By Brenda Goodman, CNN

(CNN) — Since the first sign of an outbreak, the reminders have come from government officials, health agencies and plenty of experts: There’s no reason to worry. Don’t panic. It’s under control.

“We have this under control, and we’re not worried about it,” US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said at a briefing Monday when asked about the hantavirus outbreak that has moved from cruise ship to quarantine.

“The thing about this one,” President Donald Trump said in the same briefing, “it’s much harder to catch. It’s been around for a long time. People are very familiar with it. I hope it’s fine.”

In a society with still-fresh memories of the loss and disruptions of the Covid-19 pandemic, federal and state officials have repeatedly assured the public that the hantavirus – even the Andes strain, which can be transmitted from person to person – is not the menace the world was facing six years ago.

It’s true that it’s no Covid. Although the illness the Andes virus causes can be serious and even deadly, it’s not as contagious as measles or even the flu, which means it may be contained more easily. Officials also point out that Covid was a brand-new virus, while this one is not. Knowledge of the Andes virus is limited, but it has been studied in outbreak settings before.

More cases are expected to be identified, but both the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization say the risk to the general public remains low.

Still, some health experts say that at points, the messaging has been overly confident and too willing to dismiss the possibility of a threat. Statements meant to quell anxiety instead risk undermining trust if they later turn out not to be true.

There’s a difficult balance, too, in trying to keep it simple and ending up too vague.

Late Sunday, after the return of 18 passengers from the cruise ship MV Hondius to the United States, HHS announced that one person had tested “mildly PCR positive” for the Andes strain of hantavirus.

That phrasing launched a barrage of criticism.

“Fortunately, the receiving facility is equipped to handle this. But whoever wrote that someone tested ‘mildly positive’ is an idiot,” wrote Dr. Jeremy Faust, an ER doctor at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston and editor of the doctor-focused news site MedPage Today. “They have it.”

On Monday, the CDC’s Dr. Brendan Jackson explained in a news briefing that the person had two tests before arriving in the United States: one positive, one negative. Follow-up testing will help doctors make a more definitive diagnosis, he said.

Even so, to some, it exemplified the communications problems around the hantavirus outbreak.

“What does ‘mildly PCR positive’ mean? Symptomatic or not? Confirmed or suspected? What testing was done? Clear, precise public health communication matters,” said Dr. Krutika Kuppalli, an infectious disease expert at UT Southwestern Medical Center who has also worked as a medical officer for the World Health Organization, on social media. “This is another example of the leadership void we are seeing and when messaging is vague, misinformation fills the gaps.”

Confident or ‘calm-mongering’?

Dr. David Berger, an Australian physician who was once the ship’s doctor on an Oceanwide Expeditions cr

Por Ariel Edwards-Levy, CNN

Es la economía del presidente Donald Trump, y la mayoría de los estadounidenses no están contentos con ella.

Una nueva encuesta de CNN, realizada por SSRS, revela que el 77 % —incluida la mayoría de los republicanos— afirma que las políticas de Trump han encarecido su comunidad.

Aproximadamente dos tercios de los estadounidenses opinan que las políticas de Trump han empeorado la situación económica del país. Además, su índice de aprobación en materia económica se sitúa en el 30 %, el más bajo de su carrera.

El pesimismo económico se ha convertido en una constante del panorama político. Las perspectivas sobre la economía estadounidense se han mantenido negativas desde el inicio de la pandemia, con la única excepción de un breve repunte de optimismo al comienzo de la presidencia de Joe Biden.

Ese descontento le dio al Partido Republicano una ventaja de años en cuanto a la confianza para abordar los asuntos económicos.

Ahora, ha dejado al Partido Republicano con la mayor parte de la culpa por las políticas del segundo mandato de Trump.

En la última encuesta, los demócratas gozan de mayor confianza que los republicanos para abordar cuestiones económicas clave, como el costo de vida, el apoyo a la clase media y la inflación.

Sin embargo, una parte importante de la población afirma no confiar en ninguno de los dos partidos en muchos de esos mismos temas.

Un tercio de la población aprueba la forma en que Trump está ayudando a la clase media.

Solo el 26 % de los estadounidenses aprueba su gestión en materia de inflación y el 21 % en lo que respecta a los precios de la gasolina, con importantes focos de insatisfacción incluso entre quienes, en general, apoyan su presidencia.

La mayoría de los republicanos desaprueba su gestión de los precios de la gasolina.

