This post was originally published on this site
The number of deaths from the coronavirus disease COVID-19 rose above 400,000 on Monday, as anti-racism protests swept the U.S. and much of the rest of the world, adding to concerns raised last week that gatherings may help spread the illness.
Public health experts are concerned that the crowds gathering to protest the death of an unarmed black man at the hands of a white police officer in Minnesota earlier this month are making social distancing difficult and contact tracing all but impossible. The widespread use of tear gas and pepper spray to control crowds is another risk factor, as it causes coughing and respiratory distress, which could further spread the droplets that contain COVID-19.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and a key member of the White House task force created to manage the pandemic response, said he is concerned at crowds building in areas that still have active infection transmission.
“It is a perfect set-up for the spread of the virus in the sense of creating these blips that might turn into some surges,” Fauci said in an interview with a Washington radio station.
However, a group of more than 1,200 medical and health professionals published an open letter Monday arguing that the protests are needed to address another public health issue, that of racism, which threatens the health of black people across the U.S. and has contributed to the disproportionate number of deaths the virus has caused in that community.
“As public health advocates, we do not condemn these gatherings as risky for COVID-19 transmission. We support them as vital to the national public health and to the threatened health specifically of Black people in the United States,” the letter reads. “We can show that support by facilitating safest protesting practices without detracting from demonstrators’ ability to gather and demand change.
See:Mitt Romney marches in D.C.: ‘We need to stand up and say that black lives matter’
“This should not be confused with a permissive stance on all gatherings, particularly protests against stay-home orders,” said the letter, which referenced the mostly white protesters who entered the state capitol in Michigan last month, many of them heavily armed and some of them verbally accosting law-enforcement officers.
See now: A majority of Americans disapprove of coronavirus protests, poll shows
The letter urges the police to stop using tear gas and pepper spray, to maintain social distancing from protesters, and to stop holding protesters that are arrested in close or confined spaces, including jails or police vans, which are high risk areas for transmission.
The protests come as all 50 states are in the process of reopening, even though 21 states still have increasing numbers of new cases, according to a New York Times tracker. The list includes California and Florida, which saw spikes in infections over the weekend, along with Texas, Arizona and Missouri, which started allowing businesses to reopen to customers as early as May.
Fauci has consistently cautioned against reopening too fast and creating a second wave of infections, but businesses are keen to reopen and workers to start earning again after the economy was hit hard by lockdowns and restrictions on movement.
See: Will the protests lead to a spike in coronavirus cases? That depends
New York City, the epicenter of the U.S. outbreak, took its first steps to reopen its economy on Monday. In the first phase, construction and manufacturing and retailers that can offer curbside pickup will be allowed to operate. The second phase of reopening, expected in July, will allow restaurants that can offer outdoor dining to operate, along with smaller businesses like hair and nail salons. New York state is one of 21 states where COVID-19 cases are declining.
New York state officials are tracking seven metrics, related to hospitalizations, testing, tracing and hospital capacity, as a way to control the virus as parts of the economy reopen.
See:Republicans and Democrats agree: America is out of control
Latest tallies
There are now 7.04 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 worldwide and at least 403,267 people have died, according to data aggregated by Johns Hopkins University. At least 3.2 million people have recovered, the data show.
The U.S. has the highest case toll in the world at 1.94 million and the highest death toll at 110,514.
Brazil has 691,758 cases and 36,455 fatalities, the data show.
The country has ceased publishing updates of cases and deaths, according to media reports, which critics say is a way to hide the true extent of the crisis.
On Monday, Brazil’s four major newspapers and two affiliated news sites announced a partnership to collect data directly from state health departments and to report updated tallies of fatalities and cases, among other daily and weekly statistics. The Brazilian government’s health site has shown only day-of new cases since last week, though federal authorities said on Sunday that they’d eventually resume tallies.
Russia has 476,043 cases and 5,963 fatalities.
The U.K. has 287,621 cases and 40,625 deaths, the highest death toll in Europe and second highest in the world after the U.S.
India has moved past Spain and Italy, two early hot spots, by case tally. India now has 258,090 cases and 7,207 deaths. Spain has 241,550 cases and 27,136 deaths, while Italy has 234,998 cases and 33,899 deaths.
