When Michael Rance witnessed the neighborhood he used to live in Kirkland become the center of Covid-19 in the US, he stocked up on food for four weeks.

"It's scary. It's a natural disaster that humanity doesn't really control," said Rance, a financial nonprofit employee. The 26-year-old grew up in Kirkland, Washington, USA and moved to New York last month.

Rance's anxiety grew after the number of Covid-19 deaths in Washington state exceeded 20, along with about 180 infections. New York is also one of the worst affected areas, with over 140 cases. At least 36 states in the United States have an epidemic, of which 8 states declare a state of emergency.

Nationwide, the United States currently records more than 700 nCoV infections and nearly 30 deaths. Despite stockpiling plenty of food, Rance still wants to buy enough food for a month, just in case New York is blocked. He even buys seeds to grow vegetables on the balcony.

Like many other countries, Americans are "living in fear" and have to get used to a new life due to the consequences of Covid-19. Employees are often asked to work remotely, schools are closed, sporting events or crowds are canceled. The essential goods in the supermarket "evaporate".

Health and psychology experts say the level of fear of Covid-19 is increasing globally. Many patients see a doctor because they are worried that they have nCoV, despite the fact that they only have a mild illness, such as a cold.

A light cough or sneeze in public now makes everyone around them turn around. The March 8 flight of United Airlines from Colorado to New Jersey even had to change direction after a few passengers caused a riot because they found someone near them coughing and sneezing.

"What is worse than the virus is fear," New York Governor Andrew Cuomo told a press conference on March 7 when declaring a local emergency. The American Association for Anxiety and Depression has set up a website to give advice and methods to deal with the "nightmare" Covid-19.

Maggie Mulqueen, a psychologist in Massachusetts, explained that Covid-19 made people nervous because many problems with the disease had not been answered, nor did there have been a vaccine and a uniform treatment. Besides, the US gaps health system can also cause more serious anxiety.

The "sitting on the fire" mood motivated people across the United States to store disinfectant hand washing water, towels, toilet paper and many other items to prepare for disease response. The long lines of shopping panic makes retailers unable to meet market demand.

However, while the shares of retailers have skyrocketed, other sectors have suffered because people "entrenched" in their homes and minimized social contact, threatening the US economy. On March 9, Wall Street investors witnessed the biggest drop since the 2008 financial crisis.

All 11 groups in the S&P 500 index were in red, the most significant were energy and financials. Economist Diane Swonk, an adviser at financial group Grant Thornton, predicts that US economic growth will slow to 0.5% in the first half of the year, a marked slowdown from 2.3% last year. Goldman Sachs also warned the US economy at risk of not growing in the second quarter.

According to NY Times commentator Austan Goolsbee, similar to primarily threatening the elderly, Covid-19 also posed a greater danger to more developed economies. Goolsbee said that if Covid-19 spread rapidly in the United States, the economic consequences could be worse than China, because service industries that require more direct contact.

The transportation industry is an example. The average American flies three flights per year, while China has less than 0.5. Southwest Airlines, which mainly flies domestic routes, said travel demand is declining significantly and the number of flight cancellations has increased.

The epidemiological disaster on the Diamond Princess yacht, and the 21 people infected with nCoV on the Grand Princess in the port of Oakland, San Francisco Bay caused many people to stop using this vehicle. Each year the US has about 11.5 million cruise passengers, while this figure in China is only 2.3 million.

One of the most profitable businesses in the US is sport. Compared to China, Americans spend 10 times more money on this type of entertainment. However, Covid-19 caused the matches to be canceled, and people were no longer keen on them.

Increasing businesses were affected, such as General Motors and Nestle SA restricting employee travel, Facebook and Amazon announced the closure of their offices in Seattle. "However, workers cannot do everything at home. You will witness the loss of an economic output that can never be recovered," said Swonk.

The economic downturn makes many restaurants, hotels and airlines forced to lay off employees, so the unemployment rate in the US is expected to escalate. Meanwhile, about 78% of US workers have no reserves, leading to an increase in the overdue debt ratio for consumer loans.

Asked whether Covid-19 would harm the US economy, President Donald Trump acknowledged it "could certainly have an impact". On March 6, he approved a $ 8.3 billion emergency spending bill to combat Covid-19, including assistance with vaccine development and helping states respond to diseases.

Covid-19 appeared right in the US election year, when people were considering voting for whom in November, so it is not outside the "partisan war". Democrats criticized Trump for responding to the crisis slowly, making statements contrary to health authorities and spreading false information about nCoV. Meanwhile, Trump accused Democrats and the media of exaggerating risks from the disease to attack his re-election campaign.

One of the key "weapons" that helped Trump gain widespread support is the country's economic achievements. Therefore, the gloomy sign in the market may cause the advantage in the race to Trump's White House. Studies show that the economic situation in the election year has a much greater influence on voting results than growth during the term.

The way the disease is handled will also affect Trump's credibility, such as former President George W. Bush being criticized for his slow response to Hurricane Katrina or former President Barack Obama "scoring" in the Sandy storm response. . To protect the reputation, Trump asserted that the White House had a "perfect" plan with Covid-19 and pointed out the timely actions of the government.

Despite that, Trump seems increasingly difficult to control the situation as nCoV is constantly spreading. According to the YouGov-Economist survey, the rate of distrust with the way the US President dealt with Covid-19 from February to March spiked.

Experts also rate Trump's actions against the disease as "unacceptable" by any standard. He said that Covid-19 would disappear when the weather warmed and not tested for nCoV despite shaking hands, sitting on a special plane with two MPs, who were in close contact with patients infected with nCoV and had to isolate themselves.

Meanwhile, the American people are psychologically prepared for the worst situation. "I tried to deal with the disease in the most reasonable way possible, but I couldn't stop thinking about it dozens of times a day," Rance said.