ASSESSMENTS

The Piecemeal U.S. COVID-19 Response Portends a Long Recovery

undefined and Senior Middle East and North Africa Analyst at RANE
Ryan Bohl
Senior Middle East and North Africa Analyst at RANE, Stratfor

Apr 3, 2020 | 16:36 GMT

A local business in Detroit, Michigan, closes shop following the state’s three-week “Stay Home, Stay Safe” order to slow the spread of COVID-19. As of April 2, Michigan had 10,791 confirmed cases of the virus, including 417 deaths.

A local business in Detroit, Michigan, closes shop following the state’s three-week “Stay Home, Stay Safe” order to slow the spread of COVID-19. As of April 2, Michigan had 10,791 confirmed cases of the virus, including 417 deaths.

(SETH HERALD/AFP via Getty Images)

Highlights

  • Cities and states will continue to spearhead the U.S. efforts to contain COVID-19, enacting and lifting economically disruptive lockdowns based on their own perception of the health risk. 
  • The U.S. federal government, meanwhile, will enact ongoing rounds of stimulus measures to keep the country’s economy poised for recovery once the epidemic begins to pass.
  • The likely prolonged and painful economic fallout from lockdown measures, however, means Washington will likely have to continue large-scale support measures throughout the rest of the year. 

As the COVID-19 crisis grips the United States, states and cities are leading the charge in the most significant containment measures, with the federal government playing a supporting role. This means that neither lockdown measures to contain the virus, nor the outbreak itself, will end on the federal government’s schedule. But Washington will still be held liable for helping bail out the growing number of citizens and states struggling to make ends meet in an indefinitely quarantined economy....

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