(Bloomberg) — Seventy coronavirus vaccines are in development globally, with three already being tested in human trials, the World Health Organization said. Spain reported the fewest number of new cases since March 20.Parts of the U.S. may be ready to ease emergency measures in May, said Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson praised doctors for saving his life during his week-long hospitalization for Covid-19 treatment.Futures on the three main U.S. equity indexes all dropped, while stocks fell in Asia’s main financial centers. Markets across Europe were closed for the Easter holiday.Key DevelopmentsCoronavirus Tracker: Global cases reach 1.85 million; deaths top 114,00070 coronavirus vaccines in development globallyChina’s Harbin tightens measuresPork producer warns of meat shortagesCruise passengers spend Easter on “ghost ship”The Virus Should Wake Up the West: Micklethwait and WooldridgeErdogan Gets Over Lockdown Chaos Without Losing Cabinet Member (5:53 p.m. HK)Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has rejected the resignation of his popular interior minister after the botched handling of a coronavirus lockdown, a maneuver that allowed him to both deflect blame for the foul-up while keeping a staunch defender in his cabinet. The calling of a snap lockdown over the weekend started a rush of panic-buying that all but defeated the purpose of trying to stem a surge in virus cases and deaths.Italy to Ask for Significant Deficit Deviation, Official Says (5:43 p.m. HK)Italy’s government will ask parliament to allow a significant deficit deviation given the health crisis, Deputy Finance Minister Antonio Misiani said according to an Ansa report. Italy will finance part of its next economic relief package, expected to be approved by the end of April, with European Union funds worth about 10 billion euros ($11 billion), Ansa reported based on Misiani’s comments to a television station on Monday.Spain Reports Fewest New Virus Cases in More Than Three Weeks (5:40 p.m. HK)Spain reported the smallest number of new coronavirus infections since March 20 on Monday and saw the daily death toll decrease. Over the past 24 hours, there were 3,477 new cases detected, bringing the total number to 169,496, the health ministry said. The country saw 517 more people die from Covid-19, bringing the total to 17,489.Iran Reports 1,617 New Infections (5:27 p.m. HK)Iran reported 1,617 new cases and 111 more deaths in the past day, bringing the country’s total to 73,303 cases and 4,585 fatalities.Belgium Reports 942 New Coronavirus Cases (5:04 p.m. HK)The country has now detected a total of 30,589 infections. Deaths increased by 303 to 3,903.Japan Defends Abe After His ‘Dance at Home’ Virus Foray Stumbles (4:59 p.m. HK)Japan’s government defended Prime Minister Shinzo Abe after his attempt to use social media to get more people to stay home during the pandemic drew accusations that he’s out of touch with the struggles citizens are facing. Abe uploaded a video on his Twitter Sunday taking part in a trend where users overlay their videos on those of singer Gen Hoshino, as he performs a song supporting social distancing that can be translated as “Dance at Home.”Exxon Postpones Cyprus Drilling Amid Coronavirus, Minister Says (4:47 p.m. HK)Exxon Mobil Corp. is postponing its exploratory drilling program in offshore Block 10 of Cyprus’s exclusive economic zone given the coronavirus and the level of international oil prices, Cyprus Energy Minister Georgios Lakkotrypis said.Russia Reports 16% Increase in New Covid-19 Cases to 18,328 (3:55 p.m. HK)Confirmed infections rose by 2,558, Russian consumer health watchdog Rospotrebnadzor said. The death toll reached 148, with 18 cases overnight.Israel Government Recommends ‘News Diet’ (3:44 p.m. HK)Israel’s Health Ministry recommended a “news diet” during the pandemic. Watching too much news can heighten anxiety and twice a day is plenty, the Health Ministry said in recommendations to the public released on Monday. Israel has more than 11,000 confirmed cases of the virus.South Korea to Export Virus Testing Kits to U.S. Tuesday: Daily (3:40 p.m. HK)South Korea will send coronavirus testing kits made by two companies to the U.S. on April 14, Korea Economic Daily reports, citing an unidentified official at the Foreign Ministry.Indian Central Bank Ready to Do More for Virus-Hit Economy (3:39 p.m. HK)India’s