By Jessie Yeung, Adam Renton, Jack Guy, Ed Upright, Meg Wagner, Melissa Macaya and Mike Hayes, CNN
From CNN's Sheena Jones
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo reported 636 additional cases of Covid-19 and 4 deaths from the virus yesterday, a press release from the governor's office said.
The governor said the state tested 72,668 people yesterday — a 0.87% positive infection rate.
"Our progress is thanks to the hard work of New Yorkers — even after two and a half months of reopening, the numbers have continued to go down," Cuomo said.
From CNN's Phil Mattingly
The negotiators are, at long last, actually negotiating. After seven meetings, totaling more than a dozen hours, the top Democratic and White House negotiators are not just walking through their disagreements, but putting offers on the table, trading proposals and to a small degree, starting to make concessions.
They've even agreed on a deadline for a deal — the end of this week.
Bottom line: There is still a long way to go and an agreement to a timeline to reach an agreement — one that is already one week after the initial deadline — isn't much on its face. But what's happening behind the scenes is a signal things are actually starting to kick into gear.
What to watch: Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and White House chief of staff Mark Meadows will be back on Capitol Hill for negotiations.
What was put on the table: The Tuesday meeting between Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer and the top White House negotiators, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Mark Meadows, the White House chief of staff, was by far the most productive of all the meetings up to this point, according to both sides.
Schumer said both sides made concessions and, most importantly, the talks had gone beyond identifying areas of disagreement or even topline points of overlap and have now moved to trading actual paper proposals between sides. It seems minor or just an obvious step in the process, but the trading of paper means things are getting real, finally.
That came in large part due to what the White House negotiators put on the table. To be clear, these proposals weren't agreed to and won't be accepted by Democrats (much to the frustration of the administration negotiators). But they represent tangible movement -- the type of movement that can draw out real concessions and counters.
Read more here.
From CNN's Anneken Tappe
Wall Street opened higher on Wednesday as investors keep a close eye on the stimulus negotiations in Washington.
However, Wall Street also have a lot of economic data to digest ahead of Thursday’s weekly jobless claims and Friday’s July jobs report. The US private sector only added 167,000 jobs last month, ADP reported this morning — nearly 10 times lower than expected.
Here's how things looked at the opening:
From CNN Business' Anneken Tappe
There are two days before the US government releases its July jobs report, but President Trump is already talking it up.
"You will have a big number on Friday. I don't know what it's going to be," the President told Fox & Friends in an interview on Wednesday.
Trump has spoken about previous monthly jobs reports in similarly vague terms before their release, breaking with years of presidential protocol.
In the "last two months we set a record on the job numbers. Now we will have another big job number on Friday, so it will be interesting to see what that is," he said in the interview.
Some context: Economists expect 1.6 million jobs were added to the US economy in July, markedly fewer than the 4.8 million added in June, which set a record for most new jobs in one month. But even if the July predictions hold true, the US economy will still be down some 13 million jobs since February.
The unemployment rate is expected to fall to 10.5% in July, still above the Great Recession peak.
From CNN Business' Anneken Tappe
Only 167,000 new private sector jobs were added last month, according to ADP, while economists polled by Refinitiv expected a whopping 1.5 million.
This is the third month of job gains in a row for the private sector — 3.3 million in May and 4.3 million in June. But the low number doesn't bode well for Friday's government jobs report, which economists predict will be 1.6 million new jobs.
Economists glance at the ADP number to get an indication for the official numbers, but because the reports are based on different surveys, it's not an apples-to-apples comparison.
As per ADP, both small and large businesses added jobs, but mid-sized companies shed 25,000 positions.
Natural resources, construction, financial services and IT were among the sectors that lost jobs, while the professional and business segment added the most positions with 58,000.
From CNN's Rosa Flores and Sara Weisfeldt
In Florida, 43% of all Covid-19 deaths are linked to long-term care facilities, according to data released by the Florida Department of Health.
To date, 3,155 out of 7,402 total deaths are associated with long-term care facilities in the state of Florida, according to the department's data.
The list of long-term care facilities with active Covid-19 cases is available here, and the list of long-term care facilities with deaths is available here, which is updated weekly.
