Raphael Stevens

An uptick in Covid cases and hospitalizations in the U.S., and the emergence of new variants of the virus, are prompting questions about whether it’s time for Americans to start masking up again. 
People infected with Covid should wear masks around others to prevent the spread of the virus.
For those not infected, the decision to mask depends on a few things. That includes your personal risk level, Covid rates in your region and who you might make contact with, experts said.   

Michael Nason, 29, left, and Donna Nason, 25, right, both of Bakersfield are wearing a face mask in Union Station on Thursday, Aug. 31, 2023, in Los Angeles, CA. COVID-19 making a comeback in California.
Francine Orr | Los Angeles Times | Getty Images

An uptick in Covid cases and hospitalizations in the U.S., and the emergence of new variants of the virus, are prompting questions about whether Americans should start masking up again. 
One thing’s for sure: People infected with Covid should wear masks around others to prevent the spread of the virus. 

For those not infected, the decision to mask depends on a few things. That includes your personal risk level, Covid rates in your region and who you might make contact with, public health experts said.  
First and foremost, people at high risk of serious illness or death from Covid should consider wearing masks in crowded and public spaces, especially in poorly ventilated areas.
That applies to elderly adults and people with diabetes, cancer, HIV, a history of heart disease or stroke or other immunocompromising conditions, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 
“Anytime we’re seeing an uptick in cases, we should start with telling highly vulnerable populations that they should prepare for this and be a little bit more cognizant of the things they can do to protect themselves. And I think masking is one of them,” Andrew Pekosz, a professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, told CNBC. 
That’s because Covid infections in people 65 and above and other high-risk groups are driving the increase in hospitalizations and deaths right now, according to Pekosz. 

The CDC said weekly new Covid hospitalizations in the U.S. jumped nearly 19% last week, a sixth straight week of increasing admissions. Newer Covid variants like the now-dominant EG.5, or “Eris,” and a handful of XBB strains have fueled the rise. All of those strains are descendants of the omicron variant.
New Covid shots from Pfizer, Moderna and Novavax are slated to roll out in mid-September, and will likely provide robust protection against those variants. But until then, experts say masking is an important tool people can use to protect themselves as Covid starts to spread at a higher level nationwide. 
That also applies to Americans with normal risk levels, who should also consider masking depending on where they are or who they make contact with. 
“If we have learned something from the pandemic it’s that masking works to protect from transmission,” said Dr. Francesca Torriani, professor of clinical medicine at the University of California, San Diego. 
And implementing institution-level mask mandates in certain health-care settings and businesses can “really reduce the risk of running into large outbreaks,” according to Pavitra Roychoudhury, a professor of laboratory medicine at the University of Washington School of Medicine.
However, it’s unclear how many Americans will choose to mask up.
Many people don’t appear to be worried enough about the recent rise in cases to change their behavior: Covid was at the bottom of respondents’ list of key public health threats, according to a poll released last month by Axios and Ipsos.
The percentage of people who wear a mask some or all of the time has dropped to 15%, the poll added.

When to mask

All people, regardless of risk level, should consider masking if certain Covid metrics in their region are high. 
The CDC recommends masking based on the number of Covid hospital admissions in a county – data that can be accessed on the agency’s website. 
The CDC recommends that everyone wear a mask in jurisdictions that have 20 or more people with Covid in local hospitals per 100,000 people. That currently applies to seven counties across the U.S. 
The agency also recommends masking for high-risk people in counties where 10 to 19.9 people per 100,000 are hospitalized from the virus. The threshold applies to 117 counties nationwide, including 22 in Florida alone. 
People should continue to monitor hospitalization levels in their counties heading into the fall and winter, when the virus typically spreads more widely. 

