Coronavirus live updates: India’s reported cases exceed 200,000, highest in Asia

Health officials are warning that mass gatherings across the country could further spread the coronavirus, just as much of the economy is beginning to restart. Protests sparked by the police killing of George Floyd, an unarmed black man in Minneapolis, continued for a seventh night with overnight clashes between law enforcement and demonstrators.

The World Health Organization, which has faced criticism for repeatedly praising China for a speedy response to the emergence of the coronavirus, complained in private meetings that China was not releasing enough information or doing so quickly enough about the virus, the Associated Press reported. 

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 6.37 million
• Global deaths: At least 380,251
• U.S. cases: More than 1.83 million
• U.S. deaths: At least 106,181

The data above was compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

12:55 p.m. (Singapore time) – India now has more than 207,000 reported cases of infection and almost half of them have been discharged, according to data from the health ministry. That makes India the worst-affected country in Asia.

There are at least 101,497 reported cases that are still active, while 100,302 have been discharged and 5,815 people have died. Cases climbed over the last several months despite the government imposing a national lockdown in late March and extending it multiple times through May. Low-risk areas of the country are beginning to resume operations.

The infection peak in one of the world’s most populous countries is still “very far away,” according to the government-run Indian Council of Medical Research, Reuters reported.

Only the U.S., Brazil, Russia, U.K., Spain and Italy have reported more infection cases than India, Johns Hopkins University data revealed. Russia, which has the third highest number of cases in the world, is technically part of both Europe and Asia, but most of its major cities are in the European part. – Saheli Roy Choudhury

11:54 a.m. (Singapore time) — Australia’s Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said the economy is already in recession after it was hit by the worst bushfire season in living memory, prolonged drought and the coronavirus pandemic, Reuters reported.

Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed GDP contracted 0.3% between January to March. It slowed to 1.4% through the year and ABS said it was the “slowest through-the-year growth since September 2009.”

Frydenberg was asked if Australia was already in recession, he answered in the affirmative, according to Reuters. He told reporters: “Based on what we know from Treasury, we’re going to see a contraction in the June quarter, which is going to be a lot more substantial than what we have seen in the March quarter.”  — Saheli Roy Choudhury

6:30 p.m. ET — Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s leading infectious disease expert, warned a potential coronavirus vaccine may not provide long-term immunity.

He explained that immunity for other coronaviruses often lasts for three to six months to less than a year. If Covid-19 acts like other coronaviruses, “it likely isn’t going to be a long duration of immunity,” Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said during an interview with JAMA Editor Howard Bauchner.

U.S. officials and scientists are hopeful a vaccine to prevent Covid-19 will be ready in the first half of 2021. Last month, Fauci said he was hopeful scientists would find a workable candidate but warned of potential pitfalls in developing any vaccine. —Berkeley Lovelace Jr.

6 p.m. ET — The Minnesota National Guard said Tuesday it plans to test all of its nearly 7,000 deployed officers for the coronavirus after one tested positive and nine others developed symptoms.

The state’s National Guard is deployed in response to mass protests sparked by George Floyd’s death, caused by a Minneapolis police officer who knelt on the unarmed black man’s neck for nearly nine minutes.

“Upon activation, all of our members were screened for health readiness, including for symptoms of COVID-19,” Lt. Col. Dean Stulz said in a statement, adding that one service member tested positive for Covid-19 and has been placed in isolation.

Nearly a dozen public health specialists who spoke with CNBC have expressed concern that the protests will lead to greater spread of Covid-19 as many unmasked officers and protesters clash. —William Feuer

5:30 p.m. ET — Amazon sent a notice to brands early Tuesday that it’s hosting a “Summer Sale” on June 22, according to a document viewed by CNBC.

The company is still finalizing the details of the event, but it’s being tentatively referred to as the “Biggest Sale in the Sky.” Amazon asked brands to submit deals for items with a discount of at least 30% by the end of the day on Wednesday. 

The summer sale is designed to provide a boost for sellers feeling the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic. Many have found themselves with extra inventory after Amazon moved to prioritize shipments of essential items.The event will also serve as a sales opportunity in the lead up to Amazon’s annual Prime Day event. The two-day summer sales event, which typically takes place in July, is expected to be postponed until at least September. —Annie Palmer

4:45 p.m. ET — Lyft said that rides on its platform increased 26% in May 2020, as states began to reopen, compared to April 2020. Still, the company said in a regulatory filing that its rides are down 70% compared to this time last year.

Lyft’s data is one of the first looks a company has given investors on how well businesses are doing as states start to reopen. The company added that it doesn’t expect its adjusted EBITDA loss for its second quarter to exceed $325 million if average rideshare volume in June stays similar to May 2020 levels. Previously, the company said that loss would not exceed $360 million.  —Jessica Bursztynsky

4 p.m. ET — As Americans in cities nationwide have taken to the streets to protest, a new meta-analysis published in The Lancet Monday found social distancing to be the most effective way to slow the spread of Covid-19.

