White House coronavirus response under attack as stock markets plunge

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Trump administration rushed Monday to assure Americans that it was responding to a growing outbreak of coronavirus as the stock markets plunged and senior health officials urged some people to avoid cruise ships, air travel and large public gatherings.

US President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly downplayed the threat posed by the influenza virus that is invading the world, planned to meet with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and other members of his economic team to assess possible action to be taken, an administration official told Reuters.

Paid sick leave is one of the planned political measures, the official said on condition of anonymity. The chairman of the Senate finance committee is studying targeted tax breaks to deal with the impact of the epidemic, a spokesperson said separately.

The Florida Department of Health said it advises anyone who has traveled abroad to self-isolate for 14 days upon returning to the United States because of the number of cases confirmed in the United States reached 566, including 22 deaths, according to state public health authorities and a current national count held by Johns Hopkins University.

Thirty-four U.S. states and the District of Columbia have reported COVID-19 respiratory disease infections that can cause pneumonia, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

US stock markets, which have sold in the past two weeks, fearing that the epidemic will precipitate the global economy into a recession, fell on Monday, triggering a brief trading halt on the New Stock Exchange York. The S&P 500 benchmark and the Dow Jones fell more than 7%. (nL8N2B24UB)

The President of the US House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, the highest Democrat in Congress, said the plunge suggested that investors lacked confidence in the Trump administration's battle plan against the coronavirus.

Trump, who often points to the stock market as a gauge of his economic record, has criticized media coverage of the epidemic and accused Democrats of hyping the situation "far beyond what the facts would justify. "

The Republican President had no coronavirus-related events in his schedule until Monday, despite growing signs that the epidemic is disrupting the economy and the lives of millions of Americans.

The CDC has advised colleges and universities to consider asking students studying abroad to return home and cancel or postpone the upcoming trip.

Princeton University of New Jersey, one of the country's most prestigious universities, will switch to virtual education after its spring break later this month and will decrease the number of campus gatherings, its president announced .

Anthony Fauci, head of infectious diseases at the National Institutes of Health in the United States, and other health officials say older Americans, especially those with chronic health conditions, should avoid large gatherings social, cruise ships and air flights.

The warnings of Fauci and others about the need for greater "social distancing" – the practice of minimizing unnecessary contact in public places – came in the midst of a highly publicized example of risks now inherent in large gatherings.

U.S. Senator Ted Cruz and U.S. Representative Paul Gosar announced over the weekend that they would self-quarantine after making contact at a conservative political conference with a participant who then tested positive for the virus.

Trump and Vice President Mike Pence, who leads the administration's response to the crisis, also attended the conference. The White House said there was no indication that they contacted the infected participant.

As recently as Saturday, Trump said he would continue to organize political rallies, which sometimes attract as many as 20,000 people. Key Democrats vying to challenge him in the November 3 presidential election, Senator Bernie Sanders and former Vice President Joe Biden, have not canceled any campaign events.

"There is no confidence in the president, in anything he says or does," said Biden in an interview scheduled to be broadcast on MSNBC Monday evening.

CRUISE SHIP

More than 110,000 people were infected and around 3,800 died in the epidemic, which started in China at the end of last year and has spread to at least 105 countries and territories. . Italy, which has the second highest death toll, has cordoned off much of its wealthy industrial north in an effort to contain the spread of the virus.

The hardest hit place in the U.S. is a nursing home on the outskirts of Seattle in Kirkland, and Washington State is considering mandatory measures such as banning large gatherings, but not necessarily the imposition of massive quarantines.

The installation of the Life Care Center is responsible for most of the 18 confirmed coronavirus-related deaths in Washington State.

In California, authorities plan to unload 2,400 passengers from the cruise ship Grand Princess, which was prevented from returning to San Francisco last week due to a coronavirus outbreak on board.

Most of the passengers will be quarantined at four military bases across the country, with those requiring immediate medical attention going to hospitals. The crew of 1,100 will be quarantined and treated on board the ship, unless they require acute care off the ship.

California has more than 100 confirmed cases, while on the East Coast, cases in New York State have risen to 142 from 105 the previous day, Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Monday.

One of them was Rick Cotton, executive director of the New York and New Jersey Port Authority which controls airports and other major travel centers. He will be quarantined and will work from home, said Cuomo.

(Graphic: Monitoring the spread of the new coronavirus – here)