Coronavirus live updates: Demand for China’s medical products surge

The coronavirus pandemic shows little signs of letting up, and is spurring further demand for China’s medical products even as the global economy continues to falter.

The interest in Chinese medical supplies is an encouraging sign for the country’s exports — which support its economy and millions of jobs. Economists point out that the demand for coronavirus-related products has helped China sell more overseas than expected.

Meanwhile, a new peer-reviewed study suggests the pandemic might be even worse than the current statistics show, with deaths in the U.S. likely undercounted. Former FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, meanwhile, told CNBC that the U.S. has probably already surpassed 100,000 new cases a day, but the scale of the pandemic is not being captured in the data because testing capacity remains limited in some parts of the country.  

This is CNBC’s live blog covering all the latest news on the coronavirus outbreak. This blog will be updated throughout the day as the news breaks. 

• Global cases: More than 10.66 million
• Global deaths: At least 515,694
• Countries with the most cases: United States (more than 2.6 million); Brazil (more than 1.4 million); Russia (653,479); India (585,493); United Kingdom (314,992)

The data above was compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

12:10 p.m. Singapore time — The global coronavirus pandemic is showing few signs of easing, and that’s creating some overseas demand for Chinese medical products.

That’s an encouraging sign for China’s exports, which play an important role in the overall economy. However, it’s unclear how long the demand for Chinese health-related products will last.

In addition, many of the businesses have received safety and health certification from the European Union, rather than the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

That means more of these Chinese products will go to markets outside the United States, which accounts for nearly a quarter of coronavirus deaths in the world so far. — Evelyn Cheng

Miami-Dade and Broward counties, the most popular areas of Florida, are now requiring people to wear face masks in all public spaces in an effort to contain a surging coronavirus outbreak across the state. 

Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez said the region’s economy can continue to reopen only if people maintain social distancing, wear a mask, and stay at home unless they have to go to work or a store. 

“If people continue to flaunt the rules, we will be forced to close non-essential businesses and all other activities that we began opening up in May,” Gimenez said. The penalty for not wearing a mask is $500 or up to 180 days in jail.

Miami-Dade is also restricting pool access and alcohol sales at hotels and motels during the Fourth of July holiday. Commercial lodging establishments must close pools between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m. from July 3-6, and alcohol cannot be served on pool decks before 11 a.m. or after 8 p.m.

Beaches will remain closed over Fourth of July weekend in Miami-Dade County and parades are not allowed.

Broward County is barring establishments from serving alcohol or food onsight between Midnight and 5 a.m. —Spencer Kimball

6:22 p.m. ET — The House voted  to extend the deadline for small businesses to apply for forgivable coronavirus relief loans.

The legislation already passed the Senate, so it now goes to President Donald Trump for his signature.The bill would give companies until Aug. 8 to request aid through the Paycheck Protection Program. The previous deadline was June 30.

The Trump administration still has not allocated $130 billion set aside for the program. Congress plans to consider another coronavirus relief plan later this month. It will have to decide whether to approve more small business aid, among a range of other issues. —Jacob Pramuk

5:15 p.m. ET — Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has signed an executive order to close indoor seating in bars in most of lower Michigan to preserve the state’s progress against Covid-19, according to a press release from the governor’s office.

All bars in the state can still serve outdoors. Bars and restaurants can also now sell to-go cocktails.

Whitmer said she is taking action following recent coronavirus outbreaks linked to bars, including a bar in East Lansing linked to over a hundred confirmed Covid-19 cases.

In the past week, new cases in Michigan have increased 31%. 

5:10 p.m. ET — When Major League Baseball returns in a few weeks, the stands are going to look dramatically different.

The Oakland Athletics and the San Francisco Giants are selling personalized cardboard cutouts, where fans willing to shell out around $100 can purchase life-size cutouts with their pictures that will sit in the stands throughout the season.  

The A’s are taking it a step further. In the event a foul ball hits your cutout, you get mailed the ball as a souvenir.  
The cardboard cutouts were a huge success in European soccer. One club sold 23,000 cutouts, earning more than a half a million dollars in revenue.

The companies behind these cutouts say interest is booming among nearly every pro sports league in the US.
It’s all part of the new realities and challenges that sports leagues are facing as they attempt to re-start their seasons. —Jessica Golden

4:30 p.m. ET — Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf announced a new order today requiring residents to wear masks whenever they leave their homes, taking effect immediately, according to a press release.

“This mask-wearing order is essential to stopping the recent increase in Covid-19 cases we have seen in Pennsylvania,” Wolf said in the release.

