Coronavirus: Health workers dying at ‘horrific rates’; More universities send students home

At least 7,000 health workers around the world have died as a result of contracting the coronavirus, according to analysis published by Amnesty International.

The human rights group said at least 1,320 health workers were confirmed to have died as a result of Covid-19 in Mexico alone, the highest known figure for any country worldwide. Health worker fatalities related to the virus were also high in the U.S. (1,077) and Brazil (634), Amnesty International said.

“Many months into the pandemic, health workers are still dying at horrific rates in countries such as Mexico, Brazil and the USA, while the rapid spread of infections in South Africa and India show the need for all states to take action,” Steve Cockburn, head of economic and social justice at Amnesty International, said in a statement.

“There must be global cooperation to ensure all health workers are provided with adequate protective equipment, so they can continue their vital work without risking their own lives,” he added. — Sam Meredith

Italy’s former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi has been diagnosed with the early stages of double pneumonia, according to ANSA news agency. It comes shortly after the 83-year-old tested positive for the coronavirus.

Paolo Emilio Russo, Berlusconi’s spokesperson, told NBC News that he could not confirm reports of the double pneumonia diagnosis.

Double or bilateral pneumonia is a condition that affects both lungs and can make breathing difficult. It has been seen to develop in some severe cases of Covid-19.

Berlusconi was taken to a hospital in the city of Milan on Thursday evening. — Sam Meredith

“The Batman” star Robert Pattinson has tested positive for Covid-19, according to multiple media reports.

On Thursday, Warner Bros. confirmed that the production of Matt Reeves’ upcoming take on Batman had halted in the U.K. after a crew member tested positive for the virus, but did not respond to requests for comment about the person’s identity.

The production shutdown comes just days after the comic book movie had restarted filming. “The Batman” had been delayed for months due to the pandemic, having only previously completed around seven weeks of filming. The movie was expected to wrap shooting by the end of the year and debut in Oct. 2021. — Sarah Whitten

Senate Democrats are working to reverse President Donald Trump’s payroll tax deferral, CNBC’s Darla Mercado reports.

Sens. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, asked the Government Accountability Office to determine whether the payroll tax suspension is considered a “rule.” If it’s deemed a rule, Congress has the ability to overturn it under the Congressional Review Act.

Undoing the regulation would require a joint resolution that is unlikely to pass, according to policy experts. The president is expected to veto any attempted measures, so it would require a two-thirds majority vote in both the House and Republican-controlled Senate to pass.

The temporary suspension, which went into effect on Sept. 1, allows employers to delay collecting workers’ Social Security taxes until the end of the year. Any employees receiving biweekly paychecks under $4,000 are eligible for the deferral. While workers would receive a 6.2% pay bump now, those delayed taxes would then be withheld from workers’ paychecks early next year.

It’s possible that employers may avoid utilizing the suspension even without Congressional action. If they’re not able to accurately pay back the amount at the beginning of next year, they’ll face financial repercussions. They’d also have to educate their employees about the mechanics of the trade-off. — Hannah Miao

Johnson & Johnson‘s potential coronavirus vaccine prevented severe disease in hamsters, according to new data published in the medical journal Nature Medicine. 

Vaccinated hamsters produced neutralizing antibodies, which researchers believe are necessary to build immunity to the virus, and appeared to lose less weight than unvaccinated hamsters in the preclinical study. The vaccinated hamsters also didn’t experience severe illness like pneumonia, the J&J researchers said.

The promising results in hamsters do not necessarily mean the vaccine will provide the same level of protection in humans. But J&J researchers noted the findings are important as Covid-19 is known to progress into severe disease in some humans. The company expects to begin a large, late-stage trial testing its vaccine on humans sometime this month. –Berkeley Lovelace Jr.

The coronavirus is forcing more universities across the U.S. to pause or cancel in-person learning for the fall semester. 

SUNY Oneonta President Barbara Jean Morris announced the New York state institution is drafting a plan to send its on-campus students home after reporting more than 380 Covid-19 cases since Aug. 24. The announcement comes after the college placed a two-week “pause” period on its in-person learning plans on Aug. 30. 

Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, also announced it would move most of its classes online for the fall semester after an increase in cases among students, President Richard Englert said in a statement. Students who need to live on campus because of family circumstances will be allowed to stay, he said. 

“Unfortunately, the risks associated with the Covid-19 pandemic are simply too great for our students, faculty, staff and neighboring community,” Englert said. 

