https://www.barrons.com/articles/coronavirus-live-updates-51590336782
White House Official Says U.S. Could Impose Sanctions on China Over Hong Kong Legislation
Ben Walsh
Updated May 25, 2020 11:07 am ET / Original May 24, 2020 12:13 pm ET
Nurses talk through a glass door of a coronavirus Covid-19 patient's room in the intensive care unit of a medical center in San Jose, Calif. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
Here's what you need to know about the coronavirus outbreak to navigate the markets today.
• Hong Kong riot police shot tear gas and water canons at crowds to break up thousands of pro-democracy protesters on Sunday, Reuters reported. Chanting "Hong Kong independence, the only way out," the crowds protested the Chinese government's plan to amend the law governing the semi-autonomous city and outlaw a wide-range of political activities. That so-called national security legislation could lead the U.S. to impose sanctions on China, White House National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien said Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press." O'Brien also said that the U.S. would "likely be unable" to say that Hong Kong has "a high degreee of autonomy" from Beijing if the law is put in place, a move that could threaten Hong Kong's status as a global financial and trade hub.
• Republicans, concerned that expanded unemployment benefits discourage people from returning to work, are exploring ways to offer cash incentives to people to return to work, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal. One such plan, proposed by Sen. Rob Portman (R., Ohio), would allow unemployed individuals to receive a bonus after returning to work.
• Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany said the U.S. will ban foreign nationals who have been in Brazil within 14 days. The South American country has the second highest number of Covid-19 cases in the world, with nearly 350,000 total cases on Sunday. According to The Wall Street Journal, the rules will go into effect at midnight on May 28. (go to full story)
• British Prime Minister Boris Johnson defended his advisor Dominic Cummings, who has come under fire for traveling hundreds of miles to see his parents while he and his wife had coronavirus symptoms and the country was under lockdown orders. "In every respect, he has acted responsibly, legally and with integrity," Johnson said. "I think what they did was totally understandable. I think any father, any parent would understand what he did."
• Nearly 100,000 Americans have died from Covid-19, data collected by Johns Hopkins University show. There were just under 23,000 new cases in the U.S. on May 23. Nationally, the number of new cases has begun to rise slightly, despite a continued decline in New York, the center of the pandemic in the U.S. All 50 states have now announced at least a partial loosening of lockdown rules.
• Unemployment could be "north of 20%" for May and keep rising after that, White House economic advisor Kevin Hassett told CNN on Sunday. "My expectation is that since there's still initial claims for unemployment insurance in May, that the unemployment rate will be higher in June than in May, but then after that it should start to trend down," he said.
Write to Ben Walsh at ben.walsh@barrons.com