Coronavirus US summary: cases, deaths and news - 11 June
Coronavirus live USA: latest Covid-19 news - 10/11 June
US coronavirus latest: 14:00 PT/17:00 ET on Thursday 11 June (23:00 CEST)
According to the latest figures published by Johns Hopkins University, 7,442,050 cases have been detected worldwide, with 418,392 deaths and 3,506,297 people now recovered.
In the USA, there have been 2,015,214 confirmed cases and 113,561 deaths with 533,504 people recovering from the virus.
Make America Gr... what?
It would appear that anyone attending Trump's upcoming rallies will have to agree not to sue him if they were to test positive for Covid-19 thereafter.
Twitter suspends Chinese operation pushing pro-Beijing coronavirus messages
Twitter on Thursday said it was removing hundreds of thousands of accounts tied to a Beijing-backed influence operation that deceptively spread messages favourable to the Chinese government, including about the coronavirus, reported Reuters.
The social media company suspended a core network of 23,750 highly active accounts, as well as a larger network of about 150,000 'amplifier' accounts, which it said were used to boost the core accounts' content. Twitter, along with researchers who analysed the accounts, said the network had not gained much traction, and instead created an echo chamber of fake accounts.
The company said the network had links to an earlier Chinese state-backed operation dismantled last year by Twitter, Facebook and Google's YouTube that had been pushing misleading narratives about political dynamics in Hong Kong. The new operation likewise focused heavily on protests in Hong Kong, but also promoted messages about the coronavirus pandemic, exiled Chinese billionaire Guo Wengui and Taiwan, the researchers said.
Biden reveals his economic recovery plan
With eyes on November's election, Joe Biden's eight-point plan to reopen the U.S. economy in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak involves creating a national task force to better track the spread of the disease.
Coronavirus USA: Stimulus checks
Second payment pushed back again
Republicans and Democrats are working on a bill that, among other measures, will give millions of Americans a second stimulus check amid the Covid-19 outbreak.
Transplant post-Covid-19
Surgeons in Chicago have given a new set of lungs to a young woman with severe lung damage from the coronavirus.
Only a few other Covid-19 survivors, in China and Europe, have received lung transplants.
Fruit and veg packers hit by Covid-19
From apple packing houses in Washington state to farm workers in Florida and a California county known as “the world’s salad bowl,” outbreaks of the novel coronavirus are emerging at U.S. fruit and vegetable farms and packing plants.
Cashless against coronavirus
It's not possible for everyone right now, but how would you feel about a future without cash?
Trump has responded with his own forecast for what will happen to the economy. No surprise, he has it roaring back to life soon.
The US will have to do something to alleviate the pressure Americans who have become unemployed due to coronavirus are feeling.
Must be fascinating to see Yosemite after no visitors for months. The animals will have taken back some control.
Trump sells himself as a crisis-fighting president, a man who excels when the stakes are high. He has gone quite over coronavirus and continues to divide the nation over the protests after George Floyd's murder.
20 states are seeing surges in cases despite United States leaders insistence on opening the economy back up. They could be set for another surge.
The United States has seen an increase in deaths recently as fears over a second peak continue. The southern states have seen big increases including Arizona and Texas. The Financial Times explain here how it happened.
VP deletes pic showing campaign staff not taking Covid-19 safety precautions
The United States' vice-president, Mike Pence, tweeted then deleted a photograph in which staff working on Donald Trump’s presidential re-election campaign could be seen failing to wear face masks or socially distance.
As CNN notes in its report of the social-media gaffe, these are two recommendations of the Covid-19 task force that Pence himself heads up.
Coachella, Stagecoach music festivals canceled for 2020 on virus concerns
The 2020 editions of the Coachella music festival and its country music counterpart Stagecoach have been canceled due to concerns over a possible autumn resurgence of COVID-19 cases, Riverside County health office said late Wednesday.
"I am concerned as indications grow that COVID-19 could worsen in the fall," said the County's Public Health Officer Cameron Kaiser, who signed the order canceling the festivals.
Coachella, one of the biggest music festivals in the world that brings half a million fans to an open-air site in Indio, east of Los Angeles, and Stagecoach were initially scheduled for April, but were re-scheduled for October
Stimulus Check: What is the "Digital Dollar" option being discussed by Congress?
