Coronavirus: Dodgers star Justin Turner tests positive; Chicago reinstates indoor dining limits

Melbourne's retail and dining businesses reopened on Wednesday as the city lifted its strict four-month coronavirus lockdown, according to Reuters.

Australia's Victoria state and its capital Melbourne, the country's second most populous city, was a hotbed for coronavirus infections, prompting the lockdown. However, the lockdown has halted a second wave of the outbreak, with just two fresh cases and two mortalities recorded overnight.

Harsh social distancing restrictions, widespread testing and rapid contact tracing helped Australia to
drive down cases from over 700 daily infections in July, even as other developed countries continue to battle with a third wave of record cases, said the news agency.

On Wednesday, Australia's New South Wales state reported eight new cases, seven of them imported. Meanwhile, the state of Queensland recorded two new infections, raising the country's total case count to 27,552, Reuters reported. – Kendrea Liew

Justin Turner, Los Angeles Dodgers third baseman, has tested positive for Covid-19 and was taken out of the Major League Baseball game on Tuesday, according to NBC News.

He was pulled from the World Series-clinching game after the seventh inning, but was photographed later on the field with his teammates and the trophy, according to the report.

"We learned during the game that Justin was a positive," said MLB commissioner Rob Manfred, who added the athlete was "immediately isolated," NBC said.

After the game, Turner tweeted that he was feeling "great" and had "no symptoms at all." — Weizhen Tan

China will halt some imports from three Russian fishing vessels and one Netherlands warehouse for one week, according to Reuters. That's after the Chinese province of Shandong detected the Covid-19 virus on the packaging of those imported aquatic products.

The suspension will lift after one week, the report said, citing China's customs authority. — Weizhen Tan

Coronavirus cases are spiking in the most fiercely contested battlegrounds of the presidential election, just as voters cast their ballots in droves.

The latest wave of cases appears to be crashing hardest over states in the West and the Midwest, data show.

Among the most hotly contested swing states, Wisconsin is facing the largest increase in cases and deaths. In the past week, the Badger State reported a proportionally higher number of cases than nearly anywhere else in the country, except for in North Dakota and South Dakota, according to the CDC.

Other swing states, including Michigan and North Carolina, are also seeing an upswing in cases.

Fewer voters remain undecided than at this point in the 2016 cycle. But the recent surge in cases might be enough to push some of those swing-state voters toward Biden, who has consistently received higher marks than Trump in polls on the question of which candidate would better handle the pandemic. —Kevin Breuninger

Chicago restaurants and bars will no longer be allowed to serve customers inside beginning Friday in an effort to control the coronavirus' spread in the region, Illinois Gov. Jay Pritzker said in a statement.

Gatherings will also be limited to 25 people or 25% of overall room capacity, the statement said. The order does not apply to schools or polling places.

Restaurants and bars were given permission to reopen their indoor dining sections in late June at reduced capacity. Chicago has since seen a "sustained increase" in its positivity rate, or the percent of tests that are positive, and a sustained increase in Covid-19 hospitalizations for more than seven of the past ten days, the governor said.

"We can't ignore what is happening around us – because without action, this could look worse than anything we saw in the spring," Pritzker said in a statement. —Noah Higgins-Dunn

Health-care workers in Michigan criticized President Donald Trump ahead of his planned rally in Lansing amid record daily new coronavirus cases.

Michigan was among 16 states reporting record-high daily new Covid-19 cases on Monday, according to a CNBC analysis of data compiled by Johns Hopkins University that uses a weekly average to smooth out fluctuations in daily reporting. The state is now reporting roughly 2,220 new cases daily, a 22% increase compared with a week ago.

"Covid-19 is not disappearing. Trump's rally in Lansing only threatens to make things worse," said Dr. Stephanie Markle, a critical care surgeon in Kalamazoo and a member of the Committee to Protect Medicare, during a press call organized by the Committee to Protect Medicare. — Noah Higgins-Dunn

Industrial giant 3M is manufacturing more of its N95 respirator masks than ever before, according to Chairman and CEO Mike Roman. The company is on pace to produce 2 billion masks by year-end, he added on CNBC's "Squawk on the Street."

And with the coronavirus pandemic continuing to flare up around the world, Roman said, "We'll continue to add some capacity as we go into the end of the year, into next year."

Roman acknowledged that many consumers want to buy N95s, given their reputation for being highly effective in protecting against infection from the coronavirus. However, he stressed that medical workers and other first responders are the priority.

"We'll continue to look for ways to support consumers, and our consumer teams are looking at innovative, new mask kinds of solutions in addition to the N95 respirators, so we'll work to respond to that, as well." —Kevin Stankiewicz

The European Union doesn't expect to have enough vaccines for everyone in the 27-country bloc until 2022, Reuters reports, citing an internal meeting that happened Monday.

"There will not be sufficient doses of Covid-19 vaccines for the entire population before the end of 2021," a European Commission official said, according to Reuters.