Thousands of demonstrators in cities across the country have gathered to protest police brutality after the death of George Floyd. But Dr. Holger Schünemann, a professor of medicine and clinical epidemiology at McMaster University in Canada who worked on the analysis, told NBC News the protests heighten the risk of spreading coronavirus.

The analysis comes as public officials, including Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, have expressed concerns that the protests could prompt an increase in the spread of the virus.

Schünemann recommended hand washing and the use of eye and face coverings to lower the risk of spread. The analysis, which reviewed 172 studies to gauge the success of prevention and control measures, found that staying at least 3 feet apart can reduce the likelihood of transmission from 12.8% to 2.6%, though the authors noted distances of 6 feet or more could further lessen the transmission rate. —Alex Harring

3 p.m. ET — U.S. consumers are slowly returning to restaurants as states across the country reopen their economies.
The NPD Group found that restaurant transactions declined just 18% during the week ended May 24.

The industry’s transactions have been bouncing back since hitting a low point in mid-April, but full-service restaurants, which were hit hardest by stay-at-home orders and dining room closures, are slower to recover. Fast-food restaurants, on the other hand, are rebounding more quickly, although the pandemic did not hit their sales as hard. —Amelia Lucas

2:38 p.m. ET — Surveys show that Americans want more financial help from the federal government.

The big question is exactly which initiatives will get the green light from Congress with the next stimulus package.

Multiple proposals are on the table. That includes giving Americans $2,000 per month or another round of one-time $1,200 stimulus checks. Others seek to extend the extra $600 per week in unemployment benefits into next year. Yet another proposal calls for giving people who return to work a $450 weekly bonus.

In order to be successful, those strategies would need to be able to get money into the hands of people who really need them, experts say. Extending enhanced unemployment benefits could be a key way to do that. —Lorie Konish

2:15 p.m. ET — North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, said in a letter to RNC officials Tuesday that it’s “very unlikely” that the Republican National Convention will be held at full-scale participation as President Donald Trump and members of the GOP have demanded.

“As much as we want the conditions surrounding Covid-19 to be favorable enough for you to hold the Convention you describe in late August, it is very unlikely,” Cooper said in the letter. “Neither public health officials nor I will risk the health and safety of North Carolinians by providing the guarantee you seek.”

Trump has repeatedly reprimanded Cooper for upholding social distancing guidelines that would make it impossible to hold the convention at its fullest scale in August. But Cooper has shown that he will not relent on the guidelines out of fear of spreading the coronavirus. —Yelena Dzhanova

1:42 p.m. ET — Mass protests in response to the police killing of George Floyd could jeopardize New York’s progress in slowing the spread of Covid-19, according to Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

The state just recorded an all-time low in new coronavirus hospitalizations with a three-day average of 154 on Monday, CNBC’s Noah Higgins-Dunn and Jasmine Kim report.

If there is an upswing in new cases as a result of the crowded protests, it might not be seen in data until weeks from now.

New York is the hardest-hit state in the pandemic with 371,711 confirmed cases of the virus and 29,917 deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.—Hannah Miller

1:16 p.m. ET — The coronavirus pandemic is expected to take a toll on U.S. new vehicle sales in May, according to Toyota.

“Retail consumers are coming out looking for cars and trucks,” Bob Carter, executive vice president of sales for Toyota Motor North America told CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” “What hasn’t yet returned to the auto industry is the fleet commercial buyer, particularly rental car. Those sales continue to be suppressed at about 20%.”

Carter said the pace of sales is estimated to have picked up in May, averaging 12 million vehicles on an annualized basis. That means if the same number of vehicles were sold every month throughout the year, that would be the industry’s total sales for 2020. That compares to an annualized sales rate of 8.6 million vehicles in April.

Toyota and other automakers such as Hyundai Motor and Honda Motor are scheduled to report last month’s sales Tuesday.

Auto research firms expect new vehicle sales to be slightly less than 1.1 million vehicles in May, down by about 32% to 33% compared to May 2019. While better than expected, the industry’s sales are still a long way off from last year when automakers sold more than 17 million vehicles. —Michael Wayland

12 p.m. ET — Infectious disease experts and doctors fear protests over the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police will spur more Covid-19 infections and potentially make a second wave of the coronavirus in the fall much worse.

However, they also say it’s difficult to balance the desire to protest injustice against the risk of infection.

While protesters cannot completely eliminate the risk of the coronavirus, there are things they can do to decrease the spread or chance of getting it, according to interviews with a dozen epidemiologists, doctors and infectious disease specialists. —Berkeley Lovelace Jr.

11:04 a.m. ET — The Tokyo government warned citizens to stay at home unless they had urgent business and to practice social distancing after recording 34 new coronavirus infections, Reuters reported. 

