Coronavirus US news: Trump tells Americans to 'enjoy their living rooms' and says army may assist states battling deadly pandemic
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Donald Trump encouraged Americans to self-isolate and “enjoy their living room” as the country battled to slow the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, with more than 4,500 confirmed cases nationwide and at least 95 deaths.
The president told reporters during a press briefing on Tuesday that his administration was considering providing US military assistance to states battling severe outbreaks of the new coronavirus, as New York and California announced major shutdowns for some of the largest cities in the country. His administration also said it was considering sending checks to all Americans in an effort to slow the economic downturn seen in recent days as the pandemic moved society to a screeching halt nationwide.
The House of Representatives meanwhile passed an emergency relief package late on Monday, which now moves on to the Senate, as the government seeks $850bn (£704bn) to battle the disaster. The latest developments come as three states across the country hold their Democratic primaries, with several others delaying their votes due to the pandemic.
Defence Secretary Mark Esper also said on Tuesday that the Pentagon will provide civilian health authorities with five million respirator masks and 2,000 specialized ventilators to help in a national response to the pandemic.
Mr Esper told Pentagon reporters that the ventilators are designed for use by deployed troops and the military will need to train civilians on how to use them. He said some may have "single-use" limitations. And he said the first million respirator masks will be made available immediately.
US officials have talked about the shortage of ventilators to help treat patients with the virus.
Mr Esper stressed that although the Defence Department is prepared to help civilian authorities in any way possible, there are limitations to the assistance and trade-offs that must be considered. "We want to be the last resort", he said, adding that the first line of defense in fighting the virus should be state and local authorities.
Mr Esper also said he has asked the Navy to prepare its two hospital ships — the USNS Mercy in San Diego and the USNS Comfort in Norfolk, Virginia — for deployment. He said the Pentagon will also talk with state and local leaders to see if there is any need for field hospitals.
He said the field units could be used to take the pressure off local hospitals by locating them nearby and using them to perhaps treat trauma patients. Doing so, he said, could free up hospital rooms so they could be used for infectious patients.
The Pentagon has said its hospital ships and field units are designed mainly for treating combat casualties and have areas where multiple patients are together in one room. As a result, they aren't set up to handle patients who need isolation.
Mr Esper made clear that the Pentagon expects to be part of the COVID-19 fight for the long haul, even as it reports increasing numbers of military members being stricken by the disease. The Pentagon said that as of Tuesday morning, 36 military members had been confirmed as having the virus, up from 18 the day before. On Tuesday the Navy reported two sailors had tested positive for the virus — one aboard the USS Coronado and another aboard the USS Ralph Johnson.
Mr Esper said he is considering activating National Guard and Reserve units to help states with planning, logistics and medical support as needed.
"As we get requests in we will look at activating, if we need to, at the federal level or using the Reserves - whatever the case may be", he said.
Additional reporting by AP, See live updates as they came in below.
Hello and welcome to The Independent's rolling coverage of the coronavirus outbreak in the United States and the effort to contain its spread by the Donald Trump administration.
Trump admits coronavirus 'out of control' in drastic change of tone
Donald Trump has admitted that the coronavirus outbreak is “not under control for any place in the world”, striking a drastic change of tone on the crisis as he advised the elderly to stay indoors and all people to avoid restaurants and inessential travel and to limit gatherings to no more than 10 people.
The president for the first time acknowledged that the pandemic may send the economy into a recession and suggested that the nation may be dealing with the virus until "July or August."
The guidelines were released on Monday to an uneasy country. The stock market had its worst day since 1987, America's largest school system shut its doors and questions remained about the administration's ability to test for the virus and provide hospital space for those who fall ill.
"We will rally together as one nation and we will defeat the virus," Trump said. "We can turn the corner and turn it quickly."
The president, when asked when the pandemic would subside, said that "if we do a really good job" the crisis could pass by the height of summer. Dr Anthony Fauci, the administration's infectious disease expert, did not challenge that claim.
Trump's prediction was far less optimistic than his earlier ones, when he insisted it could be over in weeks. He also acknowledged that the virus may send the nation's economy into a recession, a potentially brutal blow for an incumbent seeking re-election.
That admission was startling for Trump, who for two weeks had struck a discordantly optimistic tone about the pandemic that endangered his presidency.
He said he did not yet plan to call for domestic travel restrictions while his administration made pointed appeals to millennials to stop socialising and risk spreading the virus. He was reluctant to advise states to cancel the primary elections ahead. And without providing details, he said "we're going to back the airlines 100 per cet," a note of reassurance for an industry crippled by travel bans and fears of spreading the virus.
