Coronavirus live updates: WHO clarifies remarks on asymptomatic spread; virus spread in China in the fall

FAN Editor

Even as some countries, particularly those first hit by the coronavirus, show some positive signs of improvement, the World Health Organization has warned that the pandemic is still worsening around the world. Most daily new cases are coming from 10 countries, according to the WHO, mostly in the Americas and South Asia. 

In the U.S., the New York City region, which was the initial epicenter of the country’s outbreak, has seen the daily growth of its epidemic decline substantially, and officials have begun to ease restrictions. However, some states that were among the first to reopen have begun to see signs that their outbreaks are worsening. 

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 7.15 million
  • Global deaths: At least 407,145
  • U.S. cases: More than 1.96 million
  • U.S. deaths: At least 111,014

The data above was compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

WHO clarifies comments on asymptomatic coronavirus spread

Travelers walk to the exit of the Hankou Railway Station in Wuhan in central China’s Hubei province Wednesday, April 08, 2020, after 76 days of lockdown of the city due to Covid-19.

Barcroft Media | Getty Images

10:58 a.m. ET — The World Health Organization clarified its comments that transmission of the coronavirus by people who never developed symptoms is “very rare.” WHO’s Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove said during a live Q&A that asymptomatic spread is a “really complex question” and much is still unknown.

An asymptomatic person is someone with Covid-19 who doesn’t have symptoms and never develops symptoms. It’s not the same as someone who later develops symptoms, who would be classified as pre-symptomatic.

Some studies suggest as much as 40% of transmission may be due to asymptomatic individuals, Kerkhove said, clarifying her comments. However, the majority of transmission is likely from people who have symptoms and are spreading it through infectious droplets, she said.

“To truly understand how many people don’t have symptoms, we don’t actually have that answer yet,” she added.

“Some estimates of around 40% of transmission may be due to asymptomatic, but those are from models, so I didn’t include that in my answer yesterday, but wanted to make sure that I covered that here,” she said. —Berkeley Lovelace, Jr.

Satellite images and online searches indicate China had coronavirus in the fall, Harvard study finds

10:17 a.m. ET — An analysis of hospital traffic and search engine data in the Chinese city of Wuhan indicates that Covid-19 may have been circulating there in the fall of 2019.

The study from Harvard Medical School used satellite images of parking lots at six Wuhan hospitals to estimate hospital occupancy trends. It also analyzed data from Chinese search engine Baidu to determine changes in searches for Covid-19 symptoms.

Researchers found there was a steep increase in hospital occupancies from August 2019 that culminated with a peak in December 2019, with peak daily occupancies coinciding with elevated levels of Baidu search queries for the terms “diarrhea” and “cough.”

The report’s authors argued their findings supported theories that Covid-19 was already circulating before the outbreak was first documented in late December, adding that the virus may have even spread internationally before Chinese authorities detected it. —Chloe Taylor

Rate of new cases as states reopen 

Dow falls for the first time in seven days

9:39 a.m. ET — Stocks fell sharply at the open as investors took some money off the table amid a recession from the coronavirus pandemic, reports CNBC’s Fred Imbert and Thomas Franck. 

The Dow Jones Industrial Average traded 370 points lower, or 1.4%. The S&P 500 slid 1.1% while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.5%. —Melodie Warner

Colorado restaurants reopen after millions in losses 

9:30 a.m. ET — Restaurants in Colorado began reopening their doors two weeks ago under strict public health measures that limit the number of diners and require employees to wear protective gear. The city of Denver is also working to help its local restaurants by allowing them to extend their outdoor spaces onto adjacent parking lots, streets and sidewalks.

Troy Guard, owner of TAG Restaurant Group, is hoping he’ll rehire some of the 623 employees he had to furlough when Gov. Jared Polis ordered all bars and restaurants to close on March 17. So far, he brought back 80 employees to staff four locations open for takeout and two that just reopened for dine-in service. His company lost $7.5 million in revenue over the 10-week shutdown. TAG’s 12 locations were making about $3 million in revenue a month before the pandemic.

While restaurant owners are looking forward to reopening their businesses, they remain concerned about a potential surge in Covid-19 cases.

“The biggest thing is that we want to make sure that when we reopen, we don’t have to close again because if we close again, it’s kind of a death sentence,” Guard said. —Jasmine Kim

Retail store closures could accelerate to as many as 25,000 in 2020

A store stands closed near Wall Street as the coronavirus keeps financial markets and businesses mostly closed on May 08, 2020 in New York City.

