WASHINGTON, March 16 — With panic buying on Main Street and fear-driven sell-offs on Wall Street, the US Federal Reserve cut interest rates to near zero yesterday in another emergency move to help shore up the US economy amid the rapidly escalating global coronavirus pandemic.
For the second time since the financial crisis of 2008, the Fed cut rates at an emergency meeting, aiming for a target range of 0 per cent to 0.25 per cent to help put a floor under a rapidly disintegrating global economy.
US President Donald Trump, who had openly pressed the Fed for further action, called the move “terrific” and “very good news.”
Americans are waking up to a new reality as coronavirus spreads, with store shelves stripped bare of essentials, schools closed and millions of jobs in jeopardy as businesses temporarily shut their doors. New York City joined the nation's other major public school systems in calling off classes starting this week.
“We're learning from watching other countries,” Trump said. “It's a very contagious virus ... but it's something that we have tremendous control of.”
Trump has faced criticism at home and abroad for sometimes downplaying the seriousness of the coronavirus and overstating his administration's ability to handle it.
Dr Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious diseases expert, said the United States was entering a new phase of coronavirus testing but tempered the president's optimism.
“The worst is yet ahead for us,” Fauci said, a warning he has issued frequently in the past week. “It is how we respond to that challenge that is going to what the ultimate end point is going to be.”
US Vice President Mike Pence said testing for coronavirus was expanding with more than 2,000 labs across the country ready to process tests and 10 states operating drive-through testing.
US Assistant Health Secretary Brett Giroir said there will be 1.9 million high-throughput tests available this week.
The United States has lagged behind other industrialised nations in its ability to test for the coronavirus. In early March, the Trump administration said close to 1 million coronavirus tests would soon be available and anyone who needed a test would get one, a promise it failed to keep.
With limited testing available, US officials have recorded nearly 3,000 cases and 65 deaths, up from 58 on Saturday. Globally more than 162,000 are infected and over 6,000 have died.
Pence also said the government on Monday morning would issue updated federal guidelines, which he described as “broad-based recommendations for the American public.” The US Centers for Disease Control on Sunday recommended that events with gatherings of 50 or more people over the next eight weeks be postponed or cancelled.
Don't hoard
The White House appealed to Americans not to hoard as the coronavirus spreads, reassuring them that grocery supply chains were strong.
Trump held a phone call on Sunday with 30 executives from grocery stores including Amazon.com Inc's Whole Foods, Target Corp, Costco Wholesale Corp and Walmart Inc, the White House said.
"Have a nice dinner, relax because there's plenty, but you don't have to ... you don't have to buy the quantities," Trump said. "We're doing really, really well. A lot of good things are going to happen."
Trump tested negative for coronavirus, his doctors said on Saturday, as the president extended a travel ban to Britain and Ireland to try to slow the pandemic.
Travellers returning to the United States and being screened for the coronavirus were met by long lines and massive delays at some major airports, prompting federal officials to deploy more staff and Trump to appeal for patience.
The US containment measures have so far been mild compared to the nationwide lockdowns imposed in Italy, France and Spain. However, Ohio and Illinois yesterday ordered all bars and restaurants to close, although carry-out and delivery are still allowed.
“I think Americans should be prepared that they are going to have to hunker down significantly more than we as a country are doing,” Fauci said on NBC's Meet the Press. Elderly people and those with underlying conditions need to be especially cautious.
Fauci said he did not see domestic travel restrictions in the immediate future. — Reuters
