Tokyo Leader Says Stay Home, Australia Hits Record: Virus Update

Singapore Looks to Resume Business Events (10:29 a.m. HK)

Singapore is preparing for the resumption of business events such as meetings, conventions, exhibitions and trade shows as economic activities restart, according to a statement by the Singapore Tourism Board.

STB has developed a risk-management framework for business events with as many as 50 attendees, based on strict safe management measures, according to Wednesday’s statement.

South Korea Has 63 More Cases, Biggest Gain in 2 Weeks (9:24 a.m. HK)

South Korea reported 63 more Covid-19 cases in 24 hours, raising the total tally to 13,879, according to data from the Korea Centers for Disease Control & Prevention.

One additional death was reported, taking the total to 297. Among the new cases, 29 were locally infected, while 34 were imported.

Cathay Pacific Reaches Pact With Airbus to Defer Jet Deliveries (9:08 a.m. HK)

Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. said it reached an agreement with Airbus SE to defer aircraft deliveries as part of its move to preserve cash amid slowing business due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The delivery of A350-900s and A350-1000s will be delayed to 2020-2023 from 2020-2021, while A321neo deliveries will be changed to 2020-2025 from 2020-2023, the airline said in a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange. The company is in advanced negotiations with Boeing Co. to defer 777-9 deliveries.

Silver, Gold Both Soar on Virus Concerns (8:54 a.m. HK)

Silver jumped to the highest in almost seven years and gold continued its march toward a record on expectations more stimulus is needed to help the global economy recover from the coronavirus pandemic.

Holdings in exchange-traded funds backed by the metals are at an all-time high.

Singapore to Enforce Social Distancing Measures (8:42 a.m. HK)

Singapore will step up enforcement of social distancing measures after more people gathered in public areas over the weekend, the country’s Environment and Water Resources Minister Masagos Zulkifli said in a Facebook post.

“I have been concerned that some complacency may be setting in,” Masagos said.

Hong Kong Making Contingency Plans for September Vote (8:38 a.m. HK)

Hong Kong’s government is making contingency plans to ensure Legislative Council elections will be held as scheduled Sept. 6 amid a resurgence of coronavirus cases, Hong Kong Economic Journal reports, citing the Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau.

Medical professionals have suggested authorities could increase the number of voting stations and extend the voting time. The government is also considering whether to allow voters in mandatory quarantine to vote, pro-China newspaper Wen Wei Po reports. Those confirmed to have coronavirus will not be allowed to vote.

Mexico Cases, Deaths Continue to Rise (8:22 a.m. HK)

Mexico reported 6,859 new Covid-19 cases, bringing the total to 356,255, according to data released by the Health Ministry Tuesday night. Deaths rose 915 to 40,400.

Mexico has the seventh-most cases in the world, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

U.S. Says China Hackers Stole Secrets, Sought Virus Data (8:13 a.m. HK)

The U.S. accused two Chinese hackers of working for Beijing to steal or try to steal terabytes of data, including coronavirus research, from Western companies in 11 nations — the second time in a week a foreign nation has been singled out for vaccine-related hacking.

The Justice Department released an indictment Tuesday against the individuals, whom it identified as Li Xiaoyu and Dong Jiazhi. It said that the two men were assisted by China’s Ministry of State Security and that defense contractors and weapons systems were hacked along with medical research.

Vegas Union Drops MGM Coronavirus Lawsuit (7:55 a.m. HK)

A Las Vegas hospitality union dropped a lawsuit against MGM Resorts International for allegedly failing to protect workers from the coronavirus. The Culinary Workers Union Local 226 said it abandoned legal action in favor of “expedited” arbitration over new safety measures. The union is still pursuing a similar lawsuit against Caesars Entertainment Corp.

The union alleges the companies failed to protect workers by not requiring guests to wear masks, not informing employees of positive Covid-19 tests in the workplace, and not attempting to keep customers a safe distance from workers during shifts.

Republicans Mull 70% Wage Replacement for Unemployed (7:40 a.m. HK)

Senate Republicans are considering whether to cut the unemployment insurance subsidy to 70% of the $600 weekly addition to state-run unemployment programs provided by the last round of economic aid, or pushing for 70-75% of prior wage replacement, a smaller benefit.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell will make the final call, which could be made public as soon as Wednesday. McConnell is trying to fit many policy proposals under a $1 trillion cap in an effort to acknowledge concerns over increased deficits.

Japan Backs Dexamethasone as Coronavirus Treatment (7:23 a.m. HK)

Japan’s health ministry approves the use of dexamethasone, a steroid, as second drug for coronavirus treatment, according to public broadcaster NHK. Meanwhile, the government will forgo lifting restrictions on large-scale events on Aug. 1, maintaining the cap of 5,000 people for the time being, Sankei reported.

Trump Warns of Worsening Crisis (6:06 a.m. HK)

President Donald Trump rebooted his coronavirus briefings with a warning about a surge in U.S. cases even as he sought to reassure Americans that his administration has the crisis under control. He took a notably more reserved tone than in earlier briefings, encouraging Americans to wear masks and avoid risky behavior.

“We will defeat the virus,” Trump said. But he added: “It will probably, unfortunately, get worse before it gets better.”

