Coronavirus Outbreak Live Updates

Japan’s prime minister, Shinzo Abe, has declared a month-long state of emergency in response to the coronavirus pandemic, and unveiled a record stimulus package aimed at steering the world’s third-largest economy through its biggest crisis since the war.

Here's the opinion: https://t.co/AKIgCMpUTZ https://t.co/5K5IJQxbeQ

— Amy Howe (@AHoweBlogger) April 6, 2020

According to The Guardian, Boris Johnson has spent the night in intensive care after his coronavirus symptoms worsened, with overall charge of the government handed to Dominic Raab, the foreign secretary.

At least 53,160 people have been confirmed dead around the world, and 211,775 have recovered.

No days off. Thanks to some serious teamwork, Massachusetts is set to receive over 1 million N95 masks for our front-line workers. Huge thanks to the Krafts and several dedicated partners for making this happen. pic.twitter.com/ieV6XMC5Ow

— Charlie Baker (@MassGovernor) April 2, 2020

New U.S. jobless claims for the week ending March 27 totaled a whopping 6.648 million versus a 3.5-million estimate, according to numbers reported Thursday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The initial jobless claims in the week ending March 20 reached 3.283 million.

Russia is considering a state of emergency declaration over the coronavirus outbreak, according to Reuters, which would allow the government to be tougher on enforcement. Reuters also reported that Putin’s government launched an app to track people who are supposed to be in quarantine.

Governor Ron DeSantis changed his mind after weeks of keeping businesses and beaches open amid a growing pandemic.

pic.twitter.com/e9Ym9jeT2R

— Christopher C. Cuomo (@ChrisCuomo) March 31, 2020

Dr. Deborah Birx said on “TODAY” that she is “very worried” about cities in the U.S. and projects 100,000 to 200,000 deaths as a best case scenario.

According to Reuters the company said it would retain just enough staff to maintain the basic needs of the stores as all are temporarily shutting down due to the outbreak.

Breaking: Maryland Gov. @LarryHogan has issued a "stay-at-home" order effective 8pm tonight.

— Ari Natter (@AriNatter) March 30, 2020

The $2-trillion coronavirus relief bill signed into law by President Donald Trump deserves credit for offering a helping hand to small businesses and individuals, former Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina said Friday on CNBC’s “Closing Bell.” 

According to CNN, the Justice Department is looking into the timing of several stock transactions from several lawmakers, including Richard Burr and Dianne Feinstein.

Tesla Inc. is planning to reopen its gigafactory in New York to produce ventilators for people who fall critically ill from the novel coronavirus.

Amazon.com workers at the company’s Staten Island warehouse are planning a mass walkout on Monday to protest against what they call a lack of protection provided during the novel coronavirus pandemic.

U.S. stock futures opened for trading Sunday evening, pointing to a lower open on Monday morning. Shortly after the futures market’s 6 p.m. ET open, the S&P 500 was down about 1.8% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 2.2%.

Over the last 24 hours I have developed mild symptoms and tested positive for coronavirus.

I am now self-isolating, but I will continue to lead the government’s response via video-conference as we fight this virus.

Together we will beat this. #StayHomeSaveLives pic.twitter.com/9Te6aFP0Ri

— Boris Johnson #StayHomeSaveLives (@BorisJohnson) March 27, 2020

President Donald Trump on Thursday criticized governors of Washington and Michigan for what he said were unhelpful responses to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

International Monetary Fund and World Bank have asked governments to put a hold on debt payments from the world’s poorest nations supporting their battle against COVID-19.

The U.S. coronavirus outbreak has spread to at least ten Amazon warehouses, infecting workers racing to deliver massive volumes of packages for consumers leery of leaving their homes to shop.

Thousands of 15-minute home tests for coronavirus will be delivered by Amazon to people self-isolating with symptoms or will go on sale on the high street within days, according to Public Health England (PHE), in a move that could restore many people’s lives to a semblance of pre-lockdown normality.

Britain’s Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales, tested positive for the coronavirus on Wednesday. In a statement Clarence House announced Prince Charles has tested positive for novel coronavirus. Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, has also been tested but does not have the virus. The couple are now self-isolating. It’s reported his last public engagement was on March 12.

