 | FRI, MAR 20, 2020 | | | | Coronavirus: US cases jump tenfold | Trump gives mixed messages | | | | Think a friend or colleague should be getting this newsletter? Share this link with them to sign up.
COVID-19 cases in the United States surged tenfold in a week, jumping from around 1,323 on March 12 to over 13,670 by last night. New York state has been hit the hardest by the outbreak, and now New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is pushing for Gov. Andrew Cuomo to impose a "shelter-in-place" order. The private sector is stepping in – from pharmaceuticals to autos. More on that below.
Programming update: With the health and safety of our attendees in mind, CNBC is exploring alternative options to engage our community in lieu of an in-person Healthy Returns Summit. We will be in touch with more information in the coming weeks.
| | Coronavirus pandemic has opened a new digital front door for medicine | In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, the federal government has introduced sweeping changes to make it easier for doctors to scale up virtual care. That includes reimbursement for virtual check-ins, and a new rule that allows seniors to Facetime or Skype their doctor. Some entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley told CNBC that they welcome the changes, and are hoping that they're here to stay. "At the end of the day," notes Neal Khosla, founder of Curai. "I think some of the law changes will make it tenable to stick with telehealth, and the competitive pressures from patients will help."
-Chrissy Farr | | | | Trump, FDA give mixed messages on Gilead drug; Regeneron speeds up timeline | Remdesivir's approved, or close to being approved, to treat COVID-19, President Trump said Thursday ... minutes before his FDA commissioner, Dr Stephen Hahn, said it wasn't. Same with the decades-old anti-malarial drug, chloroquine. What emerged from a confusing White House coronavirus task force briefing is that officials believe these antivirals have promise for treating COVID-19, but that they need to be tested thoroughly. Meanwhile, Regeneron sped up its timelines for starting human trials of its antibody therapy by a few months, to early summer. And both Regeneron and Roche laid out plans for testing their approved rheumatoid arthritis drugs to try to tamp down the lung inflammation in severe COVID-19. Pharma is moving quickly, just not as quickly as the president suggests.
-Meg Tirrell | | | | For Rite Aid CEO, it's 'all hands on deck' and trial by fire | When Heyward Donigan took the reins as CEO of Rite Aid last August, she looked to turn the struggling drug store chain around by building up online sales in the front of the store, and putting pharmacists at the heart of a new consumer health strategy. The coronavirus crisis is putting the company's turnaround to the ultimate test. Sales of essentials are up, but she told us in a revealing interview this week that it's a struggle to keep things like hand sanitizer in stock. In some cases, her distribution workers are picking up supplies directly from manufacturers to speed things up. Investors have taken note. Rite Aid shares are up more than 65 percent this week.
-Bertha Coombs | | | | Detroit's Big Three automakers plan to temporarily close all U.S. factories | Ford, General Motors and Fiat Chrysler announced Wednesday they plan to close all U.S. factories after bowing from pressure from the United Auto Workers union and employees who called for protection from the pandemic. Altogether, the closures would affect 25 final-assembly factories and 150,000 union workers, according to the UAW and each automaker. The halt in production could create an immediate cash crunch for the automakers as demand for cars declines amid the COVID-19 outbreak. "The greater challenge is that once the country gets past the worst of the pandemic, automakers will need to be prepared to get back online quickly to capitalize on the wave of deferred consumer demand," said Jessica Caldwell, Edmunds' executive director of industry analysis.
-Noah Higgins-Dunn | | | | New Yorkers get whiplash as governor and NYC mayor squabble over 'shelter in place' | As state and local officials across the country roll out policies to slow the spread of COVID-19 so the nation's health-care systems don't get overwhelmed, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio and Gov. Andrew Cuomo are hung up on whether to issue a "shelter-in-place" order. On Tuesday, de Blasio told New Yorkers to prepare for a shelter-in-place order in the coming days to contain the fast-moving virus. On Wednesday, however, Cuomo said he won't approve such a restrictive order for New York City, which he said is legally required. Cuomo said that he is concerned about the level of fear that such policies could create. The feud comes after San Francisco Bay area officials ordered some 7 million residents to shelter in place on Monday, prohibiting people from leaving their homes, except under "limited circumstances," according to the order.
-Will Feuer | | | | Coronavirus lives for hours in air particles and days on surfaces | The new coronavirus can survive for several hours in air particles and last days on surfaces, according to a new study published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Researchers from the NIH, CDC, UCLA and Princeton University examined how long the virus survives in the air as well as on copper, cardboard, plastic and stainless steel. They found that it was detectable in aerosols for up to three hours, up to four hours on copper and up to 24 hours on cardboard. It can also last up to three days on plastic and stainless steel, the scientists concluded, adding the amount of the virus left on those surfaces decreases over time.
-Berkeley Lovelace Jr. | |
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