Coronavirus US summary: cases, deaths, news - 19 May
Coronavirus live USA updates: cases, deaths and news - 19 May
US coronavirus latest: 14:00 PST/17:00 EST on Tuesday 19 May (23:00 CEST)
According to the latest figures published by Johns Hopkins University, 4,876,906 cases have been detected worldwide, with 321,999 deaths and 1,672,079 people now recovered.
In the USA, there have been 1,523,534 confirmed cases and 91,570 deaths with 283,178 people recovering from the virus.
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US President Donald J. Trump signs an executive order making hundreds of deregulations made in the age of coronavirus permanent, during a Cabinet meeting in the East Room at the White House in Washington, DC, USA, 19 May 2020.
(EFE/EPA/KEVIN DIETSCH / POOL)
Mexico and Canada travel ban extended
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on Tuesday extended non-essential travel restrictions at U.S. land borders with Mexico and Canada through 22 June that were set to expire on Wednesday, report Reuters.
'Non-essential travel will not be permitted until this administration is convinced that doing so is safe and secure,' Acting DHS Secretary Chad Wolf said in a statement.
'We have been in contact with our Canadian and Mexican counterparts and they also agree that extending these restrictions is prudent at this time.'
Earlier on Tuesday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Canada and the United States have agreed to extend a ban on non-essential land travel between the two nations by another 30 days.
Trump's crisis deregulation
The White House promotes the steps being taken to push the economic recovery forward.
Book sales down
People in lockdown may have had more time for additional reading, but publishers had the obvious challenges to meeting any change in demand.
The Covid-19 bottleneck
According to the American Cancer Society, more than a quarter of patients with active cancer are reporting delays in treatment.
Also, cancer screenings are down, meaning many conditions will worsen while the health system diverts to fight the virus.
Stimulus check: the IRS debit card and how to avoid fraud
IRS debit card
The U.S. Treasury will send four million Economic Impact Payments via prepaid debit cards, and Americans are wondering about fraud and loss protection.
Vaccine not only for the rich
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has said that any vaccine to prevent the coronavirus should be distributed fairly without regard for wealth and called for U.S. crisis leadership based on competence and not Twitter posts.
'You have to know what you are doing now - not just look like what you are doing, not just sound like what you are doing,' Cuomo said without naming U.S. President Donald Trump, a Republican who frequently attacks his critics on Twitter.
'You have to be smart. You are not going to tweet your way through this,' added Cuomo, a Democrat.
No doubt we'll have a reaction soon...
Stimulus check: how can I use and cash my IRS prepaid debit card?
The versatile EIP debit card
With 20 million people in the U.S. not having received their original stimulus check, the Treasury has announced that they will be sending four million stimulus payments via prepaid debit cards
12 week PPP repayment
U.S. House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy has said he could support giving borrowers up to 10 or 12 weeks to repay their federal loans and seek forgiveness under the Paycheck Protection Program.
McCarthy told reporters at a news conference that such an extension would be appropriate because 'a number of states have been shut down longer.'
Representatives for the restaurant industry had pressed U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday for a 24-week repayment period.
First post-Covid-19 execution
A Missouri man who was convicted of stabbing to death an elderly trailer park manager three decades ago is scheduled to be put to death by lethal injection on Tuesday, marking the first execution in the United States since the Covid-19 pandemic.
Walter Barton, 64, is scheduled to be executed at 6 p.m. local time (00:00 GMT) at Missouri's death chamber in Bonne Terre for the 1991 murder of Gladys Kuehler, 81.
Barton was convicted of stabbing Kuehler more than 50 times in her Ozark, Missouri home in the trailer park she managed.
How Covid-19 has infected the world: a timeline by country
Covid-19 spread
In this dynamic graphic you can see how the rate of infection quickly spread around the globe, with the like of the US, the UK and Russia coming in late and hard.
GM electric development continues
General Motors Co is 'almost there' on developing an electric vehicle battery that will last one million miles, a top executive said on Tuesday.
Amid the current coronavirus crisis, the automaker is working on next-generation batteries even more advanced than the new Ultium battery that it unveiled in March, according to GM Executive Vice President Doug Parks, who was speaking at an online investor conference.
He did not specify a timeline for introduction of the million-mile battery, but said 'multiple teams' at GM are working on such advances as zero-cobalt electrodes, solid state electrolytes and ultra-fast charging. Current electric vehicle batteries typically last 100,000 to 200,000 miles.
Masking the solution
As the debate over the effectiveness of wearing masks during a pandemic continues, a new study gives weight to arguments by medical professionals and government leaders that wearing a mask does indeed reduce virus transmission — and dramatically so.
