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Trump Tests Negative; More Shutdowns in Europe: Virus Update

Catch the latest updates on the global coronavirus pandemic, here.

Trump Tests Negative; More Shutdowns in Europe: Virus Update
Hand sanitizer next to a social distancing sign displayed on a screen at the Maple Theater in Bloomfield Township, Michigan, U.S. (Photographer: Emily Elconin/Bloomberg)

The proportion of Americans dying from coronavirus infections is the highest in the developed world, according to a study released Monday. President Donald Trump has tested negative for Covid-19 and is no longer infectious to others, his doctor said.

The pathogen continued its unrelenting spread, with resurgences across Europe spurring containment efforts. U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson tightened restrictions, including closing pubs in hot spots, while the Czech Republic shut schools, restaurants and bars through early November.

China recorded its biggest cluster in months, Iran posted record numbers of virus-related deaths and India’s cases climbed past 7 million. AstraZeneca Plc said an antibody medicine is advancing into the last stage of clinical tests.

Key Developments:

  • Global Tracker: cases pass 37.6 million; deaths top 1.07 million
  • U.S. Hot Spots: Covid-19 soars in red states as Trump returns to trail
  • Top U.K. medic warns hot spot curbs aren’t enough to stop virus
  • The coronavirus may remain infectious for weeks on banknotes
  • Fauci says he was taken out of context in Trump campaign ad
  • Coronavirus has exposed global leadership crisis: survey

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.

Trump Tests Negative; More Shutdowns in Europe: Virus Update

Trump Tests Negative, Doctor Says (5:28 p.m. NY)

President Donald Trump has tested negative for Covid-19 on consecutive days, a week after being released from the hospital for treatment of the disease, White House doctor Sean Conley said.

“This comprehensive data, in concert with the CDC’s guidelines for removal of transmission-based precautions, have informed our medical team’s assessment that the President is not infectious to others,” Conley said in a memo.

Cuomo Touts N.Y. Infection Rate (5:02 p.m. NY)

New York’s 1.1% positive test rate for Covid-19 remains among the lowest in the U.S., as the state increased the number of tests to a record 834,342 last week, Governor Andrew Cuomo said.

Cuomo contrasted New York’s commitment to increased testing with states that have reduced diagnostic testing, such as Florida, where he said the positive-test rate was 11.7%, and Texas, with a 7.6% rate.

“There are some states that have taken the politics of denial and turned it into science fiction. If you test less you will find fewer cases, that’s a laughable concept,” Cuomo said in a briefing Monday afternoon.

Pandemic’s U.S. Cost Seen at $16 Trillion (4:30 p.m. NY)

The Covid-19 pandemic will exact a $16 trillion toll on the U.S. -- four times the cost of the Great Recession -- when adding the costs of lost lives and health to the direct economic impact, former U.S. Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers and fellow Harvard University economist David Cutler wrote in an essay published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

About half of that amount is related to lost gross domestic product as a result of economic shutdowns and the ongoing spread of the virus, while the other half comes from health losses including premature death and mental and long-term health impairments, Cutler and Summers said.

The $16 trillion amount is equal to about 90% of annual U.S. GDP; it’s also more than twice as much as the U.S. has spent on wars since Sept. 11, 2001, according to the essay.

Czech Republic Shuts Schools, Restaurants (4:25 p.m. NY)

The Czech government tightened social distancing rules and closed down schools, restaurants and bars through early November. It also banned public alcohol consumption and limited outdoor gatherings to six people.

The country of 10.7 million is suffering the most acute epidemic among EU states. New infections reached a record of 8,618 cases on Friday, leapfrogging Spain as the bloc’s top hot spot based on the two-week cumulative number of cases per capita, according to the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control.

California Studying Theme Park Openings (4:20 p.m. NY)

California Governor Gavin Newsom said he is sending a team to visit reopened theme parks in other states, as his administration argues with the industry over guidelines for welcoming visitors back to still-shut attractions such as Disneyland.

In an update with reporters on Monday, Newsom said he wanted first-hand accounts of how well safety measures seem to be working in theme parks elsewhere that have been allowed to reopen. The governor also said the state may set different guidelines for large-scale amusement parks and smaller attractions such as civic piers or Ferris wheels, saying they faced different risks.

Walt Disney Co. and other theme park operators have been negotiating for months with Newsom’s administration over reopening rules and have grown increasingly frustrated that the parks remain closed, even as the number of Californians hospitalized with Covid-19 drops to its lowest level since the spring. But Newsom on Monday pointed to countries such as Germany and the United Kingdom that are now suffering a new wave of outbreaks after reopening much of their economies, saying caution is warranted.

