Coronavirus live updates: Delta caps plane capacity at 60%, WHO resumes study of malaria drug

Public health specialists are reviving conversations about a potential vaccine for Covid-19, as mass protests following the death of George Floyd while being subdued by police continue in many U.S. cities. 

White House health advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci said Tuesday he’s concerned about the “durability” of a potential coronavirus vaccine, adding that there’s a chance it might not provide long-term immunity. And former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb told CNBC Wednesday that any effective vaccine will likely still be seasonal. 

This is CNBC’s live blog covering all the latest news on the coronavirus outbreak. This blog will be updated throughout the day as the news breaks. 

• Global cases: More than 6.44 million
• Global deaths: At least 382,451
• U.S. cases: More than 1.84 million
• U.S. deaths: At least 106,694

The data above was compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

4:31 p.m. ET — A White House doctor said President Donald Trump finished a regimen of the anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine “without side effects.”

Trump, who revealed last month he was taking the drug to protect himself from contracting the coronavirus, completed his two-week regimen safely, White House physician Dr. Sean Conley said in a report on the president’s third physical exam while in office.

There is little definitive evidence proving hydroxychloroquine works either as an effective prophylactic or treatment for the coronavirus, though Trump has repeatedly touted its potential.

The president “remains healthy,” Conley concluded in his report, which covered Trump’s physical exams between November and April. —Kevin Breuninger

3:40 p.m. ET — Delta Air Lines is extending a policy that ensures its planes are no more than 60% full through September, a move aimed at calming travelers’ nerves about packed flights during the coronavirus pandemic. The airline previously expected to end the policy on June 30.

Photos of packed planes have circulated widely on social media as passengers found themselves on surprisingly crowded flights. Though airlines say packed planes are rare. Delta said it would use larger planes or add more flights if demand is high.

United and American have put programs in place to notify travelers if their plane is booked over certain capacity thresholds and allow passengers to switch to other flights without paying a fee.

JetBlue and Southwest are also limiting the number of seats they make available on each flight through at least July 6 and July 31, respectively. —Leslie Josephs

3:12 p.m. ET — Many Americans may be working from kitchen tables and home offices during the coronavirus pandemic, but Walmart executives think office space still has a place in the future.

The retail giant is building a new headquarters in its hometown of Bentonville, Arkansas. It will span more than 300 acres and have amenities, including fitness centers, hiking trails and a child-care facility.

During the company’s annual shareholder meeting, which was held virtually, Walmart executives fielded a question about whether the pandemic — and the rise of work-from-home — will change its plans.

Dan Bartlett, the company’s executive vice president of corporate affairs, said it already planned on a flexible office design. He said it’s factoring in evolving work habits during the architectural phase of the project. But CEO Doug McMillon added that offices will remain important, even though employees are productive at home.

“As this crisis has gone on, we’ve noticed things that we’re missing,” he said. For example, he said it’s been hard to onboard new employees, introduce them to people and integrate them into company culture. —Melissa Repko

2:21 p.m. ET — The coronavirus has not mutated in a way that would significantly change how it spreads  among humans or how lethal it is, World Health Organization officials said.

Scientists and virologists are collecting samples of the virus from all over the world and comparing the genetic sequence found in each sample in order to track whether it is evolving, the WHO said. Scientists have so far found only “normal changes” in the virus, Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, head of WHO’s emerging diseases and zoonosis unit, said.

“To date, to my knowledge, we haven’t seen any particular signal in the virus’ behavior or in its sequence that would lead us to believe the virus is changing in its nature, has changed in its transmission dynamics, or changed in its lethality,” Dr. Mike Ryan, executive director of the WHO’s emergencies program, said. —Will Feuer

1:33 p.m. ET — The U.K.’s Prince Charles said the coronavirus pandemic presents a rare opportunity to establish a more sustainable economy. 

“We have a golden opportunity to seize something good from this crisis — its unprecedented shockwaves may well make people more receptive to big visions of change,” the Prince of Wales said at a World Economic Forum event.

Prince Charles outlined five ways that the economy could recover from the coronavirus crisis while also addressing the issue of climate change, including sustainable employment and a transition to net-zero carbon emissions.

He also said the Covid-19 crisis has revealed a need to invest in the areas of science, technology and innovation and that the global economy must advance sustainable investment for both economic growth and employment. Read more on Prince Charles’ speech from CNBC’s Chloe Taylor. —Suzanne Blake

1:16 p.m. ET — Black voters in six swing states have taken a bigger hit from the coronavirus than other racial groups, and they have more concerns about the pandemic moving forward, according to a new CNBC/Change Research poll.