The expansive guidelines were issued on a day of fast-moving developments in a capital resplendent in cherry blossoms but awash in anxiety.
As Congress convened to try and push through an emergency relief bill (more on which imminently), the Supreme Court postponed oral arguments for the first time since the Spanish flu epidemic of 1918 and the US surgeon general, Dr Jerome Adams, said that the United States is about where Italy was two weeks ago in the coronavirus struggle, a sign that infections are expected to rise.
Phil Thomas has this on the president's latest briefing, as the country's total number of cases hiits 4,477 with 87 deaths recorded.
House passes emergency relief package as Schumer says $750bn still needed
The House of Representatives violated Trump's stricture on crowd sizes to convene en masse on Capitol Hill yesterday to pass an emergency relief package, which now moves on to the Senate, where Democratic minority leader Chuck Schumer says an additional $750bn (£616bn) bailout will be required.
That would constitute the most dramatic stimulus effort seen since the Great Recession of 2009.
Top White House officials briefing Senate Republicans at the Capitol agreed a similar-sized package needs to pass, some suggesting in a matter of days.
"ASAP," White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said late on Monday. "There's an urgency."
The rush to inject cash and resources into the economy is an effort unlike any since the 2008 financial crisis, with political and economic interventions and eye-popping sums to try to protect Americans from the health and financial fallout.
Treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin will return on Tuesday to meet with Senate Republicans to launch the effort. "We've got a lot of work to do from here," Mnuchin told reporters.
Senators returned to an emptied out US Capitol, clear of tourists or colleagues from the House, to confront an even more dire situation than the one they left for a long weekend, before Trump declared a national emergency.
The House-passed aid package awaiting their consideration offers sick pay, free testing and emergency food and is endorsed by Trump and ready to become law.
But action on it was stalled for much of the day on Monday as the Senate waited on the House for technical corrections as Republicans and a leading small business group raised objections, a setback only resolved late in the evening with a House voice vote of approval. Senate passage could follow as early as Tuesday.
All sides - the House, Senate and White House - agree the pending bill is not the last and not nearly enough to handle what's coming. At the start of the month, Congress approved $8.3bn (£6.8bn) in initial aid. Trump quickly signed into law the measure, which provided federal agencies money for vaccines, tests and potential treatments, and funding to help state and local governments respond to the threat.
"We will need big, bold, urgent federal action to deal with this crisis," Schumer said on Monday.
Schumer floated the Democrats' proposal for at least $750bn to boost hospital capacity, unemployment insurance and other direct aid for American households, businesses and the health care industry. Republican senators conferred privately over their priorities.
Republicans often reluctant to spend federal dollars did not flinch at the head-spinning number, as a roster of America's big and small industries - airlines, hotels, retailers - lined up for aid.
Utah GOP senator Mitt Romney called for sending $1,000 (£826) to every adult American.
The president conveyed that lawmakers should "not be impeded by the price tag," said Eric Ueland, the White House legislative director.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he wants a "comprehensive" approach with "significant steps" for the economy, particularly Main Street businesses. He opened the Senate on Monday with a message to Americans: "The Senate stands with you."
The days ahead will test whether Congress can quickly respond to the crisis.
Industries representing a broad swath of the economy are seeking help in withstanding the fallout as schools close and Americans are being told to stay inside, skip nonessential travel and avoid gatherings with 10 people or more.
That means no dining out, no boarding planes, no shopping the malls as a great national shutdown sparks business closures, layoffs and lost paychecks for rents, mortgages and everyday needs.
The nation's largest business organisation, the US Chamber of Commerce, asked the Trump administration and Congress on Monday to act rapidly to help companies have access to cash and avert a "potentially devastating" hit to the economy.
The request from the US airlines alone could easily top $50bn (£41.3bn), according to Airlines for America, the trade group representing the carriers.
In a letter to Trump and congressional leaders, the Chamber of Commerce called for legislation including a three-month cancellation of the taxes companies pay to support Social Security, Medicare and unemployment insurance.
"No family and no business should go bankrupt just because of the temporary disruption in income caused by the coronavirus," said the chamber's CEO, Thomas J Donohue.
The nation's governors were also calling on Congress to swiftly bring economic aid, particularly for the unemployment insurance system to help displaced workers, and fast.
"We need a better response from the federal government," said Rhode Island governor Gina Raimondo, a Democrat. "I am out of patience."
Pulling together the new package will challenge the basic logistics of governing as Congress itself struggled to adapt to the new normal.
