A record 3.3m Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week because of the impact of the coronavirus outbreak on the US economy — a fact dismissed as “not relevant” by treasury secretary Steve Mnuchin — as the country’s death toll passes the 1,000 mark, with more than 80,000 infections diagnosed.
The US now has the most number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in the world, eclipsing China and Italy, according to reports.
In the Senate, lawmakers unanimously voted in favour of a $2.2trn (£1.85trn) rescue package to bailout those hardest hit by the global catastrophe.
Congress will vote on it on Friday, where it is widely expected to pass and be signed off by the president.
At the White House, Donald Trump has released a controversial surveillance plan to help the US reopen its economy sooner rather than later.
This plan would categorise counties as "high-risk, medium-risk, or low-risk" — but backlash for the plan already surfaced with people reminding the Trump administration that people in the US could travel outside a "high-risk" area to infect others.
The president continues to claim that he wants to "reopen" the country by Easter, telling reporters on Thursday at his White House briefing that "it's time" Americans get back to work.
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Hello and welcome to The Independent's rolling coverage of the coronavirus outbreak in the US and the Donald Trump administration's response to it.
US coronavirus death toll up passes 1,000 mark, with nearly 70,000 infections
The American death toll from the coronavirus pandemic has topped 1,000.
The number of fatalities in the country soared to 1,041 on Wednesday, with nearly 70,000 people now infected with Covid-19.
Here's the latest from Samuel Osborne.
The American death toll from the coronavirus pandemic has topped 1,000.
The number of fatalities in the country soared to 1,041 on Wednesday, with nearly 70,000 people now infected with Covid-19.
Here's the latest from Samuel Osborne.
Senate unanimously approves $2.2trn economic rescue package
The US senate has passed a $2.2trn (£1.85trn) emergency relief package that will provide support for American workers and businesses as the country battles the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.
The US senate has passed a $2.2trn (£1.85trn) emergency relief package that will provide support for American workers and businesses as the country battles the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.
A unanimous vote for the aid bill was secured despite misgivings between Republican and Democratic senators over whether it goes too far or not far enough and capped days of difficult negotiations in Washington.
The 880-page support package is the largest of its kind in US history, with its value equivalent to more than half of the nation’s annual budget.
Upon announcing the vote, majority leader Mitch McConnell said: “Pray for one another, for all of our families, and for our country.”
House speaker Nancy Pelosi meanwhile said the bill “takes us a long way down the road in meeting the needs of the American people”.
The rescue package builds on efforts focused on vaccines and emergency response, sick and family medical leave for workers, and food aid.
It includes direct payments of $1,200 (£1,000) to individuals who earn $75,000 (£63,00) or less, while married couples with a household income of up to $150,000 (£136,000) would receive $2,400 (£2,000) and an additional $500 (£421) per each child.
The plan will also create a $500bn (£421bn) lending programme for businesses, cities and states and a $367bn (£309bn) fund for smaller companies. A total of $130bn (£109bn) will be made available for hospitals, while unemployment insurance has been extended.
House leaders now hope the bill will pass by voice vote on Friday, without representatives having to return to Washington. Bringing more than 400 lawmakers from as far away as Hawaii and Alaska would be difficult because a few are in self-quarantine and several states have issued stay-at-home orders.
Trump, whose top aides helped negotiate the bipartisan measure, promised to sign it into law as soon as it reaches his desk. "I will sign it immediately," he told reporters on Wednesday.
Samuel Lovett has more details.
House leaders now hope the bill will pass by voice vote on Friday, without representatives having to return to Washington. Bringing more than 400 lawmakers from as far away as Hawaii and Alaska would be difficult because a few are in self-quarantine and several states have issued stay-at-home orders.
Trump, whose top aides helped negotiate the bipartisan measure, promised to sign it into law as soon as it reaches his desk. "I will sign it immediately," he told reporters on Wednesday.
Samuel Lovett has more details.
