Raphael Stevens

Mukesh Bhardwaj cries as he sits next to his wife, who receives oxygen support for free for people suffering from breathing problems, outside a Gurudwara (Sikh temple), amidst the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Ghaziabad, India, May 3, 2021.Adnan Abidi | ReutersThe World Health Organization is closely following 10 coronavirus variants “of interest” or “of concern” across the world, including two that were first detected in the U.S. and a triple-mutant variant that’s wreaking havoc in India, as potential global public health threats.New Covid-19 strains pop up every day as the virus continues to mutate, but only a handful make WHO’s official watchlist as a “variant of interest” or the more serious designation “variant of concern,” which is generally defined as a mutated strain that’s more contagious, more deadly and more resistant to current vaccines and treatments.The organization has classified three strains as variants of concern: B.1.1.7, which was first detected in the U.K. and is the most prevalent strain currently circulating throughout the U.S.; B.1.351, first detected in South Africa, and the P.1 variant, first detected in Brazil.One variant of interest is the B.1617 variant, or triple-mutant strain, first found in India, but the WHO’s technical lead for Covid-19, Maria Van Kerkhove, said more studies are needed to completely understand its significance.CNBC Health & Science Read CNBC’s latest coverage of the Covid pandemic:WHO is closely monitoring 10 Covid variants as virus mutates around the world Florida Gov. DeSantis suspends all remaining Covid restrictionsMajor drugstore chains offer same-day Covid vaccines as eligibility increases, pace slows 2 in 5 American adults fully vaccinated as daily average of new Covid cases falls below 50,000″There actually are a number of virus variants that are being detected around the world, all of which we need to properly assess,” Van Kerkhove said. Scientists look at how much each variant is circulating in local areas, whether the mutations change the severity or transmission of the disease and other factors before categorizing them as a new public health threat.”The information is coming in fast and furious,” she said. “There are new variants every day that are being identified and being reported, not all of which are important.”Other variants classified as variants of interest include B.1525, which was first detected in the U.K. and Nigeria; B.1427/B.1429, first detected in the U.S.; P.2, first detected in Brazil; P.3, first detected in Japan and the Philippines; S477N, first detected in the U.S., and B.1.616, first detected in France.Van Kerkhove said the classifications are determined, at least in part, by sequencing capacities, which vary by country. “It’s really patchy so far,” she said.She said the agency is also looking to local epidemiologists as an extension of the agency’s “eyes and ears” to better understand the situation on the ground and identify other potentially dangerous variants.”It’s important that we have the proper discussions to determine which ones are significant from a public health value, meaning does it change our ability to use public health social measures, or any of our medical countermeasures,” she said. “We are putting the right people together in the room to discuss what these mutations mean,” she said. “We need the global community to be working together, and they are.”The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also has a list of four variants of interest and five variants of concern that is similar to the WHO’s list, though the CDC primarily focuses on variants that are causing new outbreaks in the United States.Van Kerkhove said a number of countries “have some worrying trends, some worrying signs of increasing case numbers, increasing hospitalization rates and ICU rates in countries that don’t yet have access to the vaccine, who have not reached the coverage levels that are needed to really have that impact on severe disease and death and on transmission.” More

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks holding his facemask during a press conference to address the rise of coronavirus cases in the state, at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami, on July 13, 2020.Chandan Khanna | AFP | Getty ImagesWASHINGTON — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed an executive order Monday that immediately suspends all outstanding local Covid-19 emergency orders and related public health restrictions.”The fact is, we are no longer in a state of emergency,” DeSantis said during a news conference. He acknowledged that Florida was still not done with its fight against the coronavirus but reiterated the nation’s decline in Covid-19 cases and deaths.”I think that’s the evidence-based thing to do,” DeSantis said, adding that asking vaccinated individuals to continue to wear masks would undermine confidence in the coronavirus vaccines.Private businesses can still require masks and enforce social distancing and other protective measures.DeSantis signed a bill Monday that codifies the executive order into law, effective July 1. The executive order, he said, was designed to “bridge the gap” until then. The measure, which effectively ends all local pandemic-related restrictions, also bans vaccine passports.CNBC Health & Science Read CNBC’s latest coverage of the Covid pandemic:WHO is closely monitoring 10 Covid