The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Trump may add strings to bailouts New travel warning for Americans Italy surpasses China in cases
WASHINGTON » President Donald Trump said Thursday the government should take partial ownership of companies bailed out in the coronavirus pandemic, a step that would mark an extraordinary federal reach into the private sector if he was serious. He also held out hope that treatments for COVID-19 might be at hand, voicing far more optimism about quick therapies than federal scientists have expressed.
Trump sought to calm the public’s fears as the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the U.S. climbed above 11,000, with at least 168 deaths. He gave an upbeat promotion of therapeutic drugs in early testing that he said could be “a game-changer and maybe not” in treating those suffering with COVID-19.
But the head of the Food and Drug Administration cautioned that the drugs were still being tested for their effectiveness and safety, a process that takes months and may or may not yield anything. And a few hours after Trump’s remark, the FDA reminded the public in a statement there are “no FDA-approved therapeutics or drugs to treat, cure or prevent COVID-19.”
Meanwhile the State Department issued an alert warning Americans not to travel abroad under any circumstances and to return home if they are already outside the country, unless they plan to stay there.
On Capitol Hill, lawmakers worked urgently to fashion a $1 trillion aid package to prop up households and the U.S. economy, starting with a White House proposal to send Americans direct aid, potentially $3,000 for a family of four. Congress also is working to increase production of medical supplies and build temporary field hospitals under new authorities Trump invoked in the Defense Production Act.
Republicans want to have small businesses send paychecks to workers being forced to stay home — through government assistance that would not have to be repaid. They also want to shore up airlines and other industries, but those loans would have to be paid back. Democrats are exploring “unemployment insurance on steroids.”
His mood turning at a White House briefing, Trump stepped up his criticism of China for not telling the world earlier about the spreading disease that started there and went global. The “world is paying a very big price” because of that, he said. Trump now is repeatedly citing the “Chinese virus” or “China virus” despite the fraught connotations of naming a disease after a people or a country.
“Now the whole world is inflicted with this horrible, horrible virus and it’s too bad,” Trump said, lamenting how the U.S economy was healthy “just a few weeks ago.”
More than eight weeks after the first U.S. case of the virus was detected, the federal government is still struggling to conduct widescale testing. Compounding the problem, laboratories are reporting shortages of supplies needed to protect health care workers and ventilators that are used to treat respiratory symptoms of the virus.
For most people, COVID-19 causesonlymildormoderatesymptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia.
Trump called the battle against coronavirus a “medical war” not a “financial war.” But he said he believed the U.S. government should take equity stakes in some companies hard hit by the pandemic and aided by taxpayers. Some Republicans in Congress worry this could lead to the government picking winners and losers. It was not clear that Trump had made any firm decision to attach such strings.
“We will be helping the airline industry,” he said. “We will be helping the cruise ship industry. We probably will be helping the hotel industry.” He said administration will also help small businesses, the “engine of the country.”