Trump rows back on Easter 'reopening' timeline
At the White House, Donald Trump has already rowed back on his plan to “reopen” the country for business by Easter (12 April) - first announced at Fox's "virtual town hall" interview on Tuesday - after his infectious diseases expert, Dr Anthony Fauci, warned him: “You don’t make the timeline, the virus makes the timeline.”
“Then there are other sections that are very heavily affected, so there’s a big difference. I would say by Easter we’ll have a recommendation and maybe before Easter.”
He was joined in that walk-back by National Economic Council director Larry Kudlow, who told The Hill the date was "aspirational" and not “a hard and fast rule or target".
This is what Bernie Sanders thinks of his "aspiration".
John T Bennett has this report.
At the White House, Donald Trump has already rowed back on his plan to “reopen” the country for business by Easter (12 April) - first announced at Fox's "virtual town hall" interview on Tuesday - after his infectious diseases expert, Dr Anthony Fauci, warned him: “You don’t make the timeline, the virus makes the timeline.”
“So we’re going to be talking, and it could be we’ll do sections of our country,” Trump told reporters in DC yesterday. “There’s big sections of our country that are, you know, little affected by what’s taking place.”
“Then there are other sections that are very heavily affected, so there’s a big difference. I would say by Easter we’ll have a recommendation and maybe before Easter.”
He was joined in that walk-back by National Economic Council director Larry Kudlow, who told The Hill the date was "aspirational" and not “a hard and fast rule or target".
This is what Bernie Sanders thinks of his "aspiration".
John T Bennett has this report.
President blames 'LameStream Media' for shutdown and accuses press of conspiring to stop his re-election
Trump has otherwise been busy attacking the “LameStream Media” for its coverage of his response to the crisis, accusing the press of “fake news” and conspiring against him to tank the markets and sabotage his re-election hopes in November.
This exchange during yesterday's press conference was particularly extraordinary:
Trump has otherwise been busy attacking the “LameStream Media” for its coverage of his response to the crisis, accusing the press of “fake news” and conspiring against him to tank the markets and sabotage his re-election hopes in November.
This exchange during yesterday's press conference was particularly extraordinary:
He continued the theme on Twitter:
CNN's Jake Tapper was one of many to hit out at this as "utter nonsense".
CNN's Jake Tapper was one of many to hit out at this as "utter nonsense".
'Be prepared for another cycle': Tense Dr Fauci warns coronavirus will come back if US prematurely restarts economy
Rumours of a rift between Trump and Doc Fauci persist, with MAGA lunatics starting to suggest the medico is a "Deep State" Clinton plant yesterday.
The president's frustration is only likely to deepen as the good doctor's opinions increasingly contradict his own agenda.
Trump will be even more aggrieved to learn that a new Business Insider poll ranks Dr Fauci and New York governor Andrew Cuomo (another emerging enemy) as the most trusted authorities on the coronavirus among the US public, not him.
Alex Woodward has this report.
Dr Birx tells grandmother's story in emotional plea on social distancing
Another member of the coronavirus task force, co-ordinator Dr Deborah Birx, took a personal tact on Wednesday as she made her latest plea to the American public to practice social distancing.
Birx noted that her grandmother Leah lived with a lifetime of guilt, because she caught the flu at school and, in turn, infected her mother. Leah's mother, who had just given birth, died of the flu - one of an estimated 50 million worldwide who died in the 1918 influenza epidemic, Birx said.
"She never forgot that she was the child that was in school that innocently bought that flu home," Birx said of her grandmother, who was 11 at the time. "This is why we keep saying to every American: You have a role to protect each and every person that you interact with. We have a role to protect one another."
Birx, who has become a regular at Trump's daily updates on the crisis, has been perhaps the most outspoken in pressing the call for Americans to be mindful in how they are interacting with others.
This isn't the first time she's spoken in personal terms about the need for social distancing. She told reporters earlier this week that she stayed away from the White House over the weekend after coming down with a low-grade fever.
Birx said she went to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center late Saturday night and was tested. The test came back was negative. She said it was probably "a GI (gastrointestinal) thing."
