it s gone green across the board. most indexes hovering around the 2% morning. travel sector doing particularly well, the travel sector has seen the biggest one-day gain since november 2020. we re trying to work out why that is, broad-based positivity around easing border restriction, easing travel restrictions, vaccines, for example, more people, the german airline up 6% or more. and you mentioned the fed announcement. that s what we re keeping at, jay powell with that announcement around 2:00 p.m. eastern time this afternoon. the markets have largely priced in an expectation of a rate hike in march. the big question we re hearing from economists could it be even more than that in march. but even bigger will the fed start tapering its balance sheet. how will they do it, how aggressive will they be, will they start or end with
borders. , ., , ., ., borders. so, the uk s always had a reall bad borders. so, the uk s always had a really bad border borders. so, the uk s always had a really bad border policy borders. so, the uk s always had a really bad border policy that i borders. so, the uk s always had a really bad border policy that never| really bad border policy that never made sense. new variants are a huge threat. i think almost every virologist has shown that new waves will arise, virologist has shown that new waves willarise, but virologist has shown that new waves will arise, but slowing the spread makes no sense if you won t continue transmission. given how high case rates are here, i don t think easing travel restrictions at this point will make a difference, but it s not because that policy is perfect. it s just because a domestic policy is so flawed that adding one little patch to it won t stop the bread within the uk. ., , , to it won t stop the bread within theuk. ., , , , , the uk. doctor
become complacent? yeah, i mean, i think there is an open question about how severe this is. the problem is, of course, today we re looking at the virus spreading in populations that have been exposed to the virus, that have seen high rates of vaccination. for here in hong kong, we have a lot of reasons to worry about this new strain of the virus. we don t have any previous exposure to any of the variants of the virus, and vaccination rates amongst the most vulnerable are low. so it s very dangerous to start saying this is going to be mild. it could be very severe in places like hong kong. countries in asia are delaying their border reopening, easing travel restrictions due to the development of omicron. singapore, japan, thailand and
places like hong kong, which have low rates of vaccination and haven t experienced the virus in the past. dr. grepin, countries in asia are now delaying their border reopenings, easing travel restrictions due to the development of omicron. singapore, japan, thailand, and new zealand, just to name a few. how much longer do you think they will delay the reopenings, and don t we have to learn to live with the virus? yeah. i mean it s interesting because just a couple months ago, these same countries are the ones that were saying that they were going to start living with the virus and were gradually starting to reopen their borders. and then of course this new variant, the virus has come along, and so it has given a lot of these places reason to pause. and i think there is some value in that, in that i think it allows for countries to assess the situation a bit better. it also allows for the countries to perhaps prepare for what s likely to be a very big surge in the number of cases. b
reporter: the white house is pleased to see this development, hallie. it fits into their broader message and strategy. one of the main tools out of this pandemic is through increased vaccinations. they re very encouraged by what they ve seen so far in terms of people showing up for appointments for the pfizer doses that have already been approved additionally. very hopeful that will continue for those who got moderna and century the j&j show. comes in a week president biden s message wa don t get complacent. don t let up. he wanted people to be aware of that. yesterday a very important headline in terms of easing travel restrictions. something many overseas travelers hoped for, given that for 21 months there really were restrictions and requirements for people coming from more than 33 countries, that as of november 8th will be lifted, if those people coming in to the u.s. are fully vaccinated. we re talking about much of europe. talking about china.