US job losses surge as world leaders urge Easter distancing
NEW YORK (AP) — A staggering 16.8 million Americans lost their jobs in just three weeks, a measure of how fast the coronavirus has brought world economies to their knees. Meanwhile, religious leaders worldwide Thursday urged people to celebrate Good Friday and Easter from the safety of their homes.
In other developments, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was moved out of intensive care at the London hospital where he is being treated for the virus. The 55-year-old had taken a turn for the worse early in the week as his country descended into its biggest crisis since World War II.
Governments warned that the hard-won gains
against the scourge must not be jeopardized by relaxing social
distancing over the weekend. Across Europe, where Easter is one of the
busiest travel times, authorities set up roadblocks and otherwise
discouraged family gatherings.
A spike in deaths in Britain and
New York and surges of reported new infections in Japan and in India’s
congested cities made it clear the battle is far from over.
New York state reported a record-breaking number of dead
for a third straight day, 799. More than 7,000 people have died in the
state, accounting for almost half the U.S. death toll of more than
16,000.
“That is so shocking and painful and breathtaking, I don’t even have the words for it,” New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said.
But
he added that there are hopeful signs, including slowdowns in the
number of people being hospitalized, admitted to intensive care and
placed on ventilators.
He said the onslaught of patients has not
been as big as feared and hospitals are standing up to the strain so
far. About 18,000 people were hospitalized, well short of the 90,000
hospital beds statewide, many of which were hurriedly lined up at a
convention center and a Navy ship docked in the city.
Worldwide,
the number of dead topped 95,000 and confirmed infections reached about
1.6 million, according to Johns Hopkins University, though the true
numbers are believed much higher, in part because of different rules for
counting the dead and cover-ups by some governments.
Numbers released Thursday
by the U.S. government showed that 6.6 million workers applied for
unemployment benefits last week, on top of more than 10 million in the
two weeks before that. That amounts to about 1 in 10 American workers —
the biggest, fastest pileup of job losses since the world’s largest economy began keeping records in 1948.
And
still more job cuts are expected. The U.S. unemployment rate in April
could hit 15% — a number not seen since the end of the Great Depression.
Sharon
Bridgeman, 57, of Kansas City, Missouri, was laid off from her job two
weeks ago at a nonprofit that helps homeless people and is still waiting
to be approved for unemployment benefits.
“I’m worried I may not have a job to go back to,” she said. “I’m also worried about the people I work with.”
President
Donald Trump brushed off fears the economy won’t quickly rebound after
the crisis, as he has predicted, saying he had a “strong feeling” that
“the economy is going to do very well.”
“I think that what’s going
to happen is we’re going to have a big bounce, rather than a small
bounce,” he told reporters. “I think we’re going to open up strong.”
Trump
said he had met with his treasury and transportation secretaries about
helping support airlines and that he likely would put out a proposal
over the weekend.
The U.S. Federal Reserve announced it will provide up to $2.3 trillion in loans targeted toward both households and businesses.
In
many European countries, where social safety nets tend to be stronger
than in the U.S., government programs that subsidize workers’ pay are
keeping millions of people on payrolls, though typically with fewer
hours and at lower wages.
Governments from the 19 countries that
use the euro agreed Thursday on a package of measures that could provide
more than a half-trillion euros ($550 billion) for companies, workers
and health systems to cushion the economic impact of the outbreak.
The
head of the International Monetary Fund warned that the global economy
is headed for the worst recession since the Depression. The United
Nations’ labor organization said the equivalent of 195 million full-time
jobs could be lost in the second quarter, while the aid organization
Oxfam International estimated half a billion people worldwide could be pushed into poverty.
Dr.
Anthony Fauci, the top U.S. infectious-diseases expert, shot down hopes
that warmer spring weather would bring an end to the crisis.
“One
should not assume that we are going to be rescued by a change in the
weather,” he said. “You must assume that the virus will continue to do
its thing.”
Amid widespread restrictions on public gatherings, major religious denominations are holding virtual services where members can watch on TV or online. Others are arranging prayer at drive-in theaters, where people can stay in their cars.
The virus “doesn’t take a day off for Good Friday or Easter Sunday,” said Archbishop John Wester of Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Other
churches plan to move ahead with services, especially in states like
Texas, where the governor declared religious gatherings “essential
services.” A Houston church has installed hand-washing stations and
rearranged its 1,000-person sanctuary to hold about 100 people spaced 6
feet (2 meters) or more apart.
Pope Francis will celebrate Easter
Mass in a nearly empty St. Peter’s Basilica instead of the huge square
outside. In England, the Archbishop of Canterbury will deliver his
Easter sermon by video.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei suggested mass gatherings may be barred through the holy Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, which runs from late April through most of May.
Meantime,
there were encouraging signs in France, where the national health
agency saw indications the crisis is stabilizing, though more than
12,000 lives have been lost.
New infections, hospitalizations and
deaths have been leveling off in hard-hit Italy and Spain, which
together have around 33,000 deaths, but the daily tolls are still
shocking. Spain reported 683 more dead, bringing its total to more than
15,200. Britain recorded 881 new deaths, for close to 8,000 in all.
Japan
recorded more than 500 new cases for the first time, a worrisome rise
since it has the world’s oldest population and COVID-19 can be
especially serious in the elderly.
For most, the virus causes mild to moderate symptoms like fever and cough. But for some, especially older adults and the infirm, it can cause pneumonia. About 350,000 people have recovered, by Johns Hopkins’ count.
Smith reported from Providence, Rhode Island. Rugaber reported from Washington. Villeneuve reported from Albany, New York. Associated Press journalists around the world contributed.