Talks on a new coronavirus relief package were on the brink of collapse last night (August 6th) after another meeting yesterday led to little progress on reaching agreement between House Democrats and the White House and Senate Republicans. President Trump is considering using executive orders to address evictions and unemployment, and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said yesterday, "The President’s first choice is to do a deal. . . . If we conclude tomorrow that there is not a compromise position on the major issues the president has alternatives." Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said of what the Democrats want, "We believe the patient needs a major operation while Republicans want to apply just a Band-Aid," while Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell laid the blame on the Democrats, saying, "Day after day, they’ve stonewalled the president’s team."
The U.S. has had more than 160,104 deaths from the coronavirus as of early this morning, according to Johns Hopkins University's count, an increase of some 1,900 deaths from the same time 24 hours earlier, and more than 4,883,500 confirmed cases.
A study out yesterday in JAMA Internal Medicine shows that people with the coronavirus who are asymptomatic are just as contagious as those who show symptoms, backing up what had been suspected. Researchers found that asymptomatic people have about as much of the virus in their nose, throat, and lungs as those with symptoms, and carry that viral load just as long as symptomatic people.
1.2 Million Apply for First-Time Unemployment Benefits:Nearly 1.2 million Americans applied for first-time unemployment benefits last week, the Labor Department reported yesterday, down 249,000 from the week before after rising for two straight weeks, but still marking the 20th straight week that at least 1 million people filed for the first time. Before the pandemic hit, it had never been over 700,000 in one week, even during the Great Recession.
U.S. Lifts Warning Against Any International Travel:The State Department yesterday lifted its warning against any international travel because of the coronavirus pandemic that it issued on March 19th, saying that conditions have improved enough in some places to return to issuing country-specific warnings. However, Americans still are restricted from visiting by many countries, including those in the European Union, because of the state of the coronavirus pandemic in the U.S.
Gov. DeWine Negative for Virus After Positive Earlier in Day : Governor Mike DeWine tested negative for the coronavirus yesterday after having tested positive earlier in the day before he was supposed to meet with President Trump. The test DeWine took the second time was a different type that's considered to be more accurate than the rapid-result test that said he was positive. He plans to take another test on Saturday.