Coronavirus US summary: cases, deaths, news and stimulus checks
Coronavirus live USA updates: cases, deaths and news - 21 May
US coronavirus latest: 14:00 PST / 17:00 EST on Thursday 21 May (23:00 CEST)
According to the latest figures published by Johns Hopkins University, 5,047,377 cases have been detected worldwide, with 329,816 deaths and 1,924,231 people now recovered.
In the USA, there have been 1,562,714 confirmed cases and 93,863 deaths with 294,312 people recovering from the virus.
“Many will disagree, but @FoxNews is doing nothing to help Republicans, and me, get re-elected on November 3rd,” the president tweeted. “Sure, there are some truly GREAT people on Fox, but you also have some real ‘garbage’ littered all over the network, people like Dummy Juan Williams, Schumerite Chris…Hahn, Richard Goodstein, Donna Brazile, Niel Cavuto, and many others.”
Trump says he may support another coronavirus stimulus bill
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday he may support another fiscal stimulus bill to help prop up the economy during the coronavirus outbreak, though he did not provide any details on what he would like to see in such legislation.
"I think we will. I think we're going to be helping people out ... There could be one more nice shot," Trump told reporters at a Ford factory.
U.S. prepared to spend Russia, China 'into oblivion' to win nuclear arms race - U.S. envoy
U.S. President Donald Trump's arms control negotiator on Thursday said the United States is prepared to spend Russia and China "into oblivion" in order to win a new nuclear arms race.
"The president has made clear that we have a tried and true practice here. We know how to win these races and we know how to spend the adversary into oblivion. If we have to, we will, but we sure would like to avoid it," Special Presidential Envoy Marshall Billingslea said in an online presentation to a Washington think tank.
The mistreatment of nursing homes has been one particularly sad point during the coronavirus pandemic.
Technology's chance to shine. This comes on the back of Mark Zuckerberg calling for more remote workers and millions of people being forced to work from home. Many more will lose their jobs, however, as the robots take over warehouses.
New York (United States), 21/05/2020.- A man in protective equipment walks past closed businesses in New York, New York, USA, on 21 May 2020. As of new statistics released today, 39 million people have applied for unemployment benefits in the last two months in the US as the national economy continues to be heavily impacted from state and city responses to controlling the coronavirus pandemic. (Estados Unidos, Nueva York) EFE/EPA/JUSTIN LANE
Southwest to limit bookings to keep seats open through July
Southwest Airlines Co will continue to limit bookings on its flights through at least July to give passengers space between seats, CEO Gary Kelly told shareholders on Thursday, mirroring a plan by competitor Delta Air Line In.
Social distancing on planes has become a topic of debate as airlines weigh safety measures to restore confidence in air travel that has collapsed during the coronavirus pandemic.
All major U.S. airlines have intensified aircraft cleaning measures and are requiring that passengers and crew wear facial coverings, among steps aimed at curbing the spread of infection, but their policies on social distancing on the plane differ.
"You won't see full flights on Southwest at least through the end of July, and if we do have more demand for that flight we'll add additional flights to meet demand," Kelly said at its annual shareholders' meeting, which was held virtually.
Damning stuff in this report. They had plenty of time and resources but delayed until the last minute.
US unemployment figures rises by 2.4m despite easing of lockdown
U.S. weekly jobless figure continues to rise
The number of Americans claiming unemployment benefits rose again last week as backlogs in processing claims continue to be cleared and disruptions from the novel coronavirus unleash a second wave of layoffs, pointing to another month of staggering job losses in May.
City living
The World Health Organisation anticipates that 2/3 of the world's population will be living in large cities come 2050.
Am I eligible for a stimulus check if I am a US citizen living abroad?
Am I eligible for a stimulus check if I am a US citizen living abroad?
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) started sending the first round of stimulus checks to millions of American’s who need economic help during the coronavirus pandemic in mid-April, does the payment correspond to overseas US residents ?
How do social distancing circles work in New York's Domino Park?
How do social distancing circles work in New York's Domino Park?
As the world comes to terms with social distancing, a park in Brooklyn's Domino Park created specially distanced social distancing circles for users.
Divided by COVID-19: Democratic U.S. areas hit three times as hard as Republican ones
As America's response to the coronavirus pandemic splits along partisan lines, a Reuters analysis may help explain why: Death rates in Democratic areas are triple those in Republican ones.
By Wednesday, U.S. counties that voted for Democrat Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election reported 39 coronavirus deaths per 100,000 residents, according to an analysis of demographic and public health data.
In counties that voted for Republican Donald Trump, 13 of every 100,000 people had died from the virus.
The uneven impact reflects the disproportionate toll the infectious disease has taken in densely packed Democratic-voting cities like New York. Rural areas and far-flung suburbs that typically back Republicans have not seen as direct an impact.
The pattern holds beyond New York, the epicenter of the U.S. outbreak. Democratic counties in 36 of the 50 U.S. states collectively reported higher death rates than Republican counties.
