The Wall Street Journal - 12.03.2020

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL. ** Thursday, March 12, 2020 |A

THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC

reaped many benefits.

Austin has grown from a

midsize state capital-and-uni-

versity town to a hip, high-

tech mecca where million-dol-

lar houses are becoming

commonplace. Now home to

2.2 million people, it was the

fastest-growing large metro-

politan area between 2010 and

2018, according to the U.S.

Census Bureau.

But the tech boom has

made it more difficult for mu-

sicians and other artists who

made Austin desirable in the

first place to remain in the

city. Events such as South by

Southwest help the cultural

economy survive. From event

promoters to bartenders

dreaming of overflowing tip

jars to pay the rent, many peo-

ple pin their hopes on the fes-

tival. Now they are drafting

contingency plans.

AUSTIN, Texas—As South
by Southwest approached,
tech and cultural leaders from
more than a hundred countries
were preparing to flock to the
festival this weekend to net-
work, build buzz and down a
few drinks.

Walt Disney Co. rented out
a sausages-and-beer restau-
rant to create an immersive
experience promoting its X-
Men spinoff movie, “The New
Mutants.” DTSQ, a South Ko-
rean rock band, was ready to
fly halfway around the world
to play for 40 minutes on a
rooftop bar. Austin food truck
owner Kati Luedecke was pre-
paring to order 1,200 turkey
legs from a nearby town.
Then last week, city offi-
cials abruptly canceled South
by Southwest. The same global
crowd that made the festival a
major moneymaker now made
it a potential public-safety
threat in a time of coronavi-
rus.
The rapidly spreading virus
is now expected to cut into
global economic growth. It has
already been brutal for the
fast-growing global events in-
dustry. Coachella, the annual

ByElizabeth Findell,

Rebecca Elliott

andRussell Gold

U.S. futures and global stock

markets dropped after the presi-

dent announced the new travel

restrictions.

Hours after Mr. Trump’s ad-

dress, the State Department ad-

vised U.S. citizens against all

travel abroad, even to countries

not yet experiencing a coronavi-

rus outbreak. The department

warned of mandatory quaran-

tines, travel restrictions and

other measures that could com-

plicate international travel.

The restrictions and the travel

warning were sure to hurt the

airline industry, which has seen

travel plummet as the virus has

taken hold.

The Department of Homeland

Security on Wednesday night

said the travel-restriction procla-

mation signed by the president

applies to most foreign nationals

who have been in European

countries at any point during the

14 days prior to their scheduled

arrival to the United States.

The ban applies to the 26 Eu-

ropean countries in the Schengen

Area, a zone without border con-

trols where people can travel

freely from country to country.

The U.K. is not inside the Schen-

gen Area, though the country

hasn’t escaped coronavirus.

U.S. citizens and green-card

holders are exempted from the

temporary ban, as are their

spouses and children. Citizens

and green-card holders who are

under the age of 21 are also eli-

gible to bring parents into the

U.S. Passengers on flights that

take off Friday before midnight

will still be eligible to enter the

U.S., even if they land after the

ban takes effect.

Europe is the most-visited re-

gional destination for U.S. trav-

elers in the world, according to

U.S. Transportation Department

data. More than 72 million pas-

sengers traveled from the U.S. to

Europe in the year ending June

2019.

Airlines scrambled to under-

stand what Mr. Trump’s an-

nouncement would mean for

their operations. Carriers have

already announced cuts to flying

capacity all over the world due

to flagging demand, but had

planned to continue operating

did not receive paid sick leave

from their employer, the Labor

Department said. Those without

the benefit are concentrated in

lower-wage and front-line ser-

vice sector positions.

Mr. Trump also said he would

instruct the Internal Revenue

Service to push back the April 15

tax-payment deadline for certain

individuals and businesses, pro-

viding a cash cushion for taxpay-

ers at a time when the economy

may falter.

Mr. Trump said the Small

Business Administration would

begin offering low-interest loans

to help small businesses over-

come temporary economic dis-

ruptions. He said the adminis-

tration planned to ask Congress

to authorize an additional $

billion for the lending program.

The president urged Con-

gress to approve payroll tax re-

lief, a proposal that faces resis-

tance from Democrats and

Republicans on Capitol Hill.

Mr. Trump said insurers had

agreed to waive copayment for

coronavirus treatment. But

America’s Health Insurance

Plans, a trade group for the in-

dustry, pointed to a press con-

ference Tuesday where Vice

President Mike Pence said insur-

ers had agreed only to waive co-

pays for coronavirus testing.

Mr. Trump faces not only a

national health problem but a

political test as he heads deeper

into the re-election campaign.

His chief rival, former Vice Pres-

ident Joe Biden, is set to give a

speech on coronavirus Thursday

in Wilmington, Del.

After the president’s address,

the White House said that out

of caution over the coronavirus,

Mr. Trump canceled travel for

events in Colorado and Nevada

that was to begin Thursday.