Japan lifted a state of emergency for the capital on May 25. —Melodie Warner

10:28 a.m. ET — The production community in Canada is looking to jumpstart filming in the country, which was halted in March, with the help of its federal government. The Canadian Media Producers Association is developing a proposal that would ask the government to act as a backstop for coronavirus insurance claims.

According to Variety, producers would pay premiums to access Covid-19 coverage. Those premiums would feed into a pot that would pay for any potential claims. The government would only contribute financially if there wasn’t enough in the pot to cover the claims.

“Without the availability of insurance policies to cover future COVID-19 risks, most production in Canada will not resume,” a CMPA spokesperson said in a statement to Variety. “A government-backstopped insurance program will provide confidence to the marketplace, encouraging insurers to offer COVID-19 coverage, allowing producers to purchase policies, and ultimately allowing Canada’s production sector to re-open, once it is safe to do so.”

In April, CMPA estimated that the shutdown of filming in Canada put around 172,000 jobs at risk and could cost its film industry around $1.8 billion in both domestic and foreign production dollars if the shutdown continues through the end of June. —Sarah Whitten 

10:24 a.m. ET — The seventh installment in the Tom Cruise-led “Mission: Impossible” franchise has plans to start shooting outdoor scenes in September, actor Simon Pegg told Variety. Pegg plays Benji Dunn in the film series.

Production on the film, which was being shot in Italy, was halted in February due to the coronavirus outbreak. Because of these delays, the film was pushed from its July 2021 release date to November 2021. —Sarah Whitten

9:50 a.m. ET — A technical snafu in a U.S. government system caused many small businesses to receive loans twice or more under a federal aid program designed to help businesses hurt by the novel coronavirus pandemic, Reuters reported.

The error was caused by a blind spot in the Small Business Administration’s loan processing system which failed to see when some borrowers submitted applications multiple times, typically with several different lenders.

The government and lenders have been trying to identify and recover the money mistakenly handed out in recent weeks, one of the people briefed on the matter said, according to Reuters. —Melodie Warner 

9:34 a.m. ET — Stocks rose on Tuesday as investors looked past civil unrest around the country and focused on the reopening of the economy from the coronavirus pandemic. The Dow Jones Industrial Average traded 130 points higher, or 0.5%. The S&P 500 climbed 0.3% while the Nasdaq Composite posted a marginal gain. 

Read stock market activity updates from CNBC’s Fred Imbert and Yun Li. —Melodie Warner 

9:08 a.m. ET — Delta Air Lines will fly its last two passenger flights with its MD-88 and MD-90 planes on Tuesday after it pushed up their retirement on because of coronavirus. Delta has parked more than 600 planes because of a plunge in demand over the past few months. The move ends the life of the MD-88 and MD-90s in U.S. passenger airline fleets. American retired its MD-80s last September.

Nicknamed by pilots the “Mad Dog,” the MD-88s are now a vestige of a noisier era of air travel. Delta first took delivery of its MD-88s in 1987, while American got its first MD-80s, or “Super 80” fleet started in 1983. Airlines have since turned to planes that have quieter and more fuel-efficient high-bypass engines.

When Delta removed them from its LaGuardia service in March 2017 Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said: “We welcome Delta Air Lines’ positive and responsive decision to retire these aircraft, which will provide some much-needed noise relief to all nearby neighborhoods.” —Leslie Josephs 

7:12 a.m. ET — What appears to be a seasonal nature of the coronavirus could prevent a spike in confirmed Covid-19 cases in the U.S. this summer, former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb said. However, if daily new cases remain as stubbornly high as they are now, it could set the country up for a nasty fall season, he said.

“I think what happens is we get low-level spread all through the summer. We don’t really see cases come down a lot. We don’t see them go up a lot, and so all the benefits of what could have been a seasonal effect kind of get washed out by the fact that we’re doing more,” he said in an interview on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” “We’re going to accept that, but that sets up risk for the fall.”

The U.S. continues to report nearly 20,000 new cases per day, Gottlieb said, as spread of the virus shifts from the hardest hit cities like New York and Detroit to other communities across the country. With new cases popping up all over and a still-constrained testing infrastructure, Gottlieb said the slow burn of cases could “seed” infections for another major fall outbreak. —Will Feuer

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

6:52 a.m. ET — As daily new cases continue to decline across Western Europe, hotspots in Russia and Eastern Europe continue to worsen, the World Health Organization said, according to Reuters.

“At the moment in Europe, in Western Europe, we are seeing a steady decline,” spokeswoman Margaret Harris told reporters. “It’s not speedy but there’s a steady decline in new cases being reported daily, so that means that the number of new cases are still significant but the number is coming down except for Russia and Eastern Europe where we are still seeing the rise.”

The coronavirus has infected more than 423,186 people in Russia and killed at least 5,031 people, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. It is the third largest coronavirus outbreak in the world, behind only the U.S. and Brazil. —Will Feuer

Read CNBC’s previous coronavirus live coverage here: Moody’s cuts India’s rating to the lowest investment grade