Thursday Morning Briefing: U.S. weekly jobless claims seen hovering near record highs

Coronavirus

What you need to know about the coronavirus today

The jobless lurch upwards
Beyond the daily casualty statistics, the big, sobering economic number of the week lands at 08.30 ET. New US jobless claims will likely reveal that the number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits in the last three weeks has now hit a staggering 15 million.

From fine to flailing
The speed with which patients are declining and dying from the new coronavirus is shocking even veteran doctors and nurses as they scramble to try to stop such sudden deterioration. The quick turns for the worse are likely products of an "overly exuberant" reaction by the immune system as it fights the virus, said Dr Otto Yang, an infectious disease specialist at the UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles.

Lockdowns on review
In the absence of the still hospitalized Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the British government will discuss on Thursday a scheduled review of the country's lockdown measures. Few expect any easing right now as coronavirus-linked deaths continue to rise.

Disunity in the European Union
EU finance ministers will have another go tonight to overcome differences on more economic support for their countries, after talks collapsed on Tuesday morning following an all-night 16-hour videoconference.

Containing the 'silent carriers'
China has adopted new measures to curb the spread of the virus by asymptomatic carriers, whom some state media described as "silent carriers." Medical institutions must now report such cases within two hours of discovery. Local governments then have 24 hours to identify all known close contacts.

Track the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Breakingviews: Corona Capital - Exor, Diageo, Fast Retailing
Read concise views on the pandemic’s financial fallout from Breakingviews columnists across the globe.

Reuters reporters and editors around the world are investigating the response to the coronavirus pandemic.

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World

Pass the salt: One January lunchtime in a car parts company, a worker turned to a colleague and asked to borrow the salt. As well as the saltshaker, in that instant, they shared the new coronavirus, scientists have since concluded. That their exchange was documented at all is the result of intense scrutiny, part of a rare success story in the global fight against the virus.

Hong Kong’s Court of Appeal ruled that a blanket government ban on face masks was unconstitutional, at a time when most Hong Kong people are wearing them in the hope of warding off the new coronavirus. Partially overturning a lower court’s ruling, a three-judge panel said that while the government had the right to ban the wearing of masks at unlawful assemblies, a ban on masks at legal public gatherings was unconstitutional.

Swiss emergency rooms and hospitals are quieter than usual despite an influx of COVID-19 patients, a worrying sign that some doctors say could mean more people are dying at home from other ailments. Concerned about the trend amid the pandemic, staff at the Cardiocentro hospital in the southern canton of Ticino bordering on hard-hit Italy called its regular patients to check up on them.

Spain is close to the beginning of a decline in the coronavirus epidemic, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said, urging all political parties to join a pact for national economic revival after the health crisis. “The fire starts to come under control ... This war against the virus will be a total victory,” he told a near-empty parliament as more than 300 lawmakers participated remotely due to lockdown regulations.

Business

Exclusive: Wall Street firm dangled up to 175% returns to investors using U.S. aid programs

A New York investment firm pitched wealthy investors in recent days on a way to make returns of 22% to 175% using U.S. government programs designed to help Americans keep their jobs and boost the coronavirus-stricken economy, according to a marketing document seen by Reuters.

5 min read

Saudi, Russia debate record oil cut as U.S. resists action

OPEC and Russia will debate record oil output cuts on Thursday to prop up prices wrought by the coronavirus pandemic but their talks are complicated by internal disagreements and the reluctance of the United States to join the action. Oil prices rose on expectations the world’s leading crude producers will overcome obstacles at a meeting later in the day.

7 min read

Advertisers shun coronavirus coverage, hastening news media battle for survival

News publishers are attracting record numbers of readers as people in lockdown seek information about the coronavirus pandemic. Yet advertising revenue has plummeted for many publishers as companies slash marketing budgets and prove reluctant to buy ads against coronavirus coverage for fear of tarnishing their brand.

5 min read

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