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The number of U.S. cases of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 moved closer to 800,000 on Monday even as President Donald Trump offered support for protesters flouting state and local government staying-at-home rules, and federal guidelines, meant to contain the spread.
Trump tweeted praise for protests over the weekend in Washington state and Colorado, among others, in direct contradiction of the advice being offered by health-care experts and members of the White House task force charged with managing the pandemic response. Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases, warned on CNN against attempting to return to normal life too soon and undoing the flattening of the curve that some of the worst-hit states and regions have achieved.
State governors continued to express frustration with the federal government’s response to the crisis, and especially its failure to help them secure much-needed protective equipment for hospital and other frontline workers and scale up testing.
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Trump said late Sunday he would use the Defense Production Act to step up production of test swabs by over 20 million a month, but did not specify which company or facility would be called upon. New York is due to start antibody testing on Monday, although Gov. Andrew Cuomo has repeatedly said the state cannot scale testing to the volume needed without federal help.
Elsewhere, mixed recent results were on display among individual countries and regions in managing the pandemic. In Germany, which has been widely praised for its widespread testing and contact tracing — and low death toll — small shops were allowed to reopen on Monday, and secondary schools are scheduled to reopen on May 3.
Denmark has allowed preschool to fifth-grade students to return. Austria has reopened small shops including hardware and gardening centers. In Spain, manufacturing and construction businesses have reopened. But France, Italy, the U.K. and Ireland are extending lockdowns and keeping schools closed as they work to further flatten their infection curves.
In Asia, there was bad news from Singapore, where the daily number of new cases of the virus rose above 1,000 for the first time, mostly due to an outbreak among migrant workers, many of whom are housed in dormitories. The city-state counted 1,426 new cases on Monday, according to its health ministry, bringing the total to more than 8,000, and disappointing hopes that the worst of the crisis was over.
There are now 2.44 million diagnosed cases of COVID-19 around the world, and 167,369 people have died, according to data aggregated by Johns Hopkins University. At least 639,239 people have recovered. The U.S. has the most cases at 761,991 and the most deaths at 40,724.
In Europe, Spain has the most cases at 200,210; its death toll is at 20,852. Italy has 181,228 cases and 24,114 deaths, the highest death toll in Europe.
France has 154,098 cases and 19,744 deaths, and Germany has 146,200 cases but just 4,669 deaths. The U.K. has 125,851 cases and 16,547 deaths. Turkey has overtaken China with 86,306 cases and 2,017 deaths. China, where the illness was first reported late last year, has 83,817 cases and 4,636 deaths.
New York had 478 deaths on Sunday, down from 507 on Saturday, according to Gov. Andrew Cuomo. The Empire State remains the U.S. epicenter with more than 200,000 cases and nearly 14,000 deaths. Cuomo and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio have cautioned that the crisis is far from over and urged residents to continue to comply with public health guidelines, even with the approach of warmer weather.
De Blasio had harsh words for Trump on Sunday, accusing the Queens-born president of betraying his hometown by failing to supply it with federal aid that it needs to both combat the virus and finance the reopening of the economy.
“Are you going to save New York City,” the mayor said, “or are you saying to New York City ‘drop dead?’ ” asked the mayor, referencing a famous tabloid headline from the 1970s, “FORD TO CITY: DROP DEAD.”
In medical news, Swiss drugs company Novartis NVS, +1.01% said it would conduct a clinical trial of antimalaria drug hydroxychloroquine among hospitalized patients with COVID-19, after reaching an agreement with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The trial will involve about 440 patients at more than a dozen sites in the U.S. The drug has been touted by Trump as a treatment for the virus, although there has been no research to prove it.
Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. ALXN, +3.67% plans to conduct a Phase 3 trial testing Ultomiris in patients with severe forms of COVID-19. The open-label, randomized, controlled clinical study aims to enroll 270 patients hospitalized with severe pneumonia or acute respiratory distress syndrome in May. The drug has previously been approved by the Food and Drug Administration to treat two rare diseases.
