In times of economic duress like now, US policymakers and the Wall Street owned and operated Fed throw hundreds of billions or trillions of dollars at business and investors to aid them and financial markets — crumbs at most for cash-strapped households hard-pressed to get by.

For weeks, Trump failed to acknowledge the risk of a growing public health crisis, admitting it belatedly on Monday with guidelines that exclude financial help for ordinary people in need.

It calls for “15 days to slow (COVID-19’s) spread” that could take months or longer to control and eliminate nationwide.

If outbreaks in large numbers occur in cities, towns or states, extended lockdowns may be needed to prevent the disease from spreading.

“If you feel sick, stay home,” said the White House guidelines. “Contact your medical provider” — what most people normally do when ill.

Many individuals without health insurance or enough coverage rely on emergency room treatment where available that’s covered by Medicaid.

“If your children are sick, keep them at home. Do not send them to school.” Get medical help — what people able to afford it routinely do.

“If someone in your household tested positive for (COVID-19), keep the entire household at home.” Don’t go out, to work, school, or anywhere else — a positive suggestion that reminds people of the importance of not potentially spreading the virus to others.

“If you are an older person, stay home and away from other people.”

Older people with weaker immune systems are more vulnerable to contracting the virus.

It doesn’t mean they should be confined at home unless advised to take this precaution by local authorities because of outbreaks they know of, if they have other health conditions that make it advisable, or if advised to self-isolate by their doctor.

Other Trump regime guidelines include staying home away from other people if have “a serious underlying health condition.”

It depends on what it is, how serious, and if it puts you or others at risk to be at risk in close quarters.

Most older people have one or more conditions. It doesn’t automatically mean they should isolate themselves for an extended period until the COVID-19 threat abates.

Dealing with the disease depends on local conditions and personal health at any age.

White House guidelines warned against gatherings of more than 10 people in public places, including in restaurants, shops, and theaters.

The Mayo Clinic explained the following about COVID-19:

It’s “a newly identified respiratory virus in the coronavirus family, but it is more severe and spreads easily.”

“Diagnosis is difficult (without proper testing) because it shares several symptoms with influenza.”

It spreads in similar fashion — person to person “through respiratory droplets from an infected person’s cough or sneeze.”

“These droplets can land on surfaces within about 6 feet and can spread to other people after they contact these infected surfaces with their hands and subsequently touch their face.”

“Individuals can become infected by COVID-19 from an object if the surface of that object has live virus on it. How long the virus can live outside an organism is unknown.”

“Expert estimates range from a few hours to up to nine days, depending on the type of surface, surrounding temperature and environment.”

Some infected people can be asymptomatic. Most common symptoms are fever, lethargy, aches and pains, a sore throat and/or coughing, shortness of breath, and diarrhea.

They usually appear from 2 to 14 days of exposure.

According to the Mayo Clinic, if patients are diagnosed with COVID-19, they’re isolated.

Since no antiviral treatments exist, interventions taken depend on the severity of illness and for patients “with compromised immune systems or complex illnesses.”

To minimize risk of contagion, wash hands thoroughly and keep them clean.

Avoid touching eyes, nose and mouth. Cover coughing and sneezing to prevent the spread of germs to others.

Disinfect surfaces and keep them  clean. Avoid close contact with ill people. Stay home and self-isolate if sick until well.

Face masks offer little help as germs can enter the body through eyes and ears.

Follow information from local health and other authorities on whether outbreaks exist in the area and to what extent.

If warning signs emerge, get medical help right away. Emergency warning signs according to Mayo include:

• Difficulty breathing or shortness of breath
• Persistent chest pain or pressure
• Confusion or inability to arouse
• Bluish lips or face

The above symptoms are “not all-inclusive,” Mayo explained. If ill and uncertain of the cause, get medical attention to find out.

On Tuesday, the Trump regime asked Congress to authorize an $850 billion stimulus package.

It features an ill-conceived suspension of individual and business-paid payroll taxes, the money used to fund Social Security and Medicare.

Starving both essential programs even through yearend alone is a Trump regime scheme to hasten their demise, why it’s crucial for Congress to reject it.

The Fed can create hundreds of billions or trillions of dollars with a click of a computer keyboard, an unlimited amount, what former Fed chairman Bernanke earlier called helicopter money.

It’s been dropped in large amounts on Wall Street (so-called QE), not on main street where vitally needed to stimulate economic growth.

QE helps banks, markets and investors. Boosting aggregate demand requires putting money in the pockets of ordinary people who’ll spend it for essentials and discretionary things.

Years of dropping money on Wall Street through near-zero interest rates and QE boosted asset valuations to bubble levels while ordinary Americans got force-fed austerity when stimulus was needed — along with high unemployment and underemployment, claims otherwise state-sponsored mass deception.

What benefits investors fails to help most Americans. What’s needed is large amounts helicopter money dropped on main street — omitted from the Trump regime’s guidelines.

Last July, noted investor Jim Rogers warned of a “terrible” bear market ahead.

On Monday, he said we’re heading toward “the worst financial crisis of our lifetimes. We will know in a few months.”

Lots of large and small businesses will suffer. “Some will go bankrupt.” Ongoing market turmoil goes way beyond COVID-19 — the pin that popped the bubble too inflated to sustain, not the cause of what’s happening.

Rogers’ advice to ordinary people is invest “only in what they know a lot about” for real, not what they think they know.

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Award-winning author Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at [email protected]. He is a Research Associate of the Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG)

His new book as editor and contributor is titled “Flashpoint in Ukraine: US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III.”

http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html

Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com.