Employment recovery falters in virus-ridden states; Trump urges mask use

Former Indian central bank governor Raghuram Rajan told CNBC that the economic hit from the pandemic is "going to be with us for a long time."

He explained that a large number of small businesses that closed earlier this year are unlikely to reopen when the situation improves.

"As this goes on, more and more businesses find that a long period without revenue, but high cost, implies that they simply don't have a chance, and they're closing down," he said.

Though stock markets this week cheered positive news around potential vaccine developments, Rajan said that it would take time – well into next year – before people feel safe going into crowded places. That is, if things go according to plan. – Saheli Roy Choudhury

A vaccine candidate being developed by Arcturus Therapeutics in collaboration with Singapore's Duke-NUS Medical School has been approved to advance to clinical trials.

The San Diego, California-based biopharmaceutical company and Duke-NUS said they will begin human dosing tests as soon as possible. In a joint statement, the company and medical school said the volunteer study would include up to 108 adults and would examine several dose levels. — Nessa Anwar

Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike refrained from guaranteeing that the postponed summer Olympics would take place a year from now, acknowledging hurdles related to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

"In order to realize such hopeful games, we will continue to do our best to fight against the infectious disease," Koike told CNBC on Tuesday.

When asked if a slimmed down version of the games would go ahead without spectators altogether, Koike declined comment, insisting that "first of all, we have to win the victory against the coronavirus."

The decision in March to postpone the Olympics dealt a blow to Tokyo's economy at a time when the pandemic has pushed Japan into a recession. —Nancy Hungerford

Marriott International is pressing ahead and opening 80% of hotels planned for debut in Asia Pacific this year, even as the coronavirus pandemic has hit global travel demand.

"Hotels are built for 50 years and so it's really a long-term strategy. And once a hotel's under construction you lose money by stopping it or not opening it," Craig Smith, group president for Asia Pacific at Marriott International, told CNBC's "Squawk Box Asia."

He added that remaining projects were delayed "really because construction workers haven't been able to get into the properties to finish them." The company on Wednesday opened its 800th hotel in the region — JW Marriott Nara in Japan.

As domestic travel recovers in parts of Asia Pacific — the region first hit by the virus — hotel occupancy rates are also inching up again, said Smith. He added that the company's properties in China are recording around 55% occupancy this month, while hotels in South Korea and Japan are about 30%.  

"I think there's a lot of long-term confidence in the growth of our industry in Asia Pacific and most people realize this terrible thing will end and we will be back to a stage where people are traveling once again," he said. — Yen Nee Lee

Six ministers have resigned from the Thai government, including Finance Minister Uttama Savanayana and Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak who have been the main architects for the country's economic policies. 

The resignations followed earlier reports of internal infighting within Palang Pracharath, the largest party in the coalition that controls the government. They also come as several analysts expect Thailand's tourism-dependent economy to register the worst contraction in Asia this year as the coronavirus pandemic brought global travel to a halt.  

Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha said he will announce a cabinet reshuffle by August, and some analysts warned that delays in forming a new economic team could hurt investor confidence. — Yen Nee Lee

The coronavirus pandemic will probably "get worse before it gets better" in the United States, President Donald Trump said.

The virus has infected more than 3.8 million Americans and killed at least 141,118 as of Tuesday, according to Johns Hopkins University's compiled data.

"That's something I don't like saying about things, but that's the way it is, it's what we have," Trump said while at a White House briefing. "You look over the world, it's all over the world."

Trump also asked Americans to wear masks to fight the spread of Covid-19.

"We're asking everybody that, when you are not able to socially distance, wear a mask," Trump said at the White House news briefing. "Whether you like the mask or not, they have an impact, they have an effect, and we need everything we can get." –Suzanne Blake

Texas and Florida hit a grim record Monday for daily coronavirus deaths based on a seven-day moving average. Both Texas and Florida posted a record in average daily new deaths six times in the previous seven days.

Texas had a seven-day average of 118.57 new deaths on Monday, which is nearly 39% higher compared with a week ago, according to a CNBC analysis of data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

The state's average hospitalization number surged by more than 6% since last week after reporting a new high of 10,564 Covid-19 hospitalizations on Monday, according to CNBC's analysis of data from the Covid Tracking Project.

Florida broke its record of average daily new deaths for two consecutive days. Its seven-day average of daily new deaths was 113.57 on Monday — an approximately 59% jump since last week, according to CNBC's analysis of Johns Hopkins data.

On Saturday, Florida reported 12,523 new Covid-19 cases, marking the fifth consecutive day the hot-spot state reported more than new 10,000 infections, according to the state's health department. —Jasmine Kim

The University of California, Berkeley will begin its fall semester with remote courses, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

In a statement, the university said it may transition to "hybrid" instruction with some remote and some in-person learning if public health conditions allow, according to the Chronicle.

"Although we have repeatedly noted that all fall plans are subject to public health conditions, we understand that this news will be disappointing," university officials said, according to the Chronicle. "Many faculty and students continue to look forward to resumption of some element of in-person instruction. We will continue to work hard on our plans, and to learn from the setbacks as well as the advances." –Suzanne Blake

Snap, which reported second-quarter earnings Tuesday, said the pandemic's impact on certain fall events in the third quarter could impact advertising demand. 

The company said while reporting second quarter earnings Tuesday that so far in Q3, revenue is up 32% from the previous year, but expects that growth to moderate through the rest of the quarter.

"While we are cautiously optimistic that these trends could sustain over time, we are also conscious that operating conditions may remain volatile, and that economic conditions could further deteriorate," chief financial officer Derek Andersen said in the company's earnings call prepared remarks. "For example, advertising demand in Q3 has historically been bolstered by factors that appear unlikely to materialize in the same way they have in prior years, including the back to school season, film release schedules, and the operations of various sports leagues." –Megan Graham

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's leading infectious disease expert, said he was not invited to Tuesday's White House briefing on the coronavirus pandemic.

"I was not invited up to this point and I'm assuming I'm not going to be there," Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told CNN.

Fauci said if he were to attend the meeting, he would tell state leaders to implement mandates for masks and encourage the closing of bars. 

Fauci, who has worked under six U.S. presidents, has faced criticism in recent weeks from President Donald Trump and other administration officials surrounding his response to the pandemic. Even with the recent criticism, Fauci told The Atlantic magazine in a recent interview that he has not thought about resigning.  —Berkeley Lovelace Jr.

United Airlines reported a second-quarter net loss of more than $1.6 billion, driven by a near-shutdown in air travel spurred by the coronavirus pandemic. 

Revenue for the period fell 87%, on a year-over-year basis, to $1.48 billion, bad news for the start of the peak summer travel season. The airline is now focused on further slashing its cash burn to $25 million a day in the third quarter from an average $40 million per day, according to the airline's quarterly report.

The Chicago-based airline has added capacity back into the market cautiously and said it expects to operate 35% of what it flew in the third quarter of last year.

"United believes it did the best job of matching actual capacity to demand among its largest network peers," the airline said in a release. "The company also expects to finish the quarter with the lowest average daily cash burn among large network carriers." —Sara Salinas, Leslie Josephs