Earlier in the day, the presi-

dent said at a meeting with

banking executives at the

White House that one of the

reasons the virus was spread-

ing rapidly was the ease with

which travelers can cross bor-

ders, according to people famil-

iar with the matter.

—Michelle Hackman, Ben Eisen,

Stephanie Armour and Alison

Sider contributed to this article.

life across the country and
around the world.
By Wednesday night, global
confirmed cases had grown to
126,135, more than 1,300 of them
in the U.S., data compiled by
Johns Hopkins University
showed. More than 4,600 people
have died.
Mr. Trump’s address marked
his most direct response to the
health crisis to date, though he
tried to sound an optimistic note
and defended the actions that
have already been taken by his
administration.
“This is not a financial crisis,”
Mr. Trump said. “This is just a
temporary moment in time that
we will overcome as a nation,
and as a world.”

ContinuedfromPageOne

Travel From

Europe Is

Curtailed

some flights to and from Europe.

“We are in contact with the

federal government to under-

stand and comply with this di-

rective. The health and safety of

our customers and team mem-

bers remains our highest prior-

ity,” American Airlines Group

Inc. said in a statement.

Mr. Trump, who spoke for

about 10 minutes, also said he

would ask Congress to take

emergency action “to ensure

that working Americans im-

pacted by the virus can stay

home without fear of financial

hardship.” He said aid would be

targeted for workers who are ill,

quarantined or caring for others.

Last year, 24% of U.S. workers,

or about 33.6 million Americans,

The halt would

begin Friday night

and wouldn’t apply

to the U.K.

music and arts festival that

draws 200,000 people to the

Southern California desert,

has been postponed. The BNP

Paribas Open tennis tourna-

ment was called off. Even the

Tokyo Olympics might yet be

curtailed.

People staying at home and

closed borders could dim the

prospects of the travel and

tourism industry, which ac-

counted for 10.4% of global

economic growth and one in

every five jobs in 2018, ac-

cording to the World Travel &

Tourism Council.

Pulling the plug on SXSW

stands to dent the local econ-

omy of Austin, which had

banked on a $355.9 million in-

flux of spending.

“There is no mistaking the

fact that this is a devastating

blow to the Austin economy

that will be felt for some

time,” said Will Bridges, a co-

owner of Antone’s Nightclub,

which had several nights of

hip-hop, soul and zydeco acts

planned for the festival, which

was supposed to start Friday.

Known locally as “Southby,”

the festival has grown since its

start in 1987 from a regional

music get-together to a major

draw, attracting cultural and

thought leaders from around

the world to the banks of Lady

Bird Lake. Its host city has

“This is kind of like a tor-

nado hitting our city and tak-

ing out some homes and busi-

nesses,” Austin Mayor Steve

Adler said of the loss.

Cassie Shankman had just

finished teaching a piano les-

son when she learned of the

festival’s cancellation. A 28-

year-old DJ, Ms. Shankman

had lined up 14 paying gigs

during the 10-day festival and

had five more in the works.

She expected to bank more

than $8,000, money she

planned to use to expand her

business. But more than the

money, Ms. Shankman won-

ders about the exposure she

could have gotten, the connec-

tions she might have made.

Almost exactly 24 hours af-

ter the city’s Friday afternoon

announcement, about three-

dozen people gathered in a

downtown bar called the Em-

pire Control Room.

People weren’t drinking.

They were trying to figure out

how they could support the

artists set to perform at their

venues and keep shows on

track.

The city prohibited events

with more than 2,500 attend-

ees if they couldn’t meet new

health requirements such as

having sufficient hand-clean-

ing stations and consisting of

a mostly local audience. But

there had been little guidance

for smaller concert spaces

such as those co-owned by Ja-

son McNeely, who was set to

host hundreds of artists

throughout South by South-

west.

“We don’t know what we’re

supposed to do,” said Mr. Mc-

Neely, 51. “We’ve all been one

catastrophe away from going

bankrupt for a while,” he said.

“This is it.”

Pulling SXSW Dents Economy in the Hip Heart of Texas

Cassie Shankman, playing a DJ set in an Austin hotel, had lined up 14 paying gigs for the festival.

ALEX SCOTT FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

services this Sunday.

“I don’t believe that

whether you go to church dur-

ing this time is a test of faith,”

Gov. Andy Beshear said.

In Washington state, the

site of one of the largest out-

breaks in the country, where

cases grew to 366 on Wednes-

day, Gov. Jay Inslee moved to

prohibit gatherings of 250

people or more across three

counties. In King County,

where at least 234 people have

tested positive and 26 have

died, plans were made to ban

events with even fewer attend-

ees unless they meet certain

health guidelines.

Seattle Public Schools, the

state’s largest school district

with more than 53,600 stu-

The spread of the new coro-
navirus has reached a pan-
demic, spanning 112 countries
and regions, the World Health
Organization declared, as dis-
ruptions to daily life rico-
cheted around the world.

