As the global death of Covid-19 nears 400,000, U.S. health officials are keeping a close eye on caseloads and hospitalization rates as states continue to relax their lockdown measures and reopen different types of businesses.
U.S. cases have been climbing since Memorial Day, but New York City this week reached an optimistic milestone: on Friday, the city, the epicenter of the U.S. outbreak, reported zero coronavirus deaths for the day. That hasn’t happened since March. NYC is slated to move into its first phase of reopening on Monday.
Still, the virus continues to spread quickly in parts of Latin America and Eastern Europe, according to the World Health Organization. Brazil’s caseload and death rate are particularly stark, even as Reuters reports that President Jair Bolsonaro threatened to pull his country out of the WHO.
This is CNBC’s live blog covering all the latest news on the coronavirus outbreak. This blog will be updated throughout the day as the news breaks.
- Global cases: More than 6.78 million
- Global deaths: At least 396,100
- U.S. cases: More than 1.9 million
- U.S. deaths: At least 109,200
The data above was compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
Florida Senator Rick Scott accuses China of ‘sabotage’ in vaccine race
9:53 a.m. BST — Florida Senator Rick Scott (R, FL) accused China of sabotaging vaccine development in the race for a cure for the coronavirus during an televised interview with the BBC on Sunday.
“We have got to get this vaccine done. Unfortunately we have evidence that communist China is trying to sabotage us or slow it down … China does not want us … to do it first, they have decided to be an adversary to Americans and I think to democracy around the world.”
Scott did not elaborate on the evidence behind his claim, but credited the U.S. intelligence community for the information.
“This vaccine is really important to all of us getting our economy going again. What I really believe is whether England does it first or we do it first, we are going to share. Communist China, they are not going to share,” he said.
Some lawmakers want to send American families up to $10,000 per month
5:57 p.m. ET — Several lawmakers on Capitol Hill have come up with a generous proposal: sending individuals $2,000 per month to help them weather the coronavirus pandemic.
The bill – put forward by Sens. Kamala Harris, D-Calif.; Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Ed Markey, D-Mass. – would include as much as $4,000 per couple, plus $2,000 for up to three children. In total, families could receive up to $10,000 per month.
The money would be sent for as long as the pandemic lasts. The idea is a spin on the concept of universal basic income, or the idea of indefinitely providing people with a guaranteed monthly amount of income.
It’s an idea that Andrew Yang supported during his presidential campaign. This week, he said it’s even more necessary now in light of the coronavirus pandemic.
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