April 17, 2020 4:01 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The ranks of America’s unemployed are swelling toward Great Depression-era levels. And President Trump is reacting to the pressure on the economy by outlining a phased approach to reopening businesses in parts of the country where the coronavirus is being brought under control. The government says the crisis has thrown at least 22 million Americans out of work in just four weeks – easily the worst stretch of U.S. job losses on record. The losses translate to about 1 in 7 workers. Meanwhile grim economic data from China, which began reopening offices and factories last month, suggest recovery may be longer and harder than thought.
April 17, 2020 3:59 am
BANGKOK (AP) – Shares have advanced in Asia after China’s economic growth data, while bleak, was better than expected. The strong open Friday followed an overnight rally on Wall Street powered by buying of Amazon, health care stocks and other market niches that are thriving in the coronavirus crunch. China reported its economy contracted 6.8% in January-March as the country battled the coronavirus. But that was not as bad as the double-digit declines some analysts had reckoned on. The S&P 500 rose 0.6% after a government report showed that 5.2 million Americans filed for unemployment benefits last week as layoffs continue to sweep the nation. Markets were expecting even worse, which helped to limit the losses.
April 17, 2020 3:58 am
The central Chinese city of Wuhan has raised its number of COVID-19 fatalities by 1,290, with state media saying the undercount had been due to the insufficient admission capabilities at overwhelmed medical facilities at the peak of the outbreak. Wuhan’s revised death toll of 3,869 is the most in China. Numbers of total cases in the city of 11 million were also raised by 325 to 50,333, accounting for about two-thirds of China’s total 82,367 announced cases. Questions have long swirled around the accuracy of China’s case reporting, with Wuhan in particular going several days in January without reporting new cases or deaths.
April 17, 2020 3:56 am
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) – Tests conducted after a resident of a West Virginia University dormitory complex contracted the new coronavirus show a second resident also has COVID-19. The Monongalia County Health Department says 108 students and workers were tested after the university was told a resident of the Evansdale Residential Complex was confirmed to have the virus. The second individual who tested positive is in self-isolation. Other residents of the complex, known as the Towers, have been released from self-quarantine now that the tests are complete.
April 16, 2020 10:47 am
NEW YORK (AP) – Have you liked or commented on a Facebook post about the COVID-19 pandemic that turned out to be a hoax? The social media company says it’s going to notify users if they liked, reacted or commented on harmful misinformation removed from Facebook’s news feed. Facebook will then direct those users to information about virus myths debunked by the World Health Organization. Facebook says people will start seeing these warning messages in the coming weeks. Conspiracy theories about the origin of the virus and the vaccines being developed to prevent it still pop up daily on social media platforms.
April 16, 2020 8:49 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The wave of layoffs that has engulfed the U.S. economy since the coronavirus struck caused 5.2 million more people to seek unemployment benefits last week. Roughly 22 million have sought jobless benefits in the past month – easily the worst stretch of U.S. job losses on record. All told, roughly nearly 12 million people are now receiving unemployment checks, roughly matching the peak reached in January 2010, shortly after the Great Recession officially ended.
April 16, 2020 7:50 am
BANGKOK (AP) – Japan’s prime minister is planning to expand a state of emergency to the entire country from just Tokyo and other urban areas as the coronavirus continues to spread. Shinzo Abe convened a meeting of experts Thursday to receive approval for the proclamation. Abe declared a state of emergency on April 7 that covers just Tokyo and six other prefectures deemed at highest risk. In other developments in Asia, China denied allegations that the pandemic originated in a laboratory where contagious samples were stored. South Korea’s ruling party won parliamentary elections with a high turnout despite the virus.
April 16, 2020 4:20 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump is citing the coronavirus outbreak as he threatens unprecedented action- adjourning both houses of Congress – to entice the Senate to approve more of his nominees. In recent years, Congress has refused to fully adjourn during most breaks precisely to prevent the president from making recess appointments. Little or no business is conducted in such “pro-forma sessions,” but they give members of both chambers of Congress the chance to go back home without going into recess. It’s a process lawmakers also employed to thwart President Barack Obama’s nominees. Trump says he’s had enough.
April 16, 2020 4:18 am
Ten nurses have been suspended from their jobs at a Santa Monica, California, hospital after refusing to care for COVID-19 patients without being provided protective N95 face masks. One of those nurses, Mike Gulick, says the decision was heart-wrenching, but after a colleague tested positive for the infection, he felt he had to take a stand. Other nurses Tuesday protested what they said was inadequate personal protective equipment at a hospital in Fresno, California, where 10 nurses have tested positive for the new coronavirus, which causes COVID-19.
April 16, 2020 4:14 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – New White House guidelines outline a phased approach to restoring normal commerce and services, but only for places with strong testing and seeing a decrease in COVID-19 cases. President Donald Trump unveiled his administration’s plans to ease social distancing requirements on a call Thursday with the nation’s governors. The new guidelines are aimed at clearing the way for an easing of restrictions in areas with low transmission of the coronavirus, while keeping them in place in harder-hit places. Places with declining infections and strong testing would begin a three-phased gradual reopening of businesses and schools, with each phase lasting at least 14 days.