Previously, she's spoken of avoiding seeing her young grandchildren in recent weeks out of abundance of caution, and noted her own millennial daughters as she's made the case for young Americans to do their part to stop the spread of the virus.
For most people, the new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia and death. The vast majority of people recover.
Birx, who has served as the US global AIDS coordinator since 2014, said that her grandmother's heartache over passing on the flu to her mother in 1918 didn't go away.
"I can tell you, my grandmother lived with that for 88 years," Birx said, and added: "This is not a theoretic. This is a reality."
Another member of the coronavirus task force, co-ordinator Dr Deborah Birx, took a personal tact on Wednesday as she made her latest plea to the American public to practice social distancing.
Birx noted that her grandmother Leah lived with a lifetime of guilt, because she caught the flu at school and, in turn, infected her mother. Leah's mother, who had just given birth, died of the flu - one of an estimated 50 million worldwide who died in the 1918 influenza epidemic, Birx said.
"She never forgot that she was the child that was in school that innocently bought that flu home," Birx said of her grandmother, who was 11 at the time. "This is why we keep saying to every American: You have a role to protect each and every person that you interact with. We have a role to protect one another."
Birx, who has become a regular at Trump's daily updates on the crisis, has been perhaps the most outspoken in pressing the call for Americans to be mindful in how they are interacting with others.
This isn't the first time she's spoken in personal terms about the need for social distancing. She told reporters earlier this week that she stayed away from the White House over the weekend after coming down with a low-grade fever.
Birx said she went to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center late Saturday night and was tested. The test came back was negative. She said it was probably "a GI (gastrointestinal) thing."
Previously, she's spoken of avoiding seeing her young grandchildren in recent weeks out of abundance of caution, and noted her own millennial daughters as she's made the case for young Americans to do their part to stop the spread of the virus.
For most people, the new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia and death. The vast majority of people recover.
Birx, who has served as the US global AIDS coordinator since 2014, said that her grandmother's heartache over passing on the flu to her mother in 1918 didn't go away.
"I can tell you, my grandmother lived with that for 88 years," Birx said, and added: "This is not a theoretic. This is a reality."
US, China to set aside differences in G20 coronavirus video conference summit
China and the United States are expected to call a timeout on their coronavirus blame game and focus on the challenges of the pandemic when leaders of the G20 nations hold talks via video conference on Thursday, The South China Morning Post has said.
The virus has spread around the globe, infecting more than 470,000 people and killing more than 20,000, since it emerged in central China late last year.
The leaders are expected to agree that the outbreak is a threat to humanity and will set up a mechanism to share information and experiences in fighting the disease, the paper said, citing a draft statement to be discussed at the summit.
"As the world confronts the Covid-19 pandemic and the challenges to healthcare systems and the global economy, we convene this extraordinary G20 summit to unite efforts towards a global response," Saudi Arabia's King Salman said on Twitter.
The kingdom, which holds the G20 presidency this year, will host its leaders by video conference on Thursday amid criticism that the group has been slow to respond to the crisis.
The focus will be on China and the United States, which have been engaged in a war of words over the outbreak, against the backdrop of a bitter trade dispute.
In preparatory talks for the G20 summit, the two countries agreed to set aside their differences, the newspaper said, citing a diplomatic source familiar with the talks.
US secretary of State Mike Pompeo's reference to the "Chinese virus" - a term Trump has also used repeatedly - has greatly angered Beijing (and several members of the G7 yesterday).
He has also accused China of delaying the sharing of information about the virus and creating risks to people worldwide.
Some US politicians were using the pandemic as a weapon to smear China, Beijing has said, adding that its actions, including quarantining millions of people, had earned the world "precious time" to prepare.
It has also disputed the widely held belief that the virus originated in China, and comments by a foreign ministry spokesman that it could have been brought to the country by the US military have further heightened tension between the two.
China and the United States are expected to call a timeout on their coronavirus blame game and focus on the challenges of the pandemic when leaders of the G20 nations hold talks via video conference on Thursday, The South China Morning Post has said.
