US autoworkers return to lines
WARREN, Mich. – More than 130,000 autoworkers returned to factories across the U.S. for the first time in nearly two months Monday in one of the biggest steps yet to restart American industry, while an experimental vaccine against the coronavirus yielded encouraging results in a small and extremely early test.
Stocks rallied on the vaccine news and signs that the worst of the crisis has passed in many countries.
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump said he's been taking a malaria drug to protect against the virus even though his own administration has warned it should only be administered in a hospital or research setting because of potentially fatal side effects.
Automakers reopening dozens of factories had screening procedures in place. No one was immediately cranking out vehicles, because it will take time to get the plants restarted. But workers appeared reassured by the precautions.
At a Fiat Chrysler pickup truck assembly plant in Warren, outside Detroit, workers entered a giant white tent with a sign reading, “Let's restart and keep each other safe.” Inside they had their temperatures checked and answered questions on whether they had symptoms of COVID-19.
“I feel safer than being anywhere at any stores, because they got the screening and everything,” said Ann'alazia Moore, a janitor at the factory. “I feel like that's amazing. That's smart. I like that. So, I feel more safe. I won't get sick.”
Cole Stevenson, who works at a Ford pickup truck plant in Dearborn, Michigan, said, “The parts of the plant where people would be closer together, they've put up a lot of partitions. You can tell they've taken tape measures to just about any surface two people would need to be near each other.”
Meanwhile, an experimental vaccine by Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Moderna Inc. triggered hoped-for immune responses in eight healthy, middle-aged volunteers. They were found to have antibodies similar to those seen in people who have recovered from COVID-19.
Further studies on the vaccine's safety, effectiveness and optimal dosage still need to be done. But with people desperate for any sign of progress against the scourge, the findings caused excitement on Wall Street.
Worldwide, about a dozen vaccine candidates are in the first stages of testing or nearing it. Health officials have said that if all goes well, studies might wrap up late this year or early 2021.
The malaria drug that Trump says he's been taking daily “for about a week and a half now” has not been shown to combat the coronavirus.
“I started taking it, because I think it's good,” Trump said. “I've heard a lot of good stories.”