U.S. governors pushing to reopen their states after COVID-19-driven lockdowns may want to look to Germany on Tuesday, where an early attempt to lift restrictions on movement has led to an increase in the coronavirus infection rate.
The news comes as President Donald Trump urges states to “seriously consider” reopening public schools before the end of the academic year, the Associated Press reported, even though many have already determined it would be unsafe to do so. Trump made the comments on a Monday call with governors to discuss the steps needed to reopen economies. None of the governors on the call responded to the suggestion, according to the AP.
Spain has the highest number of cases in Europe at 232,128 and 23,822 deaths. Italy has 201,505 cases and 27,359 deaths, the highest number of fatalities in Europe.The U.K. has 158,354 cases and 21,745 deaths. Turkey has 114,653 cases and 2,992 deaths, while Russia has moved past Iran in case number. Russia has 93,558 cases and 867 deaths, while Iran has 92,584 cases and 5,877 deaths. China, where the disease was first reported late last year, has 83,938 cases and 4,637 deaths.
The drug was first proposed as a potential treatment after researchers in China published data from a single-arm trial with 21 patients that found Roche Holding AG’s ROG, +0.93% Actemra, also a IL-6 inhibitor, reduced fevers and the need for supplemental oxygen in COVID-19 patients. Regeneron and Sanofi are moving ahead with a more limited Phase 3 trial that will only include patients deemed critical and will involve a higher dose of the drug.
The plan is to enroll 600 healthy adults and older adults in two cohorts. Participants will be followed through 12 months after the second vaccination. A third phase could begin in the fall of 2020, the company said. Caterpillar had higher-than-expected profit as many of its facilities around the world were deemed to be essential during the crisis. although some facilities were temporarily closed due to supply chain issues, weak customer demand and government regulations. As of mid-April, about 75% of its production facilities continue to operate and some that were closed have reopened.IBM, +0.
• Harley-Davidson Inc. HOG, +16.10% missed earnings expectations for the first quarter but announced “aggressive cost management efforts” amid the pandemic. U.S. retail sales of motorcycles were up 6.6% “until the pandemic took hold in the U.S. in mid-March” and finished down 15.5% for the full quarter. International retail sales dropped 20.7%. The board approved a dividend of 2 cents a share for the second quarter, down from 38 cents in the first quarter.
Yikes!