Peru, France Germany, Iran, Turkey, Chile, Mexico, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Canada are next, and all are ahead of China, where the illness was first reported late last year. China has 84,191 cases and 4,638 deaths.
New Zealand declared that it has eradicated COVID-19 entirely, though Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern conceded cases are likely to return, saying a sustained effort is necessary.
What’s the latest medical news?
Shares of Gilead Sciences Inc. GILD, +0.10% rose after a Bloomberg report that the U.K. drug company AstraZeneca PLC AZN, -2.59% had approached Gilead with a view to discussing a potential merger. Gilead, which rejected the offer, has been in the news since its remdesivir was granted an emergency-use authorization by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for COVID-19 cases. Initial data from a trial of the drug found it speeded recovery times in severely ill patients.
Partial data from another trial showed the therapy, which originated as an experimental treatment for Ebola, was somewhat effective in treating moderately ill COVID-19 patients, but not the silver bullet that had been hoped for.
Gilead is also testing remdesivir in combination with a number of other drugs, including Eli Lilly & Co.’s LLY, -1.00% rheumatoid-arthritis drug Olumiant and Roche Holding AG’s ROG, -0.87% rheumatoid-arthritis drug Actemra. There are also numerous other clinical trials under way evaluating approved and experimental therapies as potential COVID-19 treatments.
On Monday, the Times of London reported that AstraZeneca abandoned the tentative interest in Gilead.
What are companies saying?
• International Flavors & Fragrances Inc.’s IFF, -2.33% sales fell 7% in the first eight weeks of the second quarter, hurt by pressure in certain end-markets, across certain countries and especially with small and midsize customers during the pandemic. The company experienced solid demand for products used in packaged foods, drinks, hygiene and disinfectant categories, that accounted for about 85% of sales in 2019. The categories that are most exposed to the disruptions of consumer access to retail markets, such as fine fragrance, and away-from-home channels such as food service, “experienced significant pressure.” Those categories accounted for 15% of 2019 revenue. Geographically, North America proved resilient, but emerging markets such as India and Latin American countries, were hit hard by regulatory restrictions. In China, where restrictions have already been lifted, growth has improved from the first quarter.
• Regional air carrier Mesa Air Group Inc.’s MESA, +9.97% block hours — an industry-standard measure of aircraft utilization — in May were down 68.6% from a year ago, as a result of reduced schedules during the pandemic.
• PG&E Corp. PCG, +0.63% announced an equity investment of $3.25 billion by investors including Appaloosa, Third Point LLC, Fidelity Management & Research Co. LLC and Zimmer Partners at a discount to current prices. Under terms of the investment, the investors will pay up to $10.50 a share, depending on the price per share to be paid in an expected public offering of common stock. That price represents a 16% discount to Friday’s closing price of $12.52. The deal is expected to close when PG&E emerges from bankruptcy. PG&E expects to use the proceeds to fund a portion of the financing for the exit from bankruptcy.
• PPG Industries Inc. PPG, -0.18% will record a restructuring charge of $160 million to $180 million, or 52 to 58 cents a share, in the second quarter, with nearly all of the charge related to employee severance. The paints and stains seller expects the restructuring, which includes a “voluntary separation program,” to lead to annual savings of $160 million to $170 million. “Given the broad economic impact relating to the COVID-19 pandemic and the recovery timeline in a few end-use markets, we are taking decisive action to further adjust our cost base,” said Chief Executive Michael McGarry. May sales volumes were down less than 30% from a year ago, marking an improvement from the April decline of 35%, with declines in both months “modestly” better than originally expected.
• Sirius XM SIRI, +0.23% is planning to offer $1 billion in 10-year bonds with plans to use the proceeds to redeem existing debt. The digital music company will redeem all outstanding 5.375% senior notes that mature in 2025, at a redemption price of 102.688% of the principal. Separately, the company said it expects the pandemic, and the decline in sales of new and used vehicles it has caused, to continue to hurt its subscriber and ad revenues.
Coronavirus Update: California Cases Rise, Poll Shows Partisan Split on Pandemic
