Coronavirus live updates: JetBlue will require passengers wear masks, US cases near 1 million

A handful of biotech and pharmaceutical companies are kicking off earnings season this week, weaving Covid-19 updates into quarterly results tinged by the impact of a global pandemic. The virus continues to spread, with more than 3 million people worldwide now confirmed with the infection, as countries and U.S. states begin to ease lockdown restrictions. 

This is CNBC’s live blog covering all the latest news on the coronavirus outbreak. All times below are in Eastern time. This blog will be updated throughout the day as the news breaks. 

• Global cases: More than 3 million
• Global deaths: At least 211,522
• US cases: More than 988,400
• US deaths: At least 56,253

The data above was compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Health officials in the UK have warned that Covid-19 could be causing a new and rare inflammatory condition in children.

Britain’s Paediatric Intensive Care Society (PICS) said in a statement on Monday that it had been alerted to a small number of critically ill children presenting with “an unusual clinical picture” by the National Health Service (NHS).

The PICS noted that many — but not all — of the children with symptoms of the new inflammatory disease had been diagnosed with Covid-19. The condition was likened to toxic shock syndrome and Kawasaki disease.

Toxic shock syndrome is a rare, life-threatening condition caused by bacteria getting into the body and releasing harmful toxins. Symptoms include a high temperature, a sunburn-like rash and flu-like symptoms such as a headache and sore throat. Kawasaki disease causes swelling of heart’s blood vessels and mainly affects children under the age of 5, according to the U.K.’s NHS. Symptoms include a rash, swollen glands in the neck, dry or cracked lips and red fingers or toes. —Chloe Taylor

Airlines are stepping up policies to ensure passengers and employees wear face masks on board amid concerns about the spread of coronavirus.

Starting May 4, all JetBlue Airways passengers will be required to wear a face covering, the strictest policy so far in the U.S. and one that follows the New York-based airline’s requirement that flight attendants wear a mask or face covering while on duty.

American Airlines and Delta Air Lines earlier Monday said they will require thousands of employees to wear face masks and provide masks for passengers.

Airline labor unions have repeatedly demanded stronger protections against coronavirus. While air travel in the U.S. is down some 95% from a year ago because of the virus and stay-at-home orders around the world, flight crews have raised concerns about catching the virus on the job and have sought federally mandated procedures. —Leslie Josephs

Stocks rose sharply on Tuesday as investors continued to be optimistic about the prospect of states re-opening the U.S. economy. The Dow Jones Industrial Average traded 365 points higher, or 1.5%, putting it on pace for its first five-day winning streak since January. The S&P 500 climbed 1.4% while the Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.9%.

A partial reopening of the economy — in Alaska, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and others — boosted investor sentiment, with certain U.S. businesses poised to benefit from the first wave of consumers emerging from the coronavirus driven quarantine. —Fred Imbert, Maggie Fitzgerald

Quest Diagnostics announced that individuals can now skip a doctor’s visit and order a coronavirus antibody test online in a push to broaden Covid-19 screening.

An antibody test shows whether someone has been exposed to or potentially had the coronavirus and developed the antibodies to fight the infection. It doesn’t guarantee immunity, but physicians say a positive antibody test indicates that a patient may have some level of protection against reinfection. The test costs $119, according to Quest’s website.

Quest screens patients online to determine whether or not an antibody test is appropriate and then sends them to have their blood drawn at one of Quest’s 2,200 laboratories, Quest said in a statement. The results are available within one to two days after a blood sample is taken, the company said. —Noah Higgins-Dunn

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told CNBC on Tuesday the government will perform a full audit on any company taking out more than $2 million from the small business loan program. 

The government will do a “full review” of the loans before offering businesses forgiveness for the funds, Mnuchin said. The program allows companies to have their loans forgiven, provided they spend the funds on payroll, benefits, rent and utilities.

