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Coronavirus live updates: Roche to invest in German testing site, CEO says recovered patients ‘very likely’ immune

Pharmaceutical companies continue to make headlines as governments and investors hang their hopes on a steady recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic. Gilead Sciences CEO Daniel O’Day said on Sunday the company would be donating its entire supply of remdesivir to treat coronavirus patients. Roche Chairman Christoph Franz said Monday morning the drugmaker would be investing more than $400 million in a German testing site. Another week of quarterly reports lies ahead, and a handful of retail locations are reopening as U.S. states loosen lockdown restrictions.

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 3.5 million
  • Global deaths: At least 247,752
  • US cases: More than 1.1 million
  • US deaths: At least 67,686

The data above was compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

7:08 am: Roche CEO says it is ‘very likely’ patients develop immunity

People who have recovered from Covid-19 are “very likely” to be immune to the virus, according to Roche CEO Severin Schwan. 

“We know from other coronaviruses that it’s very likely as soon as you have gone through an infection you will also acquire immunity,” he said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe,” adding that more research is needed. “We need studies to really see whether those people who have been infected once are subject to reinfection. But there’s a high likelihood that this will be the case.”

However, Schwan called for more research into the matter. —Chloe Taylor

6:56 am: Roche to invest 400 million euros in German testing site

Volunteers dressed in protective suits, masks, gloves and goggles carrying blood and throat mucous samples to test for COVID-19 on March 27, 2020 in Berlin, Germany.

Sean Gallup | Getty Images

Swiss drugmaker Roche will invest more than 400 million euros ($437 million) in a German testing site, according to a report from Reuters. Roche Chairman Christoph Franz said the investment will include making antibody tests in order to detect people who have already been infected with virus and recovered. 

Franz said the drugmaker will invest in its biochemical production facility in Penzberg, as well as in additional diagnostics research and development, Reuters reported. —Sara Salinas

5:45 am: Germany’s coronavirus reproduction rate stands at 0.74

The reproduction rate of the coronavirus in Germany is currently estimated at 0.74 on average, Health Minister Jens Spahn said, Reuters reported.

The reproduction rate refers to how many people could be expected to be infected by someone with the virus, on average. Health authorities want to keep that number below 1 so the spread of the virus gradually slows. — Holly Ellyatt

5:15 am: Spain’s daily death toll rises by 164

Health workers wear protective masks as they observe a minute’s silence at the entrance of the Hospital Doctor Peset in remembrance of nursing staff who have died due to Covid-19 on April 06, 2020 in Valencia, Spain.

Rober Solsona | Europa Press News | Getty Images

The total number of deaths caused by the coronavirus in Spain has reached 25,428 on Monday, up from 25,264 the previous day, its health ministry said. That marks a daily increase of 164 deaths.

Spain has recorded 218,011 cases of the virus, the second highest total from an individual country in the world, after the U.S. —Holly Ellyatt

4:50 am: Japan extends state of emergency to May 31

Few passengers are seen on a Tsukuba Express train amid the coronavirus pandemic on April 27, 2020 in Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan.

Etsuo Hara | Getty Images

Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has decided to extend the country’s national state of emergency to May 31.

Abe will consider lifting the state of emergency without waiting for its May 31 expiration if experts decide that is possible based on regional infection trends, Reuters reported Abe as saying at the start of a meeting of the government’s coronavirus task force. —Holly Ellyatt

4:33 am: Euro zone manufacturing economy contracts at record pace in April

Activity in the euro zone’s manufacturing sector contracted at a record rate in April with Covid-19 related measures impacting heavily on demand and production, a survey showed.

IHS Markit’s Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for manufacturing fell to 33.4 in April from 44.5 in March, the final PMI data showed Monday. It’s slightly lower than preliminary (flash) data estimating a decline to 33.6. The 50-point mark separates monthly expansion from contraction.

“Below the earlier flash reading, the latest PMI was the lowest ever recorded by the series (which began in June 1997), surpassing readings seen during the depths of the global financial crisis and indicative of a considerable deterioration in operating conditions,” IHS Markit said as it released the data.

“Output, new orders, export sales and purchasing activity all fell at record rates, whilst supply side constraints intensified to an unprecedented extent. Confidence about the future sank to a fresh series low.” —Holly Ellyatt

4:00 am: Russia sees another daily rise in cases of over 10,000

A woman wearing a protective mask holds flowers near a makeshift memorial for medics, who reportedly died in Saint Petersburg and Leningrad Region in the times of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in central Saint Petersburg, Russia April 28, 2020.

Anton Vaganov | Reuters

The number of new cases in Russia has risen by 10,581 over the past 24 hours, its crisis response center said. That compares to a daily increase of 10,633 that was recorded on Sunday.

Russia’s total number of cases has reached 145,268 and it has recorded 1,356 deaths. Russia has now become the 7th worst- hit country in the world in terms of infections, Johns Hopkins University data shows. Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin was diagnosed with the coronavirus just last week. —Holly Ellyatt

Read CNBC’s coverage from CNBC’s Asia-Pacific and Europe teams overnight here: Russia sees over 10,000 new cases; Euro zone manufacturing slumps in April

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