Month: March 2020

U.S. President Donald Trump’s new coronavirus guidelines for Americans lays out what people should and should not do for the next 15 days, giving strong encouragement to the public to stop most social activities to halt the spread of the pandemic.  

Announcing the new guidelines from his coronavirus task force, the president Monday said people should avoid social gatherings of more than 10 people and should avoid eating in restaurants, taking shopping trips and all discretionary travel. In states where there is community transmission of the virus, the guidelines advise governors to close areas where people congregate, including restaurants, gyms and other venues.   

“With several weeks of focused action, we can turn the corner and turn it quickly,” Trump told reporters at the White House Monday.   

The measures urge people to work or be schooled from home whenever possible and to not visit nursing homes or long-term care facilities unless it is to provide critical assistance. Governors are encouraged to close schools in areas where there is evidence of community transmission of the virus. 

Those who are instructed to maintain a normal work schedule are employees who work in critical industries, which include health care services, the pharmaceutical industry and food services. The guidelines say such workers “have a special responsibility” to keep showing up to work, unless they are sick.   

Anyone who is sick must stay home from work and contact their medical provider, according to the guidelines. Parents who have children who are sick must not send them to school, and if any household member is sick, all family members are instructed to stay home.   

The measures call for all older people, as well as all people with a serious underlying health condition, to stay home and away from all other people. Such health conditions include those that weaken the lungs or heart or impair the immune system.   

The advice tells those who are young and healthy that they are still at risk and that their activities can increase the risk for others. 

“It is critical that you do your part to slow the spread of the coronavirus,” the guidelines advise young people. 

In terms of hygiene, the guidelines call on people to wash their hands after touching any frequently used surface or item, to avoid touching the face, to sneeze and cough into a tissue or the elbow, and to frequently disinfect surfaces.  

The United States has recorded about 3,800 infections of coronavirus and at least 70 deaths. 

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The White House is recommending people in the United States avoid social gatherings of more than 10 people for at least the next 15 days.

Commenting on the new guidance from his administration’s coronavirus task force, President Donald Trump said Americans should school at home, avoid traveling, and not patronize bars and restaurants.

“As we combat the virus, each and every one of us has a critical role to play in stopping the spread and transmission of the virus,” said the president, leading a nearly one-hour long briefing for reporters.

He denied a nationwide curfew is under consideration.

Asked how long the virus crisis would last, Trump predicted it would be until July or August or possibly longer.

“It could be right in that period of time where … it washes through,” Trump said.

As normal life in the United States quickly came to a halt with mandated closures of businesses beginning in many states, stock prices on Wall Street plunged Monday.  

Despite an extraordinary move taken by the Federal Reserve a day earlier to boost investor confidence, the Dow Jones Industrial on Monday dived 3,000 points to close 13 percent lower — the worst trading day since the start of the coronavirus crisis. 

“The market will be very strong as soon as we get rid of the virus,” Trump replied when told of the closing numbers while he was still at the briefing room lectern.

The Fed, which is America’s central bank, on Sunday made an emergency cut to interest rates, bringing them to near zero, amid deep concern that the coronavirus pandemic will hit corporate revenue globally. Despite the move, Asia markets fell sharply in Monday trading, a harbinger of what would happen hours later on Wall Street.  

Both Trump and the White House economic adviser, Larry Kudlow, acknowledged on Monday the country could be headed into a recession.

“No question about it, we are going to be challenged. I’m not going to label it one thing or another,” Kudlow responded to a question from VOA.

Kudlow added that while first quarter statistics will be fine, the second quarter “could be a very difficult quarter.” 

To help mitigate the impact to the domestic economy, Kudlow revealed the administration is considering offering companies 100 percent expensing to move their factories back from China.

“It’ll help everybody in America,” said Kudlow, who explained Trump has not yet signed off on the proposal.

Trump later in the day also said the government is looking at bailing out domestic airlines suffering severe turbulence from the loss of passengers due to the pandemic.

“We’re going to back the airlines 100 percent. It’s not their fault,” he told reporters.

Trump on Monday spoke with other G-7 leaders to coordinate action in response to COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.

“It was a very good discussion,” said Trump, describing great camaraderie among the leaders, although he gave no specifics on the outcome.

After the G-7 call, Trump held a similar call with state governors on the same topic.  

The president acknowledged he told the governors that if they are able to acquire needed ventilators and respirators for their hospitals quicker than they can get them from the federal government, they should do that.

