[ti:Additional Measures to Stop Virus Weigh on Economy] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]¸ü¶àÌýÁ¦Çë·ÃÎÊ51VOA.COM [00:00.04]In the United States, carmakers closed factories to protect workers [00:05.84]against the new coronavirus and financial markets were again hard hit. [00:12.88]Internationally, nations in North America and Europe put new border restrictions in place over public health concerns. [00:23.88]The fast-spreading new coronavirus that jumped from animals to humans [00:29.56]has now infected over 200,000 people around the world. [00:35.76]It also is blamed for more than 8,700 deaths. [00:42.48]President Donald Trump said he would use an existing U.S. law to give the government additional powers [00:49.76]to fight the disease and to ease economic trouble. [00:55.52]The Defense Production Act gives the president extraordinary power [01:00.64]to order industries to expand production and provide necessary materials. [01:08.12]The Trump administration is working with Congress to pass a $1 trillion spending plan to support the economy. [01:17.52]Among the proposals is $500 billion in direct payment to Americans. [01:25.28]U.S. financial markets had sharp losses Wednesday. [01:30.48]The New York Stock Exchange again temporarily halted trading because of a sharp drop in stock prices. [01:39.00]It opened again and stock measures regained some of their lost value. [01:46.68]Observers note that the stock market has lost nearly all of its gains from the past three years. [01:55.36]Oil prices have fallen sharply in recent days to their lowest level in years. [02:02.92]Also Wednesday, the Associated Press reported that the three major American car makers, [02:09.56]Ford, General Motors and Fiat Chrysler, are planning to close all factories in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. [02:20.48]The move could keep 150,000 people from work. [02:26.48]In the state of California, Governor Gavin Newsom warned that, in his words, "martial law" could be put into effect. [02:36.40]In the city of San Francisco, people are permitted to leave their homes only for food, medicine or exercise. [02:46.32]And the mayor of New York said the city's 8.6 million residents should be prepared for a lockdown. [02:55.76]In Italy, the number of people who died from COVID-19 moved closer to China's. [03:02.76]With another 475 reported deaths on Wednesday, the country has now linked more than 2,900 deaths to the disease. [03:14.24]China has reported about 3,200 deaths. [03:20.36]Iran also has been hit hard, with more than 17,000 cases and 1,100 deaths. [03:30.12]At many border crossings around Europe, cars and trucks are backed up after leaders closed them to nonessential traffic. [03:41.16]At one point, trucks were backed up in Austria for 28 kilometers and cars for 14 kilometers. [03:51.16]"We have never lived through anything like this," Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez told a nearly empty parliament room. [04:01.08]More than 90 percent of Spanish lawmakers stayed home. [04:06.96]Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison warned that the crisis could last six months. [04:15.12]He said "This is a once-in-a-hundred-year type event" as his country moved to restrict gatherings and overseas travel. [04:26.16]In Southeast Asia, the border between Malaysia and the city-state of Singapore was quiet after Malaysia shut its borders. [04:36.12]On Ecuador's Galapagos islands, Canadian Jessy Lamontaine and her family could not leave when their flights were suspended. [04:47.08]"I was in tears this morning," Lamontaine said. "I couldn't get any answers from the airline. [04:54.68]I had no money and didn't know whether I was going to keep my job." [05:01.32]Some good news did come out of Wuhan. [05:04.68]Officials there reported just one new case for a second day. [05:11.16]I'm Jonathan Evans.