Reuters US Domestic News Summary

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs. Coronavirus relief deal for U.S. small businesses may come Monday: Trump

U.S. Democrats and Republicans are near agreement on approving extra money to help small businesses hurt by the coronavirus pandemic and could seal a deal as early as Monday, President Donald Trump said, despite hopes for a deal on Sunday. Trump told his daily White House briefing on the crisis that Republicans were "close" to getting a deal with Democrats, and suggested there could be a resolution on Monday. Trump says getting close to a deal with Democrats on U.S. coronavirus stimulus

U.S. President Donald Trump said Sunday that Republicans were "close" to getting a deal with Democrats on another legislative package to help alleviate economic damage done by the coronavirus pandemic. At a White House briefing, the president suggested there could be a resolution by Monday. New York Governor sounds optimistic note as coronavirus numbers improve

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Saturday that a recent drop in hospitalizations and other improving metrics indicated the state may be past the peak of its coronavirus crisis and on a path toward stabilizing its battered healthcare system. Cuomo's cautiously upbeat report at a daily briefing came as the daily death toll across the state, the epicenter of the pandemic in the United States, dropped to 540 on April 17, down from 630 a day earlier and the lowest in more than two weeks. U.S. stay-at-home frustration spreads; coronavirus-battered New York says may be past the worst

Demonstrations to demand an end to stay-at-home measures that have pummelled the U.S. economy spread to Texas on Saturday as the governor at the epicentre of the U.S. coronavirus crisis said his state of New York may finally be past the worst. New York, which has recorded nearly half the country's deaths from COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the highly infectious virus, on Saturday reported 540 coronavirus-related deaths for April 17, down from 630 a day earlier and the lowest daily tally since April 1. Trump: Some states to begin lifting coronavirus restrictions in coming days

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Saturday that Texas and Vermont will allow certain businesses to reopen on Monday while still observing coronavirus-related precautions and Montana will begin lifting restrictions on Friday. "We continue to see a number of positive signs that the virus has passed its peak," Trump told reporters at a daily briefing. U.S. coronavirus death toll rises as cases hit 750,000: Reuters tally

The U.S. death toll from the novel coronavirus rose to more than 40,000 on Sunday, the highest in the world and almost double the number of deaths in the next highest country Italy, according to a Reuters tally. It took the United States 38 days after recording its first fatality on Feb. 29 to reach 10,000 deaths on April 6, but only five more days to reach 20,000 dead, according to a Reuters tally. The United States' toll increased to 40,000 from 30,000 in four days after including untested but probable COVID-19 deaths reported by New York City. Mnuchin says Congress close to deal on coronavirus bill

U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Sunday that senior Republicans and Democrats in Congress are close to reaching agreement on a new coronavirus response bill. "I think we're very close to a deal today and I'm hopeful we can get that done," Mnuchin said in an interview with CNN. Don't reopen yet, governors tell Trump as coronavirus deaths cross 40,000

Governors in U.S. states hardest hit by the novel coronavirus sparred with President Donald Trump over his claims they have enough tests and should quickly reopen their economies as more protests are planned over the extension of stay-at-home orders. New York continued to see hospitalizations decline to 16,000 from a high of 18,000, and the number of patients being kept alive by ventilators also fell. There were 507 new deaths, down from a high of more than 700 a day. U.S. lawmakers make push to assist local newspapers, broadcasters

A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers called on Sunday for expanding payroll assistance to struggling local newspapers and broadcast stations that have seen advertising revenue plummet during the coronavirus pandemic. Democratic Senators Maria Cantwell and Amy Klobuchar and Republicans John Kennedy and John Boozman urged Senate leaders to revise the rules to make thousands of local newspapers, TV and radio stations eligible for assistance under the Paycheck Protection Program. Wynn Resorts CEO calls for Las Vegas Strip to conditionally reopen in mid- to late May

Wynn Resorts Chief Executive Officer Matt Maddox on Sunday called on the Nevada governor to begin to reopen the Las Vegas Strip in mid- to late May with extensive safety measures in place, assuming the state is in line with certain benchmarks around the spread of the coronavirus. In an opinion column https://thenevadaindependent.com/article/a-plan-to-re-open-nevada published on the Nevada Independent news website, Maddox said Governor Steve Sisolak should reopen parts of the local economy in early May.