June 4 coronavirus news

A new lawsuit targeting Amazon claims a lack of Covid-19 protections at its Staten Island facility has put workers -- and their families -- at risk.

The complaint, filed Wednesday by three Amazon workers at its JFK8 warehouse, alleges the company erected a "a façade of compliance" to meet public health guidelines while simultaneously pressuring employees to report to work under unsafe conditions.

The result is that while "most New Yorkers have remained safe by complying with the state's stay-at-home order ... for JFK8 workers and their families, home has been a place of danger," the complaint said.

"We are saddened by the tragic impact COVID-19 has had on communities across the globe, including on some Amazon team members and their family and friends," Rachael Lighty, an Amazon spokesperson, said in a statement to CNN Business. "From early March to May 1, we offered our employees unlimited time away from work, and since May 1 we have offered leave for those most vulnerable or who need to care for children or family members"

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Warehouse workers are suing Amazon for putting their families at risk of coronavirus

Strict lockdowns like those instigated in China -- when the coronavirus outbreak began -- are better for economies than the longer, more moderate closures like the United States and many European countries have taken, a new international study suggests.

Shorter but stricter lockdowns don’t hit businesses as hard, researchers reported Wednesday in the journal Nature Human Behavior. Businesses can weather a short, extreme shutdown but run out of supplies and reserves as time goes on.

And if the pandemic returns, a second round of lockdowns will really hurt economies, the team led by economist Dabo Guan from Tsinghua University in China found. 

“While predicting the true cost of lockdowns is not possible at this stage, our research suggests that shorter, stricter lockdowns minimize the impact on supply chains, while gradually easing restrictions over the course of a year may also be less disruptive than a swift lifting of restrictions followed by another lockdown,” Guan said in a statement.

The team simulated three kinds of lockdown: a strict lockdown in which 80% of travel and labor ceases, similar to what China did; a more moderate lockdown with a 60% reduction in work and travel, similar to what the US did; plus a third, lighter lockdown with 40% reductions.

A gradual easing of the restrictions over a year would minimize damage to the global supply chain, they said. But if the virus resurged in the fall, forcing a second round of restrictions, costs to the economy would worsen by a third.

“Our analysis quantifies the global economic benefits of robust public health responses and suggests that economic justifications to reopen businesses could backfire if they result in another round of lockdowns,” said Steve Davis of the University of California Irvine, who took part in the study.

The situation will be even worse if countries stagger a second round of closures and restrictions instead of coordinating them if a second global lockdown occurs. A coordinated global lockdown would raise costs by 33% -- but if countries just move on their own, costs will rise by 57%, the model predicts.

Mexican authorities recorded more deaths Wednesday than any other day since the Covid-19 pandemic began.

Health officials said 1,092 coronavirus-related fatalities were identified in 24 hours -- more than doubling the previous single-day record. The previous high, 501 deaths, was announced last week.

More than 11,700 virus-related deaths have been recorded in the country.

An important caveat: Deputy Health Secretary Hugo López Gatell has consistently said the vast majority of deaths reported each day did not occur the day they were reported. Delays in counting deaths attributed to the virus mean that the deaths reported each day have occurred over the past several weeks.

Another record: Authorities said they also identified another 3,912 cases of Covid-19 -- another daily record and the second day in a row that Mexico had its largest daily increase of new cases.

Mexico has now recorded 101,238 cases -- surpassing 100,000 cases for the first time and becoming the 14th country worldwide to do so, according to Johns Hopkins University's tally.

Brazil registered a record number of coronavirus-related deaths for the second day in a row on Wednesday.

The country's health ministry reported 1,349 new Covid-19 fatalities in the previous 24 hours, raising the total to 32,548.

The ministry also recorded 28,633 new confirmed cases Wednesday, for a total of 584,016.

Despite the rise in cases, parts of the country started loosening virus-related restrictions this week.

More deaths in Rio: The Brazilian state of Rio de Janeiro also recorded a record number of coronavirus-related deaths in a day, according to the state health secretary. 

