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CDC Says Surge in Sun Belt Easing, Deaths to Slow: Virus Update

Track the latest updates on the Covid-19 pandemic from across the globe here.

CDC Says Surge in Sun Belt Easing, Deaths to Slow: Virus Update
A worker wearing a protective face mask speaks to passing pedestrians outside a restaurant terrace on the Joan Borbo promenade in the Barceloneta neighborhood of Barcelona, Spain. (Photographer: Angel Garcia/Bloomberg)

California’s hospitalizations for Covid-19 fell to the lowest since late June and daily cases stayed below the two-week trend line. European leaders sought to confront a Covid-19 resurgence, with Italy reporting the most new cases since mid-May and cases in England rising by more than a quarter in a week.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron said they oppose renewed nationwide lockdowns, saying Europe needs to coordinate its strategy for avoiding another economic hit from the virus. CureVac and the European Commission are in talks for the supply of 225 million vaccine doses.

The Internal Revenue Service projects that lower levels of employment in the U.S. could persist for years, showcasing the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic.

Key Developments:

  • Global Tracker: Cases exceed 22.4 million; deaths pass 789,000
  • NYC landlords press finance bosses to speed return and save city
  • Virtual classes can’t stop explosion of off-campus virus cases
  • Kim Jong Un’s dire warning hints at crisis in North Korea
  • Florida’s DeSantis rediscovers a key pandemic metric
  • Vaccine Tracker: Where we are in the race for Covid-19 protection

Subscribe to a daily update on the virus from Bloomberg’s Prognosis team here. Click CVID on the terminal for global data on coronavirus cases and deaths.

CDC Says Surge in Sun Belt Easing, Deaths to Slow: Virus Update

CDC Chief Says Sun Belt Outbreak Is Slowing (4:10 p.m. NY)

Robert Redfield, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said the coronavirus outbreak in the U.S. South is starting to slow, and that deaths across the country should start dropping next week. “We are beginning to turn the tide on the southern outbreak,” he said during an interview with JAMA.

U.S. Cases Rise 0.8% (4 p.m. NY)

Coronavirus cases in the U.S. increased 0.8% as compared with the same time Wednesday to 5.55 million, according to data collected by Johns Hopkins University and Bloomberg News.

The increase -- the fourth straight day that cases rose by 0.8% -- was lower than the average daily gain of 0.9% over the past week. Deaths rose by 0.7% to 173,699.

  • Florida reported 588,602 cases, up 0.8% from a day earlier, in line with the average increase in the previous seven days. Deaths reached 10,049, an increase of 117, or 1.2%.
  • California reported 5,920 new infections, below the 14-day average of 8,198. There were 163 new deaths from Covid-19, bringing total fatalities to 11,686.
  • Hawaii experienced a 4.9% increase in the number of cases, bringing the total to 5,609, according to the data from Johns Hopkins and Bloomberg News.

French Schools to Open on Schedule (2:40 p.m. NY)

Schools in France will open as planned on Sept. 1, despite calls from teachers for more time to prepare because of the coronavirus, Education Minister Jean-Michel Blanquer said in a television interview.

Sanitary protocols the government set forth in July, which include hand-washing and indoor mask-wearing by staff and students older than 11, are sufficient even as the spread of the virus picks up, Blanquer said. Rules can be adapted on a case-by-case basis as needed, he said.

California Hospitalizations at Lowest Since June (2:25 p.m. NY)

California’s hospitalizations from the virus dropped 3.3% to 4,890 patients, the lowest since late June, according to state health data through Wednesday. They’ve fallen 32% from a July peak.

Daily case trends also showed improvement. The state reported 5,920 new infections, below the 14-day average of 8,198. The rate of positive tests over the past two weeks was unchanged at 6.6%. There were 163 new deaths from Covid-19, bringing total fatalities to 11,686.

Notre Dame Football Reports Five Cases (2:02 p.m. NY)

After two rounds of Covid-19 testing this week, five student-athletes from the Notre Dame football team tested positive for the virus, the team announced Thursday.

The five players plus an additional six identified in contact tracing have been placed in quarantine. The school has announced 237 positive cases in the last three days, and earlier this week undergrad classes were moved online until at least Sept. 2.

Earlier Thursday, the University of Connecticut football team paused activities after six student-athletes tested positive.