“Those hot spots can be traced to situations where Pennsylvanians were not wearing masks or practicing social distancing – two practices that must be adhered to if we want to maintain the freedoms we have in place under our reopening.”

The order outlined limited exceptions to the rule, including those for young children and those with medical conditions that impede breathing.

More than 84,000 people have tested positive for the virus in Pennsylvania and at least 6,649 people have died, according to the state health department. The state has seen the seven-day average of new cases increase by more than 21%, according to a CNBC analysis of data from Johns Hopkins University. –Suzanne Blake

4:09 p.m. ET — President Donald Trump said he supports another round of coronavirus relief payments that is larger than what Democrats have proposed.

“I do, I support it, but it has to be done properly,” Trump said when asked during a Fox Business Network interview at the White House whether he wanted to send out more stimulus checks to blunt the impact of the pandemic.

“I support actually larger numbers than the Democrats,” Trump added. When asked to clarify if he wanted larger direct payments or larger unemployment benefits, Trump replied: “I want the money getting to people to be larger so they can spend it. I want the money to get there quickly and in a non-complicated fashion.”

“They wanted to make it too complicated,” Trump said, apparently referring to Democrats. “Also it was an incentive not to go to work.” — Kevin Breuninger

3:47 p.m. — Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered indoor businesses in 19 counties to close effective immediately as the state grapples with a resurgence of cases.

Indoor businesses required to close include restaurants, wineries and tasting rooms, movie theaters, family entertainment centers, zoos, museums and cardrooms, Newsom said at a press briefing. The order applies to some of the state’s biggest counties, Los Angeles, Orange and Santa Barbara counties.

California will also ramp up its enforcement of recommended social distancing guidelines and face covering requirements, Newsom said. Ahead of the Fourth of July weekend, Newsom asked localities with mandatory closures to consider cancelling firework shows to prevent crowds. —Noah Higgins-Dunn

3:19 p.m. — President Donald Trump said he’s “all for masks,” but doesn’t think the U.S. needs a national order for people to wear them.

“I don’t know if you need mandatory,” Trump said in a Fox Business Network interview Wednesday. “You have many places in the country where people stay very long distance,” he said.

“But I’m all for masks, I think masks are good,” the president added. —Suzanne Blake

3:05 p.m. ET — Apple plans to close 30 additional stores this week in the United States. That brings the total to 77 re-closed stores out of 271 as Covid-19 cases rapidly rise in several regions around the country.

Apple stores tend to be in upscale malls and shopping centers, and the re-closings can be seen as a bad sign for smooth retail reopenings. The closings announced on Wednesday include several stores in the Los Angeles area.

Apple shares dropped on the announcement to trade in negative territory. —Kif Leswing

2:59 p.m. ET — President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign has quietly revised plans to hold a rally in Alabama and scores of smaller, in-person events in the coming weeks, as coronavirus cases surge across the country. The Alabama event was widely reported but never officially confirmed.

There are currently no Trump rallies planned for the near future, although the Trump campaign told reporters, “there is always work underway to identify sites” for upcoming rallies. The campaign is turning scores of smaller events that were slated to take place in person into virtual events, including MAGA meetups and campaign volunteer training sessions.

For Trump, pausing campaign rallies is a risky proposition, four months out from Election Day. Not only do rallies energize the president and help him sharpen his message, but they also form a critical part of the campaign’s digital outreach and data mining strategy. —Christina Wilkie, Kevin Breuninger

2:49 p.m. ET — Major firework sellers have seen dramatic increases in personal firework sales this year, as consumers attempt to make up for large displays that have been canceled due to the coronavirus.

Sellers have reported 200% to 300% jumps in sales this year, according to Julie Heckman, president of the American Pyrotechnics Association. Police have also fielded rising complaints regarding fireworks in cities across the U.S.

Steve Houser, National Fireworks Association president and Red Rhino Fireworks owner, said the week or two leading up to the Fourth of July accounts for 80% to 90% of the industry’s revenue for the year. —Alex Harring

2:15 p.m. ET — New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo warned that coronavirus outbreaks across the U.S. are getting worse and could threaten New York’s recovery after stringent lockdowns across the state helped suppress the fast-spreading infection.

“We have dark clouds on the horizon and we’ve made tremendous progress,” Cuomo said at a press briefing. “We’ve been through Hell and back, but this is not over and this can still rear its ugly head anywhere in this nation and in this state.”

Cuomo said he’s concerned about New York City, where compliance with face covering requirements and social distancing guidelines are declining. He also criticized local leaders for not enforcing compliance. —Noah Higgins-Dunn

2:04 p.m. ET — As some countries struggle to ease restrictions and reopen businesses while preventing coronavirus outbreaks, they might have to reimplement severe restrictions or lockdowns, a top World Health Organization official said.

