The Wall Street Journal - 18 03 2020

2020·18.36 MB·English

****** WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18, 2020 ~ VOL. CCLXXV NO. 64 WSJ.com HHHH $4.00
DJIA21237.38 À1048.86 5.2% NASDAQ7334.78À6.2% STOXX600 291.07 À2.3% 10-YR.TREAS. g 2 21/32, yield0.994% OIL $26.95 g$1.75 GOLD $1,524.90À$39.00 EURO $1.0998 YEN 107.67
Trump Urges $1 Trillion Aid Deal
What’s
News
Virus-driveneconomic
TheproposalinWashington istrationofficialsandlawmak- cashassistanceasoneofsev-
slowdownpromptsa followedsimilarmovesinhard- ByAndrewRestuccia, ers.Oneoftheofficialssaidthe eral measures targeting those
hitEurope,asFranceandother AndrewDuehren administrationwouldpushfor inneedthatshouldbeconsid-
U.S.stimulusproposal; countriespledgedbillionsofeu- andLindsayWise additionaldirectpaymentsbe- ered, according to a spokes-
Business&Finance
Fedalsoplansloans ros in immediate aid for busi- yond the $250 billion in the man.SomeSenateRepublicans,
nesses and employees. And it JonesIndustrialAveragegain- comingweeks,ifneeded. fortheirpart,expressedreser-
T cameasotherpartsoftheU.S. ing 5.2% after having plunged “It is a big number. We’ve vations about the cash-assis-
heTrumpadministration WASHINGTON—TheTrump government unleashed their 13%adayearlier.Marketscon- putaproposalonthetablethat tanceidea.
backedaplantosend administrationbackedaplanto ownresponses,withtheFederal tinued to rally in Asia, with would inject a trillion dollars Thetotal$1trillionproposal
checksdirectlytoAmericans sendchecksdirectlytoAmeri- Reserveplanningloanstocor- Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average into the economy,” Mr. wouldfaroutstripthe$787bil-
aspartofastimuluspackage cansaspartofastimuluspack- porations, among other steps, up1.7%atmiddayWednesday, MnuchinsaidattheCapitol. lionpackagepassedin2009in
forhouseholdsandbusinesses age for households and busi- and the Pentagon saying it On Capitol Hill, Treasury Detailsoftheproposalwere themidstofthefinancialcrisis,
thatcouldcostupto$1tril- nessesthatcouldcostasmuch wouldprovideasmanyasfive Secretary Steven Mnuchin being finalized and would be andthenumbercouldchange,
lion,aimingtocombatthe as $1 trillion, a dramatic step millionrespiratormaskstosafe- pitchedSenateRepublicanson takenupbyaCongressalready officialssaid.Thepackagealso
economicslowdowncaused aimedatcombatingthesudden guardfront-linehealthworkers. a package that would include workingthroughlegislationto includes about $50 billion for
bythecoronavirus.A1,A4 economicslowdowncausedby Thestockmarketrebounded aninitial$250billionfordirect offsetthecrisis.HouseSpeaker theairlineindustry,whichhas
(cid:2)TheFedsaiditwouldstart thecoronaviruspandemic. on Tuesday, with the Dow payments,accordingtoadmin- Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) sees PleaseturntopageA4
makingloanstoAmerican
corporations,relaunchinga Global
crisis-eratooltohelpcalm Biden Sweeps Florida, Illinois and Arizona, Solidifying Lead
short-termdebtmarkets.A4
(cid:2)TheIRSwillextendfor Travel
90daystheApril15tax-
paymentdeadlineformil-
lionsofindividuals.A5
Industry
(cid:2)Thecoronaviruspan-
demicisdevastatingglobal
travelinwhatisshapingup Confronts
tobethebiggesttestthemod-
ernindustryhasfaced.A1
(cid:2)SoftBankisbackingaway Crisis
frompartofitsplannedbail-
outofWeWork,privatelycit-
ingseveralregulatoryprobes
oftheoffice-sharingfirm.A1
Thecoronaviruspandemicis
(cid:2)U.S.stocksclawedback
devastatingglobaltravel,caus-
someground,withthe
ing business to evaporate and
S&P500andNasdaqrising
forcingcompaniestoslashpay-
6%and6.2%,respectively,
rollinwhat’sshapinguptobe
TheDowgained5.2%.B1
the biggest test the modern
(cid:2)Authoritiesareinvesti- travelindustryhaseverfaced.
gatingwhethertradersat
JPMorganmanipulatedthe ByCraigKarmin,
marketforTreasurysecuri- KatherineSayre
tiesandfuturescontracts.B1 andCostasParis
(cid:2)TheUAWandDetroitcar
Longerterm,thecrisiscould
firmsreachedagreementson
permanentlyreshapeattitudes
coronavirus-mitigationefforts
toward travel, fundamentally
twheaetkfocrlonsoinwgwofilUl.aSv.opildanatstw.Ao5- REUTERS ctehlasn,agiirnlgintehsealnadndcsrcuaispeecfoomrhpoa--
(cid:2)FedExsaiditwouldreduce R/ nies,andthemillionsofsmaller
KE
itsdeliverycapacityand AC businessesthatmakeupthein-
retireaircraft,unveilingnew NIEL dustry.
cost-cuttingmeasures.B3 DA No corner of the industry,
PRECAUTIONS:AvoterinPeru,Ill.,fillsouthisballotTuesday.FormerVicePresidentJoeBidenwontheFlorida,Illinois marketorregionoftheworld
(cid:2)Private-equityfirmNajafi
andArizonaprimaries.Ohio’sprimarywasplacedonholdbecauseofhealthconcernsoverthecoronavirus.A3 has been spared. In the U.S.
andTrinityBroadcasting
alone, hundreds of hotels are
haveofferedtobuyTegna.B3
Italy’s Hospitals preparing to shut down this
Tools for Tracking week,andcruiseshipsandjets
World-Wide
areidled.
Pushed to the Brink Tuesday, Marriott Interna-
Outbreak of Virus tional Inc., the world’s largest
(cid:2)Bidenwonprimariesin hotel company, considered a
Florida,IllinoisandArizona bellwetherfortheindustrywith
As Caseload Soars
onadayfilledwithanxious Risk Privacy Erosion nearly1.4millionroomsworld-
voting,buildingaleadinthe wide,saiditisstartingtofur-
Democraticracethatap- lough what it expects will be
pearsincreasinglydifficult tensofthousandsofemployees
forSanderstoovercome.A3 asitrampsuphotelclosings.
BYMARCUSWALKER Anormallydisusedsection Asthecountryscramblesto people who later tested posi- UnitedAirlinesHoldingsInc.
(cid:2)AstheU.S.scramblesto
ANDMARKMAREMONT of the hospital is filled with control the rapidly spreading tiveforthevirus,accordingto isgroundinghalfitsplanes,and
controltherapidlyspread-
the critically ill and the hiss- coronavirus,governmentagen- peoplefamiliarwiththematter. PleaseturntopageA10
ingcoronavirus,government
BERGAMO, Italy—Ambu- ingsoundofoxygen.Patients ciesareputtinginplaceorcon- Data-mining firm Palantir
agenciesareputtinginplace
lances here have stopped us- liequietly,withworriedorex- sidering a range of tracking Inc., which was credited with
orconsideringarangeof THE
ingsirens.Thefrequentblar- haustedfaces,visibletoothers and surveillance technologies helping to find Osama bin
trackingandsurveillance
ing only adds to local fears. in the series of half-open thattestthelimitsofpersonal Laden,isworkingwiththefed- CORONAVIRUS
technologiesthattestthe
Besides, there are few other rooms. Each focuses on the privacy. eralCentersforDiseaseControl
limitsofpersonalprivacy.A1 vehiclesontheroadinItaly’s struggletobreathe.Thereare andPreventiontomodelthevi- PANDEMIC
(cid:2)Cities,statesandWash-
nationallockdown. patients with airtight oxygen ByKirstenGrind, rusoutbreak.Othercompanies
ingtonsoughtwaystomiti-
Most are headed to the helmetsovertheirheads,like RobertMcMillan thatscrapepublicsocial-media
gatetheblowfromthecor-
PapaGiovanniXXIIIHospital, transparent buckets taped at andAnnaWilde data have contracts in place
onavirus.TheEUsaidit Stocksadvancein
alarge,modernmedicalfacil- theneck. Mathews with the agency and the Na-
wouldcloseitsbordersfor30 volatiletrading,B1
ityinaprosperousItaliancity “Someofthemwouldhave tionalInstitutesofHealth,doc-
days.Francelockeddown,
thathasbeenoverwhelmedby neededintubationinintensive Thetechnologiesincludeev- umentsshow. Fedturnstocrisis-eratool
followingItalyandSpain.A6
thecoronavirusdisease.There care,” anesthesiologist Pietro erything from geolocation Thepushisinpartbeingco- toaidcompanies,A4
(cid:2)TheTrumpadministra-
aren’t enough ventilators to Brambillasca said. The rest tracking that can monitor the ordinatedbyataskforcework-
tionisconsideringaplan Secondwaveofcases
intubate all patients with oughttobebetterisolated,he locations of people through ing in conjunction with the
toshuttheU.S.borders gripspartsofAsia,A7
Covid-19 who have severe said,wheretheycan’tcontam- theirphonestofacial-recogni- White House, and includes
withMexicoandCanada
toasylumseekersandoth- breathing trouble. The inten- inateanyone. tion systems that can analyze startupsaswellastechgiants Assessingtherisksof
ersduetothepandemic.A5 sive-careunitistakingalmost Thatis no longer possible. photostodeterminewhomight suchasAlphabetInc.’sGoogle fooddelivery,A11
nopatientsolderthan70. PleaseturntopageA8 have come into contact with PleaseturntopageA8
(cid:2)Singapore,Taiwanand
HongKongarewitnessing
freshwavesofinfectionsas New Hot Spot SoftBank Backs Off
thegrowingnumberofcases Salesforce.
aroundtheworldtesttheir For Hoarders:
Part of WeWork Plan
successfulearlydefenses
againstthedisease.A7 #1 CRM.
(cid:2)Concernsaregrowing Libraries
thatanemerginggenera-
tionaldivideabouthowthe
i i i BYLIZHOFFMAN Bank agreed to give WeWork
diseaseisperceivedcould
undoeffortstoslowthe As they close ANDELIOTBROWN directly—cash the startup
badly needed then as it ran Ranked#1forCRMApplicationsbasedon
spreadofthevirus.A9
down, rush is on SoftBank Group Corp. is outofrunway,andwhichitis IDC2019H1RevenueMarketShareWorldwide.
(cid:2)Chinasaiditwouldre- backingawayfrompartofits likely to continue to need as 17.3%
vokethepresscredentialsof for books, DVDs planned bailout of WeWork, the worsening coronavirus
Americansworkingforthree peoplefamiliarwiththemat- outbreak empties out its
majorU.S.newspapersamid ter said, privately citing sev- desks.
anescalatingbattlewiththe BYJAMESR.HAGERTY eralregulatoryinvestigations Someofthatmoney,includ-
Trumpadministration.A10 oftheoffice-sharingcompany. ing$1.5billioninfreshequity,
MT. LEBANON, Pa.—More A notice sent to WeWork alreadyhasbeeninvested.
(cid:2)Iraq’spresidentdesig-
than a dozen people were shareholders Tuesday said The Japanese investment
natedanex-provincial
waiting outside the public li- thatSoftBankbelievesregula- giant didn’t explicitly cancel
governorwithU.S.citizen-
braryhereshortlybeforethe toryprobesintothestartup’s thedeal,anditsnoticetoWe-
shipasprimeminister.A10 5.5%
9a.m.openingSaturday. business, including from the Work could be a negotiating
AmongthemwasMaryAnn SecuritiesandExchangeCom- tactic, or a way to delay the 5.3%
3.5%
CONTENTS Opinion..............A15-17 Gabriel,aretiredaccountant, mission and Justice Depart- investmentasmarketsremain
BusinessNews..B3,5 PropertyReport...B6 3.5%
wearingapinktracksuit. ment,giveitanoutunderthe volatile. U.S. stocks have
Coronavirus......A4-10 Sports.......................A14
Crossword..............A14 Streetwise.................B1 “Peopleactlikeit’stheend deal struck last fall to pur- plunged—then risen, only to
2015 2016 2017 2018 2019H1
HeardonStreet.B14 Technology...............B4 of the world!” she said in a chase $3 billion of WeWork fall again—on fears of the
Life&Arts.......A11-13 U.S.News.............A2-3 tonesuggestingthatshewas sharesfromexistinginvestors. long-termeconomiceffectsof Source:IDC,WorldwideSemiannual
Markets....................B13 Weather...................A14 unconvinced.Still,precautions That would include Adam theoutbreak. SoftwareTracker,October2019.
wereinorder. Neumann,formerchiefexecu- Representatives for Soft-
> Itwaslessfranticthanthe tiveofWeWorkparentWeCo., Bank, WeWork, the SEC and
scenes at ransacked super- whohadtherighttosellupto Justice Department declined
markets, but Ms. Gabriel is $970 million in stock as part tocomment.
salesforce.com/number1CRM
partofanationwiderushfor oftheOctoberdealthatledto SoftBank shares tumbled.
books,CDs,andDVDsatpub- hisousterfromtheboard. By late morning in Tokyo on CRMmarketincludesthefollowingIDC-definedfunctionalmarkets:SalesForceProductivityandManagement,
s2020DAollwRJigohntessR&esCeormvepdany,Inc. liclibrariesthatbeganclosing Thedevelopmentwon’taf- Wednesday,theyhaddeclined cAMopamprkl,iecinatictni.o,ganssC.aa©rme2op0tah1ige9nrsnaMalemasnefosargacenem.dcomemnat,r,kinCsc.u.sAtlolmrigehrtsSreersveicrvee,dC.oSanlteascftorCcee.nctoemr,isAadvreergtiisstienrge,datnraddeDmigaitraklofCsoamlemsfoerrccee.
PleaseturntopageA2 fectthe$5billionlifelineSoft- PleaseturntopageA6
A2|Wednesday,March18,2020 THEWALLSTREETJOURNAL.
U.S. NEWS
Retail Sales Dim, but Steeper Drop Looms
BYHARRIETTORRY overall weakness suggests navirusbegantospreadwithin ing on dining out, as sales at Grocers, drugstores and Recreational Equipment
consumersbegantopullback theU.S.,althoughthenumber barsandrestaurantsdropped massmerchantsthatsellfood Inc.saidSundaythatitwould
WASHINGTON—American onspendinglastmonthasthe of cases remained relatively 0.5% in February. Sales at andhouseholdstaplessuchas closeall162retailstoresfor
shoppers reined in their coronavirus outbreak spread low.Sincelastmonth,financial clothing, building material, WalmartInc.andTargetCorp. nearly two weeks due to the
spendinglastmonthandfac- withinU.S.borders. marketshaveplummetedand groceryandhealthstoresalso have said they plan to stay outbreak,althoughcustomers
tory production was broadly Meanwhile,theFederalRe- consumershavebeguntoself- dropped.Onebrightspotwas open but many clothing and canstillshoponline.
flat,signstheeconomybegan servesaidTuesdaythatmanu- isolateamidawideningcoro- nonstoreretailers,acategory mall-based chains have an- REIsaiditwouldcontinue
to strain as the threat from facturingproductionedgedup navirus pandemic—factors that includes internet mer- nouncedtemporaryclosures. to pay store employees dur-
thenewcoronavirusstartedto 0.1% in February as disrup- thatarelikelytohittheecon- chants such as Amazon.com Over the weekend, Apple ing the temporary store clo-
takehold. tionsatBoeingCo.continued omyhardinthemonthsahead. Inc., which rose 0.7% as con- Inc. and Nike, which are big sures.
The Commerce Depart- to hold down overall factory “With strict measures re- sumers shunned malls and drivers of foot traffic, said The pandemic is also hit-
ment’sreadingonretailsales output. strainingsocialactivitiesnow brick-and-mortarstores. they would shut their U.S. ting smaller business opera-
in February showed they de- Overall industrial produc- inplacetocontainthecorona- “The March [retail sales] storesfortwoweeks.Thelist tors. Dante Hill, a chef in
clinedbyaseasonallyadjusted tion, a measure of factory, virus outbreak, consumer figuresaregoingtobeoff-the- ofretailclosingshasexpanded Austin, Texas, said the can-
0.5%,fallingwellshortofex- miningandutilityoutput,in- spendingispoisedforasevere charts bad, and the April re- by the day to include chains cellation of the South by
pectationsandsuggestingcor- creasedaseasonallyadjusted pullback in coming months,” sultsmaynotshowmuchofa such as Nordstrom Inc., Foot Southwest festival means
onavirusconcernsdentedcon- 0.6% in February from the Gregory Daco of Oxford Eco- rebound, depending on how LockerInc.,WilliamsSonoma “70%ofmyworkforthenext
sumers’appetiteforspending prior month, the Federal Re- nomics said in a note to cli- longthemoreextremesocial Inc. and J.Crew Group Inc. twoweeksisgone.”
onpurchaseslikevehiclesand serve said, as utility output ents,addingthat“disruptions distancing steps remain in Even those that are staying “I work with several com-
electronics. rose strongly due to cold from the coronavirus will place,”StephenStanley,chief open,suchasKohl’sCorp.and paniesinAustinandthishas
While some of the retail- weather. bringtheeconomy’smainen- economist at Amherst Pier- J.C. Penney Co., said they hit everyone, some to the
salesdeclinewasattributable Tuesday’s reports encom- ginetoahalt.” pontSecurities,saidinanote would reduce hours this tuneofseveralhundredthou-
to a drop in gasoline prices, passedamonthinwhichcoro- Americansreinedinspend- toclients. month. sanddollars,”Mr.Hillsaid.
