This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2020/may/10/coronavirus-us-latest-news-updates-death-toll-donald-trump-russia-anthony-fauci-quarantine
The article has changed 20 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 2 | Version 3 |
|---|---|
| Coronavirus US live: death toll nears 80,000 as Trump rages over Russia | Coronavirus US live: death toll nears 80,000 as Trump rages over Russia |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| Fauci and two other White House task force members to self-quarantine as president continues push for states to re-open | Fauci and two other White House task force members to self-quarantine as president continues push for states to re-open |
| Precautions against Covid-19 infection have been stepped up at the White House but are hampered by the cramped and poorly ventilated conditions in the West Wing, Kevin Hassett, a special adviser to Donald Trump on the pandemic response, said on Sunday. | |
| Speaking on CNN’s State of the Union, Hassett said extra measures were being taken after two White House staffers, including Katie Miller, the press secretary to vice-president Mike Pence and wife of senior policy adviser Stephen Miller, tested positive for the virus. | |
| “The West Wing, even with all the testing in the world and the best medical team on Earth, is a relatively cramped place,” Hassett said. He added: “There are things that have to happen in that West Wing even though the building is a little old and poorly ventilated.” | |
| Hassett emphasised that anyone coming into contact with Trump has to have tested negative in advance. | |
| “There’s not a lot of evidence that you can pass the virus if you test negative,” he said. | |
| But Trump has come under criticism in recent days for ostentatiously failing to wear a mask in White House meetings. He even toured a mask-making factory in Arizona without wearing a mask. | |
| Hassett said he himself did wear a mask when necessary. | |
| On the wider pandemic picture, Hassett said it was “a scary time for everybody. We’ve got moving on 80,000 dead and more than 30m getting unemployment benefits - it’s a stressful time for all Americans”. | |
| He warned that unemployed could exceed 20% of the US workforce by late summer, after which he predicted it would start to decline amid a strong economic rebound. | |
| Treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin has been talking to Fox News Sunday about the Trump administration’s attempts to reopen and restart the stalled US economy, and whether there will be another huge stimulus bill. Democrats who control the House want one of those but the White House doesn’t – that’s the short version. | |
| The White House is “absolutely pushing for a payroll tax cut”, Mnuchin says. Most observers think that is a non-starter, because Democrats won’t let it. Payroll taxes, meaning deductions from regular paychecks, include funds for Social Security and Medicare, vital social benefits. | |
| Here’s a taste of how BusinessInsider.com explains things: | |
| A payroll tax cut could free up more cash for employees and employers. If Social Security and Medicare taxes aren’t taken out of paychecks, workers and businesses would take home a little more money with each paycheck. The idea is that workers benefiting from the cut would spend more money, which could help curb a recession. It could give employers more money, which could reduce the need to lay off employees. | |
| But here’s what it says would happen: | |
| The tax cut would disproportionately give more money to people with higher incomes, who typically have more savings to fall back on during a crisis like the coronavirus pandemic. A payroll tax cut would also do nothing to help those who lost their jobs because of the crisis, especially lower-income people in industries like tourism, hospitality, and dining that have been especially hit hard by the pandemic and decline in demand from consumers. | |
| Here’s our business editor, Dominic Rushe, on the economic crisis: | |
| After Elon Musk sued local authorities in California and threatened to move Tesla’s HQ to Texas or Nevada, over attempts to contain the coronavirus outbreak, one Democratic state politician had a blunt message for the electronic car magnate: “F*ck Elon Musk.” | After Elon Musk sued local authorities in California and threatened to move Tesla’s HQ to Texas or Nevada, over attempts to contain the coronavirus outbreak, one Democratic state politician had a blunt message for the electronic car magnate: “F*ck Elon Musk.” |
| Lorena S Gonzalez from San Diego, who describes herself on Twitter as a “Mama, Labor Leader turned CA Assemblywoman [and] Progressive Latina Democrat”, tweeted the pithy rebuke on Saturday night, earning predictable press attention. She did not immediately comment further. | Lorena S Gonzalez from San Diego, who describes herself on Twitter as a “Mama, Labor Leader turned CA Assemblywoman [and] Progressive Latina Democrat”, tweeted the pithy rebuke on Saturday night, earning predictable press attention. She did not immediately comment further. |
| The fight is all about state regulations versus county regulations, and Reuters reported it thus: | The fight is all about state regulations versus county regulations, and Reuters reported it thus: |
| Musk, of course, was free with his tweeted comments, blasting “the unelected and ignorant ‘Interim Health Officer’ of Alameda” for he said “acting contrary to the Governor, the President, our Constitutional freedoms & just plain common sense!” | Musk, of course, was free with his tweeted comments, blasting “the unelected and ignorant ‘Interim Health Officer’ of Alameda” for he said “acting contrary to the Governor, the President, our Constitutional freedoms & just plain common sense!” |
| According to CNBC the official in question, Erica Pan, told an online town hall on Friday “even though California had relaxed Covid-19 restrictions at the state level, legally, ‘If there are local orders, whichever is stricter prevails.’ | According to CNBC the official in question, Erica Pan, told an online town hall on Friday “even though California had relaxed Covid-19 restrictions at the state level, legally, ‘If there are local orders, whichever is stricter prevails.’ |
