BitGou: Monday Morning Briefing: Next wave of U.S. states set to reopen

What you need to know about the coronavirus today

The big easing
More U.S. states prepare to ease coronavirus restrictions this week despite continued warnings from health experts that there is still too little diagnostic testing. Colorado, Mississippi, Minnesota, Montana and Tennessee were set to join several other states in reopening businesses without the means to screen systematically for infected people who may be contagious but asymptomatic, and to trace their contacts with others they might have exposed.

Many merchants are worried about returning to work - but are doing so anyway because they need the money. “I would stay home if the government encouraged that, but they’re not. They’re saying, ‘Hey, the best thing to do is go back to work, even though it might be risky,’” Royal Rose, 39, owner of a tattoo studio in Greeley, Colorado, said.

Track the spread of the virus with this state-by-state and county map.

UK holds back
Italy, Spain, Germany and Switzerland are among the countries in Europe starting to gradually wind down restrictions. Not so Britain, where Prime Minister Boris Johnson - back at work on Monday after recovering himself from COVID-19 - said it was still too risky. Speaking outside his Downing Street residence a month and a day since testing positive for the virus which threatened his life, Johnson compared the disease to a street criminal that the British people had wrestled to the floor. "I ask you to contain your impatience because I believe we are coming now to the end of the first phase of this conflict and in spite of all the suffering we have so nearly succeeded."

The spread
In the latest unhappy milestone for the pandemic, the Reuters tracker shows that the number of confirmed infections worldwide will top three million in the coming hours.

Investors are pinning their hopes for the reopening of the U.S. economy on the potential for wider availability of testing for COVID-19 cases and on drug trials for treatments of the deadly disease but said, until there is concrete progress in these areas, further stock market gains may be limited. Recent volatility highlights investor impatience for indications of when state and Federal authorities might start to ease stay-at-home orders and get people back to work.

From Breakingviews: Corona Capital: Deutsche Bank, Bayer.
Read concise views on the pandemic’s financial fallout from Breakingviews columnists across the globe.

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Life under lockdown

It is a Ramadan like never before for Muslims across Asia as mosques that would normally be packed for prayers are deserted and in some places locked up as governments enforced measures to stem the spread of the novel coronavirus. At Indonesia’s main Istiqlal mosque, the biggest in Southeast Asia, the call to evening Maghib prayers and a message asking people to pray at home echo in the empty hall - a stark contrast to last year when thousands thronged in to pray.

In a village in southern England, the daily lockdown walk has been brightened by the addition of scarecrows dressed as key workers, as the community pays tribute in its own quirky way. Many of the unsung heroes of the coronavirus pandemic such as policeman and postmen, farmers, rubbish collectors and supermarket workers, are represented by the scarecrows, as well as doctors and nurses.

Italy will allow factories and building sites to reopen from May 4 and permit limited family visits as it prepares a staged end to Europe’s longest coronavirus lockdown, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said. “We expect a very complex challenge,” Conte said as he outlined the road map to restarting activities put into hibernation since early March.

Nearly two million Australians rushed to download an app designed to help medical workers and state governments trace close contacts of COVID-19 patients, as Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s approval rating soared on his pandemic response. Some Australian states have begun easing social distancing restrictions and Australia will soon begin testing people regardless of symptoms, firstly focusing on young adults and health workers.

Follow the money

Democrats urge paycheck scheme coverage for community, minority lenders

Top Democrats have urged the U.S. Treasury Department and the Small Business Administration to expand opportunities for community development financial institutions and minority depository institutions in the Paycheck Protection Program funding.

2 min read

U.S. economy faces historic shock, with 16% joblessness possible, Trump adviser says

The shuttering of the U.S. economy due to the coronavirus pandemic is a shock of historic proportions that will likely push the national unemployment rate to 16% or higher this month and require more stimulus to ensure a strong rebound, a White House economic adviser said. A majority of U.S. companies expect to stay afloat for more than six months without government assistance, according to a survey, even though the novel coronavirus outbreak has severely disrupted economic activity and hit cash flow.

8 min read

Exclusive: Investors to challenge Neiman Marcus bankruptcy loan, push for sale - sources

An investor group that comprises investment firm Mudrick Capital Management and Daniel Loeb’s hedge fund Third Point plans to challenge a $600 million financing package that Neiman Marcus has lined up for its looming bankruptcy, and will push the U.S. department store operator to sell itself, people familiar with the matter said.

6 min read

VW re-starts Europe's largest car factory after coronavirus shutdown

Volkswagen said it had resumed work at its biggest factory in Wolfsburg, Germany, to give its workers time to adapt to new hygiene measures to combat the coronavirus.

2 min read