Coronavirus live updates: New York cases show signs of slowing, US airports see $10 billion in aid

FAN Editor

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 1,949,200
  • Global deaths: At least 123,348
  • US cases: More than 584,000
  • US deaths: At least 24,485

The data above was compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

3:12 pm: 7.5 million small businesses are at risk of closing, report finds

Nearly 7.5 million small businesses are at risk of closing their doors permanently over the next several months if the coronavirus pandemic persists, according to a survey.

Around two-thirds of entrepreneurs said they may have to shut forever if business disruption continues at its current rate for up to five months, according to a survey by Main Street America, a network of more than 1,600 commercial districts comprising 300,000 small businesses.

More than 30% are at risk if the status quo persists for two months, according to the survey, which polled in excess of 5,850 small business owners.

These figures point to 3.5 million small businesses closing permanently in the next two months, and 7.5 million over the next five months, according to Main Street America. —Greg Iacurci

3:05 pm: Cisco will let customers defer 95% of their payments on new products until 2021

Cisco announced a financing program that will let customers defer 95% of their payments for new products until 2021. Cisco is committing $2.5 billion to cover financing for the effort.

The offerings could help customers preserve cash amid reduced economic activity while people stay at home to avoid further spread of the coronavirus. Then, once conditions have improved, they’ll be in a better position to pay what they owe.

Cisco customers won’t have to pay for software, hardware or services they buy for 90 days, so long as orders are placed between Tuesday and July 25. After the 90-day period, they pay 1% in the total contract value per month until the end of 2020, according to the company’s website. They’ll have to make monthly payments in line with the terms of their agreements after that. Pre-owned Cisco products are also available for payment deferrals through 2021. —Jordan Novet

2:48 pm: Trump to convene G7 leaders in video link to discuss pandemic

U.S. President Donald Trump will hold a video teleconference with G7 leaders on Thursday to coordinate national responses to the coronavirus pandemic, the White House said.

Trump, who is head of the G7 this year, had to cancel the group’s annual summit, which he had planned to hold at the presidential retreat of Camp David, Maryland, in June.

The Group of Seven nations include the United States, France, Britain, Italy, Canada, Japan and Germany, and all seven of them have been hit hard by the virus. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was released from a London hospital this week after treatment for the virus, which left him in the intensive care unit for several days.

“Working together, the G7 is taking a whole-of-society approach to tackle the crisis across multiple areas, including health, finance, humanitarian assistance, and science and technology,” said White House spokesman Judd Deere.

The Thursday session is a followup to their March 16 video conference, the first time G7 leaders had met in that format, to go over efforts to defeat the coronavirus. In addition to the meeting this week, another session is expected in May to lay the groundwork for the June video conference. —Reuters

2:38 pm: California signs up more than 58,000 people for health coverage

California has signed up more than 58,000 people for health coverage on the state’s Affordable Care Act exchanges during the first three weeks of the special enrollment period launched in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The enrollment window began on March 20, and the state is allowing previously uninsured residents to sign up for Obamacare plans through June 30.

California, New York, Washington state and the District of Columbia are among nearly a dozen state-run exchanges that have opened up special enrollment periods for the uninsured.

The Trump administration has resisted opening up a special enrollment period on the federally run exchanges and has proposed using money from the $100 billion hospital relief funding to reimburse health systems for treating Covid-19 patients who are uninsured. —Bertha Coombs

2:25 pm: GM says it is ready to deliver first batch of critical care ventilators

2:19 pm: Jamie Dimon says US companies might send employees back to work by ‘June, July, August’

Jamie Dimon said that American companies will start bringing back employees who are working remotely by June at the earliest.

The JPMorgan Chase CEO said that the business world’s return to normalcy will occur in phases and be determined by the conditions in regions and at specific companies. Many businesses have sent employees home or furloughed them amid shutdowns tied to the coronavirus pandemic.

