Donald Trump signed in a major aid bill worth $484 billion to support hospitals and employers in the US as his country's coronavirus death toll surpassed 50,000.
The US has suffered more deaths than anywhere else on the planet and faces a major strain on health services and its economy due to the ongoing pandemic.
The bill, which has around £392 billion of funding measures, is the latest effort by the federal government to help keep afloat businesses which have suffered in lockdown measures as states try to slow the spread of the virus.
President Trump thanked Congress for “answering my call” to provide the assistance and said it was “a tremendous victory".
Anchoring the bill is the Trump administration’s 250 billion dollar request to replenish a fund to help small and medium-size businesses with payroll, rent and other expenses.
Over the past five weeks, roughly 26 million people have filed for jobless aid. That is about one in six US workers.
The measure passed Congress almost unanimously on Thursday.
Legislators gathered in Washington as a group for the first time since March 27, following strict social distancing guidelines.
