Coronavirus cases in US cross 65,000 with more than 1,000 fatalities
Washington: President Donald Trump has approved major disaster declarations on public health for many US states, including worst-hit New York, as the total number of confirmed cases in the country crossed 65,000 mark and more than 1,000 people have died due to the deadly coronavirus.
According to the Johns Hopkins coronavirus tracker, the number of deaths caused by the novel coronavirus in the US rose to 1,031 with 68,572 confirmed cases. The United States has the third highest number of confirmed cases behind China and Italy.
In addition to declaring a national emergency, President Trump has approved major disaster declarations for New York, California, Washington, Iowa, Louisiana, North Carolina, Texas and Florida.
This is probably for the first time in recent memory that over half a dozen states have been approved for major disaster declarations on public health.
Condition continues to deteriorate in New York City, which has emerged as the epicenter of the COVID-19 in the US.
By Tuesday, the number of confirmed cases crossed 30,000 and at least 285 people died. New York was followed by neighbouring New Jersey with 4,402 cases and 62 fatalities. California, with nearly 3,000 cases and 65 deaths is under lockdown.
The State of Washington, which reported the first coronavirus death in the US, has 2,588 confirmed cases and 130 fatalities, followed by Michigan with 2,588 cases and 43 fatalities.
Other major States with more than 1,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases are Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, Louisiana, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Texas and Colorado.
Trump told reporters at the White House that he is doing everything in his power to help New York city pull through this challenge.
It is really by far our biggest problem maybe it will be, maybe it won't be, but there is a lot of good, capable people working on it with us and our teams are working very well with the state representatives, he said.
Trump said that the administration is also doing some very large COVID-19 testings throughout the country. More than 100 million Americans are living under lockdown situation, which is having a devastating impact on the country's economy.
The US Senate and the White House have agreed on a massive USD 2.2 trillion stimulus package.
Among other things, the Senate bill includes USD 350 billion in job retention loans for small businesses with loan forgiveness available for businesses that continue paying their workers.
It includes USD 300 billion in direct cash payments for every American citizen earning less than USD 99,000 per year. That would be USD 3400 very quickly for the typical family of four, he added.
The bill has up to USD 250 billion in expanded unemployment benefits. The average worker who's lost his or her job will receive 100 percent of their salary for up to four full months, he said.
Unlike normal unemployment benefits, independent contractors and the self-employed will be eligible so you have independent contractors and self-employed people will be eligible for this, he said.
According to the Treasury Secretary, Steven Mnuchin, his department will have USD 500 billion that they can use to work with the Federal Reserve for emergency programs that will create up to an additional USD 4 trillion if needed to support American business and American workers in an unprecedented way.
We have been anticipating three months. Hopefully we won't need this for three months. Hopefully this war will be won quicker, but we expect that this is a significant amount of money if needed to cover the economy, Mnuchin said in response to a question.
We're going to take care of the American worker and we're going to take care of these companies that fuelled this country and make the country great. It's not their fault, Trump said.
Responding to a question, Trump said that he would like to open up the economy as soon as possible.
I think there are certain people that would like it not to open so quickly. There are certain people who would like it to do financially poorly because they think that would be very good as far as defeating me at the polls and I don't know if that is so but I do think it is so that a lot of--that there are people in your profession that would like that to happen. I think it is very clear," he said.
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Putin meets Iran's FM Araghchi, says Russia ready to do its best to help bring peace to West Asia
Moscow (PTI): Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Monday met Russian President Vladimir Putin, who hailed the Iranian people for fighting bravely and heroically for their sovereignty and said Moscow is ready to do its best to help bring peace to West Asia as soon as possible.
Araghchi, who held talks with Omani and Pakistani leadership before arriving in Russia, met Putin in St. Petersburg and thanked him for supporting Iran, state-owned TASS news agency reported.
"Russia is ready to do everything in its power to ensure that peace in the Middle East is achieved as soon as possible," Putin said during his meeting with Araghchi, which was also attended by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
Revealing that he received a message from Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei last week, Putin asked Araghchi to convey his "gratitude for this message and best wishes for his health and well-being."
He praised the Iranian people for fighting "bravely and heroically" for their sovereignty, Iran's state-run PRESS TV reported.
"We really hope that, based on the courage and desire for independence, the Iranian people, under the guidance of the new leader, will weather this difficult period of trials and peace will come,” Putin said.
He also stressed that Russia “intends to maintain” its strategic relations with Iran.
Araghchi said that the world witnessed Iran’s strength in countering the US during the recent war, and that the Islamic Republic is a "stable and powerful establishment."
"With their courage, the Iranian people succeeded in resisting the US aggression and will be able to endure it,” he said.
He said that it became clear that Iran has “great friends and allies” like Russia, and conveyed “warmest greetings” from Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei and President Masoud Pezeshkian to the Russian leader.
Araghchi said relations between Moscow and Tehran represent a “strategic partnership at the highest level” and will continue to develop "regardless of circumstances."
"We are grateful to you for the solid and strong positions in support of the Islamic Republic of Iran," he said.
Foreign Minister Lavrov said that the talks between President Putin and the Iranian Foreign Minister were "useful and constructive."
Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov later said that Russia is "ready to provide any good offices, any mediation services that are acceptable to the parties."
"We will be ready to do everything so that ultimately peace ensues, guaranteed peace, and that there is no return to hostilities," Peskov was quoted as saying by TASS.
He was asked how Moscow can assist in future negotiations on the Iranian settlement.
Araghchi arrived in Russia after his whirlwind trip to Islamabad, which, according to him, was “very productive” and involved “good consultations" with Pakistan's Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir, amid uncertainty over the second round of peace talks to resolve the war in West Asia.
"We held good consultations with our friends in Pakistan. The trip was successful. We assessed the outcome of our recent (meetings) and discussed in what direction and under what conditions talks can move on,” Araghchi said in a video posted on his Telegram channel upon his arrival in St Petersburg.
Referring to the second round of talks between the US and Iran to resolve the conflict in West Asia, Araghchi said: "Developments have taken place in the negotiations."
"Despite some progress in earlier rounds, the talks failed to reach their objectives due to the Americans' approach, the excessive demands they made, and the wrong approaches they adopted. Therefore, it was necessary to consult with our friends in Pakistan to review the latest situation,” Iran's official news agency IRNA quoted him as saying.
He said that the trip to Pakistan was a good opportunity to review developments related to the US-Israeli war against Iran, expressing confidence that “these consultations and coordination between the two countries will be highly significant.”
Araghchi arrived at St. Petersburg's Pulkovo Airport early Monday, where he was welcomed by Russian officials and Iran’s ambassador to Russia, Kazem Jalali, the report said.
The first round of peace talks between Iran and the US, held on April 11 and 12, failed to bring the desired result for the parties to the conflict.
The Iranian minister arrived in Islamabad for the second time on Sunday after a short visit to Oman, where he held talks with Sultan Haitham bin Tariq al-Said on security in the Strait of Hormuz and diplomatic efforts to end the Iran-US conflict.
After Araghchi left Pakistan for Oman on Saturday, President Donald Trump announced that US negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner would no longer be going to Islamabad for talks with Iran, contending that Washington held all the cards on the matter.
Trump on Sunday reiterated that the US and Iranian officials can talk by phone for a peace solution to the conflict.
On Tuesday, Trump extended the two-week ceasefire with Iran indefinitely to give Tehran more time to prepare a unified proposal to end the war, just hours before the truce was set to expire.
The war began when the US and Israel jointly attacked Iran on February 28, killing Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and several top commanders. The retaliation by the Islamic Republic extended the war to the entire Gulf region.