U.S.WATCH
CALIFORNIA ATLANTA
Ex-Rep. Hunter Gets Police Kill Suspect
11 Months in Prison Who Was Firing Gun
FormerCaliforniaRepublican Atlantapolicekilledanarmed
Rep.DuncanHunterwassen- suspectnearoneofthecity’s
tencedTuesdayto11monthsin mostfamousparksinashooting
prisonafterpleadingguiltyto Tuesdaymorning,authorities
stealingcampaignfundsand said.Twoofficerssufferedminor
spendingthemoneyonevery- injuries.
thingfromoutingswithfriends Theshootingoccurrednear
tohisdaughter’sbirthdayparty. PiedmontParkinthecity’sMid-
Theex-Marine’sdefenseat- townneighborhood,thepolice
torneyshadaskedforhomecon- departmentsaid.Whenpoliceof-
finement,citinghismilitaryser- ficersarrivedtoengageaman
viceincludingfightinginIraqand whowasfiringrounds,theman
Afghanistan,andhisnearlysix firedatanofficerandgrazed
termsinCongress.Mr.Hunterre- himinthehead,policespokes-
signedfromCongressinJanuary RESS manCarlosCampossaid.Author-
afterrepresentingoneofSouth- DP itiesshotbackandkilledthe
ernCalifornia’slastsolidlyRe- ATE suspect,hesaid.
publicandistricts. OCI “Itwaslaterdetermineda
SS
Mr.Hunterandhiswife,Mar- A secondofficerfeltpaininhis
R/
garet,wereaccusedina60-count RE footandwebelievehe,too,was
indictmentofstealingmorethan QUI grazedbygunfireresultingfrom
N
$250,000incampaigncontribu- R-I theshooting,”Mr.Camposadded.
tionsandtryingtohideitonfi- NGE Investigatorsdidn’timmedi-
nancialdisclosurerecords,listing SSE atelyreleaseinformationabout
somepersonalexpensesascon- ME thedeadsuspect.
tTrhibeuytieoancshthoawdofuacneddedupwtaorrifoivres. NS/THE —AssociatedPress
A
yearsinprison. GE OBITUARY
Eachpleadedguiltytoasin- GRE ‘Carol Burnett Show’
glecountinseparatepleaagree- HIGH-WIREACT:WorkersbegininstallinglightsontheOwensboroBridge,whichspanstheOhioRiverbetweenIndianaandKentucky.
mentslastyear.Mr.Hunter Cast Member Dies
askedthecourtTuesdayto inSeptember,statepolicesaid. NEVADA themorningcommuteinReno tainsnorthofRenonearSusan-
sparethemotherofhisthree Delaware’sDivisionofForensic andSparks,whereseveral ville,Calif.,whereabout3feetof LyleWaggoner,thetall,dark-
Snowfall Leads to
childrenjailtime.Hewasordered Sciencedeterminedthehuman inchesofsnowfellinsomear- snowhavefallensincethe hairedandhandsomecomicfoil
toreporttoprisononMay29. remainsdiscoveredinSelbyville Over a Dozen Crashes eas. stormbeganSaturday.About on“TheCarolBurnettShow”
—AssociatedPress onMarch2belongedtoDavidT. Onecrashinvolvedastate 9.5inchesalsowerereported whoalsoplayedasuperhero’s
Hickey,policesaid.Thepoliceis- Anotherroundofsnow trooper’svehicle.Noseriousinju- justsouthofLakeTahoeatMy- partneron“WonderWoman,”
DELAWARE suedamissingpersonsalertfor snarledtrafficwithmorethana rieswerereported. ers,Calif. diedTuesday.Hewas84.
the36-year-oldfromLaurelin dozencrashesonslipperyroads Chainsweremandatoryfora SeveralareasaroundLake Mr.WaggonerwastheBur-
Remains Identified
October,abouttwodaysafterhe intheReno-Sparksareaand 55-milestretchofI-80fromthe Tahoehavereceivedmorethan nettshow’sannouncerwhenit
As Missing Man waslastseen.Hiscauseand triggeredchaincontrolsonInter- California-Nevadalinewestof 2feetofsnowsinceSaturday, premieredin1967.Heprovedso
mannerofdeatharestillbeing state80intheSierra. RenooverthetopofDonner including27inchesatthe adeptthatheeventuallybecame
Skeletalremainsfoundina determined,butpolicesaidit TheNevadaHighwayPatrol PassinPlacerCounty,Calif. MountRoseSkiResortsouth- aregularcastmember.He
woodedareahavebeenidenti- didn’tappeartobesuspicious. saidatleast18trafficaccidents Teninchesofnewsnowwere westofReno. stayedwiththeshowuntil1974.
fiedasamanwhowentmissing —AssociatedPress werereportedTuesdayduring reportedTuesdayinthemoun- —AssociatedPress —AssociatedPress
Libraries
TheDesMoines,Iowa,pub-
lic library initially resisted
Close closing its doors. It canceled
programs,intensifiedcleaning
routines and removed Lego
Down blocks. On Sunday, however,
thelibraryannouncedit,too, AL
wasclosing. RN
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TheNatronaCountyPublic O
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and research databases. The Scroggins,saidSunday.AdayULC MES
IndianTrailsPublicLibraryin later, though, the library an-PA JA
Wheeling,Ill.,initiallypledged nounceditsclosure. Publiclibrariesacrossthecountryhaveshutdownbecauseofcoronavirusconcerns.Left,peoplecheckedoutbooksattheSeattlelibrary
to provide books through a InSeattle,wherethepublic lastweekbeforeitclosed;right,BeckyWeberhoistedastackoflarge-printbooksshefoundattheMt.Lebanon,Pa.,libraryforherfather.
drive-up window but then librariesclosedSaturdayand
slammed that shut as conta- aren’t expected to open until the day, nearly all of the “MobyDick,”“Cleopatra”and “Anybooksleft?”sheasked ishedhershift.“Thisiswhat
gionworriesmounted.Others, atleastApril13,CynthiaPang books displayed on tables “Hairspray.” cheerily. There were plenty. Black Friday must be like at
lacking drive-up windows, Nowakmadearunwithher6- near the checkout desk were Susan Pettigrew nearly She picked out “Revelation” Walmart,” she said. Another
saidtheymightdeliverbooks and7-year-oldsonsFridayaf- gone.Thelibrarydirector,Ms. missedherchance.Shecalled byC.J.Sansomand“Foolsand librarian, Sharon Bruni, was
atthecurbside. ternoon.“Itwasjustpacked,” Vittek,joinedherstaffonthe a neighbor late Saturday af- Mortals”byBernardCornwell. relieved to find that people
Ruthie Maslin, director of said Ms. Nowak, vice presi- front line, at the checkout ternoontoreportthatevening Pete Thompson, a consul- would rush to stock up on
theMadisonCountyPublicLi- dentformarketingateXpRe- desk. “You don’t have to Massattheirchurchhadbeen tant,checkedoutseveralgar- books, not just tuna fish and
braryinKentucky,whichhas alty. “They were pulling ev- worry,”shetoldpeoplecheck- called off. The neighbor in- dening books, a primer on toiletpaper.“It’sunreal,”she
branchesinRichmondandBe- erything out of the ing out books. “There won’t formedMs.Pettigrewthatthe caring for chickens, and a said,“butit’ssogood.”
rea,saidherstaffispreparing backrooms,”includingChrist- be any late fees while we’re library was closing, too. Ms. travel book, “1,000 Places to Ontheirwayoutoftheli-
to put books in lockers out- mas books. Her sons joyfully closed.” Pettigrew, in a bright blue SeeBeforeYouDie.” brary,manypeoplepausedat
side the libraries. “People gathered15to20itemseach, Jill Brodbeck grabbed a sweater, bustled in half an Peggi Kelley, a librarian, awall-mounteddispenserfor
couldcall,wecoulddisinfect including “Captain Under- coupledozenDVDs,including hourbeforeclosingtime. looked exhausted as she fin- a free shot of hand sanitizer.
thebooksandthelocker,they pants” and Minecraft-related
could come and get the books. CORRECTIONS (cid:2) AMPLIFICATIONS
books,”Ms.Maslinsaid.Two InMt.Lebanon,aprosper- THEWALLSTREETJOURNAL
volunteers already have of- ous suburb south of Pitts- (USPS664-880)(EasternEditionISSN0099-9660)
(CentralEditionISSN1092-0935)(WesternEditionISSN0193-2241)
fered to deliver books to burgh,thelibraryannounced
homes,shesaid. lateFridayafternoonitwould EOProductsisbasedabout ble Investment. An article Editorialandpublicationheadquarters:1211AvenueoftheAmericas,NewYork,N.Y.10036
Those who rely on the li- close for at least a month. 20 miles north of San Fran- about financial advisers and PublisheddailyexceptSundaysandgenerallegalholidays.
PeriodicalspostagepaidatNewYork,N.Y.,andothermailingoffices.
braryforinternetaccesscould Saturdaywasthelastchance cisco.AnExchangearticleSat- sustainableinvestinginMon-
Postmaster:SendaddresschangestoTheWallStreetJournal,
stillgetWi-Fiserviceoutside to raid the shelves. At least urdayaboutthemakerofhand day’s Journal Report incor-
200BurnettRd.,Chicopee,MA01020.
the building. “Come to the one person had checked out sanitizer and other products rectlysaidthe$12trillionto-
AllAdvertisingpublishedinTheWallStreetJournalissubjecttotheapplicableratecard,
parkinglot,”Ms.Maslinsug- more than 100 items, said incorrectly said it is south of talwasreachedattheendof copiesofwhichareavailablefromtheAdvertisingServicesDepartment,DowJones&Co.Inc.,
gested. Robyn Vittek, director of the SanFrancisco. 2018 and incorrectly attri- 1211AvenueoftheAmericas,NewYork,N.Y.10036.TheJournalreservestherightnotto
acceptanadvertiser’sorder.Onlypublicationofanadvertisementshallconstitutefinal
Public libraries in major library. Some tottered out buted the data to the Global
acceptanceoftheadvertiser’sorder.
citiesincludingNewYork,Los withbeachbagsfullofbooks. U.S.assetsundermanage- Sustainable Investment Alli-
LetterstotheEditor:Fax:[phone];email:[email protected]
Angeles and Atlanta are Ms.Gabriellimitedherselfto mentusingsustainablestrate- ance.
Needassistancewithyoursubscription?
closed.AllLibraryofCongress six, including novels by Lisa giesreached$12trillionatthe Byweb:customercenter.wsj.com;Byemail:[email protected]
buildings and facilities are ScottolineandStuartWoods. startof2018,roughlyaquar- The name of Bryn Mawr, Byphone:1-800-JOURNAL(1-800-568-7625)
closedtothepublic.Aninfor- In all, 8,530 items were ter of all professionally man- Pa., was misspelled as Bryn Reprints&licensing:
mallistcompiledbylibrarians checked out Saturday, more agedassetsinthecountry,ac- MarrinoneinstanceinanOff Byemail:[email protected]
Byphone:1-800-843-0008
showed more than 1,160 U.S. thaneighttimesthelibrary’s cordingtoUSSIF:theForum Duty article Saturday about
WSJbackissuesandframedpages:wsjshop.com
librariesclosedasofTuesday dailyaverage.Saturday’stotal forSustainableandResponsi- galanthusbulbs.
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THEWALLSTREETJOURNAL. Wednesday,March18,2020|A3
*****
U.S. NEWS
Biden Shuts
Out Sanders
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In 3 States REET
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BYJOHNMCCORMICK care,wealthinequalityandcli- UZL
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JoeBidenwonallthreepri- ersinspiredbyMr.Sanders,“I A
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mariesheldTuesdayonaday hear you, I know what’s at SS;
filled with anxious voting, stake.” RE
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bcraruacietldictinhpagrteasaipdlepeaendatriasinlinntochrmeeaiDnsaeintmigoolny- eSaarnDldiueerrrisnTgouuaetslliidvnaeey-dsthreevisaemnpirnaogdp,dorsMeaslrss. SSOCIATED
difficultforBernieSandersto toblunttheeffectsofthecoro- N/A
overcome. navirus outbreak. He didn’t RTO
Thecontestlurchedforward mention the primary elections MO
amid major disruptions trig- orhisnarrowingprospects. B.
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demicasthefirstballotingwas holdaprimaryonTuesday,but STE
held—in Florida, Illinois and itjoinedagrowinglistofstates P:
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Arizona—since the crisis en- thathavedelayedtheircontests MT
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After all of the day’s votes coronavirus situation will im- AtrolleypassedCityHallinSavannah,Ga.,onTuesday.Thecity’sSt.Patrick’sDayparadewascalledoffovercoronavirusfears.
are counted, the former vice proves.
president is likely to have a Ontheeveoftheballoting,a Muted St. Patrick’s Day Celebrations
majority of the delegates courtthererejectedarequestto
awardedsofar.AsoflateTues- postponethestate’sprimaryun-
day, he already had secured til June 2 as Republican Gov.
Go On Without Parades, Green Beer
more than half of the 1,991 Mike DeWine had recom-
neededtowinthenomination. mended. The in-person voting
InFlorida,acriticalgeneral wassubsequentlyplacedonhold
election battleground, Mr. Bi- afterthestate’stophealthoffi-
denwonnearlythreetimesas cialorderedpollsclosed. BYJOEBARRETT
many votes as the Vermont ThestateSupremeCourtde- ANDPETERGRANT
senator and carried all 67 nied a last-minute legal chal-
counties. In Illinois, with 85% lengetothepostponement,and CHICAGO—Molly Gstalter
ofprecinctsreporting,hewas countyelectionboardsweredel- missed out on a lot of must-
rackingupa59%to36%mar- ugedwithphonecallsfromcon- do’s this St. Patrick’s Day, as
gin. The Associated Press fused,frustratedvoters. the new coronavirus nearly
called the race in Arizona for LateTuesday,DemocraticNa- shut down the celebration of
Mr. Biden with early results tionalCommitteeChairmanTom allthingsIrish.
comingin. Perezcalledforstateswithup- ShenormallygrabsaSham-
Thelatestlargevictoriesby comingprimariesandcaucuses rockShakeatMcDonald’s,lis-
Mr. Biden are likely to place tousevotingbymailandother tens to Irish playlists, includ-
morepressureonMr.Sandersto alternativestocastingballotsin ing“MyIrishMolly,”whichher
exitfromtheracesotheparty person. grandmother used to sing to
canfocusoncompetingagainst “WhathappenedinOhiolast her,drinksgreenbeerandhas
PresidentTrumpinNovember. nighthasonlybredmorechaos thestudentsinherhigh-school
AWallStreetJournal/NBCNews andconfusion,”hesaid.“States German class practice using
pollreleasedSundayshowedMr. thathavenotyetheldprimary theGermanwordforluck.
Biden was favored nationally, electionsshouldfocusonimple- Thisyear,shedidn’tdoany
menting the aforementioned ofit,includingthecornedbeef
measurestomakeiteasierand andcabbageshenormallyeats
Ohio’sprimarywas saferforvoterstoexercisetheir at her mother’s house. “It’s
constitutionalrighttovote,in- not worth risking her,” said
canceledatthelast
stead of moving primaries to Ms.Gstalter,28yearsold,who
minutebecauseof laterinthecyclewhentiming didwearapairofgreentights
around the virus remains un- and a green headband for a
thepandemic.
predictable.” shoppingtripTuesdaytocele-
FloridaandArizonaarebat- bratetheday.
tleground states, so they may St.Patrick’sDayinChicago
offerinsightsintogeneral-elec- usually covers the weekend ApriestblessedavisitoroutsideSt.Patrick’sCathedralinNewYork,whichalsocanceleditsparade.