The EU, which is home to about 450 million people, has already acquired 1 billion doses of potential Covid-19 vaccine and is working on getting another billion. —Chris Eudaily

The coronavirus pandemic has created additional obstacles to voting for young people, a group that isn't known for turning out in large numbers. Despite Covid-19 challenges, young voters may be a decisive force in the 2020 election with data suggesting record turnout.

College campuses have historically been a stronghold in turning out young voters, but many schools have adopted virtual or hybrid instruction this semester to reduce the potential for coronavirus spread.

That means some students who've stayed at home are displaced from their voter registration addresses. Even when students are on campus facilities still may not have normal operations, which can affect both on-the-ground mobilization efforts and students' ability to obtain voting requirements like college IDs.

As coronavirus surges across the country, Covid-19 outbreaks on college campuses also pose a hurdle. For students in quarantine, solutions vary. At the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, for example, the school is lining up sanitized taxis that will take students to curbside voting and back. Other colleges are leaving it up to students to figure out.

Early voting totals so far show young people are outpacing 2016 turnout. This slice of the population tends to vote in-person and later in the election season, and experts say youth voter share will continue to grow as Nov. 3 approaches. —Hannah Miao

New York City residents should avoid traveling out of state this holiday season as the Big Apple responds to the "real threat" of a second wave of coronavirus infections, Mayor Bill de Blasio said during a press briefing.

De Blasio urged people who do travel to get tested and to adhere to the state's travel advisory that requires travelers arriving in New York from a majority of U.S. states to quarantine for 14 days. Passengers who arrive at New York City-area airports will be encouraged to get tested for Covid-19 immediately, he said, adding that physical testing sites will operate at LaGuardia Airport and John F. Kennedy International Airport.

"It's not about the airline industry, it's about your health, your family's health, the city's health and safety. The country, that's what we should be thinking about," he said. —Noah Higgins-Dunn

The development of a coronavirus vaccine is nearing its final stages and public health departments across the U.S. are hastily preparing to distribute it amid a number of uncertainties. One of the more pressing and less certain issues for state leaders: How they're going to pay for it.

So far, the Department of Health and Human Services has doled out $340 million for Covid-19 vaccine and flu planning, a department spokesperson told CNBC. HHS will cover the "most significant costs" of delivering and administering the vaccine, like the necessary protective gear and needles that will arrive in kits along with the doses.

State health officials, however, are asking for billions more in funding to distribute the vaccine. Several trade groups that represent state health agencies have asked Congressional leaders for at least $8.4 billion for vaccine distribution.

Those funds would largely go to increasing the health-care workforce to administer the vaccine, they say. Other costs include cold supply chain management for some of the vaccines, adding vaccination sites and updating data information systems, among other costs. —Noah Higgins-Dunn

Boeing is set to deliver more bad news before the market opens on Wednesday. Analysts expect the company to report a sixth-straight quarter of negative free cash flow and revenue down some 30% from the same period a year ago.

The coronavirus pandemic is straining Boeing's airline customers, who have canceled and deferred orders on hundreds of jets, crimping cash flow since the bulk of an aircraft's price is paid when it's delivered.

Boeing executives are likely to provide their latest outlook for the duration of the pandemic's impact on appetite for new aircraft as well as an update on regulators' review of the 737 Max. The Federal Aviation Administration is at the tail-end of its recertification process but it hasn't officially signed off on the planes yet. The best-selling jet remains grounded after more than 19 months. The flight ban took effect after the second of two fatal crashes that together killed at 346 people on board the flights. —Leslie Josephs

It appears unlikely that Pfizer will release data from its phase three trial testing of a potential coronavirus vaccine before the U.S. election.

Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla told investors the company doesn't expect to make an announcement on its trial until about a week after the data and safety monitoring board conducts its review. The board, which will assess whether its trial has been successful, has not conducted an interim efficacy analysis yet, according to the company.

Bourla has repeatedly said Pfizer could have late-stage vaccine trial data as early as October. "Let's all have patience," he said on a call. "I know how much the stress levels are growing. I know how much the vaccine is needed for the world." –Berkeley Lovelace Jr.

Novavax is delaying the start of its late-stage U.S. trial of an experimental coronavirus vaccine to the end of November as it struggles with scaling up the manufacturing process, Reuters reports.

Early-stage data had shown the vaccine produced high levels of antibodies against Covid-19, according to the wire service.

The drugmaker added that data from a separate phase 3 trial that is being conducted in the U.K. — and which could be the basis for regulatory approval — was expected by the first quarter of 2021, Reuters said. —Terri Cullen

The average number of new daily cases of the coronavirus in the United States hit another record, as 36 states reported worrying increases in the number of hospitalized patients.

The average number of patients hospitalized with Covid-19 over the past seven days rose by at least 5% in 36 states as of Monday, according to a CNBC analysis of data from the Covid Tracking Project.

"This is a harbinger of a very tough winter that's coming," Dr. Bill Schaffner, an epidemiologist at Vanderbilt University, said in a phone interview. "I think hospitals are going to be very, very stressed this fall and winter." —Will Feuer

The College Board recently released its annual Trends in College Pricing and Student Aid report, which suggests college costs have increased at the lowest rate in decades.

