By Jimmy Vielkind and Stella Yifan Xie
President Trump approved a disaster declaration for Michigan and
Massachusetts on Saturday as the number of infections globally
topped 600,000 and concerns grew about the financial toll of the
pandemic.
The two states now have the fifth- and sixth-most infections,
respectively, according to statistics compiled by Johns Hopkins
University. The disaster designation, which was also extended to
the island territory of Guam, makes local governments eligible for
additional federal funding.
The moves come a day after Mr. Trump signed a $2 trillion
stimulus plan, the largest economic relief package in history.
The highest number of U.S. cases continues to be in the state of
New York, where almost 45,000 people have been infected and 519
have died from the virus as of Friday, state officials said.
The U.S. added more than 15,000 cases of the Covid-19 disease,
pushing the total past 104,000 on Saturday, with a surge of cases
in New York amid increased testing. The growth outstripped that of
Italy and China, the countries with the second- and third-most
infections, where confirmed cases stayed around 86,000 and 81,000,
respectively, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins.
As a result, the number of confirmed infections globally has
more than doubled over the past week to more than 600,000. The
death toll from the pathogen rose to more than 28,000 on Saturday,
with roughly one-third of the fatalities in Italy, data from Johns
Hopkins showed.
Italy's death toll from the virus on Friday rose by 919 to
9,134, the highest daily tally on record. Total infections there
rose to 86,498, a 7% increase from the previous day.
Overlapping travel bans and lockdowns have hammered businesses
and led to millions of job losses, punctuated by a spike in U.S.
unemployment claims to more than three million this week and a
warning of a deep recession this year in trade bellwether
Singapore.
"It is now clear that we have entered a recession as bad or
worse than in 2009," Kristalina Georgieva, managing director of the
International Monetary Fund, said Friday. Rising bankruptcies and
layoffs could undermine any recovery and do long-lasting damage to
the world economy, she said.
With the pneumonia-causing virus spreading across the U.S. and
Europe, after it was first detected in central China three months
ago, governments around the world have ramped up efforts to limit
people's movement and began imposing wide-ranging closures on
businesses, restaurants and schools domestically in recent
weeks.
Increasingly strict travel bans set up by large countries
including the U.S. and China have put a dent in global commerce,
complicating efforts to reignite growth.
France and Belgium on Friday extended their national lockdowns
by two weeks, until mid-April. French Prime Minister Édouard
Philippe said experts advising the government recommended the
lockdown remain for at least six weeks. Russia on Friday suspended
all passenger flights to and from the country.
The IMF warned that low-income countries will be hit
particularly hard given a combination of a health crisis, sudden
reversal of capital flows and in some cases a plunge in commodity
prices. In Russia, where oil exports account for roughly one-third
of government revenue, the ruble has fallen to its lowest level in
four years. The IMF estimated that at least $2.5 trillion is needed
to contain economic contraction for emerging markets.
The Chinese government is also wrestling with the economic blow
from the SARS-like virus, first from a prolonged halt in domestic
business activities and now from weaker consumer sentiment and
shrinking export demand as the coronavirus engulfs Europe and the
U.S.
On Friday, China's top decision-making body said the government
plans to boost spending by increasing its fiscal deficit this year,
as well as speed up issuance of Treasury bonds and so-called local
government special-purpose bonds to support funding of
infrastructure projects, as part of the stimulus measures to
curtail economic impact from the pandemic.
"The fiscal policy needs to be more proactive, and the prudent
monetary policy needs to be more flexible," said a statement from
Friday's meeting of the Politburo Standing Committee, chaired by
President Xi Jinping. The government also called for a gradual
reopening of shopping malls and markets to boost consumer
spending.
China's National Health Commission reported 54 new infections
Friday, saying all were imported from abroad, bringing the total to
81,394.
Other countries continue to tighten rules on social distancing.
Iran this week closed shopping centers and banned road travel
between cities, pledging to fine and impound the cars of offenders.
Iranian officials have warned the population to brace for a second
wave of infections. Afghanistan on Friday expanded restrictions by
announcing a three-week lockdown on its capital, Kabul. Lebanon,
which extended its nationwide lockdown until April 12, on Friday
imposed a nighttime curfew.
In Turkey, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan introduced further
travel restrictions this weekend to combat the spread of the virus,
which has infected 5,698 people and killed 92 in the country,
according to a tally by national health authorities. Intercity bus
and air traffic will be reduced to a minimum while all
international flights will be suspended.
Hong Kong banned public gatherings of four or more people
beginning midnight Sunday, with those violating the rules facing
fines of more than $3,000 and six months in jail. Singapore said it
would fine people who violate its social distancing rules up to
about $7,000.
Australia said it would quarantine citizens returning from
overseas in hotels for 14 days beginning midnight Saturday.
Write to Jimmy Vielkind at Jimmy.Vielkind@wsj.com and Stella
Yifan Xie at stella.xie@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 28, 2020 11:42 ET (15:42 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.