61%to32%,amongthosewho tiontrends.Thisroundofcon- beforeandafterMarch17,and
havealreadyvotedintheDemo- testsmightbethelastsignifi- includes the dyeing green of Therealsowasnopartyin one of their strongest sales One part of the New York
craticprimaryorplantodoso. cant ones for some time, if theChicagoRiverandahuge New York City, where the St. eventsoftheyear. traditionwaspreserved:Early
Mr.Bidenisalreadytryingto morestatesannounceprimary downtownparadeaswellasa Patrick’s Day Parade dates At Corcoran’s Grill & Pub, Tuesday morning, the 69th
unifythepartybehindhim,en- postponements. separateparadeinthehistori- backto1762.Theevent,which which was open for takeout- Regiment of the New York
dorsingpolicyproposalsrelated Statesthatmovetheircon- cally Irish neighborhoods of was expected to attract 1.2 only in Chicago’s Old Town State National Guard, which
tobankruptcylawsandcollege testslaterthanJune9willneed the city’s South Side. Pretty million people, was canceled neighborhood, workers on has led the parade for over
tuitioninabidtowooliberals. a waiver from the party to much throughout the entire at the request of New York TuesdayweretakingdownSt. 160years,heldasmallmarch
Mr.Sandersacknowledgedlast avoid losing delegates to the stretch, people in their 20s Gov. Andrew Cuomo because Patrick’s Day decorations. fromitsarmorytoSt.Patrick’s
week that he’s losing the “de- Julyconvention,theDNCwrote canbefounddressedingreen ofcontagionconcerns. Owner Kevin Vaughan said Cathedral.
bate over electability” among inamemothisweek. goingfrompubtopub. Inbothcities,barsandres- most restaurants scrape “Wekeptitvery,veryquiet
Democrats. Voters,soberedbythehealth The city, along with the taurantshavebeenclosed.The throughwinterandthenstock tostaywithintheguidelines,”
TimeisrunningoutforMr. crisis,alsocastballotsinlocal plumbers union that handles timing has been especially upforSt.Patrick’sDay,which saidSeanLane,thechairmanof
Sanderstocatchupwithmore andstatecontestsastheycon- the nearly 60-year-old tradi- devastating for businesses kicks off spring. “It came at theparadecommittee.March-
thanhalfofstateprimariesand fronted school closures, travel tionofdyeingtheriver,called thathavedependedontheSt. the worst possible time,” he ers “were well spaced-out” to
caucusesalreadyheld.Hewould limitations,eventcancellations italloff. Patrick’sDaycelebrationsfor saidoftheshutdown. avoidcontagion,hesaid.
havetocapturealargeshareof andastressedglobaleconomy.
theremainingdelegatestowin Germswerealsoontheirminds.
the nomination—and no other Atapollinglocationinsidea In a Twist, Asbestos Suit Targets College
statesareexpectedtoholdcon- Miami fire station, workers
testsuntilearlyApril. wore gloves as they inspected
Mr.Biden,speakingfromhis voter identification cards and
home in Wilmington, Del., dispensedhandsanitizertovisi- BYKRISMAHER Asbestos,whichcanleadtomesothelioma,remainsinmany through workers’ compensa-
reached out to his rival’s sup- tors.Somevotersarrivedwith buildingstodayafterbeingwidelyusedfromthe1940sto tion claims, but people who
porters.Henotedhewasdeliv- theirownpens,glovesanddis- PITTSBURGH—Peter La- the1980s. develop asbestos-related dis-
eringhisaddressbylivestream infectingwipes. boskyJr.hadbeenretiredfor eases years after retiring are
U.S.asbestosuseinproducts U.S.deathsfrommalignant
to avoid gathering supporters Meanwhile, the Republican 12yearsfromhisjobasapro- oftenbeyondthedeadlinefor
mesothelioma
duringthepandemic. National Committee noted fessor of wood sciences at filingsuchaclaimagainstan
“We’ve moved closer to se- TuesdaynightthatMr.Trump PennsylvaniaStateUniversity 800thousandtons 4,000 employer.
curing the Democratic Party’s had secured enough delegates when he was diagnosed in A 2013 court ruling in
nomination for president, and through the GOP primaries to 2014 with mesothelioma. He Pennsylvania allowed people
we’re doing it by building a becometheparty’spresumptive diedfivemonthslater. 600 3,000 who develop an asbestos-re-
broadcoalition,”hesaid. nomineeforpresident. Mr.Labosky’sfamilyalleges lated disease to sue an em-
Mr. Biden said he and Mr. —ElizaCollins,AlexaCorse, inalawsuitfiledin2016that ployer for negligence outside
Sanders“maydisagreeontac- ArianCampo-Flores,Chad theuniversitynegligentlyex- oftheworkers’compensation
400 2,000
tics,butweshareacommonvi- DayandKenThomas posedhimtoasbestosdustaf- actandmadethesuitagainst
sion” on issues such as health contributedtothisarticle. ter failing to clean it up in PennStateandotherpotential
buildingswherehetaught.The casespossible.
200 1,000
case is working its way Universitiestypicallymoni-
SecretServiceIs rushedonstagewhileMr.Biden through state court in Pitts- tor asbestos, as required by
wasspeakinginLosAngelesas burgh. federalandstateregulations,
NowGuardingBiden 0 0
SuperTuesdayresultscamein. The lawsuit is proceeding andremoveitduringrenova-
Theprotesterswererestrained amid louder calls to clean up 1980 ’90 2000 ’10 2000 ’10 tions.PennStatefoundinthe
byMr.Biden’swife,JillBiden,a asbestos and halt its use na- 1970sthatcloseto100build-
Sources:U.S.GeologicalSurvey(use);CentersforDiseaseControlandPrevention(deaths)
WASHINGTON—FormerVice memberofhissecurityteam tionally. It appears to be the ings contained asbestos, ac-
PresidentJoeBiden,theleading andseveralaides. first of its kind brought cording to court documents.
contenderfortheDemocratic Thenextday,HouseHome- againstauniversity,creatinga from the 1940s to the 1980s berduetohealthconcerns. By1984,theschoolhadspent
presidentialnomination,isnow landSecurityCommitteeChair- new path for asbestos litiga- and is still in hundreds of “Asbestoscanbecontained over $500,000 removing as-
receivingSecretServiceprotec- manRep.BennieThompson(D., tion, said legal experts. It thousandsofbuildings,includ- and managed on-site,” said bestos.
tion,officialssaidTuesday. Miss.),askedtheDepartment couldopenthedoortosimilar ing schools, across the coun- ClaireBarnett,executivedirec- During the 1980s the cost
TheU.S.SecretServicesaid ofHomelandSecuritytodeter- suits in Pennsylvania, and try.Asbestoswasbannedfrom tor of Healthy Schools Net- of removing asbestos at the
ithad“initiatedfullprotective minewhetheranyDemocratic raiseawarenessaboutpoten- mostbuildingmaterialsinthe work,whichadvocatesforre- university rose fivefold, ac-
coverage,”forMr.Biden,who candidatesshouldreceiveSe- tial exposures at universities 1980s,butolderbuildings,in- movingenvironmentalhazards cordingtocourtdocuments.In
hasbeenstayingathisDela- cretServiceprotection. inotherstates. cludingschools,typicallycon- inschools.Butifmaintenance 1989, a Penn State official
warehomesincedepartingthe TheSecretServicecanoffer “This could raise a lot of tain ceilings, floor tiles, pipe ispoor,moisturecancauseas- statedinamemorandumthat
campaigntraillastweekgiven protectiontomajor-partypresi- concernbyemployerswithre- insulationandothermaterials bestostocrumble,exposingits theschoolwouldnolongerre-
thecoronavirusoutbreak. dentialandvicepresidential gardtothefacilitiestheypro- withasbestosusedforitsfire- deadlydust,shesaid.“Ithap- move asbestos when it was
Bidencampaignspokesman nomineeswithin120daysofthe vide to their workers which proofandacousticqualities. penseverywhere.” encountered.
T.J.Ducklosaidthecampaign generalelection.Butcandidates may contain asbestos prod- Lastyear,18stateattorneys Anestimated40,000people “In all future projects, our
“doesnotcommentonsecurity oftenreceiveSecretServicede- ucts,”saidLesterBrickman,an generalaskedCongresstopre- dieintheU.S.fromasbestos- goalshouldbetominimizethe
measures.” tailsearlierinthecampaign. emeritus professor at Benja- ventallusesofthematerial.A relateddiseaseseachyear,in- removal of asbestos to only
Mr.Bidenhasusedprivate Mr.Biden’sSecretService minN.CardozoSchoolofLaw bill in the House would ban cludingmesothelioma,acan- what is absolutely required,”
securitysinceannouncinghis codenamewillbe“Celtic,”ac- inNewYorkwhohaswritten themanufactureanddistribu- ceroftheliningsofthelungs theofficialwrote.“Obviously,
candidacylastyear,andlocal cordingtoalaw-enforcement extensivelyonasbestoslitiga- tionofasbestos. or stomach that can develop this will help us a lot in the
lawenforcementhavealso official,thecodenamethathe tion. In Pennsylvania, Gov. Tom 30 years or more after expo- areaofprojectbudgets.”
providedsecuritymeasuresat usedasvicepresident. PennStatedefendsitshan- Wolf in January proposed sure. MichaelRobb,aPittsburgh
largercampaigneventsbefore AnaidetoSen.Bernie dlingofasbestosasproactive spendingmorethan$1billion Asbestos litigation, which attorneyrepresentingtheLa-
thepandemic. Sanders,Mr.Biden’schiefrival, andcareful,anddoesn’tcom- toremoveasbestosandleadin has been moving through boskyfamily,allegesthatthe
Hissecuritycameunder saidtheVermontsenator ment on pending litigation, schools.TheSchoolDistrictof courtdocketsforyears,hasto university scaled back its as-
scrutinyearlierthismonthwhen doesn’thaveSecretService said Lisa Powers, a spokes- Philadelphia said it has 175 datelargelytargetedproduct bestos removal to cut costs
anti-dairyindustryprotesters protection. womanfortheuniversity. buildingswithasbestos,andit manufacturers.Workplacein- while it knew about health
Asbestos was widely used hasclosedninesinceSeptem- juries are usually handled risks.
A4|Wednesday,March18,2020 THEWALLSTREETJOURNAL.
P W L C 10 11 12 H T G K R F A M 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 O I X X ******
THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC
Plans in Works to Help Pay the Bills
Fed Acts
To Ease
BYJONHILSENRATH Now as restaurants close, UnderPressure of a few days, weeks or agrowingnumberoflawmak-
ANDNICKTIMIRAOS airlinesstopflyingandstreets monthsdirectlytobusinesses. ers seemed to be turning to Corporate
Ratioofbusinessshort-term
go empty, businesses and TheFedwillprovidefunds moreimmediatemeasures.
assetssuchascashand
Behind a flurry of activity householdshaveasimilarand to financial firms for up to For starters, the Internal
inWashingtononTuesdaywas pressingproblem:Themoney securitiestoshort-termbills three months and take their RevenueServicewillpostpone IOU Strain
thatarecomingdue.
an increasingly urgent prob- just isn’t coming in, but bills commercial paper as collat- theApril15tax-paymentdead-
lem for a nation grappling stillhavetogetpaid. 1.8 eral. The central bank hopes line. The Trump administra-
with the novel coronavirus The financial system typi- thatwithaplacetoparktheir tion also said it backs a plan
pandemic: The growing risk cally serves as a backstop. 1.7 commercialpaper,lenderswill to send checks directly to BYNICKTIMIRAOS
thatmillionsofbusinessesand Businessesusecreditlinesto make more of it available in Americans.
households won’t be able to alleviate short-term funding 1.6 markets.Theprogramwillbe Sen.MittRomney(R.,Utah) TheFederalReservesaidit
paytheireverydaybills—rent, squeezes. A household might backstoppedbytheU.S.Trea- onMondaybackedgivingeach would start making loans to
payroll, utilities—as business draw from savings or tap a 1.5 surytocushionlossestheFed Americanadult$1,000. American corporations, re-
activitygrindstoanunprece- home-equityline. mighttakeintheprocess. Among Democrats, Sens. launchingafinancial-crisis-era
dentedhalt. But those systems are be- 1.4 A pressing question is Cory Booker of New Jersey, tool to help calm short-term
The Federal Re- comingoverloaded.It’sanes- whether Congress and the Michael Bennet of Colorado debt markets that have faced
serve launched a program to peciallypressingproblemfor 1.3 WhiteHousecanfillthatvoid. and Sherrod Brown of Ohio intensifying strains in recent
provide short-term loans to millionsoflow-andmiddle-in- “We desperately need…a proposesending$2,000toev- days.
businessesincommercial-pa- comehouseholds.Nearly4in 1.2 dedicatedpoolofmoneythat eryadultandchildbelowaset The Fed trained its sights
per markets, while White 10 Americans don’t have the 2000 ’05 ’10 ’15 ’19 isavailabletostepinandsal- income,withfuturepayments Tuesdayondysfunctioninthe
Houseofficialsandlawmakers savings in hand to cover an vageviablecompaniesthatare in July and then quar- $1.1 trillion market for short-
Note:Quarterlydatadoesn'tinclude
scrambled for ideas to get unexpected, $400 expense financialfirms. struggling,” Scott Minerd, terly,untilunemploymentlev- term corporate IOUs called
funds into the private sector, with cash, according to Fed Source:Moody'sAnalytics chief investment officer at elsdropafteranexpectedrise. commercial paper. Companies
and the Treasury postponed surveys. money-manager Guggenheim Lastweek,Reps.RoKhanna use commercial paper to fi-
oneofthebiggestbillscoming Fed data show nonfinan- Analytics.Themoreliquidas- PartnersLLC,saidTuesday.A (D., Calif.) and Tim Ryan (D., nancetheirday-to-daybusiness
dueforanyone:individualin- cial businesses had $1.53 in setstheyhold,thebetterposi- global depression is possible Ohio) proposed sending a operationssuchaspayrollex-
cometaxes. liquidassetslikecashandse- tioned they are to handle a “if policy makers don’t act check between $1,000 and penses.
In a normally functioning curities on hand for every $1 cashcrunch. quickly,”hesaid. $6,000toeveryAmericanwho WhiletheFedcan’tbuycor-
economy,paychecksandreve- inshort-termliabilitiesinthe The Fed took additional Someideas—suchasabroad earnedlessthan$65,000last poratedebtorlenddirectlyto
nues roll in for workers and fourth quarter. That is down steps to address the problem payrolltaxcut—mightnotde- year. households and businesses, it
theiremployers,andtheyuse from $1.80 when Lehman Tuesday, throwing a rescue liver funds quickly enough or “Tome,thisisaboutcash,” can invoke emergency powers
agoodchunkofthatmoneyto Brothers collapsed in 2008, linetocommercialpapermar- directlytothepeopleinmost Mr.Ryansaid. to establish lending facilities
paythebillstheyhavecoming but up from $1.34 during the kets, where banks, money dire need to hold off the im- —AsaFitch,RichardRubin that,inturn,extendcredit.
due.Inthebusinessworld,it’s September 11, 2001, terrorist marketmutualfundsandoth- pending cash crunch. For the andNatalieAndrews “Thecommercialpapermar-
calledworkingcapital. attacks,accordingtoMoody’s ers provide short-term loans moment,theWhiteHouseand contributedtothisarticle. kethasbeenunderconsiderable
strain in recent days as busi-
nesses and households face
Trump “My counsel is to gag and greater uncertainty in light of
voteforitanyway,"Mr.McCon- thecoronavirusoutbreak,”the
nellsaidtoRepublicanswhoare Fedsaid.
Backs Aid voicingoppositiontothesecond BylaunchingtheCommercial
aid bill, which is estimated to PaperFundingFacility,theFed
costmorethan$100billion. bankistryingtoencouragein-
Package TheHousehasleftWashing- vestorstoreturntothatmarket
tonforarecess,leavingmuch to ensure eligible issuers can
ofthelegislativeliftingtoSen- rollovermaturingobligations.
ateRepublicansastheCapitol The central bank’s facility will
ContinuedfromPageOne has closed to the public and purchase three-month debt
beenhithardbytheoutbreak, manystaffersareworkingfrom fromfirmswithhighcreditrat-
andasmuchas$500billionto home. Republican leadership ings. The Fed deployed a ver-
boostsmallbusinessesandfor andtheadministrationhopeto sionofthetoolbetween2008
other needs. The cash pay- moveabillthroughtheSenate and2010,duringandafterthe
mentscouldeventuallytotalas quickly,perhapsassoonasthe financialcrisis,
much as $500 billion, one of endofthisweek. Tocreatethefacility,theFed
theofficialssaid. Lawmakers also face new hadtoinvokespecialpowersby
Asthenumberofconfirmed healthconcerns.TwoColorado citing“unusualandexigentcir-
cases climbs, Congress has lawmakers said Tuesday they cumstances”toauthorizeoneof
racedtopasslegislation. wouldself-quarantine.Insepa- itsreservebanks,theNewYork
Inphaseoneoftheaidplan, rate statements, Sen. Cory
CongresspassedandPresident Gardner,aRepublican,andRep.
Tinrtuomlpa,waaRnep$u8b.3licbanil,liosnignbeidll AGES JsaaisdonthCeyroinwt,earaDcteemdowcirtaht,abcootnh- TreasurySecretary
funding vaccine development YIM stituentwhohasCovid-19. Mnuchingavehis
and prevention efforts. Law- GETT Sen. John Thune (R., S.D.), approvaltothe
makersarealmostfinishedwith Y/ the No. 2 Senate Republican,
thesecondphaseoflegislation, UCE saidthatdirectcashassistance programTuesday.
D
withabillfocusedonworkers REN toAmericansismorepopular
pendingbeforetheSenatefol- A amongtheGOPthanattempt-
K
lowingsomelatechangesmade NurseswaitforapatienttoarriveforaCovid-19screeningataclinicinSeattleonTuesday. ing to pass a payroll tax cut.
