Total Covid-19 cases
View charts and mapsConfirmed
35,750,649Deaths
1,039,163EasyJet warns of first full-year loss in history as it slashes capacity
Philip Georgiadis in London
EasyJet has warned that the coronavirus crisis will push it to a loss of more than £800m this year as it slashed its winter flight schedule to cut costs.
The low-cost carrier expects to report a pre-tax loss of between £815m and £845m in the year ending in September, the first time in its history it will make a full-year loss.
As passenger demand slumps amid shifting quarantine restrictions and rising coronavirus case numbers across many of its key markets, easyJet said it would fly 25 per cent of last year’s capacity in the final three months of this year, down from just under 40 per cent in its most recent quarter.
Airlines have cut costs and raised cash to see them through the winter months, a lean period even in normal times.
EasyJet has raised more than £2.4bn in cash since the beginning of the pandemic, including from the sale and leaseback of planes and tapping shareholders for just over £400m.
The airline said it burnt through less than £700m in cash in its fourth quarter, down from £774m in the previous three months.
Johan Lundgren, easyJet's chief executive, called on the UK government to offer the industry more help.
"The UK government urgently needs to step up with a bespoke package of measures to ensure airlines are able to support economic recovery when it comes," he said.
Mr Lundgren was one of several airline bosses to welcome the UK's launch of a travel "task force" on Wednesday to explore ways to introduce Covid-19 testing for people arriving at airports.
German exports outpace expectations as global trade improves
Valentina Romei in London
German exports grew more than expected in August, suggesting that improved global trade is helping the recovery of the largest eurozone economy.
The value of German goods exports rose by by 2.4 per cent in August compared with the previous month, its fourth consecutive expansion, according to data from the official statistics agency.
The growth was stronger than the 1.4 per cent forecast by economists polled by Reuters, but marked a slowdown from the 4.7 per cent in July.
The value of goods exports was 0.2 per cent below the level in August last year.
German exports to China were 1.1 per cent down compared with last year’s level, outperforming most markets. In contrast, they were down 21 per cent to the US, 8.3 per cent to the rest of the eurozone and 7.3 per cent to the UK.
Imports also beat expectations with a 5.8 per cent monthly increase in a sign that the lifting of coronavirus restrictions helped domestic demand.
Germany is a more export-oriented country than most large advanced economies. Its trade value is equal to 88 per cent of GDP, according to the World Bank, compared with 65 per cent for France and 60 per cent for Italy.
Analysts expect production and export data to show an expansion in September, but they forecast the outlook to darken rapidly in the autumn as infections rise across the region and a long climb to pre-pandemic levels despite the country’s generous fiscal support.
Singapore to allow ‘cruises to nowhere’
Alice Woodhouse in Hong Kong
Singapore will allow its residents to take round-trip cruises that do not stop in other countries in an effort to restart the industry safely after it was hit by the pandemic.
The pilot cruises, operated by Genting Cruise Lines and Royal Caribbean, will begin in November and operate at 50 per cent capacity. The cruises will only be open to Singapore residents.
Passengers and crew must be tested for coronavirus before boarding while social distancing and mask-wearing will be enforced.
Operators must also ensure fresh air supply and sanitation throughout the ship.
“This cruise pilot is a valuable opportunity for cruise operators to reinvent the entire cruise experience in order to regain the confidence of passengers,” said Keith Tan, chief executive of Singapore's tourism board.
The global cruise industry has been on pause since a series of outbreaks of coronavirus on ships around the world, threatening its survival.
New South Wales reports first local cases in 12 days
Alice Woodhouse in Hong Kong
The Australian state of New South Wales reported eight new locally-transmitted cases of coronavirus on Thursday as the premier warned businesses to follow safety protocols.
The locally-transmitted infections come after the state recorded 12 consecutive days of no community cases. Health authorities are examining two possible infection clusters.
“It’s become apparent that some venues, some businesses, are not doing enough to be Covid-safe. It makes the job of our contact tracers that much more difficult if businesses aren’t doing the right thing,” said Gladys Berejiklian, New South Wales premier.
New South Wales recorded four new cases in people returning from overseas.
Separately, 11 new cases were recorded in the state of Victoria and no new fatalities.
