(Bloomberg) — A second wave of coronavirus cases is emerging in the U.S., raising alarms as new infections push the overall count past 2 million Americans.Texas on Wednesday reported 2,504 new coronavirus cases, the highest one-day total since the pandemic emerged.A month into its reopening, Florida this week reported 8,553 new cases — the most of any seven-day period.California’s hospitalizations are at their highest since May 13 and have risen in nine of the past 10 days.A fresh onslaught of the novel coronavirus is bringing challenges for residents and the economy in pockets across the U.S. The localized surges have raised concerns among experts even as the nation’s overall case count early this week rose just under 1%, the smallest increase since March.“There is a new wave coming in parts of the country,” said Eric Toner, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. “It’s small and it’s distant so far, but it’s coming.”Though the outbreaks come weeks into state reopenings, it’s not clear that they’re linked to increased economic activity. And health experts say it’s still too soon to tell whether the massive protests against police brutality that have erupted in the past two weeks have led to more infections.In Georgia, where hair salons, tattoo parlors and gyms have been operating for a month and a half, case numbers have plateaued, flummoxing experts.Puzzling differences show up even within states. In California, which imposed a stay-at-home order in late March, San Francisco saw zero cases for three consecutive days this week, while Los Angeles County reported well over half of the state’s new cases. The White House Coronavirus Task Force has yet to see any relationship between reopening and increased cases of Covid-19, Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Stephen Hahn said on a podcast.But in some states, rising numbers outpace increases in testing, raising concerns about whether the virus can be controlled. It will take a couple of weeks to know, Toner said, but by then “it’s going to be pretty late” to respond.QuickTake: Where Are We in Quest for Coronavirus Drugs, Vaccine?Since the pandemic initially swept the U.S. starting early this year, 2 million people have been infected and more than 112,000 have died.After a national shutdown that arrested the spread, rising illness had been expected as restrictions loosened. The trend has been observed across 22 states in recent weeks, though many increases are steady but slow.In New York, the state hardest hit by Covid-19, Governor Andrew Cuomo only recently started reopening by region. New York City, the epicenter, began the first of four phases Monday.“We know as a fact that reopening other states, we’re seeing significant problems,” Cuomo said Tuesday. “Just because you reopen does not mean you will have a spike, but if you are not smart, you can have a spike.”Experts see evidence of a second wave building in Arizona, Texas, Florida and California. Arizona “sticks out like a sore thumb in terms of a major problem,” said Jeffrey Morris, director of the division of biostatistics at University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine.Arizona SpikeArizona’s daily tally of new cases has abruptly spiked in the last two weeks, hitting an all-time high of 1,187 on June 2.This week, its Department of Health Services urged hospitals to activate emergency plans. Director Cara Christ, told a Phoenix television station that she was concerned about the rising case count and percentage of people tested who are found to be positive.Valleywise Health, the public hospital system in Phoenix, has seen an increase in Covid-19 cases during the past two weeks. It’s expanded its intensive-care capacity and those beds are 87% full, about half with Covid patients, according to Michael White, the chief medical officer.White said Valleywise has adequate protective gear for staff, but hospitals aren’t getting their entire orders. A surge in Covid cases could put that supply under stress, he said.The increase in transmission follows steps to resume business and public life.“Within Phoenix, we’ve been more relaxed than I’ve seen in some of the other parts of the country,” White said, with some people disregarding advice to wear masks and maintain six feet of distance from others. “People are coming together in environments where social distancing is challenging.”Texas on Wednesday reported a 4.7% jump in hospitalizations to 2,153, the fourth consecutive daily increase. The latest figures showing an escalation came as Governor Greg Abbott tweeted a public service announcement featuring baseball legend Nolan Ryan urging Texans to wash their hands and to not be “a knucklehead.”Abbott was criticized for an aggressive reopening last month. Mobile-phone data show activity by residents is rebounding toward pre-Covid levels, according to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia’s PolicyLab.That could reflect a perception that the virus wasn’t “ever a big threat,” said Morris, who recently moved to Philadelphia after 20 years in Houston.Florida’s health department said in a statement that it attributes the increase in cases to “greatly expanded efforts in testing,” and noted that overall positivity rates remain low, at about 5.5%.Bucking the trend is Georgia, which was the first U.S. state to reopen. Covid cases there have plateaued. Despite local outbreaks in