President Joe Biden on Tuesday said the U.S. will have a large enough supply of coronavirus vaccines to inoculate every adult in the nation by the end of May. Biden declined to estimate when things could go back to “normal,” and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has warned that the United States is far from herd immunity, which is when enough people in a given community have antibodies against a specific disease. Yet on Tuesday, the governors of Texas and Mississippi both announced they are lifting mask mandates and allowing businesses to reopen at full capacity in their states.
Covid live updates: Health officials warn early easing of restrictions could lead to 4th Covid wave
This is CNBC’s live blog covering all the latest news on the coronavirus outbreak. This blog will be updated throughout the day as the news breaks.
The U.S. is recording at least 65,400 new Covid-19 cases and at least 1,900 virus-related deaths each day, based on a seven-day average calculated by CNBC using Johns Hopkins University data.
The following data was compiled by Johns Hopkins University:
Global cases: More than 114.89 million
Global deaths: At least 2.55 million
U.S. cases: More than 28.72 million
U.S. deaths: At least 517,000
UK hikes corporation tax to 25% as pandemic support hits £407 billion
Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak holds the Budget box outside 11 Downing Street in central London ahead of the announcement of the Spring Statement in the House of Commons on 03 March, 2021 in London, England.
Wiktor Szymanowicz | Barcroft Media | Getty Images
U.K. Finance Minister Rishi Sunak announced the corporation tax will rise to 25% from April 2023 as the British government looks to restore public finances in the wake of the pandemic.
In his budget statement Wednesday, Sunak set out £65 billion ($90.7 billion) of new fiscal measures for this year, bringing the government’s total spending response since the onset of the pandemic to £407 billion as the country looks to phase out Covid-19 restrictions by late June.
The government has borrowed a peacetime record of £355 billion since the onset of the pandemic, or 17% of GDP, and expects to borrow a further £234 billion next year, as the U.K. seeks to bounce back from its worst annual economic contraction for more than 300 years.
The Office for Budget Responsibility, a public body that provides independent forecasts, expects the economy to return to its pre-Covid level by the middle of 2022, with GDP growing by 4% this year and 7.3% next year.
February private payrolls growth falls short of expectations, ADP says
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Companies added just 117,000 positions in February, well below the 225,000 expected by economists surveyed by Dow Jones, CNBC’s Jeff Cox reports. The total also represented a sharp decline from the upward revised 195,000 jobs in January.
The weak ADP report comes despite otherwise encouraging signs of economic growth. According to the Atlanta Federal Reserve’s GDPNow tracker, the U.S. is on track for a 10% gain to start 2021.
—Melodie Warner
Dolly Parton gets Moderna Covid vaccine shot
Country music singer Dolly Parton received her Covid vaccine shot on Tuesday at Vanderbilt Health in Tennessee and encouraged others to also get vaccinated. Parton also referenced her donation to the Vanderbilt University Medical Center, which helped to fund the Moderna vaccine trial and research.
—Melodie Warner
President Biden urges states to prioritize teachers, school staff vaccinations
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President Joe Biden on Tuesday urged states to prioritize teachers and school staff for vaccination against Covid-19, reports CNBC’s Will Feuer. Biden said he will use the federal pharmacy partnership, which was established with retail pharmacies like CVS and Walgreens, to expand access to Covid vaccines.
—Melodie Warner
Health officials warn early easing of restrictions could lead to 4th Covid wave
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CNBC’s Meg Tirrell joined “The News with Shepard Smith” to discuss the Texas governor’s plans to reopen all businesses starting next week, although CDC director Rochelle Walensky has said now is not the time to ease restrictions.
—Melodie Warner
Read CNBC’s previous live coverage here:
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