Kilito Chan | Getty Images

Masking decisions should also depend on who people see.
“We need to know when it’s safer to mask for our protection, but also for the protection of others,” said UC San Diego’s Torriani. 
For example, it might be a good idea for someone to wear a mask if they’re visiting locations with many high-risk individuals, such as retirement homes, nursing homes, care facilities and hospitals.
People should also consider masking if they’re caring for a family member or friend who is at high risk of severe Covid, according Roychoudhury.
Those at normal risk levels might also want to consider what may happen if they choose not wear a mask.
“For most people who are healthy, they could think about it in the case of actually catching Covid,” Roychoudhury said. “They might miss a week’s worth of work or feel miserable, so they should ask themselves if they want to take that chance.”
She noted, however, that several widely available tools can make Covid infections far less severe, such as antiviral medications and vaccines. 

Mask mandates making a comeback

Nationwide and state-level mask mandates aren’t in place anymore, and Roychoudhury said she would be “very surprised” if universal masking requirements are reinstated. 
But she said businesses, schools and health-care systems could implement institution-level mask mandates again, especially if cases and hospitalizations rise even more across the U.S. 
A handful are already doing that: Morris Brown College, a historically Black college in Atlanta, announced earlier this month that it would restrict gatherings and implement a mask mandate for two weeks due to reports of positive cases among students. 
Health-care company Kaiser Permanente reissued a mask mandate at its Santa Rosa, California, facilities after seeing an increase in patients testing positive for Covid.
So did several hospital systems in New York state, including Auburn Community Hospital and United Health Services. 
Even Hollywood studio Lionsgate temporarily required employees to wear masks on two floors of its five-story office building due to a Covid outbreak earlier this month.   More

Home prices in July were 2.3% higher than the same month last year, but the monthly gain was lower than historical averages.
Mortgage rates remain stubbornly above 7%.
New listings rose from July to August, atypical for that period of the year.

After rising steadily since January, home prices may now be turning lower again.
The latest read on home prices shows they hit another all-time high in July, rising 2.3% from the same month last year, according to Black Knight. That’s a bigger annual gain than the roughly 1% recorded in June, and August’s annual comparison will likely be even larger because prices began falling hard last August.

But prices weakened month to month, according to Black Knight. While still gaining, which they usually do at this time of year, the gains fell below their 25-year average. This after significantly outdoing their historical averages from February through June. It’s a signal that a slowdown in prices may be underway again.
“In addition to monthly gains slowing below long-term averages, Black Knight rate lock and sales transaction data also points to lower average purchase prices and seasonally adjusted price per square foot among recent sales,” said Andy Walden, vice president of enterprise research at Black Knight. “All of these factors combined underscore the need to focus on seasonally adjusted month-over-month movements rather than simply relying on the traditional annual home price growth rate.”
Behind the cooling off: mortgage rates. They rose sharply last summer and fall, causing prices to drop. They then came down for much of the winter and a bit of the spring, causing home prices to turn higher again. Now rates are back over 7% again, hitting 20-year-plus highs in August.
Add to that, new listings rose from July to August, atypical for that period of the year. Some sellers may be trying to cash in on these historically high prices. Active inventory, however, is about 48% below the levels seen from 2017 to 2019.
“While the uptick in new listings is good news for home shoppers, inventory remains persistently low, even with record-high mortgage rates putting a damper on demand,” said Danielle Hale, chief economist for Realtor.com.

A drop in prices would come as some relief to buyers, but unlikely enough.
The jump in home prices since the start of the Covid pandemic, combined with much higher mortgage rates has crushed affordability.
It now takes roughly 38% of the median household income to make the monthly payment on the median-priced home purchase, according to Black Knight. That makes homeownership the least affordable it’s been since 1984. More

Horror movie season at movie theaters begins this weekend.
Releases such as “A Haunting in Venice” will help fill seats while other movies move to next year as Hollywood strikes rage on.
Horror films tend to cost little and generate big returns at the box office.

Kenneth Branagh stars as Hercule Poirot in 20th Century Studio’s “A Haunting in Venice.”
Disney | 20th Century Studios

Time to pair that pumpkin spice latte with some popcorn. Spooky movie season is officially here.
Starting Friday, movie theaters will have a steady stream of jump scares, creepy monsters and gore — and that’s great news for the box office.