The United States has more than 4,100 coronavirus cases in all but one of the 50 states.    

There are 69 deaths reported from the disease in the country.      

The Senate, controlled by the president’s Republican Party, this week is considering a coronavirus relief package.

The legislation, as approved by the Democrat-controlled House, ensures individuals would have access to free coronavirus testing, ensure displaced workers get paid leave and other benefits.

Trump suggested the bill might be made “even better” by Senate Republicans to include sick leave for a larger group of workers. 
 

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Seven million Californians living in and around San Francisco are being ordered to shelter in place — the most draconian step taken so far to stop the spread of the coronavirus. 

“We know these measures will significantly disrupt people’s day-to-day lives, but they are absolutely necessary,” San Francisco Mayor London Breed said Monday. “This is going to be a defining moment for our city and we all have a responsibility to do our part to protect our neighbors and slow the spread of this virus by staying at home unless it is absolutely essential to go outside.”  

The order affects not only the city of San Francisco, but six surrounding counties in Northern California. 

All stores and businesses will be shuttered except for such essential places as supermarkets and drug stores. 

San Francisco Police Chief William Scott says officers will take what he calls a “compassionate common sense approach” toward anyone who starts suffering from cabin fever and has to leave his house. Scott says police will treat a violation as a misdemeanor, but only as an “absolute last resort.” 

The lockdown will remain in force through April 7.  

Other U.S. cities have banned gatherings of more than 250 people, closed schools and restaurants, and canceled a variety of events. But this is the first large municipality to order people off the streets — the same action that has been taken in all of Italy. There have been no reports of any major ill-effects from the lockdown there so far.  

Keeping people as far apart as possible during the pandemic has given birth to the first new global catch phrase of the 2020s: “social distancing” — the practice of keeping people at least 1.8 meters away from each other to avoid spreading the coronavirus.    

The World Health Organization said Monday it welcomes social distancing as a necessity. But WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said more importantly, every suspected case must be tested.   

“If they test positive, isolate them and find out who they have been in close contact with up to two days before they developed symptoms, and test those people too,” Tedros said.  

U.S. health officials have decried the lack of coronavirus testing kits despite White House assurances that everyone who wants a test would soon be able to get one. 

Meanwhile, many schools around U.S. and other countries are shut down. New York and Los Angeles have ordered movie theaters closed and restaurants are offering only delivery and food to go. 

The Netherlands and Turkey have ordered similar closures, while New Zealand on Monday became the latest country to ban large gatherings of more than 500 people. 

The Vatican announced Pope Francis will hold Easter week services without an audience.   

Argentina, Canada, Colombia and Panama are the latest countries to seal off their borders to foreign visitors. 
 

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A lockdown of Metro Manila to contain a coronavirus outbreak in the Philippines will cut national economic growth that depends largely on the flow of people through the 13 million-person capital and its suburbs, analysts say. 

President Rodrigo Duterte ordered last week that the National Capital Region be sealed off from March 15 through April 14. The order came after officials discovered local transmission of the deadly virus that has infected people in 125 countries over the past two months. 

Land, air and sea travel will stop during the lockdown month and anyone entering the metro area for work from its farther-flung suburbs must show proof of employment, according to official documents and people living in Manila.  

The lockdown will set back GDP growth this year by 0.3% to 0.5%, said Jonathan Ravelas, chief market strategist with Banco de Oro UniBank.  

The Southeast Asian country initially forecast by the Asian Development Bank to grow 6% this year depends heavily on consumer spending, which is growing because of job creation on the back of new investments in factories, infrastructure and call centers. Officials hope GDP growth will help ease poverty that afflicts one in five Filipinos. 

Many inbound workers lack company ID cards, sources in Manila say. They say malls are supposed to shutter and erode the income of people who work there. Duterte himself encouraged younger people to stay home. 

“If people can’t get to work, then they can’t get paid,” said Christian de Guzman, vice president and senior credit officer with Moody’s Sovereign Risk Group. “That has a feedback loop into the confidence effect and what it means for consumption.” 

Countries such as China and Italy, which have many more coronavirus cases than the 140 reported by the Philippines as of March 15, also declared mass lockdowns. In most of the world, however, lockdowns apply to communities with sudden or uncontrolled outbreaks.  

Nearly 170,000 cases of the virus have been recorded worldwide since it was discovered in China three months ago. 

