(Bloomberg) — The coronavirus pandemic could remove four years of growth from the global economy and push 130 million to extreme poverty, a United Nations study showed. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said the U.S. economy faces unprecedented risks.
President Donald Trump disagreed with Anthony Fauci over the doctor’s warnings about reopening the country too quickly. The virus may have triggered a 30-fold jump in cases of a serious but rare inflammatory disease in children, a study found.
China reported three more cases in regions near North Korea and Russia, after a growing cluster of infections prompted a sealing off of cities in one of the provinces. South Korea said infections tied to nightclubs in Seoul increased to 131.
Key Developments:
- Virus Tracker: Cases top 4.3 million; deaths exceed 297,000
- False negatives raise more questions about virus test accuracy
- Hong Kong streak of no local transmission ends with mystery case
- Virus hot spots grow in meat plants from Germany to Brazil
- Experts want to know why the virus hasn’t killed more Russians
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Virus Spurs Spike in Serious Blood Disorder in Children (10:30 a.m. HK)
The coronavirus may have triggered a 30-fold jump in cases of a serious but rare pediatric inflammatory disease, according to an Italian study that provides an ominous warning to other pandemic-affected nations about the risk to children.
A detailed analysis from Bergamo, the epicenter of the Italian Covid-19 outbreak, found 10 cases of a Kawasaki disease-like illness in children, adding to reports of about 90 similar cases from New York and England.
South Korea Nightclub Cases Rise (10:10 a.m. HK)
South Korea’s health ministry said coronavirus cases tied to nightclubs in Seoul increased to 131 as of midnight, from 119 at noon yesterday.
Officials have been trying to reach thousands of people who may have been exposed to the virus at gay nightclubs in the Itaewon district of Seoul, as concern grows over the possibility of a second wave of infections in South Korea. So far, about 35,000 club visitors and their family members have gone through virus testing.
New Zealand Projects Surging Debt on Stimulus (10:05 a.m. HK)
New Zealand’s government announced a massive fiscal stimulus package in its annual budget that will see debt levels surge but could help the economy return to growth as soon as next year.
Unveiling a NZ$50 billion ($30 billion) Covid-19 Response and Recovery Fund aimed at stimulating the economy and creating jobs, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said New Zealand was in a strong position to bounce back from the damage caused by the pandemic.
Net debt will surge to a peak of 53.6% of GDP in 2023 from 19% last year.
Wisconsin Stay-at-Home Order Invalidated (9:53 a.m. HK)
A divided Wisconsin Supreme Court decided that an unelected state agency head’s emergency order shutting down the state because of the Covid-19 pandemic is not enforceable.
In a 4-3 decision, the court concluded the order was actually a rule, and that Andrea Palm, Wisconsin’s Department of Health Services secretary designee, didn’t follow statutory rulemaking procedures when she issued it. The order required the state’s population of nearly 6 million people to shelter in place, and shut down non-essential businesses to curb the coronavirus’ spread.
The ruling lifts the stay-at-home requirement and allows shuttered businesses to reopen immediately.
Australia Employment Slumps by Record 594,300 (9:45 a.m. HK)
Australian employers slashed workers last month as government restrictions to stem the spread of the coronavirus forced the shutdown of many industries across the economy. Employment plunged by a record 594,300 in April, data from the statistics bureau showed.
Japan Moves to Ease State of Emergency (9:36 a.m. HK)
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was set to end the state of emergency in 39 of the country’s 47 prefectures earlier than scheduled, while keeping it for Tokyo and Osaka, which will be assessed next week, media reports said.
Abe is expected to make the decision later Thursday to remove most of the country from the emergency status that was previously set to end May 31, Kyodo News reported, citing government officials. He will first hear recommendations from an expert panel and is set to hold a news conference at 6 p.m.
China Finds New Cases Near North Korea Border (8:47 a.m. HK)
China reported three new coronavirus cases, all of them local infections in northeastern China, with two in Liaoning province and one in Jilin.
China is sealing off cities in Jilin province that borders North Korea and Russia, as a growing cluster of cases threatens to undermine its hard-won containment of the epidemic. Jilin city, the second-largest city in Jilin province, saw bus and rail services halted and residential compounds closed off on Wednesday after the discovery of six new cases of infection. Recently reopened schools were closed again.