Pence and Harris clash over US coronavirus response
Lauren Fedor and Courtney Weaver in Washington
Mike Pence and Kamala Harris clashed over Donald Trump’s response to the coronavirus pandemic during their vice-presidential debate on Wednesday night, with the Democratic challenger accusing the president of “the greatest failure” in the history of the office.
In contrast with last week’s presidential debate, Mr Pence, the incumbent, and Ms Harris, a California senator, avoided name-calling. But they collided at the start over the administration’s handling of a disease that has cost more than 200,000 American lives.
“The American people have witnessed what is the greatest failure of any president in the history of our country,” Ms Harris said, accusing the Trump administration of keeping the truth about coronavirus from the American people at the start of the year.
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Samsung estimates profits jumped by 60% in third quarter
Song Jung-a in Seoul
Samsung Electronics said its third-quarter operating profit probably surged by nearly 60 per cent to its highest level in two years, as its smartphone and chip businesses benefited from tougher US sanctions on China’s Huawei.
Strong sales of smartphones and home appliances, including TVs, drove earnings at Samsung during the quarter, which were above analysts’ forecasts, as consumer demand recovered after the coronavirus pandemic. That helped to offset the impact of lower chip prices.
The South Korean company briefly ceded the top spot in global smartphone sales to Huawei in the second quarter but is quickly regaining its footing.
Rival Apple delayed its new iPhone launch to later this month and a US ban began to choke off Huawei’s access to mobile chips from mid-September.
Surging demand for Chinese assets boosts renminbi’s global role
Eva Szalay in London and Hudson Lockett in Hong Kong
Record foreign demand for Chinese assets will boost efforts to develop a more global role for the renminbi, analysts say.
Foreign investors have snapped up Chinese debt this year, lured by relatively high yields and the country’s strong economic recovery following the coronavirus pandemic. Meanwhile, the People’s Bank of China has not sought to weaken the renminbi even after large rallies for both the onshore and internationally-traded versions of the currency.
The PBoC had encouraged inflows by promising in a report in August that “the allocation of the renminbi assets by foreign investors will be further facilitated”, adding that it expected “more foreign central banks and monetary authorities to hold renminbi [assets] as reserve assets”.
Investors and analysts say that as foreign investors increase their onshore Chinese holdings, the renminbi’s prospects as a reserve currency will probably get a boost.
“For internationalising a currency, you do need to have a large and liquid bond market and that’s what they’re doing,” said Denise Simon, co-head of emerging market debt at Lazard Asset Management.
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US reports largest death toll in a week
Peter Wells in New York
The US had its biggest one-day jump in coronavirus deaths in a week on Wednesday, while cases rose by more than 50,000 for the first time in four days.
Deaths rose by 916, up from 614 yesterday, according to Covid Tracking Project data. That was the biggest one-day increase since 1,061 on Wednesday last week.
Florida (139), Texas (119) and California (51) had the largest one-day increases in deaths.
Texas's increase took its total number of fatalities since the start of the pandemic to 16,230, two more than California and thereby making it the US state with the second-highest number of coronavirus deaths. Only New York has more.
States reported a combined 50,602 cases over the past 24 hours, up from 38,661 on Tuesday and compared with 44,424 a week ago.
The high case tally comes as a record number of states reported increases of more than 1,000 new infections.
Texas (3,776), California (2,764) and Illinois (2,630) had the biggest daily increases in new cases. Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, Tennessee and Wisconsin were the other states to each report more than 2,000 cases.
A record 21 states reported daily increases of more than 1,000 cases, according to a Financial Times analysis of Covid Tracking Project data.
Kentucky (2,393), South Dakota (1,030) and Montana (716) were the states that had record jumps in cases.
Asia-Pacific stocks gain on hopes for US stimulus
Alice Woodhouse in Hong Kong
Asia-Pacific equities rose on Thursday, following US stocks higher on hopes for partial economic stimulus from President Donald Trump.
In Japan, the Topix edged up 0.1 per cent, the Kospi in South Korea gained 0.8 per cent, while the S&P/ASX 200 in Australia added 0.7 per cent.
Mr Trump called off negotiations on a $2tn stimulus package on Tuesday before appearing to change course by saying he would support narrow aid bills, including direct payments to individuals.
Wall Street’s S&P 500 ended 1.7 per cent higher and the Nasdaq Composite gained 1.9 per cent following the president’s comments.