Monday to scale back a paid- AnylegislationintheSenate,to Fed, to extend credit. In 2010,
leaveexpansion.Lawmakersare ashighas20%absentanyin- tionthateventuallypassedthe receivethedirectpayments.One reach the necessary 60 votes, Congress required the Fed to
now charting out the third terventionbypolicymakersto House. officialsaidmillionairesandbil- willrequirebipartisansupport seekapprovalfromtheTreasury
phaseoftheirresponse. safeguardtheU.S.economy. AndSenateDemocratshave lionaireswouldbeexcluded,and topassandmovetotheDemo- secretarybeforeusingtheseso-
Mr.MnuchintoldRepublican Mrs.Pelosi,whospokewith proposed their own $750 bil- theadministrationcurrentlyes- cratic-controlledHouse. called13(3)powers,namedfor
senators on Tuesday that the Mr.MnuchinTuesday,outlined lionpackageforthethirdphase timates that the amount per Separate from the fiscal thesectionofitscharterthatal-
administration hopes to send herrequestsforthethirdstim- oftheresponse. adultwouldexceed$1,000. stimuluspackageMr.Mnuchin lowsittostandupsuchlast-re-
thefirstbatchofcheckstothe uluspackageinastatement,as “IwouldsaytomyRepubli- After the meeting with Mr. is pitching, the White House sortprograms.
publicbytheendofApril.He Mr.MnuchinmetwithSenate can colleagues: we want to Mnuchin, Senate Majority also plans to ask Congress to Treasury Secretary Steven
added that the payments, Republicans. work with you, you will have Leader Mitch McConnell (R., approve an additional emer- Mnuchingavehisapprovaltothe
whichcouldinitiallyamountto Amongothermeasures,Mrs. different ideas, but our ideas Ky.) said the chamber would gency funding bill to provide programTuesday.TheTreasury
abouttwoweeksofpay,would Pelosi called for making long- must be contained in a pack- movetovoteonthephase-two federalagencieswithmorere- willalsoprovide$10billionfrom
bemeans-testedtoensurethey termleaveavailabletoworkers age,”saidSen.ChuckSchumer Housebillassoonaspossible, sourcestocombatthevirus,ac- apoolofmoneyitretainscalled
don’t advantage the wealthy, grapplingwiththevirusandex- of New York, the chamber’s and immediately launch cordingtoasenioradministra- theExchangeStabilizationFund,
according to people familiar pandingrefundabletaxcredits Democraticleader,whoseplan broaderstimulusnegotiations. tionofficial.Theofficialsaidthe whichhasaround$94billionin
withhiscomments. toself-employedworkers. includesamoratoriumonevic- Senate Republicans who had administration hadn’t yet de- it,tocovercreditlossesforthe
Mr.MnuchintoldGOPsena- Someoftheseitemswerein tionsandforeclosures. concernsabouttheHousebill cidedonthesizeoftherequest. Fed.
tors that the unemployment the original bill pitched by Administration officials and saidthattheTuesdaymeeting —KateDavidson Thecommercialpapermarket
rate,whichwasat3.5%inFeb- HouseDemocratslastweekbut lawmakers were discussing withMr.Mnuchinhadresolved andNatalieAndrews hasbeenstrainedasmoney-mar-
ruary, could potentially climb werescaledbackinthelegisla- which income brackets would someoftheirconcerns. contributedtothisarticle. ketmutualfundsandotherin-
vestorsseektosellcommercial
paperatthesametimethatde-
Europe’s Fiscal Remedies Risk mandforshort-termborrowing
is rising from companies that
faceunanticipated,virus-related
Deepening Its Economic Gaps fundingneeds.
Already,thepandemichasde-
liveredablowtocorporatecredit
marketsbyraisingconcernsthat
borrowers will be unable to
BYTOMFAIRLESS ministers said that already to €20 billion over the next makegoodontheirobligations
ANDLAURENCENORMAN announced fiscal-stimulus three months, but that sum because they face falling reve-
plans amounted to 1% of the could increase, said Finance nues.Cloggedcommercial-paper
Europeangovernmentshave bloc’soutputin2020andthat MinisterWopkeHoekstra. marketscouldleadcompaniesto
pledgedhundredsofbillionsof liquiditysupportthroughgov- Themovefollowedthecri- draw down their bank lines of
It’snotjustaboutachievingyourgoals... eurostohelpeconomies,com- ernment guarantees and de- sisresponsemeasuresofGer- credit,whichcouldinturnraise
paniesandworkershitbythe ferred tax payments was at many, Europe’s biggest econ- fundingneedsforbanks.
It’saboutthepaththatgetsyouthere. coronavirus,applyingtoolsde- least10%oftheEU’sGDP. omy and so far the country TheFedsaiditwouldlendto
velopedduringtheeurocrisis “These figures could be thathaspledgedthegreatest commercial paper issuers at a
andcastingasidestrictprohi- much larger going forward,” action. Government offi- rateof2percentagepointsabove
bitionsonstatesubsidies. theministerssaid. cialssaidlastweektheywould overnightlendingratesforthree
Thestimulusmoves,which Attheonsetofthefinancial provide potentially unlimited months at a time. The facility
comeontopofincreasedgov- crisis in late 2008, the EU governmentfinancingfordis- willlastforatleastoneyear.
ernment spending automati- pumped €200 billion ($220 rupted businesses, including “The terms are not easy. It
cally triggered during a billion) into the economy, measuresthathelpedGermany was a mild disappointment to
downturn, could help fiscally around1.5%ofGDP. emergefromthefinancialcri- themarket,”saidJuliaCoronado,
soundcountriesincludingGer- FranceandtheNetherlands sis a decade ago largely un- a former Fed economist and
manyandtheNetherlandsto onTuesdaybecamethelatest scathed. founder of economic-advisory
weatherthegrowingeconomic countries to open the spigot. CentraltoBerlin’splanisa firmMacroPolicyPerspectives.
crisis.Butitmightnotallevi- Francepromised€45billionin €550 billion loan and loan- While the rates offered by
atehardshipforweakercoun- immediate aid for businesses guarantee program for busi- the Fed might look high rela-
triessuchasItaly. andemployeeshitbythecoro- nessesofallsizes,thoughthe tive to traditional market
That divergence could ag- navirus pandemic, which is governmentstressedthatithas prices,thefactthatmanyissu-
gravate an economic gap at slowing or shutting down nolimitonfinancialsupport. ershaven’tbeenabletoborrow
Aplacetobecome...Abusinessleader,ateacher,an theheartofEurope’scurrency swathsoftheglobaleconomy. ButItalyandSpain,twona- atanyrateinrecentdayssug-
artist.Ifkidsandteenscandreamit,Boys&GirlsClubscan unionifitwidensthegulfbe- French Finance Minister tions currently hit hardest by geststhefacilitywillbehelpful,
helpthembecomeit.BecauseatourClubs,it’snotmagic tweentheregion’sstrongand Bruno Le Maire said provi- thevirus,havebeenmorecau- said Roberto Perli, an econo-
thatmakesdreamscometrue,it’sthepeople.Likeour weakeconomies,whichinthe sionalpredictionsshowthere- tious. Italy’s government an- mist at research firm Corner-
YouthDevelopmentProfessionalswhoensureouryouthhave longtermcouldfurthercloud sponsetothecoronaviruswill nounceda€25billionspending stoneMacro.
aplacetofeelphysicallyandemotionallysafe.Aplaceto thesinglecurrency’sfuture. slash 1% from France’s gross planonMondaythatincluded Later on Tuesday, the Fed
belong.Aplacetohavefun.Aplacetolearnandgrowontheir Onlyasmallamountofthe domesticproductthisyear. additional funds for health announcedanother13(3)lend-
pathtoaGreatFuture. totalamountpledgedsofaris “Thiseconomicwarwillbe care,andprovisionstosuspend ingprogramthatwillenable24
stimulusspendingthatwillgo long-lastingandviolent,”Mr. tax payments and provide large financial institutions
directlytobusinessorworkers, LeMairesaidonFrenchradio. mortgage relief to affected called primary dealers, which
and most are commitments TheDutchgovernmentan- businesses and households. functionastheFed’sexclusive
that may never be drawn on. nouncedaraftofmeasuresto Spain on Tuesday announced counterpartieswhentradingin
Theamountsaredesignedboth support companies, ranging upto€200billioninsupport, financialmarkets,toseekloans
asdirecthelpandtoboostcon- fromtaxexemptionstohaving includingprivatefundsthegov- ofupto90days.
fidenceamongbanks,employ- up to 90% of wages paid by ernment hopes to mobilize.
GreatFutures.org
ersandinvestors. thegovernment.Themeasures Only €17 billion of the total (cid:2)BankofEnglandgovernoris
European Union finance areexpectedtocost€10billion wouldbedirectsupport. urgedtoclosemarkets......B12
THEWALLSTREETJOURNAL. ****** Wednesday,March18,2020|A5
THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC
Auto Makers Agree to Protective Measures
Companiestoallow peoplefamiliarwiththematter WeakLink
said.Theplantwasclosedfor Tesla’sCalifornia
timeforcleaning Thenumberofpotentialsupply–chaindisruptionsaroundtheworldhasincreasedsharply.
disinfection after one worker
PlantOrderedShut
factoriesasworkers testedpositiveandanotheris NumberofdisruptionsinMarch
likely to have contracted the comparedwithJanuary
expressfearsofvirus S.Korea
disease,aLearspokesmansaid.
The Ford factory, which 2,012 TeslaInc.musthaltpro-
BYMIKECOLIAS makes the Ford Explorer and ductionatitsCaliforniacar
ANDBENFOLDY LincolnAviatorsport-utilityve- 6 factoryaspartofanorder
hicles,isexpectedtobedown fornoncriticalcompaniesto
The United Auto Workers for at least Tuesday night’s U.S. scaledownoperationsto
and Detroit car companies eight-hourshiftandforpartof mitigatetheeffectsofthe
Spain
reached agreements on coro- Wednesday,thepeoplesaid. March 4,671 novelcoronaviruspandemic.
navirus-mitigationeffortsthat Shutting off production 49,791 Theautomakermust
fornowwillavoidatwo-week acrossU.S.factorieswoulddeal conduct“minimumbasicop-
12
shutdownofU.S.factories. another financial blow to the Germany erationonly”attheFremont
TheUAWhadbeenpressing Detroitautomakers,whichhave factoryaspartoftheorder
71,912
GeneralMotorsCo.,FordMo- been grappling with virus-re- issuedMonday,Alameda
torCo.andFiatChryslerAu- lated disruption globally. The Countysheriffspokesman
January Italy
tomobiles NV to idle their outbreakinChinahasdecimated RaymondKellysaidinan
46 7,110
plantstoprotectworkersfrom vehiclesalesthereandcaused emailreviewedbyTheWall
thevirus.Theunionsaidlate rippleeffectsthroughtheglobal StreetJournalonTuesday.
Tuesdaythatcompanyexecu- automotivesupplychain. 8 Thecountyissuedtheorder
tives agreed to partial shut- Fordisconsideringcutting France aspartofabroadeffortin
downs of plants to allow for shiftsatsomeofitsU.S.facto- theSanFranciscoareatoget
7,150
cleaning between shifts and ries to limit the risk to em- 214 China* peopletoseekshelterat
longer periods for shift ployees,althoughnofinalde- theirhomestoavoidthe
changeovers,alongwithother cisionhasbeenmade,people 21,360 14 Othercountries spreadofthevirus.
measurestominimizeworker familiarwiththemattersay.If 525 Hisemailfolloweda
contact,theUAWsaid. thecutsareenacted,itwould *Supply–chaindisruptionreachedthe tweetbythesheriff’soffice
A GM spokesman declined mark the first time an auto maximumamountinChinaonthe declaringTeslais“notanes-
21,360
to comment on the new mea- maker in the U.S. has signifi- Riskmethodsplatformforbothmonths. 210 sentialbusinessasdefined”
sures and said the company cantlycurtailedproductionbe- Source:RiskmethodsGmbH intheorder.
hasbeenworkingonmitigation causeoftheoutbreak. Thedirectivecould
effortsforweeks.FordandFiat Eliminatingashiftatafac- Shutting down plants re- workfromhome. ofthepandemic. threatenTesla’splanto
Chryslerdidn’timmediatelyre- tory that works round-the- sults in an immediate hit to “There is serious concern Sofar,carcompanieshave boostdeliveriesbymore
ply to requests for comment. clockonthreeshiftswouldal- thebottomlineforcarcompa- fromouremployeesandright- fended off parts shortages to than36%thisyear,fueledin
The companies earlier said lowmoretimefordisinfecting nies, which book revenue as fully so,” said Todd Dunn, keep plants running in the partbyanewfactoryin
they had adopted extensive the facility, a person with soonastheyshipvehiclesfrom presidentoftheunion’schap- U.S., which accounts for the Chinaandthearrivalofthe
measurestoprotectworkers. knowledge of the company’s the factory to dealerships. A terrepresentingFord’sLouis- lion’s share of profits at GM, ModelYcompactsport-util-
Meanwhile,Fordconfirmed deliberations said. It also 40-day strike at GM’s U.S. ville, Ky., plants. “If I could Ford and Fiat Chrysler. The ityvehicle.
Tuesdayeveningittemporarily wouldreducetheminglingthat plantslastfalldrained$3.6bil- send them home and give prospect of auto makers cut- TeslaChiefExecutiveElon
closedthecompany’sChicago occurs between workers on lionfromGM'sbottomline. themmoney,Iwould.” tingU.S.productionhasWall Muskhassaidpanicoverthe
assembly plant because of a shift change, the person said. Somefactoryworkershave Global auto makers have Street analysts scrutinizing coronavirusismoredanger-
partsshortage.AnearbyLear In Europe, Ford and other complained on social media been relying on the health of theirbalancesheetstogauge ousthantheactualdisease
Corp.plantthatsuppliesparts major car companies have thattheyfeelunsafeshowing the U.S. market this year, as howwelltheycouldweathera andhassaidhewouldcon-
to the Ford factory is closing temporarilyclosedtheirfacto- up for work, particularly as China and more recently Eu- prolongedshutdown. tinuetoshowupatwork.
temporarilyaftertwoemploy- ries as the outbreak has manyofthecompanies’white- rope have seen car sales and —IanLovett —TimHiggins
eestestedpositiveforCovid-19, spreadthere. collaremployeesweretoldto productioncollapseasaresult contributedtothisarticle.
New Testing Policy
Could Lift Access,
But Risk Accuracy
BYTHOMASM.BURTON actually sick, could mean that
ANDSHARONTERLEP person infects others unwit-
tingly.Butafalse-positivetestis
WASHINGTON—A federal alsoproblematic,asitcouldlead
agency’s decision to allow lab healthypeopletoendupinthe
companiestoreleasecoronavi- hospital, wasting medical re-
rustestswithoutpriorgovern- sources.
mentapprovalshouldhelpease “Itisnotscientificallyvalidto
theshortageoftestkits,butat justsay‘Whatthehell’andlet
the potential cost of compro- tests indiscriminately onto the
mised results, medical experts market,”saidDianaZuckerman,
saidonTuesday. presidentoftheNationalCenter
“It’saprettygoodideatoal- forHealthResearch.“Itdoesalot
lowforcompaniestogettests ofharmifthetestisn’taccurate.”
out in a national emergency,” Ravi Thadhani, chief aca-
S
GE saidPaulFey,researchmedical demicofficeratPartnersHealth-
A
M directorattheUniversityofNe- Care, a group of Boston-area
I
G/GETTY badradsekdathMaetd“itchaelseCetensttesr.mBauytnhoet hteoascphiitnaglshtohsaptitianlsc,lusadieds“Hthaervliakred-
ON performaswell.” lihoodismuchhigher”ofsuch
W
The new policy was an- misleadingresultswiththeFDA
X
ALE nounced late Monday by Food decision.
HouseSpeakerNancyPelosi(D.,Calif.)saidshewouldcontinuetopushforexpandedleave,includingforhealth-careworkers. andDrugAdministrationCom- TheFDA’sDr.Hahnsaidthe
House Cuts Back Paid-Leave Plan missioner Stephen Hahn, who agencyisstrikingabalancebe-
conceded there were risks but tweenspeedandscientificrigor.
saidtheywerewarrantedbythe Hesaidthat“inaccuratediagno-
circumstances. sesduringapandemiccanim-
Efforts to combat the virus pairpreventioneffortsanddelay
WASHINGTON—TheDemo- are in quarantine, caring for at two-thirds pay, in what ministration that any emer- havesufferedfromashortageof appropriatetreatment.”
cratic-ledHousescaledbacka familymemberswithCovid-19, wouldhaverepresentedama- gencyresponsepackagemust testkits,whichhastypicallyre- Initsannouncement,theFDA
paid-leave program that the and those who have children jor expansion of the Family put Families First before any quiredpeoplewithsymptomsof said it would try to weed out
chamber had tried to enact whose schools or day-care and Medical Leave Act, the aid to corporate America is the disease to get permission badtestsbyrequiringlabcom-
daysearlier,followingpressure centershaveclosed. 1993 law that provides 12 considered,”shesaid. fromadoctorfortesting. panies to submit data demon-
But for the next 10 weeks, weeksofunpaidleavetowork- The bill passed Saturday Atthesametime,inaccurate strating accuracy within about
BySiobhanHughes, paid leave would be limited ersatlargercompanies. morning allowed businesses tests create their own set of twoweeksofthetests’release.
NatalieAndrews only to workers caring for a Democratic aides were withfewerthan50workersto problems,medicalexpertssay.
andKateDavidson childwhoseschoolordaycare alarmedbythechanges,which winexemptionsunderrulesto False negatives, in which a (cid:2)Lackofbloodsamplesstalls
had been shut. Workers who were passed with no objec- bedevelopedbytheLaborDe- personisdeemedhealthywhile workonvirusdrug.................B1
frombusinessesworriedabout hadbeeninquarantineorcar- tionsbecauseHouselawmak- partment.Manybusinesseshad
financial burdens from the ing for a family member af- ers are away from Washing- expressedconcernsaboutcash
sweeping bill in response to fectedbytheviruswouldn’tbe ton. The changes weren’t flowandhadworriedthatthey U.S. Weighs Partial
thecoronaviruscrisis. eligible for the additional 10 showntomostlawmakersbe- mightsufferadditionaldisrup-
In revised legislation that weeks of leave. Health-care forethevote. tionsduringacrisisbylosing
Democraticleadersbilledasa providers and emergency re- HouseSpeakerNancyPelosi workersonwhomtheyrelied. Shutdown of Borders
technicalcorrection,butrep- spondersaren’tguaranteedthe (D.,Calif.)appearedtoaddress Tobecomelaw,thelegisla-
resentedasignificantrewrite, additional 10 weeks of paid the criticism Tuesday, saying tion must next pass the Sen-
theHousemodifiedaprogram leave,withthedecisionupto shesaidshewouldcontinueto ate, where some Republicans BYMICHELLEHACKMAN lawthatallowsimmigrationof-
aimedatprovidingpaidleave theLaborsecretary,giventhat push for expanded leave, in- haveraisedconcernsthatthe ANDALICIAA.CALDWELL ficialstodenyentrytoforeign-
topeopleaffectedbythecoro- the government might face a cluding for health-care work- legislationplacestoomuchof erswhoposeariskofspreading
navirus. The new measure shortageofsuchworkers. ersandthosewhoneedlonger aburdenonsmallemployers. Duetothecoronaviruspan- infectiousdiseases,thepeople
wouldstillprovidetwoweeks In the original version, all leavebecausetheygetsick. The legislation also makes demic,theTrumpadministra- familiarwiththeplansaid.The
of sick leave to a wide swath theworkerswhoreceivedpaid “During negotiations, the coronavirus testing free and tion is considering a plan to governmentisexpectedwithin
of workers affected by the sicktimewouldbeeligiblefor Democratic House will con- increasesaccesstofoodassis- shutter the U.S. border with thenexttwodaystopublisha
pandemic,includingthosewho another10weeksofpaidleave tinuetomakecleartotheAd- tancetothosewhoneedit. MexicoandCanadaassoonas rulethatwouldtakeimmediate
this week to asylum seekers effect.Itwouldn’trequirecon-
and other foreigners who gressionalapproval.
