Overnight Health Care — Presented by Philip Morris International — Trump floats payroll tax cut, help for hourly workers over coronavirus | Five lawmakers self-quarantine after possible exposure | CDC urges those over 60 to take precautions
Welcome to Monday’s Overnight Health Care.
The novel coronavirus is spreading across the country and anxiety over the virus is growing on Capitol Hill, where a number of lawmakers self-quarantined themselves after being potentially exposed. The CDC also issued a warning to older Americans about the potential dangers of COVID-19 today.
On Wall Street, the markets went into a freefall, raising worries about a global showdown. The Trump administration says it is considering measures to boost the economy.
We’ll start there….
Trump calls for economic measures over coronavirus
President Trump on Monday said the White House will ask Congress to approve a payroll tax cut and relief for hourly workers to combat the economic fallout of the coronavirus.
“This was something that we were thrown into and we’re going to handle it, and we have been handling it,” Trump told reporters in the White House briefing room.
Trump also said that he would be asking the Small Business Administration to issue loans to small businesses and that the administration was working with airlines, the hotel and cruise industries, which have been especially impacted by the spread of the virus.
More from the White House here.
Lawmakers are already looking at many of these proposals… More on the view from Congress:
Congress debating ways to help boost economy hit by coronavirus
Congress is considering a range of legislative responses to the coronavirus outbreak, from a paid national sick leave policy to tax relief for the hardest hit industries.
Paid sick leave is one of several measures that House Democrats are advocating to help mitigate the economic impact of the coronavirus. They also want to ensure unemployment insurance for people who lose their jobs due to the outbreak and expand food assistance to low-income families.
The Trump administration and Republicans on Capitol Hill, meanwhile, are focusing on “targeted” measures such as tax deferments for industries most affected by the outbreak, like the travel and hospitality sectors.
Big Democratic focus: Paid sick leave. The issue is taking on new urgency as concern grows over low-wage workers least likely to have access to paid time off – like those in the restaurant or customer service industries – potentially spreading the coronavirus in their communities.
The House Education and Labor Committee will hold a hearing on the idea on Wednesday.
On the other side of the Capitol, Trump administration officials will huddle with the Senate GOP.
Mnuchin, Kudlow to meet with Senate GOP as coronavirus’s economic impact grows
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow will meet with Senate Republicans Tuesday amid growing concern about a widespread outbreak of the coronavirus within the United States.
The two men will attend the closed-door Senate GOP caucus lunch, where they’re expected to discuss potential steps Congress could take as fears about the coronavirus have roiled the stock markets.
Lawmakers are discussing potential economic relief packages, though those ideas are in their early stages.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) “is exploring the possibility of targeted tax relief measures that could provide a timely and effective response to the coronavirus,” spokesman Michael Zona said on Monday.
About those economic problems…
Coronavirus, oil prices drive market meltdown
The Dow Jones Industrial Average sank 2,014 points, or 7.8 percent, its worst day since 2008, while the S&P 500 index and Nasdaq composite fell 7.6 and 7.3 percent respectively. U.S. Treasury bond yields also plunged to record lows.
An oil price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia in addition to coronavirus concerns fueled the drop.
Read more here about the rough day on Wall Street.
Coronavirus concerns also seemed to hit home at the Capitol today…
Five lawmakers self-quarantining after possible coronavirus exposure at CPAC
Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) announced Monday that he will self-quarantine as a precautionary measure after coming into contact with a person who tested positive for the coronavirus at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC).
Gaetz, who traveled on Air Force One earlier in the day, is not currently experiencing symptoms, according to his office. The Florida Republican “received testing today and expects results soon. Under doctor’s usual precautionary recommendations, he’ll remain self-quarantined until the 14-day period expires this week,” his office said.
Flashback: The congressman last week tweeted a picture of himself wearing a gas mask on the House floor, which the House sergeant-at-arms asked him to remove in the chamber. One of
Gaetz is the fourth Republican member of Congress to self-quarantine after making contact with the person in question, following Sen. Ted Cruz (Texas) and Reps. Paul Gosar (Ariz.) and Doug Collins (Ga.). They are joined by one Democrat, Rep. Julia Brownley (Calif.), who said she had met with an individual in Washington, D.C., who tested positive for the coronavirus.
