Tue 21 April 2020:
With billions of people forced to stay home to curb the spread of the deadly virus, and top producers Saudi Arabia and Russia in a price war, an oil glut pushed prices for US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for May delivery down to -$37.63 per barrel.
“The problem is nobody is driving a car anywhere in the world essentially,” US President Donald Trump said.
The dive prompted more selling on Wall Street, and the Dow closed down 2.4 percent.
Thousands of Americans concerned about their economic bottom line have been protesting across the country for days, and on Monday, the focal point was Pennsylvania and its capital Harrisburg.
There, hundreds of people — many not wearing face masks — argued that government regulations intended to halt the spread of COVID-19 limit individual freedoms and are hurting the economy.
“Our new normal does not mean we will sacrifice our freedoms for the safety of our country,” state lawmaker Aaron Bernstine said to chants of “USA! USA!”
Demonstrators also rallied in the California capital Sacramento.
Trump has cheered on the protests, even as health officials warn that a too-rapid reopening could risk a resurgence of deadly outbreaks.
The highly contagious virus has now killed more than 42,000 people in the United States, the country with the highest death toll.
Amid pressure to reopen their communities and economies, several US governors have stressed that coronavirus testing first must be ramped up dramatically, with federal help.
But Trump has insisted there has been adequate testing and the federal government is doing its job.
He also expressed confidence Monday that virus indicators were trending in the right direction.
“Many areas hardest hit by the virus appear to have turned the corner,” he said, citing substantial death toll drops in metropolitan areas like New York, Detroit and New Orleans.
The United States has recorded 1,433 deaths in the past 24 hours through Monday evening, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University — the lowest daily total in two weeks.
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