Germany drafts plan to end lockdown, Spain’s daily death toll declines

This is CNBC’s live blog covering all the latest news on the coronavirus outbreak. All times below are in Eastern time. This blog will be updated throughout the day as the news breaks. 

• Global cases: More than 1,280,000
• Global deaths: At least 69,789
• US cases: At least 337,600
• US deaths: At least 9,648

The data above was compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Artists around the world are tapping their creativity to help find new ways to deal with the impact of the global pandemic.

Musicians who had to cancel their concert tours are instead moving online to connect with their audiences, offering impromptu performances on social media and live video streams. Some are even writing new coronavirus- and quarantine-inspired songs to help us wash our hands. A few writers are taking advantage of their newfound time at home to finish their novels. And then there are the graffiti and mural artists who have been busy painting some pretty incredible coronavirus-inspired works on walls and buildings across the globe. —Adam Jeffery

The head of surgery at one of New York’s top hospitals likened the coming weeks of the COVID-19 outbreak to war, saying doctors were about to fight “our Gettysburg, our Somme, our Iwo Jima, our Khe Sanh, our Fallujah.”

New York–Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Irving Medical Center in Manhattan is at the frontlines of the coronavirus epidemic in New York City. Surgeon-in-chief Dr. Craig Smith’s rousing memos to staff have been shared widely as an onslaught of COVID-19 patients pour into the hospital.

Officials and epidemiologists tracking the spread of the virus warn that this week could be among the most deadly yet in New York City. The virus has infected more than 67,551 people in the city and killed at least 3,048 people, according to Johns Hopkins University. —William Feuer

Stocks jumped on Monday as Wall Street rebounded from a steep sell-off in the previous week. 

The Dow Jones Industrial Average traded 900 points higher, or more than 4{3c4481f38fc19dde56b7b1f4329b509c88239ba5565146922180ec5012de023f}. The S&P 500 gained 3.8{3c4481f38fc19dde56b7b1f4329b509c88239ba5565146922180ec5012de023f} while the Nasdaq Composite advanced 3.7{3c4481f38fc19dde56b7b1f4329b509c88239ba5565146922180ec5012de023f}.

Last week, the major averages posted their third weekly decline in four. The Dow slid 2.7{3c4481f38fc19dde56b7b1f4329b509c88239ba5565146922180ec5012de023f} while the S&P 500 lost 2.1{3c4481f38fc19dde56b7b1f4329b509c88239ba5565146922180ec5012de023f}. The Nasdaq Composite closed last week down 1.7{3c4481f38fc19dde56b7b1f4329b509c88239ba5565146922180ec5012de023f}. Stocks are also deep in bear-market territory as concerns over the coronavirus outbreak have virtually shut down the global economy and have dampened sentiment around corporate profits. —Fred Imbert, Silvia Amaro

If tests are not available, a loss of taste and smell could be the best way to detect whether someone has contracted the coronavirus, according to U.K. researchers.

A research team at King’s College London assessed the responses of more than 400,000 people reporting one or more suspected symptoms of COVID-19 to an app.

The data analyzed showed that 59{3c4481f38fc19dde56b7b1f4329b509c88239ba5565146922180ec5012de023f} of those who tested positive for the virus reported a loss of smell and taste, compared with only 18{3c4481f38fc19dde56b7b1f4329b509c88239ba5565146922180ec5012de023f} of who tested negative for the disease. These results, the researchers said, were “much stronger” in predicting positive COVID-19 diagnoses than a self-reported fever.

This appears to indicate that a loss of smell and taste should be added to the list of common coronavirus symptoms. Until now, health authorities like the WHO have said a fever, dry cough and fatigue are the symptoms to watch out for.

The general advice for those who display symptoms of COVID-19 is to stay at home in order to reduce the risk of spreading it to others and call your health facility. —Sam Meredith

Tyson Foods is using walk-through infrared body temperature scanners at three processing plants in an effort to keep coronavirus out of its sites and maintain the stability of U.S. food supply.

The scanners can check employees’ temperature as they walk into the building. Tyson gave CNBC an exclusive first look at video of how the walk-through scanners work. 

“One beef facility in Nebraska produces enough food every day to feed 18 million people. We have a vital role to continue to feed the nation. We are doing everything we can to keep employees safe,” Tyson’s senior vice president of health and safety Tom Brower told CNBC. —Frank Holland

Bank of America said it’s seen fierce demand for emergency rescue loans with current applications already accounting for nearly 10{3c4481f38fc19dde56b7b1f4329b509c88239ba5565146922180ec5012de023f} of the entire amount allocated by Congress.

The bank confirmed that it has received applications from 177,000 small businesses for a total of $32.6 billion in financing. The current Bank of America numbers are its applications and do not represent the sums the Small Business Administration has approved.

The bank was the first major lender to set up and launch its portal for the Paycheck Protection Program though it was quickly inundated with requests.

The chaotic and widespread demand stems from the nation’s small business owners, who have scrambled to apply for the rescue funds out of fear they could miss out on the historic, $350 billion program. —Thomas Franck

CVS Health said Monday it will be running two new drive-thru coronavirus testing locations and hopes to perform up to 1,000 tests a day.