San Diego State University, which began its semester last week, said on Wednesday that it will pause its in-person instruction for the next month after San Diego County health department officials reported at least 64 cases among students since the semester began, according to NBC 7 in San Diego. The university said it will reevaluate whether to return students to campus, though many of its classes were already held online, according to the report. — Noah Higgins-Dunn

Traffic reduction due to Covid-19 has forced Google to adjust how it predicts driving conditions in Google Maps, CNBC’s Todd Haselton reports. Google says global traffic fell by 50% after lockdowns started earlier this year. To give a more accurate estimated time of arrival, Google now prioritizes traffic data from the last two to four weeks in its calculations rather than historical patterns. — Hannah Miao

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s leading infectious disease expert, said he has “confidence and some faith” a U.S. approval for a Covid-19 vaccine won’t be politically motivated.

Public health experts and scientists are concerned an approval will be based on politics, not science, and President Donald Trump may be pressuring regulators to get a vaccine to the market ahead of the presidential election. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has asked governors and health departments to prepare to distribute a vaccine as soon as Nov. 1, two days before the election.

Fauci told CNN that the Food and Drug Administration has been “very explicit” that it is going to make a decision based on data from clinical trials. The trial results will also be reviewed by the Data and Safety Monitoring Board, an independent group of experts who monitor patient safety and treatment data, he said. –Berkeley Lovelace Jr.

Americans hoping Congress will throw them a lifeline as the pandemic grinds on likely won’t find one in the latest Senate Republican proposal. 

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said he opposes the coronavirus stimulus bill the GOP aims to vote on next week. He said the reported legislation, which is not yet final, “appears to be completely inadequate and, by every measure, fails to meet the needs of the American people.” 

The Republican-held Senate hopes to pass a roughly $500 billion plan that addresses issues including extra unemployment insurance, small business loans and funding for Covid-19 testing and vaccines. Based on Schumer’s comments, the package is unlikely to earn much Democratic support in the Senate or get through the Democratic-held House. 

Coronavirus relief talks between Democrats and the Trump administration collapsed last month amid disagreements over how much money to spend to combat economic and health-care crises. Disagreements include disputes over how much aid to send to state and local governments, and whether to provide additional food assistance money. —Jacob Pramuk

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced that New York City malls with proper high-quality air filtration systems to prevent the coronavirus’ spread will be allowed to reopen beginning Sept. 9 at 50% occupancy. Casinos across the state can begin operating that same day at 25% occupancy, he said. 

The Democratic governor has yet to OK indoor dining in the Big Apple unlike other parts of the state, however, even as colder temperatures approach and local officials and business owners criticize the decision. Cuomo said he would like to allow indoor dining to return, but the city has been unable to enforce the state’s orders for previous reopenings.

“I understand the tension on the issue,” Cuomo said, adding that the state has the legal authority to reopen the restaurants, not the city. “We have major problems in New York City with the compliance on the bars.” —Noah Higgins-Dunn

Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said the company could have the results from its late-stage coronavirus vaccine trial as early as October.

The U.S.-based pharmaceutical company has already enrolled 23,000 volunteers in the phase three trial that began in late July, Bourla said during a Q&A with the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers & Associations, a trade group. It hopes to enroll at least 30,000 participants, he said. 

Pfizer’s potential vaccine is one of three backed by the U.S. that’s currently in late-stage testing. The drug giant has been working alongside German drugmaker BioNTech. The companies’ experimental vaccine contains genetic material called messenger RNA, or mRNA. In July, the company released promising data from its early-stage trial. —Berkeley Lovelace Jr.

U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar insisted the federal government’s Nov. 1 deadline for states to set up coronavirus vaccine distribution sites has nothing to do with the U.S. presidential election two days later.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has asked state governors and health departments to prepare to distribute a vaccine as soon as November. In a letter dated Aug. 27, CDC Director Robert Redfield said states will receive permit applications from medical supply company McKesson, which HHS tapped to help distribute the vaccine, “in the near future” and may need to waive some licensing and permit requirements that could delay the process.

“It has nothing to do with elections. This has to do with delivering safe, effective vaccines to the American people as quickly as possible and saving people’s lives,” Azar said in an interview with CBS. “Whether it’s Oct. 15, whether it’s Nov. 1, whether it’s Nov 15, it’s all about saving lives but meeting the FDA standards of safety and efficacy.” —Berkeley Lovelace Jr.

U.S. productivity surged at a record pace in the second quarter, as the number of hours worked plunged by the largest amount since the government keeping records more than 70 years ago, the Associated Press reported.

Productivity rose at a 10.1% rate in the quarter, the Labor Department said.

The number of hours worked dropped by 42.9%, contributing to a 37.1% decline in output, as the pandemic wreaked havoc on the U.S. economy. The decline in output was the biggest dropoff since the government began tracking the data in 1947, according to the wire service. —Terri Cullen

The ongoing coronavirus pandemic has caused filming delays and hindered widespread travel for production crews, but LED technology developed for the Disney+ series “The Mandalorian” could aid production.