variants as virus mutates around the world Florida Gov. DeSantis suspends all remaining Covid restrictionsMajor drugstore chains offer same-day Covid vaccines as eligibility increases, pace slows 2 in 5 American adults fully vaccinated as daily average of new Covid cases falls below 50,000Florida has reported the third-most Covid-19 cases in the U.S. at more than 2.2 million since the beginning of the pandemic and the fourth-highest death toll at more than 35,000 fatalities, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. Average new cases there, however, have fallen by more than 13% over the last week, dropping to 4,885 as of Sunday, according to the data.The White House did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment.Last week, the Biden administration announced a relaxation of federal public health guidance on wearing masks outdoors.The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that fully vaccinated people can exercise and attend small gatherings outside without wearing a face mask. The agency still recommends that fully vaccinated people wear a mask outdoors when in crowded areas. More

In this articleFPeople visit Ford’s all-electric SUV Mustang Mach-E at the 2019 Los Angeles Auto Show in Los Angeles, the United States, Nov. 22, 2019.Xinhua via Getty ImagesDETROIT – Ford Motor should be selling enough electric vehicles in North America to produce its own battery cells domestically by 2025, an executive with the automaker told CNBC.The timeline is the most detailed Ford has given for EV battery production, which Wall Street is closely watching, and it’s a reversal in the company’s strategy under former CEO Jim Hackett. Producing battery cells internally is expected to be key for automakers to cut costs of EVs and secure sourcing for an expected surge in demand this decade.”We don’t have to scale today to justify our own dedicated battery plant,” Hau Thai-Tang, Ford’s chief product platform and operations officer, said in an interview Monday morning. “But by 2025, as we bring on the F-150, the E-Transit and another battery electric vehicle that we’ve announced, we’ll have enough volume in North America to justify our own plant.”The exact timing of production hinges on the EV market, consumer demand as well as R&D progress, according to Ford spokeswoman Jennifer Flake. The company, she said, “could be in a position” to be producing its own EV cells by 2025.Ford’s been cautiously adding EVs to its lineup, launching its first new all-electric car — the Mustang Mach-E — in the U.S. at the end of last year. The company expects to follow it with an all-electric Ford Transit van later this year and an EV version of the Ford F-150 pickup by mid-2022. The company has not disclosed details of another new EV mentioned by Thai-Tang.Thai-Tang’s comments come after the company announced Monday it would increase its investment in an EV battery start-up with hopes of starting to integrate the next-generation batteries, known as solid-state, into its EVs by the end of this decade.Thai-Tang said a single battery cell facility could produce today’s lithium-ion batteries as well as solid-state. The batteries can be lighter, with greater energy density that provides more range at a lower cost. But they are currently more costly than lithium-ion batteries and early in development.Ford last week announced plans to invest $185 million into a new battery lab as a step toward manufacturing its own battery cells for EVs, but not full production like Tesla has or like General Motors has announced. Ford currently purchases cells from suppliers such as South Korea-based SK Innovation.The new lab, as well as another $100 million battery facility that opened last year, is in addition to Ford’s plans to put $22 billion into vehicle electrification from 2016 through 2025.Ford’s plan to manufacture battery cells has emerged under Ford CEO Jim Farley, who took over on Oct. 1. He changed the course set by his predecessor, Hackett, who had said the automaker saw “no advantage” in producing battery cells.EVs represented only about 2% of new U.S. vehicle registrations last year, according to IHS Markit. But the company expects that to increase to between 25% and 30% by 2030 and 45% and 50% by 2035, IHS said. More

In this articleNWLEven with students returning to school and workers heading back to the office, changes in consumer spending will outlive the pandemic.”The home has become the hub,” Newell Brands CEO Ravi Saligram told CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street” on Monday.As companies become more flexible with employees working remotely in a post-pandemic world, Saligram expects its sales bump will last longer than this year.”We think some of these trends are going to stay, plus we are innovating quite a bit,” he said. “With that we believe we are going to sustain growth going forward.”The owner of brands including Papermate, Rubbermaid and Sharpie reported better-than-expected earnings on Friday and revenue that rose 21% from a year ago, to $2.29 billion.”All eight businesses of ours performed well and grew. And seven out of eight actually grew double digits, across the world,” Saligram said.Newell raised its forecast for this year, citing students to go back to school in person as one factor contributing to its upbeat outlook.”We felt with our projections that we will do better than 2019 and a lot of that has to do with a continuation of consumer trends,” Saligram said. “A big part of [the positive outlook] is that we believe most students will be back in school. We’ll have a normal back-to-school season and that is a big factor for us.”Newell estimates its adjusted earnings will be in the range of $1.63 to $1.73 per share this year. Revenue is expected to rise to between $9.9 billion and $10.1 billion. Shares of Newell Brands rose nearly 2% on Monday. Its stock has gained nearly 29% this year, putting its value at more than $11.7 billion. More

