The Wall Street Journal - 13.03.2020

A6| Friday, March 13, 2020 ***** THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.

some countries will have both

problems,” he said.

San Francisco said it would

close its public schools for two

weeks beginning Monday, after

which a one-week spring break

is scheduled.

House Democrats rushed to

prepare an economic package

providing paid sick leave and

expanded unemployment insur-

ance, while a top White House

economic adviser told Republi-

cans that Mr. Trump could sign

an emergency declaration that

would release billions of dollars

in coronavirus assistance as

soon as late Thursday, people

familiar with the matter said.

States without many re-

ported cases took far-reaching

steps on Thursday to combat

further spread. Pennsylvania,

which has 22 known cases,

closed all schools, nonessential

stores and other venues in

Montgomery County, the area

around Philadelphia.

“We have watched as other

states, we’ve watched as other

countries, have struggled to

control this coronavirus,” Penn-

sylvania Gov. Tom Wolf said.

“And we’ve learned a lot from

their efforts.”

Ohio, which has five known

cases, prohibited gatherings of

100 people or more, and offi-

cials in New Mexico and North

Carolina discouraged similar

gatherings. New York barred

public gatherings of 500 people

or more, with exceptions for

schools, hospitals, nursing

homes and mass transit.

At least seven other states—

California, Washington, Rhode

Island, Oregon, Connecticut, In-

diana and Maryland—prohib-

ited gatherings of 250 people

or more, warning the distur-

bance to everyday life was nec-

essary to combat the virus’s

spread and protect more-vul-

nerable populations. Ohio,

Maryland and Washington,

where at least 30 people have

died, also plan to close K-

schools.

“We cannot hide from the

central truth of this moment,”

said Washington Gov. Jay In-

slee, as he shut public and pri-

vate schools for six weeks in

three counties. “Anything less

than strong action amongst all

of us is not appropriate or up

to the task that we face at this

moment as a state.”

About 80% of cases of

Covid-19—the illness caused by

the novel coronavirus—tend to

be mild or moderate. But those

who are older or have underly-

ing health conditions, such as

heart disease, lung disease or

diabetes, are at a higher risk.

A steady decline in new in-

fections in China led health au-

thorities there to declare on

Thursday that “the epidemic

has peaked.”

Countries including France,

Austria, Denmark and Poland

said they would close schools

and universities. In Germany,

Chancellor Angela Merkel said

the country would do whatever

it takes to protect the econ-

omy, but stopped short of un-

veiling any new confinement

measures.

at all now.”

The Trump administration

has said that sufficient test kits

are available, but doctors,

health-care administrators and

state officials say it has been a

patchwork fashion that hasn’t

met demand.

President Trump last Friday

told reporters at the Centers for

Disease Control and Prevention

in Atlanta that “anybody who

wants a test gets a test.”

“The administration must

stop misinforming the public

on their capacity to test pa-

tients in the United States,”

said Rep. Mark Pocan (D.,

Wis.). “We demand the admin-

istration provide us with the

full capacity numbers for labs

in the United States and what

we are doing to expand lab ca-

pacity to increase the process-

THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC

WASHINGTON—The federal
government’s top infectious-
disease doctor said the nation’s
system for disease testing has
failed during the coronavirus
outbreak because people typi-

cally need a doctor’s permis-
sion to be tested.
“The system is not really
geared to what we need right
now,” Dr. Anthony Fauci, direc-
tor of the National Institute of
Allergy and Infectious Diseases,
testified Thursday at a con-
gressional hearing. “That is a
failing. It is a failing. Let’s ad-
mit it.”
The Trump administration

has come under fire for delays

in testing that some public-

health experts say is hamper-

ing efforts to identify cases

and contain the outbreak.

In testimony before the

House Committee on Oversight

and Reform, Dr. Fauci said the

nation’s system is set up for

doctors to request tests be

done, but not for patients to

pursue testing on their own.

“You put it out in the public

and a physician asks for it and

you get it,” Dr. Fauci told law-

makers. “The idea of anybody

getting it easily, the way peo-

ple in other countries are do-

ing it, we’re not set up for that.

Do I think we should be? Yes,

but we are not.”

As a consequence, said Dr.

Fauci, the U.S. doesn’t have a

handle on exactly how exten-

sive the outbreak of coronavi-

rus is in the U.S. He said the

government plans to conduct

surveillance of patients who

come into emergency rooms in

a range of cities, but that “the

surveillance is not operational

ingoftests.”

Earlier Thursday, at a brief-

ing for senators by coronavirus

task force members, there was

“big frustration on both sides

of the aisle” about the absence

of information about testing,

said Sen. Tim Kaine (D., Va.).

