Tag Archives: Trump

U.S. Treasury’s Mnuchin says Trump eyeing restaurant tax changes, travel boost

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Monday said bipartisan discussions are underway over whether more U.S. government relief funding is needed amid the nation’s novel coronavirus outbreak, but that President Donald Trump is focused on taxes and travel.

In an interview on Fox Business Network, Mnuchin said the Trump administration was prepared to back additional coronavirus stimulus money for American businesses if needed, but that right now it was carefully monitoring the economy as some states restart activity.

Mnuchin said Trump wanted tax changes to make businesses’ entertainment expenses “fully tax deductible like it used to be … to get people to go back to restaurants.”

“The president’s also looking about ways to stimulate travel,” he added. “As the economy opens up, I think you’ll see demand coming back,” for domestic travel, he said, although it’s “too hard to tell” if international travel could open up later in 2020.

Congress has already passed several major coronavirus relief bills worth nearly $3 trillion during the pandemic, but Democratic lawmakers and both Republican and Democratic governors have called for billions more to help shore up local governments battered by the outbreak as they grapple with infections and historic waves of unemployment.

“We’ve put $3 trillion out, if we need to put more money out to support American business and American workers, the president’s absolutely prepared to do that,” Mnuchin said. “We’re also going to take into account what the economic impact is as we open up the economy.”

“We’re beginning to have conversations on a bipartisan basis, we’re going through the issues, we’re going to have very detailed discussions,” he added, when asked if June could be a target for the next wave of federal aid from Congress.

On Sunday, White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said he would not rule out anything in a new relief bill, including more money for state and local governments and small businesses.

(Reporting by Susan Heavey; additional reporting by Lisa Lambert; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Jonathan Oatis)

Trump signs order to protect the U.S. electricity system: Energy Dept

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Friday that seeks to protect the U.S. electricity system from cyber and other attacks, the Energy Department said in a release, in a move that could put barriers on some imports from China and Russia.

“It is imperative the bulk-power system be secured against exploitation and attacks by foreign threats,” Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette said in the news release. The order will “greatly diminish the ability of foreign adversaries to target our critical electric infrastructure,” he said.

A senior Energy Department official said that the order was not directed at any new threat, but the result of a process to bolster the power system.

The 2019 Worldwide Threat Assessment issued by then-U.S. Director of National Intelligence Dan Coates said that China and Russia and other countries were using cyber techniques to spy on U.S. infrastructure.

The power system not only delivers electricity to homes and businesses, but supports the military and emergency systems.

The Energy Department said that government rules about buying equipment for the power grid “often result in contracts being awarded to the lowest-cost bids, a vulnerability that can be exploited by those with malicious intent.”

The order authorizes Brouillette to work with Trump’s Cabinet and the energy industry on protecting the electricity system.

(Reporting by Timothy Gardner, Doina Chiacu and Nichola Groom in Los Angeles; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Jonathan Oatis)

Explainer: How Trump has sealed off the United States during coronavirus outbreak

By Mica Rosenberg and Ted Hesson

NEW YORK/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Donald Trump has taken drastic steps to curb the entry of foreigners into the United States since his administration declared a public health emergency over the new coronavirus outbreak.

Here are some of the most significant additional immigration changes the U.S. government has made in response to the pandemic.

CLOSING THE BORDERS

The United States, Canada and Mexico closed their shared borders to tourist and recreational travel in late March to limit the spread of the novel coronavirus. The closures have since been extended until May 21.

At the same time, the Trump administration implemented new rules that allow U.S. border officials to swiftly deport migrants who attempt to cross into the country illegally, bypassing standard legal processes.

More than 10,000 migrants have been expelled under the new border rules, including more than 500 children, according to preliminary data obtained by Reuters. From April 2 to April 10, 70% of those “expelled” under the new rules were Mexican, a quarter were from Central American and the rest from other countries, the data showed.

Deportation flights of immigrants who have been arrested in the United States are continuing even as some countries are expressing concern that migrants who have been held in U.S. detention centers are being sent back to their home countries infected with the virus. U.S. immigration officials plan to start testing deportees for the virus, a U.S. official told Reuters.