Liaoning province also borders North Korea.
Qatar Orders Wearing of Masks When Stepping Outside (7:16 a.m. HK)
The Qatari government ordered all citizens to wear masks when they step outside for any reason beginning May 17, state-run QNA reported. People who violate the order will be subjected to either imprisonment of up to three years, or a fine of as much as 200,000 riyals ($55,000) or both, according to the report.
U.K. Boosted by Clearance of Roche Antibody Test (7:14 a.m. HK)
Roche Holding AG’s coronavirus antibody test was cleared by a U.K. health authority, a boost to Prime Minister Boris Johnson as he seeks ways to gradually relax lockdown restrictions.
Johnson has previously described antibody tests as a ‘game-changer’, as they show who has already had the virus and may have a degree of immunity. However, scientists still aren’t sure whether having antibodies means long-lasting immunity.
Trump Disagrees With Fauci Over Reopening (6:16 a.m. HK)
President Donald Trump accused the nation’s top infectious disease official, Anthony Fauci, of wanting to “play all sides of the equation” with congressional testimony Tuesday that warned reopening the country too quickly could lead to coronavirus case flare ups.
“I was surprised by his answer, actually,” Trump told reporters Wednesday at the White House. “Because you know, it’s just — to me it’s not an acceptable answer, especially when it comes to schools.”
The president’s public rebuke of Fauci’s testimony was a remarkable split with the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, who has come under criticism from some Republicans who charge he’s been too cautious in his advice on lifting social distancing precautions. Trump has been pushing to reopen the U.S. economy faster as joblessness increases.
L.A., San Francisco Relax Some Curbs on Business (5:41 p.m. NY)
Los Angeles and San Francisco relaxed business restrictions to allow for retailers not in indoor shopping malls to reopen for curbside pickup, along with some manufacturing operations. While California began allowing some of these measures last week, both areas had kept their stricter rules.
Los Angeles County, which accounts for almost half of the state’s virus cases, also is reopening beaches for active recreation like running and surfing, while keeping them closed for sunbathers and group activities.
South Africa Eases Nationwide Lockdown (5 p.m. NY)
South Africa’s government announced plans to further ease a nationwide lockdown as the fallout from shuttering much of the economy threatens to outweigh the damage wrought by the coronavirus.
Consultations will begin in the coming days about moving most of country to disease alert level 3 by the end of the month, from level 4, and allow a number of additional industries to resume operations, President Cyril Ramaphosa said Wednesday in a televised address to the nation. Level 4 restrictions will remain in force in areas where infection rates are highest, including some of the main cities.
U.S. Cases Rise 1.6% (4 p.m. NY)
U.S. cases rose 1.6% from the day before to 1.38 million, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University and Bloomberg News. That was higher than Tuesday’s growth rate of 1.4%, but below the average increase of 1.9% over the past week. Deaths rose 1.8% to 83,249.
New York reported 166 deaths, keeping daily fatalities under 200 for a third day, according to Governor Andrew Cuomo. The state also added 2,176 cases, for a total of 340,661. Texas cases climbed 3.3%, above the 3% average of the past week, to a total of 42,403.
Ex-Glaxo Official, General to Lead Vaccine Hunt (3:52 p.m. NY)
President Donald Trump plans to name Moncef Slaoui, the former head of GlaxoSmithKline Plc’s vaccines division, and Gustave Perna, a four-star U.S. general, to lead a Manhattan Project-style effort to develop a vaccine for the novel coronavirus, two people familiar with the matter said.
Slaoui, 60, and Perna will oversee the initiative known as Operation Warp Speed, according to the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity ahead of an announcement expected later Wednesday. Slaoui will work on a volunteer basis. The Trump administration project seeks to produce 300 million doses of a Covid-19 vaccine by the end of the year, hastening development by simultaneously testing many different candidates and beginning production before they’ve completed clinical trials.
Italy Approves $60 Billion Stimulus Package (2:58 p.m. NY)
Italy’s government approved a much-delayed 55 billion-euro ($60 billion) stimulus package to rescue an economy crippled by a two-month nationwide lockdown, promising a boost in liquidity for businesses and aid for families in need.