President Joe Biden greets workers during a visit at W.S. Jenks & Son hardware store in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Tuesday, March 9, 2021.Yuri Gripas | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesConfidence among small business owners has barely risen as fears about inflation, hiring costs, tax hikes and partisan politics weigh on Main Street as it shows some signs of returning to pre-pandemic levels.According to a CNBC|SurveyMonkey Small Business Survey conducted last month, 64% of entrepreneurs say their business can survive more than a year under current business conditions as the wave of shutdowns and bankruptcies that crushed many Main Street enterprises eases and the country emerges from Covid-19. That’s up from 55% in the first quarter. The survey also found that 34% of business owners think current business conditions are good. The survey’s Small Business Confidence Index ticked higher to 45 in the current quarter from a record low of 43 in the first quarter. To be sure, that’s still a negative sentiment reading. CNBC Small Business Playbook returnsOn May 4, join Shark Tank’s Robert Herjavec, Life is Good’s Bert Jacobs, Chamber of Commerce’s Neil Bradley, 1863 Venture Fund’s Melissa Bradley and more for the CNBC Small Business Playbook event, kicking off at 2pmET. Get actionable advice to stage a strong comeback. Register now.”In the middle, confidence wise, is appropriate, because there are still lots of unknowns as far as the recovery,” Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council President Karen Kerrigan said. “Many are still digging out … paying back-rent, getting back to a normal level of revenue.”The percentage of business owners forecasting a revenue decrease over the next year dropped to 18% from 27% last quarter. Less than half, 46%, expect revenue to grow. Biden’s infrastructure plan and Main StreetThe U.S. economy is staging a sharp recovery as several rounds of stimulus checks have buoyed consumers. President Joe Biden’s infrastructure plan and spending priorities are also expected to provide an economic boost. But views about the president’s ambitions are mixed on Main Street. While just over half of small business owners support Biden’s infrastructure legislation, there is a divide on Main Street driven by party affiliation. According to the survey, 97% of small business owners who identify as Democrats and Democratic leaners support The American Jobs Plan. That drops to 55% among independents and to 23% among Republicans and GOP leaners.The tax policy needed to fund the infrastructure plan divides small business owners, with 39% of entrepreneurs in favor of paying for the measures by raising the corporate tax rate to 28% from 21%, while 59% disapprove. The partisan split here is also wide: 85% of Democrats and Democratic leaners approve of a corporate tax hike, along with just 38% of independents and a mere 13% of Republicans and GOP leaners”We view this as a fragile recovery and these proposals certainly infuse a little more uncertainty into that,” said Kevin Kuhlman, vice president of federal government relations at the National Federation of Independent Business. The NFIB’s most-recent survey found small business confidence is back at its historical average after being below that level for nearly a year.Certain industries within the small business community should benefit from infrastructure spending, such as construction and internet services. But Biden’s alignment with labor unions could dampen expectations among small business owners over the plan’s potential benefits. “Most companies are not union companies,” Kerrigan said, though she added most do view infrastructure spending positively.Fears about inflation, hiringAs businesses attempt to get back to normal, finding workers and supply chain issues are still headwinds for operating at full capacity.A quarter of small businesses expect their headcount to increase in the next year, up from 19% last quarter. However, 24% have open positions that have gone unfilled for at least 3 months, up from 16% in first-quarter 2020 (the last time the survey polled entrepreneurs on this question). The economic rebound can be seen in the hard-hit accommodation/food services sector, where 34% of businesses have open positions and 31% expect to hire more over the next year. More than half of business owners in this space expect revenue to rise over the next 12 months, while only 13% anticipate a further decline.But Main Street is also concerned about the price of raw materials rising while the government pushes for higher corporate taxes and a higher minimum wage. Just under half, 48%, of small business owners said the cost of raw materials will increase the most (compared to cost of labor and cost of capital) over the next six months. “These are real things that impact the business and operations,” Kerrigan said. Global supply chain issues — which