Coronavirus death toll crosses 16,000 in US, infected cases surge past 460,000
Washington: The coronavirus pandemic has claimed over 16,000 lives and infected over 460,000 people in the US, devastating the country's economy and rendering a record 16 million workers jobless in just three weeks.
Of this, the New York metropolitan area, comprising the adjoining New Jersey and Connecticut, alone account for more than 9,000 and 220,000 cases respectively.
Globally, over 1.5 million people have been infected so far by the coronavirus and the fatalities stands at nearly 95,000. The United States accounts for nearly 30 per cent of the all the COVID-19 positive cases and over 17 per cent of all fatalities.
By Thursday, nearly all of America -- 97 per cent of the 220 million population -- are under stay-at-home order. President Donald Trump has notified major disaster declaration for almost all the 50 States.
In New York City, which is considered the financial capital of the world and has one of the best health facilities, more than 800 deaths were reported in one day alone, taking the fatalities to a record 7,067.
New York Governor Andrew Cumo, however, asserted that COVID-19 now appears to have reached its peak in the city, where the number of new patients to hospitals have started coming down.
Strict enforcement of mitigation measures including maintaining social distancing, he said, is having an impact nationwide.
"As such they now are projecting far less death -- around 60,000 -- due to coronavirus than earlier projections of between one and two lakhs," he said.
It looks like we're at the lower end of the curb in terms of death, which is a terrible word... a terrible, dark word that we've experienced like nobody's ever seen before in this country. We have numbers that are terrible, Trump told reporters during his daily White House press conference on coronavirus.
It is, in the sense of deaths, a bad week. In fact, every day there seems to be a record number of deaths compared to the day before. In fact, New York today had again another record of -- I think the city itself had about 820-plus deaths, said Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and a lead member of the White House Task Force on Coronavirus.
At the same time as we are seeing the increase in deaths, we are seeing rather dramatic decrease in the need for hospitalizations like I think yesterday was something like 200 new hospitalizations and it's been as high as 1,400 at any given time. So that is going in the right direction, Fauci said.
The deadly disease, which has forced people to stay standstill, has brought the American economy to standstill.
The air flight traffic has dropped by 96 percent and in just three weeks alone 6.6 million Americans have applied for unemployment benefits, a figure which reflects on the dire straight of the US economy.
The latest unemployment figures reflect that the USD 2 trillion relief package has not worked so far. But Trump exuded confidence that the economy is going to bounce back in the coming months.
I think the economy is going to do very well... i think our country, from an economic standpoint, will end up being stronger than ever. We have tremendous stimulus. We have tremendous stimulus plans. We have things in the works that are going to really, I think, fire the country, he asserted.
What's going to happen is we're going to have a big bounce rather than a small balance. But we will be back and I think, honestly, I think our country is going to be back from an economic standpoint, he said in response to a question.
In an interview webcast by the Brookings Institute, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said the country needs to have a plan nationally for reopening the economy.
We all want it to happen as quickly as possible, he said.
In an interview to CNBC, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the economy could be ready to reopen by the end of May as soon as the president feels comfortable with the medical issues.
We are going to be opening up weekend opening very, very, very, very soon I hope. Together our people are writing one of the most noble chapters in the proud history of our nation, Trump told reporters at the White House.
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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.