“And the testing is what’s

really necessary because it’ll

probably show us the exposure

is a lot greater, you know, a lot

of exposure,” said Mr. Kaine.

He stressed that while testing

will “show that many people

are asymptomatic, many people

have only minor symptoms.”

Mr. Kaine said the briefers

still don’t have an answer for

when point-of-contact test-

ing—at doctors’ offices and

clinics—might be available.

“One of the things that

made everybody upset was

they said, “Well, we’ll take that

question back to the task force.’

And everybody said, ‘Wait,

wait, you are the task force!’ ”

So everybody’s sitting up there,

everybody’s on the task force,

pretty much everybody.”

Sen. Jon Tester (D., Mont.)

said it was clear in the briefing

that there isn’t enough testing.

He said he hasn’t gotten an

adequate answer as to why or

how that is going to change.

“This has been botched

from the beginning,” Mr. Tes-

ter said.

Sen. Ron Wyden (D., Ore.)

said there was “enormous bi-

partisan frustration” over the

fact that “South Korea seems

so far ahead of us on the test-

ing issue.”

Republicans, too, said after

the briefing that they continue

to be concerned about lack of

access to testing.

“I think that we’re gonna

have to continue to figure out

how to get more production

out there,” said Sen. Thom

Tillis (R., N.C.), who is running

for re-election.

Asked if he got the answers

he needed at the briefing, Sen.

Lamar Alexander (R., Tenn.)

said no. “I think we’re not as

well prepared for testing as we

need to be,” he said.

Testing System Failed, U.S. Expert Says

Extent of outbreak in

nation unclear because

the protocol is flawed,

lawmakers are told

WASHINGTON—The Su-

preme Court and other federal

courts in the nation’s capital

will close to the public indefi-

nitely, allowing access only to

those with official business, as

authorities tried to stanch the

coronavirus pandemic.

“Out of concern for the

health and safety of the public

and Supreme Court employees,

the Supreme Court Building

will be closed to the public

from 4:30 p.m. on March 12,

2020, until further notice,” the

Supreme Court said Thursday.

The landmark building op-

posite the Capitol is a major

tourist attraction, and its

public floors include exhibits

and offer lectures and educa-

tional programs. Those have

been canceled indefinitely, the

court said.

The U.S. Court of Appeals

for the District of Columbia Cir-

cuit, the U.S. District Court and

the federal bankruptcy court,

which are based at the E. Bar-

rett Prettyman Courthouse, an-

nounced a similar policy.

The courts are not suspend-

ing their own business. The Su-

preme Court advised attorneys

that case filing deadlines

weren’t being extended.

Credentialed journalists will

be able to enter court buildings,

but the level of public access to

proceedings was unclear. The

Sixth Amendment provides

criminal defendants “the right

to a speedy and public trial,”

and the Supreme Court has

held that the public has a right

to attend such proceedings.

In May 2018, under a policy

spearheaded by then-Chief

Judge Merrick Garland, the D.C.

Circuit began streaming live

audio of all its arguments

through the court website. The

district court, which conducts

trials, doesn’t provide audio of

its proceedings. A district court

spokeswoman couldn’t be

reached.

The Supreme Court is next

scheduled to hear oral argu-

ments on March 23, beginning

a two-week sitting that will in-

clude several significant cases,

including legal actions filed by

President Trump to prevent

Deutsche Bank AG and the

Mazars accounting firm from

turning over his financial re-

cords under subpoenas from

House committees and a New

York state grand jury.

The moves in Washington,

D.C., come as federal courts

across the country have been

limiting access to courtrooms

and delaying trials and pro-

ceedings. In Washington state,

with one of the most severe

outbreaks in the U.S., the fed-

eral courts have postponed all

in-person civil and criminal

proceedings in Seattle and Ta-

coma, and suspended grand

jury meetings.

BYJESSBRAVIN

High Court

Is Closed

To Public

Fo r No w

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and

Infectious Diseases, testified before a House panel on Thursday.