monetary policy makers are ready to implement more steps to insulate the economy from the coronavirus outbreak, minutes of their latest meeting show. “The Reserve Bank will continue to remain vigilant and will not hesitate to use any instrument – conventional and unconventional – to mitigate the impact of Covid-19, revive growth and preserve financial stability,” Governor Shaktikanta Das said in the emergency meeting held March 24-27, minutes of which were published on Monday.Indonesia a Hidden Virus ‘Hotspot’ With New Infections Surging (2:54 p.m. HK)Indonesia’s government is ramping up its coronavirus testing capacity and expanding the partial lockdown to areas outside the capital, after facing criticism for having one of the region’s lowest testing rates per capita. President Joko Widodo said the country will increase its testing capacity by 9,000 samples per day while regulators extended stricter social distancing measures, which includes closing offices, a ban on gatherings of more than five people and limiting transportation services to some satellite cities outside Jakarta to contain the spread of the deadly disease.Renault Plans to Restart Two Spanish Plants: Norte de Castilla (2:52 p.m. HK)Renault aims to reopen two Spanish plants that were shut due to the outbreak, Spanish newspaper El Norte de Castilla reported, citing an interview with Jose Vicente de los Mozos, the company’s chairman for Spain.Germany Reports 151 New Deaths, 2,402 New Cases (2:41 a.m. HK)Infections rose to a total of 127,854 in the past day, while deaths increased to 3,022, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.Vaccines in Development (2:01 p.m. HK)WHO says 70 vaccines are in development. The furthest along in the clinical process is an experimental vaccine developed by Hong Kong-listed CanSino Biologics Inc. and the Beijing Institute of Biotechnology, which is in phase two. The other two being tested in humans are treatments developed separately by U.S. drugmakers Moderna Inc. and Inovio Pharmaceuticals Inc., according to a WHO document.India Wants to Resume Road Projects (1:50 p.m. HK)India is seeking ways to resume construction of highways and arterial roads in districts least impacted by the coronavirus outbreak. Roads were being constructed at a pace of 31 kilometers (19.3 miles) a day before Prime Minister Narendra Modi ordered the lockdown starting March 25. India plans to spend $12 billion to build 15,500 km of highways in the fiscal year that began April 1.China Steps Up Russia Border Control (1:43 p.m. HK)China’s northernmost province is stepping up border controls to stave off infections from neighboring Russia, as a growing number of Chinese returning from there with the novel coronavirus threaten to trigger a new hotspot at home. Heilongjiang province said it has begun around-the-clock patrols of its border with Russia, Chinese state broadcaster CCTV reported on Sunday.Thailand to Set Up Panel (1:05 p.m. HK)The joint government and private sector panel will mull on the timeline to restart businesses, taking into account public health, Karin Sarasin, chairman of the Thai Chamber of Commerce, says in a briefing. Businesses want the government to expedite project disbursements.Sneakers Maker Asked to Halt Vietnam Operations (11:27 a.m. HK)Ho Chi Minh City is seeking the Vietnam premier’s approval to temporarily shut down a unit of Pou Chen Corp., the world’s largest maker of athletic shoes, because of concerns about a potential outbreak of the coronavirus. Authorities for the metropolis, which has the most confirmed virus patients in the country after Hanoi, are concerned about Pouyuen Vietnam, which employs 70,000 workers and operates three shifts a day.Vietnam Aims to Boost Mask Exports (10:30 a.m. HK)The trade ministry is ordering overseas branches to urgently find customers for cloth face masks to help the textile and garment business mitigate damage wrought by the coronavirus, according to a post on the government website Sunday. The country has sufficient capacity to become a key maker of cloth masks globally, a ministry representative was cited as saying.Philippines Aims to Reopen in May (10:22 a.m. HK)The country has sufficient funds for coronavirus response and will secure more to restart the economy, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez tells CNN Philippines. The country is hoping to reopen the economy by early May.China Cases Mostly Imported (8:42 a.m. HK)China reported an additional 108 cases for April 12, of which 98 were from overseas, according to the National Health Commission. There were 61 asymptomatic cases. China has 1,064 asymptomatic coronavirus cases under medical observation as of April 12.FDA Authorizes Decontamination of N95 Respirators (8:39 a.m. HK)The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued an emergency use authorization that has the potential to decontaminate approximately four million N95 or N95-equivalent respirators per day in the U.S. for reuse by health care workers in hospital settings.