U.S.’ virus deaths near 100,000
Illnesses can spike again, WHO warns
NEW YORK — The United States’ official death toll from the coronavirus closed in on 100,000, even as a top official at the World Health Organization cautioned Tuesday that countries could face another peak of cases ahead of a presumed second wave of infections months from now.
“We cannot make assumptions that just because the disease is on the way down now that it’s going to keep going down,” Mike Ryan, head of the WHO’s health emergencies program, told reporters during a briefing Tuesday.
“The disease can jump up at any time,” he said.
In the U.S. crowds flooded to newly reopened beaches and other public spaces over Memorial Day weekend, even as the virus claimed more than 2,000 lives.
At a club in Houston, dozens of people splashed around the pool and sipped drinks on the patio. In North Carolina, thousands packed the stands shoulder-to-shoulder on opening night of a speedway, where masks were the exception.
In Daytona Beach, Fla., hundreds of people danced in the street and on top of cars near the boardwalk. In Maryland, visitors crammed the boardwalk at Ocean City.
And in Missouri, vacationers flocked to the Lake of the Ozarks reservoir, packing pools and outdoor bars in the area as they flouted social distancing guidelines.
After images of the partyers at the Lake of the Ozarks went viral over the weekend — including a pool party at Backwater Jack’s that featured the theme “Zero Ducks Given” — St. Louis County officials issued a travel advisory, calling the scenes an “international example of bad judgment.”
More than 1.5 million people passed through U.S. airports during Memorial Day weekend, a significant increase from recent weeks but less than 13% of air travel during the same period last year. The number of travelers Thursday and Monday also topped 300,000. It has been more than two months since federal workers last screened that volume of travelers.
On April 10, President Donald Trump said 100,000 deaths was not a number the country would see. “I think we’ll be substantially under that number,” he said then. Ten days later: “We’re going toward 50- or 60,000 people.” Ten days after that: “We’re probably heading to 60,000, 70,000.”
Though critics have said the toll shot up because he was slow to respond, he contended Tuesday that it could have been 25 times higher without his actions.
He tweeted Tuesday to “all the political hacks out there” that without his leadership the lives lost would be far worse than the “100,000 plus that looks like will be the number.”
NEXT RELIEF BILL
Deadlocked over the next big coronavirus relief bill, Congress is shifting its attention to a more modest overhaul of small-business aid in hopes of helping employers reopen shops and survive the pandemic.
Bipartisan legislation that would give small employers more time to take advantage of federal subsidies for payroll and other costs is expected to pass in the House this week, as lawmakers return to Washington for an abbreviated two-day session.
Yet absent from the agenda is formal talks between congressional leaders on the next “phase” of the federal coronavirus response. Democrats have already pushed a $3 trillion-plus measure through the House, but negotiations with the GOP-controlled Senate and White House have yet to begin.
“We can’t keep propping up the economy forever,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday in Lexington. It was one of his first public appearances in his home state of Kentucky since mid-March because of the pandemic.
“The ultimate solution is to begin to get back to normal,” he said. “There are three things that are essential to have full normalcy — testing, treatment and vaccine.”
Senate Republicans are divided on the next steps and wary of another sprawling negotiation where Democrats and the White House call the shots. They are also split on a central element — how much aid to provide state and local governments and other coronavirus response after earlier relief bills totaled almost $3 trillion.
PROGRAM TWEAKS
Even as they hit “pause” on a larger bill, Republicans are enthusiastic about improving The Paycheck Protection Program, which was established in March under the $2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act and was replenished last month. All told, Congress has provided about $660 billion for the program.
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., a key architect of the aid, said in an interview that the program has shifted from one that was intended to keep paychecks flowing during the shutdown to a bridge to help businesses pay workers as they reopen — in many cases, at less than full capacity.
“It’s taken on a different level of importance now,” Rubio said. “The program has evolved from simply keeping people from getting unemployed to actually helping rehire people as these businesses open up but the cash flow lags.”
The House bill would provide a 24-week window to spend Paycheck Protection Program funds and would eliminate a requirement that 75% of the forgivable loans be used for payroll costs. The goal is to give business more flexibility to pay rent and other overhead costs such as installing protective equipment.
Under the original program, businesses are required to spend their loan money within the eight-week window to have their loans forgiven. That deadline is fast approaching. Without forgiveness, they would face a debt burden that, for many, would be hard to bear in a struggling economy.
But the eight-week window has created a dilemma, particularly for restaurants. Under the law, they were required to rehire all their laid-off workers despite being closed or limited to takeout and delivery. Many restaurant owners feared that they would use up their loan money before being allowed to reopen, or reopening with reduced revenue due to social distancing requirements.
