This post was originally published on this site
The number of U.S. cases of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 rose Friday to exceed the combined tolls of Spain, Italy and France, the next three countries with high case counts, while the number of deaths climbed to second place behind Italy.
There are now 1.62 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 worldwide and 97,200 fatalities, according to data aggregated by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University. At least 365,142 people have recovered.
The U.S. case tally stands at 466,393 and 16,703 fatalities. At least 26,522 Americans have recovered.
Spain has 157,022 cases and 15,843 deaths. Italy has fewer cases at 143,626, but the highest number of deaths in the world, at 18,279. France has overtaken Germany in case numbers with a tally of 118,790 and 12,228 deaths. Germany has 118,235 cases and just 2,607 deaths.
China, where the virus was first reported late last year, has 82,940 cases and 3,340 deaths, although some have questioned the accuracy of those numbers. Iran, another hot spot, has 68,192 cases and 4,232 deaths. The number of countries reporting cases rose to 185 with Yemen reporting its first infection.
Adding to the gloom, the U.S. death tally is likely an underestimate, a researcher at Johns Hopkins told the New York Times. Many coroners in remote areas do not have sufficient testing kits to confirm cases and deaths from February and March that were blamed on regular flu may have been due to COVID-19, the researcher said.
Spain’s death toll fell to 605 on Friday from 683 a day earlier, or a growth rate of 3%, way below the daily average of 20% seen in mid-March. Spain’s parliament endorsed a government request to extend the current state of emergency for another two weeks, a second two-week extension, the Associated Press reported.
Spain has been under lockdown since March 14. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez told lawmakers he didn’t expect the crisis to end soon. “I’m sure that in two weeks’ time I’ll have to extend the state of emergency again,” he said.
In Italy, there are concerns that the Mafia is building local support by distributing free food to poor families who are quarantined and have run out of cash, Agence France-Press reported. Organized crime groups are also offering interest-free loans in return for future favors, according to Italian anti-mafia author Roberto Saviano.
“If Europe doesn’t intervene soon the multiplication of Mafioso money that’s already in Germany, France, Spain, Holland, Belgium will be unrestrained,” Saviano, who is the author of the best-selling “Gomorrah” told journalists on Thursday.
In France, the police are stepping up checks to discourage people from taking advantage of sunny weather expected over the Easter holiday weekend and flouting social distancing and other public-safety rules, AFP reported. At least 50 people on the French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle have tested positive for Covid-19, officials said Friday. The French Defense Ministry said the ship was headed towards Toulon, its home port, earlier than planned.
There was grim news from New York, the epicenter of the U.S. outbreak, when city workers started to bury virus victims on Hart Island’s potter’s field, a traditional resting place for people who have died in penury or whose families could not afford proper burials. The temporary measure comes as New York’s morgues are overwhelmed by the number of dead, the New York Post reported.
New York suffered its biggest one-day increase in virus deaths on Thursday at 799, setting a record for a third straight day. The death toll for the state now stands at 7,067, or almost three times the 2,753 lives lost in the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
On the economic front, consumer prices fell 0.4% in March to mark their biggest decline in five years, according to data from the Labor Department.
The pandemic’s shutdown of businesses is creating massive slack in the economy, and price pressures are expected to continue to fall in coming months.
President Donald Trump said his administration’s proposed bailout program for the airline industry may be unveiled this weekend. “I think it’s going to be a very acceptable package. It’s a very big package,” Trump said at a White House press briefing on the coronavirus outbreak.
Airlines have been particularly hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, as most passenger flights have been grounded. The $2.3 trillion stimulus package approved last month includes about $32 billion in grants for airlines, airports and cargo operators.
In medical news, the Food and Drug Administration issued emergency use authorizations to blood purification devices manufactured by Terumo Corp. 4543, +0.13% and Marker Therapeutics Inc. [ MRKR, +1.74% in response to the pandemic. Terumo is a Japanese medical device maker. Marker is a clinical-stage immuno-oncology company based in Houston.
An EUA does not mean that the device has been approved by the FDA; it is an authorization granted during an emergency when there are no other treatment options available. The regulator said that the devices can be used for adult patients with COVID-19 who are being cared for in the intensive care unit and have confirmed or imminent respiratory failure to reduce the amount of cytokines in those patients. Some severely ill COVID-19 patients have had “cytokine storms” that can lead to organ failure and death.