SHUTTERING IMMIGRATION COURTS

The U.S. Executive Office for Immigration Review, which oversees immigration courts as part of the U.S. Department of Justice, has extended the cancellation of all hearings for migrants not in detention until May 15, 2020.

Another controversial program put in place by the administration last year, known as the “Migrant Protection Protocols,” has sent tens of thousands of asylum seekers to wait in Mexico for court hearings. But those proceedings have been put on hold through at least May 1.

SUSPENDING VISA PROCESSING

The United States suspended all routine visa services in most countries worldwide due to the coronavirus outbreak on March 18, affecting hundreds of thousands of people. The State Department said at the time that embassies would resume the services as soon as possible but gave no end date.

That same day, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services said it was temporarily halting all routine in-person services through at least May 3, and canceled all asylum interviews and naturalization oath ceremonies for new citizens.

Some experts have said the pause on naturalizations could affect people who had hoped to vote the first time as U.S. citizens in November’s presidential election.

HALTING REFUGEE RESETTLEMENT

The U.N. refugee agency and the International Organization for Migration said in mid-March they would temporarily stop resettling refugees due to travel disruptions caused by the coronavirus. But before the pandemic, the United States had already slashed the number of refugees it would accept in the 2020 fiscal year to 18,000, the lowest level in decades.

(Reporting by Mica Rosenberg in New York and Ted Hesson in Washington; Editing by Ross Colvin and Jonathan Oatis)

Factbox: Latest on the spread of the coronavirus around the world -Wednesday

(Reuters) – Reported cases of the coronavirus have crossed 2.57 million globally and 178,574 people have died, according to a Reuters tally as of 1400 GMT on Wednesday.

DEATHS AND INFECTIONS

* For an interactive graphic tracking the global spread, open https://tmsnrt.rs/3aIRuz7 in an external browser.

* For a U.S.-focused tracker with state-by-state and county map, open https://tmsnrt.rs/2w7hX9T in an external browser.

AMERICAS

* The U.S. House of Representatives will pass Congress’ latest coronavirus aid bill on Thursday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said, paving the way for additional $500 billion in economic relief.

* An old malaria drug touted by President Trump as a “game changer” provided no benefit and potentially higher risk of death for patients at U.S. veterans hospitals, according to an analysis submitted for expert review.

* Ecuador is preparing a plan to reactivate its economy and allow flights home for citizens stranded abroad, the government said following a month of strict quarantine.

* Peru’s hospitals are struggling with a rapid rise in infections, with bodies being kept in hallways, masks repeatedly reused, and protests of medical workers concerned over their safety.

* Mexico registered a jump of more than 700 confirmed cases on Tuesday, to reach a total of 9,501, health ministry officials said.

* Allies of both Venezuela’s president and its opposition leader have begun secret talks as concerns grow about the possible impact of the pandemic, according to sources on both sides.

* Hundreds of Brazilians stranded in Southeast Asia during an emergency lockdown are headed home after the Brazilian embassy in Bangkok chartered a flight for them.

EUROPE

* Germany approved live human testing of a potential vaccine developed by German biotech company BioNTech.

* It may take European Union countries until the summer or longer to agree on how to finance an economic recovery as major disagreements persist, an official said on Wednesday.

* The outbreak has caused as many as 41,000 deaths in the United Kingdom, according to a Financial Times analysis of official data.

* Britain’s prime minister faced a call for an inquiry into his government’s handling of the crisis after failing to fully explain partial death data, limited testing or the lack of equipment for hospitals.

* Spain’s prime minister said he plans to begin phasing out lockdown measures in the second half of May.

* Confirmed infections surpassed 10,000 in Poland on Wednesday, the highest number in post-communist central Europe, as it slowly eases restrictions ahead of a presidential election.

* Ukraine extended strong quarantine measures till May 11.

* The Kremlin called allegations about artificial origin of the new coronavirus groundless and unacceptable.

* The Berlin Marathon will not go ahead in September after Germany banned public gatherings of over 5,000 until Oct. 24.