Elsewhere in the U.S., the restaurant industry has asked Congress for $240 billion in federal aid, saying the category has suffered more than any other and needs a dedicated fund to stave off disaster.
Four in 10 restaurants have closed — some for good — and 8 million employees have already been laid off or furloughed, according to the National Restaurant Association. That represents two-thirds of all restaurant jobs in the United States.
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Shake Shack returned the $10 million loan the burger chain received as part of CARES Act relief for small businesses, the company said early Monday. Chief Executive Randy Garutti and Danny Meyer, chief executive of Union Square Hospitality Group and founder of Shake Shack, said in a joint letter posted to LinkedIn that they would return the money, which was granted under the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) that was part of the $2.2 trillion CARES Act.
“The ‘PPP’ came with no user manual and it was extremely confusing,” the executives said. Shake Shack was able to secure funding through the public markets on Friday, they said, urging Congress to come up with a better plan and more adequate funding for the program, which ran out of funds last Thursday.
Other companies continued to withdraw financial guidance, cut executive pay, tap credit lines and furlough workers.
Here’s what companies said about COVID-19 on Monday:
• Campbell Soup Co. CPB, +2.68% has seen a spike in demand for its snacks and its meals-and-beverages product category. Expenses for the soup maker have increased in areas like transportation, employee compensation, and health screenings and sanitizing measures. But the company says it is benefiting overall. Campbell Soup borrowed $300 million from its revolving credit facility, which matures on Dec. 9, with an interest rate of 2.34%. As of March 22, the company had $1.15 billion of commercial paper borrowings.
• Cheesecake Factory Inc. CAKE, -0.80% has secured a $200 million investment from private-equity firm Roark Capital. Paul Ginsberg, president of Roark, will join the company’s board.
• DuPont de Nemours Inc. DD, +3.12% is tapping credit facilities, delaying certain spending and suspending its full-year guidance in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. The chemicals giant expects strong first-quarter results but is taking steps to address “significant” uncertainty in some of its end markets. It is expecting a per-share loss of between 70 cents and a dollar for the first quarter, and adjusted EPS of 82 to 84 cents, handily beating the FactSet consensus of 68 cents. The company has entered a 364-day $1 billion revolving credit facility to replace a $750 million facility that was set to expire in June. It has secured a $2 billion, 364-day delayed-draw facility to ensure it can meet November maturities. It has idled certain plants, mostly in the transportation and industrial segments, reflecting current stress in the global automotive market. “Additionally, we now have committed financing in place to bridge our debt maturing in November 2020 to the receipt of the special cash payment in connection with the Nutrition & Biosciences and IFF transaction,” Chief Executive Ed Breen said in a statement.
• Hawaiian Airlines parent Hawaiian Holdings Inc. HA, -1.12% changed its plans for the government’s Economic Relief Program under the CARES Act, to receive a larger loan but also provide more warrants for its stock. The air carrier is now seeking a five-year, interest-bearing loan of $364 million, with the collateral to be determined later. Hawaiian said that obligates it to issue warrants for the government to buy up to 6.7% of the company’s outstanding shares at $11.82 a share, which is 2.7% above Friday’s closing price of $11.51. Previously, the company expected to receive $290 million, of which $57 million would have been an interest-bearing loan maturing in 10 years, forcing it to issue warrants to buy 1% of the shares outstanding. The new plan requires Hawaiian to maintain employment levels as of March 24 until Sept. 30 at no less than 90% of such levels, while the previous plan would have required the company to refrain from involuntary furloughs or reduce pay or benefits.
• Lennox International Inc. LII, -1.58% reported a first-quarter profit that was well below expectations, and slashed its full-year outlook, citing warmer-than-usual weather and the impact of the pandemic. Given current expectations that the heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) and refrigeration market will decline 20% this year, the company cut its 2020 adjusted EPS outlook to $7.50 to $8.50 from $11.30 to $11.90, and said it now expects revenue to decline 11% to 17%, compared with previous expectations of a decline of 4% to 8%. Separately, Lennox said its dividend payment plans remain unchanged, with the most recent quarterly dividend paid at 77 cents a share.
