Washington - The US government
reported more catastrophic economic fallout from the coronavirus
crisis on Friday as the pandemic pierced the very walls of the
White House and California gave the green light for its
factories to restart after a seven-week lockdown.
A day after the White House confirmed that President Donald
Trump's personal valet had tested positive for the virus, Trump
told reporters that Katie Miller, press secretary to Vice
President Mike Pence, had also been infected. She is married to
senior Trump aide and immigration policy hard-liner Stephen
Miller and travels frequently with Pence.
The back-to-back diagnoses of individuals close to Trump,
Pence and the White House inner circle raised questions about
whether the highest levels of government are adequately
safeguarded from infection.
"We've taken every single precaution to protect the
president," White House spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnany told
reporters.
President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with Republican lawmakers, in the State Dining Room of the White House. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin listens at left. Picture: Evan Vucci/AP
Earlier in the day, the Labor Department reported the US unemployment rate rose to 14.7% last month, up from 3.5% in
February, demonstrating the speed with which the workforce
collapsed after stay-at-home orders meant to curb the outbreak
were imposed across most of the country.
Worse economic news may be yet to come. White House economic
adviser Kevin Hassett said the unemployment rate was likely to
climb to around 20% this month. The jobless rate for April
already shattered the post-World War Two record of 10.8% set in
November 1982.
The economic devastation has heightened the urgency of
governors' efforts to get their states' economies moving again,
even though infection rates and deaths are still rising in parts
of the country.
California, the first state to issue stay-at-home orders on
March 19, partially reopened shuttered commerce on Friday.
Retailers such as bookstores, jewelers, clothing merchants,
sporting goods shops and florists were permitted to begin
offering curbside pickup and deliveries, while manufacturing and
warehouse facilities were allowed to resume operations if they
met infection-control requirements.
Governor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, said California had
managed to flatten its infection curve in recent weeks, allowing
the state to safely proceed with gradually restarting the
economy.
CHILD VICTIM
More than 77,000 Americans have died from Covid-19, the
respiratory illness caused by the novel coronavirus, out of more
than 1.29 million confirmed cases, according to a Reuters tally.
Elderly individuals and people with underlying chronic
health conditions have been the most vulnerable.
But New York Governor Andrew Cuomo on Friday reported the
death of a 5-year old boy from a rare inflammatory syndrome
believed to be linked to the coronavirus, highlighting a
potential new pandemic risk for children.
Just as minorities have been especially hard hit by the
virus itself relative to their population size, African
Americans and Hispanics also suffered disproportionately greater
job losses in April - at 16.7% and 18.9%, respectively, the
Labor Department data showed. The jobless rate was also higher
among women, at 15.5%, compared with 13% for men.
Rita Trivedi, 63, of Hudson, Florida, was furloughed as an
analyst at Nielsen Media Research on April 23 and has struggled
to secure benefits from the state's troubled unemployment
system. She fears running short of money to cover her husband's
medical bills and other expenses.
"I'm more than anxious, I'm more than worried - it's 'can't
sleep' kind of anxious," Trivedi said. "I'm just so tense
thinking about these things and how to manage."
Trump, seeking re-election in November, initially played
down the threat posed by the coronavirus, and has given
inconsistent messages about the expected duration of the
economic shutdown and its consequences.
"Those jobs will all be back, and they'll be back very
soon," he told Fox News on Friday.
CALIFORNIA
Newsom said California, home to 40 million residents with an
economy ranking among the top five or six in the world, was
doing worse than the nation as a whole, with unemployment
running over 20 percent.
But he said roughly 70% of California's economy was
eligible to reopen "with modifications" under his plan, though
it remained to be seen how many businesses would jump at the
chance, and how many customers would immediately return.
In Los Angeles, few retail businesses appeared to be open in
the downtown area. It also was unclear how much, if any,
assembly line production in California had yet resumed.
A dog walker passes a social distancing sign while wearing a protective mask at Domino Park in the Brooklyn borough of New York. Picture: John Minchillo/AP
Electric car manufacturer Tesla Inc was aiming to
restart its factory in Fremont, California, on Friday, Chief
Executive Officer Elon Musk wrote in an email to staff.
But a health official in Alameda County, where the plant is
located, said local lockdown measures remained in effect and
supersede Newsom's relaxation of statewide restrictions.
"We've been working with them, but we have not given the
green light," health officer Erica Pan said of Tesla.
At least 40 of the 50 US states are taking steps to lift
restrictions affecting all but essential businesses - including
Arizona, Mississippi and South Dakota, which on Friday all
reported record numbers of cases.
Public health experts warn that reopening prematurely,
without vastly expanded virus testing and other safeguards,
risks fueling renewed outbreaks. They also say the
state-by-state hodgepodge of differing policies may confuse the
public and undermines social distancing efforts.