Coronavirus: U.S. records more than 80,000 new daily cases

The U.S. reported another 80,662 coronavirus cases on Wednesday, according to a tally kept by NBC.

The U.S. also reported an additional 996 deaths in the last day.

NBC said the number of new cases surpassed the previous high of 79,303, set last Friday.

However, the NBC figure still falls short of a separate daily total reported by Johns Hopkins University on Saturday. — Yen Nee Lee

Mexico reported an additional 495 deaths from Covid-19 over the last day, taking its death toll to 90,309, according to Reuters, which cited data from the health ministry.

The number of coronavirus-related deaths in Mexico is the fourth largest globally, behind the U.S., Brazil and India, showed data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

The Mexican health ministry also confirmed another 5,595 cases, taking the country's official cumulative infections to 906,863, reported Reuters. — Yen Nee Lee

Gilead Sciences reported stronger-than-expected third-quarter earnings with revenue rising 17% from a year earlier, driven by sales of coronavirus treatment remdesivir.

Gilead's antiviral drug remdesivir, under the brand name Veklury,  generated $873 million in sales during the third quarter, mostly in the U.S., the company said. Gilead said in August that it planned to produce more than 2 million treatment courses of remdesivir by the end of the year and anticipated being able to make "several million more" in 2021.

"We're... now in position to meet global demand because of the work we've done since January to ramp up our supply," CEO Daniel O'Day said during an investor call on Wednesday. —Noah Higgins-Dunn

Boeing's defense unit has been relatively stable as the company struggles with two major crises: the 737 Max and now the coronavirus pandemic.

But even that could be under pressure in the coming months, Boeing's CEO warned.

"We're not planning on defense spending to go up in any appreciable way," CEO Dave Calhoun said on an earnings call Wednesday. "In fact, we believe there will be pressure on defense spending as a result of all the COVID-related spending that's been — that governments around the world have been experiencing. So I don't think we're looking at that world through rose-colored glasses. I expect real pressure on that market."

Boeing's third-quarter revenue dropped 29%from a year earlier to $14.1 billion. Defense-unit revenue dropped just 2% to $6.8 billion, compared with the 56% decline in its commercial airplane business to $3.6 billion.

Boeing's shares ended the day 4.6% --Leslie Josephs

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the country will implement a four-week shutdown of restaurants, bars, cinemas, theaters and some other such facilities beginning Nov. 2 to try to stopgap the coronavirus' spread.

The number of Covid-19 patients in intensive care across the country has doubled over the past 10 days, Merkle said. She added that Germany's hospitals will hit capacity in the coming weeks if that pace continues.

Shops, schools and day cares will remain open, she said, but will face new restrictions on capacity. Restaurants will remain open for takeout, Merkel said. She implored citizens to avoid unnecessary travel. — Noah Higgins-Dunn, Will Feuer

French President Emmanuel Macron imposed a new nationwide lockdown as coronavirus cases surged in his country. The lockdown will go into effect from Friday.

The restrictions will be in place at least until Dec. 1 and are similar to those imposed back in spring.

The new restrictions will mean people have to stay in their homes except to go out and buy essential goods, seek medical attention, or exercise.

People will be allowed to go to work if their employer deems it impossible for them to do the job from home, and - in a departure from the previous lockdown in March - most schools will remain open.

"The virus is circulating at a speed that not even the most pessimistic forecasts had anticipated," Macron said. "Like all our neighbours, we are submerged by the sudden acceleration of the virus."

— Riya Bhattacharjee, Reuters.

White House coronavirus advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci is scheduled to join The News with Shepard Smith at 7 p.m. ET on Wednesday to discuss the latest spike in coronavirus cases across the U.S.

Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, has recently come under scrutiny from President Donald Trump, who continues to undermine the severity of Covid-19.

Trump has blamed the latest spike in coronavirus cases on more testing, despite top administration officials saying otherwise. — Noah Higgins-Dunn

The Boston Athletic Association (B.A.A.) announced that the 125th Boston Marathon will be postponed until at least the end of 2021.

"With fewer than six months until Patriots' Day and with road races prohibited until Phase 4 of the Massachusetts reopening plan, we are unable to host the Boston Marathon this coming April," said B.A.A. CEO Tom Grilk. "By shifting our focus to a fall date, we can continue to work with stakeholders to adjust the in-person experience for runners and supporters alike. Prioritizing the safety of participants, volunteers, spectators, and community members, we continue to assess all elements of the race including a potential reduced field size or weekend date."

A date for 2021 has not yet been selected. —Riya Bhattacharjee

Italy reported 24,991 new cases of Covid-19 within 24 hours with a notable rise in cases from the Lombardy region, Reuters reported, citing the country's health ministry.