U.S. Facing Years-Long Job Losses, IRS Says (1:40 p.m. NY)

The Internal Revenue Service projects that lower levels of employment in the U.S. could persist for years, showcasing the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic.

The IRS forecasts there will be about 229.4 million employee-classified jobs in 2021 -- about 37.2 million fewer than it had estimated last year before the virus hit, according to updated data released Thursday. The statistics are an estimate how many of the W-2 tax forms that are used to track employee wages and withholding the agency will receive.

Lower rates of W-2 filings are seen persisting through at least 2027, with about 15.9 million fewer forms filed that year compared with prior estimates.

England Cases Rise as Economy Reopens (1:02 p.m. NY)

Virus cases in England increased by more than a quarter in the week through Aug. 12, underscoring the risks facing Boris Johnson’s government as it tries to boost economic activity without triggering a new peak in the pandemic.

The U.K. Department of Health reported 6,616 new Covid-19 cases during the period, a 27% rise, even as the total number of people tested fell by 2%. Positive cases among those presenting clinical need, as well as hospital and care workers, rose by 34%, the biggest rise since the government began its test and trace program at the end of May.

Johnson’s ministers have been steadily reopening parts of the British economy, and are trying to shift the focus toward dealing with new outbreaks with targeted local lockdowns rather than national measures.

Cuomo Expands Mail-In Voting (12:38 p.m. NY)

Governor Andrew Cuomo signed legislation making it easier for New Yorkers to submit absentee ballots to encourage people to vote who are afraid of being exposed to the coronavirus. The new law, he said, was also driven by what he called the Trump administration’s undermining of postal service to suppress the vote.

“The federal administration has ordered an unprecedented attack on the U.S. Postal Service and with Covid-19 threatening our ability to have safe, in-person voting, these measures are critical to ensuring a successful and fair election at one of the most important moments in our nation’s history,” he said in a statement.

The new law allows people who fear infection to request an absentee ballot and outlines rules for counting votes by when they are postmarked or received.

J&J Set to Begin Big Vaccine Trial: DJ (11:47 a.m. NY)

Johnson & Johnson is planning to test its anti-Covid-19 vaccine on 60,000 people worldwide, the largest vaccine trial to date, Dow Jones reported.

The Phase 3 trials, to begin by September, are double the size of other vaccine tests. Dow Jones quoted a Johnson & Johnson spokesman as saying it wanted “to enroll a robust number of participants who are representative of those populations affected by Covid-19.”

The trials will run in 28 U.S. states with high transmission rates and eight hard-hit nations, including Brazil, the Philippines and South Africa, the article said.

Arizona Cases Steady; Deaths Drop (11:40 a.m. NY)

Arizona on Thursday reported 723 new virus cases, a 0.4% increase to 196,280 that matched the prior seven-day average. The state Department of Health Services also reported 50 new deaths from Covid-19, down from 105 the day before, bringing the toll to 4,684.

Florida Positivity Rate Extends Decline (10:50 a.m. NY)

Florida reported 588,602 Covid-19 cases on Thursday, up 0.8% from a day earlier, in line with the average increase in the previous seven days.

The new daily rate of people testing positive for the first time fell to 6.8% for Wednesday, the lowest since June 14. The state has reported 31,465 new cases in the past seven days, the fewest in a comparable period since late June.

Deaths among Florida residents reached 10,049, an increase of 117, or 1.2%, according to the health department report, which includes data through Wednesday. Although cases and hospitalizations have been slowing in Florida, the state continues to report more than 1,000 new Covid-19 deaths a week. Deaths often trail infections by weeks, and generally take even longer to be reflected in the data.

Sweden to Join EU’s AstraZeneca Pact (10:45 a.m. NY)

Sweden’s government has decided to join the European Union’s agreement to distribute a coronavirus vaccine via drugmaker AstraZeneca Plc.

Sweden expects to get about 6 million doses based on the size of its population, and the country’s health agency has been granted a budget of 2 billion kronor ($229 million) to finance purchases of the vaccine, according to Prime Minister Stefan Lofven.

U.S. Jobless Claims Unexpectedly Top 1 Million (8:54 a.m. NY)

Initial jobless claims in regular state programs rose to more than 1.1 million last week, even after analysts forecast a decline, fresh evidence that the U.S. labor market recovery will occur in fits and starts.