The “unprecedented” move in Manila will hurt tourism and business meetings by suspending flights over the coming month, de Guzman said. If overseas workers can’t leave the country for jobs abroad, the Philippine economy would miss their remittances from abroad, he added. Those remittances make up 9% of the $356.8 billion economy. 

It’s unclear, he said, whether equipment for Philippine infrastructure projects can get in through Manila over the coming month. 

Officials haven’t made it clear either how the government might compensate people who can’t work or stores that must close, said Maria Ela Atienza, political science professor at the University of the Philippines Diliman. Normally the capital’s giant Robinsons Malls and SM Supermalls do steady business after work and on weekends. 

The degree of damage to economic growth in the Philippines will depend on how well lockdown measures control disease spread, market strategist Ravelas said. 

“I think the government just took a drastic measure because we don’t want to be like South Korea or maybe Iran or Italy,” said Aaron Rabena, research fellow at Asia-Pacific Pathways to Progress Foundation. He plans to work from home. “We can’t be just a country who will just act when the problem is already there, it’s already worse.” 

Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia said the lockdown’s economic impact will be “minimal and ephemeral,” as quoted Friday by domestic media outlet GMA News Online. 

The lockdown is raising questions about effectiveness, especially if workers are still allowed to come and go and health workers can’t keep up with new virus cases, Atienza said. National police will find it a challenge to check all roads leading into the capital region, she added. 

“People are scared, because in a way it shows lack of trust in government because our public health system for the past few years has suffered from lack of funding,” Atienza said. “We really are unprepared for pandemics.” 

Over the weekend, people packed bus stations and the airport to get out of Manila before the lockdown started at 12:00 a.m. Sunday, she said. 

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Haiti will close its border with the Dominican Republic as of midnight on Monday, Prime Minister Jouthe Joseph announced Sunday.   

Joseph said an exception is being made for merchandise, which will still be allowed across the border after screening.  He said Dominican officials will test those aboard the vehicles prior to entering Haiti, and Haitian health officials will also test them upon entry.   
 
The move aims to keep the coronavirus, which has sickened 11 people in the neighboring Dominican Republic, out.  So far Haiti has no confirmed cases of the deadly disease. The country’s first suspected case, an unidentified foreign woman who had traveled to one of the countries where the coronavirus has spread, tested negative for the disease.  

“We are asking people to take this pandemic very seriously,” Joseph said. “We are asking for the cooperation of all Haitian citizens as well as foreigners living in Haiti.” 

The prime minister announced that Haiti is also suspending all flights from Europe and Latin America. Flights from the United States are under evaluation, he said.  
 
“We are evaluating fights between Port-au-Prince and New York, Port-au-Prince and Miami, Cape Haitian and Miami, Cape Haitian and Fort Lauderdale,” he said. “We have an agreement with American air transportation officials that all passengers boarding planes for Haiti must be screened for coronavirus.” 
 
He said Public Health officials at the nation’s two international airports – in Port-au-Prince and Cape Haitian  – are already screening passengers for the virus upon arrival. Quarantine facilities have also been set up for passengers who exhibit flu-like symptoms. They will be required to fill out a special form, regarding the disease.  
 
“If you are asked to undergo testing or if you are ordered to be quarantined, we urge you to cooperate.  Don’t be angry, this is being done to protect our country,” he said. 
 
Joseph appealed to avoid traveling outside of the country, unless it’s an emergency. 
 
“We urge all Haitians to avoid all non-essential travel. Do not travel to any foreign country unless it’s urgent that you do so,” Joseph said.  

According to the prime minister, the extra measures to reinforce the country’s land and maritime borders and its airports have been successful in keeping the pandemic out so far.    

In addition to new restrictions affecting civilian travel, the prime minister said the government has cancelled all official travel.  Joseph said any official who wants to travel abroad must first get approval from either President Jovenel Moise, the prime minister or the foreign minister.  

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The last two major U.S. Democratic presidential candidates – former Vice President Joe Biden and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders – clashed Sunday night in a spirited debate on a range of issues as they made their best case to be the party’s nominee to face Republican President Donald Trump in November’s national election.

The two candidates attacked Trump repeatedly, with Biden calling him “an existential threat to the country,” while Sanders declared that Trump is a “pathological liar” overseeing a “corrupt administration.”

Both assailed Trump’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic in the U.S., with Sanders accusing him of “undermining scientists” and Biden faulting the administration for refusing in the early stages of the crisis to import test kits from other countries when the U.S. had the opportunity to do so.