The country reported 205 deaths during that 24 hours, which was down from the day before.

The Lombardy area, which includes Milan, reported 7,558 new cases of the coronavirus and is the hardest-hit region in the country, according to Reuters. —Chris Eudaily

Even while unemployment rates remain high and coronavirus cases continue to surge across the U.S., student loan borrowers could find their monthly bills due again in two months.

In March, the U.S. Department of Education announced that borrowers could pause their payments without interest accruing until September. Then, President Donald Trump signed an executive order that extended the reprieve through the end of the year.

There's some hope the reprieve will be extended, but if it's not, experts say to expect default rates to jump. –Annie Nova

Adm. Brett Giroir, assistant secretary of health who leads the government's testing effort, acknowledged that the recent surge in Covid cases cannot be attributed to increased testing alone, disputing claims made by President Donald Trump.

"As the nation did after Memorial Day, we are at another critical point in the pandemic response," Giroir said on NBC's "TODAY" show. "Cases are going up in most states across the country. Hospitalizations are up, although we're still tens of thousands of hospitalizations below where we were in July, but that is rising. And we are starting to see the increase in deaths."

Giroir went on to emphasize that "we can control the virus" by following public health measures like social distancing, mask-wearing, avoiding crowded gatherings and the frequent washing of hands. —Will Feuer

European drugmakers Sanofi and GlaxoSmithKline will provide 200 million doses of their Covid-19 vaccine to the World Health Organization's global immunization partnership COVAX, which seeks to ensure coronavirus vaccines are distributed equitably across the world, the companies said.

Global health organizations including the GAVI vaccine alliance, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, and the WHO are leading the COVAX effort, which is focused on first vaccinating the most high-risk people in every country. 

The initiative aims to deliver 2 billion doses of the vaccine by the end of 2021, though it's now competing for scarce doses of promising vaccines with some wealthy countries like the United States which didn't join the COVAX facility and procured hundreds of millions of doses on their own.

"Since we started working on the development of Covid-19 vaccines, GSK has pledged to make them available to people around the world," Roger Connor, president of GSK Vaccines, said in a statement. He added that "this has the potential to be a significant contribution to the global fight against Covid-19." —Will Feuer

Panera Bread is adding pizza to its menus as the pandemic leads more customers to order carryout and delivery for safety reasons, CNBC's Amelia Lucas reports.

Among the restaurant's new flatbread pizza offerings are chipotle chicken and bacon, margherita, and cheese pizzas. The pizzas are big enough to be shared and are made to travel well, no matter how long delivery takes.

Panera's made moves to slim down its menu earlier this year, which led to introducing flatbread pizza. Like McDonald's and Taco Bell, Panera reduced its menu items ease the workload for its staff, who were also dealing with social-distancing measures. —Terri Cullen

United Parcel Service earnings topped analysts' expectations, boosted by a surge in home deliveries amid the pandemic, Reuters reports.

The company reported average daily volumes in the U.S. jumped 13.8% on persistent strength in residential demand for deliveries, according to the wire service.

Last month, UPS said it would hire more than 100,000 workers for the holiday shopping season, which retailers have been stretching out to try to avoid overwhelming UPS, which is already taxed by pandemic-fueled online shopping, Reuters said. —Terri Cullen

The latest surge of the coronavirus in the U.S. is three or four weeks behind the uptick Europe is experiencing, Dr. Scott Gottlieb told CNBC. The former Food and Drug Administration chief stressed, however, that "we're on a trajectory to look a lot like Europe as we enter the month of November, so I think things are going to get worse."

Gottlieb said on "Squawk Box" he believes that although the U.S. outbreak is more diffuse than Europe's, "we're at the beginning of that steep part of the epidemic curve right now." He added, "I wouldn't be surprised if we challenge 100,000 diagnosed cases [per day] this week. We'll certainly get above 90,000 towards the end of the week if all the states report." —Kevin Stankiewicz

Disclosure: Dr. Scott Gottlieb is a CNBC contributor and is a member of the boards of Pfizer, genetic-testing start-up Tempus and biotech company Illumina. He also serves as co-chair of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings′ and Royal Caribbean's Healthy Sail Panel.

Boeing will cut thousands of additional jobs through the end of 2021 as the pandemic continues to hit air travel demand, prompting the aerospace giant to cut costs further.

The company earlier this year targeted a 10% cut to its staff, which numbered 160,000 at the start of the year. Boeing now aims to get its headcount to 130,000 by the end of next year.

The announcement came after the company posted another loss and said it's adjusting to reduced demand for air travel.

