Donald Trump has recommended this Monday that all Americans avoid meeting in groups of more than 10 people, as well as attending bars and restaurants and taking unnecessary trips for the next 15 days to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. In a more realistic and respectful tone with the facts than he has been using since the explosion of the global crisis, the president has recognized in a press conference at the White House that the outbreak “is not controlled” and that it could extend until July or August “or even more”. The new guidelines to follow were announced as Wall Street closed the session with a Dow Jones crash of almost 3,000 points, its biggest daily fall since Black Monday in 1987, despite the extraordinary stimulus package announced yesterday by the Federal Reserve. Trump has admitted that “perhaps” the US economy is in recession.
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Hours before the American president made the most extreme recommendations to date, New York, New Jersey and Connecticut states banned encounters with more than 50 people, as advised this Sunday by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The United States records more than 3,800 cases and at least 65 deaths – two thirds of them in Washington State – as a result of the pandemic. Early Monday morning, US Surgeon General Jerome Adams said on the Fox and Friends program that the country is at “a tipping point” and that, according to projections, “There are many possibilities of becoming Italy”, which accumulates 2,158 deaths.
The Chamber of Commerce pressed this morning through a letter calling on the US president and Congress, who are still working on a plan to appease the economic impact the crisis is causing, to targeted action. The largest US business group has called for a law to be passed that includes a three-month suspension of some taxes and more flexibility in lending to businesses, including small and medium-sized ones. Airlines, on the other hand, requested more than $ 50 billion in federal assistance after being seriously affected by travel restrictions that countries have imposed to stem the spread of the virus. “This is a problem for today, not a problem for tomorrow,” said Nicholas Calio, president and CEO of the association. Airline for America. “We are going to help the airlines, this is not their fault,” Trump has said in response.
After several days of negotiation, last Friday the White House and the mostly Democratic House of Representatives reached an agreement on an aid package of tens of billions of dollars to help citizens. The agreed measures include guaranteeing free tests to diagnose the virus, covering unpaid sick leave, unemployment benefits, aid for food purchases and other measures.
Trump participated this morning in a teleconference with the governors of the States in which he told them that they should not depend on the respirators granted by federal officials to treat the infected, but they have to try to get them on their own, just like the fans and other equipment. “If they can get it faster by another means, it will be easier,” said the president. “There may not be enough respirators, but if there are not, we will get more.”
As millions of Americans isolate themselves at home as a precaution, the Kaiser Permanente Washington Research Institute conducted the first clinical trial of an experimental vaccine against the virus on Monday in Seattle. 45 healthy individuals, ages 18 to 55, received the first injection on Monday and will receive a second injection in an additional 28 days. Dr. Anthony Fauci, chief of the infectious diseases division of the US National Institutes of Health, warned that they will be followed up for a year, so before that, if successful, it will not be available for widespread use. .
The impact of the virus has also changed the primary campaign that is in the equator of its electoral process. The states of Louisiana and Georgia have postponed their appointments from April 4 to June, and from March 24 to May. This Tuesday Arizona, Florida, Illinois and Ohio are scheduled to go to the polls to choose their Democratic candidate between former Vice President Joe Biden and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders. Ohio Governor Mike DeWine noted that tomorrow’s appointment does not meet CDC recommendations and advised changing the date for June. The Democratic National Convention, where the presidential candidate is made official, has a date of July 13. Asked about the postponements of the primaries, Trump said he sees it as “unnecessary.”
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