The program faced backlash after several public companies disclosed they had taken out the loans, which were intended to help small businesses with less than 500 employees weather the coronavirus crisis. The government later issued clarifying guidelines to narrow down the companies able to apply for the loans. —Lauren Hirsch 

Ford Motor expects the reopening of its European plants to begin Monday. The plants have been shuttered since March 19 due to the coronavirus pandemic, which caused a rolling shutdown of its manufacturing plants globally.

Ford operates 19 manufacturing facilities in Europe and employs about 59,000 people, including joint ventures. The plants will resume operations gradually, with new global standards on social distancing, employee health and safety actions, according to the company.

Ford also will provide employees in Europe with a personal “care kit” that includes disposable face masks, a reusable thermometer and other hygiene items, the company said.

Employees at non-production locations in Europe will start to return in a phased approach from May 4, Ford said. —Michael Wayland, Melodie Warner 

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Tuesday he was surprised that the Los Angeles Lakers — one of the best-known and most-successful basketball franchises — took a loan designed to help small businesses weather the coronavirus pandemic.

“I’m not a big fan of the fact that they took a $4.6 million,” Mnuchin told CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” “I think that’s outrageous.”

Mnuchin added he “would have never expected in a million years that the Los Angeles Lakers” would take such a loan. He also said he was “glad” the team returned the money, “or they would have had liability.”

The Lakers were the second most-valuable team in the National Basketball Association entering 2020, with a valuation of $4.4 billion, according to Forbes. —Fred Imbert 

Doctors around the U.S. are joining lawyers and financial advisors in urging Americans to create essential documents that can help medical providers better coordinate their care. One form is an advanced directive, or living will, which states your wishes for medical care. Another legal document, a health-care proxy or power of attorney, names someone to carry out your wishes and make medical decisions if you become incapacitated and are unable to do so.  

“Covid-19 can affect anyone. No one is spared or immune,” said Dr. Sarah Norris, who heads palliative care at the Children’s Hospital of Montefiore in the Bronx. —Sharon Epperson

Turkey’s government aims to begin in late May re-opening the economy that has sharply slowed due to measures to contain the coronavirus outbreak, and officials will aim to avoid a second wave of infections, a senior official said.

“Recent studies have indicated that a reopening of the economy will be possible at the end of May and current developments confirmed this. Steps will be taken to reopen without allowing a second wave of infections,” the official told Reuters. —Reuters

A slew of companies reported quarterly earnings results before the market open. With coronavirus spreading globally and forcing strict lockdowns during the last quarter, the reports this morning show consumers stocking up on household goods and companies wavering on forward-looking guidance as the pandemic hangs uncertainty over future financials. 

Here’s some of what companies reported this morning:

3M —  3M reported first-quarter earnings and revenues that topped Wall Street’s expectations as demand for safety equipment and cleaning products spiked amid the coronavirus pandemic. The company said in a release that it saw a mix of results across its segments, but especially “strong” numbers in its personal safety unit given its role in the production of key N95 respirator masks.

PepsiCo —PepsiCo reported its first-quarter adjusted earnings rose 10% as consumers stocked up on its drinks and snacks to prepare to spend more time at home. However, the company pulled its fiscal 2020 outlook, citing the “the uncertainties associated with the magnitude and duration of the Covid-19 pandemic on our business.” 

Drugmaker Merck, Southwest Airlines and industrial giant Caterpillar also reported results this morning. —Sara Salinas, Thomas Franck, Amelia Lucas

Germany is experiencing an “unprecedented” drop in employment levels, the German economic institute Ifo said, as the coronavirus pandemic hits Europe’s growth engine. 

The Ifo’s employment barometer dropped to 86.3 points in April, having reached 93.4 points in March. The latest reading represents a “historic low,” where all four sectors (manufacturing, construction, services and trade) faced sharply lower employment.