IRS Extends April 15 Deadline for Payments don’thavepermissiontoenter “The President is 100% fo-
the country, people familiar cusedonprotectingtheAmeri-
withtheplansaid. canpeoplefromthecoronavirus
WASHINGTON—The U.S. well,TreasurySecretarySteven TheIRSwillcontinuetopro- payment date from the due Undertheplan,theadminis- andalloptionsareonthetable,”
governmentwillpostponethe MnuchinsaidTuesday.Thede- cess tax refunds. Taxpayers date,andjustblanketextended trationwouldkeepportsofen- HeatherSwift,spokeswomanfor
April15tax-paymentdeadline lay is available to people who should file their returns as everythingtoJuly15,weastax tryopentoU.S.citizens,perma- the Department of Homeland
formillionsofindividuals,giv- owe$1millionorlessandcor- usualbyApril15buttheycan preparers and employers, and nent residents and foreigners Security, said in a statement.
ingAmericansanadditional 90 porationsthatowe$10million defer payment for up to 90 just plain old citizens, could withlegalpermissiontoenter TheDepartmentofHealthand
orless,hesaid. daysbeyondthat,accordingto ratchet back the amount of thecountry.Foreignerscovered HumanServices,whichoversees
ByRichardRubin, Mr.Mnuchinsaidthemove theSenateFinanceCommittee. time we spend together daily by President Trump’s existing public-healthlaws,didn’treturn
LauraSaunders could provide $300 billion in Presumably,theycanalsoseek andweekly,”saidKenGoodrow, travelrestrictionsonChinaand arequestforcomment.
andAndrewRestuccia temporary liquidity, giving six-monthextensionsanddefer anaccountantatTyler,Simms Europealreadyaren’tpermitted AskedduringaWhiteHouse
householdsandbusinessesafi- payment, but the IRS hasn’t &St.SauveurinLebanon,N.H. to enter ateither of the U.S.’s newsconferenceearlierTues-
daystopaytheir2019income- nancial cushion as they cope madethatclearyet. “Unlessthisreturnduedate landborders. daywhetherheisconsidering
tax bills in an unprecedented with the sudden slowdown in Tax preparers warned that movesweareallinforamuch Migrants crossing the shuttering the U.S. land bor-
moveintendedtoeasetheeco- economicactivitycausedbythe requiring taxpayers to file re- busier, much more stressful southernborderbetweenlegal ders,Mr.Trumpsaid:“Idon’t
nomicpaininflictedbythecor- coronavirusepidemic. turnsorrequestsforextensions monththannormal,”hesaid. portsofentry,includingthose want to say that, but we are
onavirus. “Wearegoingtouseallthe byApril15wouldcreateunnec- The IRS hasn’t explained claiming asylum, would be discussingthingswithCanada,
TheIRS,usingauthorityun- tools we have,” Mr. Mnuchin essaryworkandstressoverthe whethertaxpayerscanalsode- swiftlyreturnedtoMexicoby and we’re discussing things
derPresidentTrump’snational- said.“Andwhattoolswedon’t next month as people try to ferestimated-taxpaymentsfor theU.S.BorderPatrol. withMexico,quitehonestly.”
emergency declaration, will have,we’regoingtogotoCon- completereturnsorextensions. thefirstquarterof2020,which Theadministrationplansto The plan was earlier re-
waiveinterestandpenaltiesas gress.” “Hadtheynotdecoupledthe arealsodueonApril15. useaprovisionofpublic-health portedbytheNewYorkTimes.
A6|Wednesday,March18,2020 THEWALLSTREETJOURNAL.
*****
THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC
U.S. Tries to Soften Impact of Coronavirus
Cities,statesandWashing- pected to see some form of
ton sought ways to mitigate policepresence.
theblowofthecoronavirusas “IwasworriedifIwouldbe
businesses closed, the Euro- stopped driving down the
peanUnionplannedtoshutits street,butsofarIdon’treally
borders and fears of a pan- see anything different,” Ms.
demic-inducedrecessionkept Bayer,a64-year-oldadminis-
marketsonedge. trator,saidassheloadedthree
bagsofgroceriesintohercar.
ByJenniferCalfas, NotablyoutdoorswereSan
JimCarlton Francisco’s large homeless
andSamSchechner population,whichcityofficials
exemptedfromtheorder.
U.S.TreasurySecretarySte- Manufacturers in the U.S.
venMnuchin ispitchingSen- areimprovisingtokeepfacto-
ateRepublicansona$1trillion rieshummingasthecoronavi-
stimulus plan that would in- ruspandemicthreatensoneof
clude roughly $250 billion in the biggest disruptions in
directpayments,accordingto memorytosupplychains,staff-
a White House official. The inganddemand.Amazon.com
Federal Reserve also took Inc. said it is taking steps to
steps to prevent further prioritizeshipmentsofmedical
strainsinshort-termcommer- supplies,householdstaplesand
cialdebtmarkets.Themoves otherhigh-demandproducts.
helpedpushU.S.stockshigher MarriottInternationalInc.,
Tuesdayfollowingapunishing theworld’slargesthotelcom-
K
selloffadayearlier. OC pany,saiditisstartingtofur-
Aroundthecountry,disrup- RST lough what it expects will be
tions to daily life continued UTTE tens of thousands of employ-
unabated. New York City SH eesasitrampsuphotelclos-
A/
MwplaaascyeocroornBdsieildrlerdreeiqnuBgirlaainsgsiohreeslsatieiddre-nihntes- ASILVA/EP icRnlaugldsp.ihnMgLeaMaunraewcnyh,’isCl,eh,Fircoeoot’tsa,iLlAeormcskeiernri--,
D
to stay at home for a period, R canEagleOutfittersandFossil
while officials in Hoboken, PETE announced plans to close
N.J.,orderedresidentstoself- ASanFrancisco-boundCaltrainwasnearlyemptyonTuesday,asalegallymandatedlockdownwentintoeffectinthecity. storesintheU.S.temporarily.
isolate. Texas Gov. Greg Ab- Governments around the
bott activated the state’s Na- Efforts to slow the virus’s TheEUsaiditwouldclose bringasecondwaveofthenew distribute key medical equip- globe are enacting more ag-
tionalGuardasthenumberof impactandspreadacrossthe itsbordersfor30days—anun- coronavirustotheregion. mentinresponsetothegrow- gressivemeasuresamidfears
infectionstheregrewandthe U.S. followed more drastic precedentedmove.Thetravel The United Nations High ingcrisis.TheTrumpadminis- of the pandemic’s spreading
statereporteditsfirstcorona- movesinEurope,whereFrance banwillallowexemptionsfor Commissioner on Refugees, trationannouncednewstepsto economicimpact.
virus-related death. More and other countries pledged citizens and long-term resi- which coordinates refugee increase access to telehealth, France, where the number
states, including North Caro- billionsofeurosinimmediate dentsortheirimmediatefami- flightsaroundtheworld,said allowingpatientstoreachdoc- of confirmed cases rose to
lina, added restrictions on aidforbusinessesandemploy- lies returning home; medical itwaspausingallresettlement torsremotelyforcare. morethan7,600,pledged€45
barsandrestaurants. eeshitbythepandemic. staff and others dealing with flightswithinthenextcouple In San Francisco, where a billion($50billion)inimmedi-
States including Ohio and Confirmed cases of the the coronavirus; diplomats, of days. The pause will likely legally mandated lockdown ateaidforbusinessesandem-
Maryland delayed their pri- novelcoronavirusroseglobally frontier workers and people mean the U.S.—which is ac- went into effect Tuesday, po- ployees hit by the pandemic.
mary elections. Florida, Illi- tomorethan196,600onTues- transporting goods. The U.K. cepting a record low 18,000 licepatrolswerelight.Butciti- The U.K., Germany and other
noisandArizonaforgedahead dayasthedeathtollhit7,893, and Ireland, which share a refugeesthisyear—couldend zens mostly appeared to be Europeancountrieshavealso
with their contests, but last- accordingtodatacompiledby common travel zone, aren’t upresettlingevenfewerpeo- complying with the edict, announced assistance mea-
minutechangestopollinglo- JohnsHopkinsUniversity. coveredbythemeasures. plethanithadplanned. whichsaysresidentsmayven- suresforbusinesses.
cations caused confusion Among the new cases were A nationwide lockdown in Infections in the U.S. sur- tureoutsideonlyforgroceries In Iran, site of the third-
amongsomevoters. fourplayersontheNBA’sBrook- FrancetookeffectTuesday,fol- passed5,850Tuesday,withat or medical appointments. worst outbreak in the world
The coronavirus has now lynNets,accordingtotheteam. lowingItalyandSpain,where least97deaths.Thenumberof Walks and other exercise are behind China and Italy, wor-
officially spread throughout Star player Kevin Durant told confirmedcaseshit31,506and cases is expected to increase alsoallowed,butnotingroups. shipersdefiedrestrictionson
theentirenation,asWestVir- TheAthletichewasoneofthem. 11,309, respectively, Tuesday. astestingcapabilitiesexpand. WhenCathyBayerlefther access to holy shrines and
giniaonTuesdaybecamethe The swift increase has set Governments in Asia, mean- TheU.S.militarysaidTues- home in the city’s Miraloma mosques, as the country’s
50thstatetodiscloseithasa offmorelockdownsandtravel while,arelimitingvisitorsfrom day it would open its labs, Parkneighborhoodtostockup leadersstruggletostemsoar-
confirmedcase. halts. foreign countries as travelers ready its hospital ships and ongroceries,shesaidsheex- inginfectionanddeathrates.
SoftBank
For Pregnant Women, Data on Risks Is Scant
Backs Off
BYDANIELAHERNANDEZ didn’t find the virus in sam- patients,unlesstheyhaveun-
ples of amniotic fluid, cord derlyinghealthconditions,like On WeWork
Raquel Iacurto went to blood or breast milk, accord- diabetes, heart disease or re-
sleepwithabadheadacheon ing to research published in spiratoryissues.
TuesdayMarch10. FebruaryintheLancetmedical “The data coming out of
The next day, she said, “I journal. Throat swabs in the China has been very reassur-
had some tightness in my newbornsalsotestednegative. ing,”saidBrennaHughes,vice ContinuedfromPageOne
chest, and really bad body Theviruscanstillbetrans- chairforobstetricsandquality more than 8%, hitting their
aches.” She called in sick at mittedafterbirththroughcon- at Duke University Medical lowestlevelssince2016.
work and went to an urgent- tact, posing tough questions Center. “But we really don’t SoftBank recently has re-
care center, where she tested about whether a mother and know how this virus is going ceived information demands
negative for the flu and was her newborn should be sepa- to behave in the American fromtheSECandtheJustice
senthometoherapartmentin ratedandforhowlong. pregnantpopulation.” Department as well as New
ValleyStream,N.Y. Scientistsaretryingtode- Pregnantwomeningeneral York state regulators about
That night, Ms. Iacurto terminewhetherinfectionear- arealreadyconsideredhigher WeWork’s business practices
wokeupwithafever.Shewor- lier in pregnancy might in- risk,inpartbecausetheyare andcommunicationstoinves-
riedshecouldhavethenovel creaseariskofpretermlabor, morepronetoinfection. tors, some of the people said.
coronavirus, an especially miscarriageorbirthdefects. Severalpregnantwomenin The company previously had
frighteningthoughtsinceshe In limited studies of SARS the U.S. said they had taken told shareholders that it ex-
isabout27weekspregnant. cases, women didn’t seem to their school-age children out pected to go ahead with the
As cases of Covid-19—the haveanincreasedriskofhav- of school, upped their home- purchaseoftheexistingshares
diseasecausedbythecoronavi- ingbabieswithabnormalities, cleaningandpersonalhygiene onApril1.
rus—continuetoriseintheU.S. saidLionaPoon,aclinicalpro- regimens, and canceled play The $3 billion stock pur-
andglobally,thereisstillscant fessor at the Chinese Univer- datesandfamilyvisits. chasethatSoftBankisbacking
A
dataavailableabouthowthevi- RE sityofHongKongandanau- Ms. Iacurto, a special-edu-
rusaffectspregnantwomenand UEL thor of an interim report on cation teacher at a public
fetaldevelopment,accordingto RAQ howtomanageCovid-19. schoolinBrooklyn,hasspent Coronavirusis
doctors and researchers. It is RaquelIacurto,aspecial-educationteacher,andherhusband,Joseph. A February WHO report timeinrecentweeksatwork.
expectedtohurt
thatlackofinformationthatis found that pregnant patients Herlastdayintheclassroom
most unnerving and stressful, sessing the level of risk for tory illnesses to inform care “donotappeartobeathigher wasMarch10. WeWorkasmore
according to interviews with pregnant women and helping strategies and reassure preg- riskofseveredisease,”citing On Thursday, Ms. Iacurto,
officesareclosed.
severalexpectantmoms. clinicians efficiently mobilize nantwomenandtheirfamilies. an investigation of 147 con- 32, went to the emergency
TheWorldHealthOrganiza- medicalresourcesforthemost Thenewcoronavirus,simi- firmed and suspected cases room. There, she was tested
tiondoesn’thaveabreakdown critical patients, especially larly to viruses within the among Chinese women. The forthecoronavirus. Saturday
of how many of the world’s with health-care systems al- same family, doesn’t seem to reportsaidthat8%ofpatients night,herdoctorcalledtotell
morethan190,000confirmed ready experiencing surges in betransmittedfrommotherto werefoundwithseveresymp- hershehadtestedpositive. away from was a key part of
cases were among pregnant cases,accordingtodoctors. childinthewomborthrough tomsand1%ofthemendedup ShesaidMondayafternoon thecompany’sOctoberbailout
women, nor what the full Meanwhile, clinicians and breastmilk,accordingtosome incriticalcondition. shewasstillexperiencingchills, ofWeWork.SoftBanksavedthe
range of outcomes has been, scientistsaregaininginsights peer-reviewedstudies.Astudy Data from China also sug- bodyachesandhadacough. company from a cash crunch
according to a spokesperson. fromcasereportsoutofChina ofninelivebirthsamongcoro- gest the risk of getting seri- “But every day is a little followingWeWork’sfailedIPO
The data are crucial for as- andpastresearchonrespira- navirus patients in China ouslyillislowamongyounger better,”shesaid. by agreeing to provide about
$5billionofdebtandspeedup
A Storied Eatery’s Plans to Reopen Are Now on Hold a prior commitment to invest
anadditional$1.5billioninthe
company.
The IPO, which was pulled
after a rough reception from
Asthenew figureoutwhatisnextforthe tough but necessary. Paying He said sales fell 20% last 1892. New York City started WallStreet,wouldhaveraised
coronavirus storiedeatery. employeeswhiletherestaurant Thursdayfromthepriorweek designating Gage & Tollner a morethan$3billion.
forcesbig “It’sheartbreaking,”hesaid sat idle wasn’t feasible. He is and 30% on Friday. By Satur- landmark in 1974. It was the SoftBankstruckthedealaf-
changesin in an interview Sunday. “We hopefulhewillbeabletorehire day,salesplunged42%froma first landmarked dining room teranegotiationwithWeWork
howwe built this machine and were many,ifnotallofthem,after weekearlier. and the city’s third interior board members and Mr. Neu-
work,TheWallStreetJour- justabouttotakeitoutandsee thepandemicslows. “It’saprettyclearindicator landmarkofanykind. mann,whoagreedtocedehis
nalislookingathowdiffer- whatitcoulddo,andnowwe MayorBilldeBlasioisnow that New Yorkers don’t feel Its return to the Brooklyn boardseatandvotingrightsof
entpeoplearecopingwith don’thavetheopportunity.” limitingNewYorkCityrestau- comfortable going out to eat diningsceneisanticipated.The his shares and receive a $185
thestressesandrisks. Thedaysleadinguptothe rants,barsandcafestoprovid- rightnow,”hesaid. restaurant has already made millionconsultingfee.Mr.Neu-
reopening delivered equal ingtakeoutanddelivery. Mr.Frizelliscraftingabusi- about$5,000fromsellinggift mann has returned to Israel,
BYSTEVENRUSSOLILLO parts anxiety and success. Mr. Frizell needs to figure ness model for a takeout and cardsonline. wherehewasraised.
