Raphael Stevens

A family member of Covid-19 infected patient seen carrying an empty oxygen cylinder outside a shop to get it refilled, amidst the rising number of the coronavirus cases.Manish Rajput | SOPA Images | LightRocket | Getty ImagesIndia’s daily new Covid-19 cases crossed 400,000 for the third time this month as the country struggles to contain a devastating second wave.Health ministry data released Friday showed there were 414,188 new cases over a 24-hour period, where at least 3,915 people succumbed to the disease. But reports of overwhelmed crematoriums and cemeteries as well as a growing number of obituaries in local papers suggest the official figures undercount the true death toll.Total reported cases in the South Asian country currently stands at 21.49 million while fatalities exceed 234,000. In just the last seven days, India has reported more than 2.7 million cases and over 25,700 deaths, or an average of at least 153 people dying every hour.While the Indian government has so far resisted calls for another national lockdown, states have stepped up restrictions including localized lockdowns and curfews. But health-care experts are worried that the pandemic is now spreading into small towns and villages, where the health infrastructure is not advanced enough to support a surge in cases.The second wave began in February but cases rose at an alarming rate starting in April. The World Health Organization has said that the sharp rise in infections may be partly due to multiple mutated versions of the virus circulating in the country, including the local B.1.617 variant and the B.1.1.7 variant that was detected in the U.K.India’s Covid crisisRead CNBC’s latest coverage of India’s battle with the coronavirus pandemic:India accounts for 1 in 3 new Covid cases being recorded. Here is its second wave in 5 chartsIndia’s worsening Covid crisis could spiral into a problem for the worldIndia is the home of the world’s biggest producer of Covid vaccines. But it’s facing a major internal shortageIndia’s economy will likely contract this quarter as Covid cases soar, economists warnBut, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has drawn criticism for allowing large crowds to gather for religious festivals and election rallies throughout the country earlier this year and then leaving the bulk of responsibility for fighting the outbreak to state governments. India’s hospitals are overwhelmed and facing shortages of beds, medical oxygen and medication to treat Covid-19 patients.India’s Supreme Court reportedly told the central government to start preparing for an anticipated third wave of outbreak and revamp its formula to distribute oxygen across the country. That comes a day after the top court gave the government 24 hours to formulate a plan to meet Delhi’s oxygen requirement.The court intervened after 12 Covid-19 patients, including a doctor, died last week at a New Delhi hospital when it ran out of medical oxygen for 80 minutes, according to the Associated Press.K. VijayRaghavan, the principal scientific advisor to the Indian government, urged people on Twitter to maintain social distancing and other Covid-appropriate behavior to stop the virus from spreading exponentially. But many of the cities that are experiencing a surge in cases are also very densely populated.Earlier this week, he said at a press briefing that a third wave is “inevitable, given the higher levels of circulating virus. But it is not clear on what time scale this phase three will occur. Hopefully, incrementally, but we should prepare for new waves.” More

Tycoons and Bollywood stars may be among the most high profile residents fleeing India’s shores on private jets as the coronavirus crisis escalates — but they are by no means the only ones, according to private jet charter company JetSetGo.The situation in India has become so dire that even upper-middle class families are pooling their resources to make an escape, its co-founder and CEO Kanika Tekriwal told CNBC’s “Street Signs Asia.”The South Asian country, battling a devastating surge in the virus, recorded 412,262 new cases on Thursday, taking its total caseload to more than 28 million.”To say that only wealthy Indians are leaving India on private jets would be wrong,” Tekriwal said Thursday from Maldives.”In the last 10 days, what we have really seen is anyone who can put together the resources and the means to pool in money for a private jet, or to pool in money just to get out of the country, getting out.”They’re just people who are putting together money to get out of the country. I think it’s them who fear Covid the most.Kanika Tekriwalco-founder and CEO, JetSetGoTekriwal said JetSetGo has seen a 900% surge in bookings in recent weeks — with some 70% to 80% coming from the upper middle class, instead of their regular ultra high net worth customers. The majority of them are fleeing to Maldives, which currently offers quarantine at a secluded resort for passengers arriving from India, or Dubai, which allows entry from business purposes.”They’re just people who are putting together money to get out of the country. I think it’s them who fear Covid the most because they’re not the ultra-rich or the most accessible to medical care,” she said.Crowds of people are seen shopping during a weekly market at Kandivali.SOPA Images | LightRocket | Getty ImagesJetSetGo has not increased its rates in response to the surging demand, Tekriwal said adding: “That would be opportunistic and wrong.”But at $18,000 to $20,000 for an eight-seater jet to Maldives, or $31,000 for a six-seater jet to Dubai, the journey does not come cheap — even for India’s upper-middle class, who earn around $15,000 plus per year.However, Tekriwal said the situation has become so out of control that, in some cases, the price of a private jet flight can be less than hospitalization fees.That’s what most of my customers have been telling me: ‘We’re okay with spending six months’ of salary or our savings on escaping the country.Kanika Tekriwalco-founder and CEO, JetSetGoHospitalization costs about $2,500 a night, she said. “It’s what hospital rooms are going at. So even if you’ve got two family members in hospital for 14 days, you’re looking at double the price of flying to Dubai.””That’s what most of my customers have been telling me: ‘We’re okay with spending six months’ of salary or our savings on escaping the country rather than being in half a hospital bed and not knowing how much we’re going to be paying or if we’re even going to be getting a hospital bed.”Tekriwal added that passengers who test positive for Covid-19 are not accepted on its regular flights. However, the company does offer a separate domestic and international air ambulance service.Still, a private jet doesn’t guarantee escape from the virus.Despite enforcing new safety measures since last March — including mandatory testing, regular sanitization of aircrafts and no interaction between passengers and crew — Tekriwal said 30% of her staff have continued to test positive for the virus.”What really hurts me most is that these teams come in, come out there, work with people to get them from point A to point B safely. And when they do test positive, they’re taking the virus back home to their families, to their young children, and to their parents, which is quite disturbing,” she said. More

