Coronavirus USA summary: news, cases, deaths - 6 August
Coronavirus live US: latest Covid-19 news - Thursday 6 August
USA coronavirus latest: 14:00 PT / 17:00 ET on Thursday 6 August (23:00 CEST)
According to the latest figures published by Johns Hopkins University, 18,912,947 cases have been detected worldwide, with 710,654 deaths and 11,403,473 people recovered.
In the US, there have been 4,867,916 confirmed cases and 159,841 deaths, with 1,577,851 people recovered from the virus.
Scroll through some of the recent coronavirus-related articles:
FRESH FEED
Thank you for following our feed today. We have now created a new blog for news and updates across Friday 7 August.
Second stimulus check: is a deal possible if not settled by Friday?
Can a deal be reached at all if not agreed by Friday 7 August?
Comments from the likes of Steven Mnuchin, Mitch McConnell, Mark Meadows, Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer give a mixed sense of how optimistic needy Americans should feel.
Can they agree a package before 7 August, and what happens if not?
Letting off steam in lockdown
Had it up to here with your boss, your partner, the lockdown? Throw an axe to get it all out. 'Axe Rage Rooms' are all the er, rage in Jordan as people seek release during the pandemic. While you're at it, have a smashing time with TVs, plates and electronics as well, in this cathartic form of entertainment at a time when theatres and sports venues are closed.
Do it with family, friends or colleagues to celebrate or mourn an event like a birthday, wedding, divorce or your sports team's outcome in a tournament. 'We're used to throwing darts at targets to get points. But the idea of throwing an axe at the same target is quite new,' said Nour Mohaib, wearing a helmet with a face shield to enjoy her new therapeutic pastime. 'This is a great way to spend your surplus energy.'
The AXE rage room entertainment centre in Amman features five themed experiences, such as classrooms and kitchens. '(F)ulfil your darkest pleasures of smashing things up by a baseball bat, or throwing dishes to the wall rather than washing them, or destroy the whole office electronics with your co-workers... like a team for once rather than shouting at each other in boring meetings,' says its website. Safety rules must be followed and players must sign a waiver of liability.
'No one can enter the area where the axes are thrown, and there's safety gear for the face and the eyes,' said founder and director Aladdin Attari. The cost is 15 Jordanian dinars ($21) per person to smash an unlimited supply of items for an hour, which is 'more than enough for most people,' a customer service representative said by phone.
Ohio governor cancels Trump greeting after testing positive
Ohio Governor Mike DeWine said on Thursday he had tested positive for Covid-19 as part of a safety protocol to greet U.S. President Donald Trump when he arrives in Cleveland to visit a Whirlpool washing machine factory.
A statement issued on DeWine's Twitter feed said the governor, a Republican, had no symptoms at the present time and would return to the Ohio capital of Columbus to quarantine at home for the next 14 days. Ohio Lieutenant Governor Jon Husted also took the coronavirus test and tested negative, DeWine's statement said.
Can mask wearing be enforced in schools?
If other rules that are deemed important can be then many are asking, why not?
Drive-through voting in Texas get creatives for polling
"The workers, the voters — everybody has to risk their health in order to participate in the democratic process," she says. "It's astounding."
All in all, though, Boehne says voting in person went as well as it could during a pandemic. She voted on the first day of early voting. So there were no lines, and everything looked pretty safe.
"I was really impressed," she says. "Everything was very spaced out — lots of hand sanitizer, protective equipment and stuff."
Trump and selfish people blamed in obituary
A woman in Texas has had an obituary published after her husband died of Covid-19, and she was clear about who to point fingers at.
US lifts global health coronavirus travel advisory
The United States on Thursday lifted a global health advisory imposed in March that advised US citizens to avoid all international travel because of the coronavirus pandemic, the State Department said.
'With health and safety conditions improving in some countries and potentially deteriorating in others, the department is returning to our previous system of country-specific levels of travel advice,' it said in a statement.
Deaths dip, coronavirus cases rise in Florida and Palm Beach County
Fifty of the 120 most recent statewide deaths were recorded in Central Florida, including 25 in Orange County, seven in Marion County, six in Polk County, four in Seminole County, three in Volusia County, two each in Osceola and Brevard counties and one in Lake County.
Nearly 35,000 additional negative Covid-19 tests were noted in Thursday’s data, bringing Florida’s total to 3,346,947 since testing began earlier this year.
Trump says considering few places for nomination acceptance speech
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday he is considering a few venues for his speech formally accepting the Republican nomination for the presidency, including the White House, as both political parties scale back their traditional multi-day conventions amid the coronavirus pandemic.
On Wednesday lawmakers from both parties rejected Trump's suggestion of using the White House as the background for his acceptance speech, a key convention address that is typically used to persuade undecided voters and galvanize the party faithful ahead of the November presidential election, saying the historic site should not be used for partisan politics.
In pictures: Passengers on a train from Florida stop and register with officials during an effort to screen out-of-state travellers and enforce the state's 14-day coronavirus disease (COVID-19) quarantine in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York. (REUTERS/Carlo Allegri)
Trump says coronavirus vaccine possible before election
(Reuters) Donald Trump said on Thursday it was possible the United States would have a coronavirus vaccine before the Nov. 3 election, a more optimistic forecast than timing put forth by his own White House health experts.
Asked on the Geraldo Rivera radio program when a vaccine might be ready, Trump said, "Sooner than the end of the year, could be much sooner."
"Sooner than November 3?" he was asked. "I think in some cases, yes possible before, but right around that time," Trump said.
Trump, who is seeking re-election to a second term amid a U.S. economy crippled by coronavirus shutdowns, has pushed for schools to reopen and things to get "back to normal" as coronavirus deaths in the country average more than 1,000 per day.
