Coronavirus cases spike again in California; SF restaurants can offer outdoor dining starting Friday

After New Zealand declared it's free of the coronavirus, neighboring Australia also said it's "on track" to having zero domestic infections by July.

Cases and hospitalizations are going up again in parts of California, causing the state to place nine counties on a watchlist. As the U.S. reopens, many of the recent cases have been linked to loosened restrictions.

Texas, one of the first states to loosen restrictions, saw its second consecutive record day of coronavirus hospitalizations. White House health advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci said Tuesday that the pandemic "isn't over yet."

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. 

• Global cases: More than 7.17 million
• Global deaths: At least 408,244
• U.S. cases: More than 1.96 million
• U.S. deaths: At least 111,375

The data above was compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

France is to end special government powers implemented to deal with the coronavirus crisis on July 10, according to a Reuters report citing the prime minister's office, although it will maintain restrictions on gatherings, face masks and freedom of movement for four months.

France passed "state of health emergency" legislation as the coronavirus crisis hit Europe in March, giving  the government the power to curb civil liberties without parliamentary approval.

"In view of the positive evolution of the health situation at this stage, the government wishes to put an end to the state of health emergency, which must remain an exceptional case," Prime Minister Edouard Philippe's office said, Reuters reported. — Holly Ellyatt

2:20 p.m. (Singapore time) — After New Zealand declared it's free of the coronavirus, neighboring Australia also said it's "on track" to having zero domestic infections by July, according to Reuters, citing a public health official.

"Our view has been that we had hoped that by June/July that we would see coronavirus largely disappearing from the country, so this is pretty much on track," said Bill Rawlinson, a senior medical virologist with New South Wales Health, according to the report.

He also spoke of the possibility of opening up a travel "bubble" with New Zealand, saying that movements between the two countries should not be restrained. — Weizhen Tan

11:10 a.m. (Singapore time) — Cases and hospitalizations are going up again in parts of California, causing the state to place nine counties on a watchlist, according to Reuters.

More than 18 million of California's 39 million residents live in those counties, which may now need to scale back reopening efforts, the report said. Los Angeles, Santa Clara and Fresno are among the counties on that watchlist.

As the U.S. reopens, many of the recent cases have been linked to loosened restrictions. Arizona, among the first states to reopen in mid-May, has experienced a 115% surge in cases since then, the report said. — Weizhen Tan

5:15 p.m. ET — Four Big Tech firms closed at all-time highs on a day when the Nasdaq Composite Index hit a new record.

Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Microsoft now have a combined market value of nearly $5 trillion. Facebook, Apple and Amazon all rose more than 3% Tuesday while Microsoft popped about 0.8%.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 0.3%, briefly breaking 10,000 for the first time. The S&P 500 was down about 0.8%. Big Tech stocks have fared better than most during the coronavirus pandemic as workers displaced from offices have come to rely more than ever on online services. With their large market caps, they've also helped buoy the stock market, which has staged a comeback despite huge unemployment numbers sparked by widespread stay-at-home orders.

Google parent-company Alphabet remained about 5% behind its all-time high of $1,524.87 from Feb. 19, making it the only one of the five largest tech stocks not to close at an all-time high Tuesday. —Lauren Feiner

4:45 p.m. ET — NASCAR will allow fans to attend upcoming races in June under social-distancing guidelines.
The Dixie Vodka 400, which takes place in Florida on June 14, and the GEICO 500, which is scheduled for June 21 in Alabama, will require guests to wear face coverings and require them to stay 6 feet apart among other health measures.

"We have tremendous respect and appreciation for the responsibility that comes with integrating guests back into our events," said Daryl Wolfe, executive vice president and chief operations and sales officer at NASCAR, in a statement. The Dixie Vodka 400 will welcome up to 1,000 service members as its guests while the GEICO 500 will allow up to 5,000 guests. —Hannah Miller

4:15 p.m. ET — More states have moved forward in their reopening progress this week. Delaware entered its second phase of reopening and allowed personal care services such as tattoo shops and massage parlors to reopen at 30% capacity.

