Investment guru Jim Cramer said his nerves were soothed after President Donald Trump publicly acknowledged the need for coronavirus relief for workers and small businesses.
A steady rise in the number of U.S. cases of COVID-19, a highly contagious and sometimes fatal respiratory illness, has concerned health officials and spurred calls within Congress for action to expand testing and avert an economic meltdown.
About three quarters of U.S. states now have confirmed COVID-19 with over 800 Americans infected, Washington state's governor warned of tens of thousands more cases without "real action" and New York's governor deployed National Guard troops as a containment measure in a hard-hit New York City suburb.
Trump said late Monday that he would announce “substantial” economic measures in a Tuesday news conference to combat the virus, a statement that dismayed some of his aides because details of such a plan are still under discussion, Bloomberg reported.
Democrats have expressed reluctance about a tax cut to address the economic impact of coronavirus and several Republican senators also held back from endorsing the idea before Trump’s visit to the capitol.
Trump, who in the past two days has broached a payroll tax cut and relief for companies hard hit by coronavirus fears, has yet to offer specific details on what had been discussed in a meeting with his top economic officials.
“One of the things that really made things better today is this was a recognition that things have to be done. That was very reassuring,” Cramer told CNBC. “They’re putting things in place. They’re going to stagger them just in case things are bad and get worse,” the “Mad Money” host added.
Trump on Tuesday said the coronavirus outbreak would "go away" and urged Americans to remain calm as cases jumped and the White House came under mounting pressure to boost its response to the health and economic crisis, Reuters reported.
"It will go away. Just stay calm. It will go away," Trump said after a meeting on Capitol Hill with Republican lawmakers. "We want to protect our shipping industry, our cruise industry, cruise ships. We want to protect our airlines industry."
Senate Republicans said they hoped the administration could reach a deal with House Democrats for an economic relief package, including a possible $300 billion in payroll tax relief that could and help people make rent and mortgage payments, or pay medical bills if family members' work hours are reduced during the outbreak.
The White House has come under attack for a lack of epidemic preparation by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and early problems with their coronavirus test kits that delayed confirmation of results.
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