Coronavirus live updates: Retail sales post worst month on record; Denmark sees zero daily deaths

FAN Editor

Wall Street got a fresh look at the retail sector Friday morning, with April sales posting another record drop. Restaurants, bars and nongrocery retailers are just starting to reopen in parts of the country — with varying levels of safety measures in place. In Washington, the House is set to vote on a new $3 trillion relief bill, and sources tell CNBC the White House would likely support a second round of stimulus checks for Americans.

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 4.4 million
  • Global deaths: At least 302,493
  • US cases: More than 1.4 million
  • US deaths: At least 85,906

The data above was compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

9:58 am: Microsoft and UnitedHealth offer free app to screen employees for coronavirus

UnitedHealth Group and Microsoft’s ProtectWell coronavirus symptom screener

UnitedHealth Group and Microsoft

UnitedHealth Group and Microsoft are launching a coronavirus screening app for U.S. employers, called ProtectWell, that provides daily symptom checker to help clear employees to go to work, or directs them to be tested if they are at risk for infection.

As companies grapple with new safety requirements to prevent Covid-19 infection when they bring employees back to the workplace, health care and tech companies are rolling new services to connect employers with reliable testing resources, advise them about establishing testing protocols for workers in different jobs, and manage the health privacy regulations surrounding the new safety measures.

UnitedHealth and Microsoft are providing their app free of charge, but for diagnostic companies and health systems providing reopening health services provides a new business opportunity to offset some of the losses caused by the moratorium on non-emergency care due to the pandemic.

The aim is to instill confidence in workers that they’re protected on the job, and through widespread testing help provide a better framework to contain the spread of the virus, so that consumers safe about going back out into their communities. —Bertha Coombs

9:43 am: Curve edges up in U.S and Singapore 

9:33 am: Fewer borrowers are asking for mortgage relief, but bailout improvements could change the pace

The pace of borrowers still piling into government and private lender mortgage relief programs is finally slowing. However, a change in the way borrowers are required to pay back that relief, could make the programs more enticing over the next few months.

Approximately 4.7 million homeowners were in so-called forbearance plans, as of May 12, up from a revised 4.5 million the week before, according to Black Knight, a mortgage data and analytics company. The vast majority are in the government’s plan, which was set up as part of the CARES Act, the first coronavirus relief legislation. —Diana Olick

8:45 am: Norway could extend travel restrictions to Aug. 20

Norway is likely to extend restrictions on international travel until Aug. 20, Prime Minister Erna Solberg said, according to Reuters. The country has advised against traveling across borders unless necessary and has asked any residents returning from abroad to quarantine for 10 days. Non-Norwegians are largely barred from entering the country, Reuters reports. —Sara Salinas

8:32 am: Denmark records zero Covid-19 deaths in 24 hours

A covid-19 infected patient, who has been hospitalised for a month, talks with medical staff at the lung medical unit at Bispebjerg Hospital in Copenhagen Denmark on May 7, 2020 amid the new coronavirus pandemic.

Olafur Steinar Gestsson | AFP | Getty Images

Denmark recorded zero deaths related to Covid-19 in the past 24 hours for the first time in more than two months, Reuters reported. The Scandinavian country confirmed 78 new cases to bring the national tally to 10,791. The death toll stands at 537, and the number of hospitalizations across the country fell by 10 to 137, according to Reuters. —Sara Salinas

8:30 am: Retail sales plunge 16.4% in April

April retail sales fell a record 16.4%, as the coronavirus pandemic largely kept brick-and-mortar shops closed. Economists polled by Dow Jones expected sales to plunge by 12.3%, compared with a previous record drop in March. 

Nonessential businesses were shuttered in wide swaths across the country during the crisis. Some states are just starting to reopen shops and nongrocery retailers for business or for curbside pickup. —Sara Salinas

7:42 am: Former FDA chief on what experts know about unique symptoms in children

7:37 am: Drive-ins offer haven for moviegoers, as traditional theaters stay shuttered

Cars line up at the ticket booth to enter the Ocala Drive-in Theatre, one of the few Florida movie theaters permitted to operate during the COVID-19 stay-at-home order. Half of the parking spaces are roped off, providing 10-12 feet of social distance between each vehicle, and food orders are delivered to cars by servers wearing protective masks and gloves.

Paul Hennessy | Barcroft Media | Getty Images

Once a dying piece of Americana, drive-ins have become a haven for moviegoers during the coronavirus pandemic. While traditional movie theaters have been closed due to social distancing restrictions, drive-ins have been able to show films. Although, it’s estimated that only 30 are open out of the 330 locations still operating.

Jim Kopp, owner of the Family Drive-in Theater in Stephens City, Virginia, said his theater keeps cars 10 feet apart and all of his ticketing and concession sales are now done online or through an app.

“It has changed the way we are doing business in that everything is online,” he said. “It is a contactless type of process.”

The drive-ins restrooms are also sanitized after each use, which has led to longer-than-average lines. —Sarah Whitten

7:30 am: Slovenia becomes first European country to call an end to the coronavirus pandemic

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