As Hollywood grapples with dual labor strikes that restrict promotions for big blockbuster features, horror films could be the perfect balm. Fans of the genre aren’t as preoccupied with the star power behind the films, but rather how scary and bloody – and fun – they are.
“Horror movies have been a mainstay of cinema since its inception and have never lost their appeal particularly when presented in the communal environment of a darkened movie theater,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at Comscore.
With smaller-than-average production budgets, these films are also often very lucrative for studios and don’t require massive box office receipts to be profitable.
“Horror films have an innate quality about them that doesn’t require the kind of traditional mass marketing footprint major franchises do in order to capture their target audience,” said Shawn Robbins, chief analyst at BoxOffice.com.
Already in 2023, the horror movie genre has generated more than $600 million in domestic ticket sales, representing around 10% of the total box office in the U.S. and Canada, according to data from Comscore.

Top horror films this year include:

Paramount’s “Scream,” which generated $108 million domestically and $170 million worldwide on a $35 million budget
Universal’s “M3gan,” which took in $95 million in the U.S. and Canada and $180 million globally on a budget of $12 million
Sony’s “Insidious: The Red Door,” which tallied $82 million domestically and $186 million globally on a budget of $16 million.

“Today’s audiences love the thrills and escapist nature of horror films and the consistently solid box office numbers have ensured that studios and filmmakers will continue to produce a plentiful number of these films and movie theaters now and well into the future,” Dergarabedian said.
And audiences have plenty of frights to behold in theaters the coming weeks.

Upcoming horror movie releases

Sept. 1 — “All Fun and Games” (AGBO/Vertical Entertainment)
Sept. 8 — “The Nun II” (Warner Bros.)
Sept. 15 — “A Haunting in Venice” (Disney/20th Century Studios)
Sept. 22 — “It Lives Inside” (Neon/Brightlight Pictures)
Sept. 29 — “Saw X” (Lionsgate/Twisted Pictures)
Oct. 6 — “The Exorcist: Believer” (Universal/Blumhouse)
Oct. 13 — “Dear David” (Lionsgate/BuzzFeed Studios)
Oct. 27 — “Five Nights at Freddy’s” (Universal/streaming same day on Peacock)

While none of these upcoming horror films are expected to have explosive opening weekend box office numbers, they provide much-needed supplementary revenue to cinemas and collectively add to the overall annual haul. They will be even more important for theater companies such as AMC and Cinemark, not to mention Hollywood studios, as big movies such as “Dune: Part II” move to 2024.
Currently, “The Nun II” is expected to snare between $30 million and $45 million during its opening weekend on its way to as much as $95 million during its domestic run, according to forecasts from BoxOffice.com.

“A Haunting in Venice,” Kenneth Branagh’s third Agatha Christie adaptation, is on pace to deliver $11 million to $16 million during its debut and tally between $37 million and $57 million before it leaves theaters in the U.S and Canada.
And “Saw X,” the latest entry in the grisly torture horror franchise, is slated for $10 million to $15 million during its opening weekend and a final run of between $22 million and $35 million domestically.
Projections for “The Exorcist: Believer,” the first entry in a new trilogy, and video game adaptation “Five Nights at Freddy’s” were not immediately available. Notably, “Five Nights at Freddy’s” will follow the same distribution path as the last two installments in the Halloween franchise and will be available on Peacock the same day it arrives in theaters.
“At the end of the day, enjoying a good scare or two with an audience is as definitive of a theatrical experience as any other,” Robbins said.
Disclosure: Comcast is the parent company of NBCUniversal and CNBC. More

An Amazon shareholder lawsuit alleges the company snubbed SpaceX for valuable satellite launch contracts because of Jeff Bezos’ personal rivalry with Elon Musk.
Cleveland Bakers and Teamsters Pension Fund, or CB&T, filed the shareholder complaint.
Amazon said “the claims in this lawsuit are completely without merit, and we look forward to showing that through the legal process.”