The WHO generally defines
a pandemic as a disease that
has become widespread
around the world, with an im-
pact on society. The term has
been applied to only a few dis-
eases in history—a deadly flu
in 1918, the H1N1 flu in 2009
and HIV/AIDS among them.
“We’re deeply concerned,
both by the alarming levels of
spread and severity, and by
the alarming levels of inac-
tion,” WHO Director-General
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus
said. “We have never before
seen a pandemic sparked by a
coronavirus.”
President Trump on
Wednesday announced a 30-
day ban on travel from Europe
to the U.S. in an effort to miti-
gate the impact of the virus.
Italy ordered all shops ex-
cept for food stores and phar-
macies to close, deepening its
nationwide lockdown. Large
gatherings were banned in
many cities. Additional schools
closed. The Chicago and New
York City St. Patrick’s Day pa-
rades have been put off. The
National Basketball Associa-
tion suspended its season.
By Wednesday night, global
confirmed cases had grown to
over 126,000, with more than
4,500 deaths, data compiled
by Johns Hopkins University

ByBetsy McKay,

Jennifer Calfas

andTalal Ansari

showed.

Still, Dr. Tedros said, the

new coronavirus can be

stopped if governments move

swiftly and decisively.

The pandemic label doesn’t

require new WHO recommen-

dations. But the move could

get more resources to a rap-

idly worsening situation, some

health experts said.

“I hope that it adds urgency

to efforts to mitigate it, be-

cause those efforts need ur-

gency,” said Marc Lipsitch,

professor of epidemiology at

the Harvard T.H. Chan School

of Public Health and director

of the Center for Communica-

ble Disease Dynamics.

On a call with reporters, Dr.

Lipsitch said he believes there

are thousands of people in the

U.S. infected with the new cor-

onavirus who haven’t been

tested. There were 1,311 con-

firmed cases in the U.S.

Wednesday night, according to

data compiled by Johns Hop-

kins. The death toll grew to at

least 36.

Public-health leaders, busi-

nesses and individuals should

move more aggressively to

prevent further spread rather

than focusing on containing

known clusters, Dr. Lipsitch

said. That means canceling

more large gatherings, reduc-

ing travel, implementing poli-

cies that encourage people to

stay home when sick, and oth-

erwise reducing social contact

such as handshaking.

On Wednesday, San Fran-

cisco Mayor London Breed

said events with 1,000 or more

people would be prohibited.

Kentucky’s governor became

the first in the nation to call

publicly on churches to cancel

Coronavirus

Declared to Be

A Pandemic

dents, said it would close all

schools for at least 14 days,

starting Thursday. Last week,

a district in the city’s northern

suburbs directed students to

stay home—a measure, offi-

cials said on Wednesday, that

has so far proved effective.

The moves follow similar

containment measures in Eu-

rope and Asia.

China, where the outbreak

began in December, has all but

declared victory over the dis-

ease as the number of new

cases has dropped sharply af-

ter the country’s hard-line re-

sponse to the pathogen.

China’s National Health Com-

mission reported on Wednes-

day 24 new infections, 10 of

them imported—highlighting

how the epidemic has evolved

and shifted.

Iran confirmed 63 new

deaths, the highest single-day

toll there since the new coro-

navirus appeared three weeks

ago, as total infections

reached 9,000. Japan reported

its second-biggest one-day rise

in confirmed cases thus far,

taking the country’s total to

568. South Korea—trailing
     only China, Italy and Iran in
     cases—reported 242 more on
     Wednesday, bringing its total
     to 7,755.
     In Italy, where the largest
     outbreak outside of China
     pushed the country to imple-
     ment an unprecedented na-
     tionwide quarantine, the num-
     ber of cases climbed on
     Wednesday to 12,462, with 827
     deaths, according to Johns
     Hopkins data. In Germany,
     cases increased to 1,908 and
     officials said they expected the
     number to rise.
     “As long as there is no im-
     munity in the population, no
     vaccines and no therapy, then
     a high percentage of the popu-
     lation—experts say 60% to
     70%—will become infected,”
     German Chancellor Angela
     Merkel said.

A cleanup crew wore protective suits Wednesday before entering a nursing home outside Seattle that was a coronavirus hotbed.

TED S. WARREN/ASSOCIATED PRESS

Tom Hanks and

Wife Are Infected

Tom Hanks and his wife, Rita

Wilson, have tested positive for

the coronavirus, the Oscar-win-

ning actor said Wednesday.

Mr. Hanks said on social me-

dia that he and Ms. Wilson

started feeling ill while in Aus-

tralia. “We felt a bit tired, like

we had colds, and body aches,”

he wrote. “To play things right,

as is needed in the world right

now, we were tested for the

Coronavirus, and were found to

be positive.”

A representative for Mr.

Hanks confirmed the authenticity

of his post.

Mr. Hanks and Ms. Wilson,

both 63 years old, were in Aus-

tralia preparing for a new Elvis

Presley film produced by AT&T

Inc.’s Warner Bros. Mr. Hanks is

set to play the King of Rock ’n’

Roll’s manager, Col. Tom Parker.

—R.T. Watson