TRUMP: ‘TAKE IT EASY’
President tells Americans to stop hoarding; Fed cuts rates
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Sunday called on people to stop hoarding groceries and other supplies as one of the nation’s most senior public health officials urged Americans to act with more urgency to protect themselves and others against the coronavirus. Dr. Anthony Fauci said he would like to see aggressive measures such as a 14-day national shutdown.
“You don’t have to buy so much,” Trump said at a news conference. “Take it easy. Just relax.”
Trump assured Americans, after speaking with leading grocery chain executives, that grocers would remain open and that the supply chain remained healthy. Speaking at the same White House news conference, Vice President Mike Pence urged Americans to buy only the groceries they need for the week ahead.
The comments from the president came after the government’s top infectious disease expert said he would like to see Americans to hunker down even more to help slow the spread of the coronavirus.
Still, Fauci said travel restrictions within the United States, such as to and from hard-hit Washington state and California, probably would not be needed anytime soon.
Officials in Washington were preparing for what was expected to be a long-haul effort to try to stem the virus that has upended life around the globe.
“The worst is yet ahead for us,” Fauci said. “It is how we respond to that challenge that is going to determine what the ultimate endpoint is going to be.”
Trump, on the other hand, offered an optimistic outlook even as officials said the infection rate in the U.S. was surging. The president acknowledged that the virus was “very contagious” but asserted that his administration had “tremendous control” over the spread of the disease.
The worldwide outbreak has sickened more than 162,000 people and left more than 6,000 dead. The death toll in the United States climbed to 64, while infections passed 3,200. Italy on Sunday reported its biggest day-to-day increase in infections — 3,590 more cases in a 24-hour period — for a total of almost 24,747. And 368 more deaths brought its toll to 1,809, more than a quarter of the global death toll.
Steep cuts by United
Chicago-based United Airlines said Sunday night that it needs to cut flying capacity by 50% in April and May and expects the cuts to extend into the summer travel season.
American Airlines said it is cutting international flying by 75%.
Fed slashes rates
The Federal Reserve took massive emergency action Sunday to try to help the economy withstand the coronavirus by slashing its benchmark interest rate to near zero and saying it would buy $700 billion in Treasury and mortgage bonds.
The Fed’s surprise announcement signaled its rising concern that the viral outbreak will depress economic growth in coming months. It cut its key rate by a full percentage point to a range between zero and 0.25%.
The central bank said it will keep its rate there until it is “confident that the economy has weathered recent events.”
CDC: Keep gatherings under 50 people
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is recommending that gatherings of 50 people or more in the U.S. be canceled or postponed over the next eight weeks because
of the coronavirus pandemic.
ER doc contracts disease
An emergency room doctor at a suburban Seattle hospital that has treated many people with coronavirus has contracted the disease. EvergreenHealth Medical Center in Kirkland, Washington, said in a statement Sunday that the doctor was in “critical condition but stable.”
Vaccine to get test
The first participant in a clinical trial for a vaccine to protect against the new coronavirus will receive an experimental dose on Monday, according to a government official.
The National Institutes of Health is funding the trial, which is taking place at the Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute in Seattle. Public health officials say it will take a year to 18 months to fully validate any potential vaccine.
NYC closing schools
New York City will close the nation’s largest public school system on Monday, sending over 1.1 million children home in hopes of curbing the spread of coronavirus, the city’s mayor announced Sunday, calling it a “very troubling moment.”