S&P 500 futures were up 0.2 per cent in Asian trading on Thursday.
Texas overtakes California as state with second-highest Covid death toll
Peter Wells in New York
Texas became the US state with the second highest number of deaths attributed to coronavirus since the start of the pandemic, after reporting its biggest daily jump in fatalities in more than a week on Wednesday.
A further 119 deaths were attributed to coronavirus, authorities revealed, up from 78 on Tuesday. That compared with 107 on Wednesday a week ago and was the biggest daily jump since 121 deaths were reported on September 26.
That took the total number of coronavirus deaths in Texas to 16,230, just two more than California, which earlier this week displaced New Jersey as the state with the second-highest number of fatalities. Only New York has confirmed more.
Adjusted for population, Texas's toll equates to about 56 deaths per 100,000 people. That ranks it 18th among US states, ahead of Indiana, but behind Pennsylvania and also lower than the national average, according to a Financial Times analysis of data from Covid Tracking Project and the Census Bureau.
A further 3,776 people tested positive over the past 24 hours, down from 3,872 yesterday and compared with 5,335 new cases reported on Wednesday last week.
The number of people currently hospitalised in Texas hospitals with coronavirus rose to 3,519, authorities revealed, up from 3,394 on Tuesday and to the highest level since the 3,575 hospitalisations reported on September 10.
Florida becomes fifth state to reach 15,000 Covid deaths
Peter Wells in New York
Florida became the fifth US state to confirm more than 15,000 coronavirus deaths since the start of the pandemic, reporting its biggest one-day jump in fatalities in a week on Wednesday.
A further 139 deaths were attributed to the disease, authorities revealed, up from 59 on Tuesday. It was the biggest one-day increase since the 175 fatalities reported on Wednesday last week.
That took the total number of coronavirus fatalities in Florida to 15,084. Only New York, California, New Jersey and Texas have reported more deaths.
Adjusted for population, Florida's coronavirus death toll equates to about 70 fatalities per 100,000 people. That ranks it 13th among US states based on that metric, ahead of Georgia and just behind Illinois, according to a Financial Times analysis of data from Covid Tracking Project data and the Census Bureau.
New Jersey, at nearly 182 deaths per 100,000 people, has the highest population-adjusted death toll among US states.
A further 2,582 people in the Sunshine State tested positive for coronavirus over the past 24 hours, according to the report from the health department, up from 2,251 on Tuesday. It was the biggest increase in four days and compared with 1,948 on Wednesday last week.
The state conducted nearly 66,300 coronavirus tests over the past day, up from about 47,000 on Tuesday and compared with about 44,800 a week ago. Of the latest batch of tests, the positivity rate among those who were tested for the first time eased to 4.15 per cent from Tuesday's two-week high of 5.25 per cent.
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Irish health officials have warned that coronavirus infections are increasing “exponentially” in the country, reporting five further Covid-19 deaths on Wednesday and 611 new infections.
Greater Manchester’s mayor Andy Burnham said northern England faced “huge job losses” unless the government provided greater support for businesses and people in areas with high levels of infections.
Germany’s federal states have agreed a ban on overnight accommodation for visitors from domestic areas with high infection rates in a bid to devise more uniform policies to fight the worsening outbreak.
Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s first minister, has announced tough new closures and restrictions on pubs, restaurants and other hospitality venues for 16 days from Friday.
Eli Lilly has submitted an application for an emergency approval of its antibody treatment for Covid-19, after trials showed it reduced viral load, symptoms and hospitalisations.
Larry Kudlow, the top White House economic adviser, said there was a “low probability” that Congress would agree with Donald Trump’s call for a series of piecemeal stimulus measures to help the US economy recover from the coronavirus crisis.
Pub chain Greene King will keep the doors closed at 79 British pubs and restaurants, underlining the hospitality sector’s struggle to regain its footing as coronavirus spreads.
Iran registered a record number of daily coronavirus-related deaths as health officials said the situation was critical. Over the past 24 hours, 239 Covid-19 patients have died and 4,274 people are in a critical condition.
Heathrow Airport is pushing ahead with its expansion plans even as the aviation industry struggles through its worst crisis. The UK's busiest airport has begun a Supreme Court appeal against a ruling that this year blocked its proposed third runway.
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2020-10-08 06:33:45Z
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