“Some countries who have had success in suppressing transmission who are opening up now may have a setback, may have to implement interventions again, may have to implement these so-called lockdowns again,” Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, head of the WHO’s emerging diseases and zoonosis unit, said. “We hope not. We hope that we won’t have to go into widespread lockdown again. So it’s not too late to act fast.”

Some countries, including Spain and Italy, were able to effectively fight severe outbreaks, WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.

“However, we’re concerned some countries have not used all the tools at their disposal and have taken a fragmented approach. These countries face a long, hard road ahead,” he said. “But one of the lessons of pandemic is that no matter what situation a country is in, it can be turned around. It’s never too late.” —Will Feuer

1:47 p.m. ET — The U.S. needs a higher capacity and more even distribution of coronavirus testing to accurately capture outbreak levels, former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb told CNBC.

Gottlieb warned even the current testing levels of 500,000 Covid-19 tests per day is not enough to detect all new patients. He also expressed concern with where tests are going, saying Texas and Florida are falling behind in testing because resources are not equally distributed across the country, CNBC’s Will Feuer reports.

“There’s a lot of conversations going on right now about deploying testing in the workplace and also in schools and I’ve been privy to some of those conversations with my proximity to some of the testing companies,” Gottlieb said. “Employers don’t want to be the ones getting the results, taking possession of the tests, so there’s been a reluctance to leap right now.”

Gottlieb’s comments come after White House health advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci said Tuesday that the U.S. could hit over 100,000 new cases per day if the country stays on its current trajectory. Gottlieb asserted that the country is already at that benchmark, the testing just can’t keep up. —Alex Harring

1:30 p.m. ET — The coronavirus pandemic took its toll on U.S. vehicle sales in the second quarter as the disease caused consumers to stay at home and dealerships and factories to shutter.

General Motors, Toyota Motor and Fiat Chrysler on Wednesday reported more than 30% sales declines for the second quarter compared to 2019. Nissan Motor said its sales were essentially cut in half from a year ago, down 49.5%.

The hefty declines are in-line with what Wall Street expected as most U.S., European and Asian automakers report their second-quarter auto sales Wednesday.

U.S. vehicle sales were forecast to fall by about 34% in the second quarter, according to auto research firms Edmunds and TrueCar’s ALG. The second quarter is expected to be the worst of the year for the automakers due to the pandemic. 

Both GM and Fiat Chrysler said full-size pickup truck sales perform exceptionally well, and overall sales showed signs of recovery, especially deliveries to retail customers. —Michael Wayland

1:12 p.m. ET — As companies adjust to remote work during the Covid-19 pandemic, Cisco is seeing a boost from customers turning to its products for video conferencing and security, CEO Chuck Robbins told CNBC on “Squawk Box.”

Robbins also said Cisco’s emphasis on privacy and security sets its video conferencing software WebEx apart from competitors like Zoom.

“For the consumers, a simple solution is good,” he said. “For our high-end enterprise customers, they still lean on WebEx to provide the privacy and security that they need.” —Michelle Gao

12:54 p.m. ET — Arizona reported nearly 4,900 new coronavirus cases and 88 new deaths on Wednesday, a record single-day spike in both indicators ahead of Vice President Mike Pence’s visit to the state later in the day.

The state confirmed a total of 84,092 positive cases and 1,720 deaths so far. Its previous single-day high in the number of new cases was 3,593 on June 23.

While a potential lag in data reporting of the daily case numbers and ramped up testing capabilities could account for the rise in positive Covid-19 cases, the number of hospitalizations also steadily increased over the past weeks.

The record surge in daily cases comes as Pence is scheduled to arrive in Phoenix later on Wednesday to meet Gov. Doug Ducey to discuss the state’s effort to curb the spread of the virus. Last weekend, Pence postponed his “Faith in America” 2020 campaign events in Arizona and Florida “out of an abundance of caution.” —Jasmine Kim

12:35 p.m. ET — Airlines’ seating policies during the Covid-19 pandemic are diverging with carriers like Delta, Southwest and JetBlue limiting the number of seats they sell on each flight, and American and United booking flights to capacity, but warning travelers about crowded planes.

United’s chief communications officer Wednesday scoffed at the idea that keeping seats open could protect travelers from the disease.

“When it comes to blocking middle seats, that’s a PR strategy, that’s not a safety strategy,” Josh Earnest told reporters. “When you’re on board the aircraft, if you’re sitting in the aisle and the middle seat is empty, the person across the aisle is within six feet from you, the person at the window is within six feet of you, the people in the row in front of you are within six feet of you, the person in the row behind you are within six feet of you.”

