Raphael Stevens

Dr. Scott Gottlieb told CNBC on Monday outdoor mask mandates are no longer necessary at this stage in the coronavirus pandemic.Public health officials should take a more relaxed stance on outdoor activities in general, said Gottlieb, who serves on the board of Covid vaccine maker Pfizer.”People could choose to wear a mask if they want to. I think there shouldn’t be requirements that they have to wear masks outdoors,” the former Food and Drug Administration commissioner said on “Squawk Box.”Steps should be taken “to allow more gatherings outside, allow more large groups, allow sporting events, things of that nature,” he added. “The weather is warming up. We have the opportunity to bring more activities outside. We know activities outside are lower risk than things done indoors.”White House chief medical advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci agrees about the risk of coronavirus transmission outdoors. In an interview Sunday, he suggested the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention could modify its stance on wearing masks outside.”What I believe … the country is going to be hearing soon is updated guidelines from the CDC,” Fauci said on ABC’s “This Week with George Stephanopoulos.” “The CDC is a science-based organization. They don’t want to make any guidelines unless they look at the data and the data backs it up. But when you look around at the common sense situation, obviously the risk is really very low, particularly if you’re vaccinated.”President Joe Biden is expected to announce new CDC guidance on wearing masks outdoors as early as Tuesday, a source familiar with the discussions told NBC News. However, the source cautioned that the recommendations are still being finalized and they’ll likely include guidance for fully vaccinated people versus those who are not.CNBC Health & Science Read CNBC’s latest coverage of the Covid pandemic:Fauci says U.S. should see a turning point in the pandemic ‘within a few weeks’U.S. to share 60 million doses of AstraZeneca Covid vaccine with other countriesBiden administration set to relax outdoor mask guidancePhotos show the deadly toll of Covid in India as coronavirus cases top 17 millionThe CDC’s current guidance on face coverings includes the following: “Masks may not be necessary when you are outside by yourself away from others, or with people who live in your household. However, some areas may have mask mandates while out in public, so please check the rules in your local area (such as in your city, county, or state). Additionally, check whether any federal mask mandates apply to where you will be going.”In their own respective mask requirements, multiple states say people do not need to wear one when they are outside and maintaining at least 6 feet of physical distance from individuals who aren’t in their household.Gottlieb said he believes it’s time to do away with outdoor mask requirements because vaccination levels in the U.S. are driving down new infections. More than 42% of the U.S. population has received at least one vaccine dose, including 28.5% who have been fully vaccinated, according to CDC data.On Monday, the seven-day average of new daily coronavirus infections in the U.S. was about 58,160, according to a CNBC analysis of data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. That figure is down 14% from one week ago.”The gains we’re seeing right now against the virus are being solidified by vaccination and immunity in the population, whereas before the gains that we saw were the result of behavior, people being more prudent in what they were doing,” said Gottlieb, who led the FDA during the Trump administration. “Now it’s the result of immunity. We could be assured that these are going to be solidified.”Disclosure: 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

A police car drives on patrol through the main shopping street which stands empty after 10 PM during a nighttime curfew during the third wave of the coronavirus pandemic on April 24, 2021 in Cologne, Germany.Andreas Rentz | Getty Images News | Getty ImagesGermany has implemented tough lockdown rules in a bid to curb a third wave of infections, issuing a set of new measures expected to last until June.Protests have been seen in several German cities after the restrictions were introduced this weekend on coronavirus hot spots.A curfew, limits on customers in shops, leisure center closures and limits on household contacts are part of the measures.Germany has been struggling to suppress a third wave, largely attributed to the spread of a more infectious strain of the virus that first emerged in the U.K. last fall.Enacting a “nationwide emergency brake,” cities or districts that exceed a seven-day incidence rate of 100 new infections per 100,000 inhabitants over three consecutive days must now implement the lockdowns.Schools are to close if incidence rates are above 165 new cases per 100,000 inhabitants for three days in a row.Data from the Robert Koch Institute, Germany’s public health body, shows that all but one of Germany’s 16 states are above the threshold for the emergency brake to kick in, and seven states have an incidence rate above 165. The nationwide seven-day average of cases per 100,000 people stood at 169.3 on Monday.The measures, set out in the Infection Protection