CNBC Business

Thousands of small businesses that rely on travel and tourism are hopeful this summer isn't a total wash with people staying home due to coronavirus. Their livelihood is dependent on it.

Actress Lori Loughlin and her fashion designer husband Mossimo Giannulli both pleaded guilty Friday to charges stemming from the U.S. college admissions scandal.

"You need to be open enough, especially for businesses that are ready to do volume, to make it worth it," said Chris Clayton.

"In a sense, South America has become a new epicenter for the disease," Mike Ryan, executive director of the WHO's emergencies program, said.

Georgia is eager to restart its lucrative TV and film production industry. On Friday it became the first state to release safety guidelines for shooting within the state.

A potential coronavirus vaccine developed in China appeared to provoke neutralizing antibodies in dozens of patients in an early-stage clinical trial, an important step in developing a vaccine that might provide immunity to Covid-19.

Ark Invest, the firm known for its $7,000 price target on the stock of Tesla, has faced some disbelief for selling shares of the electric auto maker.

"I don't want people to think that any of us feel that staying locked down for a prolonged period of time is the way to go," he tells CNBC.

Hospitals have restarted elective surgery and diagnostic procedures this month and are seeing strong demand from patients rescheduling cases, but executives worry about the pipeline for new procedures, once they've worked the through the backlog.

The state reported 225 new Covid-19 cases on Thursday, based on a three-day rolling average, which is at a "level now that is lower than we first began," Gov. Andrew Cuomo said at his daily press briefing.

Check out the companies making headlines in midday trading on Friday.

Some people are dipping into stocks as an outlet for competition and betting as professional sports are on hold due to Covid-19.

"Now we can't be complacent coming off the summer, heading into the fall, when the risk is going to be very different," former FDA chief Dr. Scott Gottlieb told CNBC

Slightly more than half of the 129 countries reporting data to the World Health Organization, UNICEF, Gavi and the Sabin Vaccine Institute indicated that routine childhood immunization services were moderately to severely disrupted, or were totally suspended, from March to April.

A Pakistan International Airlines passenger plane crashed near the Jinnah International Airport in Karachi, according to the civil aviation authority.

Dr. Anthony Fauci also said any timeline for a vaccine is "never a promise."

Patients who took the drug or chloroquine were also more likely to develop irregular heart rhythms, researchers said.

The number of newly reported coronavirus cases worldwide hit a daily record this week at more than 100,000 new cases over a 24-hour span.

"If we're going to continue our great renaissance as a city, we're going to have to open up more streets and public space to restaurants or … they're not going to survive," Cincinnati Mayor John Cranley said.

With the three-day Memorial Day weekend marking the first big sales push since the coronavirus crisis took hold, shoppers can expect to find deals aplenty as states reopen and dealerships look to rebound from a dismal April.