Coronavirus US news summary for 1 and 2 June
Coronavirus live USA: latest Covid-19 news - 1/2 June
US coronavirus latest: 15:00 PST / 18:00 EST Tuesday 2 June (00:00 CEST)
According to the latest figures published by Johns Hopkins University, 6,339,760 cases have been detected worldwide, with 378,266 deaths and 2,712,720 people now recovered.
In the USA, there have been 1,828,736 confirmed cases and 106,046 deaths with 458,231 people recovering from the virus.
US deaths over 106,000
According to figures compiled by Johns Hopkins University the total number of deaths from Covid-19 in the US is now over 106,000.
Second stimulus check: Senate Republicans say unlikely in June
No new coronavirus aid package any time soon
Senator Roy Blunt, who is a member of the Senate GOP leadership, dashed hopes of a quick move for another coronavirus stimulus package, saying the Senate is unlikely to do anything in June in respect of a further aid package to help the American economy, which has been hard hit by the Covid-19 pandemic.
"My personal believe is we will do something before the August break - that's about the right timing," he said.
The Democrat-controlled House of Representatives has passed the HEROES Act, which calls for over $3 trillion in aid for the economy, including a second round of stimulus checks, however Senate Republicans and President Donald Trump have said the package is "DOA. Dead on arrival" and have shown no moves to start examining it in the Senate.
No new coronavirus aid package any time soon
Senator Roy Blunt, who is a member of the Senate GOP leadership, dashed hopes of a quick move for another coronavirus stimulus package, saying the Senate is unlikely to do anything in June in respect of a further aid package to help the American economy, which has been hard hit by the Covid-19 pandemic.
"My personal believe is we will do something before the August break - that's about the right timing," he said.
The Democrat-controlled House of Representatives has passed the HEROES Act, which calls for over $3 trillion in aid for the economy, including a second round of stimulus checks, however Senate Republicans and President Donald Trump have said the package is "DOA. Dead on arrival" and have shown no moves to start examining it in the Senate.
Summer heat unlikely to stop Covid-19
The warm summer weather is unlikely to stop the Covid-19 pandemic, said Dr. Francis Collins, the director of the National Institutes of Health.
There had been hopes the hot weather would stop the spread of the disease, however Dr Collins, in a blogpost, said that right now, "many researchers have their doubts that the COVID-19 pandemic will enter a needed summertime lull."
The fact the disease has spread rapidly in some tropical countries, such as Brazil and Ecuador, indicates high heat is not enough to stop the disease.
Hu Weifeng dies
Hu Weifeng, one of the doctors in China whose skin changed colour after receiving a treatment for Covid-19, has died as a consequence of the disease, four months after becoming infected. The 42-year-old worked as a urologist in the original epicentre of the disease, Wuhan.
Cuomo daily briefing
New York coronavirus cases "at an all time low". There were still 58 deaths yesterday.
A woman wearing a mask to prevent the spread of the coronavirus casts her ballot for Maryland’s primary election at a drop box in Rockville, Maryland. (Photo by: REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque)
Stimulus check: what color is the envelope carrying IRS payment?
What color is the envelope carrying my stimulus check?
Particularly in the case of the EIP Card, some Americans have mistaken the stimulus check they have received in the post for a scam or junk mail.
Full details:
Social distance matters
With different countries imposing guidelines of varying social distancing to prevent Covid-19 transmission, a new study from the Lancet, unsurprisingly, finds two metres is more effective.
Covid-19 risks from protests
Concerns are growing that there could be spikes of infections in some hotspots.
New stimulus package: when is the HEROES Act being voted on?
Still holding out for a HEROES Act
To date the IRS has paid out over $218 billion in stimulus checks with payments being made by almost 110 million direct deposit money transfers and nearly 20 million paper checks. But when will the Senate rule?
Eight US states cast ballots on biggest voting day since coronavirus pandemic
Eight states and the District of Columbia hold primary elections on Tuesday, the biggest test yet of officials' readiness to manage a surge of mail ballots and the safety risks of in-person voting during the coronavirus outbreak.
