House Speaker Nancy Pelosi repeated a phrase throughout her update this morning on the latest federal response to the coronavirus: "Testing, testing, testing."
The speaker said testing is "so very important, to take inventory, to understand the epidemiological spread of the virus, and also to meet the needs of the people affected."
She confirmed that Democrats and Republicans are working closely to pass a bill today that would provide additional protections, and free testing, following an $8.3 billion aid package last week. "No one will say I can't afford it," she said.
The Families First Coronavirus Response Act would ensure free coronavirus testing, paid emergency sick leave, expanded unemployment insurance, increased protections for health care workers on the frontline, and food security initiative for children while schools are closed.
The bill is currently being debated in the House, but the clock is ticking as lawmakers consider whether they should leave the capital out of an abundance of caution.
When asked if House Democrats would stick around if a deal was not made within the next two days, Pelosi insisted lawmakers would get it done.
"We don't need 48 hours. We need to make a decision to help families now," she said.
"If people have to stay home, we have to stay home, but we don't want people to panic," Pelosi added but held off from outlining further plans to address the virus.
"We're here to pass a bill. When we pass a bill, we'll make a judgment about what comes next," she said.
As an addendum to her update on the coronavirus response, the speaker chimed in on the Democratic primary race.
"In case you were going to ask, no, I don't think Bernie Sanders should get out of the race. I'm a grassroots person. I'm chair of the California Democratic Party. I know the enthusiasm of supporters of candidates, and they want to see it play out."
Brent crude, the global benchmark for oil and for U.S. gasoline prices, hovered around $36 a barrel after opening Monday at about $33 -- down from $45 a barrel on Friday and nearly $70 in January.
Officials at the World Health Organization said Monday that of about 80,000 people who have been sickened by COVID-19 in China, more than 70 percent have recovered and been discharged from hospitals.
Stocks are falling sharply Monday on Wall Street on a combination of coronavirus fears and plunging oil prices, triggering a brief, automatic halt in trading to let investors catch their breath.
Lenore Hawkins, chief macro strategist for Tamatica Research, told Cheddar that the combination of the COVID-19 outbreak and the oil price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia is an unprecedented set of circumstances for investors.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeted 1,500 points, or 6%, following similar drops in Europe after a fight among major crude-producing countries jolted investors already on edge about the widening fallout from the outbreak of the new coronavirus.
From Wall Street to Silicon Valley, these are the top stories that moved markets and had investors, business leaders, and entrepreneurs talking this week on Cheddar.
Bond yields fell to more record lows as investors continue to demand safety and unload stocks. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note sank as low as 0.66% as investors worried that economic damage from the spreading virus outbreak will be worse than previously thought.
Cheddar will be following the biggest political headlines as voters head to the polls in critical Super Tuesday primaries.
Dr. William Schaffner of Vanderbilt University said taking steps like sanitizing the subway system "may play a small role in mitigating the transmission of this virus, but it signals to people that we ought to be functioning as we can and doing the things we can do."
Stocks are falling sharply again in midday trading on Wall Street, and bond yields are sinking to more record lows on worries about the economic damage coming from the spreading coronavirus outbreak.