Now in its third phase of reopening, Kansas allows gatherings of up to 45 people. In Massachusetts, which entered its second phase of reopening, restaurants can offer outdoor dining and retail is open to customers with capacity limits. Michigan has fully reopened bars and restaurants, and swimming pools and day camps can operate under specific health guidance. Oregon opened up some campgrounds in state parks and Washington, D.C.  lifted its stay-at-home order. For more on states' reopening progress, click here. —Hannah Miller

3:45 p.m. ET — White House health advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci warned the pandemic "isn't over yet" as the virus continues to spread rapidly across the globe.

Speaking with the Biotechnology Innovation Organization, he said Covid-19 turned out to be his "worst nightmare" due to its "extraordinary" capability of transmission.

"That's millions and millions of infections worldwide. And it isn't over yet. And it's condensed in a very, very small timeframe," Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said. "You know, first notice at that the end of December, hit China in January, hit the rest of the world and February, March, April, May, early June."

Fauci said the virus is "very different" from other outbreaks such as Ebola and HIV. It is historically one the worst pandemics the world has ever experienced, he said, adding people have compared it to the 1918 flu. —Berkeley Lovelace Jr.

3:20 p.m. ET — Entertainment venues, including movie theaters, can reopen on Friday in California, according to guidance released by Gov. Gavin Newsom.

Movie theaters, bowling alleys, miniature golf and batting cages can reopen under specific health guidance. Venues should institute capacity limitations and seating arrangements that allowed customer groups to maintain distances of 6 feet apart. Movie theaters are limited to 25% capacity or 100 customers, whichever is lower.

The state also recommended using timed or advanced reservation ticketing systems and installing barriers between games and seating in order to encourage social distancing. It also asked theaters to consider using disposable or washable seat covers.

The latest entertainment guidance does not apply to ice rinks, roller rinks, laser tag, water parks and theme parks, which are to remain closed.

California is currently in the second stage of its four-phase reopening plan, which focuses on reopening lower-risk workplaces. However, entertainment venues are classified as higher-risk businesses, which weren't set to open until the third stage of the state's reopening. —Hannah Miller

3:10 p.m. — New coronavirus cases and deaths increased in several European countries from lower numbers reported over the weekend.

The U.K. Department of Health and Social Care reported 286 new deaths, bringing the total 40,883. The number of deaths was more than five times higher than the number reported Monday, which reflected weekend numbers that health officials said tend to be lower.

The U.K. also reported 1,387 new cases, according to the health department.

In Italy, there were 79 deaths and 283 new cases, according to Reuters. There were 14 more deaths than on Monday, Tuesday's death count showed.

Deaths rose by 54 to 29,209 on Monday in France, Reuters reported, but the number of new confirmed cases reported was at a one-week low.  

Data from Robert Koch Institute Monday night showed Germany had 252 new coronavirus cases, bringing the total to 184,193, according to Reuters. The country's death count rose by 16 to 8,674. —Alex Harring

3 p.m. ET — The Department of Health and Human services announced that it will distribute $15 billion in relief funding to Medicaid providers and another $10 billion to safety net hospitals that care for low-income patients.

"Targeting these funds to Medicaid providers is essential because they operate on thin margins, and maybe struggling more than other providers during this crisis, but it's also important because the population they serve, low-income and minority Americans, have suffered disproportionately from Covid-19," said HHS Deputy Secretary Eric Hargan.

Over the last two months, providers and hospitals catering low income Medicaid patients were mostly left out of distributions from the $175 billion provider relief funds from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act, which was enacted in late March, because earlier payments were based on facilities' Medicare revenues which federal officials had easier access to. —Bertha Coombs

2:50 p.m. ET — Restaurants in San Francisco can resume outdoor dining on Friday, according to Mayor London Breed.

"Opening our restaurants is a great step that will help our small businesses that are struggling, our workers who need paychecks and our residents who are ready to safely sit outside and enjoy a meal," Breed said in a statement.