Click here for The Hill’s list of lawmakers who have self-quarantined.
And for more on the mood at the Capitol…
Anxiety grows over coronavirus on Capitol Hill
Pressure is mounting on congressional leaders to cancel votes and restrict activity in the Capitol to avert a coronavirus outbreak.
Over the weekend, Congress’s medical office sent lawmakers an update on the CPAC encounters that supported the self-quarantines and suggested the chances of transmission were low.
But others are taking self-imposed precautions, as well.
Rep. Liz Cheney (Wyo.), the third-ranking House Republican, opted to skip a leadership retreat on the Eastern Shore of Maryland over the weekend.
Hoyer says Congress will stay at work
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said Monday that Congress has no plans to cancel votes or roll back its schedule amid growing anxiety over the coronavirus — at least for now.
The CDC also had some stark warnings today…
CDC: Americans over 60 should ‘stock up’ on supplies, avoid crowds
Older Americans, especially those with underlying health conditions, should stockpile supplies and avoid unnecessary travel, a top official at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said Monday.
Most Americans are likely at risk of catching the novel strain of the coronavirus, said Nancy Messonnier, director of the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases. Older Americans are especially susceptible to serious outcomes.
“As the trajectory of the outbreak continues, many people in the U.S. will at some point in time this year or next be exposed to this virus, and there’s a good chance many will become sick,” Messonnier said.
Messonnier said global data from Japan and South Korea show that people younger than 60 generally have better outcomes if they catch the virus.
However, people older than 60 are at higher risk for serious illness, especially if they have underlying health conditions such as diabetes, heart disease or lung disease, Messonnier said.
She urged those people with the highest risk to take precautions; avoid crowds, avoid contact with people who are sick, and frequent hand washing.
“The reason to stock up now is to kind of stick close to home,” she said.
More on Messonnier’s warning here
CDC, State say Americans should avoid cruise ships during outbreak
The recommendation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the State Department is an escalation from the previous guidance, which only applied to the elderly and people with underlying health issues.
The CDC noted that cruise ship passengers are at an “increased risk” because COVID-19 appears to spread more easily between people in close quarters.
Context: The Grand Princess, a cruise ship containing at least 21 infected passengers, will dock in California on Monday. American citizens will be transferred for treatment at medical facilities or quarantined at military bases if they’re not showing symptoms. It’s not known how many of the passengers have the disease, because only 46 people of the 3,500 aboard have been tested as of late last week, Vice President Pence said Friday.
Another 700 passengers aboard another cruise ship called the Diamond Princess were infected by the coronavirus last month.
Cruise at your own risk: The State Department warned that while it has evacuated some cruise ship passengers in recent weeks, repatriation flights should not be relied upon as an option for U.S. citizens under the potential risk of quarantine by local authorities.
WHO: Threat of a coronavirus pandemic ‘very real’
The threat of a coronavirus pandemic is “very real,” World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Monday.
But he projected some optimism, arguing it would be the “first pandemic in history that could be controlled.”
There are more than 100,000 reported cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, in 100 countries, according to WHO.
Still, Tedros said, it is an “uneven epidemic at the global level” because 93 percent of cases are from four countries. WHO guidelines define a pandemic as a worldwide spread of a new disease.
He said there are still things countries can do to slow down the virus and prevent infections.
“We are not at the mercy of this virus,” Tedros said.
Countries should continue finding and testing cases, isolating patients and following their contacts to stop the disease from spreading globally.
The U.S. response has been plagued by testing delays, with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) only testing about 1,500 since the first cases were identified here in January. The CDC now says public health labs have the capacity to run 75,000 tests.
What we’re reading
Health agencies’ funding cuts challenge coronavirus response (Washington Post)
‘Who’s going to help them?’: Caregivers brace for the spread of coronavirus (NPR)
Seattle’s patient zero spread coronavirus despite Ebola-style lockdown (Bloomberg)
To develop a coronavirus vaccine, synthetic biologists try to outdo nature (Stat News)
State by state
North Dakota conducts first tests for coronavirus; 4 tests returned negative (Duluth News Tribune)
New York now has the most coronavirus cases in the nation. Here’s where it has surged (The Journal News)
How the youngest Ohioans are losing health coverage (Ohio Capital Journal)
From The Hill’s opinion page
Six questions we should be asking about coronavirus
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