ASIA-PACIFIC

* Hackers working in support of the Vietnamese government have attempted to break into Chinese state organisations at the centre of Beijing’s effort to contain the outbreak, a U.S. cybersecurity firm said.

* A northeastern city of 10 million people grappling with what is now China’s biggest outbreak further restricted inbound traffic on Wednesday.

* Japan’s effort to distribute protective masks has been marred by complaints about mould, insects, and stains.

* More than 30 crew members on an Italian cruise ship docked in Japan’s Nagasaki prefecture have tested positive.

* India suspended antibody tests because of concerns over reliability, health officials said on Wednesday.

* Hong Kong’s leader said the replacement of several ministers was aimed at reviving the coronavirus-hit economy and was unrelated to recent remarks from mainland China reaffirming Beijing’s authority.

* Australia’s prime minister called for an international investigation into the origins of the coronavirus, but France beating pandemic came before looking for who was at fault.

* The Tokyo 2020 Olympics and Paralympics Organising Committee said a member of the organisation has tested positive for the new coronavirus.

MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA

* Sixty-eight people, mostly staff, have come down with the coronavirus at a prison in the Moroccan city of Ouarzazate, prison authorities said, without reporting any deaths.

* A Lebanese university hospital team will test for the coronavirus at a refugee camp on Wednesday after a resident was found to be infected, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency said.

* Air Mauritius has entered voluntary administration after the disruptions made it impossible to meet its financial obligations for the foreseeable future, its board said.

* Zambia’s Chamber of Mines has urged the government to urgently engage with the sector and agree relief measures.

ECONOMIC FALLOUT

* Oil took markets on another rollercoaster ride on Wednesday as Brent somehow managed to reverse an early 12% crash to 1999 lows and give battered petrocurrencies and stock markets something to cheer, with coronavirus lockdowns slashing demand. [MKTS/GLOB}

* As the world marked the 50th anniversary of Earth Day on Wednesday, calls were growing for “green recovery” packages to spur a shift to a low-carbon future.

* A possible drop in emissions due to the pandemic will not be enough to stop climate change, the World Meteorological Organization said, urging governments to integrate climate action into recovery plans.

* The economies of Latin America and the Caribbean will shrink by a record 5.3% in 2020, a United Nations agency said.

* The collapse in China’s economic activity has fanned calls for the government to hasten the rollout of fiscal stimulus, as ballooning unemployment threatens social stability.

* Turkey’s central bank slashed its key interest rate by 100 basis points to 8.75% on Wednesday, more than expected.

(Compiled by Sarah Morland, Aditya Soni, Devika Syamnath, Ramakrishnan M and Uttaresh.V; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta, Sriraj Kalluvila and Tomasz Janowski)

Trump says ‘strange things’ afoot surrounding coronavirus origins

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday that “a lot of strange things are happening” regarding the origins of the novel coronavirus.

The source of the virus is a mystery. The broad scientific consensus is that the novel coronavirus originated in bats.

Fox News reported on Wednesday that the virus originated in a Wuhan laboratory as part of China’s effort to demonstrate the capability of its efforts in identifying and combating viruses. Trump has said his government is seeking to determine whether the virus emanated from a laboratory in China.

“A lot of strange things are happening but there is a lot of investigation going on. And we’re going to find out,” Trump told reporters at the White House.

Trump also cast doubt on China’s death toll, which was revised up on Friday. China said 1,300 people who died of the coronavirus in the Chinese city of Wuhan – half the total – were not counted, but dismissed allegations of a cover-up.

The U.S. president said on Friday that many more people must have died in China than in the United States, which is currently the epicenter of the global pandemic and has reported the largest number of deaths in the world linked to the virus.

“We don’t have the most in the world deaths. The most in the world has to be China. It’s a massive country. It’s gone through a tremendous problem with this, a tremendous problem – they must have the most,” Trump told reporters.

China reported that 4,632 people have died of the novel coronavirus within its borders. U.S. coronavirus deaths topped 35,400 on Friday, according to a Reuters tally.

Washington and Beijing have publicly sparred over the virus repeatedly. Trump initially praised China’s response to the outbreak, but he and his top aides have also referred to it as the “Chinese virus.”