“A rational plan to get back to work is a good thing to do, and hopefully it will be sooner rather than later,” Dimon said in a conference call with analysts. “But it won’t be May. We’re talking about June, July, August, something like that.” —Hugh Son

2:10 pm: Cases in New York top 200,000 as the outbreak appears to slow

The coronavirus has now infected more than 200,000 people across New York state as the Covid-19 outbreak begins to slow and the country continues to ramp up its testing capacity.

New cases across the state rose by 7,177 on Monday, bringing the total number of confirmed infections to 202,208, according to New York State Department of Health data gathered as of midnight. Some 10,834 people have died so far, including one child under 10 years old and six kids between 10 and 19, according to the data. One of the kids had diabetes, but the rest didn’t have any underlying medical conditions, the data shows. —Will Feuer

2:01 pm: US airports get $10 billion in federal aid as the pandemic roils air travel 

A worker walks through a baggage claim area at a nearly-empty O’Hare International Airport on April 2, 2020 in Chicago, Illinois.

Scott Olson | Getty Images

The Department of Transportation says $10 billion in grants are now available for airports as they struggle with the coronavirus pandemic, which as driven down the number of air travelers in the U.S. to levels not seen in decades after states issued shelter-in-place orders and other restrictions.

Airports can use the funds, outlined in the $2 trillion CARES Act, for capital expenditures, payroll, utilities and other operating costs and debt payments. Airports make money from airline fees, parking, retail and other revenue streams. —Leslie Josephs

1:55 pm: Self-employed and need a relief loan? You should wrap up your 2019 taxes right now

Here’s one reason for self-employed people to start their 2019 tax return: The bank might want it when you apply for the Paycheck Protection Program.

The federal government’s $349 billion forgivable loan program opened to independent contractors and self-employed people on April 10, a week after the bumpy April 3 roll out to small businesses.

Just because the loan window is open to entrepreneurs doesn’t mean that they can easily tap the funds.

Currently, banks are asking small businesses to submit payroll expense documents, including payroll tax reports, plus health insurance premium and retirement plan funding data.

Lenders have also limited their PPP applicants to entrepreneurs who already have existing business accounts or loans with them.

This doesn’t sync with the way independent contractors operate – and it’s why some accountants are talking about pushing through tax returns for 2019. —Darla Mercado

1:47 pm: New York Gov. Cuomo says Trump will have ‘no fight with me’ on coronavirus, but he’s ‘wrong’ on the law

New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo during a press conference.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said he will not engage in a fight with President Donald Trump as tension escalated between the two this week over who has authority to reopen the U.S. economy. Trump said he has “total” authority over the states.

“This is not time for politics and it is no time to fight. I put my hand out in total partnership and cooperation with the president. If he wants a fight he’s not going to get it from me. Period,” Cuomo said at a press conference in Albany, adding that Trump is “wrong on the law.”

On Monday, Cuomo announced a formal working group with several other Northeastern governors to coordinate the region’s Covid-19 mitigation efforts as well as any plans to reopen the states for business. Trump, later in the day, told reporters that only he had that power: “When somebody’s the president of the United States, the authority is total, and that’s the way it’s got to be,” which prompted a sharp rebuke from Cuomo. —Noah Higgins-Dunn

1:35 pm: Fauci downplays move to reopen economy: ‘We’re not there yet’

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the government’s top infectious disease expert, said the U.S. does not yet have the critical testing and tracing procedures needed to begin reopening the nation’s economy, adding a dose of caution to increasingly optimistic projections from the White House.

“We have to have something in place that is efficient and that we can rely on, and we’re not there yet,” Fauci said in an interview with The Associated Press.

Fauci’s comments come as President Donald Trump and others in the administration weigh how quickly businesses can reopen and Americans can get back to work weeks after the fast-spreading coronavirus essentially halted the U.S. economy. Trump has floated the possibility of reopening some areas by May 1 and said he could announce recommendations as soon as this week.

Fauci said a May 1 target is “a bit overly optimistic” for many areas of the country. Any easing off the strict social-distancing rules in place in much of the country would have to occur on a “rolling” basis, not all at once, he said, reflecting the ways COVID-19 struck different parts of the country at different times. —Associated Press

1:19 pm: Why you can’t get a refund for a postponed show from Ticketmaster

There’s a reason you can’t get a refund from Ticketmaster for a postponed concert — the online ticket seller doesn’t have your money. The venue does.