| “She added that currently, Alameda county – where the Fremont car factory is based – is ‘still a little bit stricter’ than the state in its approach to protecting public health amid an outbreak of the novel coronavirus. | “She added that currently, Alameda county – where the Fremont car factory is based – is ‘still a little bit stricter’ than the state in its approach to protecting public health amid an outbreak of the novel coronavirus. |
| CNBC quoted Pan as saying of Tesla: “We have not given the green light. We have been working with them looking at some of their safety plans. But no, we have not said that it is appropriate to move forward.” | CNBC quoted Pan as saying of Tesla: “We have not given the green light. We have been working with them looking at some of their safety plans. But no, we have not said that it is appropriate to move forward.” |
| “Frankly, this is the final straw,” Musk responded. “Tesla will now move its HQ and future programs to Texas/Nevada immediately. If we even retain Fremont manufacturing activity at all, it will be dependen[t] on how Tesla is treated in the future. Tesla is the last carmaker left in [California].” | “Frankly, this is the final straw,” Musk responded. “Tesla will now move its HQ and future programs to Texas/Nevada immediately. If we even retain Fremont manufacturing activity at all, it will be dependen[t] on how Tesla is treated in the future. Tesla is the last carmaker left in [California].” |
| Musk also claimed “Tesla knows far more about what needs to be done to be safe through our Tesla China factory experience than an (unelected) interim junior official in Alameda County”. | Musk also claimed “Tesla knows far more about what needs to be done to be safe through our Tesla China factory experience than an (unelected) interim junior official in Alameda County”. |
| “I’m not messing around,” the billionaire insisted. “Absurd [and] medically irrational behavior in violation of constitutional civil liberties, moreover by unelected county officials with no accountability, needs to stop.” | “I’m not messing around,” the billionaire insisted. “Absurd [and] medically irrational behavior in violation of constitutional civil liberties, moreover by unelected county officials with no accountability, needs to stop.” |
| This is from Paula Reid of CBS, a reporter who has challenged Donald Trump publicly recently and gained a certain amount of fame as a result: | This is from Paula Reid of CBS, a reporter who has challenged Donald Trump publicly recently and gained a certain amount of fame as a result: |
| Dr Anthony Fauci, 79, is the top US public health expert whose profile has risen steeply during the coronavirus crisis and who we learned last night will now enter a form of quarantine and work remotely due to exposure to a White House staffer who tested positive for Covid-19. | Dr Anthony Fauci, 79, is the top US public health expert whose profile has risen steeply during the coronavirus crisis and who we learned last night will now enter a form of quarantine and work remotely due to exposure to a White House staffer who tested positive for Covid-19. |
| Drs Stephen Hahn and Robert Redfield, other senior health advisers, are also in isolation. | Drs Stephen Hahn and Robert Redfield, other senior health advisers, are also in isolation. |
| Tony Blair has waded into the row over China’s role in exacerbating the severity of the coronavirus pandemic, saying the country had “serious questions to answer” but urging Europe and the US to keep lines of cooperation open. | Tony Blair has waded into the row over China’s role in exacerbating the severity of the coronavirus pandemic, saying the country had “serious questions to answer” but urging Europe and the US to keep lines of cooperation open. |
| The former UK prime minister tells CNN’s Fareed Zakaria on Sunday that in what he calls the “new world order” forced by coronavirus, co-operation between nation states and regions of the world will be all the more important. | The former UK prime minister tells CNN’s Fareed Zakaria on Sunday that in what he calls the “new world order” forced by coronavirus, co-operation between nation states and regions of the world will be all the more important. |
| “The reflation of our own economies is obviously going to work better if there’s global concerted action around the economy,” Blair says. | “The reflation of our own economies is obviously going to work better if there’s global concerted action around the economy,” Blair says. |
| Taking a starkly different line to Donald Trump, who has become increasingly belligerent towards China and has repeated unproven theories that the disease originated in a Chinese laboratory, Blair cautions against any attempt to break ties with Beijing. | Taking a starkly different line to Donald Trump, who has become increasingly belligerent towards China and has repeated unproven theories that the disease originated in a Chinese laboratory, Blair cautions against any attempt to break ties with Beijing. |
| “If you think of the big issues that we face today, whether it’s on the economy or on issues like climate or indeed dealing with this global pandemic, how do you deal with it unless you have some space for cooperation with China?” | “If you think of the big issues that we face today, whether it’s on the economy or on issues like climate or indeed dealing with this global pandemic, how do you deal with it unless you have some space for cooperation with China?” |
| Here’s the president’s Sunday morning coronavirus tweet, or one of them: | Here’s the president’s Sunday morning coronavirus tweet, or one of them: |