“This is like we are being attacked,” Biden said. “In a war, you do whatever is required to do to take care of your people. Everything you would need to take care of this crisis would be free. It would be paid for by the U.S. taxpayers.”

Biden said he would call in the military to cope with the crisis while Sanders skirted the issue. Instead, Sanders complained about Trump undermining the government’s response by contradicting what government experts and scientists have recommended.

“What we have to do is shut this president up,” he said.

The two also virtually agreed on naming a woman to be their vice presidential running mate. Biden said he definitely would pick a woman and Sanders said “in all likelihood” he would, provided he could find someone who agrees with his progressive policies.

But the two Democrats quarreled with each other on how best to take on Trump, the New York real estate mogul and first-time politician who won an upset victory in 2016 to become the country’s 45^th president.

Biden and Sanders often argued over the minutiae of legislation in the U.S. Congress when both were senators and later when Biden served two terms as vice president under former President Barack Obama from 2009-2017.

Sanders called for a political revolution to take on special interests that control health care and energy production in the U.S. Biden promoted less dramatic changes, but ones that also would move American policies significantly to the left philosophically from the Trump administration.

Sanders argued that his plan for a government takeover of health care in the U.S. – he calls it Medicare for All – was a moral imperative so that “everyone will get the care they need.” Biden said his plans for more measured improvements on top of the health care plan adopted under Obama – popularly known as Obamacare – would help more Americans at less cost.

“People are looking for results, not a revolution,” Biden said. “What people want is hope and they need it now, not four years from now.”

Biden at one point cut off Sanders, saying: “With all due respect to Medicare for All, you have a single-payer system in Italy. It doesn’t work there.” Biden was referring to the coronavirus crisis in Italy that is among the worst in Europe. “It has nothing to do with Medicare for All — that would not solve the problem at all. We can take care of that right now by making sure that no one has to pay for treatment period because of the crisis,” he said.

On another issue, Sanders attacked Biden’s support for the 2008 bailout of floundering Wall Street financial giants as the recession worsened more than a decade ago. Biden retorted, “It kept us from going into a depression.”

Sanders also criticized Biden’s support of the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq, which Biden now admits was a mistake.

Sanders claimed Biden supported cuts in the country’s cherished Social Security payments to older Americans.

“No, I did not,” Biden responded sharply.

Sunday’s debate had been scheduled before a live audience, just as with a string of previous Democratic encounters. But the spread of the deadly coronavirus forced the two longtime politicians into CNN’s Washington studio for their two-hour debate and there was no audience, in an effort to limit the possibility of exposing even more people to the virus.

Biden in the lead

At the moment, Biden holds a clear edge in the delegate count in the race for the Democratic nomination. The two squared off in what could turn out to be the last debate before the party’s national nominating convention in July.

After a stumbling start in the first three presidential nominating contests in February, Biden has won 16 of the last 21 state elections and is heavily favored in the next four on Tuesday. They are scattered across the U.S., in Florida in the South, Ohio and Illinois in the Midwest, and Arizona in the Southwest. 

Biden needs a majority of at least 1,991 delegates at the convention and currently leads Sanders, 809-666. Projections at the fivethirtyeight.com political forecasting site say Biden is likely to add another 200 delegates to that margin in Tuesday’s voting.

The earlier debates have had at least six candidates on stage, often leading to a verbal free-for-all with candidates talking over each other and leaving television viewers at a loss to understand any single individual.

Even with the debate stage narrowed to two candidates, Biden and Sanders frequently interrupted each other.

All of the other Democratic candidates who have dropped out of the presidential race have endorsed Biden as they exited, with the exception of Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who has yet to endorse either Biden or Sanders.

But with Biden now projected to win the party nomination in his third run for the presidency over three decades, Sanders, a self-declared democratic socialist, has sought to make the case that he is best-suited to take on Trump, who at 73 is younger than either Biden, 77, or Sanders, 78.

Biden, known widely for verbal gaffes, in recent campaign appearances mixed up what day the last primary elections were occurring and also was unable to recall key words from the country’s Declaration of Independence that many school-age children could recite.

In recent campaign appearances, the normally verbose Biden has read his speeches off a teleprompter and the addresses have been noticeably shorter to minimize the chance for more verbal missteps.

That, of course, wasn’t possible with Sunday night’s give-and-take with Sanders and Biden standing two meters apart behind podiums. Biden seemed self-assured throughout the debate and assertive in his exchanges with Sanders.

But both said they would support and campaign for the other against Trump, no matter which of them wins the Democratic nomination. 

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