(Reporting by Steve Holland; Writing by Makini Brice; Editing by Sandra Maler)

Some U.S. states inch toward easing coronavirus curbs after Trump unveils guidelines

By Maria Caspani

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Some U.S. states were expected on Friday to announce timetables for lifting restrictions aimed at blunting the coronavirus pandemic, a day after President Donald Trump outlined guidelines for a phased reopening of the devastated U.S. economy.

In Texas and Florida, Republican governors were expected to outline plans for a gradual reopening, according to media reports, and the city of Jacksonville, Florida, will allow beaches and parks to reopen with some restrictions.

“Reopening will take time and be done in thoughtful measured steps,” Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry wrote on Twitter. “As we open areas it is important for folks to practice social distancing. Let’s get the beach and park openings with limitations right. Keep moving. No large groups.”

The Republican Trump, seeking a second term in a Nov. 3 election against presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden, on Thursday laid out new staggered, three-stage guidelines for U.S. states meant to revive the economy even as the country goes on fighting the pandemic.

In heavily industrial Michigan, Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer said on Friday she hoped to begin re-engaging parts of the economy on May 1. Michigan, a state that Trump narrowly won in 2016, has faced one of the fastest growing infection rates, but residents have pressed to reopen the state’s economy, some even taking to the streets in protest.

Mississippi’s Republican Governor Tate Reeves said he would extend by a week a stay-at-home order that was set to expire on Monday while easing some restrictions early next week.

Beaches and lakes can reopen on Monday for fishing and relaxing, while non-essential businesses can sell products for drive-through pick-up or delivery, he said.

“We are easing the brakes on ‘non-essential’ businesses,” Reeves said. “I wanted to announce that we can all ease up and re-open today, but we can’t. We are still in the eye of the storm.”

The United States has reported more coronavirus infections than any other country, with nearly 670,000 cases and at least 33,300 deaths. The infections and casualties are spread unevenly across the country, with more densely populated places such as New York and New Jersey suffering the most.

On Friday, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio canceled permitted city events through May, extending the cancellation by a month. He said events for June were under review. He said New York has to set a “high bar” for restarting large group events.

A FIRST PHASEStates that have met the federal criteria can move into the first phase of re-opening on Friday, Trump said on Thursday.

“You have very different states. If you look at Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota, that’s a lot different than New York, a lot different than New Jersey,” he said.

Rural Montana has reported 415 cases and 7 deaths and Wyoming 296 cases and 2 deaths, while New York state has 14,776 casualties, nearly half the national total.

Democrats such as Biden and U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi criticized Trump’s plan.

The guidance “does nothing to make up for the president’s failure to listen to the scientists and produce and distribute national rapid testing,” Pelosi said.

The extraordinary measures to control the novel coronavirus outbreak have battered the U.S. economy – a record 22 million Americans have sought unemployment benefits over the past month, almost wiping out all the job gains since the Great Recession.

Trump’s plan is a set of recommendations for state governors, some of whom Trump has clashed with during the coronavirus crisis. It marks a retreat by the president, who on Monday insisted he had total authority to direct states to reopen or remain closed.

With the onus on governors, Trump is giving himself political cover if anything fails. He played down the seriousness of the threat posed by the coronavirus in the early weeks of the outbreak.

New York and six other Northeastern states on Thursday extended coronavirus stay-at-home orders to May 15.

In Utah, Lieutenant Governor Spencer Cox told CNN parts of the state economy may reopen cautiously in the next couple of weeks. The state is “ramping up testing,” Cox said.

“We can’t just turn the faucet all the way back on. It’s not a sledgehammer, it’s surgical.”

(Reporting by Maria Caspani,Susan Heavey and Lisa Lambert; Writing by Grant McCool; Editing by Howard Goller)

Trump’s halt to WHO funding prompts condemnation as coronavirus cases near 2 million

By Jeff Mason and Paulina Duran

WASHINGTON/SYDNEY (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump’s move to halt funding to the World Health Organization over its handling of the coronavirus pandemic prompted condemnation on Wednesday from world leaders as recorded global infections approached the 2 million mark.

