- State sets new record for second straight day
- New York sees steady decline in cases while other states see rises
- US deaths from Covid-19 have surpassed 125,000
- Reopening plans reverse quickly amid alarming increase in cases
- Survivors could lose insurance if Trump wins bid to repeal Obamacare
- Texas becomes a model for inadequate pandemic response
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The Mississippi state government has started a process that will see the Confederate battle emblem removed from the state’s flag.
Breaking: House passed it with the two-thirds majority it required. It got immediate release, meaning Senate could take it up as soon as they want.
The latest: https://t.co/Jgcddn3i34 #msleg https://t.co/rKwKGkMmWtThe legislature has been deadlocked for days as it considers a new state flag. The argument over the 1894 flag has become as divisive as the flag itself and it’s time to end it.
If they send me a bill this weekend, I will sign it. pic.twitter.com/bf3vyzuObt
The Winston-Salem Journal reports on a disturbing development in the Bubba Wallace story. Wallace, Nascar’s only black driver, led a successful campaign to rid the stock-car racing series of the Confederate flag. Last week, a noose was found in his team’s garage although a subsequent investigation found the rope had been there since last fall, and Wallace was not the subject of a hate crime. Here’s what the Associated Press has to say on the latest development:
A North Carolina racetrack has lost some partnerships after its owner advertised “Bubba Rope” for sale online days after Nascar said a noose had been found in the garage stall of Bubba Wallace, the top series’ only Black driver.
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Donald Trump
Trump administration asks supreme court to axe Obamacare
Democrats call legal push amid coronavirus crisis an ‘act of unfathomable cruelty’
- Coronavirus – latest updates
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The Trump administration has asked the US supreme court to invalidate the Obamacare lawthat added millions to the healthcare safety net but has been at the centre of political controversy.
The government advocate, Noel Francisco, argued in a filing late on Thursday that the Affordable Care Act (ACA), one of Ba...
Coronavirus US live: death toll nears 80,000 as Trump rages over Russia
- Fauci and two other task force members to self-quarantine
- Coronavirus – latest global updates
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Precautions against Covid-19 infection have been stepped up at the White House but are hampered by the cramped and poorly ventilated conditions in the West Wing, Kevin Hassett, a special adviser to Donald Trump on the pandemic response, said on Sunday.
Treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin has been talking to Fox News Sunday about the Trump administration’s attempts to reopen and restart the stalled US economy, and whether there will be another huge stimulus bill. Democrats who control the House want one of those but the White House doesn’t – that’s the short version.
The White House is “absolutely pushing for a payroll tax cut”, Mnuchin says. Most observers think that is a non-starter, because Democrats won’t let it. Payroll taxes, meaning deductions from regular paychecks, include funds for Social Security and Medicare, vital social benefits.
Related: US job losses have reached Great Depression levels. Did it have to be that way?
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Coronavirus US live: Pelosi says Trump’s WHO decision is ‘dangerous, illegal and will be challenged’
- House speaker condemns ‘senseless’ decision
- 2 million cases of coronavirus confirmed worldwide
- Elizabeth Warren endorses Joe Biden for president
- Live global updates
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5.21pm BST
DC Mayor Muriel Bowser has extended the city’s stay-at-home order through at least May 15, ordering sc...
Coronavirus US live: Biden doubts Democratic convention can happen in July
- 6.65 million filed for US unemployment last week
- US facing hunger crisis as demand for food banks soars
- Trump casts doubt on China’s coronavirus figures
- Dr Fauci: security reportedly expanded amid threats
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Banks are warning the $350 billion small business loan program may not be ready by Friday as scheduled.
Politico reports:
The lenders complain that Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin boxed them in with an unrealistic deadline and that the ground rules they’ve been given for the program, which is intended to deliver rapid aid to a huge number of ailing businesses, could delay the assistance for weeks or longer.
The banks, which will be responsible for processing loan applications and doling out money, are expecting millions of applications from businesses. Some fear a disaster that could dwarf the failed kickoff of the Obamacare enrollment web site in 2013.
Georgia’s governor said he only learned days ago that those with coronavirus who show no symptoms can still spread the virus, an astounding claim from a state leader considering health experts have been warning about asymptomatic transmissions for weeks.
A stunning admission of deadly ignorance from Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, who says he only just learned that asymptomatic people can transmit #Covid19. “[I]ndividuals could have been infecting people before they ever felt bad, but we didn’t know that until the last 24 hours.” pic.twitter.com/T7NZWk2GDR
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Coronavirus US live: Biden says Trump plan to relax physical distancing could be ‘catastrophic’
- How Trump practices distancing versus other leaders
- Trump family will not profit from $2tn package
- Are Trump’s coronavirus briefings the new 2020 campaign rallies?
- Experts: Trump’s ‘back-to-work’ plan would make things worse
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Here’s a clip of World Health Organization director, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, condemning calls to bypass or lift social distancing restrictions.
WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus strongly warns against lifting social distancing measures too soon.
"The last thing any country needs is to open schools and businesses, only to be forced to close them again because of a resurgence." https://t.co/l7BtEcViAu pic.twitter.com/lsyAFYMbRV
The federal agency in charge of nursing homes nationwide confirmed that 140 have at least one confirmed coronavirus case. But the Washington Post reports the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) are refusing to say which ones.
From the Post:
Citing data from the Centers for Disease Control, the press release tucked the new figure in the seventh paragraph. The release said although “147 is a small fraction of the over 15,000 nursing homes across the country, given the disproportionate effect on our nation’s older population, this is a cause for concern.”
A CDC spokesman, Scott Pauley, told The Post he was “not sure [the list] will be released at this time.”
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Coronavirus US live: stimulus bill fails in Senate as experts urge Trump not to roll back social restrictions
- What to know about the US bailout
- Dr Anthony Fauci counters Trump’s claims
- Trump signals change in strategy that could clash with health experts
- Panic-buying disrupts food distribution
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6.36pm GMT
The Washington Post reports on a growing rift in the Trump administration as the president weighs l...
Trump signs coronavirus bill ordering free testing and aid for workers
Measure introduced by Democrats will expand Medicaid and unemployment benefits and mandate paid sick leave for some
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Donald Trump has approved legislation that will expand Medicaid and unemployment benefits, mandate paid sick leave and childcare leave for certain employees, and order free coronavirus testing, in an effort to to limit the damage from the pandemic.
The bill, introduced by House ...
Top US health agency hit by cyber-attack amid coronavirus outbreak – live
- US Health and Human Services Department hacked
- Biden and Sanders team mull debate reaction
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- Biden and Sanders confront coronavirus crisis in debate
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2.33pm GMT
The White House, exercising “an abundance of caution”, announced Monday it had cancelled its annual Easter E...
Trump administration reportedly won’t let states use Medicaid to respond to crisis – live
- Unprepared America wakes up to coronavirus, gradually then all at once
- Trump promises more coronavirus tests while criticizing CDC
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State and local officials have postponed the Boston Marathon until 14 September over fears of the coronavirus outbreak. The race was originally scheduled for 20 April.
States experiencing dramatic coronavirus outbreaks are unable to use Medicaid more freely to respond to the outbreak by expanding medical care, the Los Angeles Times is reporting.
The White House has tools it can use to assist states looking to bolster their healthcare efforts, but so far, the Trump administration has not made any moves to ease the burden on states.
Months into the current global disease outbreak, the White House and senior federal health officials haven’t taken the necessary steps to give states simple pathways to fully leverage the mammoth safety net program to prevent a wider epidemic.
That’s making it harder for states to quickly sign up poor patients for coverage so they can get necessary testing or treatment if they are exposed to coronavirus.
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