What is the "Digital Dollar" option being discussed by Congress?
The United States House Committee will be holding a virtual hearing on Financial Services about Digital Dollar or central banking digital currency (CBDC).
US Covid-19 cases passes 2 million-mark
The number of positive Covid-19 cases in the United States passed two million on Wednesday, according to a tally maintained by Reuters. The country is by far the worst-affected in the world in terms of Covid-19 cases.
The US has reported an average of 21,000 new cases daily in June, down from 23,000-a-day in May, though the country continues to test large numbers of people.
Over 112,000 people there have died with the virus, significantly more than in any other country.
Amazon announces ban on police using its face-recognition technology
Amazon announced a one-year ban on police use of its facial recognition technology, calling for strong government regulations for its ethical use following calls by critics that the system can be used to unfairly target people based on race
The next Covid-19 Economic Impact Relief bill
Republican senators are leaning into their go-slow approach on the next coronavirus bill, The Hill reports. Senate Republicans are signaling they will not pass another bill before late July. They have also flatly rejected the $3 trillion price tag of the bill passed last month by House Democrats.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell indicated to GOP colleagues during a closed-door policy lunch on Tuesday that he does not anticipate the chamber will take up another coronavirus relief package before leaving for a two-week 4 July recess, according to senators in the meeting.
IRS tax refund: What to do if your refund is late and how to track it
What to do if your tax refund is late and how to track it
Many Americans who filed tax returns before the coronavirus pandemic are still waiting for their refund to arrive...
Here is what you need to do.
Temperature, humidity affects coronavirus life on surfaces
A new mathematical model adds to evidence that hotter, dryer conditions may diminish the amount of time virus-packed droplets remain contagious on surfaces. Once droplets emitted by an infected person dry, the virus particles inside it become inactive, researchers said on Monday in the journal Physics of Fluids.
"The outdoor weather ... determines the duration of drying of respiratory droplets deposited on surfaces. The drying time is linked to the survival of the coronavirus inside the droplets," coauthor Rajneesh Bhardwaj of the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay told Reuters. "This may not be the sole factor but definitely the outdoor weather matters ... and our study provides some evidence for this fact."
Lower temperatures coupled with higher humidity would allow the virus to remain active for longer periods on surfaces, the report found. "Our study suggests that surfaces such as smartphone screens and wood need to be cleaned more often than glass and steel surfaces, because droplets form blob-like shapes on the former surfaces and the droplets evaporate slowly on such surfaces, thereby increasing the survival of the coronavirus," Bhardwaj said.
Stimulus check by state: how to find and get non-federal aid
Stimulus check by state: how to find and get non-federal aid
While the CARES Act was approved to support those hit financially by the Covid-19 pandemic, efforts at a local level have proved to be crucial for survival.
Read more:
Los Angeles movie theaters fail to get green light to reopen
Los Angeles County officials said on Wednesday that movie and TV production could resume on Friday, but movie theaters in the biggest market in the United States must remain closed because of the coronavirus pandemic.
California state officials said earlier this week that movie theaters could reopen as early as Friday, pending approval from local officials, with attendance capped at 25% of capacity and other hygiene and social-distancing protocols.
Movie theaters closed their doors around the world in mid-March. Los Angeles County said that while day camps, museums, hotels and gyms could reopen as soon as Friday, movie theaters would remain closed.
Television and film production, much of it centered in the LA area, can restart under guidelines drawn up by an industry-wide task force. Despite the green light, production on most films and television shows is not expected to resume until September.
Disneyland and Disney California Adventure set to reopen next week
Disneyland and Disney California Adventure will reopen next week after being closed for over three months. The Disney resort in Anaheim, California plans to begin a phased reopening on 17 July, the company said on Wednesday. This is pending state and local government approvals.
The reopening of the Disneyland resort follows the announcement that Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida will begin a phased reopening next month.
US Coronavirus news: 10 and 11 June
Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the Covid-19 pandemic as it affects the United States.
The number of cases and deaths continues to rise across the US. 1,996,960 people have now been confirmed as having the virus, while 112,726 have died from the disease.