Elon Musk, founder of SpaceX, left, and Amazon and Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos.
Getty Images

An Amazon shareholder lawsuit says the company snubbed SpaceX for valuable satellite launch contracts because of Jeff Bezos’ personal rivalry with Elon Musk, who has taunted his fellow billionaire’s space ambitions for years.
Cleveland Bakers and Teamsters Pension Fund, or CB&T, filed a shareholder complaint on behalf of Amazon in the Delaware Court of Chancery on Monday.

The pension fund’s lawsuit centers around Amazon’s blockbuster purchase of rocket launches for its Project Kuiper satellite internet system. The suit emphasizes the rivalry between Bezos and Musk, featuring screenshots of the SpaceX and Tesla chief’s social media taunts about the Amazon founder’s space efforts at the e-commerce giant and his space company, Blue Origin.

Last year, Amazon announced what it called the biggest rocket deal in the commercial space industry’s history, signing launch contracts with United Launch Alliance (ULA), Arianespace, and Bezos’ Blue Origin. In its May annual shareholders meeting, Amazon disclosed it expects to pay about $7.4 billion for launch services through 2028, with $2.7 billion expected to go to Bezos’ wholly owned Blue Origin.
CB&T alleges that Bezos, Amazon’s executive chair – as well as CEO Andy Jassy and members of the company’s board of directors who also serve on its audit committee – “consciously and intentionally breached their most basic fiduciary responsibilities” by awarding contracts for Kuiper missions on a trio or rockets that have yet to launch and are years behind schedule.
The lawsuit adds that Amazon leadership “excluded the most obvious and affordable launch provider, SpaceX, from its procurement process because of Bezos’ personal rivalry with Musk.”
SpaceX is the leading rocket provider in the world, with its Falcon 9 rockets advertised at a comparatively low market price of about $70 million per launch. In 2023, the company is flying rockets at a record-setting pace, with a launch about every four days on average. 

Amazon rejected the lawsuit’s claims.
“The claims in this lawsuit are completely without merit, and we look forward to showing that through the legal process,” an Amazon spokesperson said in a statement to CNBC.
Blue Origin has yet to provide a statement in response to CNBC’s request for comment on the lawsuit.
CB&T, represented by New York-based Grant & Eisenhofer, alleged two counts of breach of fiduciary duty against the defendants. CB&T did not disclose the size of its Amazon stake, nor its total assets under management.

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The suit alleges that Amazon leadership failed to conduct “any meaningful analysis” on the rocket launch market, and approved the contracts after “two cursory meetings” and without protecting negotiations “from Bezos’ glaring conflict of interest.”
In July 2020, CB&T said that Bezos led Amazon management in telling the company’s audit committee that discussions were under way with Blue Origin and three other companies for launch contracts, but SpaceX “was not among the four” options.
The suit also alleges the Bezos-led team did “not even consider SpaceX,” and the Amazon audit committee did not ask for or receive updates on the negotiations for nearly 18 months. Contract values, and how much Amazon is paying in total for the launches, are redacted in the lawsuit.
In January 2022, the suit says Bezos’ team told the Amazon audit committee that two contracts had been fully negotiated with Blue Origin and ULA. Notably, the contract to use ULA’s Vulcan rocket brings direct benefit to Blue Origin, as each Vulcan is powered by a pair of Blue Origin’s BE-4 rocket engines.
CB&T alleges the audit committee received only “a brief summary of the terms of the contracts” and “rubberstamped” the deal “after only a few minutes of discussion.”
“It had no information about how Bezos and his management team conducted the negotiations with Blue Origin. It had no information about the level of Bezos’ involvement. It had no information about how many other launch providers (if any) Bezos and his management team explored contracting with. It had no information about Blue Origin’s struggles to develop the New Glenn, about how these struggles might jeopardize Amazon’s ability to meet its FCC-mandated 2026 deadline, or about how Blue Origin planned to overcome these struggles,” CB&T’s lawsuit says.
In March 2022, the Bezos team presented a summary of the Blue Origin and ULA contracts to the Amazon board for approval, along with a third contract for European company Arianespace. CB&T highlighted that the deal was a sharp contrast to Amazon’s $13.7 billion acquisition of Whole Foods, a process in which the company engaged financial advisors.
“By completely abdicating its fiduciary duties, the Board has already exposed Amazon to substantial harm and placed the Company’s entire Kuiper program at needless risk. And with each passing day, as Amazon’s chosen launch partners (Blue Origin in particular) continue to struggle and SpaceX continues to prove itself, this Board-inflicted harm continues to grow,” CB&T wrote.
“Bezos, it must be assumed, could not swallow his pride to seek his bitter rival’s help to launch Amazon’s satellites,” the suit adds. More