Videos on YouTube will now default to standard definition for all users worldwide, a step down from the typical high definition that users normally see. The move is aimed at easing the burden on internet infrastructure as lockdowns and other emergency policies have kept millions at home.

Thousands of students are stranded in universities across the U.K. as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, prompting calls for support from vice-chancellors. Among them are international students from all over the world who have been unable to get flights home, and UK students who are stuck because they have no other home to go to, either because they are care leavers or are estranged from their families.

The 2020 Tokyo Olympics will have to wait. According to USA Today, the Summer Games have become the latest major sporting event to be postponed/canceled as a result of the global COVID-19 outbreak. International Olympic Committee member Dick Pound told USA Today that the games will likely be pushed to 2021, and that a plan will be put in place on how to proceed in the next four weeks.

On Monday, Airbus announced a €15 billion credit facility to strengthen its liquidity access amid the pandemic’s impact on the global aerospace industry. To protect the future of the company, the aircraft manufacturer added that it would pull out its 2019 dividend proposal with a total cash value of almost €1.4 billion.

“I want America to understand — this week, it’s going to get bad,” US Surgeon General Jerome Adams told NBC’s “Today” show Monday. “We really, really need everyone to stay at home. I think that there are a lot of people who are doing the right things, but … we’re finding out a lot of people think this can’t happen to them.”

The hunt for masks, ventilators and other medical supplies consumed the U.S. and Europe, as more than 1.5 billion people — one-fifth of the world’s population — were asked or ordered to stay home on Monday to try to blunt the spread of the coronavirus. Political paralysis stalled efforts for a quick aid package from Congress, and U.S. stocks fell at the opening bell even after the Federal Reserve said it will buy as much government debt as necessary and lend to small and large businesses and local governments to help them cope with the economic damage from the outbreak.

According to the data from Germany’s influential Information and Forschung research, the outburst of coronavirus could cost the economy from €255 to €729 billion in the year 2020.

The parent company of Primark announced that it would be closing all of its stores across the world, which would lead to a monthly loss of around $760 million worth of net sales. It added that it would stop placing new orders with suppliers. The company estimates that it will be able to recover around 50% of total operating costs.

Norway’s foreign ministry announced on Monday that the United Nations would be creating a fund to support the treatment of coronavirus patients worldwide. The Fund will support developing countries with weak health systems and also handle the long-term consequences.

The South Korea auto industry, which employs almost 12% of the country’s workforce, will be supported by the government amid the outbreak of the coronavirus. It would provide logistical and financial support, speed up customs clearance, arrange freight transportation, and liquidity support.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe indicated for the first time on Monday that he may consider postponing the Summer Olympics 2020 from its earlier scheduled date of July 24. The announcement comes amid many countries and athletes seeking for the games to be postponed.

Canada is the first country to withdraw its athletes from the Olympic and Paralympic Games scheduled for the summer of 2020. Amid the rising coronavirus fears, unless the games are postponed, the country would not send their athletes, The Canadian Olympic Committee said.

The Federal government has activated the National Guard to aid the three worst-hit states in the U.S. – New York, California, and Washington, against the COVID-19 impact, President Donald Trump announced.

Led by the deep impact of the coronavirus epidemic, a record 30.1% drop is expected in the U.S. gross domestic product in the second quarter, as estimated by Morgan Stanley economists.

Democrats had objected to the bill’s provisions, with CNBC reporting that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said the legislation had “many, many problems” and benefited corporations more than hospitals, health care workers, cities and states. 

The U.S. unemployment rate could reach 30% in the second quarter and the gross domestic product could fall by half, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard said in an interview published Sunday by Bloomberg.

Senator Rand Paul has tested positive for COVID-19. He is feeling fine and is in quarantine. He is asymptomatic and was tested out of an abundance of caution due to his extensive travel and events. He was not aware of any direct contact with any infected person.

— Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) March 22, 2020

The test will give Americans results in hours rather than days, and Cepheid is planning to roll the test out by March 30, HHS Secretary Alex Azar said in a statement.

