(Washington, D.C.) — There is good news and bad as we end one of the most dramatic weeks in U.S. and global history in last half century. Here’s the latest.
“I am officially declaring a national emergency,” the President said in a Rose Garden press conference on Friday. This will free up “as much as $50 billion for state and local governments to respond to the outbreak,” the Associated Press reported.
“Trump also announced a range of executive actions to bolster energy markets, ease the financial burden for Americans with student loans and give medical professionals additional ‘flexibility’ in treating patients during the public health crisis,” the AP noted.
The good news: As the President laid out specific, decisive actions the administration is taking, U.S. stock markets responded positively and immediately. “The Dow rose 1,985 points, or 9.4%, to 23185.62” on Friday afternoon, reported the Wall Street Journal. “The S&P 500 jumped 230.38 points, or 9.3%, to 2711.02. The Nasdaq added 673.07 points, or 9.3%, to 7874.88.”
The bad news: a new analysis by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention “between 160 million and 210 million Americans could contract the disease over as long as a year,” reported The Hill newspaper. “Based on mortality data and current hospital capacity, the number of deaths under the CDC’s scenarios ranged from 200,000 to as many as 1.7 million.”
PLEASE PRAY:
- Please pray for President Trump, Vice President Pence and all world leaders and health authorities to have the wisdom — and God’s mercy — to save lives and quickly and effectively stop this virus before it becomes a worst-case scenario.
- Please pray that the Lord would be gracious to those whose jobs and businesses are being adversely affected by the virus.
- Please pray for God’s mercy on the 137,000 people who have the virus around the world — and the families of the 5,000+ people who have died from the previously unknown disease for which there is currently no vaccination or unique cure.
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