Global markets update: Asia shares tread lightly, await China policy meeting
Asian shares and Wall Street futures stepped back on Thursday as resurgent concerns about the long-term impact of the coronavirus outbreak offset some of this week's earlier enthusiasm about economies re-opening.
Investors were also looking ahead to a key policy gathering in China that may yield more economic stimulus, while recent data from around the world reinforced views that a sustainable recovery may not come for several months.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.1%, having rallied around 3% so far this week. S&P 500 e-mini stock futures fell 0.54%.
Euro Stoxx 50 futures were down 1.02%, German DAX futures fell 0.92%, and FTSE futures were off 0.58%, pointing to a soft session in Europe.
Broad risk appetite has been checked somewhat by escalating tensions between the United States and China due to President Donald Trump's criticism of Beijing's handling of the coronavirus outbreak.
POTUS criticism continues
While Trump is bashed from all angles on his dubious health 'advice', some suggest he may just be deflecting attention away from other issues in his administration.
Trump on face-to-face G7
US President Donald Trump on May 20 announced a possible revival of “face to face “ meeting of the G7 nations after earlier cancelling in-person gathering in the wake of coronavirus pandemic.
Automatic notifications of potential exposure
22 countries and several US states already planning on using the tech...
Apple and Google release API for contact tracing
Now to see which countries use it and, more importantly, how many users sign up.
Catastrophe in California prisons
The Guardian's US edition has an in-depth article on the shocking Covid-19 situation in the prison system in the Golden State, where more than 3,200 prisoners have been infected with the coronavirus and 16 have died.
African Americans dying from coronavirus at 3x rate of white people
Figures from non-partisan APM Research Lab show the remarkable and very worrying divide in the Covid-19 death rate between black Americans and the rest of the nation.
The death rate for African Americans is 50.3 per 100,000 people, compared with 20.7 for whites, 22.9 for Latinos and 22.7 for Asian Americans.
More than 20,000 African Americans – about one in 2,000 of the entire black population in the US – have died from the coronavirus.
The gulf is even worse in some place. In Kansas, black individuals are dying at seven times the rate of white people.
Las Vegas City Councilwoman Olivia Diaz wears a mask as she listens during a Las Vegas City Council meeting held amid the coronavirus pandemic at Las Vegas City Hall on May 20, 2020 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Due to concerns about Covid-19, safety precautions were put in place, including social distancing inside the chambers, having hand sanitizer available and medically screening anyone from the public attending. Ethan Miller/Getty Images/AFP
Too soon to reopen U.S. economy?
Experts have warned that the reopening of the U.S. economy must be handled correctly and not rushed through but all 50 states have now had some kind of restrictions on businesses eased.
U.S. launches another broadside at China's Covid-19 response
(Reuters) U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo took fresh aim at China over the coronavirus on Wednesday, calling the $2 billion that Beijing has pledged to fight the pandemic "paltry" compared to the hundreds of thousands of lives lost and trillions of dollars of damage.
Pompeo rejected Chinese President Xi Jinping's claim that Beijing had acted with transparency after the outbreak in China, and said if Xi wanted to show that, he should hold a news conference and allow reporters to ask him anything they liked.
"President Xi claimed this week that China is acting with openness, transparency responsibility. I wish it were so,"
Top HIV scientist says he wouldn't count on a vaccine for coronavirus soon
(Reuters) A top U.S. scientist said on Wednesday that governments should not count on a successful vaccine against Covid-19 being developed anytime soon when deciding whether to ease restrictions imposed to curb the pandemic.
William Haseltine, a groundbreaking researcher of cancer, HIV/AIDS and human genome projects, said the better approach now is to manage the disease through careful tracing of infections and strict isolation measures whenever it starts spreading.
While a Covid-19 vaccine could be developed, he said, "I wouldn't count on it."
CDC studies return to school in US
According to Politico, the Centers for Disease Control has been looking at the possibility of reopening some schools in the US next month.
US unemployment rate: How many people have lost their jobs due to coronavirus?
The coronavirus crisis has cost some 36.5 million American jobs in two months with experts warning that figures could peak above the height of the Great Depression in 1933.
New York City's low-income, minority areas hit hardest by Covid-19
(Reuters) New York City residents from low-income communities have tested positive for Covid-19 antibodies at a higher-than-average rate, underscoring the disproportionate impact of the disease on people of color, Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Wednesday.
Cuomo told a daily briefing that of the 8,000 people tested in low-income communities of the city, 27% had antibodies for Covid-19, the illness caused by the novel coronavirus, compared with 19.9% in the general population.
Coronavirus in the US: How California is reopening its economy
Counties across the Golden State will be allowed to open up further from the full coronavirus lockdown if they meet certain standards.
Coronavirus live US: welcome
Hello and welcome to our live, United States-focused coverage of the coronavirus pandemic, which has now led to nearly five million cases worldwide with well over 1.5 million reported cases in the US.
We'll endeavour to keep you abreast of the latest news and statistics as they emerge throughout the day.