US President Donald Trump has announced “a phased approach” to ease restrictions of movement on Americans, even as the coronavirus death toll in the country continues to rise nearing 35,000, and with cases soaring to 667,000 as of 01:00 GMT on Friday.
The US government reported 5.2 million more Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week, bringing the four-week total to 22 million – the worst stretch of US job losses on record. The losses translate to about one in seven American workers.
The number of infections from the disease, also known as COVID-19, has now reached 2,152,000 worldwide, with nearly 145,000 deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins University tally, prompting some governments, including that of the United Kingdom and Canada to extend the lockdown.