Trial dinners for friends and outhowtoshiftgears.“Inthe delivery service at Fort Defi- Mr.Frizellandhispartners Thecoronavirusisexpected
St. John Frizell and his family went off well, but Mr. weeksleadinguptotheopen- ance,tryingtofigureouthow are working to secure a loan tohavealargeimpactonWe-
partners have spent much of Frizellandhistwoco-owners ingofarestaurant,there’sno many employees are needed. andnegotiatingwithcreditors Work’sbusiness,ascompanies
their recent time buried in also watched the news ner- rest,”hesaid.“Youworknon- Heplanstoassignshiftstohis to defer some payments and around the globe have sent
workonaMarch15grandre- vouslyasthenumberofcon- stop, at least 12-hour days. currentstaffbasedonseniority. easethefinancialburden. theiremployeeshometowork,
openingforGage&Tollner,a firmedcasesmounted. That’s what it’s been like for “Unfortunately,therewon’tbe But it could all be for hurtingdemandforshort-term
19th-century chop-and-oyster “It was literally all set to meandforeveryoneinvolved.” enoughtogoaround,”hesaid. naught if the restaurant re- officespace.
restaurantindowntownBrook- go,” Mr. Frizell, 46 years old, And now? “I think I might Gage&Tollner’sreopening, mainsclosedforanextended Severalcitiesandstates,in-
lyn that closed in 2004. The said,notingthatasofFridayhe takeadayandjustreadabook, meanwhile,isonhold.“Ifyou period. “It’s going to be im- cludingSanFrancisco,haveor-
finishingtouchesincludedtak- wasstilloptimisticthatGage& put my feet up, relax and get couldtellmewhenthecorona- possibletomaketherentgo- dered residents to shelter in
ing delivery of alcohol and Tollnerwouldopenitsdoorson ready for whatever comes viruspanicwillbeover,I’llset ingforward,”hesaid. place.
training50employees. time.Thenextday,however,he next,”hesaid. thedateforthedayafterthat,” Still,Mr.Frizellisoptimistic. A possible recession could
OnSunday,however,hehad startedpackinguptherestau- Mr.Frizellwon’tbeidle.In Mr.Frizellsaid. “Thisinstitutionsurvivedtwo hurtsmallcompaniesthatare
tolayofftheentirestaffafter rant.Awalk-inrefrigeratorwas additiontotheGage&Tollner The restaurant originally worldwars,theSpanishflu,the among WeWork’s important
delayingthelaunchduetothe convertedintoafreezertohelp venture,hehasownedFortDe- opened in 1879 and moved to GreatDepressionandProhibi- customers.
new coronavirus pandemic. storeunusedfood. fiance,abarinBrooklyn’sRed what is now its present loca- tion,” he said. “It will survive —KonradPutzier
Now, Mr. Frizell is trying to Laying off the staff was Hook,formorethanadecade. tionindowntownBrooklynin thisaswell.” contributedtothisarticle.
THEWALLSTREETJOURNAL. Wednesday,March18,2020|A7
THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC
A Second Wave of Cases Grips ShiftingThreat
ManyAsia-Pacificcountriesareexperiencingarecentincreasein
coronaviruscases,incontrasttomainlandChina,where
infectionshaveslowed.
Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong
Dailynewcases
Jan. Feb. March
15,000
MainlandChina
BYLIZALIN “Youcanseefromthecur-
200
ANDJOYUWANG MalaysianCurbs and only one or two packs of rentsituation—comparedwith
chicken. the previous wave—it came Malaysia
SparkPanicBuying
Singapore, Taiwan and Trays containing fresh po- much more quickly,” Taiwan
80
Hong Kong are witnessing tatoes, broccoli and carrots MinisterofHealthandWelfare
freshwavesofcoronavirusin- were bare and shoppers were ChenShih-chungsaidMonday. Australia
fections,asthegrowingnum- News that Malaysia picking over the last packs of The recent clusters of Tai-
berofcasesaroundtheworld would implement severe in- green beans. wanesepatientsincludednine 20
testtheirsuccessfulearlyde- ternational border restric- Mr. Lim left with ice peoplereturningfromavaca- Singapore
fensesagainstthedisease. tions until the end of the cream and milk instead. tioninTurkeywiththesame
Singaporereported23new month led to a wave of panic A store assistant who tourgroup,provokingasocial- 10
caseslateTuesday,itshighest buying in Singapore’s super- was manning the poultry media outcry about leisure
HongKong
dailycountsincetheepidemic markets. counter at the supermarket travel in the wake of the
started. Taiwan recorded a Singaporeans were seen said the crowd started com- globalpandemic. 30
single-dayhighof10casesof cleaning out trays of fresh ing in at 8 a.m. and had “If you know a friend who
Thailand
infection,bringingitstotalto vegetables, poultry and toilet cleaned out coolers of fresh isstilltravelingforfun,please
77.HongKongaddedfivenew paper within an hour of the pork and chicken by mid- immediately break up with
50
cases—adayafteritrecorded announcement, which came morning. him—Rightnow!”oneTwitter
nine—themostsinceFeb.9. late Monday night. By Tuesday afternoon, the userwrote. Philippines
Singapore,TaiwanandHong “Everybody is afraid the supermarket had started to On Tuesday, Taiwan ex-
Kong,whichwerehitearlyby Malaysian border closures limit purchases of meat, in- tended its self-quarantine 30
thefast-spreadingcoronavirus would mean we’ll end up stant noodles and toilet pa- rules to cover travelers com- Indonesia
because of their close eco- with limited fresh vegetables per. ing from Washington state,
nomic and social ties with and eggs,” said Linus Lim, a The government sent out New York and California, as 10
China,havebeenlaudedforef- 45-year-old Singapore infor- a statement later Tuesday to wellasJapanandanumberof
Taiwan
fectivelycontrollinginitialout- mation-technology executive, try to reassure citizens that countries in Southeast Asia.
breaks with fast and aggres- who stopped by a large su- Singapore had an adequate Mr. Chen, the island’s top
10
siveresponses.Now,theyface permarket with his two col- supply of food and essentials health official, strongly ad-
freshchallengesascoronavirus leagues, hoping to buy some and the country wouldn’t be visedcitizenstoavoidunnec- Vietnam
cases soar in Europe and the fresh poultry. affected by Malaysia’s border essary travel to those places.
Middle East and returning They found empty shelves shutdown. Hesaidpeoplewhoknowingly Note:Scalevarieseachcountrytoshowthedailychangeinthecountry.
travelersbringbacknewrisks. ignore the travel warning Source:JohnsHopkinsCSSE
“Thetroublewiththisvirus won’t be eligible for govern-
isthatitisveryunpredictable. ofmorethan10people,asin- The growing tally of infec- ment subsidies during their antines for residents and home quarantine or medical
We do not know who will be fections and deaths outside tions globally is also forcing 14-day quarantines and their short-term visitors from surveillance of some form,”
at the center of a super- China exceeded those inside. newstepsinpartsoftheworld nameswouldbemadepublic. Southeast Asia. They also Mrs.Lamsaidatapresscon-
spreading event,” said Paul Itsguidanceexpandedonear- that had appeared to have a Singapore closed its bor- strongly discouraged citizens ferenceonTuesday.
Anantharajah Tambyah, the lier restrictions that banned handleonthevirus’sspread. ders to Chinese travelers on from traveling overseas and Elsewhere in the Asia-Pa-
president of the Asia-Pacific mostinboundtravelfromEu- Taiwan reported its first Feb. 1, about a week after recalled exchange students cificregion,thedisruptionand
Society of Clinical Microbiol- ropeandtheU.K. case in early January and Chinasaiditwouldlockdown whoarestudyingabroad. numberofcasescontinuedto
ogyandInfection.“Wearenot Millions of people in the movedquicklytoenforcequar- thecityofWuhan,wherethe Hong Kong leader Carrie mount. National Australia
safe in any place until every- San Francisco Bay Area were antine rules on arrivals from first coronavirus infections Lamsaidarrivalsfromallfor- Bank,vacateditsheadquarters
oneallovertheworldissafe.” orderedtoremainathomefor China,HongKongandMacau. werereported.Itsetupana- eign countries would be in Melbourne after an em-
Globally,casesofinfection three weeks and restrictions This kept the island’s daily tionaltaskforcetocoordinate placedunderhomequarantine ployeetestedpositiveforthe
rosetomorethan182,000on onbarsandrestaurantswere newinfectioncountstosingle itsresponse,randetailedcon- for two weeks beginning virus. The building will be
Tuesday and the number of expanded beyond New York digits for two months—until tact-tracingsearchesandim- Thursday—extending a quar- “pandemicallycleansed,”NAB
deaths hit 7,155, according to City and Los Angeles to Min- the center of the pandemic posedstrictquarantines. antinerulethathadpreviously ChiefExecutiveRossMcEwan
JohnsHopkinsUniversity.The nesotaandKentucky. shifted from Asia. The past Inthepastweek,afterim- affected travelers from hot saidinalettertostaffposted
fastrisehassetoffmorelock- In addition, Germany un- threedayshavebroughtmore portedcasesrose,authorities spots like China, Iran, Korea onlineTuesday.JohnsHopkins
downsandtravelhalts. veiled broad restrictions on than 30% of Taiwan’s total restricted entry for visitors andpartsofEurope. data show Australia has 377
The Trump administration travel and public life, while cases,mostoftheminvolving from many European coun- “Fromnowon,Iwouldsay confirmedcasesofinfection.
urged Americans to put off France ordered a nationwide travelersreturningfromvaca- tries, South Korea and Iran the majority of arrivals in —RachelYeo
travelingandavoidgatherings quarantine. tionsinplaceslikeEurope. and imposed two-week quar- Hong Kong will be put under contributedtothisarticle.
Devout Iranians Defy Tehran’s Call to Avoid Shrines
BYSUNEENGELRASMUSSEN
ANDARESUEQBALI
TEHRAN—Iranianworship-
ers have attempted to break
intoholyshrinesandmosques,
defyingIran’sleaderswhoare
trying to bar access to reli-
gioussitesastheystruggleto
stem a soaring death rate
causedbythenewcoronavirus.
Policeinthecentralcityof
QomonTuesdayapprehended
11rioterswhothenightbefore
clashed with mosque guards
as they tried to enter one of
Iran’s holiest sites, the
Masoumeh shrine, the Qom
prosecutor told state televi-
sion. The same night in the
city of Mashhad, worshipers
triedtoenterthelargestreli-
gious site in the country, the K
OC
ImamRezashrine.Theshrine ST
R
remPraeinsieddensthHutasosnanTRuoesudhaayn.iis HUTTE
S
tryingtobalancedemandsfrom A/
P
someIraniansformassquaran- D/E
tineswithpushbackfromthose ZA
RI
whoopposerestrictionsonreli- A
M
giousandeconomicactivities. DI
H
Thetensioncomesassomeex- ME
pertswarnthatfatalitiesinIran Worshipers,above,prayedatthecloseddoorofMasumehshrineinQomonMonday,whileonSundayamilitiahandedoutpackagescontainingprecautionsagainstthedisease.
fromCovid-19couldreachinto
themillionsifpublicdisregard now,theoutbreakwillpeakin night,” the instigator said,
forofficialguidelinescontinues. earlyApril,leadingtoanesti- addingthatfor1,400yearsno
Theactsoftheworshipers mated 12,000 deaths. If they Iranianrulerhadmanagedto
inQomwentagainstnotjust refuse to cooperate, Iran’s shuttheshrine.
the central government, but strained medical system will Iranianpoliticianscriticized
also against Supreme Leader beoverwhelmed,andthepeak attempts to breach the
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who willoccurinJune,causingas shrines. Prominent reformist
has urged all Iranians to fol- manyas3.5millionpeopleto Mostafa Tajzadeh called the
low the measures introduced die,thestudysaid. riotersanirresponsibleminor-
bytheHealthMinistry. Iranisn’taloneinattempt- ity,whilelawmakerAliMotah-
Mr.Khameneilastweeksaid ing to stem the tide of wor- harisaidtheyshouldbeprose-
medicalpersonnelwhodieaf- shiperstoholysites—andcon- cutedforspreadingthevirus
tercontractingthecoronavirus taining the risks such mass anddefamingIslam.
shouldbeconsideredmartyrs, congregationsposeinspread- TheIraniangovernmenthas
a title usually reserved for ingthevirus. urgedpeopletominimizetravel
those who perish in war. On On Tuesday, Grand Ayatol- around the country and those
Tuesday, the supreme leader lah Ali al-Sistani, the para- with symptoms to stay home,
S
issued a religious ruling pro- mount spiritual authority in GE but it has refrained from im-
A
hibiting unnecessary travel Iraq,whoalsocommandsloy- IM posingquarantines,evenduring
Y
dwuorIrrilnadgn’stihswebooarutstttlbinroeguatkob.nreeaokfsthoef aagclitoryoussasmteohdneicgwtmodrilledlis,oiignsnssauotefidnSgahiritethelies- SSE/GETT wthheIirctawhnobi-aewngeienpksoPlMiecraesricaohnn2N0Me.wonYdeaary,
RE
ConovTidu-e1s9d.aTyhleogHgeeadlt1h3M5dineiastthrys fcioglhletcatgivaeindstuttyh.ecoronavirusa NCE-P bslaantendedftohreTanuneusdaalyfi,rewfheiscthivails,
A
over the previous 24 hours, Mr.Sistanilikenedthework FR part of the New Year celebra-
bringingthenumberoffatali- of medical workers to that of NCE tions,butpolicechiefHossein
tiesto988.Morethan16,000 “heroicfighters”andsaidthose AGE Ashtari blamed “enemies” of
people have been infected who fell in the line of duty Iran for spreading rumors
fromtheillnesscausedbythe shouldbeconsideredmartyrs. dayclosedfourimportantreli- Covid-19epidemic,theyhadn’t SomeIranianconservatives aboutaquarantinewiththeaim
newcoronavirusinIran. Both the Shiite and Sunni au- gious sites after weekslong untilMondayrestrictedtravel havefordecadesresistedgov- ofcausingpanicbuyinganda
Some are warning that thorities have instructed all calls to shut shrines and orclosedreligioussitesinthe ernment interference in reli- shortageofessentialgoods.
Iran’sdeathtollwillcontinue mosquesundertheirauthority mosques to avoid mass gath- city,althoughlocalauthorities giouspractices.Avideocircu- The government’s opposi-
to soar—and just how high acrossIraqtobeclosed. erings.TheMasoumehshrine had banned hotels and guest latedonsocialmediashowed tion to lockdown measures
will depend on compliance SaudiArabiaalsoonTues- in Qom and the Imam Reza housesfromtaking travelers. a worshiper on Monday out- stems partly from fears over
withpublic-healthadvice. day suspended all mass Mosqueintheeasterncityof The Imam Reza shrine in side the Masoumeh shrine in the potential damage to a
Inanewstudy,citedbyIra- prayers, including Friday Mashhadaretwoofthecoun- Mashhadattractsupto25mil- QomaccusingIran’sMinistry fragile economy, which has
nianstatemedia,researchers prayer, in all mosques, with try’sholiestsites.Authorities lion Iranian and non-Iranian of Health of obeying orders beenthesourceofrecentun-
at the renowned Sharif Uni- theexceptionofthetwoholy also closed the Shah-Abdol pilgrims a year. The Astan fromtheWorldHealthOrgani- rest. As U.S. sanctions have
versityofTechnologyinTeh- mosques in Mecca and Med- AzimshrineinTehranandthe Quds Razavi, which runs the zation, which he said didn’t hammeredIran’seconomy,do-
ransaidiftheIranianpopula- ina, the official Saudi Press JamkaranMosqueinQom. shrine,isoneofIran’swealthi- believeinreligion. mestic tourism—particularly
tion begins fully cooperating Agencyreported. While Iranian authorities estandmostpoliticallypow- “If you are a true believer, to religious sites—has pro-
with advice from authorities InIran,authoritiesonMon- say Qom is the source of its erfulfoundations. thisdoormustbeopenedto- videdalifeline.
A8|Wednesday,March18,2020 THEWALLSTREETJOURNAL.
**
THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC
Tracking grationmapstohelpcombatthe
spread of coronavirus, a com-
panyspokesmansaid.
Tools a Risk In the U.S., the government
could legally request location
data from telecom carriers or
To Privacy fromGoogle,whichhasaccess
tomore-precisedatabelonging
toitsAndroidandGoogleMaps
users,saidAlGidari,directorof
ContinuedfromPageOne privacyatStanfordLawSchool.
unit, Facebook Inc. and Ama- Thisinformationcan’ttypically
zon.comInc.Thetask-forcedis- be released without user con-
cussions involving the White sent or a court order, but the
Houseandtechcompanieswere governmenthasbroaderauthor-
reported by The Wall Street itytorequestsuchdatainthe
JournalonSunday. eventofanemergency,hesaid.