Act, effectively expand the federal government’s authority to control the pandemic. Germany’s states have been largely able to set their own rules, leading to variations across the country with some states reluctant to impose stricter measures despite a surge in infections.Nonetheless, the measures — and, particularly, the curfew, which will run from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. and allows people to leave their homes only if they must go to or from work, seek medical assistance or take a dog for a walk — have provoked fury among some members of the public, with small demonstrations taking place in several cities at the weekend, notably Frankfurt and Hanover.’Do what is necessary’German Chancellor Angela Merkel defended the new rules, urging compliance.”If we succeed now in reducing infections significantly and quickly, step-by-step relaxations will be possible in the foreseeable future,” she said in her weekly video podcast.”Let us now once again do what is necessary and together show consideration and responsibility.””What we’re hearing from doctors and the nursing staff, these are real cries for help,” she said. “We — the state, society, citizens — we all have to help,” she added.Finance Minister Olaf Scholz told the Bild am Sonntag newspaper that he didn’t think the measures would be eased before the end of May while German Health Minister Jens Spahn told the German Parliament, the Bundestag, that “the situation is serious, very serious.”While vaccinations and testing provide some way out of the pandemic, only “reducing contacts and thus reducing transmission of the infection” can contain the third wave, Spahn said.The new measures could further dent the popularity of Merkel’s ruling conservative alliance, the Christian Democratic Union and its sister party, the Christian Social Union.A second voter poll has now put the Green Party ahead of the CDU-CSU bloc. The poll by Kantar for Bild am Sonntag put support for the Greens at 28%, 1 percentage point above support for the CDU-CSU. If the Greens’ positive momentum continues and is borne out in the September federal election, the Greens could be the most powerful influence in a likely coalition government with the conservative bloc. More

Tesla is coming off a wild week.The automaker is undergoing investigations in the U.S. following a fatal crash in Texas and is under criticism in China after a woman’s protest at a major auto show.Morgan Stanley is sticking by the stock. Analyst Adam Jonas increased his price target to $900, implying 23% upside. The stock closed Friday at $729.40.All this came ahead of earnings out Monday afternoon. Analysts expect profit of 75 cents a share in its March-ended quarter, up from 25 cents a year earlier. according to FactSet. Sales are forecast to have grown 75% to $10.48 billion.Danielle Shay, director of options at Simpler Trading, says recent bad news surrounding the company has kept a lid on the stock.  “That’s actually putting it into a great position going into the earnings report. If you look at the way that Tesla has behaved on earnings — yes, last quarter they did pull back after earnings, but that was after doubling the stock price throughout the quarter — prior to that, we’ve seen Tesla trade higher on earnings,” Shay told CNBC’s “Trading Nation” on Friday.History should repeat itself this quarter, she predicts.”It’s in a great spot to sell put credit spreads, either at the money or out of the money, to really take advantage of that high implied volatility due to all the news surrounding Tesla, and I’m looking for the stock to trade higher after the report,” said Shay.Even if it does not pan out that way, Shay is still bullish on the stock. She says any pullback presents an opportunity to buy on weakness.Craig Johnson, chief market technician at Piper Sandler, is also a Tesla fan heading into earnings.”The stock is still down 20% from its highs … [but] we’ve broken the uptrend support line and, from my perspective, this is a stock that should be bought heading into earnings. If you look back at the quarterly earnings prints, you can see that 70% of the time this stock has beat on the bottom line.”Zoom In IconArrows pointing outwardsTesla’s parabolic 2020 rise has gone to middling growth this year. The stock is up 3% in 2021, underperforming the S&P 500’s 11% increaseDisclaimer More

In this articleDubai is known for its modern architecture, including the Burj Khalifa, which at 2,700 feet tall is nearly twice the height of the Empire State Building.Fraser Hall | The Image Bank | Getty ImagesDUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The United Arab Emirates’ potentially indefinite status on the U.K.’s “red list” for travel has stoked anger and confusion, made more uncertain by the latest statements coming from the British government.Britain’s Transport Secretary Grant Shapps indicated the UAE might stay on the U.K.’s red list due to its status as an international transit hub, despite its falling infection trends and the world’s second-fastest vaccination campaign.”We’re not restricting the UAE due to the level of coronavirus in the UAE,” Shapps told an aviation event on Wednesday. “The issue is one of transit.”The comments drew sharp criticism from Emirates’ President Tim Clark: “Leaving us on the ‘red list’ for reasons of transit