Stocks Tumble as Coronavirus Cases Surge

“This is about saving lives,” Mr. Inslee said. “It’s about reopening our businesses.”

In Florida on Wednesday, Gov. Ron DeSantis gave no indication that the state would roll back its economic opening, but he urged residents to avoid closed spaces with poor ventilation, crowds and close contact with others.

The New York quarantine announced Wednesday by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo applies to visitors from Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Utah, Texas and Washington State. Violators could be subject to a mandatory quarantine and fines of up to $10,000. Travelers to New Jersey and Connecticut will also be told to quarantine.

The reopening of many businesses is not going smoothly. Apple said Wednesday that it had shut seven stores in the Houston area because of the rising number of cases in the region. Last week, it closed 11 stores in Arizona, Florida, South Carolina and North Carolina. Apple had opened most of its stores in the United States in recent weeks after closing nearly all of its roughly 500 stores worldwide months ago.

Many stock market investors, who had been expecting the virus to retreat swiftly, were alarmed by its resurgence. The spike appeared to undermine hopes for a V-shaped rebound, in which both the economy and corporate profits would bounce back as swiftly as they plunged when the United States fell into a recession.

“All the hopes of investors looking for a better economy to improve the bottom lines of companies shut down in the recession have been dashed,” Chris Rupkey, chief financial economist at MUFG Union Bank, wrote in a note to clients on Wednesday. “Forget about the fears of the virus coming back in the fall. The number of new cases and hospitalizations in states like Arizona, Texas and Florida says the threat is happening right now.”

  • Updated June 24, 2020

    • I’ve heard about a treatment called dexamethasone. Does it work?

      The steroid, dexamethasone, is the first treatment shown to reduce mortality in severely ill patients, according to scientists in Britain. The drug appears to reduce inflammation caused by the immune system, protecting the tissues. In the study, dexamethasone reduced deaths of patients on ventilators by one-third, and deaths of patients on oxygen by one-fifth.

    • What is pandemic paid leave?

      The coronavirus emergency relief package gives many American workers paid leave if they need to take time off because of the virus. It gives qualified workers two weeks of paid sick leave if they are ill, quarantined or seeking diagnosis or preventive care for coronavirus, or if they are caring for sick family members. It gives 12 weeks of paid leave to people caring for children whose schools are closed or whose child care provider is unavailable because of the coronavirus. It is the first time the United States has had widespread federally mandated paid leave, and includes people who don’t typically get such benefits, like part-time and gig economy workers. But the measure excludes at least half of private-sector workers, including those at the country’s largest employers, and gives small employers significant leeway to deny leave.

    • Does asymptomatic transmission of Covid-19 happen?

      So far, the evidence seems to show it does. A widely cited paper published in April suggests that people are most infectious about two days before the onset of coronavirus symptoms and estimated that 44 percent of new infections were a result of transmission from people who were not yet showing symptoms. Recently, a top expert at the World Health Organization stated that transmission of the coronavirus by people who did not have symptoms was “very rare,” but she later walked back that statement.

    • What’s the risk of catching coronavirus from a surface?

      Touching contaminated objects and then infecting ourselves with the germs is not typically how the virus spreads. But it can happen. A number of studies of flu, rhinovirus, coronavirus and other microbes have shown that respiratory illnesses, including the new coronavirus, can spread by touching contaminated surfaces, particularly in places like day care centers, offices and hospitals. But a long chain of events has to happen for the disease to spread that way. The best way to protect yourself from coronavirus — whether it’s surface transmission or close human contact — is still social distancing, washing your hands, not touching your face and wearing masks.

    • How does blood type influence coronavirus?

      A study by European scientists is the first to document a strong statistical link between genetic variations and Covid-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus. Having Type A blood was linked to a 50 percent increase in the likelihood that a patient would need to get oxygen or to go on a ventilator, according to the new study.

    • How many people have lost their jobs due to coronavirus in the U.S.?

      The unemployment rate fell to 13.3 percent in May, the Labor Department said on June 5, an unexpected improvement in the nation’s job market as hiring rebounded faster than economists expected. Economists had forecast the unemployment rate to increase to as much as 20 percent, after it hit 14.7 percent in April, which was the highest since the government began keeping official statistics after World War II. But the unemployment rate dipped instead, with employers adding 2.5 million jobs, after more than 20 million jobs were lost in April.

    • What are the symptoms of coronavirus?

      Common symptoms include fever, a dry cough, fatigue and difficulty breathing or shortness of breath. Some of these symptoms overlap with those of the flu, making detection difficult, but runny noses and stuffy sinuses are less common. The C.D.C. has also added chills, muscle pain, sore throat, headache and a new loss of the sense of taste or smell as symptoms to look out for. Most people fall ill five to seven days after exposure, but symptoms may appear in as few as two days or as many as 14 days.

    • How can I protect myself while flying?

      If air travel is unavoidable, there are some steps you can take to protect yourself. Most important: Wash your hands often, and stop touching your face. If possible, choose a window seat. A study from Emory University found that during flu season, the safest place to sit on a plane is by a window, as people sitting in window seats had less contact with potentially sick people. Disinfect hard surfaces. When you get to your seat and your hands are clean, use disinfecting wipes to clean the hard surfaces at your seat like the head and arm rest, the seatbelt buckle, the remote, screen, seat back pocket and the tray table. If the seat is hard and nonporous or leather or pleather, you can wipe that down, too. (Using wipes on upholstered seats could lead to a wet seat and spreading of germs rather than killing them.)

    • What should I do if I feel sick?

      If you’ve been exposed to the coronavirus or think you have, and have a fever or symptoms like a cough or difficulty breathing, call a doctor. They should give you advice on whether you should be tested, how to get tested, and how to seek medical treatment without potentially infecting or exposing others.


This is the second time in recent weeks that the S&P 500 stock market index has faltered. On June 11, reports of rising infections set off a 5.9 percent drop. Wednesday’s market drop was led by sharp downturns in sectors including energy, industrial and financial shares, which tend to be sensitive to the near-term expectations for economic growth.

For most of the day, investors clobbered the stocks of companies that are most vulnerable to the risks of a prolonged pandemic. The cruise line Norwegian was down 12.4 percent, while competitors Royal Caribbean and Carnival both plummeted more than 11 percent. They were the three worst-performing issues in the S&P 500.

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