A larger share of black respondents than Hispanic or white voters have been diagnosed with Covid-19 or know someone who has, the poll found. A higher percentage of black voters (42%) than Hispanic (37%) or white (29%) respondents said they or a member of their household have lost their job or been furloughed.

The CNBC/Change Research poll surveyed 3,958 likely voters in Arizona, Florida, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin from Friday through Sunday and has a margin of error of plus or minus 1.6 percentage points. 

A larger share of black voters than Hispanic or white respondents said they are worried about themselves or a family member getting sick, the U.S. economy reopening too soon or their job security and health care costs in the next year.

The survey, which underscores the disproportionate burden black Americans have borne from the pandemic, comes during a week of nationwide protests against systemic racism following a string of police-involved killings of  black men and women. –Jacob Pramuk

1:03 p.m. ET — They serve their country at home and abroad. But thanks to coronavirus lockdowns and stop-movement orders, many Armed Forces members and their families who were set to transfer between bases and had arranged new housing find themselves having to make two payments, for both their old digs and their new ones.

CNBC Senior Personal Finance Correspondent Sharon Epperson speaks with one such family in limbo, and looks at what help is out there for them, and others like them. —Kenneth Kiesnoski

12:51 p.m. ET — The Trump administration will prohibit Chinese passenger airlines from flying scheduled service to the U.S. this month, as a dispute between the governments of the two largest aviation markets escalates.

U.S. airlines suspended service to China earlier this year after demand plunged because of the coronavirus. Delta and United have been trying to return, but Chinese officials haven’t yet permitted them to do so. The U.S., in retaliation, won’t allow passenger airlines from operating their flights between the two countries starting June 16.

“Our overriding goal is not the perpetuation of this situation, but rather an improved environment wherein the carriers of both parties will be able to exercise fully their bilateral rights,” said the U.S. Department of Transportation’s order. “Should the [Chinese aviation authority] adjust its policies to bring about the necessary improved situation for U.S. carriers, the Department is fully prepared to revisit the action it has announced in this order.”

The measure affects Air China, China Eastern, China Southern and Xiamen. The airlines didn’t immediately comment. —Leslie Josephs

12:37 p.m. ET — The Manhattan real estate market continues to struggle in the face of the coronavirus and now has the added challenge of widespread protests in response to the death of George Floyd while in police custody.

Only 160 real estate contracts were signed for Manhattan apartments in May, an 84% drop from last year, according to UrbanDigs. New listings also fell 71% compared to May of 2019, CNBC’s Robert Frank reports. The upper end of Manhattan real estate, which includes expensive condo towers and penthouses, is taking the biggest hit. —Hannah Miller

12 p.m. ET — Even with millions of Americans now working from home, the wage disparity among parents persists, and could likely worsen due to Covid-19.

Already, mothers are paid only 70 cents for every dollar paid to fathers, which translates to a loss of $18,000 a year, according to a new analysis of Census data by the National Women’s Law Center.

Going forward, the gender wage gap could grow as women disproportionately cut back on work to take care of their children as childcare options remain limited. –Jessica Dickler

12 p.m. ET — After sales of Campbell Soup’s iconic broths and soared 35% during its fiscal third quarter, the company is expecting to keep seeing elevated demand, even as the weather heats up and states reopen.

Campbell CEO Mark Clouse said on “Squawk on the Street” that retailers will have to restock their inventories, which will lift demand even if consumers are buying less of those products.

Still, Clouse said that he expects that consumers will continue to eat more soup and consume other Campbell’s products compared to historic levels. The pandemic has reversed consumers’ preference for fresher food options, reviving sales for categories that had been declining in recent years.

Shares of the company fell nearly 5% in morning trading despite it raising its 2020 outlook and topping analysts’ earnings estimates. —Amelia Lucas

11:25 a.m. ET — Amid nationwide protests over the death of George Floyd and the easing of restrictions across the country, public health specialists warn that Covid-19 threatens to bounce back later this year.

Some other countries that were hit hard by the virus, such as Germany and Italy, have driven down the number of daily new infections to just hundreds per day. The U.S. has struggled to do the same with more than 20,000 new cases diagnosed every day.

If that number doesn’t fall, the country could be in for another major outbreak in the fall, public health specialists who spoke with CNBC said, adding that the protests are likely to spread the virus.

