U.S. Cases Rise 2.7%; Florida to Reopen Some Areas: Virus Update

(Bloomberg) -- The Trump Administration is planning ‘Operation Warp Speed,’ a Manhattan Project-style program to drastically cut the time it takes to develop a coronavirus vaccine. Gilead Sciences Inc. said its experimental treatment remdesivir helped patients recover faster, sending stocks higher despite economic data showing the record-long U.S. expansion is over.

New York reported a fourth day of declining deaths, though new hospitalizations rose slightly. The state is ramping up testing to 30,000 daily as it moves to reopen some regions, Governor Andrew Cuomo said. Florida’s governor said he’ll start to reopen parts of the state next week.

France and Spain took cautious steps toward lifting restrictions. New cases rose for the first time in three days in Germany as the government weighs removing more curbs.

Key Developments

• Virus Tracker: Cases top 3.1 million; deaths pass 226,000
• Dueling data on Gilead treatment leaves many questions
• Fed’s Powell warns of ‘heartbreaking harm’ of virus
• Deutsche Bank, Barclays and StanChart project pain ahead
• Fauci sees ‘good news’ from Gilead drug
• Road to easing lockdowns is paved with economic trade-offs

Subscribe to a daily update on the virus from Bloomberg’s Prognosis team here. Click VRUS on the terminal for news and data on the coronavirus.

Florida to Start Reopening Parts of State (5:11 p.m. NY)

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said he plans to start reopening the state on May 4. The first phase will exclude Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties, the state’s three most populous as well as hardest-hit by the virus.

Virus May Affect 57 Million U.S. Jobs: McKinsey (5 p.m. NY)

The coronavirus pandemic will hurt 57 million U.S. workers, more than double the number of jobless claims so far, once furloughs and reduced hours and pay are included, according to McKinsey & Co.

The more than 26 million people who have filed unemployment claims in the past five weeks provide only a partial picture of workforce dislocations, with tens of millions more facing additional risks, according to a report from the McKinsey Global Institute, the think tank arm of the consultancy.

The earliest wave of unemployment claims in mid-March disproportionately hit the food service, entertainment and hotel industries. The disruption has since moved into categories including retail, business services, manufacturing and non-essential health care.

U.S. Cases Rise 2.7% (4 p.m. NY)

Coronavirus cases in the U.S. increased 2.7% as compared to the same time yesterday to 1.03 million, according to data collected by Johns Hopkins University and Bloomberg News. That’s higher than Tuesday’s growth rate of 2.5% but below the average daily increase of 3% over the past week. Deaths rose 4.5% to 60,207.

• Minnesota had the biggest daily increase in cases, rising 11% to a total 4,644.
• New York’s cases rose 1.6%, according to the Johns Hopkins and Bloomberg News data.
• Texas’s cases rose 3.4% to 27,054 as fatalities in the second-most populous U.S. state reached 732, according to state health department data. Hospitalizations rose 1.2% to 1,702, the third consecutive daily increase.
• Florida reported 33,193 cases, up 0.5% from a day earlier, according to the state’s health department. If the trend holds, it would mark a dramatic slowdown from the pace of past weeks. Deaths rose 4% to 1,218.

EU Split on Airline Ticket Refund Rules (3:45 p.m. NY)

A group of European Union nations are seeking to shore up the liquidity of airlines by scaling back their obligation to pay refunds for grounded flights. They faced resistance on Wednesday when their idea, which chief EU aviation regulator Adina Valean has rejected, was also opposed by “some” countries during a video conference of the 27-nation bloc’s transport ministers, according to a statement released afterward.

Twelve EU countries, led by France and the Netherlands, published a letter pushing Valean to propose amending a 2004 law that requires carriers to refund tickets for canceled flights within seven days unless affected passengers opt for another solution such as travel vouchers.

South Africa Cases Jump (3:30 pm. NY)

The number of coronavirus cases in South Africa surged by a record for a 24-hour period as testing increased.

The nation has 5,350 confirmed cases as of Wednesday, 354 more than yesterday, the Health Ministry said in an emailed statement. A further 10 Covid-19 related deaths were recorded, bringing the total number of deceased to 103, it said. The ministry said 11,630 tests were conducted in the past 24 hours, bringing the total to 197,127.

French Hospitalizations Fall (2:45 p.m. NY)

France reported that hospitalizations continued to decline, even as new deaths rose.

Patients in intensive care, which health authorities consider a key indicator of how the pandemic is impacting the hospital system, fell by 180 to 4,207, the lowest in more than a month. Hospitalizations fell by 650 patients to 26,834, the biggest drop since the number first started falling April 15.

Deaths rose by 427 to 24,087, the Health Ministry said in a statement. France’s public health service reported 198,215 coronavirus infections after restating some data because of erroneous analysis earlier this week.

France plans to ease strict lockdown measures starting May 11, with a plan to reopen shops as one of the first steps.

Hungary to Gradually Reopen (2:10 p.m. NY)

Hungary will restart its economy gradually while leaving “strict defensive measures” in place in the capital of Budapest, which has the most coronavirus cases, Prime Minister Viktor Orban said after a cabinet meeting.

Lockdown measures, which are relatively mild in Hungary compared with other European nations, will be eased in the countryside, where stores can reopen without restrictions, Orban said in a Facebook video message Wednesday. The wearing of masks and social distancing will be mandatory on public transportation and in shops, he said.

Hungary had 2,727 registered coronavirus cases as of Wednesday, with 300 deaths.

Finland to Reopen Schools (1:55 p.m. NY)

Finland will reopen schools starting May 14 after the spread of coronavirus infections slowed sharply.

Finland is reducing restrictions gradually and in a controlled manner, Prime Minister Sanna Marin said at a press conference in Helsinki. The reopening will start with younger students and won’t include high schools and universities.

Finland has the least infections in the region, with 4,906 cases, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. Norway has 7,680, Demark 9,206 and Sweden 20,302.

Trump Credits Testing for High Cases (1:25 p.m. NY)

President Donald Trump credited expanded U.S. testing for infection by the new coronavirus for the 1 million cases the nation has reported, by far the most in the world.

“That’s a tremendous amount,” Trump said Wednesday in a White House meeting with Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards. “It’s a number that in one way sounds bad but in another is an indication our testing is more superior.”

The U.S. didn’t exceed 100,000 Americans tested for the disease until March 19, more than eight weeks after the first U.S. case was reported Jan. 20, according to data compiled by the Covid Tracking Project.

Competition Planned for Tests (12:52 p.m. NY)

The U.S. National Institutes of Health is urging scientists and investors to compete in a $500 million national challenge that will help the agency identify the best candidates for at-home or point-of-care tests for Covid-19.

The NIH is likening the program to “Shark Tank,” the reality television show where entrepreneurs compete for financial backing. Scientists and innovators will compete for a share of a $500 million fund that will be awarded to those with the most promising technologies. Finalists will also be matched with technical, manufacturing and business experts to help advance their products.

The contest is part of a new program called the Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics initiative, which received $1.5 billion in federal stimulus funding, the agency said Wednesday.

Swedish Example May Guide Virus Fight (12:45 p.m. NY)

Sweden may be a good example of how governments can rely on the public to help fight Covid-19, according to Mike Ryan, head of the World Health Organizations’s health emergencies program. Contrary to many reports, Sweden has a “strong strategic approach” to fighting the novel coronavirus, and it’s relying on citizens to be informed and make decisions to minimize the risk of spreading the disease, he said.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said a global emergency committee will reconvene Thursday to discuss progress fighting Covid-19 in the three months since it last met and deemed the coronavirus a health emergency. “The damage that this virus can wreak is more than any terrorist attack,” Tedros said. “It can bring political, economic and social upheavals, but the choice is ours. The choice should be unity.”

Following U.K. reports of possible Covid-19 illness in children, WHO epidemiologist Maria Van Kerkhove said European countries have been reporting cases of severe inflammatory reactions among children, but they seem to be very rare. Children seem to be less likely to transmit Covid-19 to adults than the opposite, she said, citing household transmission studies. There’s no reason to think children are less susceptible, she said, but more research is needed.

Austria Wants to Reopen German Border (12:30 p.m. NY)

Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said he wants “in the foreseeable future” to open the border with Germany and other countries where the pandemic is developing in a similarly favorable way.

If the situation is similar in two countries, it wouldn’t make much difference to allow travel between them, Kurz was quoted as saying by Bild newspaper. While skiing in the Austrian Alps this winter will “surely” be an option for Germans, summer vacations there could also be possible, Kurz said.

U.K. Issues First All-Settings Death Report (12:20 p.m. NY)

A further 765 deaths from the coronavirus have been reported in the U.K., the latest figures show.

It is the first time deaths from all settings have been reported on a daily basis -- not just in hospitals -- giving the most complete picture of the impact the virus is having on the country. The change to reporting was introduced following criticism that daily figures released by the Health Department were ignoring a significant number of deaths in care homes or in the community.

The total number of deaths in the U.K. increased by 3,811 as the country added historical data to its running total.

Some 4,076 people were diagnosed with the disease, a slight increase from 3,996 the day before, according to Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, who has been deputizing for Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Approximately 52,000 tests were carried out on Tuesday, still significantly short of the government’s target of 100,000 tests a day by the end of April.

Turkey Cases Rise 2.6% (12:11 p.m. NY)

Turkey reported 89 new coronavirus fatalities on Wednesday, taking the death count from the outbreak to 3,081, according to data from the Health Ministry.

Turkey screened 43,498 people over the past 24 hours and 2,936 tested positive for virus. The total confirmed cases stands now at 117,589, though the number of coronavirus patients requiring intensive care fell to 1,574 from 1,621.

Restrictions will continue through the month of May, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said in press meeting on Wednesday, explaining that Turkey is at its peak phase and “if measures aren’t followed, we may see another wave.”

Fauci Calls Remdesivir Test ‘Good News’ (12:06 p.m. NY)

Anthony Fauci, the head of the U.S. National Insititute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the government’s top infectious-disease specialist, said at a White House meeting with President Donald Trump and Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards that a U.S. trial showed Gilead Sciences Inc.’s experimental drug to treat coronavirus had a significant positive effect on the virus and that the results “were quite good news.”

Fauci called the study the “first truly high-powered randomized placebo-controlled trial” of remdesivir.

Gilead’s share price and the broader stock market have been churned in recent weeks by a series of early looks and leaks of trial data on the drug, called remdesivir. Last week, the market swooned after apparently discouraging results from a Chinese trial were accidentally posted on a World Health Organization web page. Data confirming those more downbeat results were published in the U.K. medical journal The Lancet on Wednesday.

U.K. Schools Plan Reopening (11:55 a.m. NY)

U.K. Education Secretary Gavin Williamson said schools in England will open to children in a “phased manner” once the coronavirus lockdown ends.

Williamson said he could not yet give a date for schools to restart, but he would give them “as much notice as possible” so they can prepare properly. He ruled out opening them during the summer vacation between mid-July and the start of September.

“We recognize that the idea of schools all returning on day one with the full complement of pupils is not realistic or practical,” Williamson told the House of Commons Education Committee in an online session on Wednesday. “I do expect schools to be opened in a phased manner.”

Schools, colleges and nurseries across the U.K. have been shut for five weeks, apart from a limited provision for vulnerable children and those of designated key workers. Williamson said he is looking at the experience of countries that have started to reopen schools, such as Germany and Denmark, to establish which age groups should return first.

Brazil Deaths on Rise (10:50 a.m. NY)

Brazil is rising in the ranking of most-hit places by the coronavirus, becoming the third country with the largest number of deaths reported over the past 24 hours after the U.S. and the U.K.

Total virus-related deaths surpassed 5,000 with 474 on Tuesday only. In contrast to other parts of the world, the curve of new cases in Brazil is climbing, Health Minister Nelson Teich said at a news conference Tuesday. As of Tuesday, the country had counted nearly 72,000 positive cases, 5,017 deaths, and a 7% death rate.

When asked during the same news conference about mounting fatalities, President Jair Bolsonaro answered, “So what? What do you want me to do about it?” before joking that even though his middle name means messiah in Portuguese, “I can’t make miracles.”

The leader has refused to follow World Health Organization guidance on combating the virus throughout the outbreak. On the domestic front, he’s criticized governors who called for quarantines, fired his health minister for advocating for restrictions and containment measures, and personally took to the streets without a protective face mask, shaking hands and visiting crowded bakeries and markets as a rebellious gesture.

NYC Plans Antibody Tests (10:30 a.m. NY)

New York City will offer antibody tests for more than 150,000 health-care workers and first responders, Mayor Bill de Blasio said.

Testing may begin next week, with a goal to test all the workers within a month, through a partnership with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The tests, to be offered at hospitals, firehouses, police stations and corrections facilities, indicate likely past infection to the new coronavirus, according to the mayor’s office. Positive tests do not mean full protection, according to slides presented during his virus briefing.

Portuguese Case Rise Eases (10:05 a.m. NY)

Portugal reported a smaller daily increase in confirmed coronavirus cases on Wednesday, and the number of patients in intensive care units fell for an eleventh day. There were 183 new cases in a day, taking the total to 24,505, the government said. Deaths rose by 25 to reach 973.

Portugal will announce on Thursday which businesses can reopen from May 4, with confinement measures to be eased gradually every 15 days. The government hasn’t shut down the economy entirely; industrial, construction and transport activities have been allowed to continue.

