April 6 coronavirus news

Former Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen believes that unemployment may go to depression levels “for a time.”

In an interview with CNBC on Monday, Yellen called the initial jobless claims “absolutely shocking” and said the unemployment rate is likely at 12% or 13% and moving higher.

“I think the toll is continuing to rise and how bad it gets, I think it really depends on how quickly people can get back to business,” Yellen said. 

Yellen also said that the focus should be on testing and getting the pandemic under control.

Here's what Yellen said when she was asked about US employment:

Italy’s top flight football league, Serie A, recommended that the annual pay of players and coaching staff be cut by as much as a third due to the Coronavirus emergency in the country. 

Following an emergency General Assembly meeting via video conference on Monday, the League along with 19 clubs unanimously voted to propose “a reduction of 1/3 in total gross annual earnings" if the season can't be resumed, the league said in a statement.

They also recommenced "a reduction of 1/6 in total gross annual earnings" if "the remaining matches of the 2019-20 season can be played in the coming months." 

The statement went on to explain that each club would have to negotiate the cuts with its players and that such a proposal was “necessary to safeguard the future of the entire Italian football system.” 

The 2019-20 Serie A season has been suspended indefinitely since March 9.

“The assembly confirmed the desire to play again and finish the season, but without running risks and only when health conditions and government decisions allow,” added Serie A.

Gov. Gavin Newsom today announced today that California would loan 500 state-owned ventilators to the Strategic National Stockpile inventory. 

“We can’t turn our backs on Americans whose lives depend on having a ventilator now,” Newsom said in a press release.

Some context: By all accounts, the coronavirus peak has not hit California yet, but the state is lending ventilators while continuing to prepare for the onslaught of patients.

The famed Masters golf tournament has earmarked a November weekend to hold its 2020 championship.

The Masters was originally slated to tee off this week but was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Fred Ridley, the chair of Augusta National Golf Club, the home of the Masters, said in a statement, that the organizers had “identified November 9-15 as the intended dates to host the 2020 Masters.”

The United States Golf Association has announced that the 120th US Open will now tee off in September rather than its original date in June.

One of the four annual men’s golf majors, the US Open will still be played at Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, New York. The new dates are September 17 through 20.

The USGA also announced that the 2020 US Senior Women’s Open has been canceled. The organization said the men’s 2020 US Senior Open has been postponed to a later date this year.

President Trump’s top economic adviser Larry Kudlow said Monday that loans under the program aimed at assisting small businesses impacted by coronavirus reached $38 billion, and he dismissed glitches that hindered the program’s rollout.

In an interview with CNBC, Kudlow said, "the glitches will get worked. It's a monumental undertaking."

A number of banks said they would not take part in the program during its launch on Friday because the government had failed to provide enough information in advance. Trump over the weekend described the rollout as “flawless.”

Kudlow says that the President “doesn't want the cure to be worse than the problem” and asserted that the coronavirus itself must be mitigated before any talk of reopening the economy can be considered. 

“The health side has to come first,” Kudlow said. “The health side must continue to come first and the mitigation efforts, we believe, are working."

He said that the government’s priority remains “phase three” of an assistance program. He also said that the Federal Reserve is likely going to continue rolling out various initiatives aimed at easing the economic crisis, including “a main street lending facility.”

Kudlow added that he is interested in selling bonds "in order to raise money for the war effort, in this case the pandemic effort."

 "Why not sell large bonds, why not go for it in a patriotic way, and an American safety way, and to bring the economy back whenever that can be possible,” he said.

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer told reporters that the state is running dangerously low on personal protective equipment, also called PPE.

Gov. Whitmer said that there are less than three days left until face shields run out and less than 6 days until surgical gowns run out at all three of those health systems. She added that these data points do not include private donations that are going straight to hospitals.

“We are doing everything that we can at the state level to secure more personal protection equipment. Today we will begin distributing 1.2 million surgical masks that the state has procured on the open market,” Whitmer said. 

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has sent 400 ventilators, 1.1 million surgical masks, 232,000 face shields and 2 million gloves. “FEMA will be shipping 1 million more N95 masks to Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties this week,” the governor said. 

The state is working with the Army Corps of Engineers and the Michigan National Guard to get the TCF Convention Center in Detroit up and running to see patients by Friday.

The governor added that Ford and the United Autoworkers have donated thousands of face shields to Michigan hospitals and the state issued the purchase of 1 million face shields from Ford to be delivered over the next 3 weeks. 

“We’re making some progress, and that is a good thing, but we need more PPE to continue fighting this virus,” Whitmer said.

The 149th edition of The Open Championship, one of the four men's annual golf majors, has been canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Royal & Ancient, which plans and organizes the event, announced today. 

It is the first time that golf’s original and oldest championship, first played in 1860, has been canceled since World War II.

The event was scheduled for July 16 through 19 at Royal St George's Golf Club in Sandwich, England.

“I can assure everyone that we have explored every option for playing The Open this year but it is not going to be possible,” he added.

Slumbers confirmed that The 149th Open will now be played at the historic Sandwich links in July 2021, with the Old Course at St Andrews now hosting The 150th Open in July 2022.

The championship is the first men's golf major of 2020 to be cancelled outright. In March, both The Masters and the PGA Championship were postponed with a new date for both events yet to be announced.

The US Open, though, is still set to be played from June 18 through June 21 at Winged Foot in New York.

There are at least 337,971 cases of coronavirus in the US and at least 9,654 people have died, according to Johns Hopkins University's tally of cases in the United States.

The totals includes cases from all 50 states, the District of Columbia and other US territories, as well as all repatriated cases. Wyoming is the only state or territory that is not reporting a death from coronavirus.

 Find the latest Johns Hopkins University U.S. numbers here.