doesn’t make any sense because (passengers) can just go through other hubs,” he told a recent online event. “It compromises our United Kingdom operation for Emirates. It’s a real pity if they keep us on the red list.”Being on the U.K.’s red list comes with a high price, and has real consequences for the 120,000 Brits living in the Gulf country and their family members. It requires anyone entering the U.K. from a red list country to quarantine in a government-approved hotel and cover their own lodging and food costs for 10 days, at a cost of £1,750 ($2,428) per person.”If anyone asks me about home, I cry,” said one British citizen working in Dubai who hasn’t seen her family in the U.K. since mid-2020. “The ambiguity is unbearable,” said the source, who asked not to be identified because of professional restrictions. “It is much easier to establish and maintain balance in your life when you make a plan — the U.K.’s interchanging positions make that impossible and it’s so detrimental to people’s well-being.”People wait their turn to get vaccinated against the coronavirus at a vaccination center set up at the Dubai International Financial Center in the Gulf emirate of Dubai, on February 3, 2021. The UAE has administered at least three million doses to more than a quarter of its population.1230948336The U.K. red list, which bans air travel or forces a costly quarantine on arrival, currently names 40 high risk countries deemed too dangerous to travel, including India, which has seen new infections skyrocket to over 300,000 cases a day. The UAE remains on the list, despite infection rates falling to around 2,000 cases a day. Abu Dhabi, meanwhile, has placed the U.K. on its own “green” list of travel countries.CNBC has reached out to the U.K.’s Foreign Commonwealth Office for comment.Growing support A petition to remove the UAE from the U.K. red list had received over 8,500 signatures as of April 26, reflecting a growing frustration over the travel restrictions and the cost of quarantine for one of the world’s busiest air travel routes. “I want the Government to remove the United Arab Emirates (UAE) from the Red Ban List by the summer, so that travelers can visit the safe country without needing to quarantine in a hotel on return,” petitioner Mikael Aziz wrote. The U.K. government is required to respond if the petition receives 10,000 signatures or more. “You need to reconsider Dubai being on the red list. Most of the UK citizens who work there are fully vaccinated and should be allowed to travel to the UK. They could take a PCR test before and on arrival.” Twitter user @DawnWilson2606 tweeted to U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Any decision to remove the UAE from the red list is further complicated by the difference in restrictions between Abu Dhabi and Dubai. The UAE’s most populous emirates have enforced separate access, travel, testing and quarantine rules since the start of the pandemic — despite being less than a two-hour drive apart.Red list removal ‘as soon as it is feasible’Amid the criticism and confusion over the latest travel restrictions, there are signs the predominantly-expatriate desert sheikhdom of 10 million could yet be removed from the red list.”We are working very closely with the UAE authorities to ensure that we can remove the UAE from the red list as soon as it is feasible,” said Simon Penney, the U.K. consul general to Dubai and trade commissioner to the Middle East. Penney’s comments came on April 21, the same day as Shapps’ suggestion that the UAE may stay on the red list.   The U.K. government is expected to review its ban on non-essential international travel from May 17, but it’s unclear what destinations will receive the tick of approval.Commuters cross London Bridge at sunrise on March 1, 2021 in London, England.Hollie Adams | Getty Images”It is too early today to say which countries will be on the green list and which ones won’t, and we will need to wait until early May before we have any further clarity,” Penney said during an interview with a Dubai radio station”The decisions taken are driven by data and science, and key to this includes the rollout of the vaccine, the number of daily cases, and the prevalence of harmful variants,” he added.The U.K. Foreign Office said it “advises against all but essential travel to the whole of the United Arab Emirates based on the current assessment of COVID-19 risks.” The UAE is outpacing most of the developed world on its vaccine rollout with almost 40% of its population fully inoculated.”Visitors arriving into the U.K. who have been in or transited through the UAE in the previous 10 days will not be permitted entry,” an April 25th advisory said.’A travel corridor worth reopening'”Countries’ positions on each other’s lists don’t have to be reciprocal,” Rob Willock, director of the advisory service Economist Corporate Network, told CNBC on Sunday.”But considering the UAE and U.K. are second and third respectively on the global vaccination league table, both having administered at least one vaccine to more than half of their population, one might imagine this is a travel corridor worth reopening.”The U.K., one of Dubai’s largest sources of tourists and a critical travel route for Emirates, took the UAE off its “safe travel corridor” in January, as cases in Dubai began to skyrocket