• Lumber Liquidators Holdings Inc. LL, is taking a series of measures to enhance liquidity and manage costs as it grapples with the impact of the pandemic. The flooring retailer is cutting costs, managing inventory flow, deferring payments and working with lenders to temporarily expand its credit facility. Same-store sales were up about 4% in the quarter through the week of March 21, but took a dive as the virus began to take hold to end the quarter down about 1%. The company is still evaluating the CARES Act and any impact on results. It expects to file earnings and its 10-Q the week of May 25 and is withdrawing 2020 financial guidance that was provided on Feb. 25. The company is furloughing about 300 store associates and reducing hours at its distribution centers. Most of its stores are offering curbside pickup and delivery only and are reducing opening hours and closing on Sundays. Furloughed workers will receive two weeks of pay and have the chance to use up to 80 hours of paid time off. Executives are taking a 25% pay cut, while the board is taking a 30% cut in cash payments. The company has increased its senior asset-based revolving credit facility to $212.5 million from $175 million, increasing the total availability under its senior secured credit facilities to $237.5 million from $200 million. As of April 17, it had liquidity of about $120 million, including about $41 million in cash and cash equivalents.
• Office Depot Inc. ODP, -5.72% increased the size of its asset-based credit facility to $1.3 billion and extended the maturity date to April 2025. Office Depot stores remain open to sell essential supplies, including cleaning and personal-care products, as well as items used for home offices and home schooling. Office Depot has borrowed $400 million from the new facility and is using the funds along with cash on hand to pay the remaining $388 million balance on the term loan as well as $66 million in other debt. By paying off the term loan, Office Depot is saving $14 million in annual cash interest expense and $75 million in required annual amortization payments.
• United Airlines Holdings Inc. UAL, -5.88% recorded a much wider-than-expected first-quarter loss, and announced plans to borrow up to $4.5 billion under the CARES Act. The company recorded a net loss of $2.1 billion, and a loss of $1 billion on an adjusted basis, which excludes non-recurring charges and losses. The FactSet consensus for net losses was $622.7 million and for adjusted losses was $533.5 million. Revenue fell 17% to $8 billion, below the FactSet consensus of $8.35 billion. United submitted an application for a loan under the CARES Act, which has a term of up to five years. If the company borrows up to $4.5 billion, it will be obligated to issue warrants for the government to buy 14.2 million shares, or about 5.7% of the shares outstanding, at a strike price of $31.50, which is 8.3% above Friday’s closing price of $29.08. United expects to receive $5 billion through the Payroll Support Program (PSP) under the CARES Act, which will require United to issue warrants for the government to buy 4.6 million shares (1.9% of the shares outstanding). Separately, United entered into a sale-and-lease agreement to finance 16 Boeing BA, -7.03% 737 Max aircraft and 6 Boeing 787-9 aircraft, which are scheduled to be delivered this year.
• Vornado Realty Trust VNO, -9.53% Chief Executive Steven Roth has waived 50% of his annual base salary, effective April 1 through the end of 2020. To put that pay cut in context, the company said in its 2019 Proxy Statement, that was filed to the Securities and Exchange Commission on April 3, that Roth’s base salary in 2019 was $880,003, and represented 7.7% of his total compensation of $11.47 million, which was down slightly from a base salary of $1,000,000 and total compensation of $11.60 million in 2018.
• Matt Maddox, chief executive of Wynn Resorts Ltd. WYNN, -6.59%, called for the Las Vegas Strip to reopen by the end of May, as long as a number of health precautions are taken. In an op-ed published by the Nevada Independent, Maddox said parts of Nevada’s economy should start reopening in early May. Casinos and other nonessential businesses in Nevada have been closed since March 18 due to the coronavirus pandemic. Maddox noted Wynn was the first casino operator to close its doors, and is paying employees through May 15. However, “It is costing us approximately $3 million per day or $180 million for two months,” he wrote. “Our economy is in a free fall. Nevada will likely be one of the hardest hit states in the nation and suffer very high unemployment. It is imperative to flatten this curve so we can re-emerge in a safe, sustainable way.”