“We need to do everything we can to increase the availability of the critical medical devices they need, like N95 respirators,” FDA Commissioner Stephen M. Hahn said in a statement. “This authorization will help provide access to millions of respirators so our health care workers on the front lines can be better protected.”U.S. Case Rate Falls for Second Day (4 p.m. NY)U.S. cases rose 5.4% from a day earlier to more than 542,000 by midday Sunday, according to data collected by Johns Hopkins University and Bloomberg News. The rise was below the 7.9% average daily increase over the past week.Cases rose almost 10% for the 24 hours ended on April 8, according to the data, a rate that fell to 7.9% on Friday and 5.6% on Saturday.New York’s cases rose about 4%. South Dakota experienced a 17% rise from Saturday, bringing the total to 730.Pork Producer Warns of Shortages (3:15 p.m. NY)The world’s biggest pork producer warned that the closure of processing factories as employees test positive for coronavirus is pushing meat supplies “perilously close to the edge” of shortfalls.Smithfield Foods Inc. said it will idle its Sioux Falls, South Dakota, pork-processing facility — which accounts for 4% to 5% of U.S. production — after state officials reported more than 200 cases of Covid-19 at that company alone.Mark Cuban Predicts Fanless NBA Games (2 p.m. NY)Mark Cuban, the owner of the National Basketball Association’s Dallas Mavericks, said crowding back into sports stadiums and arenas won’t happen until the “science” is in place to make people feel safe.“I think initially we’ll play just for the TV cameras, with essential personnel and players,” the billionaire said on “Fox News Sunday.”“People aren’t going to just venture outside,” he said. “They’re not going to go to large gatherings. They’re not going to feel confident right off the bat. There’s going to be a lot of trepidation.”Mexico Exchange Chairman Dies (1:20 p.m. NY)The chairman of Mexico’s stock exchange, Jaime Ruiz Sacristan, died early Sunday more than three weeks after he was hospitalized with coronavirus. He was 70. A statement from Bolsa Mexicana de Valores SAB didn’t cite a specific cause.Ruiz, chairman since 2015, was among a cluster of high-profile Mexican executives who had tested positive after returning from a ski-resort vacation to Vail, Colorado, on a private jet.Fed Official Warns of Flare Ups (12:05 p.m. NY)Without an effective therapy or a vaccine, the U.S. could expect 18 months of rolling shutdowns as the outbreak recedes and then returns, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis President Neel Kashkari said.“We’re looking around the world. As they relax the economic controls, the virus flares back up again,” Kashkari said Sunday on CBS’s “Face the Nation.”“This could be a long hard road that we have ahead of us until we get either to an effective therapy or a vaccine,” he said. “It’s hard for me to see a V-shaped recovery under that scenario.”Deaths in U.K. Top 10,000 (10:54 a.m. NY)The U.K. became the fifth country to record more than 10,000 deaths from the coronavirus. A daily increase of 737 brought the total number of Britons to die from the disease to 10,612, the Health Ministry said on Sunday.“The U.K. is likely to be certainly one of the worst, if not the worst affected country in Europe,” Jeremy Farrar, a member of the scientific panel advising the government on the pandemic, told the BBC on Sunday.Fauci Says Reopening Could Start in May (9:48 a.m. NY)Parts of the U.S. may be ready in May to ease emergency measures taken against the pandemic but there’s no universal “light switch” to flip on, Anthony Fauci said.“It could probably start at least in some ways maybe next month,” Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
