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Coronavirus updates: Johnson & Johnson suspends vaccine trials; South Korea cases jump to 102

The coverage on this live blog has ended — but for up-to-the-minute coverage on the coronavirus, visit the live blog from CNBC's U.S. team.

New reported cases of the coronavirus are still on the rise in the U.S., with an average of 49,243 new cases reported each day for the last seven days. That's 14% higher than where the average was a week earlier, according to a CNBC analysis of Johns Hopkins data. And as infections rise, lawmakers continue to disagree on congressional relief efforts. Both sides of the aisle dismissed a $1.8 trillion offer from President Donald Trump over the weekend, dimming hopes of a stimulus deal.

Here are some of the biggest developments Monday:

The following data was compiled by Johns Hopkins University:

  • Global cases: More than 37.72 million 
  • Global deaths: At least 1.07 million
  • U.S. cases: More than 7.8 million
  • U.S. deaths: At least 214,049

Johnson & Johnson temporarily halts vaccine trials after 'unexplained illness' in participant

Johnson & Johnson has temporarily paused its Covid-19 vaccine clinical trials due to "an unexplained illness in a study participant," the company said in a statement.

The pause means an independent group of experts that watches over patient safety in clinical trials — or the Data and Safety Monitoring Board — will convene, while the online system used to enroll patients in the study has been closed, according to a report by STAT News.

Such pauses are common in clinical trials, and in some cases last only a few days, the STAT News report said. It's unclear how long the Johnson & Johnson's pause will last.

The company launched Phase 3 clinical trial for its vaccine candidate last month. It had said it plans to enroll up to 60,000 volunteers across three continents for the study. — Yen Nee Lee

China to test entire Qingdao city

China's Qingdao city will be testing its entire 9 million population for the coronavirus disease, in light of 12 new positive cases that may have been linked to a hospital treating imported cases, Reuters reported.

The country has been on high alert despite no new community cases since early August. Its daily coronavirus infections have dropped significantly since the outbreak's onset, which first surfaced in Wuhan city.

The city reported six new coronavirus infections and six asymptomatic cases on Sunday, all connected to the Qingdao Chest Hospital, which has been treating infected overseas travelers in an isolated area, according to the news agency.

This photo taken on Oct. 11, 2020 shows the exterior view of the closed Qingdao Chest Hospital in Qingdao, east China's Shandong Province. The city of Qingdao is conducting a city-wide nucleic acid testing for Covid-19 after new cases were reported.
Xinhua News Agency | Getty Images

The city-wide testing will take five days and investigations into the specific infection source are ongoing, Reuters said citing the city government.

All new cases were found in current or former patients of Qingdao Chest Hospital, its staff, or their relatives, according to Reuters. One asymptomatic case was of an infected taxi driver whose wife was employed there. — Kendrea Liew

Daily cases in South Korea jumps to 102

South Korea reported 102 new coronavirus cases on Tuesday including 69 local infections, according to figures from the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency. It marked a small rise from the 98 cases reported a day earlier.

The country eased most of its strict restrictions on daily activities starting Monday as there were no mass outbreaks traced to millions of people who traveled over the Chuseok holiday, Yonhap News Agency reported. That means clubs, bars and restaurants are allowed to operate normally but with precautions like masks and keeping track of visitors.

South Korea faced a rise in cases in August that was said to be tied to a church in Seoul. — Saheli Roy Choudhury

Best Western CEO says hotels are in an 'unsustainable' position without aid

Best Western CEO David Kong envisions serious problems for the hotel industry without more help from Congress.

"It's really hard to say when a recovery is going to be. This situation we are in now, it's not sustainable. It's really bad," Kong told CNBC in a phone interview. "As people use up all their savings and reserves, they're going to default on their loans. And then what?"

The American Hotel & Lodging Association reports that 38,000 of the nation's 57,000 hotels say they'll go out of business within six months unless lawmakers move on a stimulus package. Kong added that hotels are having a hard time with cash flow as they've had to discount rates to lure travelers. –Jeff Cox

President Trump tests negative for Covid-19 ahead of Florida campaign event

President Donald Trump is back to doing in-person events and has now tested negative for Covid-19 "on consecutive days," according to White House physician Dr. Sean Conley.

Conley said in a memo that the president's results came from an antigen test from Abbott Laboratories.

Trump is scheduled to hold a rally in Florida Monday evening.

The White House has not provided the date of the president's last negative test before his diagnosis on Oct. 2. —Chris Eudaily

Disney says its ‘primary focus’ for entertainment is streaming

Disney launches new distribution division to separate content creation and distribution
VIDEO2:4102:41
Disney launches new distribution division to separate content creation and distribution

Disney is restructuring its media and entertainment divisions to further accelerate it's direct-to-consumer strategy.

