By Gina Lee, Peter Nurse and Kim Khan
Investing.com - Drugmaker Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) could have a vaccine for Covid-19 to use in emergencies by the fall if testing goes well, according to a published report Tuesday.
The report came as U.S. cases of the virus topped 1 million, according to Johns Hopkins.
Americas
U.S. Pfizer CEO Albert Boula told The Wall Street Journal that testing of a vaccine has started in Germany and could start testing in the U.S. as early as next week, with results from the study coming next month.
U.S. Johns Hopkins university said the number of Covid-19 cases in the country surpassed 1 million.
U.S. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said he made a decision to delay to keep the chamber on an extended recess after discussing the situation with the official House physician. "The House's physician's view was that there was a risk to members that we would not recommend taking." Hoyer told reporters.
U.S. White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett said the administration is studying the possibility of more stimulus checks very carefully as payments of $1,200 hit banking accounts.
U.S. President Donald Trump said on he will sign an executive order later in the day that addresses liability issues that have arisen from the coronavirus pandemic.
U.S. The U.S. “could be in for a bad fall” if a treatment for Covid-19 is not found and the virus will come back at some point in the U.S., Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, said at The Economic Club of Washington, D.C.
U.S. The Conference Board’s consumer confidence index for April sank to 86.9 from a downwardly revised 118.8 in March. Economists predicted a drop to 87.9.
Argentina has banned all internal and international commercial flights until September 1 because of the deadly coronavirus outbreak. The country currently has nearly 4,000 confirmed infections, with 192 deaths, according to figures from Johns Hopkins University.
Europe:
Germany The German economy is likely to contract by 6.6% in 2020 year-on-year due to the coronavirus pandemic, according to the economic institute Ifo.
It said Europe's largest economy shrank by 1.9% in the first three months of 2020 and is expecting a 12.2% contraction in the second quarter.
Germany The government has agreed to help airline Lufthansa with a rescue package worth around 9 billion euros ($9.74 billion) in return for a blocking minority and one or two supervisory board mandates, Business Insider cited company sources as saying.
Switzerland The Swiss government has agreed in principle to support an aviation aid package worth around 1.5 billion Swiss francs ($1.54 billion) for Lufthansa unit Swiss via state-backed bank loans, the Tages-Anzeiger newspaper reported on Tuesday.
U.K. Families of British health and care workers who die on the frontline of the Covid-19 pandemic will be paid 60,000 pounds ($74,472) as part of a new life assurance scheme, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said on Monday.
There have been over 21,000 confirmed hospital deaths due to the virus in the United Kingdom to date, and thousands more yet to be quantified in care homes. Among those, 98 health and care service workers are known to have died after testing positive for the virus.
Ireland The national public health emergency team will not recommend easing its lockdown next Tuesday unless progress on the spread and impact of the virus is made this week, the chief medical officer, Tony Holohan, said.
Russia The number of new coronavirus cases climbed on Tuesday to 6,411, a record daily rise, bringing its nationwide tally to 93,558, the country's coronavirus crisis response centre said. The number of deaths rose by 72, also a daily record, taking the total number of fatalities to 867.
Asia:
Australia’s New South Wales state will loosen some lockdown measures from Friday, such as allowing a maximum of two adults to make social visits to another household.
Sydney's Bondi Beach reopened to surfers and swimmers on Tuesday.
Hong Kong’s civil servants will start coming back into the office on May 4, and public facilities that were closed during the Covid-19 outbreak, such as libraries and sports facilities, will also re-open.
But the city’s government is still mulling on whether to extend social distancing measures beyond May 7, as the city recorded a fourth day with no new cases.
Japan's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose to 2.5%, its highest in a year, and the jobs-to-applications ratio fell to 1.39 in March.
New Zealand returned to work as Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern lowered the country’s alert level to 3 from 4, with factories, construction sites and takeaway food outlets re-opening after a month-long strict lockdown.
But many employees will continue working from home, and the hospitality sector must meet tough criteria to ensure social distancing before they re-open.
Singapore A recession in the country's trade-reliant economy could be deeper than forecast as the protracted nature of the Covid-19 pandemic is likely to hamper a decisive rebound in global activity, the city-state's central bank said on Tuesday.
Thailand reported seven more coronavirus cases and two new deaths Tuesday, bringing the total number of infections since the outbreak began in January to 2,938 cases and 54 fatalities. This extended a trend in fewer new cases, which had been over 100 per day earlier in past weeks.
-- Reuters contributed to this report.