The new spending includes emergency income measures, extra funding for companies and tax cuts for some 4 billion euros. Non-reimbursable grants for small and medium-sized companies will also be available.
Italy registered the fewest new coronavirus cases in two days on Wednesday. Civil protection authorities reported 888 cases, compared with 1,402 a day earlier, taking confirmed cases to 222,104. Daily fatalities rose to 195 from 172 on Tuesday, with a total of 31,106 reported since the start of the pandemic in late February.
French Deaths at Slowest Pace in Three Days (2:45 p.m. NY)
French virus deaths rose at the slowest pace in three days on Wednesday, at 83. New cases were little changed over the day at 213,664. Hospitalizations fell by 524 to 21,071, the lowest since March 30. Patients in intensive care because of the virus, which health officials consider a key indicator of the pressure on France’s health-care system, fell by 114 to 2,428, about a third of the peak in April.
France has started easing lockdown measures that helped slow the coronavirus outbreak, with many stores reopening after almost eight weeks. The number of people in France who had been infected was estimated to be 2.8 million as of May 11, or 4.4% of the population, according to a study based on modeling published in Science magazine on Wednesday.
U.K. Aid Claims Top $416 Million on First Day (2:25 p.m. NY)
The U.K. government’s coronavirus aid program for self-employed people received more than 340 million pounds ($416 million) of claims in its first morning of operation. Some 110,000 people had applied for the cash grants by noon on Wednesday, Jim Harra, chief executive officer of the U.K. tax authority, told Sky News in an interview.
N.Y. Probes Illness in Kids (1:40 p.m. NY)
New York state is investigating 102 reported cases of an inflammatory disease in young children that’s thought to be related to the coronavirus, Governor Andrew Cuomo said, after a 5 year-old boy in New York City, a 7 year-old boy in Westchester County, and an 18 year-old girl in Suffolk County died.
The disease causes inflammation of the blood vessels and can affect the heart, he said. Of the cases being investigated, the children showed symptoms of an inflammatory disease like the Kawasaki disease or toxic shock-like syndrome, he said. At the request of the CDC, the state is helping to develop the criteria for identifying and responding to the illness; 14 other states and five European countries have reported cases.
Vaccine Just One Step In Stopping Virus, WHO Warns (1:15 p.m. NY)
The “massive moonshot” of finding a Covid-19 vaccine will be only the first step toward eradicating the disease, a World Health Organization official warned, saying that access must be ensured around the world.
“Science can come up with the vaccine, but someone has got to make it, and we’ve got to make enough of it that everyone can get a dose of it, and we have got to be able to deliver that, and people have got to want to take that vaccine,” said Mike Ryan, head of the WHO’s health emergencies program. “Every single one of those steps is fraught with challenges.”
It’s impossible to make promises now about when the virus could be eradicated, Ryan said, noting that resistance to vaccine use has contributed to the spread of diseases, such as measles.
U.S. House Republicans Urge WHO, China Probes (12:50 p.m. NY)
Republicans want a new congressional panel created to monitor coronavirus dollars to also investigate “the actions and inactions” of the World Health Organization, China and the U.S. House of Representatives itself in the early stages of the outbreak.
The demands are included in a list of rules the GOP wants the Democratic-led committee to adopt as safeguards against “partisan political ends,” in a letter delivered just hours before the panel holds its first hearing Wednesday on how to safely reopen the U.S. economy.
Abbott Test May Miss Many Cases (11:26 a.m. NY)
The coronavirus test from Abbott Laboratories used at the White House and other prominent locations to get rapid answers on whether someone is infected may miss as many as half of positive cases, according to a report from New York University. The findings have yet to be confirmed. An analysis of Abbott’s ID NOW found it missed at least one-third of positive cases detected with a rival test and as many as 48% when using the currently recommended dry nasal swabs.
Air Travel to Lag for Years (11:02 a.m. NY)
Demand for air travel will lag behind pre-virus forecasts by about 10% for at least five more years, according to the International Air Transport Association. Traffic next year will be down between a third and two-fifths from projections made prior to the pandemic, according to IATA, which doesn’t see travel recovering to last year’s levels until 2023 at the earliest.