Trump, who has reacted angrily to accusations his administration’s response to the worst epidemic in a century was haphazard and too slow, had become increasingly hostile towards the U.N. agency before announcing the halt on Tuesday.

The WHO, which is based in Geneva, had promoted China’s “disinformation” about the virus that likely led to a wider outbreak than otherwise would have occurred, Trump said.

He said WHO had failed to investigate credible reports from sources in China’s Wuhan province, where the virus was first identified in December, that conflicted with Beijing’s accounts about the spread and “parroted and publicly endorsed” the idea that human to human transmission was not happening.

“The WHO failed in this basic duty and must be held accountable,” Trump told a White House news conference on Tuesday.

A U.S. official told Reuters that Trump made the move despite pushback within his administration, especially from top health advisers. There was no immediate reaction from the WHO, which has been appealing for more than $1 billion to fund operations against the pandemic.

The United States is the biggest overall donor to the WHO, contributing more than $400 million in 2019, roughly 15% of its budget.

Some 1.99 million people globally have been infected and nearly 128,000 have died since the disease emerged in China late last year, according to a Reuters tally.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said it was not the time to reduce resources for the WHO.

“Now is the time for unity and for the international community to work together in solidarity to stop this virus and its shattering consequences,” he said in a statement.

China, which has won WHO praise for its actions to curb the virus’s spread, urged the United States on Wednesday to fulfil its obligations to the WHO.

“This decision weakens the WHO’s capability and harms international cooperation,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Twitter: “Deeply regret U.S. decision to suspend funding to WHO. There is no reason justifying this move at a moment when their efforts are needed more than ever.”

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said apportioning blame did not help. “The virus knows no borders,” he said in a tweet.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the WHO was essential to tackling the pandemic.

“At a time like this when we need to be sharing information and we need to have advice we can rely on, the WHO has provided that,” she said. “We will continue to support it and continue to make our contributions.”

GRAPHIC: Tracking the novel coronavirus in the U.S. – https://graphics.reuters.com/HEALTH-CORONAVIRUS-USA/0100B5K8423/index.html

‘BLAME CHINA, NOT WHO’

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said he sympathised with Trump’s criticisms of the WHO, especially its “unfathomable” support of re-opening China’s “wet markets”, where freshly slaughtered, and live, animals are sold.

“But that said, the WHO also as an organisation does a lot of important work including here in our region in the Pacific and we work closely with them,” Morrison told an Australian radio station.

“We are not going to throw the baby out of with the bathwater here, but they are also not immune from criticism.”

John Sawers, the former head of Britain’s MI6 foreign intelligence service, said China concealed crucial information about the outbreak from the rest of the world and that it would be better to hold China responsible rather than the WHO.

Former Norwegian Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland, who headed the WHO from 1998 to 2003, said an attack on the organization was “the last thing we need right now” since it had the power and ability to oversee the outbreak.

In its latest Strategy Update, the WHO said countries that ease restrictions should wait at least two weeks to evaluate the impact before easing again.

It said that the world stands at a “pivotal juncture”.

More than 2,200 people died in the United States on Tuesday, a record toll according to a Reuters tally, even as it debated how to reopen its economy.

New York City, hardest hit by the outbreak, revised its death toll sharply up to more than 10,000, to include victims presumed to have died of the lung disease but never tested.

U.S. health advocacy group Protect Our Care said Trump’s WHO funding withdrawal was “a transparent attempt … to distract from his history downplaying the severity of the coronavirus crisis and his administration’s failure to prepare our nation”.

Global stocks fell as oil prices dropped and warnings of the worst global recession since the 1930s underscored the economic damage done by the pandemic. The International Energy Agency forecast a 29 million barrel per day dive in April oil demand to levels not seen in 25 years.

Denmark became the latest country to ease its coronavirus lockdown on Wednesday, by reopening schools and day care centres. But concerns they might become breeding grounds for a second wave of cases convinced thousands of parents to keep their children at home.