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Links: – Study: https://www.imperial.ac.uk/media/imperial-college/medicine/sph/ide/gida-fellowships/Imperial-College-COVID19-NPI-modelling-16-03-2020.pdf – Implications of study, per the UM Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy: http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2020/03/modeling-study-suggests-18-months-covid-19-social-distancing-much

A post shared by Jacob Pebley (@jacob.pebley) on Mar 19, 2020 at 1:22pm PDT

Whole Foods employee was detected positive with the coronavirus and was placed under quarantine.The store located in New York City was closed early Wednesday for additional cleaning and disinfection.

Republican senators Richard Burr, Kelly Loeffler and James Inhofe, along with democrat Dianne Feinstein, dumped stocks worth millions ahead of the financial markets plunge in the United States in February, multiple reports suggested Friday.

In order to support U.S. businesses, its employees and the American public, Senate Republicans on Thursday formally announced a $1 trillion economic stimulus plan.

California Governor has issued a statewide stay-at-home order starting Thursday evening for its 40 million residents. Similar orders have been issued in the past few days across the San Francisco Bay area and Los Angeles. Residents are ordered to leave home only for essential activities.

The U.S. Department of Energy plans to buy up to 30 million barrels of crude oil for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) by the end of June.

Amid the already plunging stock markets led by the coronavirus outbreak, Donald Trump’s administration has ordered state labor officials to delay the release of the exact unemployment figures.

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries announced that it would immediately donate 6 million doses of malaria med hydroxychloroquine sulfate tablets through wholesalers to U.S. hospitals in order to support the medication for COVID-19. The company expects to ship these by the end of March, and it would ship more than 10 million tablets within a month’s time.

As per the White House statement, President Donald Trump has annulled the in-person G7 summit amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The summit, which was scheduled for June at the David Camp, will now be conducted through a video teleconference.

JUST IN: The US State Department is warning American citizens to avoid all international travel due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Level 4: Do Not Travel advisory is the department’s highest-level travel alert. https://t.co/JpUP9ETvFR

— CNN Business (@CNNBusiness) March 19, 2020

The federal government is preparing for the possibility the coronavirus pandemic could last up to 18 months or longer and “include multiple waves of illness,” a report obtained by CNN shows, as the number of the cases in the US surpassed 11,000. While the document does not say the Trump administration believes the pandemic will last that long, it indicates officials have to assume a longer timeline to ensure preparedness.

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has cut interest rates to a record low 0.25% after slashing the rate to 0.5% earlier this month. It also announced a money-printing program for the first time in its history to combat the coronavirus-driven recession.

For the first time since the coronavirus outbreak, Wuhan, China reported no new cases on Wednesday and Hubei has had no new infections for almost two weeks.

Harley-Davidson Inc. said it is suspending production at its factories effective Wednesday through March 29. The move, which came in after one of its workers was infected with the coronavirus, will impact around 2,000 employees at its U.S. factories.

We will be, by mutual consent, temporarily closing our Northern Border with Canada to non-essential traffic. Trade will not be affected. Details to follow!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 18, 2020

Reps. Mario Diaz-Balart and Ben McAdams have become the first members of Congress to test positive for coronavirus, a grim new indicator of the virus’ aggressive spread. “On Saturday evening, Congressman Diaz-Balart developed symptoms including a fever and headache. Just a short while ago, he was notified that he has tested positive for COVID-19,” his office said in a news release. The Florida Republican said in a statement that he is “feeling much better” but urged the public to take the virus “extremely seriously.”

Trump signed a bill providing paid sick leave, free testing and other benefits. A relief package to provide sick leave, unemployment benefits, free coronavirus testing, and food and medical aid to people affected by the pandemic, was signed into law by Trump Wednesday evening after the Senate passed it by a wide margin. It was approved by the House last week.

Italy recorded 475 deaths due to the coronavirus in a single day, the highest since the outbreak. Italy is the world’s most affected country after China, with almost 3,000 deaths to date.

After two people tested positive for the coronavirus at NYSE screenings set up this week, the exchange decided that