Economists warn of second COVID-19 wave in United States

Economists are warning of the growing risk of a second COVID19 wave in the US as reopening efforts continue across the nation which currently accounts for the highest number of both coronavirus cases and deaths in the worldThe reopening of the economy without a vaccine always presented the obvious risk of a second wave which is by far the largest risk to a steady economic recovery economists at Wells Fargo Securities Economics Group wrote in a report on FridayWhile the US as a whole saw the slowest pace of new case growth since March on Tuesday it was the very next day that Texas reported its highest oneday total of new cases since the pandemic began This uptick in case growth has raised concern of a new wave of lockdowns the report saidJoseph Brusuelas chief economist at accounting and consulting firm RSM US LLP noted that COVID19 cases per capita are exploding across the South and Southwest with Texas now at major risk of a significant wave of infections and Arizonas medical system at risk of being overwhelmedBased on extrapolation of the current rate of infection the number of cases is likely to approach 22 million in the third week of June Brusuelas wrote Friday in an analysisWe are now concerned that a wave of infections will carry a second round of economic implicationsMaria Cosma an associate economist at Moodys Analytics warned that cases in the US could rise to such a degree that national and local governments would reinstitute lockdownsFederal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell also warned that a second wave of COVID19 infections could hurt public confidence and economic recoveryBut Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Thursday that the country cannot shut down the economy again even if there was another surge in COVID19 casesMnuchin also said he was prepared to return to Congress to request additional fiscal aid to help the economy and workers weather the pandemics impactOver 44 million initial jobless claims have been filed over the past 12 weeks as COVID19induced recession sent ripples through the US labour market according to the Labor DepartmentA survey released by the National Association for Business Economics NABE on Monday also showed that over 80 per cent of panelists viewed a second wave of COVID19 as the greatest downside risk for the US economy through 2020The Wells Fargo Securities Economics Group believed that the road to US economic recovery will be long and a second wave of the virus will only make it longerThe US continues with the worlds highest number of confirmed cases and deaths at 2046643 and 114672 respectively according to the Johns Hopkins UniversityCatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates MidDay is now on Telegram Click here to join our channel middayinfomedialtd and stay updated with the latest newsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever