Your Evening Briefing

17 Apr 2020, 03:21 AM IST

(Bloomberg) --

More than 200 different programs have been launched to develop vaccines and treatments for Covid-19. Well-known industry giants and some not so well-known are engaged in a global race to save lives (and make lots of money). With a vaccine likely out of reach this year, the near-term hope is an anti-viral treatment that can improve the odds of survival for those sickened by the pathogen. Bloomberg is tracking the most promising of these programs as they develop.

Bloomberg is mapping the pandemic globally and across America. For the latest news, sign up for our Covid-19 podcast and daily newsletter.

Here are today’s top stories

Governments around the world continue shutdowns aimed at slowing the spread of the coronavirus. In the U.S., New York and New Jersey, two of the hardest hit states, have extended stay-at-home orders to at least May 15. The U.K. added three weeks to its restrictions as it reached 100,000 confirmed infections. Worldwide, there have been more than 2,100,000 confirmed cases and 140,000 deaths. Here’s the latest.

U.S. President Donald Trump’s repeated misstatements about the pandemic—the virus was under control, any American could obtain a test, he holds “ultimate authority” over state lockdowns—show him unsuccessfully trying to bend events to his narrative. The result has been a record replete with rapid reversals, blame-shifting and falsehoods that had to be walked back. On Thursday, Trump’s “ultimate authority” became the latest example, now transformed into nonbinding guidelines largely redundant of what some governors are already doing under state law.

Former Vice President Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee, attacked Trump for failing to empathize with the hundreds of thousands of Americans who have been infected with the coronavirus, the families of the 27,000 who have died, and the millions out of work as the U.S. economy implodes. Biden urged Trump to change course and stop throwing “temper tantrums.”

Some people experience Covid-19 as nothing more than a mild cold, and others exhibit no symptoms at all. Then there are the thousands who die. Scientists are working hard to understand the underlying reasons for such huge discrepancies in symptoms and outcomes. No one knows the answer yet. One theory: it’s locked deep in our genetic makeup.

More than 5 million Americans filed for unemployment benefits last week, bringing the total in the month since the pandemic was declared to 22 million, effectively erasing a decade worth of job creation.

Extending those benefits to gig economy workers and the self-employed was a key part of the $2 trillion rescue package passed last month. But the distribution of those funds has been stymied by bureaucracy, ancient technology, and difficulties creating a new safety net on the fly.

What’s Joe Weisenthal thinking about? The Bloomberg news director says that, just as the economy can’t suddenly be flipped on again, nobody turned it off, either. As Charles Fain Lehman laid out Wednesday in the Washington Free Beacon, economic activity started slowing before stay at home orders went out. The economy powered down organically as fear set in. It will only begin to grow again, Joe says, when the fear recedes.

What you’ll need to know tomorrow

The White House says the $349 billion small business fund is broke.
Google will slow hiring for the rest of the year, its CEO says.
Americans saving for retirement didn’t panic when stocks tanked.
Sony will still release a new PlayStation, but output will be limited.
Apple is developing wireless headphones with replaceable parts.
Wuhan’s 11 million people are now free to dine out, but they aren’t.
It’s not just in China. Restaurants are going to have to change.

What you’ll want to read tonight in Businessweek

At least nine Carnival ships at sea have become virus hot spots, resulting in more than 1,500 positive infections and at least 39 fatalities. Several of those ships didn’t even begin their voyages until well after the company knew it was risky to do so, according to a U.S. government epidemiologist. Despite the risk, the cruise line kept people partying as its vessels became a floating testament to the viciousness of the new coronavirus. They have also raised questions about corporate negligence and fleet safety.