“I think there’s a lot of misperception about Ticketmaster,” Joe Berchtold, the president of Live Nation, the company that owns Ticketmaster, said on CNBC’s “Squawk Alley.” “Ticketmaster doesn’t sell these tickets and sit on a mountain of cash. Ticketmaster sells tickets and gives the cash over to the venues where the events are held.”

Over the last week, Ticketmaster has faced backlash from consumers seeking refunds for postponed live events.

Berchtold explained that in order for Ticketmaster to issue refunds it needs to work with the event venues, but those venues are closed due to the coronavirus outbreak. —Sarah Whitten

1:02 pm: ‘Coronavirus is not good news for Unilever’ — CEO says ‘pantry loading’ is largely a US phenomenon

Unilever, the London-based consumer products giant, is not benefiting overall from the coronavirus crisis even though many of its soap and hand-washing brands are seeing increased demand, CEO Alan Jope told CNBC.

Coronavirus is not good news for Unilever. We’re seeing shift in demand for sure,” he said in a “Squawk on the Street” interview. “We’re seeing a big reduction in out-of-home food consumption of ice cream and restaurant products.”

Unilever makes Breyers and Ben and Jerry’s ice cream as well as Hellmann’s mayonnaise and Lipton and Pure Leaf teas. The conglomerate also makes consumer staples such as Dove and Lifebuoy antibacterial soaps.

“Yes, we’re seeing increases in demand in some of the hygiene products,” Jope said. However, the net effect of the outbreak for the company at large is “certainly not good news for us on a commercial basis,” he added.

Jope said panic buying and hoarding of supplies is largely an American phenomenon. “Only in the U.S. are we seeing this kind of dramatic pantry loading. I think the U.S. consumer has typically a bigger house and more appetite for credit card debt than elsewhere in the world.” —Matthew J. Belvedere

12:46 pm: Millions of Americans may not be able to pay bills. These banks are offering relief

12:36 pm: Advertising companies brace for downturn as coronavirus rattles ad spending

As the impact of the coronavirus pandemic hits businesses and their ad spend, advertising holding companies are preparing for a drop in demand, and some are telling their employees to expect staff cuts and furloughs. 

The advertising industry is bracing for a wider impact of any economic fallout on client spending, since marketing is often one of the first items that businesses cut during a financial downturn. Some brand advertisers have said they’ve already dramatically reduced spending.

In an internal weekly email to employees that was viewed by CNBC, Omnicom Group CEO John Wren wrote that the pandemic has had an impact on the economy, clients’ businesses, “and in turn, on ours.” He wrote that the company has solidified internal measures to meet the changing needs of its clients. The holding company operates agencies across the advertising world, including BBDO, DDB and TBWA. 

“Regrettably, this will include furloughs and staff reductions across many of our agencies,” Wren wrote. “We are doing everything we can to limit staff reductions, and to take care of those who are affected.” —Meg Graham

12:22 pm: Apple shipped 2.5 million iPhones in China in March following virus slump

Apple shipped roughly 2.5 million iPhones in China in March, a slight rebound after one of its worst months in the country ever, according to government data published on Friday.

Smartphone companies are hoping for a strong recovery in demand in China, where the deadly coronavirus is subsiding, just as it spreads overseas and looks set to trigger a global recession.

Mobile phone shipments in China in March totaled 21 million units, according to data from the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT), a government think tank.

That was a more than three-fold increase from February, yet still down roughly 20% compared with March 2019. —Reuters

12:15 pm: J&J can produce up to 900 million coronavirus vaccine doses by April 2021 if trials go well

A French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) researcher holds a test tube rack containing cells to be infected with Covid-19 during coronavirus vaccine research work inside the Pasteur Institute laboratories in Lille, France, March 9, 2020.

