Following furious social media posts about media criticism over his dangerous suggestion that disinfectant could treat coronavirus, Donald Trump returned to the White House for the first briefing since making those remarks, though he had signalled over the weekend that they were no longer worth his time.
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany also said the briefings would return later in the week in a different form.
The change in focus to the briefings come as the number of US Covid-19 cases neared one million on Monday. Physical distancing measures would need to remain in place throughout the summer, according to coronavirus response coordinator Deborah Birx.
Asked whether he takes responsibility for calls to poison control centres in the wake of his potentially lethal suggestion, the president said "no, I don't" and said he "can't imagine why" people would be calling with complaints or illness.
The White House unveiled a nationwide testing plan, coordinating with pharmacy stores and health industry executives to expand testing capacity across the US in an effort for states to meet criteria in the president's Opening Up America Again guidelines.
Meanwhile, several states will begin easing their quarantine measures this week, beginning to reopen their economies and allow residents to return to work, despite reports of a lack of testing capacity and under-tested populations that could mask the spread of the disease in community across the US.
Texas businesses will begin reopening this Friday, but the San Francisco Bay Area and all of Louisiana have extended their shelter-in-place orders through mid-May.
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Hello and welcome to The Independent's rolling coverage of the Trump administration's response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Trump suggests he is ‘hardest working president in history’ days after skipping briefings
Donald Trump has suggested he is the “hardest working president in history” just days after claiming his press briefings on coronavirus were “not worth the effort” due to media criticism.
The president received intense backlash last week after making a dangerous and false suggestion that disinfectant could be used as a Covid-19 treatment - a comment he has since claimed was sarcastic.
“The people that know me and know the history of our Country say that I am the hardest working President in history,” he wrote on Twitter.
“I don’t know about that, but I am a hard worker and have probably gotten more done in the first 3 1/2 years than any President in history.”
Mr Trump did not hold press briefings on the pandemic on Saturday or Sunday and instead took to using social media to raise his grievances about media coverage of his administration.
White House officials have reportedly attempted to steer him away from the televised briefings due to fears that his unscripted, and at times reckless, comments on coronavirus were damaging his re-election chances.
Trump claims ‘Noble Prize’ tweets were sarcastic in bizarre series of conspiracy-laden posts
Donald Trump has claimed his recent references to the “Noble Prizes” - an apparent misspelling of the Nobel Prize - were sarcastic as part of a bizarre series of tweets, including conspiracy theories and angry attacks on political adversaries, on Sunday.
Although Mr Trump has frequently misspelled words in his Twitter posts, he claimed he was using some wordplay on this occasion.
“Does anybody get the meaning of what a so-called Noble (not Nobel) Prize is, especially as it pertains to Reporters and Journalists?” the president tweeted.
“Noble is defined as, ‘having or showing fine personal qualities or high moral principles and ideals.’ Does sarcasm ever work?”
His barrage of tweets came as the total number of confirmed deaths from Covid-19 in the US surpassed 55,000.
Our reporter, Tom Embury-Dennis, has the full story below:
Donald Trump has claimed his recent references to the “Noble Prizes” - an apparent misspelling of the Nobel Prize - were sarcastic as part of a bizarre series of tweets, including conspiracy theories and angry attacks on political adversaries, on Sunday.
Although Mr Trump has frequently misspelled words in his Twitter posts, he claimed he was using some wordplay on this occasion.
“Does anybody get the meaning of what a so-called Noble (not Nobel) Prize is, especially as it pertains to Reporters and Journalists?” the president tweeted.
“Noble is defined as, ‘having or showing fine personal qualities or high moral principles and ideals.’ Does sarcasm ever work?”
His barrage of tweets came as the total number of confirmed deaths from Covid-19 in the US surpassed 55,000.
Our reporter, Tom Embury-Dennis, has the full story below:
Trump claims ‘Noble Prize’ tweets were sarcastic then shares deepfake Biden video in barrage of conspiracy-laden tweets
US president lashes out at perceived enemies amid growing pressure over his handling of coronavirus pandemicTrump rejects rumours about plans to fire health secretary
The president has also rejected rumours that there are plans to fire US health secretary Alex Azar and insisted the official was “doing an excellent job” during the coronavirus pandemic.
Reports over the weekend suggested White House officials were considering ousting the health chief over long-standing frustrations with his work and his handling of the removal of vaccine expert Rick Bright.
“Reports that H.H.S. Secretary @AlexAzar is going to be ‘fired’ by me are Fake News,” Mr Trump wrote on Twitter.
“The Lamestream Media knows this, but they are desperate to create the perception of chaos & havoc in the minds of the public. They never even called to ask. Alex is doing an excellent job!”