OUT OF SESSION
The House’s return to Washington for voting today comes after Senate Republicans — who are on recess after spending the past three weeks in Washington — have been knocking the decision by top Democrats to largely stay out of session during the pandemic.
House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy’s office announced that it was filing a lawsuit Tuesday against the new system of proxy voting. Approved by House Democrats earlier this month, the firstof-its-kind rules change will be in practice this week as dozens of lawmakers sign up to have another vote on their behalf so they can avoid travel to Washington. Republicans say it is unconstitutional.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called the lawsuit a “sad stunt” as the nation’s virus-related death toll approaches 100,000.
It appears the House could be out of session for much of June, as well. The House, which has more than four times as many members as the 100-person Senate, is operating under the Capitol physician’s guidance, as Washington, D.C., remains under stay-home orders.
Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said there isn’t much legislation ready for floor votes, and committees are just beginning to write must-pass legislation like agency budget bills, the annual defense policy measure and a major reauthorization of water projects.
In the meantime, Demoeverything crats are focused on touting the more than $3 trillion measure that they passed earlier this month, a more than 1,800-page measure crafted in response to Pelosi’s admonition that they “go big” in the response.
Republicans and the White House have dismissed the bill as a liberal wish list.
One idea gaining steam among Republicans — pushed by Rep. Kevin Brady of Texas and Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio — would deliver a bonus to unemployed people who return to their jobs. It’s discussed as a replacement for the $600 per week supplemental unemployment benefit that expires July 31.
“It’s something we’re looking at very carefully,” said White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow. He called the jobless aid “a major disincentive to go back to work.”
AROUND THE WORLD
Worldwide, the virus has infected more than 5.5 million people and killed more than 349,000, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University. Europe has recorded about 170,000 deaths.
In Italy, where the crisis is easing but the death toll is roughly 33,000, the ancient ruins at Pompeii were reopened to the public Tuesday, and the Colosseum in Rome will begin receiving visitors again on Monday.
Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli revealed that he has recovered from covid-19 and went to a hospital in Pisa on Tuesday to donate plasma for research on coronavirus treatments.
India, with a population of more than 1.3 billion, saw a record single-day jump in new cases for the seventh-straight day. It reported 6,535 new infections Tuesday, raising its total to more than 150,000, including almost 4,300 deaths.
Chilean authorities said Tuesday that 95% of its 2,400 intensive care beds are occupied even after doubling capacity from March levels. An average of 4,000 new infections are being reported daily.
In Brazil, where President Jair Bolsonaro has raged against state and local leaders enforcing stay-at-home measures, WHO warned that before reopening the economy, authorities must have enough testing in place to control the spread of the virus.
Brazil has about 390,000 coronavirus infections — second only to the 1.6 million cases in the U.S. — and has counted more than 24,000 deaths, but many fear Brazil’s true toll is much higher.
Ryan said that because of Brazil’s “intense” transmission rates, it should keep some stay-at-home measures in place, regardless of the damage to the economy.
“You must continue to do you can,” he said.
A U.S. travel ban was set to take effect Tuesday for foreigners traveling from Brazil.
EUROPE’S BORDERS
In Europe, officials faced mounting calls to reopen European Union borders ahead of the summer holiday season, although key details remain unresolved.
Spanish officials will no longer require international tourists to self-quarantine starting July 1, following similar decisions by Italy and Greece.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced that as of Monday, outdoor markets can open, as may car showrooms. Beginning June 15, department stores and independent shops will be allowed to reopen as long as measures to protect staff members and customers are in place.
Meanwhile, Palestinian officials on Tuesday reopened one of Christianity’s most sacred sites, Bethlehem’s Church of the Nativity, after it closed to visitors almost two months ago.
Russian’s Vladimir Putin announced that the postponed military parade marking the 75th anniversary of Nazi Germany’s defeat in World War II will take place on June 24. Victory Day has become the most important holiday in Russia, traditionally marked on May 9 with a show of armed might in Red Square.
Russia reported a record one-day spike Tuesday of 174 deaths, bringing the country’s confirmed death toll to more than 3,800. Russia’s coronavirus caseload surpassed 362,000 — third-highest in the world — with almost 9,000 new infections registered.
The country’s comparatively low mortality rate has raised questions among experts. Russian officials deny manipulating the figures and attribute the low numbers to the effectiveness of the country’s lockdowns.
Information for this article was contributed by Matt Ott, Ted Shaffrey, Lisa Marie Pane, Andrew Taylor, Lisa Mascaro, Joyce Rosenberg, Bruce Schreiner and Calvin Woodward of The Associated Press; and by Brady Dennis, Meagan Flynn, Rick Noack, Derek Hawkins, Siobhan O’Grady, Jennifer Hassan, Lateshia Beachum, Joel Achenbach, Taylor Telford, Thomas Heath and Marissa Iati of The Washington Post.