No. 1, authorities need to tell the truth, even when it's uncomfortable -- especially when it's uncomfortable. This is important for two reasons. First, it lessens fear. People are always more afraid of the unknown. When people don't think they're getting a straight message they feel uncertain. In a horror movie, it's always scariest before the monster appears. Once the fear becomes concrete we can deal with it. We can deal with reality. Second, if you want people to comply with your recommendations -- and compliance is crucial to success -- they have to believe you and trust you. If they doubt you they will ignore you. In Singapore, the Prime Minister told blunt truths at the beginning, ended panic buying and, more importantly, it's one reason Singapore has gotten way ahead of the virus.

The 1918 virus was deadlier than Covid-19, but in the West it had about a 2% case mortality rate.

There is absolutely no indication -- zero, not the slightest hint anywhere in the world -- that Covid-19 will become more virulent than it is now,

Dr. Anthony Fauci said that President Donald Trump was giving an "aspirational projection to give people some hope" when he floated reopening US businesses and getting Americans back to work by Easter, April 12.

"He's listening to us when we say we really got to reevaluate it, in real time, and any decision we make has to be based on the data," Fauci said Thursday of the President on CNN's Global Town Hall, "Coronavirus: Facts and Fears."

As the 15-day window nears its end, Pence told reporters on Thursday that the task force would be presenting "a range of recommendations and additional guidance for going forward" to the President this weekend.

Coronavirus poses daunting challenges for economic policymakers. Public health efforts to contain the virus rely on "social distancing" by encouraging people to stay home and requiring businesses to reduce their output. In the past, the primary tools the government used to get our economy going focused on raising spending by encouraging people to do more of their usual activities. But that interferes with the public health effort against coronavirus.

In a typical recession, these effects are desirable. Unfortunately, what worked in previous recessions won't work for coronavirus. If schools and businesses are closed by order of public health authorities, then lower interest rates and tax cuts do not increase spending much. Instead, people are likely to save the money, undermining the stimulus effect. And if people do spend the money instead of saving it, monetary and fiscal stimulus may harm public health by encouraging people to go out and spend.

The $2 trillion economic aid package unveiled Wednesday contains several provisions to help small businesses in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic

The provisions are also unlikely to save those small businesses that will have to come up with cash to stay afloat until they can actually get the government's aid money in hand.

An emergency grant of up to $10,000: Small businesses may apply directly to the federal Small Business Administration to receive an economic injury disaster grant of up to $10,000 that does not need to be paid back. The money would be paid out to business owners within three days of their application's submission. It can be used to maintain payroll, cover paid sick leave and service other debt obligations.

The response to the coronavirus pandemic has been unprecedented in terms of speed and scale. Commitments from governments and central banks to date are close to $7 trillion, according to an analysis by CNN Business. The total includes government spending, loan guarantees and tax breaks, as well as money printing by central banks to buy assets such as bonds and stock funds.

The figure includes the $2 trillion US relief package working its way through Congress and an anticipated 30 trillion yen ($274 billion) in stimulus from Japan that could be approved next month. In Europe, CNN Business tallied stimulus efforts by the biggest economies: Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Italy and Spain.

"The [$2 trillion US] stimulus package is likely the bare minimum needed to offset the current drag from the outbreak," Bank of America economist Joseph Song told clients Thursday. "The economy will likely need close $3 [trillion] in fiscal stimulus, if not more."

Global stocks failed to maintain their momentum Friday, indicating that a spectacular three-day rally that pushed the Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDU) out of a bear market could be losing steam.

Germany's DAX (DAX) dropped 1.4%. France's CAC 40 (CAC40) shed 2%, while the FTSE 100 (UKX) lost 3.7% in London.

Investors remained optimistic as US lawmakers put the finishing touches on a $2 trillion stimulus bill that will provide a boost to the economy. The Senate passed the bill 96-0, and the House of Representatives is expected to vote on the legislation Friday.

CNN's Bill Weir looks at the parallels between coronavirus and the climate crisis

"I am fine, I'm not scared," he tells CNN Travel via the mobile phone that is his link to the outside world. "I feel safe here. This island offers total protection. No risks at all. Nobody lands, not even a single boat can be seen sailing by."

Little has changed for Morandi since Italy's virus outbreak, except that he must now wait longer for people to bring him food from the mainland due to harsh restrictions imposed by Rome's government.

Images taken over the first three weeks of March show less nitrogen dioxide over parts of the United States than the same time last year. Nitrogen dioxide in the air comes primarily from the burning of fuel and forms from the emissions of cars, trucks, buses, power plants and off-road equipment, according to the US Environmental Protection Agency.

Satellite images released by NASA and the European Space Agency also show a dramatic reduction in nitrogen dioxide emissions in China as the nation implemented drastic coronavirus restrictions.

Trump made 50 false claims from March 2 through March 8, then 21 false claims from March 9 through March 15. Of those 71 false claims, 33 were related to the coronavirus. That is on top of some additional misleading claims from Trump about the coronavirus (we only count the false claims here), plus some false and misleading claims from members of his administration.

Trump is now averaging about 57 false claims per week since we started counting at CNN on July 8, 2019. From that date through March 15, he has made 2,062 false claims in all.