(Open https://tmsnrt.rs/3aIRuz7 in a separate browser for an interactive graphic to track the global spread)

(Reporting from Reuters bureaux across the world; Writing by Lincoln Feast and Nick Macfie; Editing by Robert Birsel and Philippa Fletcher)

Russian space agency says Trump paving way to seize other planets

MOSCOW (Reuters) – The Russian space agency, Roscosmos, accused Donald Trump on Tuesday of creating a basis to take over other planets by signing an executive order outlining U.S. policy on commercial mining in space.

The executive order, which Roscosmos said damaged the scope for international cooperation in space, was signed on Monday.

It said the United States would seek to negotiate “joint statements and bilateral and multilateral arrangements with foreign states regarding safe and sustainable operations for the public and private recovery and use of space resources”.

It said U.S. citizens should have the right to engage in such activity and that “outer space is a legally and physically unique domain of human activity, and the United States does not view it as a global commons”.

Roscosmos said the order put the United States at odds with the notion of space belonging to all humanity.

“Attempts to expropriate outer space and aggressive plans to actually seize territories of other planets hardly set the countries (on course for) fruitful cooperation,” its statement said.

Relations between Russia and the United States are at post-Cold War lows, but cooperation on space has continued despite an array of differences over everything from Ukraine to accusations of election meddling.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that “any kind of attempt to privatise space in one form or another – and I find it difficult to say now whether this can be seen as an attempt to privatise space – would be unacceptable”.

(Reporting by Tom Balmforth; Editing by Kevin Liffey)

Cruise ship passengers await Florida deal allowing them to disembark

By Zach Fagenson

MIAMI (Reuters) – The U.S. government and Florida were working on a plan on Wednesday to allow thousands of cruise ship passengers exposed to an onboard coronavirus outbreak to disembark, a day after President Donald Trump urged the governor to drop his opposition to their docking.

Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean Trantalis said he was not opposed to them docking in his city. But he said a clear protocol was needed to protect residents of his South Florida city from infection.

“There can be no missteps in this process,” he told CNN.

“We have to be comfortable knowing that they are being quarantined in such a way that they do not infect the rest of the community,” Trantalis said.

One of the two Dutch cruise ships involved is Holland America Line’s MS Zaandam. Nearly two-thirds of its passengers, those who passed a medical screening, were moved to the line’s sister ship, the Rotterdam.

Both vessels were on the way to Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, the Zaandam carrying nearly 1,050 passengers and crew, and the Rotterdam almost 1,450.

Florida has reported 6,490 cases of coronavirus, including 251 non-residents, and 85 deaths, according to the state website. It ranks eighth in the number of new cases reported in the past 24 hours, analyst Michael Newshel of investment bank Evercore ISI said in a research note.

For the country as a whole, the tally stands at more than 190,000 reported cases and nearly 4,000 deaths, a toll that shot up by more than 850 on Tuesday, by far the most for a single day. Nearly half of the new fatalities were in New York state, the epicenter of the pandemic despite closed businesses and deserted streets.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis issued a stay-at-home order on Monday for four counties in southern Florida that will last until April 15 and then be reviewed. On Tuesday, he said the White House task force had not recommended a statewide order.

“If they do, that’s something that would carry a lot of weight with me,” DeSantis told reporters.

Florida’s Democrats in the U.S. Congress published an open-letter to DeSantis renewing a call for him to issue a statewide stay-at-home order, saying the decision cannot be left to county and municipal governments.

“This pandemic has not respected global borders so it certainly will not respect county borders,” said the letter, which was signed by U.S. Representative Lois Frankel and 12 other members of Congress.

SICK AND STUCK

Jennifer Allan, whose 75-year-old father and 70-year-old mother are sick and stuck aboard the cruise ship Zaandam, was asked on NBC’s “Today” what she would say if she could speak with DeSantis:

“I would beg him and everybody who has the power to make this happen that we need to look at the humanity of what’s going on right now. There needs to be compassion for these people.

Another Florida official, Broward County Mayor Dale Holness, said the port was being operated by a “unified command” of federal and state agencies discussing the situation.

“As it stands today, they’re going back and forth, working on a plan to ensure that we’re safeguarding the people of Broward County from further spread of this virus, but also seeing how we can find a way to deal with these folks” in a humanitarian manner, Holness said on MSNBC.