following an influx of U.K. travelers in November and December. The UAE reported just over 2,000 new infections on Saturday. The country has administered 9.9 million vaccine doses so far. U.S. travel warnings It’s not just the U.K. that is holding short on opening up. The U.S. added more than 100 countries to its “Level 4: Do Not Travel” list last week, including Israel and the UAE.”Things change, and they will change over time,” Willie Walsh, IATA director general told CNBC when asked if the State Department got the advisories wrong. Certain countries on the American list also have their own restrictions against travel by foreigners, while others will allow entry by air with proof of vaccination and a negative Covid test or other criteria. “We’re not suggesting that you just remove all restrictions now,” Walsh said. “We’re asking governments to set out a plan to give an indication as to when they believe international air travel will start and how international air travel should operate when things do get moving again.” More

Medical staff in PPE attending to a person in the temporary Covid-19 care centre attached to LNJP Hospital, at Shehnai Banquet Hall, on April 23, 2021 in New Delhi, India.Raj K Raj | Hindustan Times | Getty ImagesIndia reported a record number of Covid-19 cases for the fifth straight day on Monday while the official death toll also jumped.Official data showed there were 352,991 new reported cases over a 24-hour period as total infection numbers crossed 17 million.At least 2,812 people died which pushed the total death toll to over 195,000 — media reports suggest that the official death rate is likely undercounted.Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has faced criticism for allowing large crowds to gather for religious festivals and election rallies in various parts of the country this year. Prior to the second wave, India had on average around 10,000 new cases daily.But so far in April alone, the South Asian nation has reported more than 5 million new cases, sending the country’s health care system to the brink.Hospitals have run out of beds and are turning away even critically ill patients. There is a severe oxygen supply shortage, partly due to uneven distribution across states. That has led to the deaths of many Covid-19 patients as the government scrambles to send supplies to the worst-hit states by road, rail and air.”It has put a huge stress on the health care infrastructure, the supplies, oxygen because of the fact that the quantum of materials required has gone four times what it was in the first wave,” Naresh Trehan, chairman at Medanta hospital, told CNBC’s “Street Signs Asia” on Monday.”We are struggling, actually, to cope with all that,” he said, adding measures are being taken to create more beds and ramp up the production of more personal protective equipment and medicines. But India’s “weak point” is the shortage in medical-grade oxygen required.International responseThe international community responded with promises to send India desperately needed aid.The United States will send raw materials required for India to ramp up manufacturing of AstraZeneca’s vaccine locally, as well as therapeutics, rapid diagnostic test kits, ventilators and protective equipment. It will also send a team of public health advisors to India from the Center for Disease Control and USAID.That came after the United Kingdom, France and Germany pledged aid over the weekend. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Twitter that the European Union is “pooling resources to respond rapidly to India’s request for assistance via the EU Civil Protection Mechanism.”Last week China’s foreign ministry said Beijing is “in communication” with New Delhi and that it is “ready to provide support and help according to India’s need.”Singapore state investor Temasek said on Sunday that it partnered with Air India and Amazon India to airlift medical equipment such as oxygen concentrators and ventilators from the city-state. The medical supplies were sent to the financial capital of Mumbai in Maharashtra and the eastern state of West Bengal, where cases are rising.Big Tech firms like Microsoft and Google have also publicly pledged to help.Medical workers converse among themselves at a quarantine center for Covid-19 coronavirus infected patients at a banquet hall that was converted into an isolation center to handle the rising cases of infection on April 15, 2021 in New Delhi, India.Anindito Mukherjee | Getty Images News | Getty ImagesLocal responseCorporate India has also stepped up efforts to help the country secure medical supplies to ease the strain on the health care infrastructure.Indian media reported that billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries will produce over 700 tonnes of medical-grade oxygen per day at one of its oil refineries. It would reportedly be given to worst-hit states for free.Tata Group said last week it will import 24 cryogenic containers, which are also reportedly in short supply, to transport liquid oxygen. Meanwhile Jindal Steel and Power said it will supply 500 metric tonnes of liquid oxygen to hospitals that urgently need them.Indian social media users have also taken to the platforms to coordinate availability and access to medical supplies, oxygen cylinders and other forms of aid. More