Nation Braces for Brutal Week As Death Toll Nears 10,000
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P2JW097000-6-A00100-17FFFF5178F ****** MONDAY,APRIL 6, 2020 ~VOL. CCLXXV NO.80 WSJ.com HHHH $4.00 Last week: DJIA 21052.53 g 584.25 2.7% NASDAQ 7373.08 g 1.7% STOXX 600 309.06 g 0.6% 10-YR. TREASURY À 1 18/32 , yield 0.587% OIL $28.34 À $6.83 EURO $1.0800 YEN 108.52 Drive-Throughs and Masks Mark Palm Sunday This Year At Least What’s A Fourth News Of U.S. Business&Finance Economy t least one-quarter of Athe U.S. economy has Goes Idle suddenly gone idle amid the coronavirus pandemic, an analysis conducted for The Counties that ordered Wall Street Journal shows, a lockdown represent an unprecedented shutdown of commerce that economists an estimated96% of said has never occurred on the nation’s activity such a wide scale. A1 Airline executives are BY JOSH MITCHELL plotting major retrench- mentsthey expect to last for At least one-quarter of the months as flying is severely U.S. economyhas suddenly cut back amid the crisis. A1 gone idle amid the coronavirus Supply-chain financing pandemic,ananalysis con- represents a sleeping risk GES ducted forThe Wall Street to U.S. businesses hit by IMA Journal shows,aNunprece- the sudden cash crunch dented shutdown of commerce ETTY caused by the coronavirus, /G that economistssaid has never credit-ratings firms say. B1 occurred on such awide scale. Thestudy,bythe economic- China is edging toward BENNETT analysis firm Moody’s Analyt- what could be its first UCE BR ics,offersone of the most credit downturn in de- IN PRAYERS: Bishop Lionel Harvey tends to parishioners on Palm Sunday in the parking lot of the First Baptist Cathedral comprehensivelooks yetat cades, as personal-loan de- of Westbury, N.Y., and palm leaves are handed out in a drive-through as part of the church’s social-distancing practices. howmuch of the world’slarg- linquencies there climb est economyhas shut down in during the health crisis. B1 the past three weeks.Italso Zoom CEO Yuan said he analyzescounties from Man- “messedup”on security as hattantotinyGilpin County, the videoconferencing pro- Nation Braces forBrutal Week Colo., to estimate how a con- vider grapples with breakneck centration of shutdown orders growth spurred by corona- in the counties that producea virus-induced demand. B1 disproportionateshareof goods and services has Gilead has ramped up pro- As DeathToll Nears10,000 weighed on the nation. duction of its experimental While 8 in 10 U.S. counties coronavirus drug,which has are under lockdown orders, seen overwhelming demand Health officials warned pected to see infections peak in died from Covid-19,the respi- according to Moody’s,they amid a surge in cases. B3 Americans to bracefor apiv- the coming days,new models ratory disease caused by the represent nearly 96% of na- Sales and profit projections otal week in the coronavirus suggested. coronavirus. THE tional output. forthe Renault-Nissan auto pandemic,asthe number of Thenextweek will be “the In the U.K.,Prime Minister CORONAVIRUS Forty-one states have or- alliance have been con- newcases around the world hardest and saddest week of Boris Johnson washospitalized dered at least some businesses founded by the pandemic. B3 jumped by morethan 100,000 most Americans’ lives,” Surgeon on Sundayafter suffering per- PANDEMIC to close to reduce the spread General Jerome Adams said on sistentsymptoms of Covid-19 of the coronavirus, according Private-equity firms are FoxNewsonSunday, drawing 10 days afterhetested positive to Moody’s. Restaurants, uni- setting up coronavirus-cri- By Talal Ansari, comparisons with the 1941 at- forthe virus,his officesaid. It Ventilatormanufacturing versities,gyms,movie the- sis-management hubs for Dave Michaels and Jennifer Calfas tack on Pearl Harbor and the said his admission to the hospi- isn’tmeeting demand, A4 aters, public parks, boutiques the companies they own. B5 Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. tal, under his doctor’s advice, Assisted-living facilities and millions of other “nones- in asingle dayfor the first Morethan 1.2 million people wasaprecautionarystep. draw scrutiny, A6 sential” businesses have shut World-Wide time,with athirdofthem com- have been infected around the U.S. officials again urged off the lights as a result. The ing from the U.S. globeasofSunday, according people to stay home.