Dow Futures Plunge Nearly 900 Points Amid Concerns Over Resurgence of Coronavirus Infections

European stocks and the major U.S. stock indexes are poised to open lower Monday amid concerns over a resurgence of the coronavirus in Asia, particularly Beijing, and the U.S. as lockdowns are eased.

London’s FTSE is seen 34 points lower at 6,054, Germany’s DAX is expected to open 96 points lower at 11,835, France’s CAC 40 is seen 42 points lower at 4,783 and Italy’s FTSE MIB is seen 278 points lower at 18,675, according to IG.

Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 778 points, implying a drop of more than 850 points at the Monday open. S&P 500 and NASDAQ-100 futures also pointed to Monday opening declines for the two indexes.

States Reporting Rise in Daily New Coronavirus Cases

Reuters wrote that states in the reopening process including Alabama, California, Florida and North Carolina are reporting a rise in daily new coronavirus cases. Texas and North Carolina reported a record number of virus-related hospitalizations Saturday.

Meanwhile, Governor Andrew Cuomo warned New Yorkers against triggering a second wave of the coronavirus.

CDC Warns of Second Coronavirus Wave as States Lift Lockdowns

States may need to lock back down if coronavirus cases spike, the CDC is warning.

“If cases begin to go up again, particularly if they go up dramatically, it’s important to recognize that more mitigation efforts such as what were implemented back in March may be needed again,” Jay Butler, the agency’s deputy director for infectious diseases, told reporters Friday.

However, the second wave of lockdowns could be accomplished on a local, rather than state-wide level, Butler said.

“Right now, communities are experiencing different levels of transmission occurring as they gradually ease up onto the community mitigation efforts and gradually reopen,” he said.

Beijing District in ‘Wartime Emergency’ after Virus Spike Shuts Market

A district of Beijing was on a “wartime” footing and the capital banned tourism on Saturday after a cluster of novel coronavirus infections centered around a major wholesale market sparked fears of a new wave of COVID-19, Reuters reported.

Concern is growing of a second wave of the pandemic, which has infected more than 7.66 million people worldwide and killed more than 420,000, even in many countries that seemed to have curbed its spread.

Chu Junwei, an official of Beijing’s southwestern Fengtai district, told a briefing on Saturday that the district was in “wartime emergency mode”.

Shutting Down US Economy is Not an Option

Despite the spike in US COVID-19 cases and the warning from the CDC, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told CNBC that shutting down the economy for a second time to slow COVID-19 isn’t a viable option as it will “create more damage.”

“We can’t shut down the economy again. I think we’ve learned that if you shut down the economy, you’re going to create more damage,” Mnuchin said in an interview with CNBC’s Jim Cramer on “Squawk on the Street.”

“And not just economic damage, but there are other areas and we’ve talked about this:  medical problems and everything else that get put on hold,” he added. “I think it was very prudent what the president did, but I think we’ve learned a lot.”

For a look at all of today’s economic events, check out our economic calendar.