Company announcements slowed on Friday with financial markets closed for the Good Friday holiday. But some companies said they are delaying earnings for the first quarter when the season kicks off next week and others announced further pay cuts for executives.
Read: Stocks will revisit their coronavirus crash low, and here’s when to expect it
Here’s what companies said about COVID-19 on Friday:
‘ • 3M Co. MMM, -0.81% has filed suit in federal court against Performance Supply LLC, alleging illegal price gouging and deceptive practices in the sale of N95 respirators. 3M alleges that the New Jersey-based company, which falsely claimed to be a 3M affiliate, had offered to sell $45 million worth of N95 face masks to New York City at prices that were 6 to 7 times (500% to 600%) above 3M’s list price. Any damages recovered as a result of the lawsuit will be donated to COVID-19-related nonprofit organizations. 3M has not changed prices on face masks since the COVID-19 outbreak.
‘ • Amazon.com Inc. AMZN, -0.01% plans to test front-line workers and eventually all of its workers for COVID-19. “Regular testing on a global scale across all industries would both help keep people safe and help get the economy back up and running,” said a blog post. The online-retail powerhouse has started assembling equipment to build its first lab. Amazon, which employs about 800,000 worldwide, is in the process of hiring another 100,000 full- and part-time employees in the U.S. to help at its fulfillment centers and delivery services.
• Advance Auto Parts Inc. AAP, +4.23% is offering workers emergency pay that includes additional paid sick time of 80 hours for full-time workers and 44 hours for part-time workers to help them during the pandemic. The after-market car parts provider is also offering team members a grant of up to $300 to help with living expenses, such as child-care costs. Raleigh, N.C.-based Advance Auto is offering customers curbside pickup and same-day delivery via its mobile app. The company is reducing capital spending for 2020 by 50%, withdrawing financial guidance for 2020 provided on Feb. 18 and has suspended its share buyback program.
• Kemper Corp. KMPR, +7.27% will provide a 15% credit toward April and May premiums to holders of personal auto insurance. Customers with auto insurance in force as of April 30 will receive a 15% credit of their April premium in May, and those with auto insurance in force as of May 31 will receive a 15% credit in June. The credits will total $100 million, and are subject to approval by regulators. A number of insurers have announced refunds as stay-at-home practices has led to less driving and fewer accidents.
• Lear Corp. LEA, +2.31% is implementing a temporary 20% salary deferral for all salaried employees in the U.S. and Canada. The auto parts maker is cutting CEO Ray Scott’s salary by 10% for the rest of 2020, and other named executive officer salaries will be cut by 5%.
Don’t miss: Weekend reads: All the benefits and financial help you can get during the coronavirus crisis
• ON Semiconductor Corp. ON, is laying off 475 employees as part of a cost-savings measure. The chip maker, which employs nearly 35,000 people worldwide, said the “targeted cost reductions are structural in nature and are not expected to impact the company’s ability to respond to a significant recovery in demand.” Severance costs are expected to be $43 million to $47 million over the first and second quarters with the reductions saving about $65 million to $70 million a year.
• Scotts Miracle-Gro Co. SMG, +6.46% is shifting production at its Temecula, California facility to produce face shields for first responders in the coronavirus pandemic. The Marysville, Ohio-based fertilizer, seeds and nutrients producer expects to donate the first batch of 9,000 face shields to workers, including police officers and hospital staff, in Temecula, Nassau County in New York and New York state, the current epicenter of the U.S. outbreak. The Temecula plant usually makes durable products such as lawn spreaders. “Our country is facing a challenge unlike anything it’s ever seen before, “ said Jim Hagedorn, chairman and CEO, in a statement.
• Coach and Kate Spade brands parent Tapestry Inc. TPR, +4.87% will extend store closures in North America and Europe by two weeks through April 24. The luxury retailer, which brands also includes Stuart Weitzman, said it would assess store closure decisions every two weeks. Employees at closed stores will receive pay and benefits. In China, “essentially all” of its stores have reopened, with results “slowly and steadily” improving, while in South Korea, all store have resumed normal operating hours. Most distribution stores remain open, with only one in Malaysia and a third-party facility in New Jersey closed temporarily.
• Textron Inc. TXT, +5.55% will delay the release of its first-quarter earnings report by about a week to April 30. The Securities and Exchange Commission said last month that it was extending the deadline for companies to provide certain disclosure reports by 45 days, but none of the Dow Jones Industrial Average components that responded to a survey conducted by MarketWatch| said they would delay reporting results.