Authorities said Wednesday that 324 Covid-19 deaths had been identified in the past 24 hours, bringing the statewide total to 6,010 fatalities.

The state also recorded 2,508 new confirmed cases -- taking the total there to 59,240.

The city of Rio de Janeiro began opening some nonessential businesses and activities Tuesday after an announcement from Mayor Marcelo Crivella Monday. Crivella said he expects the Brazilian city to “return to normal” in early August.

The Senate on Wednesday evening passed by voice vote a Paycheck Protection Program reform bill -- clearing it for President Donald Trump’s signature. 

Earlier in the afternoon, GOP Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin objected to a prior effort to pass the bill via unanimous consent, blocking approval. But Johnson agreed to let the bill pass after getting a letter entered into the record clarifying the authorization period.  

The bill, which passed the House last week, gives business owners more flexibility and time to use loan money and still get it forgiven as part of the Paycheck Protection Program, set up to help struggling small businesses with emergency loans during the pandemic.

The legislation — titled the Paycheck Protection Program Flexibility Act — was introduced by Republican Rep. Chip Roy of Texas and Democratic Rep. Dean Phillips of Minnesota. It is intended to make loans more accessible under the program by making its terms of use more flexible 

The legislation would give small businesses more time to use emergency loans under the program by extending the eight-week period in which they must use the money to qualify for loan forgiveness to 24 weeks.

The bill would also give small businesses more flexibility by changing the so-called 75/25 rule, which requires recipients of funds under the program to use three-quarters of the money for payroll costs and to limit other costs to no more than 25% in order to be eligible for loan forgiveness.

The new ratio would be at least 60% on payroll and no more than 40% on other costs.

UK Business Secretary Alok Sharma has been tested for coronavirus and is self-isolating, after looking visibly unwell while giving a statement at the UK Parliament on Wednesday. 

Sharma was seen sweating profusely and repeatedly wiping his face with a handkerchief and holding his forehead during his speech at the House of Commons.

“Secretary of State Alok Sharma began feeling unwell when in the chamber delivering the second reading of the Corporate Governance and Insolvency Bill. In line with guidance he has been tested for coronavirus and has returned home to self-isolate,” the press office for Sharma's Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy told CNN.

Hundreds of MPs returned to UK Parliament to take part in a socially distanced voting procedure on Wednesday.

Sao Paulo's government has projected that its coronavirus cases could double by the end of June. 

By the end of May, Sao Paulo state – which includes the city of Sao Paulo – had reported a total of 109,698 cases. The government now projects that by the end of June, the cases could reach between 190,000 to 265,000, the state’s Vice-Gov. Rodrigo Garcia said at a news conference Wednesday.

On Tuesday, the state reported a record 327 daily coronavirus-related deaths. 

Claiming the advance of the epidemic is "within the predicted dimension,” Garcia said, “this increase we've seen in the past few days is not surprising. In April, the epidemic grew 10 times. In May, 3.6 times. For June, we expect the number of cases to grow between 1.7 and 2.4 times.”

On Wednesday, Sao Paulo reported 5,188 new coronavirus cases -- taking the state's total to 123,483.

Last week, the mayor of Sao Paulo city announced a gradual reopening of certain sectors, despite the continued spike of infections and deaths.

US stocks finished higher after rallying all day. Both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite logged their fourth straight day of gains. For the Dow, it was the third up day.

Market sentiment was boosted by a much better than expected ADP employment report, which shored up hopes that the worst might be over for America’s battered labor market.

Here's how the markets closed today:

The Trump administration has selected five companies as the most likely to produce a Covid-19 vaccine, a White House coronavirus task force source tells CNN.

The same source added that the decision came from "Operation Warp Speed," which seeks to quickly ramp up production, organize distribution and determine who gets the first doses of a potential vaccine.  

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert, has previously suggested January as a potential date for a vaccine, but vaccines typically take years to produce.

The New York Times first reported that the administration had selected five companies most likely to produce a vaccine.