The Federal Trade Commission has reached a deal with drug giant Amgen to allow the company’s $27.8 billion purchase of Horizon Therapeutics to move forward. 
But the agreement prohibits Amgen from “bundling” two of Horizon’s blockbuster drugs, which involves offering rebates or discounts on its existing products to pressure insurers and pharmacy benefit managers into favoring the Horizon products.
Amgen first moved to buy Horizon in December 2022 in an effort to gain access to the latter’s rare disease assets, including the thyroid eye disease therapy Tepezza. 

The Amgen logo is displayed outside Amgen headquarters on May 17, 2023 in Thousand Oaks, California.
Mario Tama | Getty Images

The Federal Trade Commission on Friday said it has reached a deal with drug giant Amgen to allow the company’s $27.8 billion purchase of Horizon Therapeutics to move forward. 
The two companies now expect to close the acquisition – Amgen’s largest ever – early in the fourth quarter of this year, a spokesperson for Amgen said.

The agreement resolves a lawsuit the FTC filed in May seeking to block the acquisition over concerns it would allow Amgen to leverage its drug portfolio to stifle competition in the pharmaceutical industry. The agency this week temporarily suspended that suit, which allowed it to consider whether to settle the case. 
But the agreement announced Friday still imposes restrictions on Amgen to address key concerns the FTC raised in its suit.
The deal specifically prohibits Amgen from “bundling” two of Horizon’s blockbuster drugs: thyroid eye disease therapy Tepezza and Krystexxa, a gout medicine.
That practice involves offering rebates or discounts on its existing products to pressure insurers and pharmacy benefit managers into favoring the Horizon products.
Amgen will also have to get approval from the FTC to acquire any products that treat the same diseases as Tepezza and Krystexxa do. Amgen is required to seek those signoffs from the agency through 2032.

All other requirements will be effective for 15 years after the agreement is finalized, according to the FTC.
As part of the deal, attorneys general for California, Illinois, Minnesota, New York, Washington and Wisconsin have also agreed to dismiss their federal suits seeking to block the merger.
Shares of Horizon rose nearly 3% in early morning trading Friday. Amgen’s stock edged up slightly.
The spokesperson for Amgen said the company has no “reason, ability, or intention” to bundle Horizon’s two fast-growing medications. The new agreement “will have no impact on Amgen’s business,” the spokesperson added.
A Horizon spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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Amgen first moved to buy Horizon in December 2022 in an effort to gain access to the latter’s rare disease assets, but buyout was quick to attract regulatory and political scrutiny for its potential antitrust issues.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., in a letter to FTC Chairwoman Lina Khan asked the regulator to “heavily scrutinize” the acquisition and the then-pending merger of Indivior and Opiant. She warned the deals could lead to higher prices. The Indivior-Opiant deal later closed.
The FTC eventually heeded Warren’s warnings and filed its lawsuit over the Amgen-Horizon deal.
In a separate statement Friday, Khan said the agency will “continue to challenge unlawful practices that raise drug prices, inhibit access, stifle innovation, or otherwise hurt patients.”
The FTC is currently reviewing Pfizer’s $43 billion acquisition of cancer drug developer Seagen, one of the largest deals of this year. The agency started an in-depth investigation into the transaction in July.
The FTC, under Khan, has challenged a number of high-profile mergers. But the agency has struggled in court this year, losing cases to block a Meta deal and Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard. More

Roz Brewer is out as Walgreens CEO after more than two years in the job.
Walgreens’ stock has struggled this year.
The company has been hurt by a decline in Covid vaccine and test demand.

