A record-breaking 6,648,000 people filed for unemployment in the week ending March 28 amid the novel coronavirus pandemic, according to data released by the U.S. Department of Labor on Thursday. COVID-19 has slammed the U.S. economy, forcing thousands of businesses to shut down amid government-mandated stay-in-place orders.... [Read Full Story]
The U.S. recorded 681 deaths on Wednesday, its worst day since the coronavirus outbreak began. More than 200,000 infections have been reported, and public health officials are considering recommending that more Americans wear face masks. “Even if you do wear a mask, it can’t be at the expense of social distancing,” Surgeon General Jerome Adams said, adding that higher-level N95 masks would not be necessary. ... [Read Full Story]
U.S. stocks fell Wednesday amid reports on job losses and the potential for as many as 200,000 deaths due to the COVID-19 pandemic.The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 973.65 points, or 4.44 percent, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite both closed down 4.41 percent.... [Read Full Story]
Coronavirus Task Force response coordinator Deborah Birx said during a Coronavirus Task Force Briefing that the White House projects 100,000 to 240,000 Americans will die from coronavirus if “full mitigation” measures are taken. Without social distancing, deaths could be much higher, the White House projects.... [Read Full Story]
New York City’s efforts are continuing to find places to build medical facilities in order to ease the burden on hospitals caused by coronavirus. The city is set to lease thousands of hotel rooms, and in some cases, entire hotels. Mayor Bill de Blasio said that federal authorities are working to rent hotel rooms to serve as non-intensive care facilities for Covid-19 patients and others. ... [Read Full Story]
Macy’s said on Monday that it will stop paying tens of thousands of employees who were put of work when the chain closed its stores in response to collapsing sales due to the coronavirus pandemic.... [Read Full Story]
President Donald Trump and members of his administration have discussed whether to impose a nationwide stay-at-home order to slow the spread of the coronavirus, but added that option is “pretty unlikely” for now.... [Read Full Story]
President Trump officially reversed his call to reopen businesses by Easter, saying he will extend the nation’s coronavirus social distancing guidelines to April 30.... [Read Full Story]
On CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday, Dr. Anthony Fauci said that he anticipates the coronavirus could kill 100,000 to 200,000 Americans while infecting “millions” of others.... [Read Full Story]
The U.S. has more confirmed cases of the coronavirus than any country in the world, surpassing China, where the pandemic began. According to a running tally kept by Johns Hopkins University, the U.S. had 82,404 confirmed cases of COVID-19 as of Thursday evening. China had 81,782 and Italy had 80,589.... [Read Full Story]
A 5.0 magnitude earthquake rattled West Texas on Thursday morning, the U.S. Geological Survey said. The quake epicenter was about 27 miles west of Mentone, Texas, and was located 3 miles below the surface. ... [Read Full Story]
Health officials in New Jersey presume all 94 residents at a nursing home have coronavirus, as the United States’ death toll surpassed 800 on Wednesday.... [Read Full Story]
Senate leaders and the White House reached an agreement on Wednesday on a massive $2 trillion stimulus package hoping to help businesses and workers negatively affected by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.... [Read Full Story]
On Tuesday, the Food and Drug Administration approved investigating treatment options for the outbreak by using plasma collected from recovered COVID-19 patients. Doctors in China have already tried these specific COVID-19 treatments using what the history books call “convalescent serum,” also known as donated plasma.... [Read Full Story]
Texas’ Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick is saying that the U.S. should get back to work in the face of the global pandemic and that people over the age of 70, who the Centers for Disease Control says are at higher risk for the coronavirus, will “take care of ourselves.”... [Read Full Story]
President Donald Trump said on Monday he will not allow the coronavirus to do long-lasting damage to the U.S. economy and that he is considering how to move forward after a 15-day shutdown ends next week. ... [Read Full Story]
Speculation about treating the new coronavirus with malaria drugs is raising hopes, and now a shortage of these drugs is complicating access for people who need them for rheumatoid arthritis or lupus.... [Read Full Story]
The National Guard will be deployed to assist in the fight against the coronavirus in the hard-hit states of New York, California and Washington, President Donald Trump announced.... [Read Full Story]
Senator Rand Paul on Sunday became the first senator known to have tested positive for COVID-19. ... [Read Full Story]
On Thursday, California Governor Gavin Newson issued a statewide “stay at home” order to residents, telling them to leave their homes only when necessary during the coronavirus pandemic. The restriction is the first to encompass all 40 million California residents in the state.... [Read Full Story]
Italy has now surpassed China as the country with the largest number of deaths related to the coronavirus. The Italian Civil Protection Agency announced 3,405 total deaths on Thursday. China has reported 3,242 deaths.... [Read Full Story]
A 5.7 magnitude earthquake hit near Salt Lake City on Wednesday, temporarily shutting down a major air traffic hub and leaving thousands without power. There were no reports of injuries. The quake damaged the spire and statue atop the iconic Salt Lake Temple. The epicenter was just southwest of Salt Lake City, between the airport and Great Salt Lake. It was felt by about 2.8 million people who were already confined to their homes due to the coronavirus pandemic. ... [Read Full Story]
President Donald Trump signed an economic relief bill to help combat the coronavirus pandemic. The bill will ensure free testing and paid leave for certain workers, hours after the Senate passed the measure on Wednesday. Lawmakers overwhelmingly voted 90-8 in favor of the “phase two” stimulus measure. The Joint Committee on Taxation estimates the bill will cost $100 billion.... [Read Full Story]
Joe Biden won the Florida, Illinois and Arizona primaries on Tuesday, moving closer to the Democratic presidential nomination amid coronavirus concerns. The former vice president is on course to expand his lead toward the 1,991 delegates needed to clinch the nomination on the first ballot.... [Read Full Story]
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rebounded on Tuesday, climbing more than 1,000 points or over 5% by the time market’s closed. The index saw more than 500-point swings, coming after it suffered its worst day since the “Black Monday” crash of 1987 on Monday, plunging nearly 3,000 points or 12.94%. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq also climbed Tuesday, with both indices up by 5.99% and 6.23%, respectively, at closing. ... [Read Full Story]
Joe Biden narrowly defeated Bernie Sanders in last week’s Democratic presidential primary in Washington state, according to projections from the Associated Press. The former vice president’s victory means he won five of the six states that held contests on March 10th.... [Read Full Story]
On Monday, the White House issued new guidelines designed to slow the increasingly rapid spread of coronavirus. In sum, they are asking nearly every American to stay home from work or school for the next fifteen days; saying essentially, America “is closed for business” In almost every aspect of daily life. In some major cities, bars and restaurants have been told to close or only serve take out.... [Read Full Story]
Former Vice President Joe Biden and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders faced off on Sunday night in their first one-on-one showdown at the 11th Democratic debate. ... [Read Full Story]
The U.S. Federal Reserve cut interest rates to near zero on Sunday in an emergency move to help the U.S. economy during the escalating global coronavirus pandemic. Interest rates were already cut by half a percentage point on March 3 at an emergency meeting, the first emergency cut since the financial crisis in 2008. The central bank said it was cutting rates to a target range of 0% to 0.25%. President Donald Trump called the move “terrific” and “very good news.”... [Read Full Story]
On Thursday, President Trump said he was ‘not concerned’ about the possibility of being exposed to the coronavirus after dining last week with a Brazilian government official who has since tested positive for the disease. ... [Read Full Story]