TOM WILLIAMS/CONGRESSIONAL QUARTERLY/ZUMA PRESS

Major League Baseball and
the National Hockey League
joined the National Basketball
Association in suspending play
indefinitely. College basketball’s
March Madness championship
tournament was canceled. The
Mormon Church canceled ser-
vices world-wide.
The Supreme Court and
other federal courts in the na-
tion’s capital said they would
close to the public indefinitely.
The U.S. Capitol building and
congressional offices were also
closed to the public after a sen-
ator’s aide caught the virus.
Concerns about the possibil-
ity President Trump has been
exposed to coronavirus
mounted after a Brazilian offi-
cial who met with the president
last weekend tested positive for
the virus.
As of Thursday, the corona-
virus had infected more than
127,800 people in 116 countries
and regions, killing more than
4,700, according to data com-
piled by Johns Hopkins Univer-
sity.
While more than 68,
people have recovered from the
virus, its spread has accelerated
globally. More countries de-
clared wide-ranging travel re-
strictions in an effort to con-
tain the spread.
Fears of the economic im-
pact of the virus sent stock
markets world-wide further
into a rout. The Dow Jones In-
dustrial Average had its worst
day since 1987, plunging about
10% despite central bank moves
to calm investor jitters.
Governments have to decide
whether they will tolerate local
spreads of the disease, or con-
tend with reduced economic ac-
tivity and the social conse-
quences of closing schools and
businesses, said Ben Cowling, a
professor and head of the divi-
sion of epidemiology and bio-
statistics at Hong Kong Univer-
sity’s School of Public Health.
“Neither choice is great and

ContinuedfromPageOne

Travel,

Gatherings

Are Curbed

Robert Harrison, 96 years old, arrived to vote in Hamilton, Ohio, on Thursday while wearing a mask to prevent exposure to the novel coronavirus.

BRYAN WOOLSTON/REUTERS

Walt DisneyCo. said it is
closing its Disneyland Resort,
Walt Disney World Resort and
Disneyland Paris as the coro-
navirus pandemic caused
widespread cancellations of
sporting events and other
public gatherings.
The company said there
have been no reported cases of
the disease caused by the
novel coronavirus at the Dis-
neyland Resort but added that
the closure was “in the best
interest of our guests and em-
ployees.”
Universal Parks & Resorts, a
unit ofComcast Corp.’s NBC-
Universal, also said that it
would close its theme park in
Los Angeles starting on Satur-
day, with the hopes of reopen-
ing on March 28.
Disney’s park in Anaheim,
Calif., will close starting Sat-
urday morning. Walt Disney
World in Orlando, Fla., and the
company’s resort in Paris, will
both close at the end of busi-
ness on Sunday. All three re-

sorts will stay closed through

the end of the month.

The company also said it

was suspending new depar-

tures for its Disney Cruise Line

beginning Saturday, a measure

that will at least last until the

end of the month.

“We will monitor the ongo-

ing situation and follow the ad-

vice and guidance of federal and

state officials and health agen-

cies,” the company said. “Dis-

ney will continue to pay cast

members during this time.”

Earlier Thursday, California

imposed a ban on public gath-

erings of more than 250 but

exempted movie theaters,

theme parks and casinos.

Gov. Gavin Newsom

praised Disney’s decision.

“Disney made the right call in

the interest of public health,”

Mr. Newsom said. “Expect

more announcements like this.”

Disney’s parks in Shanghai,

Hong Kong and Tokyo had al-

ready closed because of the

coronavirus outbreak, which

originated in mainland China.

At a shareholders’ meeting

on Wednesday, Disney Execu-

tive Chairman Robert Iger tried

to minimize fears related to the

coronavirus, saying: “Through-

out our company’s nearly cen-

tury long history, Disney has

been through a lot, including

wars and natural disasters.”

Disney’s theme parks repre-

sent the company’s largest

business segment, with its U.S.

and international parks gener-

ating a combined $21.6 billion

in revenue in the year that

ended in September.

BYR.T.WATSON

Disney to Shut Resorts in U.S. and Paris

Disneyland, in Anaheim, Calif., will close on Saturday and remain shut through the end of March.

DAVID MCNEW/GETTY IMAGES

ByThomas M.

Burton,Stephanie

Armour

andLindsay Wise

More coverage

 The day sports got shut

down.................................. A

 For banks, everything is

going wrong all at once... B

 Princess cruises canceled

for two months................ B

Trudeau in Isolation

After Wife Infected

Canadian Prime Minister

Justin Trudeau said Thursday he

would isolate himself for 14

days after his wife, Sophie Gré-

goire Trudeau, tested positive

for the new coronavirus.

Mr. Trudeau’s office said the

prime minister is in good health

and wouldn’t be tested for the

virus at this stage because he

hasn’t experienced symptoms.

Doctors said there is no risk to

those who have had recent con-

tact with him, the office said.

“The Prime Minister will con-

tinue to fully assume his duties

and will address Canadians to-

morrow,” the statement said.

Ms. Grégoire Trudeau was

tested after she began having

mild flulike symptoms, including

a low fever Wednesday. Ms.

Grégoire Trudeau’s symptoms

remain mild, the prime minis-

ter’s office said. She had re-

cently returned from a speaking

engagement in London.

“We will get through this

situation together,” Ms. Grégoire

Trudeau said in a statement.

“Please share the facts and take

your health seriously.”

—Kim Mackrael