• Battling the coronavirus pandemic will be like a “war,” according to leaders ranging from US President Donald Trump to French President Emmanuel Macron to billionaire Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates.
• As the spread of the virus plunges the global economy into recession, governments worldwide are pledging trillions to mitigate the fallout — and the US is no exception. But they’ll need something more like a “wartime economy” to fight the pandemic.
• During World War II, the US government mobilized major industry for all the various needs of the war effort, with Ford making tanks, for example.
• Trump first invoked the Defense Production Act on March 27, more than a week after first saying he would. He has used it sparingly since — and not always for the things critics wish he would.
• The administration has said the act will be used to ramp up coronavirus testing and also keep meat processing plants open amid the pandemic, but has yet to sign orders into effect.
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The novel coronavirus outbreak has killed more than 179,000 people and infected over 2.5 million people worldwide.

As the pandemic has worsened, more and more political leaders have …continued .
[Source: Business Insider]