From CNN Business's Paul La Monica
Moderna, one of the companies working on a treatment for Covid-19, said Wednesday that it's on track to finish enrollment for a phase three study of its vaccine by the end of September and plans to eventually price it below $40 per dose for most customers.
The biotech, which has received funding from the United States federal government's Operation Warp Speed program, also said it had about $400 million of customer deposits for a potential supply of its mRNA-1273 vaccine.
People have also been closely watching to see what drug companies plan to charge for treatments after biotech Gilead Sciences revealed in June that its remdesivir drug would cost $520 a vial, or $3,120 for a five-day course of six vials, for people covered by private heath insurance plans.
But Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel vowed during a conference call with analysts that its vaccine would be affordable.
"We are working with governments around the world and others to ensure the vaccine is accessible regardless of ability to pay. And we will be responsible on price...during the pandemic," Bancel said, adding that deals for smaller amounts of the vaccine have so far cost between $32 and $37 per dose and that Moderna would charge lower prices for higher volumes of mRNA-1273.
Moderna made the announcement in its earnings release Wednesday morning. The company posted a loss that was smaller than expected but revenue that topped forecasts.
Shares of Moderna fell about 2% on the news, but the stock has soared more than 300% this year on hopes that it will be able to develop a successful coronavirus vaccine.
The company has also come under scrutiny from some investors as several insiders have sold stock as it has surged.
Moderna is just one of several companies racing to come up with a vaccine. Shares of another smaller biotech, Novavax, soared 20% Wednesday after it announced promising clinical trial results of its own.
From CNN's Health Gisela Crespo
The US Department of Health and Human Services on Wednesday announced it will own 100 million doses of the Covid-19 investigational vaccine Johnson & Johnson is developing.
In a statement, HHS said the doses from the "large-scale manufacturing and delivery" agreement could be used in clinical trials or as part of a Covid-19 vaccination campaign under the guidance of the US Food and Drug Administration.
The Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) is committing more than $1 billion for this agreement, Johnson & Johnson said in a separate statement. The US government may also purchase an additional 200 million doses of the vaccine candidate under a subsequent agreement, the company added.
HHS Secretary Alex Azar said in the statement the federal government is assembling a "portfolio of vaccines" under Operation Warp Speed and this latest partnership will increase the chances the US "will have at least one safe, effective vaccine by 2021."
"Today’s investment represents the next step in supporting Janssen’s vaccine candidate all the way through manufacturing, with the potential to bring hundreds of millions of safe and effective doses to the American people," Azar said. Janssen Pharmaceuticals is owned by Johnson & Johnson.
Manufacturing will take place while clinical trials are underway to expedite the traditional vaccine development timelines, according to the statement.
The doses would be available to the American people at no cost if used in a Covid-19 vaccination campaign. However, health care professionals could charge for the cost of administering the vaccine even if the doses are purchased by the government, according to HHS.
Janssen has received about $456 million for clinical trials and other vaccine development activities from BARDA, according to HHS.
From CNN's Adrienne Vogt
A first-grade teacher says she just found out yesterday that her county will proceed with allowing kindergarten and first-grade students back into her school.
Amy Forehand, a teacher in Gwinnett County, Georgia, told CNN's "New Day" that she had been preparing for virtual learning and now has “a lot of fears” about the news that students will be returning on August 26.
“I love my job. No teacher that I know wants to do digital learning. That's not why we signed up for this profession. Staring at a computer screen, I get it, that's not ideal. But right now, I am actually afraid for my life. And I'm not going to be able to teach any children if I am having to take extended medical leave or if I die,” she said.
Forehand said she has asthma and is worried about her health and the well-being of her family and 2-year-old son.
“Fears and anxiety are really high right now as we are trying to contemplate what this is going to look like for our students and for us and our safety,” she said.
Forehand said that the physical space of her school is not prepared yet for social distancing and has not been equipped with any sanitizing stations.
“At this point in time, I have 24 beautiful 6-year-olds on my roster and I have six tables. That does not allow for social distancing,” she said. “School buses, we’ve been told, just due to logistics, there is no social distancing. Our main hallway, the way our school is laid out, we can't even have one-way directions in the hallway. And there is a very large number of students that will be coming back shortly that we will be cramming in a very small area.”
The teacher said she isn’t comfortable with the situation right now, but she is still optimistic that something will work out.
Watch the interview:
