UPDATED Thursday, April 9, 2020, 7 a.m.
Updates reflect latest available stock information.

Preliminary indications are emerging that the United States could be gaining ground in the battle against COVID-19 – a revelation that sent stocks higher on April 8 and provided hope to promotional products companies, and Americans in general, that the beginning of the end to the worst of the health and economic devastation from the virus could soon come into sight.

Data from Johns Hopkins University has indicated that the count of daily rises in coronavirus diagnoses in the U.S. has declined since April 3. Over the same time period, daily increases in COVID-19 cases have also come down on an international level.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said April 8 on Fox News that the fatality count in the U.S. from the coronavirus is now projected to be lower than previously thought. He said there could be a turnaround by as early as the week of April 12.

Relatedly, a model that’s been tracking the U.S.’s coronavirus pandemic is now forecasting that nearly 82,000 people in the country will die from COVID-19 by August. Previously, the model was calling for more than 90,000 deaths. Similarly, the model predicts that 141,000 hospital beds will be needed because of coronavirus; that’s 121,000 less than was initially predicted.

Dr. Christopher Murray, who serves as director of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington School of Medicine, developed the model. He says a “massive infusion” of new data led to the change in forecast.

“If the curve is bending, for the first time, some timeline is coming into focus for restarting at least parts of the economy,” said Jim Paulsen, chief investment strategist at the Leuthold Group, in a report detailed by NBC. “This means investors can start to reduce their best guesses as to how long this recession will last and even if the recession is very deep, if its duration can be shortened and known with some greater clarity, this would tend to raise the value of the stock market.”

That proved true in the short term. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 780 points on Wednesday, April 8. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 was up 11% for the week as of the morning of Thursday, April 9. Also early on April 9, global equities rose as hope grew among investors that a gradual economic recovery could occur in the second half of the year.

While a sure-fire COVID-19 vaccine isn’t available yet, there have been positive developments in the push to develop one.

For many promo pros, any positive signs on the COVID-19 front are welcomed.

“The world has been in a coma, and outside of some PPE sales and a couple normal projects, our business has been too,” Joseph Sommer, owner/founder of New York City-based Whitestone Branding (asi/359741), told Counselor “We're patiently waiting until the economy is ready to go again.”