Adrienne Surprenant | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Johnson & Johnson is aiming to produce between 600 million and 900 million doses of its potential coronavirus vaccine by the end of the first quarter of 2021 if human trials scheduled to begin in September go as planned.

It plans to make 1 billion doses or more annually, J&J executives told investors during a post-earnings conference call.

The comments came shortly after the drugmaker raised its quarterly dividend and reported first-quarter financial results that beat Wall Street’s expectations.

The company also lowered its 2020 adjusted earnings forecast due to the coronavirus outbreak. It’s now expecting a range of $7.50 to $7.90 per share, from its prior estimate of $8.95 to $9.10 per share.

Late last month, the company said human testing of its experimental vaccine for the coronavirus will begin by September and could be available for emergency use authorization in early 2021. —Berkeley Lovelace Jr.

12:09 pm: New York coronavirus deaths are leveling off, but at a ‘devastating level of pain and grief,’ Gov. Cuomo says

Coronavirus deaths are starting to level off in New York state at close to 800 per day with the total number of fatalities reaching 10,834 on Monday, a staggering number that nonetheless shows that shuttering nonessential businesses and keeping New Yorkers home is helping to curb the Covid-19 outbreak, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said.

“That is to me the most painful number and it has been the most painful number every day,” Cuomo said during a press conference in Albany. “Those New Yorkers are in our thoughts and prayers. If you look at the past few days of the number of lives lost, it’s basically flat at a devastating level of pain and grief.” —Noah Higgins-Dunn

11:56 am: 99-year-old WWII veteran raises over $2.5 million for British health-care workers amid the coronavirus

A 99-year-old World War II veteran has raised more than £2.2 million ($2.8 million) for workers in the U.K.’s National Health Service during the coronavirus pandemic. 

With the help of a walking frame, Tom Moore has challenged himself to walk 100 lengths of his backyard, which is 25 meters (82 feet) long, before he turns 100 years old at the end of April. 

Moore is doing 10 laps a day in order to complete the challenge. 

He decided to take on the challenge after receiving treatment from the NHS for skin cancer and a broken hip, praising health-care workers for their “patience” and “kindness” in a TV interview. 

Moore smashed his original fundraising target of £1,000 ($1,257), receiving nearly $2 million in donations on Tuesday alone. –Vicky McKeever

11:32 a.m.: Boeing customers cancel staggering 150 Max plane orders, deepening crisis as coronavirus roils air travel

An unpainted Boeing 737 MAX aircraft is seen parked in an aerial photo at Renton Municipal Airport near the Boeing Renton facility in Renton, Washington, U.S. July 1, 2019. Picture taken July 1, 2019.

Lindsey Wassen | Reuters

Boeing customers canceled a staggering number of 737 Max orders last month, deepening the crisis the company faces amid the coronavirus pandemic and the continued grounding of its bestselling plane after two fatal crashes.

Boeing shares were down more than 3% shortly after the company posted the dismal figures, trading near session lows.

The company on Tuesday posted 150 cancellations of its beleaguered 737 Max jets in March. Brazilian airline Gol canceled 34 of the narrow-body planes, and leasing firm Avolon scrapped orders for 75, a move it announced earlier this month. Net cancellations in the month totaled 119. Boeing did receive 31 orders for wide-body passenger planes and military aircraft in the month.

Net cancellations for the first three months of the year reached 307 planes, a sharp turnaround for a company that just over a year ago was aiming to increase output of its planes to meet strong demand. –-Leslie Josephs

11:12 am: The race for coronavirus vaccines picks up with 70 now in development 

Seventy possible vaccines are now in development for Covid-19, up from to 44 on March 20, according to a document from WHO published Saturday. Scientists expect it to take between 12 and 18 months to get a vaccine approved for mass use. 

Of the 70 Covid-19 vaccines in development, only three are in clinical trials, meaning they are being tested on humans. Clinical trials are designed to assess the safety and efficacy of a new drug and consist of several phases, each involving more patients. 