"Given the incredible success of Disney+ and our plans to accelerate our direct-to-consumer business, we are strategically positioning our Company to more effectively support our growth strategy and increase shareholder value," CEO Bob Chapek said in a statement announcing the reorganization. "Managing content creation distinct from distribution will allow us to be more effective and nimble in making the content consumers want most, delivered in the way they prefer to consume it."

The company will be centralizing its media businesses into a single organization that will be responsible for content distribution, ad sales and Disney+. The change comes as the global coronavirus pandemic has crippled its theatrical business and ushered more customers towards its streaming options. —Sarah Whitten

Dr. Anthony Fauci joins The News with Shepard Smith at 7 p.m. ET on CNBC

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases, arrives to testify before the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis hearing in Washington, D.C., July 31, 2020.
Kevin Dietsch | Pool | Reuters

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, will appear on CNBC's The News with Shepard Smith tonight, starting at 7 p.m. ET.

Fauci, who serves on the White House Coronavirus Task Force, said over the weekend that he did not agree to be featured in an advertisement for the Trump campaign in which he is seen touting the president's handling of the pandemic.

"In my nearly five decades of public service, I have never publicly endorsed any political candidate," he said in a statement. "The comments attributed to me without my permission in the GOP campaign ad were taken out of context from a broad statement I made months ago about the efforts of federal public health officials."

Fauci's appearance comes as daily new cases of the coronavirus continue to rise in the U.S. and elsewhere. The national seven-day average of daily new cases now tops 49,000, according to a CNBC analysis of data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

"I'm not comfortable with that," Fauci told MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell last week. "I would like to see that level, way, way down, well below 10,000." —Will Feuer

Flu vaccine demand surges as experts warn of a 'twindemic'

Flu vaccine demand surges as experts warn of a 'twindemic'
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Flu vaccine demand surges as experts warn of a 'twindemic'

U.S. airport screenings hit 7-month high, but still a third of last year's levels

The Transportation Security Administration screened 984,234 people on Sunday, the most since March 16, welcome news for airlines struggling to attract passengers during the pandemic.

Still, that's more than 60% below the same level a year ago, meaning airlines have far to go before reaching normalcy, though it's moving in the right direction.

Net ticket sales for U.S. flights were down close to 83% from a year ago in the week ended Oct. 4, better than 85% down in the week earlier.

Airlines are eager to fill planes during what is the normally busy Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday weeks but their new challenge is that customers are waiting until the last minute to book. —Leslie Josephs

Carnival Corp cancels November sailings

A woman wearing a face mask as a preventive measure against the spread of the COVID-19 Coronavirus, runs with Cruise Ships docked in the background at the port of Long Beach, California on April 11, 2020.
Apu Gomes | AFP | Getty Images

Carnival Corp., the largest cruise company in the world, announced that it has canceled its remaining cruises that were scheduled to set sail in November, 2020.

Last month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention extended its ban on passenger cruising from U.S. ports through Oct. 31. CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield reportedly pushed to extend the order until February, 2021, but was overruled by Vice President Mike Pence.

Carnival announced earlier this month, after the extension of the CDC's no-sail order, that it canceled all 2020 sailings from U.S. ports, except for ships scheduled to sail from Port Miami and Port Canaveral, both in Florida.

"It has now determined that November 2020 operations will not be feasible," the company said Monday in a statement. "Carnival continues to work on protocols and procedures that would allow for the resumption of cruise operations, with a gradual, phased-in approach, designating Miami and Port Canaveral as the first two homeports for embarkations."

Carnival stock traded nearly 3% lower in morning trading. —Will Feuer

Latest hot spots of new U.S. cases

national

United Arab Emirates begins human trials of Russia's coronavirus vaccine

The United Arab Emirates has begun human trials of Russia's coronavirus vaccine, CNBC's Holly Ellyatt reported.

The UAE is the second foreign country to trial Russia's "Sputnik V" vaccine, following tests in Belarus, Reuters reported Monday.

Additional trials are reportedly set to begin in Venezuela. Nonetheless, Russia's vaccine is controversial with experts around the world questioning its efficacy and safety. —Melodie Warner 

Southwest Airlines' pilots scoff at 10% pay cut

Southwest Airlines has proposed cutting its pilots' pay rates 10%. Their union is not having it.

Southwest said in exchange for the pay cut, it will commit to no furloughs through the end of next year, possibly preserving its record of never furloughing workers. The Southwest Pilots Association, which represents the Dallas airline's roughly 9,000 pilots, bristled not just at the cut in pay rates itself but a force majeure clause the company proposed, raising concerns that the extreme nature of the pandemic and financial strains won't protect them from job cuts.

