Washington DC

08 April 2020; MEMO: In spite of shortages in protective equipment including face masks in the US, putting both health workers and patients at risk, the Department of Defence has supplied the Israeli army with up to one million masks in an effort to help in its fight against coronavirus.

Washington, Apr 7 (PTI) The death toll in the US from the coronavirus crossed the 10,000-mark on Monday as the country entered the most difficult phase during this pandemic with officials stating that there are encouraging signs in the fight against the dreaded disease mainly due to the aggressive implementation of the mitigation measures.

By Monday, more than 10,800 Americans died due to the deadly coronavirus and over 366,000 tested positive, to which top American scientists are racing against time to develop either a vaccine or a successful treatment.

WASHINGTON, April 7 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The United States branded a Russian far-right group as a foreign terrorist organisation, the first time it has targeted white supremacists with tools regularly used against militant groups.

The State Department said that the Russian Imperial Movement runs two paramilitary training camps in Saint Petersburg and has pulled in neo-Nazis from across the Western world.

WASHINGTON, April 7 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The United States warned China not to take advantage of the coronavirus pandemic to exert itself in the South China Sea after Vietnam said Beijing sank a trawler.

Amid the global focus on fighting COVID-19, China has ramped up self-described research stations and landed special military aircraft in the dispute-rife sea, according to the State Department.

WASHINGTON, Apr 6 (NNN-AGENCIES) – Captain Brett Crozier, who commanded the aircraft carrier, USS Theodore Roosevelt, until his recent removal by the Navy, for sounding the alarm about a COVID-19 outbreak on board, has tested positive for the virus.

The Times, citing Crozier’s Naval Academy classmates, said, Crozier exhibited symptoms before he was relieved of his duty on the warship.

WASHINGTON, Apr 6 (NNN-AGENCIES) – The death toll from COVID-19 exceeded 1,200 in the United States, in the past day, Johns Hopkins University said, Sunday evening.

There are more than 337,072 confirmed infections in the United States with 9,633 deaths, said the Baltimore-based university.

NEW YORK, Apr 5 (NNN-AGENCIES) – The number of COVID-19 cases in the United States topped 300,000 by 3:40 p.m. local time Saturday (1940 GMT), according to the Centre for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University.

The fresh figure reached 300,915 with 8,162 deaths, according to the CSSE.

The state of New York, which suffered the most in the country, recorded 113,806 cases and 3,565 fatalities. Other states with over 10,000 cases include New Jersey, Michigan, California, Louisiana, Florida, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania.

Washington, Apr 4 (AP) President Donald Trump has fired Michael Atkinson, the inspector general for the intelligence community who handled the whistleblower complaint that triggered Trump's impeachment.

Trump informed the Senate intelligence committee Friday of his decision to fire Atkinson, according to a letter obtained by The Associated Press.

Washington, Apr 4 (AFP/PTI) The United States recorded nearly 1,500 deaths from COVID-19 between Thursday and Friday, according to the Johns Hopkins University tracker, the worst 24-hour death toll globally since the pandemic began.

With 1,480 deaths counted between 8:30 pm (0030 GMT) Thursday and the same time Friday, according to the university's continuously updated figures, the total number of people who have died since the start of the pandemic in the United States is now 7,406.

Washington, Apr 4 (PTI) President Donald Trump has recommended Americans to cover their faces with scarves or homemade cloth masks while going outside to curb the spread of the coronavirus though he would not wear one himself.

Citing the US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Trump urged people to wear face coverings like scarves or homemade cloth masks, and to keep medical-grade masks available for the health workers.