China’s CanSino Biological, in partnership with the Beijing Institute of Biotechnology, is in the lead, with the only candidate vaccine currently in phase two trials. U.S. players Moderna and Inovio Pharmaceuticals are the other two developers testing vaccines on humans and both are currently in phase one. The remaining 67 potential vaccines are still only in the preclinical trial stage. —Julianna Tatelbaum 

10:56 am: Harvard to impose a salary and hiring freeze due to fallout from coronavirus outbreak 

Harvard University is implementing an immediate hiring and salary freeze, canceling or deferring discretionary spending and delaying some capital projects due to financial effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. 

The university said the hiring and salary freeze is for “exempt employees” — those who are typically nonunion members and are not eligible for overtime pay under the Fair Labor Standards Act. 

President Lawrence Bacow, Executive Vice President Katherine Lapp and Provost Alan Garber are taking 25% salary cuts, according to a joint email sent Monday to the university community. 

Senior school administrators, including deans, vice presidents and vice provosts, are also reducing their salaries to contribute to a support fund for employees experiencing financial hardships. —Jasmine Kim 

10:32 am: New York City will buy 100,000 coronavirus test kits per week 

Two Fire Department of New York Emergency Medical Team members attach a Thank You banner outside the emergency room of the Elmhurst Hospital Center on April 7, 2020 in the Queens borough of New York City.

Robert Nickelsberg | Getty Images

New York City will purchase 100,000 coronavirus test kits per week from a mix of local contractors and a Carmel, Indiana-based company as the city works to identify more Covid-19 cases, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Tuesday.

“For the first time, we’re going to have a truly reliable major supply of testing,” de Blasio said at a press conference.

Aria Diagnostics donated 50,000 test kits, de Blasio said, adding that the city will purchase 50,000 kits per week from the company starting next week. De Blasio said the city is also contracting through local companies to produce another 50,000 kits per week starting Monday. He described both commitments as “breakthroughs.” —William Feuer, Noah Higgins-Dunn 

10:21 am: Amazon fires two employees who were outspoken critics of its labor practices 

Amazon fired two employees who were outspoken critics of the company’s labor practices, including, most recently, its treatment of warehouse workers during the coronavirus outbreak. 

The company confirmed to CNBC that it fired user experience designers Emily Cunningham and Maren Costa for “repeatedly violating internal policies.” 

“We support every employee’s right to criticize their employer’s working conditions, but that does not come with blanket immunity against any and all internal policies. We terminated these employees for repeatedly violating internal policies,” an Amazon spokesperson said in a statement. 

Amazon’s external communications policy prohibits employees from speaking about the company’s business without approval from management.

The workers said they were fired on Friday and believe the action was in retaliation to their continued criticism of Amazon, according to The Washington Post, which first reported on the news Tuesday. —Annie Palmer 

9:53 am: CEO gives cellphone number to all 10,000 of his employees to call with coronavirus concerns 

For the 10,000 employees at Activision Blizzard around the world, one person they can call about their coronavirus concerns is CEO Bobby Kotick

“About a month ago, we sent out an email from my email address with my phone number and we encouraged every single employee that has a concern that relates to their health care to just contact me directly,” Kotick told CNBC’s Becky Quick on “Squawk Box.”

Kotick said “a few hundred” employees have reached out to him since that email. “But we’re fortunate. Very few actually tested positive so far for Covid-19.”

Activision Blizzard also partnered with organizations for additional mental-health care and for licensed child care, said Kotick, noting the company has made investments to support research on treatments for Covid-19. —Kevin Stankiewicz 

9:42 am: New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts have highest number of reported cases 

9:35 am: Dow jumps 500 points as the coronavirus outlook improves 

Stocks jumped Tuesday as investors grew more optimistic about the coronavirus outlook while bracing for the start of the corporate earnings season. 

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rallied 510 points, or 2.2%. The S&P 500 climbed 2.2% while the Nasdaq Composite advanced 2.4%. Johnson & Johnson was the best-performing stock in the Dow while the S&P 500 was led higher by 2% rallies in tech, real estate and utilities. —Fred Imbert, Yun Li

9:30 am: Hudson Yards owner says workers must return to offices before malls can reopen in post-coronavirus world 

Retail centers won’t reopen after the coronavirus pandemic subsides until weeks after commercial offices return, according to the owner of Hudson Yards in New York.

