The Day at a Glance | March 5 2020

The United States House of Representatives passed an emergency spending package due to coronavirus

The House passed an USD$8.3 billion emergency spending package yesterday in order to fight the spread of the virus. The package includes $3 billion for vaccine research and $2.2 billion for virus prevention. It has been sent to the Senate for it to be voted on as soon as possible before it´s signed by the President. The amount approved by the House is more than three times greater than the resources requested by the White House ($2.4 bn). Yesterday, the state of California declared a state of emergency due to the spread of the virus and recorded the first death close to Sacramento. In Seattle, Amazon has asked employees to avoid showing up to its offices for the rest of March after one of the company´s employees tested positive for the virus; the state of Washington has become one of the worst hit states. The state of New York has confirmed five new cases and its Governor has declared controlling the virus is difficult: “This is literally like trying to stop air.” So far, 160 cases have been confirmed in the US in 17 states, according to Johns Hopkins University, with numbers expected to rise in the next few days. The number of deaths reached 11 and has set the mortality rate at 6.87%, a high figure that suggests the number of cases accounted for could be underestimated. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has redoubled its efforts to increase diagnostic tests and is requesting more tests to be done all over the country.

OPEC agrees on 1.5 million barrel a day cut

Russia´s approval pending. According to statements made by the Iranian oil minister, OPEC agreed to increase its production cutback by 1.5 million barrels per day – it´s currently set at 2.1 million. OPEC wants its allies to contribute with 500 thousand of these barrels, but Russia´s approval is still pending. Yesterday, Russian Minister of Energy Alexander Novak left the conference in which cutbacks were being negotiated, and it´s expected Russia will wait until the last minute (tomorrow) to make a decision. Saudi Arabia pushes for greater cutbacks, this in light of a lower expected demand for energy at a global level due to the spread coronavirus.