Coronavirus live updates: Moderna vaccine candidate takes ‘crucial step,’ Germany warns crisis is not over

FAN Editor

Governments and health officials are trying to strike a balance between reopening economies and staving off a second wave of infections. Meanwhile, drugmaker Moderna received a “crucial” FDA approval for phase 2 trials of its vaccine candidate. Another 3.17 million Americans filed for unemployment last week. 

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 3.7 million 
  • Global deaths: At least 264,111
  • US cases: More than 1.2 million
  • US deaths: At least 73,431

The data above was compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

8:58 am: European airlines warn it could take years for demand to bounce back

Both IAG — the parent company of British Airways, Vueling and Iberia — and AirFrance-KLM withdrew their earnings forecasts for the year as the ongoing coronavirus pandemic creates uncertainty about when travel will return to normal.

“We are planning for a meaningful return to service in July 2020 at the earliest, depending on the easing of lockdowns and travel restrictions around the world,” Willie Walsh, IAG chief executive officer, said in a statement Wednesday.

“However, we do not expect passenger demand to recover to the level of 2019 before 2023 at the earliest,” he added.

AirFrance-KLM also warned that it will take “several years” to return to pre-virus passenger demand. 

Read more on AirFrance-KLM and IAG’s quarterly results from CNBC’s Silvia Amaro. —Melodie Warner

8:30 am: Another 3.17 million Americans file for unemployment 

Another 3.17 million Americans filed initial claims for unemployment support last week, bringing the total number of claims across seven weeks to more than 33 million. 

Economists polled by Dow Jones expected a tally of 3.05 million. Read more on the jobless claims data from CNBC’s Jeff Cox. —Sara Salinas

8:12 am: Kohl’s begins reopening stores, on pace to have 25% of stores back by next week

Kohl’s announced it will reopen stores across an additional 10 states on Monday, having reopened already in four states — Arkansas, South Carolina, Utah and Oklahoma — earlier this week. CEO Michelle Gass said about 25% of Kohl’s stores will be open by next week, if everything goes as planned.

Operating hours until further notice will be reduced to 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., the company said, and there will be dedicated shopping hours in place for at-risk individuals, including pregnant customers, each Monday, Wednesday and Friday, from 11 a.m. to noon. The retailer will be shutting all fitting rooms until further notice.

Notably, Kohl’s also said it will still be accepting Amazon returns — a program it rolled out to all locations last year — in a separate part of each store.

Kohl’s joins a growing list of retailers including Macy’s, Nordstrom and Gap that are putting plans in place to get stores back up and running after many were temporarily shut in mid-March. It remains to be seen if shoppers are ready to get back, however. —Lauren Thomas

7:41 am: FDA approves Moderna vaccine for phase 2 study

The Food and Drug Administration approved a Covid-19 vaccine candidate from drugmaker Moderna to enter a phase 2 trial. 

The trial will involve 600 participants and stands as a “crucial step” toward potential full clearance of a first batch as early as 2021, the company said. Shares of Moderna surged on the news. 

Read more about Moderna’s announcement and forthcoming trial from CNBC’s Will Feuer. —Sara Salinas

6:20 am: German officials caution the crisis is not over yet

German officials have warned that the coronavirus crisis is not over yet, despite efforts to increasingly open up its economy and public life as the number of new infections trends downward.

“We are not living after the pandemic now — rather we are living in the middle of a pandemic, one that will be with us for a while — at least for this year and that’s being very optimistic,” Helge Braun, Chancellor Angela Merkel’s chief of staff, told Deutschlandfunk radio, according to a Reuters report.

Germany has recorded 168,162 confirmed cases of the virus, and 7,275 deaths, far fewer fatalities than other western European countries including France, Italy, Spain and the U.K.

Meanwhile, Lars Schaade, vice president of the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) of infectious diseases, warned that it was possible that the country could see a “second wave” of infections as restrictions are lifted and “when human behavior becomes relaxed again so that there is a higher number of transmissions.”

Germany started to lift restrictions several weeks ago, allowing smaller shops to reopen. Schools reopened earlier this week. Chancellor Angela Merkel has launched an “emergency brake” mechanism allowing for renewed restrictions in case infections pick up again. —Holly Ellyatt

Read CNBC’s coverage from CNBC’s Asia-Pacific and Europe teams overnight here: Russia posts record daily new cases, UK economy could shrink 14% this year

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