Two women drink beverages at an outdoor restaurant at a shopping mall in Beijing on August 21, 2021. -AFP

BEIJING: China reported no new domestic coronavirus cases Monday, and Beijing appears poised to bring to heel the pandemic's most serious resurgence in months – driven by the highly contagious Delta variant -- with mass testing and targeted lockdowns.

The latest outbreak, which began in mid-July when cleaners at a Nanjing airport tested positive, is the most severe since Covid-19 first surfaced in the central city of Wuhan.

Over a thousand people have been infected across dozens of cities.

But Communist authorities reacted with swift localised lockdowns, travel restrictions and mass testing of neighbourhoods with infections as part of their “zero case” approach to the pandemic, which has virtually sealed off China’s borders but allowed the economy to rebound.

On Monday, National Health Commission data showed local infections returned to zero after a five week battle.

Meanwhile health experts are attempting to shore up confidence in the country’s vaccination drive with leading virologist Zhong Nanshan saying “effective herd immunity” is on the horizon once over 80 percent of the population is vaccinated – a target likely achieved by year-end.

Chinese vaccines have nearly 60 percent efficacy against Delta, with antibodies rising with a booster shot, he added.

As of Saturday, almost 1.94 billion vaccine doses have been administered, official figures show, although the proportion of vaccinated people is unclear.

Officials are using big data to “quickly identify risk areas”, isolating high-risk groups in centralised zones, and sharing information quickly between regions, Gao Guangming of the National Health Commission told a recent press conference.

Beijing has also been clamping down on officials who mishandled local outbreaks, with dozens punished as authorities rushed to contain transmissions.-AFP

NOTE:

CHINA WITH 1.4 BILLIONS PEOPLE NOW FREE FROM COVID 19 WILL CAUSE LESS GLOVES TO BE IN USE BY 17% OUT OF WORLD TOTAL POPULATION OF 7.9 BILLION PEOPLE

SINCE GLOVE FACTORIES HAVE RAMPED UP PRODUCTION THE SUPPLY WILL EXCEED MORE AND MORE

AS TIME GOES BY SCIENTISTS WILL DEVELOP MORE AND MORE EFFECTIVE VACCINES AGAINST  COVID 19

JUST AS TWO ATOM BOMBS ENDED WORLD WAR 2 SO VACCINES WILL EVENTUALLY OBLITERATE COVID 19

REMEMBER: AFTER ATOM BOMBS THEY EVEN INVENTED NUCLEAR BOMBS WHICH ARE MANY TIMES MORE POWERFUL

SO MEN CAN INVENT MORE POWERFUL VACCINES GIVEN TIME

PALM OIL

PETALING JAYA: Nestlé SA is observing a rising trend in demand for plant-based alternatives, on the back of growing health, animal welfare and sustainability awareness among consumers, including those in Malaysia and the Asean region.

“We see a different level of market development in the US, Western Europe and Asean. So the plant-based products will be an important category market for us,” its global product and technology development head, Thomas Hauser said during a virtual briefing to mark the 40th anniversary of the group’s research & development (R&D) centre in Singapore as well as the launch of an R&D accelerator, yesterday.

He noted that its facilities in Singapore are an important part of the food & beverage (F&B) conglomerate’s global capabilities, enabling Nestle to develop innovative products and technology for Southeast Asia and beyond.

“Our products are tailored to local consumers’ preferences, tastes and nutrition requirements. Our scientists have developed many product innovations regionally and globally, including brands like Milo, Nescafe and Maggi,” said Hauser

He said Nestle’s strengthened capability in Singapore will allow the company to fast-track its effort to address F&B trends and challenges while continuing to deliver innovation for the next 40 years and beyond.

“Southeast Asia is important for Nestle. We are committed to providing local consumers with safe, tasty, affordable, nutritious and sustainable food.”

Globally, he said, the group has invested 1.6 billion Swiss francs (RM7.4 billion) to strengthen its R&D capabilities to improve its speed, efficacy and efficiency.

Nestle’s executive vice president and CEO for Asia, Oceania and Sub-Saharan Africa, Chris Johnson, highlighted that Asean is the most important region for the zone, accounting for a third of its total sales.

“In the region, we will continue to invest. For example, we recently invested to produce plant-based beverages in the Shah Alam factory in Malaysia,” he said.

Nestle Malaysia Bhd CEO Juan Aranols said the investment in its Shah Alam factory has allowed it to make plant-based alternatives, in keeping up with global trends.

He said the conglomerate’s operations in Malaysia were active in the first half of this year as it had launched the Nescafe dairy-free range as well as the plant-based meal solution, Harvest Gourmet.

“Both of them have received encouraging response from consumers,” said Aranols.

On the outlook for plant-based offerings, Johnson believes they will continue to grow although he could not foresee whether the segment will overtake conventional dairy products in the medium term. “There is always market demand for both segments, and we continue to offer them,” he said.

NOTE: NESTLE WILL PHASE OUT MILK BASED PRODUCTS (THIS WILL IMPACT DLADY & JOHOR TIN WHICH ARE MILK PLAYERS)

NESTLE WILL USE MORE PLANT BASED PRODUCTS

THIS WILL BE GOOD FOR PALM OIL. ALTHOUGH THIS ARTICLE DID NOT MENTION PALM OIL WE KNOW THAT PALM OIL IS USED AS MILK SUBSTITUTE IN MILO & NESTLE COFFEE & LOTS OF PALM OIL USE IN MAGGEE MEE

See

In 2010, Nestlé gave itself ten years to switch to 100% deforestation-free palm oil. Today, the food giant still cannot document the source of almost a third of the palm oil it uses. In 2019, Nestlé recorded over 1,000 cases of deforestation daily. NGOs also accuse its palm oil suppliers of land grabs, exploitation and child labor.

Ten years ago, Nestlé promised the public that by 2020, it would only use deforestation-free raw materials. We examined the food giant’s track record regarding palm oil.

Nestlé describes palm oil as a valuable raw material produced in harmony with nature. The group consumed 455,000 tons of the tropical oil in 2019.

Nestlé, a multinational manufacturer of processed foods based in Switzerland, consumes large quantities of palm oil and has therefore been under heavy criticism for many years. The group used 455,000 tons of palm oil in 2019 alone.

NOTE: CURRENTLY NESTLE IS TRADING ABOVE RM100.00 PER SHARE DUE TO ITS MILO & MAGGEE MEE WHICH ARE CORE CHAMPION PRODUCTS

THIS MEANS THAT ESG CONCERNS WILL ONLY BE A BLIP AS LONGER TERM PALM OIL WILL STILL RISE UP IN PROMINENCE

Best regards

Calvin

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