Reuters US Domestic News Summary

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs. U.S. CDC reports 1,435,098 coronavirus cases, 87,315 deaths

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Saturday reported a total of 1,435,098 cases of the new coronavirus, an increase of 22,977 cases from its previous count, and said the number of deaths had risen by 1,325 to 87,315. The CDC reported its tally of cases of the respiratory illness known as COVID-19, caused by the new coronavirus, as of 4 p.m. ET on May 15, compared with its count a day earlier. (https://bit.ly/2LBFJ2a) New COVID-19 cases in New York coming from people leaving home, Cuomo says

New York's new confirmed COVID-19 cases are predominantly coming from people who left their homes to shop, exercise or socialize, rather than from essential workers, Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Saturday. "That person got infected and went to the hospital or that person got infected and went home and infected the other people at home," Cuomo said during his daily news conference on the coronavirus outbreak. In patchwork restart, parts of New York and other U.S. states reopen

Less populated areas of New York, Virginia and Maryland took their first steps towards lifting lockdowns on Friday, part of a patchwork approach to the coronavirus pandemic that has been shaped by political divisions across the United States. Construction and manufacturing facilities in five out of 10 New York state regions were given the green light to restart operations, although New York City, the country's most populous metropolis, remained under strict limits. House passes $3 trillion coronavirus aid bill opposed by Trump

The U.S. House of Representatives on Friday narrowly approved a $3 trillion bill crafted by Democrats to provide more aid for battling the coronavirus and stimulating a faltering economy rocked by the pandemic. By a vote of 208-199 Democrats won passage of a bill that Republican leaders, who control the Senate, have vowed to block despite some Republican support for provisions aimed at helping state and local governments. Fearing COVID-19, biggest U.S. university system makes fall term virtual

As uncertainty about the spread of COVID-19 continues, the biggest university system in the United States decided this week to make fall term classes virtual, one of the first to do so, amid fears of a second wave of infections in the month ahead. California State University said almost all classes across its 23 university campuses would be online at least until the end of the fall term. Programs such as the maritime academy, which holds classes aboard a training ship, may be among a handful of exceptions. The Cal State university system serves 482,000 students. FDA suspends Gates-backed at-home COVID-19 testing program

An at-home coronavirus testing project in Seattle backed in part by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation said on Saturday it was working with U.S. regulators to resume the program after being suspended by the Food and Drug Administration. The Seattle Coronavirus Assessment Network (SCAN), which aims to monitor the spread of the novel coronavirus in the region, had said it was suspending its testing of patient samples collected at home after the Food and Drug Administration tightened guidelines to require emergency approval first. Democrats launch probe of Trump's firing of State Department watchdog

Democrats in Congress on Saturday launched an investigation into President Donald Trump's move to oust the State Department's internal watchdog, accusing the president of escalating his fight against any oversight of his administration. Trump announced the planned removal of Inspector General Steve Linick in a letter to House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi late Friday night, making Linick the latest government inspector general to be ousted in recent weeks under the Republican president. Georgia rally for slain black jogger calls for removing district attorneys

Protesters on Saturday demanded the removal of two district attorneys accused of dragging their feet in arresting two white men suspected in the shooting death of a young black jogger in the Brunswick, Georgia area. Speeches rang out from the steps of the small coastal community's courthouse during a rally that drew hundreds outraged by the video of the killing of Ahmaud Arbery, 25. Activists saw his death as the latest U.S. case of white perpetrators killing a black man and going unpunished. The father-and-son suspects were not arrested until weeks after the shooting, and just days after the video surfaced online. Across U.S., students in lockdown celebrate graduations virtually with celebrity guests

Graduation ceremonies are a rite of passage in the United States, a chance to don a scholarly cap and gown and celebrate with friends and family another stage of school completed. But the graduates of 2020 are having to seek other ways to mark this milestone, with the majority of the population still under coronavirus-related lockdowns and school and college campuses closed. New York to reopen auto, horse racing tracks without fans

New York's Watkins Glen International auto race circuit and several horse racing tracks in the state can reopen without fans from June 1, Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Saturday. NASCAR, which returns from a two-month, novel coronavirus-enforced hiatus on Sunday for a fanless event in South Carolina, had previously scheduled a Cup Series race at Watkins Glen for August.