The sites are at Georgia Tech in Atlanta and at Twin River Casino near Providence, Rhode Island. They will use Abbott Laboratories’ rapid COVID-19 test and make testing available to patients who meet the guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the state governments. Both sites have large parking lots that can accommodate multiple lanes of cars.

The new sites will be open to all patients, but in order to receive an appointment for a test, customers will be required to preregister and prequalify online. No one will be admitted without  preregistering. —Bertha Coombs

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe pledged on Monday to roll out an unprecedented economic stimulus package, equal to 20{3c4481f38fc19dde56b7b1f4329b509c88239ba5565146922180ec5012de023f} of economic output, as his government vowed to take “all steps” to battle deepening fallout from the coronavirus, Reuters reported.

The package, to be confirmed by the cabinet on Tuesday, will total 108 trillion yen ($989 billion), far exceeding one compiled in the wake of the 2009 financial crisis totaling 56 trillion yen in size, with fiscal spending of 15 trillion yen. —Reuters

China will work to further avoid importing coronavirus cases through its land borders, the Chinese government said in a statement after a meeting chaired by Premier Li Keqiang.

The risk of the virus being imported into China via land borders is increasing and the number of such cases has exceeded those recorded at airports recently, the statement said. Of the 38 imported cases with symptoms recorded in mainland China on Sunday, 20 had arrived in the northeastern province of Heilongjiang after travelling overland from Vladivostok in neighboring Russia, having flown to Vladivostok from Moscow. —Reuters

Germany has drawn up a list of measures, including an obligation to wear masks in public, limits on public gatherings and the rapid tracing of infection chains, that officials think should allow life to return to normal after lockdown’s scheduled end on April 19.

The proposals, contained in a draft action plan compiled by the Interior Ministry document and seen by Reuters, say the measures should be sufficient to keep the number of people infected by each person below 1 even as public life is allowed gradually to resume.

For this to be possible, mechanisms will have to be in place to track more than 80{3c4481f38fc19dde56b7b1f4329b509c88239ba5565146922180ec5012de023f} of people an infected person had contact with within 24 hours of diagnosis. In return, schools will be able to reopen on a regional basis and strict border controls will be relaxed, the paper said. —Reuters

Apple is designing and producing face shields for medical workers, CEO Tim Cook said in a video on Sunday. The company is aiming to produce 1 million face shields per week.

“We’ve launched a company-wide effort, bringing together product designers, engineering, operations and packaging teams, and our suppliers to design, produce, and ship face shields for health workers,” Cook said. —Kif Leswing

Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase, detailed the bank’s strength in his widely-read annual letter. He said that JPMorgan, the biggest U.S. bank by assets, is prepared for the tumult caused by the coronavirus epidemic.

“We have the resources to emerge from this crisis as a stronger country,” Dimon said in the letter. “America is still the most prosperous nation the world has ever seen.”JPMorgan, the biggest U.S. bank by assets, is prepared for the tumult caused by the coronavirus epidemic, he said. 

Here’s the full letter. —Hugh Son

Spain reported that the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the country had topped 135,302, up from 130,759 the previous day.

It reported 637 deaths Monday, down from 674 the previous day, and continuing a downwards trend after a peak of 950 recorded on Thursday. A total of 13,055 people have died in Spain from the virus. —Holly Ellyatt

There are tentative hopes in Europe that the coronavirus outbreak could be slowing, as the number of new infections and fatalities starts to slow down, according to data over the weekend.

The figures are prompting European leaders to look for an exit strategy to national lockdowns, while urging the public to maintain discipline while the apparent recovery from the outbreak is in its infancy. —Holly Ellyatt

U.K. passenger car sales in March fell 44{3c4481f38fc19dde56b7b1f4329b509c88239ba5565146922180ec5012de023f} compared with the same month last year to 254,684 units, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders said on Monday. 

The group, representing Britain’s car industry, cut its 2020 sales forecast by 23{3c4481f38fc19dde56b7b1f4329b509c88239ba5565146922180ec5012de023f} to 1.73 million vehicles because of the impact of the coronavirus crisis. That’s 25{3c4481f38fc19dde56b7b1f4329b509c88239ba5565146922180ec5012de023f} lower than the 2.31 million units registered in 2019. A further outlook will be published in April to reflect the latest conditions. —Holly Ellyatt

U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson is “doing well” and is expected to be back at his office shortly, Housing Minister Robert Jenrick told the BBC. It comes after Johnson was admitted to the hospital on Sunday night for tests, 10 days after testing positive for coronavirus.

“He’ll stay in hospital as long as he needs to do that, but I’ve heard that he’s doing well and I very much look forward to him being back in Number 10 as soon as possible,” Jenrick told BBC radio. —Holly Ellyatt

Read CNBC’s coverage from CNBC’s Asia-Pacific and Europe teams overnight here: Spain’s daily death rate declines further; US virus hotspots in focus