El porcentaje de quienes opinan que las políticas de Trump han provocado un aumento del costo de vida ha subido 17 puntos porcentuales en general desde el año pasado, y 25 puntos entre los republicanos.

La opinión pública está prácticamente dividida a partes iguales sobre qué partido político gestionaría mejor la economía.

Esto contrasta con la ventaja que el Partido Republicano solía tener en este tema durante la era Biden: en una encuesta de CNN de 2022, los estadounidenses afirmaron, por un margen de 15 puntos, que las posturas económicas del Partido Republicano se acercaban más a las suyas.

En lo que respecta al costo de vida, los demócratas tienen una ventaja de 9 puntos.

Esto se debe en parte a las dudas de los republicanos sobre su propio partido: los adultos que se identifican con los demócratas tienen 15 puntos más de probabilidades que los adultos que se identifican con los republicanos de afirmar que su partido podría abordar mejor el problema del costo de vida.

Los demócratas también lideran por un margen de dos dígitos en cuanto a la confianza en su capacidad para abordar la desigualdad de ingresos, los costos de la atención médica y el apoyo a la clase media, con una ventaja menor en el control de la inflación.

Los republicanos lideran en la confianza para gestionar el mercado de valores, con divisiones relativamente ajustadas sobre qué partido gestionaría mejor los impuestos.

La división en temas económicos deja a los demócratas en una posición ventajosa respecto a cuestiones con mayor atractivo populista.

La gran mayoría de los estadounidenses, el 85 %, se identifica como de clase trabajadora, media o media alta, y tres cuartas partes afirman que el sistema económico del país favorece injustamente a los intereses de los poderosos.

En contraste, poco más de la mitad de la población declara tener inversiones en bolsa, incluidos fondos de jubilación.

Pero aquí surge una posible señal de alerta para los demócratas.

En cada uno de los te

By Hanna Ziady, CNN

London (CNN) — Online marketplace eBay has rejected an offer from GameStop to buy the company for $55.5 billion, dealing a blow to the video game retailer’s ambitions to create a rival to Amazon.

After reviewing GameStop’s proposition, the eBay board had concluded that the proposal was “neither credible nor attractive,” eBay board chairman Paul Pressler wrote in a letter to GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen Tuesday. In the letter, which was shared with CNN, Pressler said the board had taken the decision after considering eBay’s “standalone prospects,” the “uncertainty” regarding how the deal would be funded and GameStop’s “governance and executive incentives,” among other factors.

CNN has reached out to GameStop for comment. The company’s shares fell 4.5% in premarket trading.

GameStop’s ambitious bid for a company nearly four times its size had already raised several eyebrows, particularly as details on how Cohen planned to pay for the offer remained vague and he seemed to skirt the issue in an interview with CNBC.

In a bizarre twist, it then emerged that Cohen was selling goods on eBay – to fund the purchase of eBay. Among the merchandise on offer: a GameStop cap for $4,950 and a similarly branded mug going for $3,151.

GameStop’s outlandish proposal comes amid something of a revival at eBay, which has pushed to reinvent itself in the face of rising competition from the likes of Walmart, Amazon, Shein and Facebook Marketplace. The company’s share price has gained 24% this year.

Pressler said that eBay, under its current management team, was “well-positioned to continue to drive sustainable growth… and deliver long-term value for our shareholders.”

“eBay is a strong, resilient business that has delivered meaningful results over the past several years,” he noted. “We have sharpened our strategic focus, strengthened execution, enhanced our marketplace and seller experience, and consistently returned capital to shareholders.”

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By Matt Egan, CNN

New York (CNN) — Gas prices are within striking distance of $5 a gallon, a painful threshold that seemed virtually impossible when the year started. And the high-demand summer driving season hasn’t even begun.

Some experts fear gas could break the all-time highs set in 2022, even though crude oil isn’t as expensive as it was after Russia invaded Ukraine four years ago.

“The risk of $5 gasoline can no longer be dismissed,” Natasha Kaneva, head of global commodities research at JPMorgan, wrote in a note to clients published on Friday.

In fact, gas is more expensive today than it was at this point in the calendar in 2022.

Gas prices have spiked from a national average of $2.98 a gallon when the war with Iran started, to $4.56 a gallon last week, according to AAA. Gas prices have since dropped, but only slightly, to $4.52 on Monday.

The war in the Middle East has led to a 10-week closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a critical chokepoint for energy, sparking instability in the global energy system.