The average tuition and fees paid by in-state students at public four-year institutions rose by 1.1%, while these costs increased by 2.1% for students at private nonprofit four-year institutions, between the 2019-2020 school year and the 2020-21 school year, according to the report.

"This year's data underscore the profound impact Covid-19 has had on higher education," said Jessica Howell, College Board's vice president for research. "Although average tuition increased again this year, the increases are among the lowest we've seen since 1990-91."

Some fear, however, that the current economic recession could cause cuts to higher education funding which has historically led to increased college costs.

—Abigail Hess

Eli Lilly CEO Dave Ricks said on CNBC's "Squawk Box" that he still believes in the company's coronavirus antibody treatment, despite the end of a government-run study that looked at the drug in hospitalized Covid-19 patients.

That's because data has so far shown the antibody treatment produces "strong results" the earlier infected individuals receive it, Ricks said, while noting multiple other clinical trials involving the drug are continuing to move forward.

"Catching the disease early, where you can reduce the viral load with an antibody, appears to be making a significant difference," Ricks said.

However, by the time a patient becomes severely ill and in the hospital with Covid-19, there may "not be enough viral load left to reduce" with an antibody treatment, Ricks said.  "Instead, we might want to use anti-inflammatory drugs like steroids or our own Olumiant, which has proven [effective] in this setting." —Kevin Stankiewicz

U.S. stocks opened little changed as Wall Street attempted to rebound from a massive sell-off a day earlier, reports CNBC's Fred Imbert and Maggie Fitzgerald.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average traded 19 points higher, or 0.1%. The S&P 500 was also up 0.1% and the Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.4%. —Melodie Warner 

Covid antibodies fall as people recover from the coronavirus, according to the findings of a major U.K. study, raising questions about the implications for so-called herd immunity.

Researchers from Imperial College London screened 365,000 people in England over three rounds of testing between June 20 and September 28.

Analysis of finger-prick tests carried out at home found that, rather than people building immunity over time, the number of people with antibodies declined around 26% over the study period.

The findings of the study, which has not yet been peer-reviewed, suggests there may have been a decline in the level of population immunity in the months following the first wave of the coronavirus epidemic. —Sam Meredith

Wyoming, Montana, Tennessee, South Dakota, and North Carolina hit record highs in average daily new deaths Monday, according to a CNBC analysis of data from Johns Hopkins University.

Wyoming reported three daily deaths, on a seven-day-average, a roughly sixfold increase from the prior week. The number of average daily deaths in Montana rose to 9, more than double from a week ago.

The record average daily deaths in Tennessee, South Dakota, and North Carolina reflected week-over-week increases of 63%, 49% and 39%, respectively.

Fifteen states hit record highs in average current hospitalizations Monday. Wyoming's average hospitalizations rose 59% from last week, New Mexico saw a 49% increase and Ohio's week-over-week growth was 23%.

This data provided by JHU is collected from dozens of state and local agencies that have varying reporting methodologies and levels of accuracy. Comparisons of the seven-day average help to smooth out inconsistencies in state reporting procedures. —Melodie Warner 

Eli Lilly's third-quarter profit fell short of analysts' expectations due to increased costs from developing Covid-19 treatments and lower demand for some of its medicines, Reuters reported.

Lilly estimated its 2020 Covid-19 research and development expense at roughly $400 million. Total third-quarter operating expenses increased 9% to $3.04 billion.

Net income fell 4% to $1.21 billion, or $1.33 per share, in the quarter ended Sept. 30. Third quarter, revenue rose 5% to $5.74 billion but fell short of the average estimate of $5.88 billion. —Melodie Warner 

Restaurant Brands International reported its quarterly revenue fell 8% as sales at Burger King and Tim Hortons struggled to bounce back from temporary restaurant closures, CNBC's Amelia Lucas reports.

The Popeyes chain once again reported double-digit same-store sales growth, thanks to the enduring popularity of its chicken sandwich.

The restaurant company reported fiscal third-quarter net income of $145 million, or 47 cents per share, down from $201 million, or 75 cents per share, a year earlier. Net sales dropped to $1.34 billion, matching expectations. —Melodie Warner 

Pfizer's late-stage Covid-19 vaccine trial has enrolled more than 42,000 volunteers, the company announced in its third-quarter earnings report.

Nearly 36,000 of the volunteers have already received the second of the company's two-dose Covid-19 vaccine, Pfizer said. In September, Pfizer expanded the enrollment of its phase three trial to up to 44,000 volunteers from the initial target of up to 30,000 volunteers.

The phase three trials are a critical last step needed to get the vaccines cleared for distribution. Four U.S.-backed candidates are in phase three: Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson. Pfizer expects to apply for an emergency use authorization with the Food and Drug Administration in November. —Berkeley Lovelace Jr.

U.S. cases hit daily record, WHO says controlling Covid may require 'sacrifice'