Growing amid Covid-19
Digital health is one of the few sectors of the economy that’s growing during the coronavirus pandemic. Omada Health, a company that sells virtual and in-person tools for managing chronic disease, is capitalizing on the sudden interest from investors. Read more
Birx not drawn on Trump's hydroxychloroquine use
Dr Deborah Birx, the coordinator of the White House coronavirus taskforce, preferred to comment on the weather in Washington DC when asked for her thoughts on the recent disclosure that the US president, Donald Trump, has been taking daily doses of the anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine.
Independent review of WHO handling of crisis agreed
Against the backdrop of fierce criticism of the World Health Organzation from the United States, the World Health Assembly has agreed to launch an independent review of the WHO’s response to the coronavirus crisis.
None of the WHO’s 194 member states raised any objections to the motion at the assembly, held virtually for the first time.
China says Trump deflecting attention from own mishandling of crisis
The Chinese foreign ministry has accused the United States president, Donald Trump, of trying to shift attention away from his administration's handling of the coronavirus pandemic by conducting a "smear" campaign against the World Health Organization and China over their management of the crisis.
IRS customer service: stimulus check phone number and how to contact
IRS opens up the phone lines
The IRS are starting to put 3,500 representatives on the phones to field stimulus check queries.
Second stimulus check: $1,200, $2,000 or $6,000 - how much would it be?
$1,200, $2,000 or $6,000 - how much would the second stimulus check be?
As part of the HEROES Act, which has passed the House but requires Senate approval, people in the US would get a second coronavirus Economic Impact Payment.
Full details here:
Visitors wear face masks at a lookout point in Joshua Tree National Park, following the park's reopening after being closed for two months due to the coronavirus pandemic. Trails, parking lots, and some camping facilities were open although visitors were scarce as the spread of Covid-19 continues. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images/AFP)
US health sec slams WHO, takes seeming swipe at China
The United States health secretary, Alex Azar, has echoed Donald Trump’s criticism of the World Health Organization, telling a video message to the body that it has "failed at its core mission" in its handling of the coronavirus crisis.
He also appeared to join the US president in attacking China's response to the outbreak of Covid-19 in the Asian nation, saying that "at least one member state made a mockery of their transparency obligations, with tremendous costs for the entire world".
Trump threatens permanent WHO pull-out
United States president Donald Trump has threatened to permanently cut funding for the World Health Organization (WHO), castigating the body over its “failed response to the Covid-19 outbreak” in a four-page letter to its director general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
In April, Trump temporarily stopped US funding for the WHO, telling a news conference: "I am directing my administration to halt funding while a review is conducted to assess the World Health Organization's role in severely mismanaging and covering up the spread of the coronavirus.”
Hydroxychloroquine: Pelosi concerned for "morbidly obese" Trump
The US House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, has issued a candid response to Donald Trump's revelation that he is taking a daily dose of the anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine, telling CNN's Anderson Cooper that the "morbidly obese" president's age and weight make it a particularly ill-advised move.
"I would rather he not be taking something that has not been approved by the scientists," Pelosi said, "especially in his age group, and in his, shall we say, weight group: 'Morbidly obese', they say."
Hydroxychloroquine side effects: adverse reactions to drug Trump taking for coronavirus
Side effects of hydroxychloroquine
US President Donald Trump has revealed he is taking a daily dose of the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine, which can have lethal side effects:
When will Memorial Day Weekend 2020 be celebrated?
A Memorial Day to be remembered
As the states start to reopen after more than nine weeks in lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic in the US, many people are wondering what they can do.
Sporting hints
California governor Gavin Newsom cleared a path for the potential return of professional sport in the state, saying on Monday that an early June restart was possible under strict guidelines, including no fans.
Shuttered for nearly two months by the novel coronavirus outbreak, the NBA, NHL, MLS and MLB are all working up scenarios to restart their seasons but any plans have had to factor in state pandemic guidelines and restrictions on large gatherings.
'Sporting events, pro sports in that first week or so of June without spectators and modifications and very perspective conditions also could begin to move forward,' said Newsom during his daily press briefing on Monday.
Cuomo's green light
New York governor Andrew Cuomo also green lighted the return of major sports in his state on Monday, saying that he has asked teams to prepare to reopen without fans.
'New York state will help those major sport franchises to do just that,' Cuomo said during his daily news conference at the Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo. 'Hockey, basketball, baseball, football, whoever can reopen, we're a ready, willing and able partner.'
Donald Trump taking hydroxychloroquine pills daily
POTUS on hydroxychloroquine
One of the more recent stories to emerge on Monday evening was the President admitting that he has been taking his much-promoted malaria pill on a daily basis. As yet, experts are unconvinced...
Catch up...
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Coronavirus live US: welcome
Hello and welcome to our live, United States-focused coverage of the coronavirus pandemic, which has now led to over 310,000 deaths worldwide with more than 1.5 million reported cases in the US.
We'll endeavour to keep you abreast of the latest news and statistics as they emerge.