You can expect the coronavirus crisis to ease in about two months. And you should get ready for governors to order bars, restaurants closed.
That’s our conclusion carefully watching the major Sunday talk shows – Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace, Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan and Face the Nation with Chuck Today.
Of particular importance to your business:
ü Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute on Allergies & Infectious Diseases, said he expects to see a decline in the coronavirus cases in about eight weeks. That’s based on China: The Wuhan outbreak became serious in January and is now tapering off.
ü Fauci was asked by Chuck Todd if bars and restaurants should be closed. His reply: “If you’re in an area of clear community spread, you’ve got to hunker down.”
ü Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said he was considering closing bars and restaurants as a way to curb the spread of the virus. Illinois Gov. Jay Pritzker said he was “seriously” considering closing bars and restaurants. Pritzker noted he had already cancelled Chicago’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade. But, he added, “we’re not seeing indications that people understand they can be a carrier” of the virus even though they feel perfectly well.
ü In a related development, Chicago officials said all businesses that sell liquor must have less than half their regular max capacity and prohibited lines outside
ü Travel bans within the United States aren’t being considered at the Federal level, Fauci said.
Hopefully, Fauci said, what the U.S. is doing now will cut that eight-week period. But for the moment, that’s the number Fauci’s sticking with. He said he expects the availability of tests to go way up toward the end of the week.
The president of Massachusetts General Hospital confirmed President Trump was correct when he cited Federal regulations as one of the reasons more testing hadn’t been done. The regulations were lifted on Friday.
Bank of America’s top executive, CEO Brian Moynihan echoed Treasure Secretary Steven Mnuchin in saying he expects the economy to rebound by the end of the year. Neither said the stock market would regain all its losses. Mnuchin said he was “confident” the stock market “will be higher down the road.”
While not denying the pain being felt in industries that have essentially closed for the moment, Mnuchin said credit card data showed travel was down “but almost correspondingly food, etc., is up.”
Fauci said China did “almost everything wrong” and Italy didn’t act swiftly.”