“It’s heartbreaking on a number of levels, for sure from the infectious diseases and epidemiology levels,” Dr. Katie Passaretti said. “You have big groups coming together and people from far apart places coming together. It’s a risk for spread of Covid.” —Will Feuer

11:15 a.m. ET — New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said that an 8 p.m. curfew imposed during the heated protests over George Floyd’s death are set to be lifted Monday morning, when the city kicks off the first phase of its coronavirus reopening plan.

“We’re going to end it, as per now … 5 a.m. Monday morning, curfew comes off,” de Blasio said at a press briefing Wednesday. “I’d like for us never to have to use it again if we can do things right, and then we go right into the reopening.”

The first phase of the plan to lift social distancing restrictions will include construction, manufacturing and wholesale businesses, as well as retail businesses that can provide curbside pickup services.

“New Yorkers are resourceful. I have great confidence people will be ready,” the mayor said. He apologized to any businesses dealing with the “additional challenge” of having to repair their stores following the violence and property destruction that occurred during protests over the past week. —Kevin Breuninger

11:10 a.m. ET — AMC, the largest movie theater chain in the world, disclosed concerns about its liquidity and its ability to generate revenue in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.

AMC shared preliminary earnings results that projected the company had lost between $2.1 billion and $2.4 billion in the first quarter ended March 31, while theaters were shuttered due to social distancing regulations. Expectations are that losses will be even steeper in the second quarter.

“We are generating effectively no revenue,” the company said in its filing.

AMC also said it worried that distributors would continue to push back new film releases, either due to coronavirus restrictions on public gatherings or because of production delays, and that some studios will begin offering audiences more movies on-demand or through streaming. —Sarah Whitten

10:26 a.m. ET — The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) said its non-manufacturing activity index rose to a reading of 45.4 last month from 41.8 in April. Economists polled by Dow Jones were expecting a reading of 44.4 in May. The April figure marked the first contraction in the U.S. services sector since December 2009 as the coronavirus pandemic roiled the economy. –Yun Li 

9:40 a.m. ET — Stocks opened higher with the Dow Jones Industrial Average rising 230 points, on pace for a third straight day of gains, despite uncertainty surrounding days of demonstrations to protest the killing of George Floyd and the persistent coronavirus crisis. The S&P 500 climbed 0.7%, while the Nasdaq Composite 0.4%. The Nasdaq 100 index rebounded sharply from its March bottom, now sitting less than 1% from its record high. —Yun Li

9:26 a.m. ET — Johnson & Johnson CEO Alex Gorsky said the company is looking into the coronavirus’ disproportionate impact on black communities.

“What’s the underlying nature? What can we do better to make sure your zip code isn’t contributing more to your life expectancy, frankly, to other health-care factors,” he told CNBC.

J&J has been working on a potential vaccine to prevent Covid-19, which has infected more than 1.83 million across the U.S., according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. The company expects human testing of its experimental vaccine to begin by September and it could be available for emergency use authorization in early 2021. —Berkeley Lovelace, Jr.

7:32 a.m. ET — Any coronavirus vaccine that proves to be safe and effective will still probably only provide immunity for a limited amount of time, maybe “up to a year,” former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb said.

His comments come after White House health advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci said Tuesday he worries about the “durability” of a potential coronavirus vaccine, saying there’s a chance it may not provide long-term immunity.

“This is probably going to be a seasonal vaccine,” Gottlieb said in an interview with CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” “It’s probably a vaccine that we’re going to need to take every year. Dr. Fauci’s right, the immunity’s not going to be long term in the form of a smallpox vaccine or a polio vaccine where you get the vaccine once and you’re protected for the rest of your life or most of your life.”

Eventually, people might be asked to take the coronavirus vaccine annually along with the flu vaccine, Gottlieb said. —Will Feuer

Disclosure: Scott Gottlieb is a CNBC contributor and is a member of the boards of Pfizer and biotech company Illumina.

7:02 a.m. ET — Sweden’s chief epidemiologist, who advocated a no-lockdown strategy to combat the coronavirus crisis, conceded that more should have been done to tackle the epidemic.

“Yes, I think we could have done better in what we did in Sweden, clearly,” Anders Tegnell, state epidemiologist at Sweden’s Public Health Agency, told Swedish radio, according to a Reuters report.

“If we were to run into the same disease, knowing exactly what we know about it today, I think we would end up doing something in between what Sweden did and what the rest of the world has done,” he said.

Unlike most of Europe, Sweden decided against implementing a full lockdown of businesses and schools when the coronavirus began to spread in Europe in March, opting instead for softer, largely voluntary measures. —Holly Ellyatt