The U.S. is headed for its worst week of Covid-19 in months as a resurgence takes hold in the Northeast and outbreaks in the Midwest result in unprecedented death. The seven-day average of new cases climbed to almost 47,000, the most since Aug. 19. Thursday’s single-day total of 56,145 was the second-highest since the summer when premature state reopenings led to a firestorm of infection and death across the U.S. South and West. While the virus is hitting many parts of rural America for the first time, some politicians are fighting to undo or block public health measures aimed at slowing its spread. Meanwhile, the Tristate Area of New York, Connecticut and New Jersey, where more than 50,000 Americans died this spring, is seeing a second wave. —David E. Rovella

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Here are today’s top stories

Daily Covid-19 cases around the world topped 350,000, a new record. Germany, France and Spain are declaring alerts and emergencies as the virus spikes in those nations again. The U.K’s coronavirus caseload surged amid growing anger over Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s strategy for dealing with the crisis. A push for a new rapid test hit a speed bump thanks to false positives but an experimental dual vaccine for influenza and the coronavirus delivered via nasal spray will enter human studies in Hong Kong next month. Here is the latest on the global pandemic.

From a Democratic sweep to the unwinding of September’s correction to a belief that a second Congressional bailout is inevitable, there are a lot of explanations for why the stock market just had its biggest weekly rally in three months. Then there’s the view held by investing legend Mohamed El-Erian.

Wealthy Americans are being told by advisers to take advantage of a Republican tax overhaul while they still can. Otherwise, they risk paying higher taxes if Joe Biden wins the White House and the Democrats take back the Senate. The former vice president has proposed substantially higher taxes on the rich as part of his plan to deal with the recession, fund health care, rebuild infrastructure and battle global warming.

Robinhood users say their accounts were looted, but there was no one to call for help. Now the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is looking into it.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

Photographer: Bloomberg 

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said a second coronavirus rescue package is unlikely before the election, despite President Donald Trump’s latest flip-flop on wanting a deal.

Hours after alleged domestic terrorists with ties to white supremacist groups were charged with attempting to kidnap Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, she blamed Trump—who has repeatedly refused to condemn hate groups—for creating an environment that encourages right-wing criminal acts.

What’s Emily Barrett thinking about? The U.S. rates reporter says sales of both investment-grade and high-yield corporate debt hit full-year records in the third quarter in the race to capitalize on Fed support. But she notes that Pimco Global Economic Advisor Joachim Fels cautioned that policymakers can’t shield investors from losses if a pandemic-fueled corporate borrowing spree spurs a surge in defaults. Despite investor enthusiasm for a Fed backstop that has helped tighten spreads in recent months, the Fed hasn’t proven as ready to leap into the fray at the first signs of a shakeout.

What you’ll need to know tomorrow

• Huawei CFO dealt a new setback in fight against U.S. extradition.
• Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina might just lose.
• Biden doesn’t want donors to know how much money he has.
• Trump reportedly got strange payments from a Las Vegas hotel.
• Fauci: Trump’s Supreme Court nomination a “super-sreader event.”
• Louisiana is about to face a rare double hurricane strike.
• Apple plans to get your gadget to you even faster.

What you’ll want to read tonight in Businessweek

How the World’s Biggest Slum Stopped Covid-19

Dharavi, a massive slum in Mumbai, India, with a population of about 1 million, is probably the most densely packed human settlement on Earth. It has also largely contained the coronavirus. Thanks to an aggressive response by local officials and the active participation of residents, the area has gone from what looked like an out-of-control outbreak in April and May to a late-September average of only 1.3 cases per day for every 100,000 residents. That success has made Dharavi an unlikely role model, its methods copied by epidemiologists elsewhere and earned it praise from the World Health Organization. It’s also a remarkable contrast to the disaster unfolding in the rest of India. 

Dharavi

Photographer: Indranil Mukherjee/AFP//Getty Images

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