Dr. Scott Gottlieb said that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention can start to consider lifting indoor mask mandates now, as more and more Americans are vaccinated. “I think we should start lifting these restrictions as aggressively as we put them in,” said Gottlieb. “We need to preserve the credibility of public health officials to perhaps reimplement some of these provisions as we get into next winter, if we do start seeing outbreaks again.”The former FDA chief in the Trump administration added that he thinks “the only way to earn public credibility is to demonstrate that you’re willing to relax these provisions as the situation improves.”The Covid positivity rate in the U.S. is 3.6%, an all-time low according to Johns Hopkins University. It’s a stark difference from April 2020, when the positivity rate hit nearly 23%, meaning nearly a quarter of all tests administered came back positive. In an interview on CNBC’s “The News with Shepard Smith” on Thursday evening, Gottlieb explained that the overall outlook for vaccinations in the U.S. “looks very good,” especially as the FDA prepares to approve Pfizer’s Covid vaccine for 12- to 15-year-olds soon. “Even if vaccination rates are slowing, we’re still going to continue to chip away at getting more people vaccinated…but I think that these gains are locked in, and the summer looks very good,” Gottlieb said.  Disclosure: Scott Gottlieb is a CNBC contributor and is a member of the boards of Pfizer, genetic testing start-up Tempus and biotech company Illumina. Pfizer has a manufacturing agreement with Gilead for remdesivir. Gottlieb also serves as co-chair of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings′ and Royal Caribbean’s “Healthy Sail Panel.” More

In this articleCATNUECLFFCXCNBC’s Jim Cramer said Thursday investors who are buying stocks that benefit from an inflationary environment should be mindful that price pressures may not last, underscoring the need for portfolio diversification.Right now, that’s become a very popular trade, the “Mad Money” host said, as money managers follow what he dubbed “the hedge-fund playbook.””That playbook is very clear about what you need to do when you start to get inflation in a rapidly growing economy: You buy the inflation winners at any price and you dump everything else again,” said Cramer, himself a former hedge fund manager.Some of those stocks are obvious, such as mining company Freeport-McMoRan, as well as steelmakers Cleveland-Cliffs and Nucor, according to Cramer. He said industrial giant Caterpillar is also on the list along with oil companies.Bank stocks also have become popular despite inflation concerns because “this is not a traditional bout of inflation,” Cramer explained. Typically, it can cause problems for the financial industry.”Right now, commodity prices are rising because of short-term considerations: Tariffs on lumber and steel, an energy policy that discourages new oil drilling, a super storm that trashed much of our plastic capacity, a terrible chip shortage, an intractable ports jam up and higher labor costs fueled by more generous unemployment benefits that make it so it may be better to not work than to work,” Cramer said.That makes banks “a terrific hedge for the moment,” he said, because if inflation ends up being sustained — and not transitory, as Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell repeatedly predicts — then the central bank will respond by raising interest rates. That, in turn, would help the banks, Cramer said.”Candidly, I’m not crazy about this style of investing,” he cautioned. “I’m increasingly convinced that Powell’s right — the inflation we’re dealing with right now will be transitory, something that happens as demand comes surging back and supply takes a little while to catch up.”Eventually, Cramer said, he expects the causes of inflation will subside.”So, sure, you can buy these inflation winners, but try to remember that this kind of action does tend to be temporary,” he said. “There’s only so high the price of copper or steel can go before the whole thing becomes self-correcting. And when it does … you will wish you own more than just the red-hot stocks of the minerals, the oils and the banks.”DisclaimerQuestions for Cramer? Call Cramer: 1-800-743-CNBCWant to take a deep dive into Cramer’s world? Hit him up! Mad Money Twitter – Jim Cramer Twitter – Facebook – InstagramQuestions, comments, suggestions for the “Mad Money” website? [email protected] More