Wuhan, the center of China’s Covid-19 outbreak earlier this year, said it tested almost seven million people over 12 days after new infections prompted fears of a second wave. But while Beijing worries about a recurrence, it has another problem. Its move to impose authoritarian security rules on Hong Kong has not only earned it global condemnation, but provided the White House with another reason to pounce as it intensifies its strategy of blaming China for the pandemic. President Donald Trump, who went golfing this past Memorial Day weekend, and his administration have been blamed for exacerbating infection rates through months of mistakes, delays and false statements. America’s death toll now stands at almost 100,000, the most in the world. —David E. Rovella Bloomberg is mapping the pandemic globally and across America. For the latest news, sign up for our Covid-19 podcast and daily newsletter. Here are today’s top stories Most doctors and nurses who got mild forms of Covid-19 produced antibodies that could prevent reinfection, according to a study conducted on hospital staff in northeastern France. Gauging the ability of antibodies to stave off the pathogen is a critical issue in global efforts to rein in the disease, which has killed almost 350,000 people worldwide and infected 5.5 million. More than 2.2 million have recovered. Cooped-up Americans desperate to get out are dreaming of doing something—anything—that resembles a vacation. But most worry a second wave of Covid-19 is coming, and think politicians have pushed too fast to reopen. That’s where the “Covid camper” comes in. The head of insurance investment at Franklin Templeton was fired after a video became public showing the woman, Amy Cooper, calling police on a black man in Central Park in New York City. The man had asked Cooper to put her dog on a leash, as required by law. A nuclear fusion startup raised an additional $84 million to enter a new phase of research. Fusion, the process that powers stars, doesn’t have the dangerous drawbacks of fission, which powers existing nuclear plants. Harnessing fusion and making it work has long been seen as a key to slowing global warming. As states reopen faster than medical experts have said is wise, air travel over the Memorial Day holiday weekend returned to levels not seen since March, when stay-home orders first took effect. In America, you are either a Democrat or you are an authoritarian, Frances Wilkinson writes in Bloomberg Opinion, explaining that today’s Republican Party reflects the realities of regimes in Russia or Hungary. Ramesh Ponnoru writes, however, that the Democratic Party is now the party of the upper middle class, and will have a hard time reclaiming the working class. What’s Joe Weisenthal thinking about? The Bloomberg news director contends the biggest macro question going forward may be whether the shock caused by the pandemic is enough to meaningfully change domestic policies around the world. Will Germany give up its obsession with balanced budgets? Will China build a stronger domestic safety net? Will the U.S. spend more aggressively on lowering unemployment? The possibilities, Joe argues, seem more realistic these days. What you’ll need to know tomorrow What you’ll want to read in Bloomberg Pursuits For eight weeks each summer, lucky American kids get to enjoy activities such as canoeing, swimming and lanyard-making, making new friends by day while sleeping in cramped cabins at night. But summer camp and the coronavirus don’t go well together, and many camps are facing the difficult decision to cancel this season. Some will not see 2021. Like Bloomberg’s Evening Briefing? Subscribe to Bloomberg All Access and get much, much more. You’ll receive our unmatched global news coverage and two in-depth daily newsletters, The Bloomberg Open and The Bloomberg Close. What’s moving markets in Asia? Sign up to get the latest in your inbox each morning, Hong Kong time Download the Bloomberg app: It’s available for iOS and Android. Before it’s here, it’s on the Bloomberg Terminal. Find out more about how the Terminal delivers information and analysis that financial professionals can’t find anywhere else. Learn more. |