The company has faced hundreds of cancellations of aircraft orders, mostly for the 737 Max, which has been grounded since March 2019 after two fatal crashes. Boeing's CEO David Calhoun said the company is close to the "finish line" for getting regulators to lift their flight ban on the best-selling aircraft. —Leslie Josephs

Two years' worth of e-commerce growth is about to be packed into one holiday season, according to a new forecast, as Americans turn in droves to online shopping to avoid crowded stores and malls during the coronavirus pandemic.

Online sales this November and December are forecast to surge 33% year over year to a record $189 billion, Adobe Analytics said, based on web transactions of 80 of the top 100 U.S. internet retailers.

The e-commerce gains could go even higher if consumers receive another round of government stimulus checks or if brick-and-mortar stores are forced to shut down again to curb the spread of Covid-19, said Jason Woosley, vice president of commerce product and platform at Adobe. Should those two things occur, Adobe expects consumers could spend an extra $11 billion online, pushing total holiday spending past $200 billion.

"It's just incredible," Woosley said. "If you would have asked me last year that we'd be talking about 33% [growth], I would have said you were crazy." —Lauren Thomas

U.S. stocks opened lower as investors worried that rising coronavirus infections could halt the global economic recovery, reports CNBC's Fred Imbert.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 569 points, or 2.1%. The S&P 500 dipped 1.8% and the Nasdaq Composite traded 1.7% lower. —Melodie Warner 

Ahead of a meeting with investors Wednesday, Bed Bath & Beyond laid out a three-year road map for the company, offering fresh financial targets and the strategies it plans to use to get there.

The big-box, home-goods retailer said it expects same-store sales — which track revenue online and at stores open for at least 12 months — to be "stable" in fiscal 2021, and rise in the low-to-mid single digits by 2023.

One of Bed Bath & Beyond's biggest initiatives is a plan to launch more than 10 private-label brands over an 18-month period beginning in March, giving stale shelves a makeover.

Altogether, Bed Bath & Beyond said it will make $1 billion to $1.5 billion in capital investments over the next three years — to fix what many observers viewed as an out-of-date retailer, with dilapidated stores and little to offer online, before current-CEO Mark Tritton arrived, roughly one year ago.

Also Wednesday, Bed Bath & Beyond announced a new share repurchase program totaling up to $675 million over the next three years. A portion of the buyback will be completed through an accelerated share repurchase agreement for $225 million of its common stock. —Lauren Thomas

Instead of heading to the veterinarian, pet owners can turn to a new option for advice about a sick dog or cat: Telehealth for pets.

Chewy is launching a new service that allows pets to have a virtual visit with a licensed vet. The service, "Connect-with-a-Vet," is free for customers who are part of Autoship, the company's subscription program that automatically ships deliveries of food or other pet goods. It's available through the company's website in 35 states on weekdays from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. ET.

Chewy CEO Sumit Singh said the company was interested in telehealth, but sped up the new offering because of the pandemic. He said there's a greater need as more Americans adopt and foster pets during their long stays at home and vet clinics limit their hours.

"It was one of the irons in the fire, but clearly, the pandemic has accelerated our effort," he said.

He said the company plans to add video to the service, expand it across the country and serve pets beyond cats and dogs. It may also add more hours, depending on demand. —Melissa Repko

The U.S. government has agreed to pay Eli Lilly $375 million to supply 300,00 vials of its experimental antibody drug to treat Covid-19, the company announced.

The agreement is for delivery over the two months following an emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration. The deal also provides the option for the U.S. to purchase 650,000 more vials through June 30.

Eli Lilly's drug is part of a class of treatments known as monoclonal antibodies, which are made to act as immune cells that scientists hope can fight the virus. In October, the company submitted a request to the FDA for emergency authorization of its drug for people with mild to moderate Covid-19. —Berkeley Lovelace Jr.

Dr. Scott Gottlieb told CNBC's "Squawk Box" the U.S. is "on the trajectory to look a lot like Europe as we enter the month of November." —Melodie Warner

Disclosure: Dr. Scott Gottlieb is a CNBC contributor and is a member of the boards of Pfizer, genetic-testing start-up Tempus and biotech company Illumina. He also serves as co-chair of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings′ and Royal Caribbean's Healthy Sail Panel.

Wisconsin on Tuesday reported a record high of 31 daily deaths, on a seven-day-average, a 75% increase from the prior week, according to a CNBC analysis of data from Johns Hopkins University. The number of average daily deaths in Tennessee rose about 65% to 36 and Nebraska saw a week-over-week increase of 45% to eight deaths, on average, new highs for both states.

Fifteen states hit record-high average current hospitalizations Tuesday. Wyoming's average hospitalizations rose 61% from last week, New Mexico saw a 51% increase and North Dakota's week-over-week growth was 27%.

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 

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