As the global death of Covid-19 nears 400,000, U.S. health officials are keeping a close eye on caseloads and hospitalization rates as states continue to relax their lockdown measures and reopen different types of businesses.
U.S. cases have been climbing since Memorial Day, but New York City this week reached an optimistic milestone: on Friday, the city, the epicenter of the U.S. outbreak, reported zero coronavirus death for the day. That hasn’t happened since March. NYC is slated to move into its first phase of reopening on Monday.
Still, the virus continues to spread quickly in parts of Latin America and Eastern Europe, according to the World Health Organization. Brazil’s caseload and death rate are particularly stark, even as Reuters reports that President Jair Bolsonaro threatened to pull his country out of the WHO.
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 6.77 million
- Global deaths: At least 395,800
- U.S. cases: More than 1.9 million
- U.S. deaths: At least 109,200
The data above was compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
Houses of worship in parts of NY now allowed to expand gatherings
12 p.m. ET — New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced on Saturday that churches, mosques and temples are allowed to re-open at 25% capacity for regions in Phase 2 reopening.
Regions currently in Phase 2 include the Finger Lakes, Mohawk Valley, Central New York, Southern Tier and North Country and Western New York. The state previously allowed religious gatherings of 10 people or fewer to combat the spread of the coronavirus. — Emma Newburger
Lawsuit accuses Amazon of ‘sloppy contact tracing’
11:15 a.m. ET — A federal lawsuit filed Wednesday by three Amazon warehouse workers accuses the company of engaging in “sloppy contact tracing” and failing to follow proper guidelines laid out by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other public health agencies for tracking and preventing the spread of the Covid-19 coronavirus among workers.
For instance, after an Amazon employee tests positive for Covid-19, the company reviews video footage to determine which other employees may have become exposed to the virus, but Amazon does not interview the infected individual to get a more complete picture, per CDC guidelines, the lawsuit alleges.
Last week, Amazon notified employees of multiple new cases at Amazon’s Staten Island facility, known as JFK8 and where the plaintiffs are all employed, according to the lawsuit. In a statement, Amazon told CNBC the company has always followed the guidance of federal and local health authorities. Read Annie Palmer’s full report for CNBC here. —Tom Huddleston Jr.
Amazon drivers begin their delivery routes as workers at an Amazon warehouse in Staten Island, New York prepare to walk off their jobs demanding stepped-up protection and pay after several workers at the facility were diagnosed with COVID-19.
Paul Hennessy | Barcroft Media | Getty Images
Surprising jobs report has economists talking again about a V-shaped recovery
10:45 a.m. ET — Chatter about a V-shaped recovery has reignited following a surprise report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Friday showing a decrease in unemployment, contrary to expectations.Jan Hatzius, chief economist at Goldman Sachs, said in a note that the report marks the “beginning of the labor market recovery,” while Tom Porcelli, chief U.S. economist at RBC Capital Markets, called May’s job gains “only the beginning.”
Still, experts say there’s a long road ahead. The 2.5 million jobs gained in May represent only a small portion of the jobs lost in March and April, and varying levels of social distancing restrictions remain in place around the country. Scott Clemons, chief investment strategist at Brown Brothers Harriman, said the recent rally in stocks was the market anticipating a recovery in activity. “That seems to be coming more quickly than what anybody anticipated,” he said. — Tucker Higgins
Post-pandemic, you might find a robot doing your job
10:22 a.m. ET — During downturns, companies usually invest in automation to save on labor costs. Thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, we’ll see even more of that, according to futurist and author Ravin Jesuthasan, who’s written four books on the future of work and is a member of the World Economic Forum’s Steering Committee on Work and Employment. CNBC’s Annie Nova has the full report. — Kenneth Kiesnoski
Ravin Jesuthasan
Source: Ravin Jesuthasan
Please wait in your car until we call you
10 a.m. ET — Business owners are getting creative with their reopening strategies, trying to balance the need to protect staff and customers amid a pandemic and the desperate desire to get back to work.
From treadmills surrounded by translucent plexiglass barriers to parking lot waiting rooms, here’s what you can expect to see as America gets back to work. CNBC’s Cory Stieg has the full report. — Elisabeth Butler Cordova
How and when professional sports can come back
9:50 a.m. ET — So many sports fans are ready for some semblance of pro sports to return. CNBC’s Brian Clark and Jordan Smith explain how it might look when it happens in the video below. —Elisabeth Butler Cordova