The country where the pandemic began was almost completely shut down in late January as the number of coronavirus cases mounted. The drastic measures appear to have brought the virus under control: Locally transmitted infections have plummeted, and a lockdown on most of Hubei province — ground zero of the pandemic — is being lifted this week.

But the lockdown also brought activity in much of the world's second biggest economy to a standstill for weeks on end, and is likely to result in China's first contraction in decades. Analysts at Goldman Sachs recently forecast that China's GDP may fall by 9% in the first quarter of the year, compared to the same period in 2019.

Western nations are also weighing these enormous tradeoffs while the virus remains a global threat. In the United States — where unlike China, cases have yet to peak — President Donald Trump on Monday argued the country will have to reopen for business "very soon" even though the virus is "going to be bad."

The coronavirus pandemic has quickly thrust the world into recession as bars and restaurants shut down and countries instruct their citizens to hunker down. The question now is just how deep the pain will be, and how long it will last.

A picture of the economic devastation in North America and Europe has already started to emerge. A US government report published Thursday showed that 281,000 Americans filed for their first week of unemployment benefits last week — a sudden 33% jump over the week before and the largest percentage increase since 1992.

This week is expected to be much worse. Goldman Sachs predicts that a shocking 2.25 million Americans will have filed for their first week of unemployment benefits. That would be eight times the number of people who filed last week and the highest level on record.

Souder estimates at the rate of loss at his restaurant, it will lose $250,000 a quarter, which forced him to lay off 75 employees in one day.

Souder's restaurant is a microcosm of the coronavirus' ravaging of an industry and a sign of what awaits other sectors of the US economy.

In an open letter to President Donald Trump, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, the National Restaurant Agency estimated a drop in sales by "$225 billion during the next three months, which will prompt the loss of between five and seven million jobs."

Retired astronaut Scott Kelly spent 520 days in space during his time at NASA. Hear his tips for coping with isolation.Source: CNN

The Federal Reserve is signaling it will do whatever it takes to save the coronavirus-ravaged American economy from a depression.

Taken together, the Fed said the new programs will provide up to $300 billion in new financing to an economy getting crushed by the crippling health restrictions aimed at fighting the pandemic. The Fed is going all out to prevent the health crisis from turning into a full-blown financial crisis.

US stock futures spiked on the new emergency actions from the Fed, which has already slashed interest rates to zero. Recession fears and a liquidity crunch have crashed the stock market over the past month and caused parts of the bond market to malfunction.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (RCL) has received a $2.2 billion revolving line credit to help the beleaguered company stay afloat, it announced Monday.

Stocks are deep in the red at midday. The Washington gridlock on fiscal stimulus measures has overshadowed hopes that the Federal Reserve's onslaught of new monetary moves would lift markets higher.

The novel coronavirus outbreak has forced many people to stay home and work -- and kids are "going" to school virtually as well. That's a big reason why video conferencing company Zoom Video Communications (ZM) has been one of the rare Wall Street winners while the broader market has plunged into bear status.

"Cabin fever is not like a psychological disorder, so I wouldn't say there's any sort of official definition of it," said Vaile Wright, a psychologist and director of clinical research and quality at the American Psychological Association.

"It involves a range of negative emotions and distress related to restricted movement: irritability, boredom, some hopelessness and even, behaviorally, restlessness and difficulty concentrating. Those would be the constellation of symptoms one might expect if they were feeling that way."

Your personality and temperament are major factors in how quickly you develop these kinds of emotions, Wright said.

President Donald Trump and his campaign promoted a dishonestly edited video on Saturday that wrongly made it seem as if Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden had accidentally endorsed Trump. The clip, which was viewed more than 5.8 million times and retweeted more than 34,000 times as of Sunday morning at 10 AM, showed Biden struggling with a line in his Saturday speech in Kansas City, Missouri, then saying, "Excuse me. We can only re-elect Donald Trump."

But the clip was edited to cut out the second part of Biden's sentence. What the former vice president actually said was this: "Excuse me. We can only re-elect Donald Trump if in fact we get engaged in this circular firing squad here. It's gotta be a positive campaign." Biden had called for an end to "negative attacks" in his primary contest with Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.

The New York Stock Exchange has a series of "circuit breakers" in place to calm investors' nerves when they're panicked. A circuit breaker was tripped Monday morning shortly after trading began.The S&P 500 fell by more than 7%, halting trading for 15 minutes.The next circuit breaker would be if the market falls by 13%. That would pause trading for another 15 minutes.

(CNN)Looking for a way to be happier? Are you seeking deeper connections with friends or looking for more friends? Want to relate better to your co-workers? Try a little compassion.Compassion, as one scholar describes it, is "experiencing feelings of loving kindness toward another person's affliction." It's related to, but a little different from empathy, which the same scholar defines as "feeling with someone, that is, sharing the other person's emotion."

What she, and many other scholars have found, is that compassion is key to coping. The compassionate tend to have deeper connections with others and more friends. They are more forgiving and have a stronger sense of life purpose. Many studies have shown these results.

In that quiet space, sit in a comfortable position. Focus on your breath and try to clear your mind. The key is to be present in that space in that time. Then mentally focus on your heart area and think about someone you feel tenderness toward. This could be your spouse or your mom or your child.