U.S. Cases Rise 1.7%, Less Than Average (5:30 p.m. NY)

Coronavirus cases in the U.S. climbed 1.7% to 3.86 million as of 1:56 p.m. New York time, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University and Bloomberg News. That was less than the average 1.9% increase over the past week. Deaths rose 0.5% to 141,426.

California reported 9,231 new virus cases, a 2.4% increase and greater than the 14-day average of 8,606, according to state health data. The state had 61 new deaths, compared with the 14-day average of 95Texas’s cases increased by more than 9,300, according to state health department figures. It had 131 new deaths, the second-highest daily tally since the pandemic beganMississippi recorded the biggest daily increase in cases among states, according to the Johns Hopkins and Bloomberg data, with a 3.7% rise

Infections Far Exceed Reported Cases, CDC Estimates (3 p.m. NY)

Far more people were infected with the novel coronavirus than previously reported in several corners of the U.S., according to data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The agency conducted a survey looking at antibodies to the virus in 10 U.S. regions. It found prevalence was highly variable from one region to the next, but far higher than the reported number of cases across the board. The presence of antibodies in the blood is evidence that a person’s body had mounted an immune response to the coronavirus.

In the New York City metropolitan area, for example, the CDC estimated based on samples collected in March and April that 6.9% of the population had contracted the virus, a level that would be equivalent to at least 12 times the number of reported cases.

California Surpasses 400,000 Cases (2:30 p.m. NY)

California reported 9,231 new virus cases, a 2.4% increase, pushing its total to 400,769, according to state health data. The most-populous state crossed the 400,000 milestone less than two weeks after hitting 300,000, and has doubled its confirmed cases in the past month. It’s now poised to surpass New York, with about 408,000 cases, as having the most infections in the U.S.

Hospitalizations have also reached a record, jumping 2.5% from the prior day to top 7,000 for the first time. Governor Gavin Newsom said Monday that California has enough hospital capacity, with Covid-19 patients occupying just 17% of available beds across the state. But he pointed out that some counties in more rural areas are seeing strains.

Florida Creates Nursing Homes for Virus Patients (1:15 p.m. NY)

Florida officials are trying to ease pressure on the health-care system by creating a network of nursing homes for people who have Covid-19 but aren’t sick enough to be hospitalized. The state now has about 1,400 beds where elderly Covid-positive patients can be isolated without taking up a bed in a hospital, said Governor Ron DeSantis.

“We cannot allow a contagious patient to be sent back into a long-term care facility that doesn’t have the capability to appropriately isolate them,” DeSantis said at a roundtable discussion about Covid-19 in Tallahassee. “It’s also helpful for hospitals to manage caseloads.”

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has been criticized for a March directive forcing nursing homes to accept patients released from hospitals who were infected with Covid-19.

Antibodies Fade Quickly, NEJM Report Says (12:20 p.m. NY)

Covid antibodies in patients with mild symptoms fade quickly, raising concerns that their immunity from a future infection may not last very long, researchers said in the New England Journal of Medicine.

The first analysis was done on antibodies taken an average of 37 days after symptoms began, with a second after about 86 days, or less than three months. The researchers determined that antibody levels had fallen precipitously, with a half-life of about 73 days between the two time frames. That raises concern that immunity may not last long in people who develop a mild infection, which accounts for the majority of cases.

The results call for caution regarding antibody-based “immunity passports,” herd immunity and perhaps vaccine durability, especially in light of short-lived immunity against common human coronaviruses, according to the researchers led by F. Javier Ibarrondo, from the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California Los Angeles.

N.Y. Quarantine List Grows to 31 States (12:08 p.m. NY)

Ten states were added to New York’s quarantine list — Alaska, Delaware, Indiana, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota, Nebraska, Virginia and Washington — for a new total of 31, Governor Andrew Cuomo said. Minnesota was removed.

Cuomo said he’s looking at potentially adding territories such as Puerto Rico to the mandatory quarantine list. The advisory is based on a seven-day rolling average of the number of positive tests in excess of 10%, or the number of positive cases exceeding 10 per 100,000 residents.

Austria Tightens Restrictions (10:05 a.m. NY)

Austria is again tightening measures against the virus, dialing back part of its easing in the past few weeks as new infections have surged in various clusters. Border controls will tighten, as a significant share of infections are coming from travelers returning from Balkan countries such as Serbia and Romania. Face masks will again be required in supermarkets, banks and post offices.

First Vaccine May Be Approved in 2020: EU Regulator (8:02 a.m. NY)

European regulators could approve the first vaccine against Covid-19 this year, after a flurry of trials by drugmakers leading the race showed promising results.

“We are preparing ourselves for that possibility so that we as regulators will be ready,” Marco Cavaleri, head of anti-infectives and vaccines at the European Medicines Agency, said in an interview Tuesday. “It will be a matter of seeing whether this data could be sufficient for allowing any kind of approval by the end of 2020.”

Separately, U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s senior medical adviser, Chris Whitty, said there’s only a slim chance of an effective vaccine being available by Christmas, even as the University of Oxford reported progress on its initiative.

Hong Kong Denies Lockdown Speculation (7:26 a.m. NY)

Hong Kong’s government said speculation was false that the city would be locked down in coming days after 58 additional local cases were reported Tuesday, including 24 of unknown origin. The Asian financial hub has been caught off-guard by the sudden eruption of infections, close to half of which are untraceable.

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