The largest day of balloting since the pandemic began will serve as a dry run for the 3 November general election, offering a glimpse of the challenges ahead on a national scale if that vote is conducted under a lingering threat from Covid-19. Four of the states voting on Tuesday - Pennsylvania, Indiana, Maryland and Rhode Island - delayed their nominating contests from earlier in the year to avoid the worst of the outbreak that has killed more than 104,000 people in the United States.
All of the states, which also include Iowa, Montana, New Mexico and South Dakota, have encouraged or expanded mail-in balloting as a safe voting alternative.
Trump threatens to use military if governors can’t contain violent protests
Photo opp after military call
The United States president Donald Trump held a conference call on Monday morning with more than 30 governors, calling some of them ‘weak’ for not handling the protests.
Marines quarantined in Australia
Around 200 U.S. Marines arrived in the northern Australian city of Darwin on Tuesday for an annual military training exercise, but will first undergo two weeks of quarantine, the Australian government said. The Northern Territory has no active Covid-19 cases.
It closed its borders to other parts of Australia in March and requires a quarantine period for all arrivals to help protect remote indigenous communities from the virus.
The rotation of U.S. marines will be halved to 1,200, from a peak of 2,500 last year, and they will arrive in groups of 200 over eight weeks, a spokeswoman for Australia's defence minister Linda Reynolds said.
QR codes to aid Covid-19 checks in South Korea
South Korea is testing a new quick response (QR) code system this week to log visitors at high-risk entertainment facilities, restaurants and churches in a bid to track coronavirus cases and prevent further spread of the disease.
The decision to mandate QR codes to register visitors' identities came after authorities struggled to trace people who had visited a number of nightclubs and bars at the centre of a virus outbreak last month after much of the information on handwritten visitor logs was found to be false or incomplete. Starting 10 June, visitors to nightclubs, bars, karaoke clubs, daytime discos, indoor gyms that hold group exercises, and indoor standing concert halls, will be required to use any of a number of commercially available apps to generate a one-time, personalized QR code that can be scanned at the door.
Local governments may also designate other high-risk facilities such as libraries, hospitals, restaurants or churches. The person's information will be logged in a database kept by the Social Security Information Service for four weeks, before it is automatically deleted, according to South Korea's Ministry of Health and Welfare.
George Floyd fallout
If you want to stay up to date with the ongoing situation following the killing of the George Floyd while in police custody we have a separate news feed.
Second stimulus check: CARES Act versus HEROES Act, what are the main differences?
CARES Act versus HEROES Act, what are the main differences?
There are several differences - one is that the Heroes Act includes economic help for those who were not eligible the first time around in the original CARES relief package.
Read more here:
Trump threatens to call in troops if protest violence continues
President Donald Trump said today that he was deploying thousands of heavily armed soldiers and law enforcement to halt violence in Washington and vowed to do the same in other cities if mayors and governors fail to regain control of the streets.
"Mayors and governors must establish an overwhelming law enforcement presence until the violence has been quelled," Trump said in the White House Rose Garden as authorities dispersed a peaceful protest with tear gas and rubber bullets just a few blocks away. "If a city or state refuses to take the actions that are necessary to defend the life and property of their residents, then I will deploy the United States military and quickly solve the problem for them".
After his brief remarks, Trump walked out of the White House - surrounded by dozens of security personnel - across Lafayette Square, to St. John's Episcopal Church, which was damaged by fire amid protests on Sunday night. He stopped in front of boarded-up windows at the yellow church, where many presidents have attended services, then held up a Bible for cameras before walking back to the White House, but took no questions from reporters.
Coronavirus live US updates: welcome
Hello and welcome to our live, United States-focused coverage of the coronavirus pandemic, which has now registered just over 1.8 million cases in the country. We'll endeavour to keep you abreast of all the latest developments as they emerge.