President Trump updates what he calls the “Chinese Virus” from the White House.
He announced that he is invoking the “Defense Production Act.”
The Defense Production Act (Pub.L. 81–774) is a United States federal law enacted on September 8, 1950, in response to the start of the Korean War.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Trump says he will invoke Defense Production Act to marshal private sector in response to coronavirus pandemic.
— Zeke Miller (@ZekeJMiller) March 18, 2020
The president said a “self-swabbing” COVID-19 test will be made available to the public soon.
Pres says he'll be asking FDA to approve self-swabbing for Coronavirus tests to free up medical personnel that now perform the tests.
— Mark Knoller (@markknoller) March 18, 2020
Also, the Treasury Department is proposing $250-billion in direct payments to Americans, starting April 6th.
Another round of $250-billion would start on May 18th.
As the coronavirus crisis hammers the U.S. economy, the stimulus package would be a tiered payment system based on income level and family size.
The stimulus include 200-billion-dollars in aid to industries, including $50-billion for the struggling airline industry.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Treasury proposal: Deliver $500B in checks to millions of Americans, first round coming April 6.
— Zeke Miller (@ZekeJMiller) March 18, 2020
The Dow Jones Industrial Average is below 20-thousand, a fall of nearly ten-thousand points since it was flirting with crossing the 30-thousand mark for the first time last month. The Dow was down more than 13-hundred points in early trading. All three major stock indexes are down around five or six percent on the day.