What you need to know about the coronavirus today

Vaccine timeline
The leading U.S. expert on infectious diseases, Anthony Fauci, predicted the country will meet its goal of having a coronavirus vaccine by year’s end. While there are no guarantees, “I feel good about the projected timetable,” Fauci told Reuters. Many experts see a safe and effective vaccine as the only way out of the pandemic that has infected millions and killed more than 575,000 people worldwide. Even if a vaccine succeeds in provoking an immune response, Fauci said it is still not clear how long that protection will last. “These are questions that don’t have answers right now, because we’re only six months into the outbreak.”
Track the spread of the virus with this state-by-state and county map.

COVID-19 benefits led to U.S. spending boost
Americans who received enhanced unemployment benefits due to the coronavirus pandemic spent more than when they were working, a study released on Thursday said, adding to concerns about a steep fall in spending when the emergency benefits expire. The $600 weekly supplement added to jobless benefits as part of the CARES Act helped unemployed households spend 10% more after receiving benefits than they did before the pandemic, according to research by the JPMorgan Chase Institute.
Fears over Japan’s tourism push
A multibillion-dollar Japanese campaign to boost domestic tourism faced scrutiny, with the economy minister due to meet experts, as critics worried that encouraging people to travel out of Tokyo risks spreading the new coronavirus. The concerns in Japan highlight a conundrum facing countries around the world over how to balance reviving economies battered by the coronavirus while safeguarding public health. Economy Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura is due to meet experts to discuss the government’s “Go To” campaign to promote domestic tourism, a day after Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike questioned its timing and methods.
Novartis to provide ‘no profit’ drugs
Sandoz division will not make a profit on 15 generic drugs it is making available to developing countries to treat symptoms of COVID-19. The Swiss drugmaker plans to maintain the zero-profit programme until the pandemic ends or a vaccine or cure is found, Novartis Global Health Chief Operating Officer Lutz Hegemann said in an interview.
Black masks, white roses
Wearing black face masks, Spanish and foreign dignitaries paid tribute to the victims of the coronavirus pandemic and the health workers combating it in a ceremony led by King Felipe VI. Many of the roughly 400 guests outside the Royal Palace in Madrid, including relatives of some of the more than 28,000 victims of the disease in one of Europe’s worst-hit countries, laid white roses on a black pedestal surrounding a bowl of burning coals. The king told the relatives of the victims: “You are not alone in your pain, it’s our shared pain, it’s our grief that today is witnessed here by all Spaniards.”

From Breakingviews - Corona Capital: Euro-flyers, Air India, Heineken.
Read concise views on the pandemic’s financial fallout from Breakingviews columnists across the globe.

Reuters reporters and editors around the world are investigating the response to the coronavirus pandemic.
We need your help to tell these stories. Our news organization wants to capture the full scope of what’s happening and how we got here by drawing on a wide variety of sources. Here’s a look at our coverage.
Are you a government employee or contractor involved in coronavirus testing or the wider public health response? Are you a doctor, nurse or health worker caring for patients? Have you worked on similar outbreaks in the past? Has the disease known as COVID-19 personally affected you or your family? Are you aware of new problems that are about to emerge, such as critical supply shortages?
We need your tips, firsthand accounts, relevant documents or expert knowledge. Please contact us at [email protected].
We prefer tips from named sources, but if you’d rather remain anonymous, you can submit a confidential news tip. Here’s how.

Top News

The extraordinary hacking spree that hit Twitter on Wednesday, leading it to briefly muzzle some of its most widely followed accounts, is drawing questions about the platform’s security and resilience in the run-up to the U.S. presidential election. Twitter said hackers obtained control of employee credentials to hijack accounts including those of Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, former president Barack Obama, reality television star Kim Kardashian, and tech billionaire and Tesla CEO Elon Musk.

Europe’s top court rejected a key EU tool used to transfer Europeans’ personal data across the Atlantic for commercial use but upheld the validity of another tool used by hundreds of thousands of companies to transfer data worldwide. “The Court of Justice invalidates Decision 2016/1250 on the adequacy of the protection provided by the EU-US Data Protection Shield,” the court said.

Swedish activist Greta Thunberg urged European leaders to take emergency action on climate change, saying people in power had practically “given up” on the possibility of handing over a decent future to coming generations. In an interview with Reuters television, the 17-year-old said governments would only be able to mount a meaningful response once they accepted they needed to transform the whole economic system.

Emerging from lockdown

Though the number of geisha - famed for their witty conversation, beauty and skill at traditional arts - has been falling for years, Ikuko and her colleagues were without work for months due to Japan's state of emergency and now operate under awkward social distancing rules. But times changed," Ikuko, now 80, said. Only 20 remain, and there aren't enough engagements to take on new apprentices - especially now.

As the coronavirus pandemic ripped around the globe, Cirque du Soleil, a circus troupe formed by Quebec street performers that become a global powerhouse, saw most of its operations grind to a halt in barely 48 hours. The company, which gained international renown for extravagant shows featuring acrobats, jugglers, firebreathers and musicians, was forced to shut down productions in China, Italy and the United States, among other countries. This month, it filed for bankruptcy protection and is close to reaching a restructuring deal.

Covid science

Chinese state-owned pharmaceutical company Sinopharm has begun Phase III clinical trials of a COVID-19 vaccine in Abu Dhabi using up to 15,000 volunteers, the government in the capital of the United Arab Emirates said. The human trial is a partnership between Sinopharm’s China National Biotec, Abu Dhabi-based artificial intelligence and cloud computing company Group 42 and the Abu Dhabi Department of Health.
China has approved an early-stage trial in humans of German firm BioNTech’s experimental COVID-19 vaccine, its local partner Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical said. The potential vaccine is one of the two most advanced candidates that BioNTech is working on with its partner Pfizer and they received “fast track” status this week from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration which is designed to speed up the regulatory review process.