North America

WASHINGTON (AP) — For weeks, the Trump administration played up the dangers of the coronavirus as it sought to convince Americans to disrupt their lives and stay home. Now, as President Donald Trump aims for a swift nationwide reopening, he faces a new challenge: convincing people it’s safe to come out and resume their normal lives.

It’s a defining question for a cloistered nation — and a political imperative for Trump, whose reelection likely rides on the pace of an economic rebound.

BOSTON (AP) — As she treated patient after patient infected with the coronavirus at a Veterans Affairs medical center in New York City, Heather Espinal saw stark warning signs.

So many nurses had called in sick, she said, that the Bronx facility was woefully understaffed. It lacked specially equipped rooms for infected patients, she said, and didn’t have enough masks, gloves and other protective gear to guard against the spread of the highly contagious disease.

NEW YORK, Apr 22 (APP): A potential second wave of the coronavirus late in the year would likely be more deadly, as it would overlap with flu season, the head of US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Robert Redfield, has warned.

“There’s a possibility that the assault of the virus on our nation next winter will actually be even more difficult than the one we just went through,” Redfield said in an interview with The Washington Pot Post. “And when I’ve said this to others, they kind of put their head back, they don’t understand what I mean.”

UNITED NATIONS, Apr 22 (APP): UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres Wednesday called on the world community to respond to the immediate crisis caused by the ‘dreadful’ new coronavirus in a way that also solves the climate crisis.

In a special message for the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, the UN chief, while urging everyone to “work together to save lives, ease suffering and lessen the shattering economic and social consequence” from COVID-19’s impact, also said that climate disruption is approaching “a point of no return”, and a “deep emergency” that long predates the pandemic.

Washington, Apr 22 (PTI) The World Health Organization has become a tool of the "Chinese propaganda", the Trump administration has alleged, asserting that the global health agency has lost all its credibility during the ongoing coronavirus crisis.

US President Donald Trump recently announced he would put a hold on America's funding to the World Health Organization (WHO), accusing the UN health body of becoming "China-centric" during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

OTTAWA, April 22 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Canadian police on Tuesday raised the death toll from a weekend mass shooting in Nova Scotia province from 18 to 23, saying remains were discovered in burnt out homes and vehicles.

“We believe there to be 23 victims, including a 17-year-old. All other victims are adults, both men and women, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said in a statement.

WASHINGTON, April 22 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The US Senate approved a bipartisan, nearly half-trillion-dollar relief package, with funding earmarked for devastated small businesses, overwhelmed hospitals, and a ramp-up of testing nationwide during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The essential job-saving measure, which passed by unanimous consent after more than a week of negotiations between Democrats, Republicans and the White House, now heads to the House of Representatives where a vote could occur as early as Thursday.

JEFFERSON CITY (Missouri, US), April 22 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The US state of Missouri sued China’s leadership over the COVID-19 coronavirus, seeking damages over what it described as deliberate deception and insufficient action to stop the pandemic.

The first-of-a-kind state lawsuit comes amid calls in Congress to punish China and a campaign by President Donald Trump to focus on Beijing’s role, amid criticism of his own handling of the crisis.

UNITED NATIONS, April 22 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The UN General Assembly has demanded equal access for any future COVID-19 vaccine but its seeming unanimity was a fluke.

The United States in fact opposed the resolution but acted too late to stop it, diplomats say.

The 193 members of the General Assembly adopted by consensus a resolution led by Mexico that calls for “equitable, efficient and timely” access to any vaccine developed to fight the pandemic.

22 April 2020; AFP: President Donald Trump partially blocked immigration to the United States "to protect American workers" from the economic shock of the coronavirus, as the United Nations warned the world was facing "a humanitarian catastrophe".

The UN alarm bell came as nations scrambled to fight the virus -- which has killed 177,000 people and infected more than 2.5 million -- as well as desperately seek ways to limit the vast damage inflicted on the global economy.