in terms of vaccination levels,” Elbers said. “That’s why indeed we’re expanding and we’re adding a destination like Riyadh in the Middle East, and we’re seeing travel come back to more reasonable numbers than we have seen before.”Boeing 737 KLM airline. Aircraft landing at Leonardo da Vinci International Airport in Fiumicino, Italy on April 24, 2021.Mondadori Portfolio | Mondadori Portfolio | Getty ImagesThe comments come a day after the UAE carrier Emirates reported a $5.5 billion annual loss — its first in three decades — prompting an additional $1.1 billion bailout from the Dubai government.Last month, Air France- KLM reported a first-quarter net loss of $1.8 billion, which Elbers described as “worse than anticipated.”He said he wouldn’t rule out the possibility of further government support should the industry be hit by more Covid-19 flare-ups. However, Elbers said KLM’s existing $4.1 billion in loans and facilities should provide the airline with a “solid foundation going forward.””We can see optimistic signs going forward and, in fact, we try to make that balance in terms of still a lot of work to do on cost-cutting, on restructuring, but yet look a bit more positive to the future,” he said. More