USA

WASHINGTON (AP) — Preparations for the 2020 general election debates are proceeding “according to schedule” despite the coronavirus outbreak.

The nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates, which has organized all general election debates since 1988, said in a statement Tuesday that it “will continue to monitor and assess developments regarding public health and safety as debate planning proceeds.”

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A massive coronavirus outbreak that has sickened nearly 4,000 inmates in Ohio has highlighted the dangers lurking in the nation’s correctional facilities during the pandemic and what system-wide testing reveals about the scope of infections behind prison walls.

The state ordered testing in prisons earlier this month as infections began to streak through guards, and this week the spike sent Ohio’s broader tally of virus cases to nearly 14,000, including more than 550 deaths and over 2,600 hospitalizations.

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Health officials in Wisconsin said they have identified at least seven people who may have contracted the coronavirus from participating in the April 7 election, the first such cases following in-person voting that was held despite widespread concern about the public health risks.

The infections involve six voters and one poll worker in Milwaukee, where difficulty finding poll workers forced the city to pare nearly 200 voting locations back to just five, and where voters — some in masks, some with no protection — were forced to wait in long lines for hours.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Congress is sprinting to approve the next coronavirus aid package, a $483 billion deal backed by the White House to replenish a small-business payroll fund and pump more money into hospitals and testing programs.

President Donald Trump is urging swift passage this week. The Senate approved the bill Tuesday and the House planned a vote on Thursday.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump announced what he described as a “temporary suspension of immigration into the United States.” But the executive order would bar only those seeking permanent residency, not temporary workers.

Trump said Tuesday he would be placing a 60-day pause on the issuance of green cards in an effort to limit competition for jobs in a U.S. economy wrecked by the coronavirus. The order would include “certain exemptions,” he said, but he declined to outlined them, noting the order was still being crafted.

ATLANTA (AP) — Spain called off the Running of the Bulls in July, the U.S. scrapped the national spelling bee in June and Germany canceled Oktoberfest five months away, making it clear Tuesday that the effort to beat back the coronavirus and return to normal could be a long and dispiriting process.

Amid growing impatience over the shutdowns that have thrown tens of millions out of work, European countries continued to reopen in stages, while in the U.S., one state after another — mostly ones led by Republican governors — began taking steps to get back to business.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Reopening the U.S. economy is complicated by some troubling scientific questions about the new coronavirus that go beyond the logistics of whether enough tests are available.

In an ideal world, we’d get vaccinated and then get back to normal. But, despite unprecedented efforts, no vaccine will be ready any time soon.

“We’re all going to be wearing masks for a while,” Dr. Rochelle Walensky, infectious diseases chief at Massachusetts General Hospital, predicted during a podcast with the Journal of the American Medical Association.

21 April 2020; MEMO: US President Donald Trump has acknowledged that his administration is considering stopping all imports of crude oil from Saudi Arabia in an effort to save the American oil industry.

When asked by reporters at his daily press conference about requests from Republican lawmakers to block Saudi oil shipments, Trump replied, “Well, I’ll look at it.” He said that he had heard of the proposal before the media session. “We certainly have plenty of oil, so I’ll take a look at it,” he added.

New York, Apr 21 (PTI) New York city, the financial capital of the world that has emerged as the new epicenter of the coronavirus in the US, is forming a new response team to address the growing incidents of harassment and discrimination against Asian-Americans in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

More than 14,000 people have died in the city and over 200,000 people have contracted the deadly virus. The number of the coronavirus cases in the US has gone up to 787,370, while over 35,000 people have died from the disease.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said on Tuesday he thinks Republicans and Democrats have agreed on a fourth coronavirus spending bill, and that the Trump administration has also agreed to a national testing strategy.

“I believe we have a deal, and I believe we will pass it this afternoon at 4 p.m. (2000 GMT),” he told CNN. Schumer added that $125 billion of small business funds will go exclusively to the unbanked and ‘mom and pop’ stores and that hospitals will receive another $75 billion.