Reopened restaurants will be able to apply for access to sidewalks, parking lanes, streets and parks for outdoor dining space through the city's Shared Spaces Program. Restaurants will also have to follow social-distancing guidance, including limiting tables to six people and requiring customers to wear masks. Retail businesses are allowed to offer indoor service to customers on June 15 and can also apply for more outdoor space through the Shared Spaces Program.  —Hannah Miller

2:45 p.m. ET — All of New York state has now begun to reopen and Gov. Andrew Cuomo pointed to spikes in Florida and elsewhere as reasons why New Yorkers should continue to practice social distancing and take other precautions.

"We're in a new phase. We're feeling good. We've done great, but we have to stay smart, because reopening resets the whole game," Cuomo said. "When you reopen, when people start coming out, in some ways, you go right back to day one." As New York, once the epicenter of the U.S. outbreak, begins to reopen, other states, including Florida, Texas and Arizona, appear to have an expanding outbreak. —William Feuer

2:26 p.m. ET — Texas reported two consecutive days of record-breaking Covid-19 hospitalizations, with more than 2,000 patients in hospitals across the state as of early Tuesday afternoon, according to updated data from the Texas Department of State Health Services.

Coronavirus hospitalizations, like new cases and deaths, are considered a key measure of the outbreak because it helps scientists gauge how severe it may be. Research shows that it can take anywhere from five to 12 days for people to show symptoms from the virus.

Texas was among the first states to relax its statewide stay-at-home order. Last week, CDC Director Robert Redfield warned that "not all states" had met the White House criteria for reopening businesses. —Berkeley Lovelace Jr.

2:10 p.m. ET — Amazon is scaling up its efforts to test warehouse workers for coronavirus, with the goal of testing the bulk of its frontline workers every two weeks, according to three people familiar with the company's plans. 

The company plans to launch testing sites at its fulfillment centers, where workers will swab their own noses. Amazon's own diagnostic research labs will then analyze some of the samples to see if they're positive or negative. Amazon is planning to develop labs in several cities, starting off in Sunnyvale, California and Kentucky, the people said. 

Amazon is also exploring pulse oximetry screening, which measures oxygen levels in the blood. The company is also considering running more frequent temperature checks at its facilities.

Workers who test positive for the coronavirus are referred to a company called Grand Rounds, a venture-backed start-up that provides online medical consultations. Grand Rounds can also answer employee questions about the virus. 

Amazon has committed to spending its expected Q2 profit of $4 billion on its Covid-19 response. It is projected to spend $1 billion on testing throughout the year. The plans align with Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos' pronouncement in April that he hoped the company would soon begin "regular testing of all Amazonians, including those showing no symptoms." —Annie Palmer

1:57 p.m. ET — New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy announced that the state would lift its stay-at-home order that has been in place since mid-March. 

Murphy also said he would allow indoor gatherings at 25% of a building's capacity, or 50 people total. The limit on outdoor gatherings would be raised from 25 to 100 people except for political activities and religious services, which are allowed to exceed that maximum.

"With more and more of our businesses reopening, we are no longer requiring you to stay at home, but we are asking you to continue being responsible and safe," Murphy said at a press briefing.

Murphy asked residents to continue wearing face coverings and to maintain a 6-foot distance from other people when possible. —Noah Higgins-Dunn

1:34 p.m. ET — Airline workers are facing deadlines in June and July to decide whether to apply for buyouts, early retirements and other options, or face potential layoffs this fall.

The terms of $25 billion in federal coronavirus aid prohibit airlines from laying off or cutting the pay rates of workers through Sept. 30, but airline executives have warned they expect to have to shrink their airlines and that they would need fewer employees.

Travel demand is starting to rise again, but data from the Transportation Security Administration shows the number of people passing through U.S. airports is still more than 80% below last year's levels.

Some of the packages include cash and years of free flights and other benefits, an effort by the airlines to entice employees to exit their payrolls as soon as possible. If they gamble on layoffs once the federal aid terms expire, they could walk away nearly empty-handed or with less generous benefits.

Most employees who spoke with CNBC found it a tough sell. Because the entire industry is reeling it is difficult for them to jump to another airline. —Leslie Josephs

1:13 p.m. ET — As states begin to reopen restaurants and stores following months of closure, liquor store owners are wondering whether the new normal will bolster or tank business.  