GRAPHIC: Tracking the spread of the global coronavirus – https://graphics.reuters.com/CHINA-HEALTH-MAP/0100B59S39E/index.html

NEW MONTH, NEW CONCERNS

With rent and mortgage payments due on Wednesday, the first day of the month, job losses soaring, medical equipment in short supply and a projected coronavirus death toll in the United States of up to 240,000 people, Americans steeled themselves for months of uncertainty.

Medical experts on the U.S. government’s coronavirus task force on Tuesday said they were predicting that even with strict observance of stay-at-home orders and other precautions, between 100,000 to 240,000 people could ultimately die from the respiratory disease.

Public health officials are debating whether to recommend that people wear protective face masks even as an emergency stockpile of medical equipment maintained by the U.S. government has nearly run out of protective gear.

U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams, interviewed on the NBC News “Today” program on Wednesday, said officials were weighing potential new guidelines given the role of asymptomatic people carrying the virus but that people wearing masks should try not to touch their face and should still save N95 masks for healthcare workers.

“Wearing a face covering does not mean that you don’t have to practice social distancing. The most important thing you can do is stay at home right now,” Adams said.

The start of April brings a moment of reckoning for millions who have lost jobs and are forced to stay at home – their rent and mortgage checks are due.

Many Americans have already lost their jobs – last week’s national unemployment claims exceeded 3 million, shattering previous records.

Coronavirus news: https://emea1.apps.cp.extranet.thomsonreuters.biz/cms/?navid=919104201

(Reporting by Susan Heavey, Doina Chiacu, Tim Ahmann, Daniel Trotta and Peter Szekely; Writing by Grant McCool; Editing by Howard Goller)

Russian plane takes off for U.S. with coronavirus help onboard: state TV

By Andrew Osborn and Polina Devitt

MOSCOW (Reuters) – A Russian military transport plane took off from an airfield outside Moscow early on Wednesday and headed for the United States with a load of medical equipment and masks to help Washington fight coronavirus, Russian state TV reported.

President Vladimir Putin offered Russian help in a phone conversation with President Donald Trump on Monday, when the two leaders discussed how best to respond to the virus.

The flight, which was organised by the Russian Defence Ministry, is likely to be unpopular with some critics of Trump who have urged him to keep his distance from Putin and who argue that Moscow uses such aid as a geopolitical and propaganda tool to advance its influence, something the Kremlin denies.

“Trump gratefully accepted this humanitarian aid,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was cited as saying by the Interfax news agency on Tuesday night. Trump himself spoke enthusiastically about the Russian help after his call with Putin.

Russia’s Rossiya 24 channel on Wednesday morning showed the plane taking off from a military air base outside Moscow in darkness. Its cargo hold was filled with cardboard boxes and other packages.

Confirmed U.S. cases have surged to 187,000 and nearly 3,900 people have already died there from COVID-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus.

In Russia, where some doctors have questioned the accuracy of official data, the official tally of confirmed cases is 2,337 cases with 17 deaths.

Relations between Moscow and Washington have been strained in recent years by everything from Syria to Ukraine to election interference, something Russia denies.

Peskov, Putin’s spokesman, said Moscow hoped the United States might also be able to provide medical help to Russia if necessary when the time came.

“It is important to note that when offering assistance to U.S. colleagues, the president (Putin) assumes that when U.S. manufacturers of medical equipment and materials gain momentum, they will also be able to reciprocate if necessary,” Peskov was cited as saying.

Peskov, who complained about difficulties expediting the aid to the United States thrown up by some U.S. officials, was quoted as saying that Russia and China cooperated in a similar way because “at a time when the current situation affects everyone without exception … there is no alternative to working together in a spirit of partnership and mutual assistance”.

Russia has also used its military to send planeloads of aid to Italy to combat the spread of coronavirus, exposing the European Union’s failure to provide swift help to a member in crisis and handing Putin a publicity coup at home and abroad.

(Editing by Chizu Nomiyama, Alison Williams and Andrew Heavens)