CNBC Business

The price of rice — a staple food in Asia — has hit 7-year highs due to the coronavirus crisis as importers rush to stockpile the grain while exporters curb shipments.

While Gen Z's total spending is down sharply, when they do go shopping, brands like Nike, Lululemon and Amazon are top on the list. Often, that's after they've stopped at Chik-fil-A or Starbucks to fuel up.

The Philippine government has set aside around $23 billion in funding for healthcare and economic efforts during the outbreak, said Secretary of Finance Carlos Dominguez.

Indian budget hotel chain Oyo has pledged to "do right" by offering free accommodation to coronavirus frontliner workers and citizens stranded overseas, even as the $10 billion start-up continues to battle criticism over its treatment of hotel owners.

COVID-19 has now infected more than 1,428,400 people around the world, killing at least 82,000 people as of Tuesday.

The consequences of the coronavirus crisis will likely to be far more serious than the global financial crisis, said Singapore's home affairs minister, K. Shanmugam.

"I think it's incredible that there's still an appetite for risky debt here, and that could make a huge difference for an ultimate economic comeback," the "Mad Money" host said.

DocuSign CEO Dan Springer told CNBC the company has experienced challenges among its clients in the travel and hospitality sector.

"[T]here's no need to chase stocks after this week's rally. You can afford to be patient and buy the dips," the "Mad Money" host said.

"Mad Money" host Jim Cramer rings the lightning round bell, which means he's giving his answers to callers' stock questions at rapid speed.

Levi Strauss, which has been around for 167 years, is going to use COVID-19 "as an opportunity to come out stronger on the other side," CEO Chip Bergh tells CNBC.

"In a U-shaped recovery I'm expecting, the stock market will pull back again and that is when you can put some money to work," the "Mad Money" host said.

Despite the jump in deaths, Gov. Phil Murphy noted that the spread of the virus appears to be slowing down, though he cautioned that it's too early to say so definitively.

A coalition of health and industry partners is looking at convalescent plasma as a potential treatment for the coronavirus, Mayo Clinic CEO Dr. Gianrico Farrugia told CNBC on Tuesday.

"I don't want to risk it. I think America doesn't want to risk it," CNBC's Jim Cramer said Tuesday, regarding quickly reopening the U.S. economy.

In its quarterly earnings report published last week, Carnival did not provide 2020 guidance but assured investors that it will be able to remain in compliance with its debt obligations for at least 12 months.

Stocks among the hardest-hit by the coronavirus, including cruise and airline stocks, rallied on Tuesday.

"The virus is not going to go away until we have a vaccine, so we're always going to have to find strategies to deal with this, to prevent the next wave," said Johns Hopkins University's Dr. Robert Bollinger.

Broad testing of people for the coronavirus as was done in South Korea could slow the spread of COVID-19 in some parts of the United States, an infectious diseases expert said.