United and American have pointed to other measures that they’ve implemented, such as enhanced cleaning procedures, using touchless kiosks and requiring that all travelers were masks. —Leslie Josephs

12:08 p.m. ET — A new study published in the JAMA Internal Medicine found the number of confirmed U.S. deaths due to the virus could be undercounted by as much as 28%.

Researchers at Yale University, which were supported by the National Institute of Health, compared the number of excess U.S. deaths with the reported number of U.S. Covid-19 deaths from March 1 through May 30. Deaths from the virus reached 95,235, about 28% less than the excess number.

However, state reporting discrepancies and a sharp increase in U.S. deaths amid a pandemic suggest the number of Covid-19 fatalities is actually undercounted, the researchers said.

“Our analyses suggest that the official tally of deaths due to Covid-19 represent a substantial undercount of the true burden,” Dan Weinberger, an epidemiologist at Yale School of Public Health and a lead author on the study, told CNBC. —Berkeley Lovelace Jr.

11:43 a.m. ET — New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said the city will not allow indoor dining to resume next week as originally scheduled due to growing coronavirus outbreaks in other parts of the country. De Blasio said that outdoor dining, which was allowed to reopen on June 22, has “unquestionably” been a great hit and “outdoors has been working.”

“We see a lot of problems and we particularly see problems revolving around people going back to bars and restaurants indoors. Indoors is the problem more and more, the science is showing it more and more,” de Blasio said at a press briefing.

Other businesses including nail salons were previously scheduled to reopen next week. De Blasio did not comment on the status of those roepening efforts. —Noah Higgins-Dunn

10:30 a.m. ET — Macy’s told analysts that sales are falling again in states where Covid-19 cases are on the rise, and the department store operator expects this pattern could play out as the crisis continues.

In Texas, for example, Macy’s had said sales were ticking up as the local economy was reopening. About two weeks ago, however, as Covid-19 cases surged the company saw a 15-point sales drop in the state, according to CEO Jeff Gennette. Macy’s said overall sales at its stores are currently down about 35% from year-ago levels. That is the trend the retailer expects for the remainder of the year.

“We are taking the conservative view and pulling that trend through the back half of the year. If trends improve, we will react aggressively to meet customer demands,” Gennette said. —Lauren Thomas

10:20 a.m. ET — Cameron Champ, a professional U.S. golfer, immediately withdrew from the PGA Tour’s Travelers Championship last Tuesday and announced plans to self-isolate after testing positive for the coronavirus. But five days later, he said he tested negative three times, raising questions about the accuracy of the tests that are being used by professional sports to screen players before big games.

Five PGA Tour golfers have tested positive for the coronavirus since the outdoor, non-contact sport resumed its games in June and eight withdrew from the Travelers tournament. Despite safety precautions, several caddies have also tested positive.

However, a spokeswoman from the PGA Tour explained that Champ’s test wasn’t a false positive. “An initial positive is a positive test, and there is a medical explanation of what happens from there,” Neal said in a statement, citing data from PGA’s official coronavirus testing partner Sanford Health.

Molecular tests such as the nasopharyngeal PCR test used by the PGA Tour have the lowest false positive rates out of the three main types of diagnostic Covid-19 tests: molecular, antigen and serology, physicians say. —Jasmine Kim

9:58 a.m. ET — Pfizer released positive results from an early stage human trial testing its coronavirus vaccine candidate, CNBC’s Berkeley Lovelace Jr. reports. The trial included 45 participants who received 10, 30 or 100 microgram doses of the vaccine or a placebo.

The vaccine produced neutralizing antibodies in those who received two of the 10 or 30 microgram doses after 28 days, according to the preliminary data in a paper published on MedRXiv. Neutralizing antibodies are important for acquiring protection against the virus and their levels were 1.8 to 2.8 times higher in trial participants than in recovered coronavirus patients, according to researchers.

Pfizer, which has been working alongside German drugmaker BioNTech, said the vaccine was well-tolerated, though it caused fever in some patients and pain at the injection site for most trial participants. —Hannah Miller

9:53 a.m. ET — Capri Holdings, the owner of Michael Kors, expects a 70% decrease in first-quarter sales as demand for its luxury handbags and dresses is hampered by the coronavirus pandemic, Reuters reported.

The company said business has started to resume in certain areas where lockdowns have been pulled back, but it does not expect a quick rebound quickly as the global economy enters a deep recession.