US coronavirus cases near one million
US coronavirus cases are expected to surpass one million this week as several cities and states prepare to loosen social distancing restrictions.
No country in the world has come close to matching the number of Covid-19 cases in the US, which currently stands at more than 965,000, with about 55,000 deaths, as of Monday morning.
Although the number of cases and deaths from the coronavirus is still rising, some state and city officials are thought to be planning to reopen their economies this week.
Donald Trump has repeatedly suggested he would prefer a short lockdown to minimise economic disruption, arguing that the “cure cannot be worse than the problem itself”.
His comments go against warnings from health experts who have expressed concerns that reopening the US would allow the virus to run rampant again.
Nancy Pelosi formally endorse Biden
Nancy Pelosi, the US House speaker, has formally endorsed Joe Biden for president, according to a video statement released by her on Monday.
Although Ms Pelosi’s support is not surprising, it is the latest in a list of high profile endorsements for Mr Biden which includes Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, Barack Obama and Al Gore.
More information on Nancy Pelosi's Biden endorsement as it comes in can be found below:
US workers ‘putting in three hours extra per day’ during lockdown
The US lockdown has not led to a lower workload for many Americans as research has shown homebound employees are logging three hours of extra work per day.
Data from NordVPN, which tracks when users connect and disconnect from its service, showed US workers had added the most hours out of all the countries tracked.
In France, Spain and the UK, workers had stretched their days by an additional two hours, the data found.
The full story can be found below:
US workers 'putting in three hours extra per day' during coronavirus lockdown
Nearly half say they feel ‘burned out’ after weeks of isolationCoronavirus difficulties in Ohio primary raise concerns about November election
Ohio will hold its primary election on Tuesday with a virtually all-mail contest that could serve as a test case for voting in the coronavirus era.
The state’s legislature moved back the original date of the primary (17 March) to 28 April and sharply curtailed in-person voting due to public health concerns around Covid-19.
If successful, the election could show how the presidential contest might play out in November, when the pandemic is likely to still be a threat.
However, some voters, election officials and voting-right watchdogs have already expressed alarm at how Ohio’s system has been overwhelmed by requests for absentee ballots, raising concerns that tens of thousands of voters could potentially be disenfranchised.
More than 1.9 million Ohio voters requested to vote absentee for Tuesday's primary, a 421 per cent increase from absentee turnout in the 2016 primary, according to state election data.
Although state election offices were required by law to mail ballots to any voters whose applications were received by noon on 25 April, the US Postal Service has reportedly warned many ballots are unlikely to arrive in time for the election.
“There is a strong likelihood that the timing for mailing out ballots may not allow adequate time for voters to receive the ballot and return it by mail in time to meet the state's postmark deadline,” the US Postal Service said in an email which has been reviewed by Reuters.
Restricted in-person voting will also take place but there will only be one polling place in each county, making it difficult for many residents to access them and raising the prospect of long queues.
Additional reporting by Reuters
China hits back at calls for investigation into its role in early stages of pandemic
China has hit back against calls for an investigation into its role in the coronavirus pandemic and has called for the US to admit error in its own response to the outbreak.
“We hope the US will respond to people's concern from the US and the international community. Perhaps the World Health Organisation can also be invited in to assist in the investigation,” Geng Shuang, China’s foreign ministry spokesperson, said at a daily briefing on Monday.
China, where Covid-19 was first identified late last year, has strenuously denied accusations from the US and others that it suppressed information during the early stages of the outbreak and allowed the virus to spread around the world.
On Monday, the official Xinhua News Agency ran a commentary accusing US Republican politicians of seeking to gain political points by attacking China during the pandemic.
“The US conservatives' moves to cover up their own failures by shifting blame and public attention will only harm those still struggling in the pandemic and render the global fight much harder,” the agency said.
Global coronavirus cases reach three million
The number of confirmed cases of coronavirus across the world has risen to more than three million, according to the Worldometer tracker.
The figure, which was reached roughly five months after the virus first emerged, means the US accounts for nearly one-third of all Covid-19 cases, with more than 987,000 reported in the country as of Monday morning.
Our reporter, Zoe Tidman, has the full story below:
Coronavirus global cases reach 3 million
US has largest number of Covid-19 infections to dateTrump administration considering protocols to allow US factories to reopen
The Trump administration is considering protocols to keep US factories open during the coronavirus pandemic which could include screening workers for potential cases, White House adviser Peter Navarro has said.
“We're trying to figure out the best protocols to keep our factories going,” Mr Navarro told Fox News on Monday.
“We're going to have to use appropriate protocols, different social distancing. You're going to have to reconfigure factories. You're going to have to use things like thermoscanners to check fever as they come in.”