The virus has spread around the globe, infecting more than 470,000 people and killing more than 20,000, since it emerged in central China late last year.
The leaders are expected to agree that the outbreak is a threat to humanity and will set up a mechanism to share information and experiences in fighting the disease, the paper said, citing a draft statement to be discussed at the summit.
"As the world confronts the Covid-19 pandemic and the challenges to healthcare systems and the global economy, we convene this extraordinary G20 summit to unite efforts towards a global response," Saudi Arabia's King Salman said on Twitter.
The kingdom, which holds the G20 presidency this year, will host its leaders by video conference on Thursday amid criticism that the group has been slow to respond to the crisis.
The focus will be on China and the United States, which have been engaged in a war of words over the outbreak, against the backdrop of a bitter trade dispute.
In preparatory talks for the G20 summit, the two countries agreed to set aside their differences, the newspaper said, citing a diplomatic source familiar with the talks.
US secretary of State Mike Pompeo's reference to the "Chinese virus" - a term Trump has also used repeatedly - has greatly angered Beijing (and several members of the G7 yesterday).
He has also accused China of delaying the sharing of information about the virus and creating risks to people worldwide.
Some US politicians were using the pandemic as a weapon to smear China, Beijing has said, adding that its actions, including quarantining millions of people, had earned the world "precious time" to prepare.
It has also disputed the widely held belief that the virus originated in China, and comments by a foreign ministry spokesman that it could have been brought to the country by the US military have further heightened tension between the two.
Schumer defends stimulus bill against Cuomo criticism as Sanders sticks it to Republicans
Back to the Senate rescue package, where New York's Chuck Schumer has refuted governor Andrew Cuomo's suggestion that the stimulus bill does not do enough to specificially help their home state, which has been worst-hit by the outbreak in the US.
“He’s disappointed that it only got $5bn (£4.2bn) for the state government, but there are small businesses in New York who need money, there are unemployed people who need money, there are hospitals who need money, there are nurses who need money,” the Senate minority leader said.
“We got $4bn (£3.3bn) for the [Metropolitan Transit Authority], just what they asked for. So this bill has been very, very good for New York."
Cuomo had called the deal "terrible for New York" earlier on Wednesday, asking: “What does it mean for New York state? It means $3.8bn (£2.3bn). [That] sounds like a lot of money, but we’re looking at a revenue shortfall of $15bn (£12.5bn).”
Vermont senator and presidential candidate Bernie Sanders was meanwhile again on rare form during last night's session, as he ripped into rival Republicans for voting for tax cuts but objecting to increased unemployment benefits.
The bill is now due to reach the House on Friday, where Democratic majority leader Steny Hoyer has expressed confidence it will pass with ease, with members in attendance or voting online as they see fit.
Here's John T Bennett on the cheques that will be winging their way to American taxpayers imminently.
Back to the Senate rescue package, where New York's Chuck Schumer has refuted governor Andrew Cuomo's suggestion that the stimulus bill does not do enough to specificially help their home state, which has been worst-hit by the outbreak in the US.
“He’s disappointed that it only got $5bn (£4.2bn) for the state government, but there are small businesses in New York who need money, there are unemployed people who need money, there are hospitals who need money, there are nurses who need money,” the Senate minority leader said.
“We got $4bn (£3.3bn) for the [Metropolitan Transit Authority], just what they asked for. So this bill has been very, very good for New York."
Cuomo had called the deal "terrible for New York" earlier on Wednesday, asking: “What does it mean for New York state? It means $3.8bn (£2.3bn). [That] sounds like a lot of money, but we’re looking at a revenue shortfall of $15bn (£12.5bn).”
Vermont senator and presidential candidate Bernie Sanders was meanwhile again on rare form during last night's session, as he ripped into rival Republicans for voting for tax cuts but objecting to increased unemployment benefits.
The bill is now due to reach the House on Friday, where Democratic majority leader Steny Hoyer has expressed confidence it will pass with ease, with members in attendance or voting online as they see fit.