the state, “their sea levels did not rise,” said David Rubin, director of the PolicyLab, which has been modeling the virus’ spread. “They’ve kind of held this fragile equilibrium.”Creeping InCalifornia was the earliest state to shut down its economy over the coronavirus, after one of the nation’s first outbreaks in the San Francisco Bay Area. It has been slower than most to reopen.Even so, the state has also seen the number of people hospitalized with Covid-19 rebound in the past two weeks, as commerce accelerates. Case counts are climbing too, although officials attribute that to increased testing and say it’s a sign of preparation.In part, rising numbers represent the virus spreading into places that largely avoided the first round of infections, including rural Imperial County in California’s southeastern desert. Yet the contagion remains present in places that bore the brunt of the first wave, including Los Angeles County. Hospitalizations there are lower than at the start of May, but deaths remain stubbornly high, with 500 in the past week alone.Barbara Ferrer, Los Angeles County public health director, said the region has likely not seen the end of the first wave. And despite concerns about infections coming out of mass demonstrations in the sprawling city, she thinks the reopening of the economy will have a bigger impact.“We’re not at the tail end of anything,” Ferrer said. “We never had a huge peak. We’ve kind of been within this band. We’re not in decline, we’re kind of holding our own in ways that protect the health-care system.” But, she added, “go to Venice and see the crowds, and you’ll understand why I have concerns.”Another OnslaughtThe U.S. has long been bracing for another wave, but future outbreaks are likely to take a different shape. Social distancing and mask-wearing, as well as careful behavior by individuals, are likely to have staying power even as economies reopen.Experts are steeling for autumn, when changes in weather and back-to-school plans could have damaging repercussions.“The second wave isn’t going to mirror the first wave exactly,” said Lance Waller, a professor at Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health in Atlanta. “It’s not snapping back to exactly the same thing as before, because we’re not exactly the way we were before.”Daniel Lucey, a fellow at the Infectious Diseases Society of America, compared the virus’ new paradigm with a day at the beach: The U.S. has been bracing for another “high tide” like the one that engulfed New York City. Today is a low tide, but “the waves are always coming in.”(Adds cases reaching 2 million in headline and first paragraph)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.
from Yahoo Finance https://ift.tt/2Aq2Udz
Top news and what to watch in the markets on Thursday, June 11, 2020.
Shares in Sorrento (SRNE) are rallying 17% in Thursday’s pre-market trading after the company announced that an Application for Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) is under review at the US FDA for is Covid-19 diagnostic test kit.Its COVI-TRACK in vitro diagnostic test kit enables the independent detection of IgG and IgM antibodies in sera of patients exposed to the SARS-CoV-2 virus.The rapid antibody test allows for results to be available in eight minutes or less. It reveals whether someone has been exposed to or potentially had coronavirus, and subsequently created antibodies to combat the infection.Analytical validation was performed by testing sample cohorts from healthy donors and confirmed positive COVID-19 patient samples by RT-PCR testing, and the assay demonstrated a specificity greater than 97% and diagnostic sensitivity of greater than 94%.Upon issuance of an EUA, the COVI-TRACK test will be available for distribution to clinical testing sites nationwide, says Sorrento.The company has already secured manufacturing capacity to support the production of up to five million test kits per month.Shares in Sorrento are currently trading up 35% on a year-to-date basis, and analysts have a Moderate Buy consensus on the stock’s outlook. The $24 average analyst price target indicates significant upside potential from current levels. (See SRNE stock analysis on TipRanks).Last week, Sorrento disclosed that in preclinical trials, the company’s monoclonal antibody (MaB), STI-4938, code named COVIDTRAP, inhibited SARS-CoV-2 viral infection in vitro.Sorrento has another antibody in development, STI-1499 (COVI-SHIELD), which also recently demonstrated promising in vitro results as it was able to completely block the SARS-CoV-2 virus.While it is still early on for both antibodies, H.C. Wainwright analyst Ram Selvaraju is encouraged by the additional positive results. “Together with Sorrento’s previously announced preclinical neutralizing antibody candidate, STI-1499, COVIDTRAP may provide a potent antidote against COVID-19,” the analyst said.Related News: 5 Promising Covid-19 Vaccines Picked For Trump’s Operation Warp Speed What Would a Merger Mean for Gilead? Top Analyst Weighs In Soleno Plunging 48% In Pre-Market On Obesity Study Failure More recent articles from Smarter Analyst: * Boeing’s $44 Billion Tanker Decision Delayed By Four Years – Report * Just Eat Takeaway.com To Snap Up Grubhub For $7.3 Billion * Starbucks Expects $3.2 Billion Revenue Loss In Q3 Due To Covid-19 * J&J; Brings Human Trial Start Of Its Covid-19 Vaccine Forward To July