“There has never been such a marked decline in the barometer itself, which will correspond to a rise in unemployment in Germany,” the Ifo institute said in a statement on Tuesday. —Silvia Amaro

Argentina has proposed to ban all internal and international flights through to September 1 as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

President Alberto Fernandez’s administration said on Monday that it plans to suspend the sale of tickets for all commercial flights to and from Argentina over the next four months, warning those that ignore the rules will be fined.

Only flights carrying cargo and those involved in the repatriation of citizens will be allowed to operate, the government said. —Sam Meredith

Pfizer reported first-quarter earnings that beat Wall Street estimates and reaffirmed its full-year revenue guidance as the drugmaker works to develop a vaccine to prevent the coronavirus.

The drugmaker reported adjusted earnings of 80 cents per share, 7 cents higher than Wall Street analysts polled by Refinitiv expected. The company reported revenue of $12 billion, higher than the $11.8 billion expected.

Shares of the company were up nearly 2% in premarketing trading.

Pfizer estimates it can potentially produce millions of coronavirus vaccine doses by the end of this year. —Berkeley Lovelace 

Optimism had just returned to Greece after 10 years of severe financial difficulty, some civil unrest and gloomy economic prospects. But the global pandemic is now making Greeks even more concerned about their futures. 

Greece requested financial help 10 years ago, on April 2010. That was just the beginning of a long and painful crisis. Greece had to endure in total three bailout programs with stringent austerity measures attached, which only ended in August of 2018.

However, the economy has since shown signs of recovery. Gross domestic product hit 1.9% last year and the unemployment rate stood at 17.3% — well below the 27.5% seen in 2013; according to data from Europe’s statistics office.

The ongoing coronavirus outbreak is about to reverse that modest recovery. The International Monetary Fund forecast a 10% contraction in GDP and an unemployment rate of 22.3% for Greece in 2020. —Silvia Amaro

Germany’s coronavirus infection rate has reportedly edged up, prompting the head of the country’s infectious diseases institute to urge people to stay at home as much as possible amid a relaxation of lockdown measures.

Germany’s virus reproduction rate, called the “R” rate or value, is now at 1.0 in Germany, according to Lothar Wieler, the president of the Robert Koch Institute, having risen from 0.7 earlier this month.

The “R” rate means that, on average, every one person with the virus infects one other individual. Keeping this rate below 1.0 is an aim during the coronavirus pandemic. —Holly Ellyatt

Indonesia reported 415 new infections, Reuters reported, taking the total number of cases in the country to 9,511.

Health ministry official Achmad Yurianto also reported eight new deaths, bringing the total number of fatalities to 773. —Holly Ellyatt

Spain reported 301 deaths from the coronavirus over the past 24 hours, down from the 331 fatalities reported Monday, the health ministry said. That brings the overall death toll to 23,822. The total number of cases has risen to 210,773, up from 209,465 the previous day. That’s a rise of 1,308.

Separate data from the National Statistics Institute showed Spain’s unemployment rate rose to 14.4% in the first quarter of the year, up from 13.8% in the previous quarter as a result of the lockdown imposed in Spain in mid-March. —Holly Ellyatt

Sweden’s central bank, the Riksbank, has decided to hold its benchmark interest rate at 0% and also maintained coronavirus-related aid measures without adding more assistance, but said it was ready to do more if needed.

“It was not deemed justified at this point in time to try to increase demand by lowering the repo rate when the downturn in the economy is due to imposed restrictions and people’s concerns about the spread of infection,” the Riksbank said in a statement Tuesday.

“However, this does not rule out the possibility of the interest rate being cut at a later date if this is deemed an effective measure to stimulate demand and support the development of inflation in the recovery phase.”

Sweden bucked the trend set in many of its European countries by not imposing a strict lockdown but rather advising the public to stay at, and work from, home if possible. Its chief epidemiologist told CNBC last week that the capital Stockholm could be heading for herd immunity in weeks. — Holly Ellyatt

Read CNBC’s coverage from CNBC’s Asia-Pacific and Europe teams overnight here: Spain’s daily death toll falls; Germany’s virus reproduction rate rises.