This summer's Tokyo Olympics fell victim to the coronavirus crisis Tuesday as the death toll mounted rapidly in Europe and the United States, while American lawmakers closed in on a nearly $2 trillion deal to blunt the outbreak's economic damage.
The International Olympic Committee postponed the Olympics until 2021 on the recommendation of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, adding the games to the long roster of sports events disrupted by the deadly outbreak. In Washington, top congressional and White House officials said they expected to reach a deal Tuesday on a measure to shore up businesses and send relief checks to ordinary Americans. Stocks rallied around the world on the news, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average surging more 1,100 points, or over 6 percent, in early trading.
There have been more than 46,000 infections and 530 deaths in the U.S. as the virus continues to spread. In New York, now one of the world's biggest virus hot spots, authorities rushed to set up the thousands of hospital beds they will need in just weeks to protect the city's 8.4 million people. In Italy, Spain and France, the pandemic has already pushed national health systems to their breaking points. The outbreak has killed more than 6,000 Italians, the highest death toll of any country. Officials said Monday the virus had claimed just over 600 more lives, down from 793 two days earlier.
Today on AirTalk, we’ll update the latest news about the coronavirus outbreak, continue our daily discussion with a noted epidemiologist and take your questions about coronavirus and COVID-19 at 866-893-5722.
With files from the Associated Press
Guest:
Robert Kim-Farley, M.D., professor of epidemiology and community health sciences at UCLA Fielding School of Public Health; he served as the director of the Division of Communicable Disease Control and Prevention at the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health from 2003-2018 and is a former staffer at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and a former official of the World Health Organization