“My guess is we go back to offices first,” Related Companies CEO Jeff Blau told CNBC’s Andrew Ross Sorkin on Tuesday. “I think retail is going to be a second step. I think retail is going to be much slower to come back. Just because people go to their offices, I don’t think they are going to rush out to congregate in restaurants.” 

Some of Related’s retail properties include Hudson Yards and The Shops at Columbus Circle in Manhattan. Related’s portfolio of real estate in the U.S. also includes office buildings and residential towers. 

Related is already testing a handful of temperature-scanning machines at construction sites, for example, which could be rolled out to office buildings and malls. —Lauren Thomas

9:06 am: Grubhub, DoorDash, Postmates, Uber Eats sued over restaurant prices amid pandemic 

GrubHub, DoorDash, Postmates and Uber Eats were sued on Monday for allegedly exploiting their dominance in restaurant meal deliveries to impose fees that consumers ultimately bear through higher menu prices, including during the coronavirus pandemic.

In a proposed class action filed in Manhattan federal court, three consumers said the defendants violated U.S. antitrust law by requiring that restaurants charge delivery customers and dine-in customers the same price, while imposing “exorbitant” fees of 10% to 40% of revenue to process delivery orders.

The consumers, all from New York, said this sticks restaurants with a “devil’s choice” of charging everyone higher prices as a condition of using the defendants’ services. 

Grubhub, whose businesses include Grubhub and Seamless, and Uber Technologies, which owns Uber Eats, declined to comment. DoorDash and Postmates did not immediately respond to requests for comment. —Reuters  

8:58 am: IMF slashes growth forecasts, says world will ‘very likely’ experience worst recession since the 1930s 

The global economy this year will likely suffer the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, the International Monetary Fund said, as governments worldwide grapple with the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Washington-based organization now expects the global economy to contract by 3% in 2020. By contrast, in January it had forecast a global gross domestic product expansion of 3.3% for this year.

“It is very likely that this year the global economy will experience its worst recession since the Great Depression, surpassing that seen during the global financial crisis a decade ago,” IMF chief economist Gita Gopinath said in the latest World Economic Outlook report. —Silvia Amaro

8:50 am: The 10 US states developing ‘reopening’ plans account for 38% of the US economy 

The 10 U.S. states coordinating plans separately from the White House to reopen businesses shut by the coronavirus generated 38.3% of the total U.S. economic output in the fourth quarter of 2019, highlighting how much of the U.S. economy depends on its most populous states. 

On Monday, three states on the West Coast, led by California Gov. Gavin Newsom, and seven on the East Coast, led by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, said they will develop coordinated regional plans. With the exception of Massachusetts, all are led by Democratic governors. —Reuters 

8:25 am: Global airline hit rises to $314 billion

Global airlines will lose $314 billion in revenue due to the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 according to a forecast from the industry’s representative body IATA, which raised its estimate from the $252 billion figure given on March 24.

The $314 billion represents a 55% fall in passenger revenues compared with the previous year, on air traffic, which is seen being 48% lower, the International Air Transport Association said in a weekly online news conference. —Reuters

7:49 am: Sanofi partners with GSK to develop vaccine

Sanofi and GSK have entered an agreement to jointly create a Covid-19 vaccine by the end of next year. 

The companies plan to start clinical trials in the second half of 2020 and make it available by the second half of 2021.

“As the world faces this unprecedented global health crisis, it is clear that no one company can go it alone,” Sanofi CEO Paul Hudson said in an announcement. “That is why Sanofi is continuing to complement its expertise and resources with our peers, such as GSK, with the goal to create and supply sufficient quantities of vaccines that will help stop this virus.” —Jennifer Elias

7:18 am: WHO says ‘certainly not seeing the peak yet’

The number of new cases of Covid-19 is easing in some parts of Europe, including Italy and Spain, but outbreaks are still growing in Britain and Turkey, the World Health Organization said.