‘A harsher reality’

Some argue that the oil market is underpricing the danger today.

Oil futures haven’t taken out their 2022 highs, which is a surprise given the scale of the supply shock.

Brent crude, the international benchmark, has surged from $70 a barrel in February to $104 today. But Brent went even higher, to $133 a barrel, in March 2022 following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“Rather than complacency, the market may be acknowledging a harsher reality: a shock of this magnitude cannot be absorbed through the crude system alone,” Kaneva wrote in the report.

The thinking is that, unlike in prior shocks, the damage from this energy earthquake isn’t playing out primarily in oil futures. It’s been pushed beneath the surface — to gasoline, jet fuel, diesel and other energy products.

“The next phase of the shock then may look less like a classic crude spike and more like a refining and end-user fuel crunch,” Kaneva wrote.

In other words, gas could hit $5 a gallon without Brent reaching $150.

More jet fuel, less gasoline

Jet fuel has been ground zero for this shock.

In some regions, jet fuel has doubled in price, causing airlines to raise fares and cancel thousands of flights.

In response, refiners have ramped up jet fuel production to meet demand, rebuild inventories and capture sky-high profit margins on jet fuel.

However, that comes with a trade-off: More jet fuel production means less diesel and gas.

As JPMorgan notes, gasoline production is lower by about 340,000 barrels per day compared to a year ago. If supply is down and demand is the same, that leaves prices nowhere to go but up.

Diesel is also near all-time highs

It’s not just gasoline. Diesel is just 18 cents away from reaching its 2022 record high, according to AAA.

By Matt Egan, CNN

New York (CNN) — Gas prices are within striking distance of $5 a gallon, a painful threshold that seemed virtually impossible when the year started. And the high-demand summer driving season hasn’t even begun.

Some experts fear gas could break the all-time highs set in 2022, even though crude oil isn’t as expensive as it was after Russia invaded Ukraine four years ago.

“The risk of $5 gasoline can no longer be dismissed,” Natasha Kaneva, head of global commodities research at JPMorgan, wrote in a note to clients published on Friday.

In fact, gas is more expensive today than it was at this point in the calendar in 2022.

Gas prices have spiked from a national average of $2.98 a gallon when the war with Iran started, to $4.56 a gallon last week, according to AAA. Gas prices have since dropped, but only slightly, to $4.52 on Monday.

The war in the Middle East has led to a 10-week closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a critical chokepoint for energy, sparking instability in the global energy system.

‘A harsher reality’

Some argue that the oil market is underpricing the danger today.

Oil futures haven’t taken out their 2022 highs, which is a surprise given the scale of the supply shock.

Brent crude, the international benchmark, has surged from $70 a barrel in February to $104 today. But Brent went even higher, to $133 a barrel, in March 2022 following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“Rather than complacency, the market may be acknowledging a harsher reality: a shock of this magnitude cannot be absorbed through the crude system alone,” Kaneva wrote in the report.

The thinking is that, unlike in prior shocks, the damage from this energy earthquake isn’t playing out primarily in oil futures. It’s been pushed beneath the surface — to gasoline, jet fuel, diesel and other energy products.

“The next phase of the shock then may look less like a classic crude spike and more like a refining and end-user fuel crunch,” Kaneva wrote.

In other words, gas could hit $5 a gallon without Brent reaching $150.

More jet fuel, less gasoline

Jet fuel has been ground zero for this shock.

In some regions, jet fuel has doubled in price, causing airlines to raise fares and cancel thousands of flights.

In response, refiners have ramped up jet fuel production to meet demand, rebuild inventories and capture sky-high profit margins on jet fuel.

However, that comes with a trade-off: More jet fuel production means less diesel and gas.

As JPMorgan notes, gasoline production is lower by about 340,000 barrels per day compared to a year ago. If supply is down and demand is the same, that leaves prices nowhere to go but up.

Diesel is also near all-time highs

It’s not just gasoline. Diesel is just 18 cents away from reaching its 2022 record high, according to AAA.

Tom Kloza, an independent oil analyst and advisor to Gulf Oil, told CNN that diesel will likely break its all-time high this month — potentially as soon as this week.

Kloza said it’s hard to ease diesel demand because it’s such a crucial fuel for the economy, powering everything from farm equipment and trucks to railroads.

The cost of filling up

The timing is brutal for drivers, with the summer driving season right around the corner.

AAA estimates a record 39.1 million people will travel by car this M