have hit businesses of all sizes — and the struggle to find new suppliers, have combined with inflation to limit the small business sector’s ability to get back to pre-pandemic levels of confidence. “They feel squeezed because they can’t raise prices and all the chatter about the potential for inflation has an impact on confidence and how much they invest,” she added.Partisan politicsThe influence of personal politics on small business sentiment is evident in the survey responses related to immigration.The change of administration has caused a secular shift in how Republican small business owners feel about tax, regulatory and immigration policy, which are core factors in dampening the Small Business Confidence Index reading. Confidence among Republicans rose to 35 from 32. However, that number was at 57 in the quarter before the 2020 election.Meanwhile, 41% of small business owners expect changes in immigration policy over the next 12 months to have a negative impact on their businesses, up from 36% in the first quarter and up from 17% a year ago. Overall, 17% of owners said immigration is the issue that matters most to them right now, up from 5% who said that in the first quarter. That rise led immigration to pass health-care policy in the second-quarter survey to be viewed as the most important issue on Main Street behind jobs and the economy. Over one-quarter of Republicans, 27%, view immigration as the most important factor versus 9% of independents and 3% of Democrats.The current crisis at the country’s southern border and surge in migrants has been a challenge for the administration, but small business experts say partisan politics is the likely explanation for this shift.In fact, Kerrigan noted the small business community has been generally pro-immigration reform during the past two decades and that the Trump administration’s immigration policy was a net negative for Main Street. Kerrigan said small business owners also may be disappointed that Biden has not yet shown more action on fixing a broken immigration system that makes it hard to get worker visas.The CNBC|SurveyMonkey online poll was conducted April 19-26, 2021, among a national sample of 2,201 self-identified small business owners ages 18 and up, using the SurveyMonkey platform. This quarter, the research also included results from 9,225 individuals who do not own small businesses. More

About 2 in 5 American adults are now fully vaccinated for Covid-19, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data shows, as the rate of new coronavirus infections continues to decline.The U.S. is averaging 2.4 million reported vaccinations per day over the past week, down from a high point of 3.4 million daily shots on April 13.The rate of new infections is also declining. The country is reporting an average of 49,000 cases per day, according to data from Johns Hopkins University, down from more than 70,000 just a few weeks ago.U.S. vaccine shots administeredAbout 2.1 million vaccines were reported given Sunday, bringing the seven-day average to 2.4 million per day.Zoom In IconArrows pointing outwardsMeeting demand for shots is no longer the main challenge in many places, as states confront vaccine access and hesitancy barriers in their populations. Seventeen states have reported a decrease in shots given for three weeks in a row or more, according to a CNBC analysis of CDC data.U.S. share of the population vaccinatedNearly 45% of Americans have received at least one dose of a vaccine, and 32% are fully vaccinated.Zoom In IconArrows pointing outwardsOf those aged 18 and older, 56% are at least partially vaccinated and 40% are fully vaccinated.”We’re not going to get everyone vaccinated,” former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Monday.”If we can get two-thirds of the population vaccinated or a little bit better than that, that’s going to be a pretty good level of protection,” he said.U.S. Covid casesThe rate of new infections has fallen to the lowest level in months, according to Johns Hopkins data. Over the weekend, the U.S. seven-day average of daily new cases dropped below 50,000 for the first time since October.Zoom In IconArrows pointing outwardsDaily new cases have declined by 5% or more in 22 states and the District of Columbia over the past week. New hospital admissions of Covid patients are also declining, CDC data shows.Elsewhere, Covid outbreaks are reaching new heights. India accounts for 1 in every 3 new coronavirus cases globally, according to the World Health Organization, with nearly 7 million cases reported in April.U.S. Covid deathsThe U.S. is reporting an average of 683 Covid deaths per day, according to Johns Hopkins data.Zoom In IconArrows pointing outwardsCNBC Health & Science Read CNBC’s latest coverage of the Covid pandemic:WHO is closely monitoring 10 Covid variants as virus mutates around the world Florida Gov. DeSantis suspends all remaining Covid restrictionsMajor drugstore chains offer same-day Covid vaccines as eligibility increases, pace slows 2 in 5 American adults fully vaccinated as daily average of new Covid cases falls below 50,000Disclosure: Scott Gottlieb is a CNBC contributor and is a member of the boards of Pfizer, genetic testing start-up Tempus, health-care tech company Aetion Inc. and biotech company Illumina. He also serves as co-chair of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings’ and Royal Caribbean’s “Healthy Sail Panel.” More