“This is Gatesisset to fund upshot: U.S. daily output has vaccine factories, A9 Health officials warned Some of the hardest-hit cit- to datacompiled by Johns the moment to not be going to fallen about29%, compared Americans to brace for a ies,including NewYork,De- Hopkins University.Inthe U.S., the grocerystore,not going to with the first week of March, pivotal week in the coro- troit and NewOrleans,are ex- morethan 9,600 people have PleaseturntopageA4 PleaseturntopageA8 navirus pandemic, as the number of newcases world- wide jumped by more than Queen SpeaksasJohnson Is Ailing 100,000 in a single day for TexasTakes TwoPunches— the firsttime,with athirdof them coming from the U.S. A1 U.S. states are taking Oil Shock and Outbreak steps to prevent hoarding of antimalarial drugs to treat the coronavirus in an effort to preserve supplies State that led recovery after 2008 crisis faces outsize contraction for other patients. A3 Bill Gates said his foun- dation will spend billions of BY COLLIN EATON AND JON HILSENRATH the prospectsare uncertain, and even sizable dollarstofund the construc- oil production cutswould fall short of making tion of factories forthe most Texas had one of the best economic records up forthe enormous drop in demand forfuels CK of anyU.S.state afterthe 2008 financial crisis. caused by coronavirus.Prices remain below promising effortstodevelop TO In this crisis,itfaces the prospect of adeep a coronavirus vaccine. A9 $30,atlevelswheremost Texas producerscan- and prolonged downturn. not makemoney. Joe Biden has been for- TheLone StarState is exposed to manyof Initial claims forunemployment benefits SHUTTERS mulating policies to address A/ the pandemic and shutdown’seconomic ill con- rose by 259,652 in Texas during the two weeks the coronavirus pandemic, sequences,with three cities—Austin, Houston ended March 28, non-seasonally adjusted Labor CE/EP offering awindowintohow LA and Dallas—home to an abundanceofservice- Department datareleased Thursdayshow.Lay- he might lead the nation. A3 PA sector jobs,especially at risk. Adownturn in offs hit abroad rangeofbusinesses including M Australian policehave the oil industry and other businesses big in accommodation and food services,transporta- launched a criminal inves- Texas,including airlines and ports, will likely tion, health care,oil and gas, manufacturing, amplifyits pain. Industryanalystsexpect the retail, real estateand construction, the data tigation into whether staff BUCKINGHA of acruise ship that docked In the U.K., Queen Elizabeth II compared the fightagainstthe oil downturn to outlast the current viral out- showed. Twomajor shale producersare asking in Sydney misled authori- coronavirus to Britain’sexperienceinWorld WarII. Prime Minister break. Texas regulatorstoconsider curtailing crude ties about a coronavirus Boris Johnson, who has testedpositive, washospitalized. A10 Oil prices surgedlatelast week on hopes of output forthe firsttime sincethe 1970s. aglobal pact involving Russia, Saudi Arabia outbreak on board. A12 ForTexas,“there’snoavoiding this one,” and possibly the U.S. to cut crude output. But PleaseturntopageA8 British Prime Minister Bo- ris Johnson washospitalized after suffering persistent New ‘Victory Garden’ Is Made symptoms of Covid-19. A10 Global Airlines Retool INSIDE Britain’s main opposition With Polka Dots and Mustaches Labour Party chose London- born lawyer Keir Starmer as iii During LengthyFreeze itsleader afteracrushing De- cember election defeat. A10 Volunteersanswercall forface masksby BY BENJAMIN KATZ ternational routes forthe Avocal minority of con- sewing their ownfromany fabric on hand AND ALISON SIDER summer,prioritizing flightsto GEA/REUTERS servativeCatholicsare crit- London, Madrid and Tokyo, T icizing the suspension of Theworld’sairlines,no wherealliancepartnersare ALBER Masses in the wake of the BY BETSY MCKAY ric masks, and got to work. longer operating aglobe- based. That way,passengers coronavirus pandemic. A11 “I thought, I’m not adoctor, spanning choreographyofcaN hop on connecting flights BUSINESS&FINANCE Americaneeds more face I’m not anurse,I’m not afire- flights, areconsumed with with sister carriers. On defensive, Zoom masks to confront the corona- fighter,but Icould help some- newwork: navigating govern- Routesthat Mr.Raja had CEOpromises virus.Karen Vacaliuc has how,” she said. She has sewn ment bailout offers, negotiat- planned to launch this year, JOURNAL REPORT improvements in Investing in Funds: plenty to offer: in gingham, about 500 masks,donating ing with unions,finding places likePhiladelphia to Casa- stripes and jun- manytoalocal to park idle planes and blanca, Morocco,Chicagoto security. B1 WhySome Investors gle prints. hospital and to scrounging forbusinesslike Krakow,Poland, and Seattle to Panic. R1-8 Shortly after nieces who are flying cargoand repatriating Bangalore, India, arebeing wrapping up nurses. marooned travelers. pushed back to 2021. Ameri- CONTENTS Opinion.............. A17-19 with the local Thousands of Expansion plans aren’t just canand other U.S. carriersha- Business&Finance... B2 Outlook....................... A2 BusinessNews....... B3 Small Business........ B5 high-school mu- volunteersacross on hold amid the coronavirus ven’t furloughed workers, but Crossword.............