US Domestic News Roundup: Biden backs U.S. women's team; U.S. CDC reports 1,092,815 coronavirus cases and more

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

U.S. hospitals promise new safety measures to ease patient fears after coronavirus crush

U.S. hospitals, many past the peak coronavirus crush, are relying on plexiglass dividers, advance testing of patients and limited elevator traffic to convince people, especially those needing urgent care, that the facilities are safe. Hospitals put lucrative elective procedures and other nonessential operations on hold weeks ago as they geared up for the coronavirus onslaught.

New York's Cuomo warns against 'blindly' reopening states

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo on Saturday pushed back against what he called premature demands that he reopen the state, saying he knew people were struggling without jobs but that more understanding of the new coronavirus was needed. As governors in about half of the United States partially reopen their economies over this weekend, Cuomo said he needed much more information on what the pandemic was doing in his state, the hardest hit by the disease, before he loosens restrictions aimed at curbing its spread.

U.S. court dismisses New York nurses case against Montefiore for COVID-19 protection

A Manhattan federal judge on Friday dismissed a nurse association's lawsuit against a New York City hospital for allegedly failing to provide safety equipment and adopt measures to stop the spread of COVID-19. The New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) sued Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx, saying among other things that the hospital was ignoring requirements that healthcare workers receive an N95 respirator mask daily.

Biden backs U.S. women's team after lawsuit setback

Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden on Saturday voiced his support for the U.S. women's soccer team, a day after it suffered a setback in its gender discrimination lawsuit against the United States Soccer Federation. The team's claims for equal pay were dismissed by a court on Friday, handing a victory to U.S. Soccer.

Americans turn to hunt for food, renewal during a pandemic

David Elliot first thought of shooting an elk to help feed family and friends back in January when the United States reported its first novel coronavirus case. Elliot, emergency manager at Holy Cross Hospital in Taos, New Mexico, had always wanted to go big game hunting, and, with the pandemic spreading, there seemed no better time to try to fill his freezer with free-range, super-lean meat.

U.S. emergency approval broadens the use of Gilead's COVID-19 drug remdesivir

Gilead Science Inc's antiviral drug remdesivir was granted emergency use authorization by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for COVID-19 on Friday, clearing the way for broader use of the drug in more hospitals around the United States. During a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House with President Donald Trump, Gilead Chief Executive Daniel O'Day called the move an important first step and said the company was donating 1.5 million vials of the drug to help patients.

U.S. CDC reports 1,092,815 coronavirus cases, 64,283 deaths

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported there were 1,092,815 cases of the new coronavirus as of Friday, an increase of 30,369 from a day earlier, and said the number of deaths had risen by 1,877 to 64,283. The CDC's tally of cases https://bit.ly/348yQ0J of COVID-19, the respiratory illness caused by the new coronavirus, was effective as of 4 p.m. ET on Friday and was released on Saturday.

Exclusive: U.S. coronavirus stimulus went to some healthcare providers facing criminal inquiries

Eager to bolster the healthcare system during the coronavirus pandemic, the U.S. government last month sped $30 billion in stimulus payments to most healthcare providers that billed Medicare last year. That speed resulted in taxpayers' money flowing to some companies and people facing civil or criminal fraud investigations, according to defense lawyers and others representing more than a dozen firms and people facing such inquiries.

False bomb threat temporarily closes Anchorage airport to arrivals

The Anchorage airport, Alaska's largest, temporarily shut Saturday to inbound traffic because of a bomb threat against a China Airlines cargo flight bound for Taiwan. The cargo plane diverted to Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport early in the morning after leaving Seattle, airport officials said. No bomb was found and the airport was reopened shortly before noon, officials said.

Phoning it in: Pandemic forces Supreme Court to hear cases in a new way

Oral arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court are typically a formal affair, dictated by adherence to tradition by an institution historically resistant to altering its ways. Come Monday, thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, all that changes. In a first, the nine justices are set to participate in arguments in 10 cases - each scheduled for an hour - this week and next week conducted remotely by teleconference rather than in-person to combat the spread of the pathogen. In another break with tradition, the court will provide a live audio feed of the arguments to the news media.