Here's John T Bennett on the cheques that will be winging their way to American taxpayers imminently.
Record 3.3m US workers filed for unemployment benefits last week as coronavirus devastates economy
Woah.
Remember when Trump said this was all a "hoax"?
Treasury secretary Steve Mnuchin apparently does not think much of this shocking development:
Here's Chris Riotta with the very latest.
Woah.
Remember when Trump said this was all a "hoax"?
Treasury secretary Steve Mnuchin apparently does not think much of this shocking development:
Here's Chris Riotta with the very latest.
Trump cabinet’s pastor blames homosexuals for ‘wrath of God’ amid coronavirus pandemic
Andrew Naughtie has this on yet another appalling and irresponsible remark from an affiliate of the adminsitration.
Evangelist Ralph Drollinger, who chairs Cabinet Bible study sessions, has a history of making doom-laden remarks about LGBT+ people and has outdone himself in a blog post entitled "Is God Judging America Today?"
NYPD: 'We're being thrown to the wolves'
Seven per cent of New York City’s police department (NYPD) is currently on sick leave with suspected coronavirus, as officers complain their health is being put at risk.
One cop told Vanity Fair they had been “thrown to the wolves,” and said: “We don’t even have the right protective gear. They gave us a box of gloves and surgical masks that don’t stop the virus. We’re exposed.”
Gino Spocchia has this report.
Seven per cent of New York City’s police department (NYPD) is currently on sick leave with suspected coronavirus, as officers complain their health is being put at risk.
Leaked internal reports reveal a shortage of personal protection equipment (PPE) available to officers and limited adherence to measures around exposure of the virus.
On Tuesday, reports suggested that 211 NYPD officers had been confirmed as carrying the virus, while 3,200 officers were off sick.
One cop told Vanity Fair they had been “thrown to the wolves,” and said: “We don’t even have the right protective gear. They gave us a box of gloves and surgical masks that don’t stop the virus. We’re exposed.”
Gino Spocchia has this report.
Kathy Griffin criticises Trump after being denied coronavirus test
The comedian - who once famously posed for a picture with a mock-up of Donald Trump's severed head - has hit out at the president after being refused a coronavirus test despite experiencing “unbearably painful symptoms”.
Despite experiencing symptoms consistent with the coronavirus, Griffin said her attempts to get tested had proved unsuccessful.
Sarah Young has the full story.
The comedian - who once famously posed for a picture with a mock-up of Donald Trump's severed head - has hit out at the president after being refused a coronavirus test despite experiencing “unbearably painful symptoms”.
On Wednesday, Griffin shared a photograph on her Twitter and Instagram accounts of herself lying in a hospital bed wearing a face mask. In the caption, the 59-year-old said she had been sent to an isolation ward after visiting an urgent care facility.
Despite experiencing symptoms consistent with the coronavirus, Griffin said her attempts to get tested had proved unsuccessful.
The star blamed Trump and vice president Mike Pence saying they had not made enough tests available in the US and shared yesterday's tweet from President Trump saying the country had more testing than any other nation.
Sarah Young has the full story.
Team Trump trying to ban ad using president's own rhetoric on conronavirus against him
A new 2020 advert that tracks the president's inconsistent messaging on the outbreak has so angered his campaign team so much that they are trying to get it banned.
Wouldn't it be a shame for him if this sort of thing was widely seen?
Greg Evans has this for Indy100.
A new 2020 advert that tracks the president's inconsistent messaging on the outbreak has so angered his campaign team so much that they are trying to get it banned.
Wouldn't it be a shame for him if this sort of thing was widely seen?
Greg Evans has this for Indy100.
Pennsylvania woman ‘coughs on $36,000 of goods’ at supermarket in ‘twisted prank’
"I am also absolutely sick to my stomach", says Gerrity's co-owner Joe Fasula of the incident - and it's hard to imagine any other response. Grotesque.
Melania Trump warns parents to safeguard their children against toxic influences on social media during quarantine
The lack of self-awareness this tweet from the first lady betrays is just staggering.
