April 08, 2020

• The researchers behind the new study tested the virus' life span in a 71-degree-Fahrenheit room at 65% relative humidity. After three hours, the virus had disappeared from printing and tissue paper. It took two days for it to leave wood and cloth fabric. After four days, it was no longer detectable on glass or paper money. It lasted the longest, seven days, on stainless steel and plastic.  Strikingly, the authors wrote, the coronavirus was still present on the outward-facing side of a surgical mask on day seven of the investigation. That's the longest duration of all the materials they tested.

• France has recorded the world's highest daily coronavirus death toll after 1,417 victims died in the past 24 hours. The leap makes the country the fourth in the world to surpass 10,000 deaths since the start of the pandemic.

• Survivors of Coronavirus Face an Uncertain Road Back to Normal.  Guidelines vary widely for when recovered Covid-19 patients can safely return to their pre-coronavirus lives.

April 6, 2020

• Former Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said the current unemployment rate could be 13% while economic growth is down 30% or more. Yellen expressed some doubt as to whether the U.S. recovery will signal a quick recovery shaped like a “V′ and told CNBC the current situation is a “huge, unprecedented, devastating hit” though it is not in the same category as the Great Depression.

• U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams warned Sunday amid the coronavirus pandemic that the week ahead would be the “hardest and the saddest” of “most Americans’ lives.” He added, however, that there "is a light at the end of the tunnel if everyone does their part for the next 30 days."

• WHO says the coronavirus can spread one to three days before symptoms start. Whether the person is symptomatic or presymptomatic, the disease is still spread in the same way — through droplets from the nose and mouth, said the official, Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHO’s team lead on the coronavirus.

• What happens if you’re seriously ill and it’s not from Covid-19? At a world-renowned cancer center in Houston, a woman was told her lung-cancer surgery, booked weeks ago, could be canceled last-minute. In New York City, none of the doctors’ offices at a major hospital system are doing procedures. In Toronto, operating rooms sat empty at a hospital specializing in organ transplants and cardiac care, and surgeons rested at home as wards were cleared in preparation for what’s to come.

April 2, 2020

• US weekly jobless claims double to 6.6 million. Initial jobless claims surged to more 6.6 million last week, the Labor Department said Thursday. That brings the two-week total to about 10 million due to the coronavirus-induced economic shutdown.

• Antibody tests key to ending COVID-19 lockdowns. It's the key that opens to door from total lockdown: serologic testing, which will show definitively who has contracted COVID-19 and is in theory safe to return to work.

• What to watch: Key data points as US nears 1 in 1,000 infected. Even with a lack of available testing and delays in getting test results back, about 1 in every 1,500 people in the U.S. have a confirmed case of coronavirus, according to data from Johns Hopkins University and the U.S. Census Bureau. The daily case count has been rising, but even if it levels off, the U.S. may still get to a point where 1 in 1,000 nationally have it in the next week or so.

• Disaster in motion: 3.4 million travelers poured into US as coronavirus pandemic erupted. With the advent of COVID-19, the world has officially entered a dangerous new phase where a surge in international travel in recent decades served as the springboard -- jet fuel, really -- for an infectious disease potentially to kill hundreds of thousands in the U.S. and infect the global economy at breathtaking speed.

March 31, 2020

• Cuomo says coronavirus is ‘more dangerous’ than expected as New York cases jump 14% overnight to 75,795.

• Study shows middle-age COVID-19 mortality risk. They found that age was a key determining factor in serious infections, with nearly one in five over-80s requiring hospitalization, compared to around 1 percent among people under 30.

March 26, 2020

• Jobless claims soar past 3 million to record high. Claims had been expected to hit a record 1.5 million for the week, according to economists surveyed by Dow Jones.

• U.S. to Take Stakes in Airlines in Exchange for Grants, Mnuchin Says. Plan emerged during last-minute negotiations over $2 trillion economic rescue package to address coronavirus crisis. 

• One map shows how many coronavirus tests each US state has done so far.

March 24, 2020

• Traces of new coronavirus were found on surfaces in cruise-ship cabins for as many as 17 days after passengers left, researchers said, though it wasn’t possible to determine whether they caused any infections.

• A key modelling study from Singapore has found that putting multiple social lockdowns in place - including school closures - will have the biggest impact on curbing COVID-19.

• A California police department is planning on using drones equipped with cameras and loudspeakers to monitor a coronavirus shutdown.

March 23, 2020

• This was the fastest 30% sell-off ever, exceeding the pace of declines during the Great Depression.

• Why this Nobel laureate predicts a quicker coronavirus recovery: 'We're going to be fine'. Michael Levitt, a Nobel laureate and Stanford biophysicist, began analyzing the number of COVID-19 cases worldwide in January and correctly calculated that China would get through the worst of its coronavirus outbreak long before many health experts had predicted. Now he foresees a similar outcome in the United States and the rest of the world.

• U.S. Jobless Rate May Soar to 30%, Fed’s Bullard Says.  Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard predicted the U.S. unemployment rate may hit 30% in the second quarter because of shutdowns to combat the coronavirus, with an unprecedented 50% drop in gross domestic product.

• Lost sense of smell could be a peculiar clue to coronavirus infection. Several patients who have had symptoms consistent with coronavirus, but who have not been tested or are still awaiting results, described losing senses of smell and taste, even though their noses were clear and not congested. The loss occurred regardless of how sick they got, or whether they were congested. Using nasal drops or sprays did not help.

March 19, 2020

• On March 17, 2020, the Federal Reserve announced that it is establishing a Commercial Paper Funding Facility (CPFF) to provide liquidity to credit markets. Many of the largest corporations in the world, including Apple, Caterpillar, and JP Morgan, use commercial paper to fund their daily operations. By supporting the commercial paper market, the Federal Reserve is assuring that high-quality corporations do not run into funding issues because of the coronavirus and its impact on financial markets.

•  White House officials are working with congressional Republicans on an emergency stimulus package that could send two $1,000 checks to many Americans and also devote $300 billion towards helping small businesses avoid mass layoffs, according to two senior administration officials. The current $1 trillion Trump plan would seek to spend $500 billion towards the cash payments to individual Americans, though some people wouldn't qualify if their income is over a certain level.

• The UCLA Anderson School of Business predicted Monday that the economic recession caused by the tightening government restrictions would cost 2 million jobs and raise the national unemployment rate to 5% over the next few months — up from 3.5% in February. Administration officials have warned Congress the unemployment rate could quickly soar into double digits.