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 1,859,011
- Global deaths: At least 114,979
- US cases: More than 557,590
- US deaths: At least 22,109
The data above was compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
10:05 am: Amazon to hire 75,000 more workers as demand rises due to coronavirus
Amazon is hiring an additional 75,000 workers at its facilities, on top of the 100,000 new positions it created last month, the company said Monday.
In March, the company said it would hire additional warehouse and delivery workers across the country amid a surge in online shopping during the coronavirus outbreak. Since then, Amazon said it has hired more than 100,000 new employees and, as a result, is staffing up even more to help fulfill orders.
As it continues to hire more workers, Amazon has also raised employees’ hourly pay and doubled overtime pay for warehouse workers. Through the end of April, warehouse and delivery workers can earn an additional $2 per hour in the U.S., £2 per hour in the UK, and approximately €2 per hour in many EU countries. Amazon currently pays $15 per hour or more in some areas of the U.S. for warehouse and delivery jobs. —Annie Palmer
9:45 am: ABC’s Stephanopoulos positive for coronavirus but feels well
ABC News Anchor George Stephanopoulos
Paula Lobo | ABC | Getty Images
“Good Morning America” host George Stephanopoulos revealed Monday that he’s tested positive for the coronavirus, but has been relatively symptom-free.
The ABC newsman revealed his diagnosis on the show, telling co-host Robin Roberts that, “I feel fine.”
Stephanopoulos’ wife, Ali Wentworth, had come down with COVID-19 and tweeted that she’s “never been sicker.” Her husband has been taking care of her, their children and doing his TV job in the interim.
He said the only potential symptoms he has felt were a lower back ache that he had attributed to a hard workout, and a briefly diminished sense of smell. —Associated Press
9:33 am: Stocks open lower, giving up some of last week’s historic gains
Stocks dipped on Monday, giving back some of the sharp gains from the previous week, as investors continued to weigh the coronavirus outlook along with a historic oil production cut.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 130 points at the open, or 0.5%. The S&P 500 fell 0.5% while the Nasdaq Composite pulled back 0.4%.
The U.S. stock market had one of its biggest weekly gains ever last week. The Dow posted its seventh-best weekly performance, rallying 12.7%. The S&P 500 had its biggest one-week gain since 1974, jumping 12.1%. —Fred Imbert
9:28 am: Amazon stops accepting new online grocery customers amid surging demand
Amazon will begin to put new grocery delivery customers on a wait-list and curtail shopping hours at some Whole Foods stores to prioritize orders from existing customers buying food online during the coronavirus outbreak, the company said on Sunday.
Many shoppers recently seeking to purchase groceries from the Seattle-based e-commerce company found they could not place orders due to a lack of available delivery slots. Amazon said it would have to relegate all new online grocery customers to a wait-list starting Monday while working on adding capacity each week.
In recent weeks, it increased the number of Whole Foods stores offering grocery pickup to more than 150 locations, up from 80 previously.
Amazon also plans to shorten some Whole Foods stores’ hours for the public so its employees can more quickly fulfill online grocery orders, the company said. —Reuters
9:23 am: ‘Banks are playing’ games on loans, leaving small businesses ‘out in the cold,’ Mark Cuban says
Billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban said the recently launched small business loan program has been beset by challenges that could impact the long-term outlook for companies.
“Banks are playing themselves. They’re being banks and they’re trying to determine if the credits are good and that’s leading to a lot of small businesses that are left out in the cold,” Cuban said on “Squawk Box.” “We are at an inflection point” to get money into the system for businesses of all sizes, he said.
Cuban said some banks have questioned a company’s gross margin and were therefore uncertain about making loans.
Cuban said banks have “implemented all these hurdles” that were not supposed to be a part of the program, which was established by the government’s $2 trillion coronavirus relief package that was passed in late March.
“Until we get through that friction, there’s going to be a lot of issues and there’s going to be a lot of people laid off and a lot of companies that go out of business,” he added. —Kevin Stankiewicz
9:12 am: New York, New Jersey, and Massachusetts lead US in number of reported cases
9:04 am: Trump retweets #FireFauci after scientist comments
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a Coronavirus Task Force news conference at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Friday, April 10, 2020.
Kevin Dietsch | Bloomberg | Getty Images
U.S. President Donald Trump retweeted a call to fire Dr. Anthony Fauci after the nation’s top expert on infectious diseases said lives could have been saved if the country had shut down sooner during the novel coronavirus outbreak.
Trump retweeted a message Sunday from a former Republican congressional candidate who cited Fauci’s comments during a television interview on Sunday and tweeted “time to #FireFauci.”
The Republican president in the past has repeated critical tweets of officials or enemies rather than make the criticism himself. The retweet fueled speculation Trump was running out of patience with the popular scientist and could conceivably fire him. The White House did not immediately return a request for comment on whether Trump is unhappy with Fauci.
Fauci was asked on CNN’s “State of the Union” about a New York Times report documenting early warnings issued to the White House about the novel coronavirus. The scientist acknowledged shutting the country down sooner could have saved lives, but cautioned that a number of factors were involved.
“Obviously, it would have been nice if we had a better head start, but I don’t think you could say that we are where we are right now because of one factor,” Fauci said. “It’s very complicated.” —Reuters
8:42 am: Pace of reported coronavirus cases
7:01 am: China defends the WHO after Trump, and others, say it is deferring to Beijing
The World Health Organization has come under intense scrutiny for its handling of the coronavirus pandemic with President Donald Trump’s administration, China and Taiwan locked in a tussle of words.
Last week, Trump blamed the WHO for getting “every aspect” of the coronavirus pandemic wrong and threatened to withhold funding from the international organization. He also said on Twitter that the WHO is “China centric” even though the organization is largely funded by the U.S.
The latter comment echoes many of the top critiques of the WHO, such as too readily trusting information reported by China.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian defended the WHO, saying it has been “actively performing its duties and upholding an objective, science-based and impartial position.”—Huileng Tan
6:11 am: Spain reports 3,477 new cases, 517 new deaths
Mortuary employees wearing face masks transport a coffin of a COVID-19 coronavirus victim at La Almudena cemetery on April 04, 2020 in Madrid, Spain.
Carlos Alvarez | Getty Images
Spain has reported 3,477 new coronavirus cases and a daily rise of 517 deaths, bringing the total number of fatalities to 17,489, the country’s health ministry said. The number of daily deaths has fallen; the death toll the previous day was 619.
The total number of confirmed cases in Spain has now reached 169,496 (including deaths and recoveries). Spain has started to lift certain restrictions, reopening some construction sites and factories. —Holly Ellyatt
5:38 am: Spain lifts some lockdown measures; Italy records lowest daily deaths since March
5:10 am: Indonesia reports 316 new cases and 26 more deaths
An Indonesian woman walks past a mural that invite people to fight against the COVID-19 coronavirus in Surabaya, East Java on March 26, 2020.
Juni Kriswanto | AFP | Getty Images
Indonesia announced 316 new cases, bringing the tally of infections in the country to 4,557. That’s according to data provided by a health ministry official, Achmad Yurianto.
Twenty-six new coronavirus-related deaths were reported Monday, taking the total number to 399. —Holly Ellyatt
4:35 am: Russia reports record daily rise in new cases
Russia reported 2,558 new infections, a record daily rise that brings the total number of infections to 18,328, the country’s coronavirus response center said. Russia has reported 148 deaths from the virus. It says it has conducted 1.3 million tests. —Holly Ellyatt
Read CNBC’s coverage from CNBC’s Asia-Pacific and Europe teams overnight here: Russia reports record daily rise in new cases; Spain lifts some restrictions.
