Federal Updates
Data In Focus
Updated 6/3/2020- Yesterday’s number is in parentheses for each data point below.
New U.S. cases- 21,892 (vs. 22,153)
Total U.S. Cases- 1,881,205 (vs. 1,859,323)
Time for U.S. cases to double- 37.96 days (vs. 37.38 days)
Reported U.S. mortality rate- 5.7% (vs. 5.8%)
Source: Worldometer
Latest Developments
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The federal government allowed its guidelines for social distancing, issued in mid-March, and designed to slow the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus, to lapse on April 3oth.
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Canada and the U.S. agreed on 5/19/2020 to keep the border between the two countries closed to all but essential travel until June 21, extending the existing border-crossing restrictions by a month. The border restrictions have been in place since March 21.
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April 24th- President Trump signed a $484 billion economic relief bill to support small businesses and replenish the Paycheck Protection Program, to provide funding for hospitals and pay for more coronavirus testing. Four Republicans and one Democrat voted against it.
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The Congressional Budget Office forecast on 5/19/2020 that the U.S. economy would grow by 5% in the third quarter after shrinking 11% in the second quarter. It predicted unemployment would peak at 15.8% in the third quarter of 2020 before easing to 11.5% in the final three months of the year. Economic stimulus laws passed so far will increase the federal deficit by $2.2 trillion, it said.
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The UN’s trade and development body has called for $1 trillion in developing nation debt to be canceled to help the countries cope with the economic impact of the pandemic.
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The Democratic National Convention has been pushed back to the week of August 17th in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
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President Donald Trump said a reshaped White House Coronavirus Task Force will remain in existence indefinitely and focus on restarting the nation’s economy. The group will include economic experts as well as public health officials.
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U.S. President Donald Trump said his administration would stop issuing many green cards, and restrict some other forms of immigration. The order exempts people already in the U.S. legally seeking green cards, spouses and children of U.S. citizens and green card holders, health care and other essential workers.
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President Trump issued a set of federal guidelines for restarting the economy, but said it would be up to state governors to decide when and how to ease state lockdowns.
Further Reading
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CNN has published an article about the US food supply system and the strains it is facing.
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The Wall Street Journal has updated its state lockdown tracker.