| Suffice to say, whether or not the president is “getting great marks” for how the coronavirus outbreak has been handled rather depends on who is doing the judging, and Trump’s heralding of his restrictions (not outright ban) on travel from China relatively early in the outbreak is subject to all sorts of caveats. | Suffice to say, whether or not the president is “getting great marks” for how the coronavirus outbreak has been handled rather depends on who is doing the judging, and Trump’s heralding of his restrictions (not outright ban) on travel from China relatively early in the outbreak is subject to all sorts of caveats. |
| The president’s Sunday morning tweet, or one of them: | The president’s Sunday morning tweet, or one of them: |
| Pulitzers were handed out for work on the Russia investigation. Washington Post editor Marty Baron, for one, is not the kind of chap you’d think would be inclined to give his back. Impeachment (which was all about Ukraine, as it happens) didn’t feature in this year’s list, though. | Pulitzers were handed out for work on the Russia investigation. Washington Post editor Marty Baron, for one, is not the kind of chap you’d think would be inclined to give his back. Impeachment (which was all about Ukraine, as it happens) didn’t feature in this year’s list, though. |
| Anyway, here’s some context, if context is needed, for the president’s fixation with the Russia investigation – which ended last spring, remember, with the publication of the Mueller report. | Anyway, here’s some context, if context is needed, for the president’s fixation with the Russia investigation – which ended last spring, remember, with the publication of the Mueller report. |
| On Thursday the justice department announced it was dropping its case against Michael Flynn, the retired general who was Trump’s first national security adviser, was fired for lying to the vice-president and then pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about conversations with the Russian ambassador and co-operated with special counsel Robert Mueller, before changing his mind, seeking to withdraw his plea and, it seems, avoiding sentencing thanks to attorney general William Barr. | On Thursday the justice department announced it was dropping its case against Michael Flynn, the retired general who was Trump’s first national security adviser, was fired for lying to the vice-president and then pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about conversations with the Russian ambassador and co-operated with special counsel Robert Mueller, before changing his mind, seeking to withdraw his plea and, it seems, avoiding sentencing thanks to attorney general William Barr. |
| Breath. | Breath. |
| Here’s what Yahoo News said Barack Obama had to say about it all in a leaked tape recording: | Here’s what Yahoo News said Barack Obama had to say about it all in a leaked tape recording: |
| …and welcome to another day of coverage of the coronavirus outbreak in the US, and of course the politics of and around it. | …and welcome to another day of coverage of the coronavirus outbreak in the US, and of course the politics of and around it. |
| It’s a fine – if surprisingly cold – day in New York, still the epicenter of the outbreak in the US although as Andrew Cuomo said on Saturday, things are improving if still, of course, vastly concerning. Here are the Johns Hopkins figures: | It’s a fine – if surprisingly cold – day in New York, still the epicenter of the outbreak in the US although as Andrew Cuomo said on Saturday, things are improving if still, of course, vastly concerning. Here are the Johns Hopkins figures: |
| US cases: 1,309,373 | US cases: 1,309,373 |
| US deaths: 78,789 | US deaths: 78,789 |
| New York cases: 333,122 | New York cases: 333,122 |
| New York deaths: 26,612 | New York deaths: 26,612 |
| Other states, of course, are hard-hit and some are being hit harder by the day. Some, many more than half the 50, are attempting various forms of economic reopening. Here’s southern bureau chief Oliver Laughland’s latest report from Biloxi, Mississippi: | Other states, of course, are hard-hit and some are being hit harder by the day. Some, many more than half the 50, are attempting various forms of economic reopening. Here’s southern bureau chief Oliver Laughland’s latest report from Biloxi, Mississippi: |
| At the White House, of course, Donald Trump continues to push such reopening moves, while not lashing out at political enemies. | At the White House, of course, Donald Trump continues to push such reopening moves, while not lashing out at political enemies. |
| Once again, there is no White House briefing, coronavirus task force or otherwise, on the schedule today. That might in part be because the task force is now committed to working remotely, because the virus has been spreading through the White House, very close to the president and his No2, Vice-President Mike Pence. | Once again, there is no White House briefing, coronavirus task force or otherwise, on the schedule today. That might in part be because the task force is now committed to working remotely, because the virus has been spreading through the White House, very close to the president and his No2, Vice-President Mike Pence. |
| Trump last communicated with the public via an absolute box barrage of retweets about Russia, James Comey, Michael Flynn, Adam Schiff and Robert Mueller. So far, so much like the rest of the last three years. The president wants the country to move on – but does he? | Trump last communicated with the public via an absolute box barrage of retweets about Russia, James Comey, Michael Flynn, Adam Schiff and Robert Mueller. So far, so much like the rest of the last three years. The president wants the country to move on – but does he? |
| Here’s something that might’ve contributed to the president’s mood, which has developed this morning. | Here’s something that might’ve contributed to the president’s mood, which has developed this morning. |
| More to come, of course. Here’s some more reading in the meantime, from our columnist Robert Reich and under one of the more stark headlines I’ve ever written: | More to come, of course. Here’s some more reading in the meantime, from our columnist Robert Reich and under one of the more stark headlines I’ve ever written: |