(Bloomberg) — U.S. President Donald Trump said he would begin self-quarantine while waiting for coronavirus test results after Hope Hicks, one of his closest aides, tested positive for Covid-19. Hicks traveled with Trump aboard Air Force One to and from the presidential debate in Cleveland on Tuesday.
Amazon.com Inc. said close to 20,000 of its employees had tested positive for the virus during the pandemic. A $1 billion funding package to help the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention fight Covid-19 has remained mostly unspent, people familiar with the matter said.
Key Developments:
Global Tracker: Cases pass 34.1 million; deaths exceed 1 millionHow Russia Shortened the Covid Vaccine Race to Declare VictoryPelosi says major differences to be bridged in stimulus negotiationsNew York, San Francisco rents plunge in work-at-home shiftCovid-19 surge in Wisconsin started with back-to-school college kidsEnglish soccer could be next in line for a coronavirus bailout
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Trump Self-Quarantines After Aide Hicks Tests Positive (11:12 a.m. HK)
President Trump said he would begin quarantine while waiting for coronavirus test results for himself and First Lady Melania Trump, after close aide Hope Hicks tested positive for Covid-19. Hicks traveled with Trump aboard Air Force One to and from the Tuesday presidential debate and to a Minnesota rally on Wednesday. She felt poorly in Minnesota and quarantined aboard the presidential plane on the way home, according to people familiar with the matter.
Trump said in an interview late Thursday on Fox News that he would get his results “either tonight or tomorrow morning.” The president said later, in a tweet, that he and First Lady would begin quarantine while waiting on their results. The development is likely to inflame criticism of the Trump administration’s response to the pandemic. Trump seldom wears a mask and has resumed large campaign rallies with thousands of supporters, few in masks, including two recent indoor events in Arizona and Nevada.
Hicks is the latest person in Trump’s orbit to contract the virus, which has infected more than 7.2 million Americans and killed more than 200,000. Other senior staff have contracted Covid-19 and recovered including National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien.
Japan Jobless Rate Rises to 3-Year High (7:42 a.m. HK)
Japan’s unemployment rate rose to a three-year high in August as the coronavirus continued to weigh on the economy’s recovery. The rate rose to 3% from 2.9% in July, the internal affairs ministry reported. Japan has suffered fewer job losses than other major economies during the crisis thanks to legal precedents for full-time workers and big cash buffers on corporate balance sheets, along with cheap loans and wage support from the government to keep workers on the payroll.
Separately, Nikkei reported that the Japanese government is preparing to draft another stimulus package by the end of this year.
Philippine Airlines May Cut More Than a Third of Workforce: Inquirer (7:28 a.m. HK)
Philippine Airlines plans to reduce its workforce by as much as 35%, affecting more than 2,700 employees, in a process that could take until early December, the Philippine Daily Inquirer reported.
Hawaii CEO Charged With $12.8 Million Covid Relief Fraud Scheme (7:18 a.m. HK)
An engineering and design firm CEO has been charged in Hawaii with a scheme to fraudulently obtain more than $12.8 million in loans from the Paycheck Protection Program purportedly for relief due to the Covid-19 pandemic, according to federal court documents. Martin Kao, CEO of Navatek LLC, now known as Martin Defense Group, was charged with two counts of bank fraud and five counts of money laundering. Prosecutors say Kao falsified information on the loans and transferred more than $2 million to his personal accounts.
Texas Hospitalizations Tumble 4.6% in a Day (7:02 a.m. HK)
The number of virus patients in Texas hospitals fell by 4.6% in 24 hours to 3,190, the lowest in more than a week, according to state health department data. The second-largest US state doesn’t provide a statewide breakdown of how many of those patients are in intensive care.
New York Downgraded as Moody’s Warns of Long Recovery (7:01 a.m. HK)
New York City and state had their credit ratings lowered for the first time in about three decades by Moody’s Investors Service, which said the impact from the coronavirus on the most populous U.S. city is among the most severe in the nation. Moody’s dropped both by one notch to Aa2, and warned of a long return to normal from the pandemic. New York reported the most coronavirus cases since May, even as the U.S. pace of infections remained steady. Cases are rising in New York City as schools reopen.
Earlier, New York state reported more than 1,300 new cases of coronavirus, the most since May, before New York City began allowing businesses to gradually reopen. The main hot-spot increases have been in Brooklyn and Rockland County, Governor Andrew Cuomo told reporters.
Almost 20,000 Amazon Workers Had Covid (6 a.m. HK)
Amazon.com Inc. said almost 20,000 U.S. employees have tested positive for Covid-19 during a time period of a little over six months, a disclosure that follows criticism from some lawmakers and employees that the world’s largest online retailer was too secretive about outbreaks within its ranks.
The retailer said in a blog post Thursday that 19,816 workers tested positive for the respiratory disease, or were presumed positive, out of 1,372,000 U.S. front-line employees who worked for the company from March 1 to Sept. 19, an infection rate of 1.44%. The company said that if its employees contracted the virus at a rate equal to that of the general population, it would have had 33,952 cases.
Amazon has dealt with outbreaks of Covid-19 at facilities in Europe and the U.S.
CDC Anti-Pandemic Funds Stuck for Months (4:43 a.m. HK)
The bulk of a $1 billion funding package intended to help the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention fight the Covid-19 pandemic in the U.S. has remained unspent since being authorized more than five months ago, according to people familiar with the matter.
U.S. Cases Rise in Line With One-Week Average (4 a.m. HK)
Coronavirus cases in the U.S. increased 0.6% to 7.26 million, according to data collected by Johns Hopkins University and Bloomberg News. The increase matched the average daily gain over the past week. Deaths rose to 207,374.
Trump Moves Wisconsin Rally Opposed by Mayor (3:58 a.m. HK)
President Donald Trump ditched a re-election rally on Saturday in LaCrosse, Wisconsin, and moved it to Janesville in the southern part of the state. The event at La Crosse’s airport was opposed by city officials as coronavirus cases surge in the Midwest.
Brazil Analyzing First Covid-19 Vaccine Registration (2:55 a.m. HK)
Brazil’s Health Surveillance Agency started the first analysis for the registration of the Covid-19 vaccine developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca, according to the regulator’s website. It said it will remain committed to providing access to the vaccine as soon as possible.
Pfizer CEO Disappointed With Vaccine Discussion at Presidential Debate (2:15 a.m. HK)
Albert Bourla, Pfizer chairman and CEO, said he was “disappointed that the prevention for a deadly disease was discussed in political terms rather than scientific facts” at Tuesday’s presidential debate, where both the timing of the vaccine and political pressure to move that forward were among the topics discussed. Bourla said Pfizer is approaching its goal set earlier this year to have vaccine data ready to submit to the FDA this month, with the aim of delivering 100 million doses by year end.
“We find ourselves in the crucible of the U.S. Presidential election,” Bourla said. “In this hyper-partisan year, there are some who would like us to move more quickly and others who argue for delay. Neither of those options are acceptable to me.”
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