Monday’s business headlines

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) – Here’s a look at Monday’s business headlines.

Small farmers

President Donald Trump said he has directed his agriculture secretary to expedite help to farmers, especially small farmers, hurt by the economic disruption caused by the new coronavirus outbreak.

On Twitter, Trump also said he expects Agriculture secretary Sonny Perdue “to use all of the funds and authorities at his disposal to make sure our food supply is stable, strong, and safe.”

Car insurance

With most of the country operating under stay-at-home orders, drivers are spending less time on the road – which means fewer accidents and insurance claims.

Now the top 10 insurers, who together own 72% of the market, have all announced programs to return more than $7.5 billion to their customers in the coming weeks.

Some consumer groups, though, say they should be giving more.

Virtual home tours

Fewer homes are up for sale but virtual tours are up 400%.

According to new data from Zillow, the market has significantly slowed during the fallout of the coronavirus.

Redfin’s CEO says the future of real estate has come earlier than any of us could have anticipated.

Apple, Google

Tech giants Apple and Google have teamed up on contact tracing, technology that can help figure out if they’ve been exposed to COVID-19, via apps and bluetooth technology.

The technology makes it possible to combate the spread of the COVID-19 virus by alerting participants of possible exposure to someone who they have recently be in contact with, and who has subsequently been positively diagnosed as having the virus.

It will be available in May.