More than 50% of “The Mandalorian’s” first season was filmed using this new technology, basically eliminating the need for on-location shoots. 

Pinewood Studios in Atlanta announced plans to bring a similar LED stage to its facility. The technology can reduce the cost of productions, as film crews won’t have to travel to international locations, and can make post-production work easier. —Sarah Whitten

U.S. stocks opened lower as investors paused in the wake of already-robust gains so far this week. 

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq were up 2.1% and 3.1%, respectively, week to date. The Dow entered the session up 1.6% for the week, reports CNBC’s Fred Imbert and Thomas Franck. —Melodie Warner 

As the holidays approach, Walmart is preparing for toy shopping to look different due to the pandemic.

The big-box retailer has developed a new online tool, called Walmart Wonder Lab, which lets kids virtually unbox, test and play with toys since they can’t try them in store aisles or at in-store events.

Walmart had to come up with a workaround as it put together its list of top-rated toys. Instead of holding an event with hundreds of kids near its Arkansas headquarters, it shipped toys to young testers’ homes to try and review.

Brad Bedwell, merchandising director of preschool toys and omni merchandising, said the retailer has also shipped more toys to fulfillment centers this year because it anticipates many customers will buy them online.

He still expects a strong toy shopping season. “This is really a category that can spark some joy for our customers and kind of deliver on what makes staying at home fun,” Bedwell said. —Melissa Repko

Back-to-school is well underway around the country, but the pandemic response has made the process more complicated than ever. Some schools will have students in the classroom, others will be completely remote, and some will try to find a balance between the two with a hybrid model. For working parents, the situation has become a thorny issue as they juggle two full-time jobs: caregiver and employee.

A Wellthy survey of nearly 1,200 working adults nationwide found that 81% of full-or-part-time working parents felt supported by their employers through the pandemic. Some companies like Ernst & Young are providing discounted tutoring programs, while others like PwC are allowing employees to block time during the day for caregiving purposes. Nearly half (48%) of caregiver respondents have increased how much time they spend per week on care-related activities. 

The survey also found that 70% of employees are concerned about going back to the office due to potential exposure to Covid-19. Additionally, 15% said they would never go back to full-time office hours. The pandemic is shining a light on how closely childcare is linked to the health of the economy. —AJ Horch

Initial jobless claims came in at 881,000 last week, falling below 1 million once again as the jobs market wages a comeback from widespread coronavirus closures. 

That’s well below the 950,000 that economists polled by Dow Jones had expected and an improvement from last week’s readout. Still, unemployment remains stubbornly higher than pre-pandemic levels. —Sara Salinas

Burger King revealed two new restaurant designs inspired by behavioral changes during the pandemic, like increased drive-thru and delivery orders and outdoor seating.

“In March our in-house design and tech team accelerated new restaurant design plans and pushed the limits of what a Burger King restaurant could be,” Restaurant Brands International’s Chief Operating Officer Josh Kobzar said in a statement. “We took into consideration how consumer behaviors are changing and [how] our guests will want to interact with our restaurants.”

New features include a conveyor belt that carries orders to drive-thru customers, a walk-up window and a drive-thru lane just for delivery drivers.

The company said the first new designed restaurants will be built next year in Latin America, the Caribbean and Miami, where Burger King is headquartered. —Amelia Lucas

Fulgent Genetics announced it will partner with New York City Health and Hospitals’ Test and Trace Corps to tests hundreds of thousands of students for the coronavirus as schools try to safely reopen later this month. 

Shares of Fulgent rose more than 13% in premarket trading on the news.

The test, called Picture by Fulgent, is a molecular diagnostic test that has been granted an emergency use authorization by the Food and Drug Administration. The company said it will provide results within one to two days from specimen collection. 

“In just a few short days, we were able to get the first shipment of hundreds of thousands of Picture kits to New York City,” Brandon Perthuis, chief commercial officer of Fulgent, said in a statement. “We will now be working closely with the city on the distribution, return and replenishment of the kits.” —Will Feuer

Singapore reported 43 new cases of the coronavirus identified in its dormitories for migrant workers, which had previously underwent a massive testing and tracing effort when cases began to rise in the dorms in April, Reuters reported.

The majority of Singapore’s nearly 57,000 total confirmed cases have come from the dorms, which public health specialists have said are overcrowded and make proper hygiene difficult. 

The government would “have acted more aggressively and sooner on the migrant worker dormitories” had it known earlier about asymptomatic spread of the coronavirus, Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said Wednesday in a speech, according to Reuters. —Will Feuer