Othereffortsaremoregrass- “I don’t think anybody would
roots, with tech companies dispute that this is an emer-
pitchingstateagenciesandgov- gency,”hesaid.
ernments. WhiteHouseandCDCrepre-
Tech and government offi- sentativesdidn’trespondtore-
cialsarestrugglingtofindabal- questsseekingcomment. RESS
ancebetweendeployingtechnol- CamberSystems,aWashing- P
A
ogyandkeepingpatients’data— ton, D.C., location-tracking UM
Z
particularlymedicalinformation startupfoundedbyformergov- PI/
O
—safe.Someprivacyadvocates ernment officials, says on its R
A/
worry that little has been dis- websitethatitleverages“data, M
M
closed about what is being machinelearningandartificial A
R
G
plannedorimplemented. intelligence”tohelpcitiesman- O
OT
muTcehcohfnoalnoghyouerx-elocuntgivceasllsSpuennt- astgreucttruarnes.poTrthaetioncomanpdaniynfrais- OLI/F
Z
Z
day discussing ways to track among the firms in talks with O
C
hospital-bed availability across the White House, according to AfuneralthismonthinBergamo,Italy,whereahospitaldoctorestimated60%ormoreofresidentshavethecoronavirus.
the country using geolocation peoplefamiliarwiththematter.
data, but also how the data “Ifwe’retoleveragecommer- Italy’s pandemic,nowcomingunder themostadvancedinItaly.It pitals and use them exclu-
couldbeaggregatedsothatper- cial technology to save lives, control in China, takes off treatseverythingfromtrauma sivelyforcoronaviruscases.
sonal information of cellphone how do we put in the policy throughouttheWest. and heart surgery to organ Regional managers at the
users wouldn’t be shared, ac- framework so we’re not South Hospitals MaurizioCereda,aninten- transplantsforchildren. timeweredealingwithanout-
cordingtopeoplefamiliarwith KoreaorChinaorIsrael?”said sive-caredoctorandanesthe- Morethan400ofthebeds breaksouthofMilan.“Weha-
thecall.Itisn’tclearwhichcom- IanAllen,Camber’schiefexecu- siologist in Philadelphia, re- are now occupied by con- ven’tsleptforthreedaysand
panieswouldhandlethatkindof tive,inaninterview. In Crisis cently circulated a list of firmedorsuspectedcoronavi- we do not want to read your
tracking. Some privacy advocates lessons from Italy to col- rus patients. The intensive- bullshit,”Dr.Giupponirecalled
Othercountrieshavealready worrythatthecrisisofthemo- leagues.Dr.Cereda,nowatthe care unit has swelled to theirreply.
deployedlocation-trackingsys- mentcouldcreateanewpara- Hospital of the University of around 100 patients, most of Sincethen,Italy’slockdown
temsandothertechsolutionsto digm. ContinuedfromPageOne Pennsylvania,trainedinMilan whom have Covid-19. New has turned Bergamo into a
fightingthepandemic,butmany “We understand that given The number of ill has out- and has been in close touch cases keep arriving. Three of ghosttown.
sucheffortscouldrunafoulof weareinthiscrisis,thatsome strippedthehospital’scapac- withItaliancolleaguesinBer- thehospital’sfourtopmanag- Death notices in the local
U.S.privacylaws. temporary adjustment of our itytoprovidethebestcarefor gamoandelsewhere. ersarehomewiththevirus. newspaper,theBergamoEcho,
InChina,telecomcompanies digital liberties may be neces- all.Thecoronavirusisdevas- Many of the lessons relate “Untilthreeweeksago,we normally take up just over a
helped the government track sary,howeverit’sreallyimpor- tatingBergamoandpushinga topublichealth,toavoidover- did everything for every pa- page. On Monday, they filled
and contact people who had tantthatthoseadjustmentsbe wealthyregionwithhigh-tech whelminghospitals.“Mild-to- tient.Nowwehavetochoose ninepages.
traveledthroughHubeiprovince temporary,” said Adam healthcaretowardahumani- moderate cases should be whichpatientstoputininten- Doctors on a break at the
duringtheearlydaysofthevi- Schwartz,aseniorlawyeratthe tariandisaster,awarningfor managed at home, not in the sive care. This is cata- PapaGiovanniswapstoriesof
rus.Locationdatawerefunneled ElectronicFrontierFoundation, the U.S. and other developed hospital,andwithmassivede- strophic,” said anesthesiolo- woe,includingthecallfroman
toChina’sNationalHealthCom- an advocacy organization for countries. The city’s experi- ploymentofoutreachservices gist and intensive-care elderly care home reporting
missionandotheragencies,al- civillibertiesandtechnology. ence shows how even ad- and telemedicine,” he wrote. specialistMircoNacoti. suspectedvirussuffererswho
lowing them to re-create the Palantirisworkingwiththe vanced economies and state- Sometherapiescouldbedeliv- Dr.NacotiworkedforDoc- were over 80 years old. The
stepsofviruscarriersandpeo- CDCondatacollectionanddata of-the-art hospitals must eredbymobileclinics. torsWithoutBordersinHaiti, hospitalsaidtheelderlyresi-
plethattheymayhaveencoun- integration related to disease change social behaviors and Another lesson: Italian Chad, Kurdistan and Ivory dentshadtostayput.
teredandissuewarningsviaso- tracking,accordingtoaperson prepare defenses ahead of a emergency-medical techni- Coast,andheisoneofthefew “Noneofushaveeverseen
cialmedia. familiarwiththecompany, pandemicupendingtherules. cianshaveexperiencedahigh medics in Bergamo who has suchathing,”traumasurgeon
Aspartofthetask-forcedis- Duringthecholeraoutbreak Some U.S. doctors are try- rateofinfection,spreadingthe seen epidemics. Yet, those Michele Pisano said. “We’re
cussions,FacebookandGoogle inHaitiin2010,theCDCused ing to understand how the diseaseastheytravelaround were diseases with vaccines, trained for emergencies, but
areexploringwaystousedata Palantir to “monitor the situa- coronavirus defeated all ef- thecommunity. suchasmeaslesandrubella. for earthquakes, not epidem-
to help the U.S. government tionandinformtheirresponse forts so far to contain it in Dr. Cereda warned that He estimated around 60% ics.”Dr.Pisanohaslittletodo
trackoutbreaksofthedisease, efforts,” according to a paper Lombardy, the Italian region smaller hospitals “are unpre- or more of the population of these days: Italy’s lockdown
according to a person familiar laterpublishedbyPalantir. thatincludesBergamoandMi- paredtofacetheinflowofpa- Bergamohasthevirus.“There means there are virtually no
withthosediscussions.Facebook Thecompanysaiditismak- lan. They seek lessons but tients” and are likely to col- isanenormousnumberofas- carcrashes,bicycleaccidents
is already sharing disease-mi- ingprivacyapriority. don’t have much time, as the lapse.Hesuggestedadmitting ymptomaticpeople,aswellas or broken bones from skiing.
thesickestpatientstobigger Hehelpsoutinthecoronavi-
Italy'sEpicenter
facilitiesandusingdedicated ruswardshoweverhecan.
ambulancesforsuspectedcor- In small towns around the
Lombardy,theItalianregion
onaviruspatients. provinceofBergamo,thepres-
thatincludesBergamo.
Italy’s death toll from the sureonhospitalsisworse.
coronavirushit2,158onMon- Dailycases Dr.Nacotihelpsatahospi-
WSJTALK / EXPERIENCE / OFFER / GETAWAY / EXTRAS day,up349sinceSunday.The talinSanGiovanniBianco,lo-
30,000
countryisoncoursetoover- cated in the foothills of the
take China’s toll within days. Alps.OnSundayevening,the
Itslargeelderlypopulationis 25,000 facilityhadaround70corona-
especially vulnerable to virus patients. The hospital,
Italy
Covid-19, the respiratory dis- 20,000 whichspecializesinoutpatient
easecausedbycoronavirus. Lombardy surgery,normallyhas20beds.
About two-thirds of Italy’s Bergamo Recently arrived patients
15,000
dead, 1,420 people, are in lay on gurneys, filling the
Lombardy,thegroundzeroof emergencyroomandacorri-
Europe’sepidemic.Itiswhere 10,000 dorwhiletheywaitforbeds.
the virus is all the more Upstairs,morethan50pa-
deadly because hospitals in 5,000 tientswereadministeredoxy-
the worst-hit towns have genthroughhelmetsormasks.
reachedtheirlimits.Bergamo, Some were in critical condi-
0
in particular, has become It- tion, but the hospital has no
March1 15
aly’s symbol of an epidemic intensive-care unit and no
spinningoutofcontrol. Source:Italy'sMinistryofHealth ventilators.“Wethoughtseven
Studying the dire turn of bedsdownstairsandsevenup-
eventsinItalyhashelpedU.S. unknown dead who die in stairs would be enough,” se-
doctors better prepare, said theirhomeandarenottested, niornurseFiorellaBusisaid.
Brendan Carr, chair of emer- not counted,” he said. “The Thehospitalhadplannedto
gencymedicineforTheMount ICUisthetipofaniceberg.” sendseverecasestoBergamo.
Sinai Health System, a New Hospitals in the U.S. and “Butwegotindicationsthat,if
YorkCityhospitalnetwork. across Europe must organize patients are over 65 or 70,
Dr. Carr said he and other in advance, Dr. Nacoti said, theywon’tgetintubated,”said
U.S.physicianshavehadinfor- and governments need com- Davide Grataroli, one of the
malcallswithItaliandoctors munity lockdowns early. “An hospital doctors. “So, we’ve
in recent weeks. “It’s terrible epidemicdoesn’tletyoupro- chosen to manage them here
Get Fit This tohearthemtalk,butitbene- ceed by trial and error,” he asbestwecan.”
fits us to learn from it,” he said.“Everydayyoulose,the Patientsknowthatthelack
said.Onelesson,hesaid,isto contagiongetsworse.” of intensive-care facilities
buildcapacityfortheexpected Bergamo, a city of about doomsthosenotstrongenough
New Year influxofCovid-19patientsbe- 120,000 northeast of Milan, to survive with only limited
fore it’s needed. Mount Sinai sits at the heart of one of It- help.“Theyacceptitwithres-
isclearingoutspaceandcre- aly’swealthiestregions.Com- ignation and no complaints,”
atingnewICUbeds,hesaid. panies nearby make San Pel- saidMs.Busi,thenurse.
With Aaptiv Bergamo shows what hap- legrino mineral water, luxury “Themostdevastatingpart
penswhenthingsgowrong. yachts,andbrakesforFerrari. isthattheyaredyingalone,”
Innormaltimes,theambu- When Bergamo discovered shesaid.“Familiesseethepa-
lanceserviceatthePapaGio- a clutch of coronavirus cases tient for the last time at the
vanni hospital runs like a in its outlying towns around emergency room. The next
Swiss clock. Calls to 112, Eu- Feb. 22, Dr. Giupponi of the timeisatthemortuary.”
Kickyour2020offright.DownloadtheAaptivappandfulfillyour rope’s equivalent of 911, are Papa Giovanni hospital Suchalonelydeathishard
NewYear’sresolutionswithunlimitedaccesstothousandsof answeredwithin15to20sec- emailed Lombardy’s regional to take, the nurse said: “It’s
onds. Ambulances from the health authorities. He urged not our culture. We’re very
expert-ledaudioworkoutsinstrengthtraining,running,yogaand
hospital’s fleet of more than themtoemptyoutsomehos- connectedhere.”
muchmore.AsaWSJmember,enjoyacomplimentaryseven-day 200aredispatchedwithin60
trialandanexclusive50%offyourannualmembership. to90seconds.Twohelicopters
standbyatalltimes.Patients
usually reach an operating
roomwithin30minutes,said
AngeloGiupponi,whorunsthe
WSJMEMBEREXCLUSIVE
DJ7671 REDEEMNOW efamste,rignenpceyacreetsipmoen.s”e:“Weare
reserved.3 WSJPLUS.COM/AAPTIV oatntNatchokews,,pDphreo.onGpeiluetpowproaeniptiosaratnidhh,eobauerrt-
rights cause all the lines are busy.
All Eachday,histeamfields2,500
Co.,Inc. ctoalltshaendhobsrpinitgasl.1,“5T0h0atp’seonpolet
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wJones cspoounndtienrgsvthisoitsebutthteelflirtoststraey- RA
Do home and call again if their ZE
©2020 conTdhietioPnawpaorsGeinosv,a”nhneisXaiXdI.II RTAPAN
Hospital, a 950-bed complex MA
thatopenedin2012,isamong MircoNacotiofPapaGiovanniXXIIIHospitalinBergamo,Italy.
THEWALLSTREETJOURNAL. Wednesday,March18,2020|A9
THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC
Generation Gap Widens as Cases Spread
InU.S.andEurope,
Yougettheflu,you’renotgo-
someyoungerpeople
ingtodie.”
takecavalierattitudes Despitethepointedfingers
andoccasionalexcesses,many
inthefaceofoutbreak
youngpeoplebristleattheac-
cusationofselfishness,saying
Scientists and government thenewsocialconstraintsare
officialsfightingthecoronavi- disproportionateandunfairly
rus epidemic say they have a targettheirgeneration.
problem:Carefreeyouths. “They’re preventing us
Asauthoritiesmovedtore- from living,” said Timothée
strict social gatherings last Thierry,a30-year-oldstatisti-
week, bars and restaurants cianatFrance’shealthminis-
try.HespokeonSunday,after
ByBojanPancevski thegovernmentshutbarsbut
inBerlin,Stacy beforeitlockeddowntheen-
MeichtryinParisand tirecountry.
XavierFontdegloria Somesaytheyarelessfrus-
inBarcelona trated by the prospect of ex-
tremeconfinementthanthey
fromNewYorktoBerlinfilled are doubtful it could ever
upwithrevelers,illegal“lock- workintheWest,whichprizes
down parties” popped up in individualismandfreedom.
FranceandBelgium,andcam- “If I get sick, I will spend
puses in the U.S. lit up for some days at home to avoid
end-of-the-worlddormparties. NAL spreading it to others,” said
R
Sofar,mostyoungCovid-19 OU MonicaRubio,19,whowashav-
J
mpaitldieonrtsnohsyamveptoemxspefrroiemnctehde STREET finrigenadlsatlaetberleaasktfwasetekwiinthBtahrrceee-
virus,whilemoreseverecases ALL lona, Spain, one of Europe’s
areconcentratedamongthose W mostheavilyaffectedcountries.
age50andover.Datareleased HE “OtherwiseIwon’tchangemy
last week by the National RD/T lifebecauseofit.Ican’timag-
Health Institute in Italy, cur- BI inepeoplewouldstopshaking
KE
rently the world’s worst-hit MI hands,kissingorhugging.Itis
country,showsmortalityrates deeplyentrenchedinoursoci-
starting at 0% for patients CrowdsreturntoHongKong’s ety.”
aged0to29andedgingupto trendyPeelStreet.Right, In Asia, there have been
peakat19%forthoseover90. ColoradoCollegeseniorclass fewercomplaintsfromauthor-
Yetscientistssaytestshave membersholdabittersweet ities about younger people
shown children and young celebrationattheprobableend flouting social-distancing
adults are no less likely than oftheirschoolyearoncampus. rules, but with the epicenter
olderpeopletogetinfectedand ofthepandemicnowshifting
transmitthevirus.Epidemiolo- latetherules. to Europe, the sense of ur-
gists are growing concerned So far, the young don’t gency,palpableatthepeakof
that the millennial pushback seemtobelistening. theChineseepidemic,hasbe-
againstsocial-distancingmea- After social media became SS guntorecede.
sures—andanemerginggener- filled with reports of packed RE On a recent night in Hong
P
datisioenaasel diivsidepearbcoeiuvtedh—owcotuhlde bYoarrks,a3n0d-yereasrt-oauldraRnetps.AinleNxaenw- OCIATED Kfaornegl,inPeedelwSittrhebeta,rasathnodropuogphu--
undo all efforts to slow the dria Ocasio-Cortez (D., N.Y.) SS larwithexpats,throngedwith
A
spreadofthevirusandputvul- tweetedtohermillionsoffol- K/ hundredsofmasklessdrinkers.
nerablepeopleathighrisk. lowersonSaturday. DOC “I stayed at home for two
R
President Trump on Mon- “ToeveryoneinNYCbutES- MU months. I’m not staying any
day stressed that young peo- PECIALLY healthy people & N more,”saidRyan,26,whowas
A
plecanspreadtheviruseven peopleunder40,(bcfromwhat STI walkingwithhisfriendsdown
RI
if they only have mild symp- I’mobservingthat’swhoneeds H the main strip of nearby Lan
C
toms and recommended that to hear this again), PLEASE KwaiFong,aseriesofstreets
Americans avoid restaurants stop crowding bars, restau- spreadingbetweentheyoung, OnSunday,Berlinhealthof- theywent. filled with bars and clubs.
and gatherings of more than rants,andpublicspacesright manyofwhomsaytheydon’t ficials said 42 people were “Thisistheattitudeofpeo- “Lifegoeson.”
10 people. French President now.Eatyourmealsathome.” fear the virus, and their el- thought to have infected plewhoarepartofthisnight- “Weworry,”saidNicole,25.
EmmanuelMacronannounced AcrossEurope,wheresocial ders,includingpoliticiansand themselves in Berlin clubs. life,”saidLutzLeichsenring,a “Buteitheryouworryyourself
a nationwide lockdown and life is shutting down faster scientists,whosealarmabout Someofthosewereclub-hop- director of the association of todeathoryoudrinkyourself
punishmentforthosewhovio- than in the U.S., a divide is theillnessisgrowing. ping, spreading the virus as Berlinclubowners.“Sowhat? todeath.”
Emerging and growth markets are more
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Monitoringthemanddecidingwhichtofocusoncanbechallenging.
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Alibraryofhundredsofanalyst-
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painter Albert Janesch is exemplary of his
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Since1912,M.S.Rauhasspecializedintheworld’sfinestart,antiquesandjewelry.
Backedbyourunprecedented125%Guarantee,westandbehindeachandeverypiece.
A10|Wednesday,March18,2020 THEWALLSTREETJOURNAL.
THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC
Travel
that the pandemic could have
permanentrepercussions.Busi-
Industry nessesmightfindthattelecon-
ferencingisanacceptablealter-
nativetoface-to-facemeetings.
