The COVID-19 pandemic continues to turn up the heat on governments around the world. Central banks across the globe want to stimulate the world’s economy, but many of those banks don’t have enough room to cut interest rates low enough to stimulate growth. Wall Street economists think a global recession is in the cards, and it could be worse than the 2008 meltdown.
U.S. health official Tony Fauci claims millions of Americans will come down with COVID-19 symptoms, and the fatality rate could skyrocket before the bug disappears. Fauci claims the U.S. needs to do more to contain the virus. And he thinks the lack of test kits will only exacerbate the epidemic.
Mike Pence told ABC News there was irresponsible rhetoric in play about the danger that exists from the COVID-19 outbreak. Pence threw a little shade at Trump when he made that statement, but he didn’t mention the president’s name. But he did praise the president for taking a hands-on approach to containing the coronavirus. He applauded Trump’s decision to ban flights from Europe, even though health officials claim that move won’t do much good now that the virus has a foothold in most states.
President Trump continues to shake hands, and then he sanitizes them after meeting and greeting supporters. That’s the president’s way of keeping himself safe. But he recently shook hands with a Brazilian official who has the virus. But Trump decided not to take a test.
The test kit debacle continues to haunt Trump and Pence. Trump told the press there are enough test kits out there to test everyone. But according to health official Tony Fauci, there are only six or seven thousand kits in health officials’ hands. Pence claims three million test kits are in transit, but that’s still not enough to handle the test kit demand, according to the New York Times.
The Commerce Department banned Huawei from doing business with U.S/ tech companies last May. But rural telecom companies still buy Huawei components thanks to a license the Commerce Department issued last year. The license was a 90-day license but it appears rural telecoms need more time to find components to replace the Huawei components they currently use.
In order to keep the rural telecoms in business, Wilbur Ross keeps extending the license. Ross just extended it again for another 45-days. Rural telecoms can’t find similar components from other tech companies that are as cheap, and as effective as Huawei’s components, according to the Washington Post.