Poland Mulls Restrictions in Krakow (8:46 a.m. NY)

Poland may put Krakow, its second-largest city, as well as Katowice, center of the Silesia mining region, under special restrictions because of a high number of coronavirus infections, deputy Health Minister Waldemar Kraska said at a news conference Thursday.

Scotland Cases Rise After Schools Reopen (8:14 a.m. NY)

Scotland reported its highest daily number of coronavirus cases in almost three months, with several small clusters linked to schools, which reopened last week. Larger spikes were earlier sourced to a pub in the oil city of Aberdeen and a food processing plant in a small town.

Nearly 30% Exposed to Virus in Indian Capital (7:43 a.m. NY)

Nearly 30% of residents in India’s capital, New Delhi, have had the coronavirus, according to a seroprevalence study of more than 15,000 people conducted by the state health authorities.

The prevalence of Covid-19 antibodies has increased to 29.1% in the first week of August, from the 23.48% found in the survey held between June 27 and July 10.

Estee Lauder to Cut as Many as 2,000 Jobs (7:12 a.m. NY)

Estee Lauder Cos. plans to cut 1,500 to 2,000 jobs worldwide and boost its digital operations after coronavirus lockdowns hit demand for cosmetics.

With consumers shifting to more online purchases, the company said it plans to close 10% to 15% of its free-standing stores.

Alibaba Growth Back at Pre-Pandemic Levels (6:40 a.m. NY)

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.’s quarterly revenue grew a better than expected 34%, signaling that Chinese consumer sentiment is recovering at a rapid clip from its Covid-19 trough in the first three months of 2020.

CureVac, EU in Talks for 225 Million Vaccine Doses (5:37 p.m. HK)

The European Commission concluded initial talks with CureVac NV to purchase 225 million vaccine doses, according to a statement. The commission is also pursuing discussions with other vaccine manufacturers.

CDC Says Surge in Sun Belt Easing, Deaths to Slow: Virus Update

Hong Kong Cases Remain at Pre-Surge Levels (4:33 p.m. HK)

Hong Kong’s latest outbreak is showing further signs of easing, with the government reporting 17 new local cases on Thursday. While more than two-thirds of the city’s infections of more than 4,600 have emerged since July, daily local cases have remained below 100 for two weeks.

Singapore Air Burns Through Cash (4:07 p.m. HK)

Singapore Airlines Ltd. has burned through half of the S$8.8 billion ($6.4 billion) it raised through share sales in just two months, highlighting how carriers’ keep incurring expenses even as planes are grounded.

Of the S$4.4 billion spent since mid-June, S$1.1 billion was used for operating expenses, maturing fuel-hedging trades and ticket refunds from canceled flights due to the pandemic, the airline said.

Norges Bank Sees No Near Change to Zero Rate (4:06 p.m. HK)

Norges Bank said it will probably need to keep interest rates at a record low for “some time ahead” to give the economy room to recover. The Oslo-based central bank left its benchmark rate at zero on Thursday, where it’s been since a series of emergency cuts at the height of the Covid-19 crisis earlier this year.

Philippines Plays Down Size of Stimulus (3:01 p.m. HK)

The Philippine economy can recover even without a massive stimulus package, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez said, with Congress poised to approve a second pandemic relief bill.

“It is not the sheer size of the stimulus package that matters now but also whether it is actually saving the productive parts of the economy,” Dominguez said in an emailed copy of his speech at a business conference.

A committee of lawmakers has agreed to recommend for Congress’ final approval a relief bill worth up to 165.5 billion pesos ($3.4 billion), said Senator Sonny Angara, a member of the panel.

CDC Says Surge in Sun Belt Easing, Deaths to Slow: Virus Update

Germany New Infections Rise (1:15 p.m. HK)

Germany recorded more than 1,000 new coronavirus cases for a third straight day, with the number of infections near Tuesday’s four-month high.

Cases increased by 1,586 in the 24 hours through Thursday morning, compared with a gain of 1,420 a day earlier and 1,693 on Tuesday, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. That brought the total to 229,706. There were eight fatalities, taking the country’s total to 9,249.

CDC Says Surge in Sun Belt Easing, Deaths to Slow: Virus Update

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