Feels Crisis “Idon’tknowifpeopleinthe
industryarefocusedonthisyet,
but they need to, because it’s
goingtohappen,”saidJimBut-
ler,chairmanoftheGlobalHos-
ContinuedfromPageOne pitalityGroupatlawfirmJeffer
expectstheonesthatflywillbe MangelsButler&MitchellLLP.
just a quarter full. Companies “People have Zoom”—a web
including Hilton Worldwide conferencing app—“and are
HoldingsInc.havepulled2020 learninghowtoworkathome.
earnings guidance. Hilton told Peoplewillgetusedtoit,and
employees Tuesday it would getusedtothetechnology.”
suspendoperationsattheCapi- For now, hoteliers are fo-
talHiltoninWashington,D.C., cused primarily on getting
andtheNewYorkHiltonMid- throughthenextseveralweeks.
town, which combined have Somesaiditischeapertoclose
about2,400rooms,accordingto apropertythanoperateitwith
apersonfamiliarwiththesitua- verylowoccupancyrates.
tion. Mr. Born of BD Hotels said
InameetingwithPresident hehasalreadygivennoticeto
Trump on Tuesday, leaders of workers at some hotels. Like
thehotelandtravelindustries manyhoteliersthisweek,heis
madethecaseforfinancialaid also weighing the prospect of
thatwouldincludedirectcash S temporarily closing some ho-
R
payments, for a total of $250 UTE tels.Hehopestoavoidthisstep,
billion.U.S.aircarriersarealso RE hesaid,becauseofhowhardit
S/
iisntrtaatlkiosnwtiothsetchuereTraunmapddaidtimonina-l BALTA sisomoenowfothrkeemrsm. iLgohntggeertotetrhmer,
S
$50billioninaid. A jobsandneverreturn.
The U.S. Travel Association COST “I’mtakingahardlookatthe
projected Tuesday that total FewpeoplelastweekvisitedtheParthenon,usuallyjammedwithtourists,inAthens. numbers,withallthefinancial
spendingontravelintheU.S., andhumanissuesunderconsid-
includingtransportation,lodg- U.S.economy.Foreignanddo- expectedtodrawtensofthou- thevirusbutcouldshrinkany notified her by email Friday eration,”hesaid.“ButIfearit
ing,retail,attractionsandres- mestictravelerslastyearspent sandsofvisitorswerecalledoff. remainingU.S.travel. thatshewasbeinglaidofffrom may be inevitable. There is a
taurants,wouldplungeby$355 $1.1trillionintheU.S.,whichdi- U.S.hotelrevenueperavail- AmericanAirlinesGroupInc., hernonunionjob. real possibility that by next
billion for the year—and that rectly supported nine million ableroom,orRevPAR,akeyfi- theworld’sbiggestcarrier,will “The idea that Las Vegas week all or virtually all New
4.6millionAmericanjobswould Americanjobs,accordingtothe nancialindicatorfortheindus- flytoonlytwolong-hauldesti- Boulevard, which is 24-7-365, York City hotels will have
be lost. Those losses would USTA,anonprofittradeorgani- try, fell 11.6% during the first nations—TokyoandLondon.Ex- willhavemega-propertiesthat electedtoshuttheirdoors.”
boost the overall U.S. unem- zation.Nearly3%ofU.S.gross weekofMarch,hoteldatafirm ecutivesatBritishAirways,Ko- are completely closing their In New York City, a glut of
ployment rate to 6.3% from domesticproductcanbeattri- STRsaid.Thatwasthebiggest reanAirandotherlargeairlines doors…isshocking,”Ms.Ander- new hotel supply was already
3.5%,theUSTAsaid. butedtotravelandtourism,the weeklydeclinesince2013,and have said they are in a battle sonsaid. pressuringroomrateswhenthe
Thetravelindustryhasnever associationsaid. lodginganalystsexpectthedata forsurvival.Manysmallercarri- Ms. Anderson, who is mar- pandemichitthemarket.Before
facedsuchabroadandpoten- Thebusinesshasbeengrow- toshowthefigureworseningas ers,whichformthebedrockof riedwithchildrenages8and13, the disruption, room rates in
tially long-lasting challenge. ingsteadilyforyears,andU.S. themonthprogresses. the 13,000 new jets ordered saidsheisalsoworriedabout NewYorkCitywereroughlyat
Many weaker firms might not tax revenue from the industry Hotelownersinmostevery fromAirbusSEandBoeingCo., thelargerimpactonallofLas the same level they were in
survive. hasincreasedbymorethan50% majorurbanmarketintheU.S. havelessaccesstonewcapital, Vegas’sbusinessesthatrelyon 2006, Mr. Born said. He esti-
Airlines were grounded im- over the past decade to $180 are now experiencing occu- andaren’texpectedtosurvive. casinos, from grocery stores matedthatmosthotelexpenses
mediatelyaftertheterroristat- billionlastyear.Travelandhos- pancylevelsaround20%orless, Thespreadofthenewcoro- thatstayopenallnightforca- havejumpedconsiderablysince
tacksofSept.11,2001,butbusi- pitalitycompaniesemployexec- a rate that will make it chal- navirus has also ground to a sinoworkersgettingoffgrave- then.Thecostoflaboroverthat
ness recovered at hotels, utives with business degrees lenging to meet payroll, let halttheroughly$40billionU.S. yardshifts,toallofthevendors. 14-yearperiodisup50%,while
restaurants and bars, and air- and also millions of lower-in- cruise industry. The world’s “It’s the ripple effect that real-estatetaxeshaveasmuch
lines to a large degree, within come workers including line four biggest cruise lines an- concernsmeandwhatthatulti- asdoubled,hesaid.
months. Even then, a public chefs,housekeepers,waitstaff Cheaperfaresor nounced last week that they matelymeansforthecity,long- Hesaidhehopesthecityof-
afraidtoflyshiftedtoshorter anddrivers. werecuttingshortvoyagesand term,”shesaid. ferstoforgocollectingproperty
clevermarketing
tripswithdomestictravel,fill- Thecoronaviruspandemicis suspending sailings for a State officials in Massachu- taxesuntiltheviruspasses,and
ingregionalhotelsandattrac- slammingthatgrowthintore- can’tovercomethis month, promising to refund setts,Illinois,Indiana,Michigan, thatlendersarewillingtonego-
tions.Politicalleadersencour- verse. The last several days thousands of passengers and Maryland, Rhode Island, New tiateterms.
crisisfortheindustry.
agedAmericanstogooutand have been as bad as any in leavingmorethan200shipssit- York,NewJersey,Pennsylvania RobertHabeeb,chiefexecu-
spendtoboosttheeconomy. memory, industry participants tingidlyatsea. andLouisianashutdowncasi- tiveofMaverickHotels&Res-
During the financial crisis said. In the tourist mecca of Las nos, wiping out revenues for taurants, owner of 10 hotels,
periodof2008and2009,com- “Thisisunprecedented,”said Vegas, MGM Resorts Interna- MGM,Wynn,CaesarsEntertain- saidpropertiesinChicagothat
panies slashed business travel RichardBorn,aprincipalofBD alone pay other expenses and tional, Wynn Resorts Ltd. and mentCorp.andPennNational hadbeenfullybookedforlast
andfamiliescutbackvacation Hotels,whichoperatesandhas meetdebtobligations,owners LasVegasSandsCorp.areclos- GamingInc.Commercialcasinos weekendendeduponly20%oc-
budgets,butwealthytravelers ownershipinterestsin28New said. ing all of their casinos on the intheU.S.generatedabout$45 cupiedaftertheorganizersofa
enjoyedreducedratesatluxury YorkCityhotels.“There’snever Chip Rogers, head of the famed Strip, along with other billion in revenue from gam- housewares trade show ex-
resorts,andmanyfamiliesstill been a case on a fairly world- AmericanHotel&LodgingAs- casinoclosuresacrosstheU.S. blingalonelastyear.WynnRe- pected to draw 60,000 people
foundwaystotakeholidays. wide basis where people sociation, said the impact “to At least 31,500 Las Vegas sortsandLasVegasSandssaid canceled.Thecity’sdecisionnot
The current emergency has stoppedtravelingandlikelywill ourindustryisalreadymorese- workersrepresentedbytheCu- theywillcontinuetopaywork- toholdtheannualSt.Patrick’s
broughtdifferentobstaclesthat not be traveling again, at the verethananythingwe’veseen linary and Bartenders unions ers. Day parade, which typically
can’tbeovercomewithcheaper veryleast,formonths.” before,includingSept.11thand have been laid off, a union Oncethevirusisundercon- drawstwomillionpeople,may
faresorclevermarketing:gov- America’s hotel business the great recession of 2008 spokeswomansaid.Theunions trol and business normalizes, havealsoplayedaroleindent-
ernment-imposed travel bans, took a direct hit during what combined.’’ represent 60,000 workers, in- travelcouldreboundfast.Lodg- ingoccupancy,Mr.Habeebsaid.
canceled conferences and or- wassupposedtokickoffabusy MosttravelfromEuropehas cluding housekeepers, porters ing analysts say leisure travel Smallhotelierswhoownsin-
derstoshelterinplace. timeoftheyear.Instead,busi- been temporarily banned, and andkitchenstaff,inNevada. snaps back quickly after a glepropertiesinEuropeanhot
Workers in the industry nessesarefreezingtravel,fami- VicePresidentMikePencehas Cy Anderson, an Aria hotel downturn,andthatpentupde- spots have been particularly
couldbeamongthehardesthit. liesarecancelingspringbreak said a domestic travel ban is concierge on the Las Vegas mand can lead to a sudden vulnerabletogovernmenttravel
“I just got married and I’ll vacations and major confer- alsounderconsideration,which StripwhohasworkedforMGM spikeinbusiness. restrictions. In Greece, where
probablybeoutofwork,”said ences from Austin to Chicago wouldhelpslowthespreadof forsixyears,saidthecompany “There’s probably a certain the government has closed
Tilemahos Konstantinou, a percentage of the population downthousandsofseasonalho-
crewman at Celestyal Cruises, HittoAirlinesandHotels that have fears and will not tel businesses until April 30,
whichsuspendedsailingstothe want to travel,” said Rick CostasYiannakakissaidhis13-
ThenumberofflightsdepartingfromChinaswoonedinFebruaryamidtheheightofthe
Greek islands and the eastern Takach,CEOofVestaHospital- room boutique Corfu hotel on
coronavirusoutbreakthere.U.S.flightsandhotelrevenuebegantodroptowardtheend
Mediterraneanlastweek,until ity, owner and operator of 17 theIonianSeawillmissouton
ofFebruary,asinfectionsstartedtospread.
May 1. “My boss said he will U.S.weeklyhotelrevenue*, hotels.“Ipersonallydon’tthink theEasterholidays.Thattypi-
start looking for another job Weeklyairlinecapacity,changefromayearearlier changefrompreviousyear theoverallpopulationwillfeel callyaccountsforaquarterof
andIshoulddothesame.” that way. From a business hisannualearnings.
Celestyal Cruises didn’t re- 4% standpoint,there’snosubstitute “Wearestillfullybookedfor
20%
turncallsforcomment. fordevelopingrelationshipsin thesummer,butmyclientsare
Mr.Konstantinou’swife,An- 2019 person.” callingandaskingifwearego-
gelikiKonstantinou,wasletgo 0 0 When it’s vacation time, he ingtoopenandifit’ssafe,”Mr.
U.S.
from a tourist shop near the added,“peoplewanttotravel.” Yiannakakissaid.
Parthenon in Athens on Mon- –20 All But organizers of confer- “Ican’tgivethemananswer,
day.“Wewereplanningtohire Italy –4 ences might skip 2020 rather butIhavetocutcostsnow,so
threemorepeopleforthesum- thantrytosqueezetheirevents one of the room cleaners and
–40
mer, but instead, four of us inthesecondhalfoftheyear, thegardenerwereletgo.Itwas
China 2020
were let go,” she said. “Not a –8 even if the worst of the crisis the hardest thing I had to do.
singlesoulcameintotheshop –60 South has passed. That would be a I’lldothegardenandmywife
Korea
inthepastfourdays.Ifeeldes- blow to the large conference- willhelpwiththerooms.Ijust
perate.” –80 –12 orientedhotels,restaurantsand hope we can stay in business,
Thetravelindustryisoneof bars in the cities that host butitdoesn’tlookgoodatall.”
Jan.6 Feb.3 March2 Feb. March
the largest global businesses them. —DougCameroncontributed
andamajorcontributortothe Source:OAGAviationWorldwide(airlinecapacity);STR(hotelrevenue) *peravailableroom Sometravelexecutivesworry tothisarticle.
WORLD NEWS WORLDWATCH
China Banishes American Journalists
IRAQ past24hours,Yemeniofficials
andtriballeaderssaid.
Ex-Governor Asked
Houthirebelshavebeenat-
To Form Government tackingforcesoftheinternation-
BEIJING—China said it anywhere in China, including cusonhelpingtheworldcom- themtodeclaretheirperson- allyrecognizedgovernmentin
would revoke the press cre- the semiautonomous territo- bat coronavirus, which the nelandpropertytotheState Iraq’spresidentdesignatedan centralMaribprovince.The
dentialsofAmericansworking riesofHongKongandMacau, NSC pointedly described as Department. ex-provincialgovernorwithU.S. clashesleftatleast38fighters
for three major U.S. newspa- thestatementsaid. the“Wuhancoronavirus.” Secretary of State Mike citizenshipaspremier,drawing frombothsidesdeadanddoz-
pers in the largest expulsion It also ordered the three Theactionsare“reciprocal PompeodisputedChina’scon- criticismfromIran’salliesinthe enswounded,theofficialssaid.
of foreign journalists in the newspapersandtwootherme- countermeasuresthatChinais tentionthatitsactioncamein countryamidnewtensionsbe- —AssociatedPress
post-Maoera,amidanescalat- diaoutlets—VoiceofAmerica compelledtotakeinresponse responsetotheTrumpadmin- tweenWashingtonandTehran.
ingbattlewiththeTrumpad- and Time magazine—to sub- to the unreasonable oppres- istration’smeasures. PresidentBarhamSalihon UNITEDKINGDOM
ministrationovermediaoper- mitinformationaboutstaff,fi- siontheChinesemediaorgani- “This isn’t apples to ap- TuesdaytaskedAdnanal-Zurfi
Manchester Bomber’s
atinginthetwocountries. nances,operationsandreales- zationsexperienceintheU.S.,” ples,” Mr. Pompeo said. “You withformingagovernmentina
TheMinistryofForeignAf- tateinChina. China’sForeignMinistrysaid. all know the press freedoms bidtobreakapoliticaldeadlock Brother Convicted
fairs said Wednesday it was The move heightens ten- OnMarch2,theTrumpad- youhave….Weknowthatthat underminingthecountry’sability
demanding all U.S. nationals sions between the U.S. and ministrationannouncedaper- kindoffreedomdoesn’texist torespondtothecoronavirus Theyoungerbrotherofthe
working for The Wall Street China, which have been en- sonnel cap on four state-run insideofChina.” outbreakandattacksonU.S. suicidebomberwhokilled22
Journal, the New York Times gagedinatradewaroverthe Chinesemediaoutlets—Xinhua MattMurray,editorinchief troops.Itisthesecondattempt peopleatanArianaGrandecon-
and the Washington Post pasttwoyears. NewsAgency,ChinaRadioIn- oftheJournal,saidinatweet: toformagovernmentsince certinManchester,England,was
whose credentials expire by The U.S. National Security ternational,ChinaGlobalTele- “China’sunprecedentedattack PrimeMinisterAdelAbdul- convictedofmurderforhelping
theendoftheyearturnthose Council,inapairoftweetson vision Network and China onfreedomofthepresscomes Mahdiresignedlastyear. toplantheattack.AjuryatLon-
credentialsinwithin10days. Tuesday,criticizedChina’slat- Daily—forcingthemtoreduce at a time of unparalleled —GhassanAdnan don’sCentralCriminalCourt
The measure would affect estaction.“TheChineseCom- theirChineseemployeesinthe globalcrisis.Trustednewsre- foundHashemAbedi,22,guilty
most of the U.S. journalists munistParty’sdecisiontoex- U.S.to100intotal,from160. portingfromandaboutChina YEMEN of22countsofmurder,one
workingatthosenewspapers peljournalistsfromChinaand Thatmovecameshortlyaf- has never been more impor- countofattemptedmurderfor
Fighting Leaves
in China, which issues press HongKongisyetanotherstep terChinaexpelledthreeJour- tant. We oppose government thoseinjuredandonecountof
credentials for up to 12 towarddeprivingtheChinese nal reporters over a headline interferencewithafreepress Dozens Dead conspiringtocauseexplosions.
monthsandhasrecentlylim- peopleandtheworldofaccess onanOpinioncolumn.Before anywhereintheworld. HisbrotherSalmandiedwhen
itedthemtosixand,insome to true information about thattheWhiteHousehadre- “Our commitment to re- HeavyfightinginYemenbe- hedetonatedabackpackinMan-
cases,aslittleasonemonth. China,”theNSCwrote.Inan- classified state-run Chinese porting fully and deeply on tweenpro-governmentforces chesterArenain2017.Hashem
The affected reporters othertweet,theWhiteHouse media news organizations as Chinaisunchanged,”Mr.Mur- andShiiterebelskilledmore Abedideniedthecharges
won’t be allowed to report calledonChinatoinsteadfo- “foreign missions,” requiring rayadded. thanthreedozenpeopleinthe —AssociatedPress