WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Spikes in novel U.S. coronavirus cases will likely trigger closures in some places but not a nationwide shutdown, White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said on Thursday, as a number of states recorded a record rise in infections.
“There will be some shutdowns individually … in individual places and certain stores. We are keeping a very close eye on this,” Kudlow said in an interview on Fox Business Network.
“We’re going to have hot spots. No question,” he later told reporters at the White House. “We just have to live with that.”
Surging coronavirus infections in parts of the United States spared the brunt of the initial outbreak have unnerved investors, with U.S. stock futures slipping further on Thursday following Wall Street’s worst day in two weeks.
Overall, the United States recorded its second greatest daily increase in COVID-19 cases since early March, with a nationwide surge of nearly 36,000 new cases on Tuesday – the highest since a record 36,426 new U.S. infections recorded on April 24.
Kudlow told Fox he still expected to see a “strong v”-shaped economic recovery, with a 20% growth “snapback” in the third and fourth quarters of 2020 and a U.S. unemployment rate of 10% by year’s end.
(Reporting by Lisa Lambert and Susan Heavey; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Jonathan Oatis)