Spencer Platt | Getty Images

9:15 a.m. ET — As the coronavirus pandemic takes a toll on many retailers’ businesses, there could be as many as 25,000 store closures announced by these companies this year, according to one firm.

U.S. retailers could announce between 20,000 and 25,000 closures in 2020, according to tracking by Coresight Research, with 55% to 60% of those situated in America’s malls. That would also mark a new record — which was previously more than 9,300 locations in 2019.

Bankruptcy filings by retailers have started to mount, and Coresight expects more are on the way.

“We expect that a return to pre-crisis levels in offline discretionary retail sales overall will be gradual, as we expect consumer confidence, demand and spending to be short of normal for some time,” Coresight founder and CEO Deborah Weinswig said in the report. —Lauren Thomas

The newest U.S. hot spots 

Macy’s says reopened stores are performing better than expectations, shares soar

A view outside Macy’s Herald Square during the coronavirus pandemic on May 13, 2020 in New York City.

Noam Galai | Getty Images

8:17 a.m. ET — Macy’s shares are rising after the company released its preliminary financial results, saying customers are returning to reopened stores much faster than it expected. The department store operator is also telling analysts and investors it should enter the holiday season later this year in the lean inventory position. Shares were recently up more than 9% in premarket trading.

With the retailer’s stores shut for most of its fiscal first quarter due to the coronavirus pandemic, sales are expected to fall 45% to $3.02 billion from $5.5 billion a year ago, Macy’s said. It is also forecasting a quarterly net loss of $652 million, or $2.10 per share, for the period ended May 2, compared with net earnings of $136 million, or 44 cents a share, in the same period a year prior. 

As of June 1, Macy’s said it had roughly 450 locations back up and running. The company also on Monday evening announced it has raised $4.5 billion in new financing, giving it “sufficient liquidity” to weather the coronavirus crisis. —Lauren Thomas

Engagement ring sales dropped off steeply during the pandemic, Tiffany says  

8:10 a.m. ET — As people across the globe stayed home during the pandemic, Tiffany saw a sharp drop off in sales — especially for engagement rings.

The luxury jewelry company said same-store sales were down by about 44% during its fiscal first quarter, as most of its 324 stores temporarily closed. Its biggest decline was in engagement jewelry, which plummeted by nearly 50%

Tiffany said sales are gaining steam again, especially in China. Sales in the country jumped by 30% during April and about 90% in May, compared with the same period a year prior. And, it said, its new collection of rose gold and gold with diamonds is catching customers’ eyes. —Melissa Repko

U.S. likely won’t shut down again even if cases rise after reopening, Gottlieb says 

Remdesivir study on monkeys shows drug reduced lung damage

Lab technicians load filled vials of investigational coronavirus disease (COVID-19) treatment drug remdesivir at a Gilead Sciences facility in La Verne, California, U.S. March 18, 2020. Picture taken March 18, 2020.

Gilead Sciences Inc | Reuters

7:42 a.m. ET — Gilead Sciences antiviral drug remdesivir helped to prevent macaques infected with the coronavirus from developing respiratory disease and reduced lung damage associated with the virus, according to a new study published in the medical journal Nature.

The study involved 12 monkeys infected with the coronavirus, with only six of them given remdesivir intravenously early on in the study. Those that received the drug did not develop respiratory disease and suffered less lung damage, the study showed.

“Our data support early remdesivir treatment initiation in Covid-19 patients to prevent progression to pneumonia,” the authors said in the report. The drug did not appear to reduce the infectiousness of the infected animals, however.

“Despite the lack of obvious respiratory signs and reduced virus replication in the lungs of remdesivir-treated animals, there was no reduction in virus shedding,” the study said. Clinical trials involving humans are ongoing. —Holly Ellyatt

AstraZeneca ramps up studies for antibody treatments

A pedestrian walks past signage outside an AstraZeneca Plc research and development facility in Shanghai, China, on Monday, June 8, 2020.

Qilai Shen | Bloomberg | Getty Images

7:05 a.m. ET — British drugmaker AstraZeneca expects to move two potential Covid-19 antibody-based therapeutics into clinical trials in the next two months, the company announced.

AstraZeneca said it licensed the antibodies from Vanderbilt University and hopes to develop them into a potential combination therapy for both the prevention and treatment of Covid-19.

The company, which is already working on a potential coronavirus vaccine, also said it has signed agreements with the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the U.S. Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority to support the development of the potential treatments. —Will Feuer

Read CNBC’s previous coronavirus live coverage here: Brazil faces criticism over data; Germany reports record plunge in exports

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