WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump and the White House coronavirus (COVID-19) task force held the daily briefing Wednesday afternoon.
The White House task force holds a press conference each day to provide an update on the country’s response to COVID-19.
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Watch the briefing below (or click here):
Read an update from the Associated Press below:
Congress is sprinting to approve a $483 billion coronavirus aid package this week, but Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says it’s time to “push the pause button” on federal spending. Also, California health officials reset the timeline on coronavirus deaths and Tyson Foods shut down an Iowa plant. And a Russian ultramarathoner found a way to get his miles in, running 10-plus hours inside his home.
— Congress is sprinting to approve a $483 billion coronavirus aid package this week. But Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says it’s time to “push the pause button” on federal spending. The deal reached this week would replenish a small-business payroll fund and pump more money into hospitals and testing programs.
— Health officials say two people died with the new coronavirus in California weeks before the first reported death from the virus. Santa Clara County officials said the people died at home Feb. 6 and Feb. 17.
— Tyson Foods suspended operations at an Iowa plant that is critical to the nation’s pork supply but had been blamed for fueling a massive coronavirus outbreak in the community. The company said the indefinite closure of the Waterloo, Iowa, plant would deny a vital market to hog farmers and further disrupt the nation’s meat supply.
— Coronavirus-related symptoms accounted for more than 85% of all admissions for a period of nearly four weeks at Saint Joseph’s Medical Center in Westchester County, New York. And half of the approximately 280 staff members who were tested for the disease were positive.
— Some small businesses that obtained a highly coveted government loan say they won’t be able to use it to bring all their laid-off workers back, even though that is what the program was designed to do. As a result, the lending may not reduce unemployment as much as the Trump administration and Congress hope.