Classified in several states as essential businesses, liquor stores have for the most part remained open across the country while many Americans stayed home.

Store owners have continued to run their businesses with fewer resources and in some cases, higher demand. They've also had to more frequently respond to high-stress incidents like customers refusing to follow social distancing or wear masks.

Multiple shop owners and employees told CNBC about the challenges of running a liquor store during a pandemic, including fears about tension with customers and concerns about demand returning to pre-virus levels. —Yelena Dzhanova

1:04 p.m. ET — The British government dropped its plans to reopen English primary schools to all children before summer vacation in July, due to schools' concerns about meeting social distancing requirements, according to the Associated Press.

Instead, schools will continue a phased reopening that started last week.

Last week the youngest and oldest primary students were allowed to return as part of a wider easing of lockdown restrictions, the AP reported, with the other students coming back in stages. As of Monday, over 70% of primary schools have reopened to more students, according to Education Secretary Gavin Williamson.

To meet social distancing requirements, the AP said, schools have instituted drastic changes such as staggering starting and ending times, capping class sizes at 10, and having children eat packed lunches at their desks or in playgrounds.

Elsewhere in the U.K., Scotland and Northern Ireland have said schools will not reopen until August, while Wales is planning to reopen theirs later in June, according to the AP. —Michelle Gao

12:30 p.m. ET — The Eiffel Tower will once again welcome visitors beginning on June 25, the tower's management announced.

The Eiffel Tower has been closed for three months because of the coronavirus pandemic, the longest closure since World War II, according to a news release announcing the date.

Visitors over the age of 11 will be required to wear masks, and the number of visitors on certain floors will be limited, tower management said. —Suzanne Blake

10:58 a.m. ET — The World Health Organization clarified its comments that transmission of the coronavirus by people who never developed symptoms is "very rare." WHO's Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove said during a live Q&A that asymptomatic spread is a "really complex question" and much is still unknown.

An asymptomatic person is someone with Covid-19 who doesn't have symptoms and never develops symptoms. It's not the same as someone who later develops symptoms, who would be classified as pre-symptomatic.

Some studies suggest as much as 40% of transmission may be due to asymptomatic individuals, Kerkhove said, clarifying her comments. However, the majority of transmission is likely from people who have symptoms and are spreading it through infectious droplets, she said.

"To truly understand how many people don't have symptoms, we don't actually have that answer yet," she added.

"Some estimates of around 40% of transmission may be due to asymptomatic, but those are from models, so I didn't include that in my answer yesterday, but wanted to make sure that I covered that here," she said. —Berkeley Lovelace, Jr.

10:17 a.m. ET — An analysis of hospital traffic and search engine data in the Chinese city of Wuhan indicates that Covid-19 may have been circulating there in the fall of 2019.

The study from Harvard Medical School used satellite images of parking lots at six Wuhan hospitals to estimate hospital occupancy trends. It also analyzed data from Chinese search engine Baidu to determine changes in searches for Covid-19 symptoms.

Researchers found there was a steep increase in hospital occupancies from August 2019 that culminated with a peak in December 2019, with peak daily occupancies coinciding with elevated levels of Baidu search queries for the terms "diarrhea" and "cough."

The report's authors argued their findings supported theories that Covid-19 was already circulating before the outbreak was first documented in late December, adding that the virus may have even spread internationally before Chinese authorities detected it. —Chloe Taylor

Rate of new cases as states reopen 

9:39 a.m. ET — Stocks fell sharply at the open as investors took some money off the table amid a recession from the coronavirus pandemic, reports CNBC's Fred Imbert and Thomas Franck. 

The Dow Jones Industrial Average traded 370 points lower, or 1.4%. The S&P 500 slid 1.1% while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.5%. —Melodie Warner

9:30 a.m. ET — Restaurants in Colorado began reopening their doors two weeks ago under strict public health measures that limit the number of diners and require employees to wear protective gear. The city of Denver is also working to help its local restaurants by allowing them to extend their outdoor spaces onto adjacent parking lots, streets and sidewalks.

