2020年11月4日星期三

Wednesday Morning Briefing: With the election too close to call, Biden bats away Trump's victory claim

U.S. Elections

President Donald Trump falsely claimed victory over Democratic rival Joe Biden with millions of votes still uncounted in a White House race that will not be decided until tallying is completed over the coming hours or days. By early Wednesday, the race was down to a handful of states, and both Trump, 74 and Biden, 77, had possible paths to reach the needed 270 Electoral College votes to win the White House.

Trump and Joe Biden each faced narrow paths to potential victory in a close-fought U.S. presidential election that will be determined by a razor-thin margin. Six states remain to be called -- Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin -- with Biden needing to carry at least three to win, while Trump would need at least four.

Democrats have voiced for weeks fears that Trump would seek to dispute the election results. Here are the various ways the election can be contested.

A Democratic drive to win control of the U.S. Senate appeared to fall short, with Democrats picking up only one Republican-held seat while six other races remained undecided early. Democrats defeated Republican Senators Cory Gardner of Colorado and Martha McSally of Arizona but lost the Alabama seat held by Democratic Senator Doug Jones. To win the majority in the Senate, Democrats would need to pick up three Republican seats if Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden is elected president.

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Follow along with the latest developments as Trump falsely claims victory and rival Joe Biden says he's confident.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW about CORONAVIRUS

Oxford vaccine trial results due this year
The University of Oxford hopes to present late-stage trial results on its COVID-19 vaccine candidate this year though its top scientific investigator cautioned it would still take some time for life to return to normal.

“I’m optimistic that we could reach that point before the end of this year,” Oxford Vaccine Trial Chief Investigator Andrew Pollard told British lawmakers of presenting trial results this year.

Pollard said working out whether or not the vaccine worked would likely come this year, after which the data would have to be carefully reviewed by regulators and then a political decision made on who should get the vaccine.

Lung damage may shed light on ‘long COVID’
A study of the lungs of people who have died from COVID-19 has found persistent and extensive damage in most cases and may help doctors understand what is behind a syndrome known as long COVID, in which patients suffer ongoing symptoms for months.

Scientists leading the research said they also found some unique characteristics of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, which may explain why it is able to inflict such harm.

“The findings indicate that COVID-19 is not simply a disease caused by the death of virus-infected cells, but is likely the consequence of these abnormal cells persisting for long periods inside the lungs,” said Mauro Giacca, a professor at King’s College London who co-led the work.

U.S. hospitalizations hit three-month high
The number of coronavirus patients in U.S. hospitals breached 50,000, the highest level in nearly three months, as a surge in infections threatens to push the nation’s health care system to the edge of capacity.

Texas reported the highest number of currently hospitalized patients with 5,936, followed by Illinois with 3,594 and California with 3,270 patients, according to a Reuters tally. While California has three times as many people as Illinois, new cases have been the highest per capita in the Midwest.

Nationally, the number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients rose over 64% from Oct. 1 to 50,176 on Tuesday, the highest since Aug. 7. The figure is still short of the record 58,370 hospitalizations set on July 22, according to a Reuters tally.

Poland reports record rise in daily cases
Poland will announce more restrictions on Wednesday to stop the spread of the coronavirus, the prime minister’s chief of staff Michal Dworczyk said, as daily infections and deaths reached new records.

The country reported 24,692 COVID-19 cases and 373 deaths on Wednesday and is running out of hospital beds, ventilators, oxygen and medics.

Dworczyk said the measures would limit movements and the number of social contacts but reiterated that the government wants to avoid a total lockdown.

Track the global spread here.

Business

S&P, Nasdaq futures rise in volatile trade as election race tightens

Futures tracking the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq indexes rose in volatile trading as investors faced the prospect of a drawn-out and potentially contested U.S. election result.

4 min read

Finance executives fret as U.S. presidential vote too close to call

Financial executives worldwide are waiting for a clear winner in the U.S. election. While Trump has handed the financial industry huge tax breaks and deregulatory wins, his presidency has also been marked by volatility and unpredictability.

5 min read

Global investors keep powder dry as U.S. election gets tight

Global investors in Asia are sticking with bets on China’s recovery and holding off on major portfolio changes.

4 min read

U.S. banks see several allies returned to key congressional seats

Many Wall Street banks’ favorite lawmakers were returned to Congress overnight, boding well for the industry which has been trying to rebuild a broad base of bipartisan support a decade after the financial crisis tarnished its image in Washington.

4 min read

Top Stories on Reuters TV

U.S. judge orders USPS sweeps for delayed ballots

Twitter, Facebook make election-related suspensions

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