Rosalind “Roz” Brewer
Jason Redmond | Afp | Getty Images

Walgreens Boots Alliance said Friday that Roz Brewer had stepped down as the company’s chief executive as it leans deeper into its strategy to become a health care company instead of a drug store.
She also left the company’s board, effective Thursday. The decision was mutual, according to a news release.

Shares of Walgreens fell slightly in premarket trading.
Ginger Graham, the lead independent director, will work as interim chief while the company searches for a replacement. Graham is a veteran of the health care industry. Previously, she worked as CEO of Amylin Pharmaceuticals.
Brewer has agreed to continue advising the company until it selects a permanent CEO.
“Our Board and leadership team will intensify our focus on creating value for our customers and our shareholders while we advance the search for a successor with deep healthcare experience to lead in today’s dynamic environment,” said Stefano Pessina, Walgreens’ executive chairman.
Brewer and Walgreens were in a rough patch leading up to Friday’s announcement. Walgreens shares are down more than 32% this year as of Thursday’s close, as the company has struggled with a drop in demand for Covid testing and vaccines. It’s also seen front end retail sales for items like toothpaste and shampoo consistently fall as consumers go to competitors like Walmart and Amazon for those everyday necessities, which can be ordered online and delivered within a couple of days.

In June, the company reported fiscal third quarter earnings that missed Wall Street expectations for the first time since July 2020. It also slashed its profit guidance for the year.
A veteran of Walmart and Starbucks, Brewer had led Walgreens since March 2021. During her brief tenure, which included a sizable stretch of the Covid pandemic, the company had pursued a transition that would position Walgreens more as a health care company than a pharmacy chain. It recently acquired Summit Health and primary-care provider VillageMD, which has opened hundreds of total clinics, including some that are adjacent to Walgreens stores.
It also struck a deal with CareCentrix, which coordinates home care for patients after they’re discharged from the hospital, and Shields Health Solutions, a specialty pharmacy company.
Brewer is a longtime figure in the retail world with a deep background in consumer products. But as Walgreens leans deeper into its aspirations to become a health care provider and away from its identity as a drugstore, her skillset isn’t as aligned with the company’s goals.
“The retail side of the business, where Ms. Brewer has much more experience, is simply not an area that Walgreens wants to pursue as a major growth opportunity,” retail analyst and GlobalData managing director Neil Saunders said in an emailed statement.
 “All of this must come as a disappointment to Ms. Brewer, but it also means that a different sort of experience is needed to lead the business. It is notable that the interim CEO, Ginger Graham, has a much deeper background in the healthcare and pharma industries.”
Prior to Brewer’s tenure with Walgreens, she served as Starbucks’ operating chief and group president, and previously ran Walmart’s Sam’s Club as its CEO. She’d spent about a decade with Walmart in a series of executive positions.
Her last foray into the health world ended in the early 2000s when she was an executive at the Kimberly-Clark, a global health and hygiene products company, where she worked for more than two decades.
“I am confident that WBA is on track to be a leading consumer-centric healthcare company, serving thousands of communities across the country, especially those that need access to healthcare the most,” Brewer said in Friday’s announcement.
Pessina thanked Brewer for her high-stakes work during the Covid pandemic. She joined the company right around the time Covid vaccines were becoming available for the general public and the rollout’s early days were often marked by tension, chaos and disorder.
“She furthered our consumer facing capabilities while supporting the culture of community and team-member engagement in difficult times,” said Pessina.
Brewer led the team that created Walgreens’ vaccine scheduling system and developed a plan to drive vaccine equity, the company said.
Despite Brewer’s many accomplishments, Pessina called Graham “the ideal person” to serve as the company’s interim CEO, considering her leadership experience across multiple segments of the healthcare industry.
Graham has been on Walgreens’ board since 2010 and this past October, she was named the lead independent director. She started her career at Eli Lilly and Company and has been on the boards of multiple health care companies. More