Capri said sales have been stronger than expected at reopened stores, but shipments to department stores remained low. —Alex Harring

9:19 a.m. ET — Private payrolls rose by 2.369 million in June, slightly lower than the 2.5 million estimate, but still indicative of workers heading back to their jobs.

ADP reported that the biggest gain came from the hard-hit hospitality sector, which saw an increase of 961,000. Services jobs overall rose by 1.9 million.

The total monthly gain came after an increase of nearly 3.1 million in May, a number revised sharply higher from the initially reported loss of 2.76 million.

Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, said the revision was merely an adjustment to the Labor Department’s official count of a 2.5 million gain for May, which was far above the estimate for an 8 million-job loss. —Jeff Cox

9:13 a.m. ET — Thousands of people gathered for a street party in the Czech Republic’s capital city to celebrate a “symbolic farewell” to the coronavirus pandemic.

Guests were invited to sit at a 500-meter-long table on Prague’s Charles Bridge, a 14th-century landmark that crosses the Vltava River, to share food and drinks with their neighbors.

The event was held in the absence of any social-distancing measures, despite an uptick in the number of coronavirus cases reported in the Czech Republic last week.

To date, the EU state of approximately 10 million people has recorded 11,960 coronavirus cases, with 349 deaths nationwide, according to Johns Hopkins University. —Sam Meredith

9:04 a.m. ET — Macy’s swung to a first-quarter loss as the coronavirus pandemic nearly sliced sales in half, reports CNBC’s Lauren Thomas.

Chief Executive Jeff Gennette said that nearly all of the company’s stores have since reopened and are performing ahead of expectations this month. He also said the department store chain continues to expect a “gradual sales recovery,” without providing specifics.

“We do not anticipate another full shutdown, but we are staying flexible and are prepared to address increases in cases on a regional level,” he said. —Melodie Warner

8:31 a.m. ET — An average of 482,727 people a day people passed through U.S. airport security checks points in June, more than double the number the Transportation Security Administration logged in May. But June’s numbers were less than a fifth of what TSA registered during June 2019.

The recent recovery is a challenge for airlines who want to capitalize on renewed demand from cooped up customers but also need to keep costs low.

United, for example, said it plans to add 25,000 flights in August, but that its domestic schedule will still be half of what it flew in 2019 and its international schedule just a quarter of August last year. —Leslie Josephs

8:18 a.m. ET — Google announced Tuesday its U.S. offices will remain closed until Sept. 7 due to rising coronavirus cases in some states, Reuters reported.

The company was originally planning to reopen some buildings at roughly 10% capacity in July with the possibility to increase capacity to 30% in September. But a Google spokesperson confirmed an internal memo obtained by Bloomberg stating no offices would reopen before Sept. 7.

Google’s decision comes after coronavirus cases have at least doubled in 14 states in June, according to Reuters’ tally. Chris Rackow, Google’s vice president of global security, noted in the memo that “Covid-19 is still very much alive.” —Alex Harring

8:16 a.m. ET — With 40,000 new cases daily, the growth in the spread of Covid-19 is threatening the economic rebound.

Several economists told CNBC they are not yet ready to change their forecasts for a snapback in the third quarter, but they are monitoring the situation as states shutdown activities or hold off reopenings in response. In the second quarter, the economic shutdown was expected to have caused a more than 30% contraction in gross domestic product.

By the third quarter, economists surveyed by CNBC/Moody’s Analytics expect a median gain of 13.5% for the third quarter. —Patti Domm

7:23 a.m. ET — Germany has posted several pieces of positive data with retail sales in May, and unemployment data for June, both surprising to the upside.

Retail sales in May rose 13.9% from the previous month, Germany’s federal statistics office said, while the latest unemployment data released by its Labor Office Wednesday showed that the number of people out of work rose by 69,000 in June. That was a far lower number than the 120,000 forecast by analysts polled by Reuters.

Germany’s respected Ifo institute said that it expected the economy to have contracted 11.9% in the second quarter but it forecast growth of 6.9% in the third quarter, and 3.8% in the fourth quarter. —Holly Ellyatt

Ryanair has seen “very strong” bookings through the first two weeks of July, but the company expects ticket prices to remain lower than ever for about 12 months, CEO Michael O’Leary told Reuters.

Ticket prices are unlikely to return to pre-pandemic levels until 2022 or 2023, he said, according to Reuters. He added that he expects the company to fly 4.5 million passengers in July and between 5.5 million and 6 million in August.

O’Leary’s comments come after much of the European Union has lifted border restrictions that were prompted by the coronavirus pandemic and has begun to open to travelers from outside of the blog. Travelers from a list of 15 countries can now travel to the E.U., though the U.S. is not among them. —Will Feuer