“The overall world outbreak, 90 percent of cases are coming from Europe and the United States of America. So we are certainly not seeing the peak yet,” WHO spokeswoman Dr. Margaret Harris told a briefing in Geneva.

In China, “the biggest threat is imported cases,” she said, referring to the latest data.

“We shouldn’t really be expecting to see the vaccine for 12 months or longer,” Harris added. —Reuters

7:14 am: Spain reports 567 new deaths as infection rate slows

Doctors are on the street in front of the emergency entrance of the hospital of St. Pau to thank the support of the neighbors during the crisis of coronavirus – Covidien-19 in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, on March 31, 2020.

NurPhoto

Spain’s overnight death toll from the coronavirus rose to 567 from 517 a day earlier, while the country reported its lowest increase in new cases since March 18.

Total deaths climbed to 18,056, while confirmed cases of the infection rose by 3,045 to 172,541, the Health Ministry said in a statement. —Reuters

7:05 am: WHO offers advice on adapting to a ‘new normal’

The World Health Organization has identified six criteria for countries looking to slowly lift lockdown measures, warning the way down from the peak of the outbreak is “much slower” than the way up.

The global public health crisis has meant countries around the world have effectively had to shut down, with many governments imposing draconian measures on the lives of billions of people. The social and economic restrictions, which range from school closures to social distancing and bans on public gatherings, were brought in to try to slow the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.

Some European countries have laid out plans to emerge from lockdown as soon as this month after enduring several weeks of stringent social and economic restrictions. 

WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus outlined a checklist that the United Nations health agency has devised for countries considering whether to lift some lockdown measures. —Sam Meredith

6:12 am: London’s Heathrow airport expects passenger traffic to slump by 90% in April

A largely empty Heathrow Terminal 5 on September 9, 2019 in London, England. British Airways pilots have begun a 48 hour ‘walkout’, grounding most of its flights over a dispute about the pay structure of its pilots.

Dan Kitwood | Getty Images News | Getty Images

London’s Heathrow Airport said it expects passenger traffic to slump by 90% in April, as it announced that passenger numbers for March were down 52% year-on-year.

Heathrow said it moved to single runway operations on April 6 and in coming weeks will consolidate all operations into two of its four open terminals.

“The move will protect long-term jobs at the airport by reducing operating costs, helping Heathrow to remain financially resilient,” operators said in a statement, adding that the airport’s available capacity was now being used to prioritize cargo flights with medical supplies. —Chloe Taylor

5:21 am: UK likely to extend lockdown as death toll tops 11,000, while Europe starts to lift restrictions

The U.K. looks set to extend its lockdown measures into early or perhaps even late May, just as other European hot spots start to lift some restrictions on businesses.

The official number of deaths from the virus in the U.K. stands at 11,239 with the U.K. on the same trajectory as Italy, the government’s chief scientific advisor said on Monday.

Italy has seen over 20,000 deaths from the virus but has started to lift some lockdown measures, allowing bookshops and stationers to reopen. —Holly Ellyatt

5:08 am: Death toll in England 15% higher than previously reported

More evidence emerged that the extent of deaths in the U.K. could be significantly higher than reported.

The Office of National Statistics reported that deaths in England caused by the coronavirus before April 3 were 15% higher than previously reported NHS numbers.

“The latest comparable data for deaths involving Covid-19 with a date of death up to April 3, show there were 6,235 deaths in England and Wales,” Nick Stripe, head of health analysis at the Office for National Statistics, said Tuesday morning, Reuters reported. 

“When looking at data for England, this is 15% higher than the NHS numbers as they include all mentions of Covid-19 on the death certificate, including suspected Covid-19, as well as deaths in the community.” 

The U.K.’s department of health put the latest hospital death toll from the coronavirus at 11,329 as of Monday, up 717 from the previous day. —Holly Ellyatt

Read CNBC’s coverage from CNBC’s Asia-Pacific and Europe teams overnight here: Moscow warns it could run out of hospital beds soon

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