The dispute comes days after American and United started furloughing more than 30,000 workers. Southwest doesn't plan to cut any jobs this year but warned earlier this month that without concessions from unions, it could be forced to furlough next year. —Leslie Josephs

Cases and hospitalizations rise in 36 states

The seven-day averages of new cases were up by at least 5% in 36 states and the District of Columbia as of Sunday, according to a CNBC analysis of data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Wisconsin, Minnesota, the Dakotas and Montana were just a few of the 13 states that reported record spikes in average daily cases, CNBC's analysis shows. Florida reported more new cases than any other state, with over 5,500 cases confirmed on Sunday, though when adjusted for population, other states in the Midwest and elsewhere continue to outpace Florida's outbreak.

Tennessee, which has confirmed over 214,700 total cases, according to Hopkins data, reported over 2,000 new cases on Sunday, pushing its seven-day average over 1,900, up more than 64% from a week ago.

The seven-day averages of daily Covid-19 hospitalizations are also rising in 36 states, according to a CNBC analysis of data from the Covid Tracking Project, a volunteer project founded by journalists at The Atlantic magazine.

Nationally, the U.S. reported more than 44,600 new cases on Sunday and the seven-day average rose to over 49,200, up more than 14% compared with a week ago, according to CNBC's analysis. —Will Feuer

Gottlieb: U.S. can improve coronavirus testing and tracing without infringing civil liberties

Former FDA chief Scott Gottlieb on U.S. testing and tracing practices compared to Asian countries
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Scott Gottlieb on U.S. testing and tracing practices compared to Asian countries

Dr. Scott Gottlieb told CNBC the U.S. must improve its coronavirus testing and contract tracing systems, saying there are lessons to be learned from countries like China.

"They're doing testing and tracing very aggressively, probably more aggressively than we can because we're just not going to surrender certain liberties," the former Food and Drug Administration commissioner said on "Squawk Box."

Gottlieb referenced the efforts ongoing in the Chinese city of Qingdao, where all 9 million residents are going to be tested within five days after 12 cases of Covid-19 were reported. That is going to allow the city to "snuff out that outbreak," he said.

The U.S. may not be able to mirror China's efforts, but it can still make strides, he said.

"We don't need to have their level of surveillance state to have better testing and tracing in place, " Gottlieb added. "And we could be doing a lot better at calling on collective action for people to wear masks on a more routine basis." —Kevin Stankiewicz

Disclosure: Dr. Scott Gottlieb is a CNBC contributor and is a member of the boards of Pfizer, genetic-testing start-up Tempus and biotech company Illumina. He also serves as co-chair of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings′ and Royal Caribbean's "Healthy Sail Panel."

A closer look at the situation in Europe

Virus responsible for Covid-19 can survive on surfaces for 28 days, scientists say

A worker cleans the classes to prepare the school before face-to-face teaching at certain classes on October 10, at Taybe Schools in Khan Yunis, Gaza on October 04, 2020.
Mustafa Hassona | Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

The virus that causes Covid-19 can survive for up to 28 days on some common surfaces, according to new research.

A peer-reviewed study published in Australia's national science agency found that SARS-CoV-2 can survive on surfaces for significantly longer than many had expected, and was "extremely robust" at roughly room temperature.

All the experiments were carried out in the dark, however, since UV light has already been shown to kill the virus.

The researchers said the findings reinforced the importance of effective cleaning and handwashing to curb the spread of the pandemic. —Sam Meredith

U.S. doctors are fleeing to New Zealand

The principal and teachers of Kaipara Flats School prepare for the return of a small number of students on April 28, 2020 in Auckland, New Zealand, as lockdown measures ease slightly.
Fiona Goodall | Getty Images

U.S. doctos are fleeing to New Zealand amid the coronavirus pandemic, CNBC's Christina Farr reports. They say the island nation has the virus under control and respects science more than the U.S.

New Zealand has recorded fewer than 2,000 cases of Covid-19, and just 25 deaths.

After the move, American doctors are finding more affordable health care systems, more practical pandemic precautions, and a return to school and work that feels closer to normal. —Sara Salinas

UK to impose controversial local shutdowns as virus spreads rapidly

Late-night drinkers after 10pm in Soho, London, after Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced that from Thursday pubs and restaurants will be subject to a 10pm curfew to combat the rise in coronavirus cases in England.
Yui Mok - PA Images | PA Images | Getty Images

The U.K.'s government is set to outline a series of restrictive measures and possible local lockdowns in England on Monday as it attempts to curb a sharp rise in coronavirus cases.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to outline the restrictions to parliament this afternoon and will then deliver a televised statement to the public on Monday evening. The country is braced for the introduction of a "three-tier" alert system that will classify regions in terms of the severity of their infection rate.

Areas with the highest alert will see the strictest restrictions that could mean pubs, restaurants and gyms closed. Liverpool and Manchester and other parts of northern England which have seen the largest increase in infections are expected to be put under the strictest measures.

The measures are likely to heighten tensions between regional politicians and the national government in London, as local economies come under additional pressure and thousands of jobs are likely to be affected. —Holly Ellyatt

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