China suffered an even deeper slump than analysts feared at the start of the year as the coronavirus shuttered factories, shops and restaurants across the nation, underscoring the fallout now facing the global economy as the virus spreads around the world.
Industrial output plunged 13.5% in January and February from a year earlier, retail sales fell 20.5%, and fixed-asset investment dropped 24.5%. The unemployment rate jumped to a record 6.2% in February, when the outbreak worsened and much of the economy was shutdown.
In the wake of the global coronavirus pandemic, the Navy’s top officer and his most senior enlisted adviser took to social media and official online sites Saturday to calm the fleet and explain the unprecedented orders they’re instituting to help stop the spread of COVID-19.
The brief message — 74 seconds — addressed sweeping changes in how personnel and their families will travel and work over the next 60 days, including the suspension of official, personal and PCS travel inside the continental United States and to designated locations worldwide where the disease is entrenched in local populations; plus "flexible work schedules and the use of telework.
“Our understanding of the coronavirus is rapidly evolving, and we may have to implement further measures to combat the spread of this virus,” warned Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Michael Gilday.
“America depends upon us to help provide security and stability to this nation, and that’s exactly what we will continue to do.”