Troy Guard, owner of TAG Restaurant Group, is hoping he'll rehire some of the 623 employees he had to furlough when Gov. Jared Polis ordered all bars and restaurants to close on March 17. So far, he brought back 80 employees to staff four locations open for takeout and two that just reopened for dine-in service. His company lost $7.5 million in revenue over the 10-week shutdown. TAG's 12 locations were making about $3 million in revenue a month before the pandemic.

While restaurant owners are looking forward to reopening their businesses, they remain concerned about a potential surge in Covid-19 cases.

"The biggest thing is that we want to make sure that when we reopen, we don't have to close again because if we close again, it's kind of a death sentence," Guard said. —Jasmine Kim

9:15 a.m. ET — As the coronavirus pandemic takes a toll on many retailers' businesses, there could be as many as 25,000 store closures announced by these companies this year, according to one firm.

U.S. retailers could announce between 20,000 and 25,000 closures in 2020, according to tracking by Coresight Research, with 55% to 60% of those situated in America's malls. That would also mark a new record — which was previously more than 9,300 locations in 2019.

Bankruptcy filings by retailers have started to mount, and Coresight expects more are on the way.

"We expect that a return to pre-crisis levels in offline discretionary retail sales overall will be gradual, as we expect consumer confidence, demand and spending to be short of normal for some time," Coresight founder and CEO Deborah Weinswig said in the report. —Lauren Thomas

8:17 a.m. ET — Macy's shares are rising after the company released its preliminary financial results, saying customers are returning to reopened stores much faster than it expected. The department store operator is also telling analysts and investors it should enter the holiday season later this year in the lean inventory position. Shares were recently up more than 9% in premarket trading.

With the retailer's stores shut for most of its fiscal first quarter due to the coronavirus pandemic, sales are expected to fall 45% to $3.02 billion from $5.5 billion a year ago, Macy's said. It is also forecasting a quarterly net loss of $652 million, or $2.10 per share, for the period ended May 2, compared with net earnings of $136 million, or 44 cents a share, in the same period a year prior. 

As of June 1, Macy's said it had roughly 450 locations back up and running. The company also on Monday evening announced it has raised $4.5 billion in new financing, giving it "sufficient liquidity" to weather the coronavirus crisis. —Lauren Thomas

8:10 a.m. ET — As people across the globe stayed home during the pandemic, Tiffany saw a sharp drop off in sales — especially for engagement rings.

The luxury jewelry company said same-store sales were down by about 44% during its fiscal first quarter, as most of its 324 stores temporarily closed. Its biggest decline was in engagement jewelry, which plummeted by nearly 50%

Tiffany said sales are gaining steam again, especially in China. Sales in the country jumped by 30% during April and about 90% in May, compared with the same period a year prior. And, it said, its new collection of rose gold and gold with diamonds is catching customers' eyes. —Melissa Repko

7:42 a.m. ET — Gilead Sciences antiviral drug remdesivir helped to prevent macaques infected with the coronavirus from developing respiratory disease and reduced lung damage associated with the virus, according to a new study published in the medical journal Nature.

The study involved 12 monkeys infected with the coronavirus, with only six of them given remdesivir intravenously early on in the study. Those that received the drug did not develop respiratory disease and suffered less lung damage, the study showed.

"Our data support early remdesivir treatment initiation in Covid-19 patients to prevent progression to pneumonia," the authors said in the report. The drug did not appear to reduce the infectiousness of the infected animals, however.

"Despite the lack of obvious respiratory signs and reduced virus replication in the lungs of remdesivir-treated animals, there was no reduction in virus shedding," the study said. Clinical trials involving humans are ongoing. —Holly Ellyatt

7:05 a.m. ET — British drugmaker AstraZeneca expects to move two potential Covid-19 antibody-based therapeutics into clinical trials in the next two months, the company announced.

AstraZeneca said it licensed the antibodies from Vanderbilt University and hopes to develop them into a potential combination therapy for both the prevention and treatment of Covid-19.

The company, which is already working on a potential coronavirus vaccine, also said it has signed agreements with the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the U.S. Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority to support the development of the potential treatments. —Will Feuer

Read CNBC's previous coronavirus live coverage here: Brazil faces criticism over data; Germany reports record plunge in exports