A8| Thursday, March 12, 2020 ** THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.
Britain’s government and
central bank announced a rare
joint stimulus plan to combat
the debilitating effects of the
coronavirus on the economy.
The move came a day before
the European Central Bank was
expected to introduce its own
package of measures to support
swooning economies in the 19-
country eurozone. Economists
say, though, that central-bank
intervention won’t be enough,
and governments need to step
up more aggressively as the eco-
nomic pain of the virus spreads.
“There’s no doubt whatever
that this is a situation that
calls for Keynesian deficits
and not monetary stimulus,”
said Charles Dumas, chief
economist at TS Lombard in
London.
The Bank of England and the
U.K. Treasury announced a
joint package of initiatives to
support British businesses and
households as the virus spreads
through the economy.
The BOE followed the Fed-
eral Reserve in cutting its
benchmark rate by half a per-
centage point, to 0.25%, the
first reduction since summer
2016, and revived a program
to support lending to small
and midsize businesses. It also
trimmed bank capital require-
ments to further boost credit.
It said the measures would al-
low lenders to extend almost
£300 billion ($387 billion) in
new loans to companies.
Treasury chief Rishi Sunak
announced measures to help
businesses, including tax holi-
days, government refunds for
staff sick pay and a £500 mil-
lion hardship fund to support
the neediest workers.
In total, the government has
earmarked up to £30 billion of
extra spending to combat the
coronavirus for the year
through March 2021, he said.BYJASONDOUGLAS
ANDPAULHANNONBritain
Unveils
Stimulus
Measures
tagion spirals out of control.
The result has been a patch-
work of measures, at times
symbolic, arbitrary or loosely
enforced but which are gradu-
ally tightening everywhere.
In France, with 2,281 cases
by Wednesday, authorities
banned gatherings of more than
1,000 people but authorized ex-
ceptions. Germany doesn’t have
nationwide restrictions, instead
leaving German states to decide
on social-distancing. Some have
banned public gatherings of
more than 1,000 people, while
others haven’t.20% of coronavirus patients re-
quire hospitalization.
Many scientists have long
expressed doubt that the
pathogen could be contained.
That leaves developed econ-
omies with a nearly impossible
balancing act. Governments
must decide between two
paths: drastic confinement
measures now, which could
save lives but choke their
economies; or more graduated
measures that could leave
their health-care systems vul-
nerable and also bring long-
term economic risks if the con-celing large, public gatherings.
Many public-health authori-
ties in developed countries are
focusing less on stopping the
spread than on “flattening the
curve” of new infections,
stretching the epidemic over
months, or even years.
The strategy aims to extend
the duration of the epidemic so
that it affects fewer patients si-
multaneously. Scientists would
therefore have more time to
work on treatments and vac-
cines and prevent hospitals
from being overwhelmed with a
flood of patients. Some 15% tothe spread of the coronavirus
a global pandemic, German
Chancellor Angela Merkel said
two-thirds of Germans might
eventually catch the virus, al-
beit possibly over years.
Italy ordered the nation-
wide closure of all restaurants
and bars, along with most
stores, as it raced to contain
the worst coronavirus out-
break outside China.
Meanwhile, U.S. health offi-
cials are warning the public to
expect cases to rise and impos-
ing measures such as self-quar-
antines, closing schools or can-Western nations have shifted
their focus from trying to con-
tain the coronavirus to slowing
the speed of its transmission,
but are struggling to calibrate
their response, with the health
imperative clashing with fears
about the costs of shutting
down activity across wide
swaths of the developed world.
Just hours before the World
Health Organization declared
ByBojan Pancevski,
Max Colchester
andNoemie Bisserbeepidemic, albeit in dwindling
numbers.
Factories can continue to op-
erate under certain conditions.
Farmers and food producers
can also continue their busi-
nesses. Mr. Conte repeated a
call for people to work from
home if they can and to leave
their homes only if necessary,
such as to buy food or medi-
cine.
The prime minister warned
Italians that the increasingly
stringent measures will need
time before they slow the virus
epidemic. “We will only be able
to see the fruits of this effort in
a few weeks,” Mr. Conte said.
“We can’t think that tomorrow
or the next day we’ll see the
impact of these measures.”
Italy has been under an un-
precedented national quaran-
tine since Tuesday morning,
due to run until at least April 3.
The quarantine bans all nones-
sential travel to, from and
within Italy, forbids all public
events, calls on people to stay
and work at home, and man-
dates a distance between peo-
ple of one meter, or about 3
feet. Travel for work or health
reasons must be supported by a
written declaration of neces-
sity. Violating the restrictions
could result in a fine or jail
term.cial interactions. Mr. Conte said
the government has been trying
to do this. “This is the moment
to take another step,” he said.
The latest forced closures
are in place until at least March
25 and extend to all service-
sector activities—including caf-
eterias, hair salons and beauty
clinics—where workers have
contact with clients.
Restaurants and bars, which
have been undera6p.m.cur-
few, must also close. Italians
have continued to frequent ca-
fes and restaurants during thepummel banks, is likely to re-
quire massive financial aid
from the government.
The virus threatens to sweep
through the population, kill
large numbers of elderly or un-
well people and overwhelm the
health care system. Already,
hospitals in the worst-hit parts
of northern Italy are running
out of beds to treat severe cor-
onavirus cases.
Health experts say the only
way to slow the virus’s spread
to a pace that hospitals can
manage is to sharply reduce so-soccer club Juventus, was
among those who tested posi-
tive for the virus, the team said
on Wednesday. Juventus was in
first place when the soccer sea-
son was suspended as part of
the nationwide lockdown.
The shuttering of most of
the retail sector is likely to bat-
ter the economy, which consists
mainly of small and midsize
businesses, usually family-
owned and often financially
fragile. Supporting the business
sector and avoiding a wave of
insolvencies, which would alsoTHE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC
Italy ordered the nationwide
closure of all restaurants and
bars along with most stores, as
it raced to contain the worst
novel coronavirus outbreak
outside China.
Starting on Thursday, all re-
tail outlets except food stores
and pharmacies must remain
shut, Prime Minister Giuseppe
Conte said.
The measures tighten a na-
tionwide quarantine in place
since Tuesday morning, aimed
at reducing social interactions
to a minimum.
The escalation of Italy’s al-
ready drastic restrictions on
everyday life is the most radical
measure any country has ap-
plied to its entire national terri-
tory to fight the coronavirus
epidemic. China put some 500
million of its inhabitants under
varying degrees of quarantine
and imposed a lockdown on the
coronavirus’s epicenter in Hu-
bei province, which has a popu-
lation close to Italy’s 60 million.
By Wednesday evening, It-
aly’s total known novel corona-
virus infections had reached
12,462 people, among whom
827 had died, more than in any
country outside of China.
Daniele Rugani, a teammate
of Cristiano Ronaldo on Italian
ByEric Sylversin
Milan andGiovanni
Legoranoin RomeItaly Tightens National Quarantine
Italy’s lockdown jolts luxury
goods.............................................BA Unified Response Eludes Western Nations
An empty restaurant in Venice’s St. Mark’s Square. Starting Thursday, restaurants must close.MIRCO TONIOLO/ROPI/ZUMA PRESSGet a First Look at the Day’s
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