Top government health officials have said corners would not be cut in the race to secure a vaccine against the virus. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top U.S. government infectious diseases official, offered a more conservative view in a Reuters interview on Wednesday, saying there might be an indication that at least one vaccine works and is safe by year end.
Stimulus check: IRS fixes error over $500 credit for dependents
IRS fixes error after Americans miss out on $500 credit for dependents
The IRS says it is now sending an extra $500 for dependents to some claimants who, despite qualifying, didn't get it as part of their CARES Act stimulus check.
Full details:
Pelosi: "Light at the end of the tunnel, but..."
Talking to reporters on Wednesday about talks with White House leaders over a coronavirus relief package, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Ca) said, per Politico’s Jake Sherman: "I feel optimistic that there is a light at the end of the tunnel, but how long that tunnel is remains to be seen."
Meanwhile, White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows cautioned: "We continue to be trillions of dollars apart."
Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-Ny) have been in negotiations with Meadows and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin since last week, following Republican senators’ unveiling of the HEALS Act, their proposal for the next piece of stimulus legislation in the U.S.
Second stimulus check: agreement expected Friday according to Mnuchin
Negotiations over stimulus package continue
Senior Democrats and Republicans are due to resume talks over a new stimulus package with both sides aiming for an agreement by the end of the week.
Full story:
Michelle Obama says she has "low-grade depression", partly due to pandemic
The former first lady of the United States, Michelle Obama, has said she is experiencing "low-grade depression" as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, racial injustice and Donald Trump's presidency.
"These are not, they are not fulfilling times, spiritually," she said in the second episode of the Michelle Obama Podcast. "I know that I am dealing with some form of low-grade depression.
"Not just because of the quarantine, but because of the racial strife, and just seeing this administration, watching the hypocrisy of it, day in and day out, is dispiriting."
$100 million coronavirus fraud losses after multiple scams
$100 million coronavirus fraud losses after multiple scams
Scams taking advantage of Americans' desperation in the midst of a deadly pandemic and accompanying economic upheaval "are running rampant."
Full story:
Covid-19 will disappear "sooner rather than later" - Trump
United States President Donald Trump has reiterated his frequently-made assertion that the coronavirus will “go away”, telling a press conference on Wednesday of his confidence that this will happen “sooner rather than later”.
“It’s going away, it will go away, things go away, absolutely. No question in my mind, sooner rather than later,” Trump said.
Trump’s comments come less than a week after Dr Anthony Fauci, the U.S.’s top infectious disease expert, told a hearing of the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis that the pandemic is unlikely to ever be eradicated. “I do not believe it would disappear because it’s such a highly transmissible virus,” Fauci said on Friday, per CNBC.
In recent days, moreover, the World Health Organization’s Emergency Committee has sought to underline the “anticipated lengthy duration of this COVID-19 pandemic”.
Don Garber anticipates that there will be some fans in MLS games
“We will soon announce our calendar. We will be able to play with the fans where we can and not play with the fans in most of our markets, ”said the MLS Commissioner in an interview with Fox Sports.
Major US health insurers report big profits on back of the pandemic
Some of the largest companies, including Anthem, Humana and UnitedHealth Group, are reporting second-quarter earnings that are double what they were a year ago. And while insurance profits are capped under the Affordable Care Act, with the requirement that consumers should benefit from such excesses in the form of rebates, no one should expect an immediate windfall.
But the amounts that insurers are retaining have caught the attention of the Trump administration. The Health and Human Services Department advised companies to consider speeding up rebates, and on Tuesday suggested that they reduce premiums to help consumers through the economic downturn caused by the pandemic.
US Senate's McConnell says the two sides far apart on coronavirus relief
US Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said on Wednesday the White House and Democratic leaders were far apart in talks on the next coronavirus relief legislation.
'I think both sides want to get to an outcome. That's the good news. The bad news is we're a long way apart,' McConnell told Fox News channel in an interview.
Facebook removes Trump post over coronavirus misinformation
Facebook Inc on Wednesday took down a video by US President Donald Trump in which he said children are 'almost immune' to Covid-19, with the company saying it violated its rules against sharing misinformation about the coronavirus.
'This video includes false claims that a group of people is immune from Covid-19, which is a violation of our policies around harmful Covid misinformation,' a Facebook spokesman said. The spokesman said it was the first time that the social media company had removed a Trump post for coronavirus misinformation.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Covid-19 catch-up
Here is a selection of some of the coronavirus-related stories that have been making the headlines over the last 24 hours:
- NYC’s Metropolitan Museum of Art cuts staff by 353
- Dr Fauci expects tens of millions of coronavirus vaccine doses at start of 2021
- Arizona Governor Doug Ducey visited the White House to discuss the coronavirus response with President Donald Trump
- Remdesivir Covid-19 treatment price set at over $2,300, but this has been challenged as unfair
- Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell has said the Senate will meet next week, meaning a delay to the August recess
- US has "no cohesive plan" to tackle huge second wave, says New Scientist
USA coronavirus latest: 16:00 PT / 19:00 ET Wednesday 5 August (01:00 CEST on Thu 6 Aug)
According to the latest figures published by Johns Hopkins University, 18,650,322 cases have been detected worldwide, with 703,320 deaths and 11,254,878 people recovered.
In the US, there have been 4,816,509 confirmed cases and 157,854 deaths, with 1,576,425 people recovered from the virus.
Coronavirus live US updates: welcome
Hello and welcome to our live, United States-focused coverage of the coronavirus pandemic, which as of 19:00 ET had registered over to 18.65 million cases and more than 703,000 deaths worldwide, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
In the US, which has been by far the world's worst-hit country, there have been over 4.8 million cases, leading to almost 158,000 fatalities.