The coronavirus pandemic is showing signs of stabilization even as economic indicators are just beginning to reveal the magnitude of its damage to commerce.
Total global coronavirus cases have surpassed 2,020,000, but the rate of increase in cases has started to stabilize, according to Johns Hopkins University data. Daily growth is slowing down, and the number of new cases daily has declined considerably over the past week. Italy and Spain have counted fewer new cases each day since last week, and daily growth rates in the United States have hovered around 28,000 since Saturday.
Though the outbreak may be close to leveling off, the economy will continue to suffer for months to come. Wednesday saw the release of the first batch of economic indicators to register the full blow of the pandemic shutdowns.
Industrial production and factory output fell 5.4% in March, the Federal Reserve reported, the largest decline since 1946. Retail sales saw the sharpest decline since data started being collected in 1992, erasing four years of growth, according to the Department of Commerce.
“No one is shopping at the mall, and no one is working on the factory floor, and the magnitude of these March declines in production and retail sales tells you the market’s optimism that the worst was over for the economy was misplaced,” commented MUFG chief financial economist Chris Rupkey.
Over 634,900 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in the U.S., and at least 27,940 people have died. While the rate of new cases in New York, the viral epicenter, is stabilizing, Gov. Andrew Cuomo issued an executive order Wednesday that everyone in the state must wear a face mask in public if they cannot maintain a 6-foot distance from others starting Friday. Rule breakers won’t be penalized, but Cuomo said he is considering instituting civil penalties.
President Trump said he plans to speak with governors on Thursday about implementing plans to reopen the country as soon as possible, saying the U.S. has passed the peak of the coronavirus. The economy has been in free fall since March, and a record number of people have applied for unemployment benefits.
The openings will “be safe, they’ll be strong, but we want to get our country back,” Trump said from the Rose Garden Wednesday. “We want to get our country back. And we’re going to do it, and we’re going to do it soon.”
Germany will take gradual steps out of a nationwide lockdown that has shuttered businesses and schools since mid-March, according to Reuters. Starting next week, some small businesses will begin to reopen, while schools and hairdressers will gradually open starting May 4. Large gatherings will remain banned until August 31 at the earliest, and social distancing measures will remain in place until May 3.
Trump’s decision Tuesday to halt monetary contributions to the World Health Organization has garnered sharp criticism from a range of prominent people, such as former President Jimmy Carter and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
In a press conference on Wednesday, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the organization will work to fill the $400 million funding gap the U.S. is leaving.
“The United States of America has been a long-standing and generous friend to WHO, and we hope it will continue to be so,” Tedros said. “We regret the decision of the president of the United States to order a halt in funding to the World Health Organization.”
Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist Bill Gates called Trump’s decision “as dangerous as it sounds.” The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, whose donations make up about 10% of the organization’s budget, is about to become the WHO’s largest contributor having previously held second place behind the U.S. government.
For the second time this week, a federal judge sided with abortion rights advocates by blocking a state ban on abortions during the pandemic. A federal judge in Arkansas issued a temporary restraining order Wednesday, keeping the state from enforcing a ban on abortion procedures, which they consider elective surgeries. District Judge Kristine Baker, an Obama appointee, said the state’s ban placed an “undue burden” on women seeking abortions, citing the landmark decision in 1992’s Supreme Court case Planned Parenthood v. Casey.
A federal judge Texas temporarily blocked part of Gov. Greg Abbott’s executive order Monday that would ban medication abortions, which consist of taking two pills and do not use up valuable PPE that must be reserved for healthcare workers.