House Democrats were told on a conference call they won't be recalled to Washington until the next package is ready for action, according to people familiar with the call but unauthorised to discuss it and granted anonymity.
The 100-member Senate convened for an evening vote - a potentially stunning sight in the new era of social distancing. While different authorities around the country have issued conflicting advice, the Trump administration said at a Monday news conference that Americans should not gather in groups of more than 10 people over the next 15 days.
The deputy Senate Democratic leader, Dick Durbin of Illinois, counting the number of senators on the floor, questioned what example they were setting. He urged swift passage of the House package. "What are we waiting for?" he asked.
Despite Trump's robust support, a handful of Republicans said they wanted to make changes in the House-passed measure. "It doesn't go far enough," said Arkansas GOP senator Tom Cotton.
In addition, the National Federation of Independent Business, which counts hundreds of thousands of small-business members, initially opposed it.
White House immediately breaks own rules on public gatherings
The president did not entirely change his act on Monday, however, rating his own performance in response to the disaster at 10 out of 10 – in spite of the heavy criticism he and his administration have received in recent weeks - and again offering fresh self-contradiction by allowing his 16-strong task force to attend his press conference, at which he advised against gatherings of more than 10.
His newly serious, even somber tone also did not entirely meet with approval.
"I'm not sure a change in tone makes up for a kind of complete lack of leadership that the country has seen in the first few weeks of this crisis," commented Princeton presidential historian Julian Zelizer.
Here's John T Bennett on Trump making a rare concession and conceding their could be a recession as a result of all of this horror.
Trump offends China with latest virus tweet
The president also stayed true to form by offending China on Twitter, calling Covid-19 "the Chinese virus" in a tweet.
Here's Kate Ng with the understandly "very angry" reaction from Beijing and beyond.
Foreign disinformation campaign stoking virus fears, say US official
Yesterday, the White House National Security Council was forced to deny rumours being spread by text message that a national quarantine was imminent.
Now, three officials have told the AP they believe the messaging was part of an attempt by a rogue foreign government to stir up chaos among the American public over the coronavirus. Don't those tactics sound familiar?
With people queueing round the block for guns and ammo and stockpiling in the supermarkets, the strategy appears to have succeeded.
James Crump has more on this.
Trump administration 'seeking $850bn emergency stimulus package to tackle coronavirus'
That's what The Washington Post is reporting this morning, a figure in advance of that demanded by Chuck Schumer yesterday and larger than the total hinted at by National Economic Council director Larry Kudlow, underlining anew the gravity of the situation.
Remember when he said this was all a "hoax"?
President repeats China slur and attacks New York governor
Trump begins his day by going after New York governor Andrew Cuomo and repeating his racist insinuation that China somehow has ultimate responsibility for the outbreak - a clear attempt to distance himself from the narrative and appeal to the worst instincts of his base.
We've subsequently been treated to less controversial retweets from the White House, Centres for Disease Control and Prevention and Lindsey Graham endorsing his national emergency call, the latter coming literally seconds after he told Cuomo to "keep politics out of it".
Dow sinks to worst day since Black Monday
The Dow Jones plummeted 3,000 points on Monday, or 13 per cent, reflecting the market's worst one-day point drop in history amid the coronavirus pandemic that has gripped world economies and eliminated most of the stock gains on which Donald Trump has prided his presidency.
Monday's drop also marked the Dow's worst percentage drop since Black Monday in 1987.
Markets sank while the president was telling reporters that the economy is likely heading into a recession, warning Americans that an economic rebound from the coronavirus pandemic may not arrive until August or later.
Monday's drop came just one day after the Federal Reserve slashed interest rates to near-zero, a dramatic move that appeared to do little to restore confidence in the market, while cities and states across the US announced sweeping closures to avoid spreading the virus.
Alex Woodward reports.
First volunteers receive experimental vaccine in Seattle
The first human trial of a vaccine to protect against the coronavirus has begun in the US.
Four patients received the jab at the Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute in Seattle, the Associated Press news agency reported.
Some 45 young and healthy volunteers will receive different doses of shots co-developed by NIH and Moderna.
“We all feel so helpless. This is an amazing opportunity for me to do something,” the study’s first participant, Jennifer Haller, 43, of Seattle told the agency before she was vaccinated.
Public health officials said it will take between a year and 18 months to know if the vaccine will work.
That same city is meanwhile to begin handing out grocery store vouchers to hard-up families to tide them over during the current crisis.
Samuel Osborne has this report on the vaccine.
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