Japan to Extend State of Emergency: Nikkei (9:28 a.m. NY)

The Japanese government plans to extend a nationwide state of emergency past its current May 6 end date, Nikkei Asian Review reported. The proposal is to be discussed at a meeting Friday.

Fraction of Jobless-Aid Claims Paid in March (9:01 a.m. NY)

Federal data showed that 14% of workers who filed for unemployment insurance benefits in March received payment that month, as the unprecedented surge of pandemic-driven layoffs began to inundate state labor departments nationwide.

Lufthansa’s Swiss Gets $1.3 Billion Loan Guarantee (8:54 a.m. NY)

Swiss International Air Lines, part of Germany’s Deutsche Lufthansa AG, will receive 1.275 billion francs ($1.3 billion) in loan guarantees from the Swiss government to get through the coronavirus crisis.

Gilead Remdesivir Trial Hit Primary Target (8:35 a.m. NY)

Gilead Sciences said it’s aware of positive data emerging from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases’ study of the investigational antiviral remdesivir for the treatment of Covid-19.

The company said “we understand that the trial has met its primary endpoint and that NIAID will provide detailed information at an upcoming briefing.”

U.S. Will Be ‘Really Rocking Again’ by July: Kushner (8:28 a.m. NY)

“You’ll see by June a lot of the country should be back to normal and the hope is that, by July, the country’s really rocking again,” said Kushner, Trump’s senior adviser and son-in-law, in a Fox News interview. May will be a transition month, he said.

“You’ll see a lot of the states starting to phase in the different reopening based on the safety guidelines that President Trump outlined on April 19,” Kushner said.

Kenya Puts Refugee Camp Under Lockdown (8:24 a.m. NY)

Kenya put one of the world’s largest refugee camps under lockdown, even as humanitarian agencies warned there’s no infrastructure in place to deal with a potential outbreak of the coronavirus. All movement in and out of Dadaab, home to more than 220,000 people living in makeshift housing, as well as the smaller Kakuma refugee camp in northwest Kenya, will be prohibited as of Wednesday, according to the Interior Ministry. The measure is an extension of a 21-day partial lockdown across the country that was imposed last week.

Dutch Fatalities Surpass Mainland China (8:19 a.m. NY)

Fatalities in the Netherlands rose 3% to 4,711, surpassing the official tally of 4,633 in mainland China, where the outbreak began. The jump of 145 deaths is the highest daily increase since April 21, though it includes an administrative backlog of previously unrecorded deaths following a three-day weekend. Confirmed cases rose 1% to 38,802.

Germany Sees Output Shrinking 6.3% (8 a.m. NY)

Germany expects the impact of the coronavirus to plunge the economy into its worst recession since the nation began its recovery in the aftermath of World War II, as confidence at companies and households plummets across Europe.

Gross domestic product is forecast to shrink by 6.3% in 2020, more than even during the financial crisis a decade ago, according to Economy Ministry projections published Wednesday. The low point of the recession -- the worst since at least 1950 -- is expected in the second quarter, before a gradual recovery and growth of 5.2% next year.

Boeing to Cut Jobs, GE ‘Materially Challenged’ (7:45 a.m. NY)

Boeing reduced production rates, burned $4.7 billion in the first quarter -- its worst period for free cash flow ever -- and is “actively exploring” all available options for additional funding. CEO Dave Calhoun said the company is targeting a 10% cut through voluntary layoffs, natural turnover and “involuntary layoffs as necessary.”

Earlier, GE CEO Larry Culp said Covid-19 “materially challenged” first-quarter results, especially in aviation. The pandemic reduced cash from operating activities and industrial free cash flow by about $1 billion. Anthem temporarily suspended its share repurchases and maintained its profit forecast, while withdrawing all other guidance. Meanwhile, Spotify said that “every day now looks like the weekend” as usage in car, wearable and web platforms drops while TV and game-console use increases “materially.”

Travel Demand From Beijing Surges (7:30 a.m. NY)

Sales of plane tickets leaving Beijing surged shortly after the local government announced it will lower its municipal emergency response to the coronavirus outbreak to the second-highest level, from the highest level now. Trip.com ADRs gained as much as 12% in pre-market trading.

As the Chinese capital prepares to host the nation’s highest-profile political meeting next month, the city will relax quarantine requirements for domestic travelers from low-risks areas starting Thursday. The easing doesn’t apply to overseas visitors, as well as travelers from Hubei province and other places designated as mid- and high-risk areas, she said.

Flight bookings from Beijing increased 15 times on Qunar, a Chinese travel platform, within 30 minutes of the news being announced, according to a report by Beijing Daily citing data provided by Qunar. Searches for holiday packages and hotels also tripled, the report said.

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