“I want to make sure we get this right,” he said.

WHO Says 180 Nations in Vaccine Push (1:35 p.m. NY)

China’s joining of a global push to make coronavirus vaccines accessible for developing nations brings to 180 the number countries participating in the World Health Organization-backed initiative -- representing 90% of the global population, Soumya Swaminathan, the WHO’s chief scientist, said Monday. While the U.S. hasn’t joined the $18 billion effort, called Covax, the breadth of participants is encouraging, Swaminathan said.

Meanwhile, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus urged countries not to pursue “herd immunity.” The vast majority of people haven’t yet been infected and questions remain about how long immunity lasts and what long-term effects Covid-19 creates, he said.

“Herd immunities are achieved by protecting people from a virus, not by exposing them to it,” he said. “Never in the history of public health has herd immunity been used as a strategy for responding to an outbreak, let alone a pandemic. It’s scientifically and ethically problematic.”

Texas Deploys Medical Teams to El Paso (1:16 pm NY)

Texas dispatched 75 nurses, respiratory specialists and other medical personnel to El Paso in response to a surge in Covid-19 cases, Governor Greg Abbott said on Monday. Masks and other personal protective equipment are also being delivered.

El Paso reported 424 new cases that pushed the city’s cumulative total to 6,145. The border town is seeing cases climb at a similar rate to Houston, which has almost five times El Paso’s population.

“This surge in medical personnel and PPE will help support El Paso’s hospitals and first responders as we mitigate the spread of this virus,” Abbott said in a statement.

The El Paso region has a higher percentage of hospital beds occupied by virus patients than anywhere else in Texas, according to state health department figures.

Boris Johnson Shuts Pubs in U.K. Hot Spots (12:00 p.m. NY)

U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced new restrictions to control the surge in coronavirus, with bars and pubs closing in the worst-hit parts of the England from Wednesday.

Johnson set out his plan for a three-tier system of Covid alert levels, set at medium, high, and very high, to simplify the imposition of lockdown measures.

The toughest measures will be brought into force from Wednesday in the Liverpool city region of northwest England, where the outbreak is spreading fastest, the prime minister told Parliament on Monday.

NYC Lockdown Protest Leader Arrested (10:20 a.m. NY)

A leader of protests by Orthodox Jews against new coronavirus restrictions in the Brooklyn borough of New York City has been arrested on charges of inciting people to riot and unlawful imprisonment of a journalist, the Associated Press reported.

Heshy Tischler, a City Council candidate and activist in the Orthodox Jewish neighborhood of Borough Park, was taken into custody Sunday evening in connection with his actions during an Oct. 7 street protest, AP said.

Large protests erupted in Borough Park last week after Governo Andrew Cuomo announced new restrictions on schools, businesses and houses of worship in areas where coronavirus infection rates have increased.

Trafigura Sends Geneva Oil Traders Home (10:10 a.m. NY)

Commodities trader Trafigura Group ordered some of its oil traders in Geneva to work from home after three employees tested positive for Covid-19, a company spokeswoman confirmed.

Other Geneva trading houses including Vitol, Mercuria and Gunvor have been operating with reduced staff. Agricultural trader Cofco International Ltd. has limited its staff to “a handful of critical positions,” a company spokesman said.
Switzerland on Monday reported 4,068 additional cases of coronavirus in 72 hours, according to figures from the Federal Office of Public Health.

Dutch Prepare New Measures as Cases Rise (9:03 a.m. NY)

The surge in new virus cases continued in the Netherlands, with a record 6,854 cases, confirmed in the 24 hours until Monday morning, news agency ANP reported, citing the country’s health agency. More than 41,000 cases were reported in the past seven days. Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte will likely announce stricter measures tomorrow, according to local media. Without new measures, medics warned that about 5,000 coronavirus patients will be in hospital next month, meaning 70% of regular care would have to be scrapped, ANP said.

Positive Tests Among Pope’s Swiss Guards (8:55 a.m. NY)

At the Vatican city-state, four members of the Swiss Guard which protects the pope were placed in isolation at the weekend after testing positive for the coronavirus, Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni told reporters. Three other Vatican residents and citizens tested positive in recent weeks, with light symptoms, Bruni said.

Iran Reports Record Virus-Related Deaths (7:15 a.m. NY)

Iran reported a record number of daily deaths on Monday for a second straight day, with 272 confirmed fatalities, pushing the total to 28,816. infections reached 504,281 with 4,206 new cases in the past 24 hours. That’s close to the 4,392 record reached earlier this month.

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With assistance from Bloomberg