April 14 coronavirus news

The US Food and Drug Administration has authorized a saliva test for diagnosing Covid-19 in emergencies.

Rutgers University, where the test was developed in collaboration with other groups, announced the FDA authorization today after formally receiving it over the weekend.

What this means: Using saliva to diagnose novel coronavirus infections could expand testing capacities across the United States. So far, testing for Covid-19 has usually involved nose or throat swabs.

"It means we no longer have to put health care professionals at risk for infection by performing nasopharyngeal or oropharyngeal collections," Andrew Brooks, chief operating officer and director of technology development at the university's RUCDR Infinite Biologics lab, said in a news release. 

According to Rutgers University's news release, this is the first such saliva test to receive emergency use authorization from the FDA. Brooks, a professor at the university, called the impact of the authorization "significant."

Across the United States, which has faced a shortage of tests, several other laboratories have been working on developing saliva tests and other types of diagnostic testing for Covid-19. 

So far during the coronavirus pandemic, the FDA has worked with more than 300 test developers who have said they plan to submit emergency use authorization requests to the agency for their diagnostic tests, the agency announced on Monday.

According to the FDA, 34 emergency-use authorizations have been issued for diagnostic tests to date.

At least 12,107 people have died from coronavirus in the UK’s hospitals, according to the latest figures from the Department of Health and Social Care.

That’s an increase of 778 since the last update. The figures are current as of 5 p.m. local time yesterday.

Remember: It only includes those who died in hospital. These numbers do not include the people who died in nursing homes or elsewhere. 

Other figures released by the UK’s Office of National Statistics on today suggest the true death toll is significantly higher than the Department of Health and Social Care’s tally because there can be a lag in recording some deaths.

The department says at least 93,873 people have tested positive to coronavirus.

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan extended a "partial lockdown" across the country until the end of April.  

In a nationally televised briefing today, Khan called for Pakistanis to stay indoors to ensure that the country continues to flattened the curve. 

To manage the surge of unemployment in the country, the government will reopen the construction sector in phases to ensure employment for daily wage earners in the country.

Domestic and international travel by rail and air will remain closed until the end of the month.

US stocks climbed higher at the opening bell as better-than-expected trade data from China lifted investors' hopes that the world's second-largest economy may be starting to bounce back.

Meanwhile, first-quarter earnings season got underway with the big banks reporting. JPMorgan and Wells Fargo both reported substantial losses and shored up their reserves to prevent more pain during the coronavirus recession. But that was widely expected, and their shares climbed 3% and 2%, respectively, at the market open 

 You can follow live updates on the markets here.

Boston University is preparing for the possibility that in-person classes may not resume until 2021.

The university has already cancelled all "in-person summer activities on the Charles River Campus" — and the school's coronavirus recovery plan includes protocols for if it's not safe for students to return to campus in the fall.

Boston University explained it like this in an online statement:

The University will "offer remote learning courses this summer" and it plans to "continue providing the minimal housing and dining services that are currently available."

The White House is expected to announce a new task force – or multiple task forces – to deal with reopening the US economy after coronavirus closures.

Here’s what we know about the possible group so far:

The British economy could shrink by 35% in the second quarter if there is three months' worth of restrictions, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), UK’s independent public finances watchdog, warned.

The OBR predicted the economy will eventually bounce back, leading to an annual drop in GDP of 13%.

The watchdog said in a report that this is just a potential scenario: “We do not attempt to predict how long the economic lockdown will last – that is a matter for the Government, informed by medical advice,” it said.

A three-month lockdown — followed by another three-month period where movement restrictions are eased — would see unemployment rise by more than 2 million to 10% in the second quarter, OBR said.

The watchdog added the deficit would hit £273 billion in 2020-21 or 14% of GDP, before falling back close to forecast in the medium term. That would be the largest single-year deficit since the Second World War.

At least 589 sailors aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt have tested positive for Covid-19, according to a US Navy official.

One sailor died earlier this week, and four have been hospitalized.

Some background: The impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the Roosevelt was at the center of a controversy that led to the resignation last week of acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly, who had dismissed the aircraft carrier's captain Brett Crozier after the leak of a memo in which he implored Navy officials to urgently evacuate the ship to protect the health of its sailors.

Crozier also flagged his concerns about challenges of trying to contain the virus aboard the ship and requested that sailors be allowed to quarantine on land.

Wells Fargo just announced a deeper-than-expected 89% plunge in first-quarter profit, driven largely by a $3.1 billion reserve build to protect against bad loans.

The reserve build "reflected the expected impact these unprecedented times could have on our customers," Wells Fargo CFO John Shrewsberry said in a statement.

Wells Fargo's provision for credit losses spiked to nearly $4 billion, compared with $845 million the year before.

Here's why: The bank cited "forecasted credit deterioration due to the Covid-19 pandemic."

Revenue dropped 18% to $17.7 billion, also missing estimates.

Wells Fargo reported a 5% jump in period-end loans to $1 trillion. That growth could accelerate this quarter because the Federal Reserve recently removed penalties on Wells Fargo to free the troubled bank to lend to small businesses. Deposits also climbed 4% to $1.4 trillion.