Rolling updates on the latest developments and headlines from around the world on the Covid-19 pandemic.
By Gina Lee, Peter Nurse and Kim Khan
4:01 PM ET: France’s Death Toll Rises; Fourth in Fatalities
France's death toll from the coronavirus rose by 348 to 26,991 on Tuesday, overtaking Spain to become the country with the world's fourth-highest number of fatalities after the United States, Britain and Italy.
3:00 PM ET: McConnell Said Covid-19 Legislation Must Be Narrow
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said that any new coronavirus-response legislation would have to be "narrowly targeted," as he criticized a $3 trillion plan unveiled by House Democrats. "We're going to insist on doing narrowly targeted legislation if and when we do legislate again and we may well," McConnell told reporters.
1:35 PM ET: Republicans Introduce China Sanctions Legislation
Senator Lindsey Graham (NYSE:GHM) and other senators have introduced legislation that would authorize the president to impose sanctions on China if China “fails to cooperate and provide a full accounting of the events leading up to the outbreak of Covid-19.”
11:35 AM ET: Fauci Warns of Economic Consequences of Opening Early
As well as reiterating his warning that states opening too early would lead to more deaths, Dr. Anthony Fauci told the Senate that such actions could “turn back the clock” on economic progress made.
11:10 AM ET: Boeing (NYSE:BA) Sees No Orders Again in April
Boeing recorded zero orders for the second time this year in April and customers canceled another 108 orders for its grounded 737 MAX plane compounding its worst start to a year since 1962.
10:35 AM ET: Fauci Testifying Before U.S. Senate
Administration health advisor Anthony Fauci began his testimony before the Senate summarizing a four-point plan to fight the virus – improve fundamental knowledge, develop a diagnostic tool, develop tests and therapeutics and develop a vaccine. There are eight vaccine candidates, he added
10:00 AM ET: Trump Tweets Support for Tesla Opening
President Donald Trump tweeted that California should allow Telsa CEO Elon Musk to open his Fremont plant, despite the state being on strict lockdown.
09:43 AM ET: U.S. CPI posts largest decline since 2008
U.S. consumer prices dropped by the most since the Great Recession in April, weighed down by a plunge in demand for gasoline and services including airline travel as people stayed home during the coronavirus crisis.
The Labor Department said on Tuesday its consumer price index tumbled 0.8% last month after falling 0.4% in March. That was the largest decline since December 2008 when the economy was in the throes of a recession, and marked the second straight monthly decrease in the CPI.
09:12 AM ET: Britain extends job retention scheme, but employers will have to help with cost
Britain has extended its job retention scheme by four more months on Tuesday, but told employers they would have to help meet the cost from August.
Finance minister Rishi Sunak said there would be no changes to the scheme, which pays 80% of the wages - up to 2,500 pounds ($3,089) a month - of 7.5 million workers who are temporarily laid off, until the end of July.
From August, the process would continue with greater flexibility to support the transition back to work, allowing employers currently using the scheme to bring furloughed employees back part-time.
09:09 AM ET: Putin's spokesman tests positive for coronavirus
Russian President Vladimir Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday he had tested positive for the novel coronavirus and was receiving treatment at hospital, Russian news agencies reported.
05:21 AM ET: New car sales in Russia plummeted by over 72% in April
Sales of new cars in Russia plummeted by 72.4% in April from a year earlier after a 4% rise in the previous month, the Association of European Businesses (AEB) said on Tuesday.
05:16 AM ET: Toyota predicts sales to fall to nine-year low
Toyota said Tuesday it expects to see its lowest annual operating profit in nine years, forecasting a loss of over $4 billion this year, an 80 percent drop from the year before.
As the global health crisis continues to pummel the auto industry, the company predicts sales of cars will also fall to a nine-year low.
05:05 AM ET: UK Covid-19 death toll topped 38,000 in early May
The United Kingdom's COVID-19 death toll topped 38,000 as of early May, including suspected cases, by far the worst official toll yet in Europe, according to official data published on Tuesday.
05:01 AM ET: Denmark set to significantly increase Covid-19 testing
Denmark will significantly increase testing for Covid-19 and put a contact tracing system in place to prevent a second wave of the coronavirus, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said on Tuesday.
"If the spread reignites, we need to know in time. This is why we need an effective tracing of the virus spreading," Frederiksen told reporters.
03:34 AM ET: Spain orders two-week quarantine for all overseas travellers coming into the country
The Spanish government has ordered a two-week quarantine for all overseas travellers coming to the country from May 15 in a bid to curb the spreading of the novel coronavirus in the country.
The incoming travellers will have to remain locked in and will only be allowed to exit for grocery shopping, go to health centres and in case of "situation of need", an official order published on Tuesday said.
03:23 AM ET: Key Japanese indicator points to deep recession
A key economic indicator in Japan fell at the fastest pace since 2011 in March and the government warned of a deep recession as the coronavirus crisis takes a heavy toll on business activity and consumer spending.
In Tuesday's coincident indicator index report, the government maintained its view that the economy was "worsening" in March, backing other data during that month and in April which paint a bleak outlook.
The index of coincident economic indicators, which consists of a range of data including factory output, employment and retail sales, dropped a preliminary 4.9 points to 90.5 in March from the previous month, the Cabinet Office said.
It was the fastest pace of decline since March 2011 when a devastating earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster hit Japan.
03:20 AM ET: British government to announce safer workplace plans
The British government will on Tuesday set out details on how to make workplaces safer as some businesses start to return to work after Prime Minister Boris Johnson set out a cautious plan to exit the coronavirus lockdown.
01:53 AM ET: Philippines extends lockdown in capital Manila
The Philippines on Tuesday announced an extension of a lockdown of its capital, Manila, to 11 weeks, stretching one of the world's strictest and longest community quarantines to June to try to contain coronavirus outbreaks.
01:05 AM ET: Musk defies county order to reopen Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) factory
CEO Elon Musk says Tesla is restarting production in California in defiance of a county order.
He tweeted Monday he would also join workers on the assembly line, and that quote "if anyone is arrested, I ask that it only be me."
Local health officials said days earlier the plant should remain closed as lockdown measures in California are still in place.
00:53 AM ET: White House orders staff to wear face masks
The White House has ordered everyone entering the West Wing to wear a face mask after Vice President Mike Pence’s press secretary tested positive for the coronavirus last week.
The announcement was made in a memo addressed to staff on Monday, according to two people, reported by Bloomberg, and said employees didn’t need face coverings while working at their desks.
00:48 AM ET: Malaysia's March factory output falls 4.9%, worst drop in nine years
Malaysia's industrial production index fell 4.9% from a year earlier in March, the sharpest decline in nearly a decade, government data showed on Tuesday, as curbs imposed to contain the coronavirus pandemic severely disrupted activity.
9:55 PM ET: World Health Organization warns of increased transmission with loosened lockdowns
Mike Ryan, WHO head of health emergencies programs, warned that transmissions will increase again as lockdowns are loosened and people socialize more.
He stressed the importance of countries identifying and isolating new clusters of cases to prevent transmissions reaching previous rates.
9:49 PM ET: Malaria drug fails in fight against Covid-19
The Journal of the American Medical Association said that hydroxychloroquine, a malaria drug touted by U.S. President Donald Trump as a Covid-19 treatment, did not help patients fight off the virus, both when used alone or with the antibiotic azithromycin. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has since warned against the drug’s unrestricted use.
-- Reuters contributed to this report.