You're married to the worst troll there is!
He was bullying Mitt Romney YESTERDAY!
Ah well, #BeBest.
The lack of self-awareness this tweet from the first lady betrays is just staggering.
You're married to the worst troll there is!
He was bullying Mitt Romney YESTERDAY!
Ah well, #BeBest.
How long do Americans see coronavirus disruption lasting?
The chart below from Statista indicates the majority of Americans are braced for the long haul here, a far more realistic assessment of the situation than they're hearing from their president right now.
(Statista)
The chart below from Statista indicates the majority of Americans are braced for the long haul here, a far more realistic assessment of the situation than they're hearing from their president right now.
(Statista)
New York hospitals under siege from coronavirus as prison infections surge
Here are couple of updates on the disturbing situation in the Big Apple, where at least 280 people have died and over 20,000 taken ill.
That death toll is twice as high as any other state in the union.
- Elmhurst Hospital Center in Queens saw 13 deaths in one day on Wednesday as patients were left waiting for beds
Here are couple of updates on the disturbing situation in the Big Apple, where at least 280 people have died and over 20,000 taken ill.
That death toll is twice as high as any other state in the union.
- Elmhurst Hospital Center in Queens saw 13 deaths in one day on Wednesday as patients were left waiting for beds
- Nurses at Mount Sinai West in Manhattan have been forced to wear trash bags as smocks at the same facility where a colleague has already been killed by Covid-19
- Infections are surging among inmates at Rikers Island and other city prisons, according to worrying new data released by the Legal Aid Society
On a more positive note, so far as there is one, Chris Riotta has this on the fearless and uncomprising leadership of state governor Andrew Cuomo throughout the crisis, a man whose calm, pragmatic presence has provided a comfort to many.
On a more positive note, so far as there is one, Chris Riotta has this on the fearless and uncomprising leadership of state governor Andrew Cuomo throughout the crisis, a man whose calm, pragmatic presence has provided a comfort to many.
White House trade adviser insists massive unemployment numbers are 'totally expected'
Steve Mnuchin says those terrifying US unemployment numbers are "not relevant" and White House trade adviser Peter Navarro is striking an equally nonchalant note.
Navarro (who once made up fake citations in his economic writings and credited them to "Ron Vara", an anagram of his own surname) said the numbers were “totally expected” in an interview with Fox News on Thursday morning,
"The whole strategy of President Trump is to basically get social distancing so we can combat the virus,” he said, adding that the administration had “put public health above economics in the very short run.”
Steve Mnuchin says those terrifying US unemployment numbers are "not relevant" and White House trade adviser Peter Navarro is striking an equally nonchalant note.
Navarro (who once made up fake citations in his economic writings and credited them to "Ron Vara", an anagram of his own surname) said the numbers were “totally expected” in an interview with Fox News on Thursday morning,
"The whole strategy of President Trump is to basically get social distancing so we can combat the virus,” he said, adding that the administration had “put public health above economics in the very short run.”
“This is expected,” he insisted, “and we should accept the news because we’re doing what we need to do to combat the virus.”
The administration is doing “everything we possibly can to deal both with the public health emergency and the economic crisis,” he reiterated.
“We just have to be like the British, I guess, in World War II, a stiff upper lip and fight this virus.”
Comforted? Me neither.
Doctor calls out dangerous Sean Hannity quackery on Fox as pundits smirk about epidemic striking blue states
What else has been on Fox lately?
Well, this doctor told Tucker Carlson the drug combination being advocated by his fellow mouthpiece Sean Hannity could cause serious heart trouble.
What else has been on Fox lately?
Well, this doctor told Tucker Carlson the drug combination being advocated by his fellow mouthpiece Sean Hannity could cause serious heart trouble.
Meanwhile, Dinesh D'Souza helpfully pointed out that the states worst hit by the coronavirus are Democratic strongholds, prompting smirks from MAGA apologists Laura Ingraham and Dan Bongino.