Maryland receives ‘hundreds of calls’ about ingesting disinfectant following Trump comments
Maryland’s Republican governor has said state officials have received “hundreds of calls” from residents asking about ingesting disinfectants following Donald Trump’s dangerous suggestion that scientists should investigate its potential use for treating coronavirus.
“We had hundreds of calls in our hotline here in Maryland about people asking about injecting or ingesting these disinfectants, which is, you know, hard to imagine that people thought that that was serious,” Governor Larry Hogan told CBS News on Sunday.
“But what people actually were thinking about this, was this something you could do to protect yourself?”
Our reporter, Tom Embury-Dennis, has the full story below:
Maryland receives 'hundreds of calls' about ingesting disinfectant after Trump's dangerous comments
US president criticised by Republican governor for failing on facts during press briefingsTrump should ‘rise above’ conflict during pandemic, former press secretary says
George W Bush’s former press secretary has said Donald Trump’s response to coronavirus is “driving him crazy” as the president has continued to lash out at perceived enemies during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Ari Fleischer, who served as White House press secretary under Mr Bush, said Mr Trump needed to “rise above” the political drama and conflict which has consumed his administration so far.
“It drives me crazy, frankly, because part of being the president is to rise above, to ignore certain things,” Mr Fleischer said.
“And I think at a time like this he should leave a lot of the gauntlets on the ground and rise above. But that's not him.”
The former press secretary saw his lukewarm approval ratings soar during his time in office after his handling of a different crisis - the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Support for mail-in voting jumps amid concerns about safety at polling stations
Support for mail-in voting in the US has jumped amid concerns about the safety of polling stations during the coronavirus pandemic, despite Donald Trump’s public campaign against the practice.
A new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research has found Democrats are now much more likely than Republicans to support their state conducting elections exclusively by mail, 47 per cent to 29 per cent.
In 2018, about half as many Democrats were in favour, and there was little difference in the views of Democrats and Republicans on the question.
The issue has become an increasingly partisan dispute, with Mr Trump and other Republicans openly campaigning against mail-in voting.
New York’s Andrew Cuomo sees record high approval ratings
New York governor Andrew Cuomo has received record high approval ratings in his state following his response to the coronavirus pandemic, according to a poll by Siena College.
Mr Cuomo now has a favourability rating with New Yorkers of 77 per cent, up from 72 per cent last month, matching his highest ever rating in February 2011.
Meanwhile, his job performance rating is his best ever at 71 per cent positive, up from 63 per cent last month.
“Mired in middling poll numbers for the last two years, Cuomo is feeling the love from New Yorkers of all stripes in year three of his third term, and his first global pandemic,” Steven Greenberg, a Siena College pollster, said.
“He is viewed favorably by 90 per cent of Democrats, 73 per cent of independents and 53 per cent of Republicans, his first time favorable with Republicans in more than six years.”
The governor has risen to national attention in recent weeks due to his public disputes with Donald Trump and the severity of his state’s outbreak, which is the worst in the US.
Trump lashes out at Democrats over unemployment benefits
Donald Trump’s latest Twitter attack is against Democrats over delays to enhanced unemployment benefits in some states during the coronavirus outbreak.
Unsurprisingly, the president has claimed the hold-up is not his fault, tweeting: "I wanted the money to be paid directly, they [Democratic politicians] insisted it be paid by states for distribution."
Don Beyer, a Democratic representative for Virginia, has hit back by arguing that Mr Trump does not understand what he’s talking about.
Georgia restaurants reopen for limited dine-in service
Some restaurants in the state of Georgia have begun to reopen for limited dine-in services as the state continued a loosening of its coronavirus restrictions on Monday.
The permission for dine-in services and movie theaters to reopen came after other businesses, including barbershops, gyms, tattoo shops and nail salons, were allowed to start seeing customers again on Friday.
However, many restaurants and other businesses have chosen to stay shut, even after a month-long closure.
Governor Brian Kemp announced last week that he was relaxing restrictions despite health experts' warnings of a potential surge in infections and disapproval from Donald Trump.
Mr Kemp released 39 requirements that restaurants must follow if they reopen, including a limit of 10 customers per 500 square feet (about 46 square metres) and all employees wearing face coverings “at all times.”
Movie theater ushers have been ordered to enforce social distancing.
Our chief US correspondent, Andrew Buncombe, has travelled to Yakima Valley in Washington state to meet the farmers and immigrant labourers risking their lives during the coronavirus pandemic.
Although the federal government has officially recognised farm labourers as “essential workers”, unions and organisers have warned many workers are operating in conditions which leave them at risk of infection, with insufficient facilities for regular hand washing.
You can read the full story below:
Here's a short and simple morning message from the President of the United States:
