US death toll exceeds 51,000, the warship hit with coronavirus

WHO and international partners accelerate work on COVID-19 vaccine as number of deaths in the US hits grim milestone.

• The death toll in the United States surpassed 50,000 amid more than 890,000 cases. 
• The number of positive cases in Qatar jumped by 761 in a 24-hour period, marking the Gulf country’s highest daily increase. The total number of cases reported in the country stands at 8,525, with 10 deaths.
• More than 195,000 people have died due to the pandemic, with 2.7 million infected globally, out of whom almost some 781,000 have recovered.

As US coronavirus death toll tops 51,000, handful of states move toward reopening

With the US. coronavirus death toll topping 51,000 and nearly one in six workers out of a job, Georgia, Oklahoma and several other states took tentative steps at reopening businesses on Friday, despite disapproval from President Donald Trump and medical experts.

Fitness clubs, hair salons, tattoo parlors and some other workplaces were allowed to open their doors by Georgia Governor Brian Kemp, disregarding warnings from public health officials that easing restrictions too soon could lead to more infections and deaths, Reuters news agency reported.

Georgia, one of several states in the Deep South that waited until early April to mandate restrictions imposed weeks before across much of the rest of the country to curb the outbreak, has become a flashpoint in the debate over how and when the nation should return to work.

Trump says his remarks on using disinfectant were sarcastic

US President Donald Trump said that he was being sarcastic when he raised the possibility of using disinfectant inside people’s bodies to fight coronavirus.

“I was asking a question sarcastically to reporters like you, just to see what would happen,” he told journalists at the White House.

Trump said at his daily news briefing on Thursday that scientists should explore whether inserting light or disinfectant into the bodies of people infected with the new coronavirus might help them treat the disease.

US warship hit with coronavirus

A US Navy destroyer was hit with a coronavirus outbreak as it carried out a counter-narcotics mission, US officials said, dealing another blow to the military as it grapples with the pandemic.

US officials, speaking to Reuters news agency on condition of anonymity, said more than a dozen sailors on board the Kidd had tested positive for the disease.

The Pentagon confirmed an outbreak on the ship, which had been carrying out its mission in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific, and declined to discuss the exact number of sailors infected.