Reuters US Domestic News Summary

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs. Disney shutting theme parks in California, Florida over coronavirus

Walt Disney Co will close its theme parks in California and Florida and its resort in Paris from this weekend through the end of the month due to the global outbreak of coronavirus, the company said on Thursday. Disney Cruise Line will suspend all new departures starting Saturday through the end of the month, the company said. U.S. states scramble to slow virus spread, prevent hospital collapse

From cancelling Broadway shows to closing schools, U.S. states are scrambling to slow the spread of coronavirus and stop hospitals from being overwhelmed with a surge in critically ill patients, as has been the case in Italy. After weeks of federal officials telling Americans they faced low risk from the virus, and with no widescale testing to track its spread, hospitals in hard-hit cities like Seattle are now fighting to save lives as COVID-19 tears through communities. Canadian businessman to plead guilty in U.S. college admissions scandal

A Canadian businessman is expected to plead guilty on Friday to participating in a vast U.S. college admissions cheating and fraud scheme in order to rig the results of his sons' SAT exams. Federal prosecutors in Boston say that David Sidoo, a Vancouver energy executive who at one time played in the Canadian Football League, paid $200,000 to have someone secretly take the college entrance exam in place of his two sons. Debate offers Biden, Sanders a chance to bridge Democratic Party's divide

After all the rancor of the Democratic presidential race, front-runner Joe Biden has a chance in Sunday's debate to extend an olive branch to rival Bernie Sanders and his fervent liberal supporters in a bid for party unity before the general election fight. Biden and Sanders will square off in what may be the final debate of the Democratic nominating contest. Biden leads Sanders in delegates after a string of primary victories, and next week's nominating contests could put the former vice president on a nearly unstoppable path to the nomination. Fauci: U.S. communities need to take proportionate measures, more tests coming

U.S. communities need to take proportionate measures to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus, the nation's top infectious disease official said on Friday, adding that he expects to see testing availability ramp up within a week. "The next few weeks, for most Americans, what you're going to see is an acceleration of cases. There's no doubt about it because that's how these outbreaks work," National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Anthony Fauci told MSNBC in an interview. FDA allows emergency use of lab-developed coronavirus tests in New York

The New York State Department of Health can authorize certain laboratories to begin testing for the coronavirus, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said on Friday. The agency is granting this flexibility due to the urgent public health need for additional testing capacity in the United States. New York City declares state of emergency to fight coronavirus spread

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio declared a state of emergency to fight the coronavirus outbreak on Thursday, allowing him to use new powers as the number of confirmed cases rose to 95 cases in the city. "The last 24 hours have been very, very sobering," he told at a news conference. "Literally yesterday morning feels like a long time ago." He did not immediately issue new rules, but said he supported an announcement by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo earlier on Thursday that banned gatherings of more than 500 people in the state. Trump: coronavirus testing will soon happen on 'large scale', 'red tape' cut

President Donald Trump said on Friday morning that coronavirus testing in the United States will soon happen on a large scale, but did not provide any details on how that would be accomplished. "The changes have been made and testing will soon happen on a very large scale basis. All Red Tape has been cut, ready to go!" he wrote in a tweet. Government officials respond to Reuters report on secrecy of coronavirus discussions

The head of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention testified on Thursday on Capitol Hill that public health officials discussed coronavirus information in classified rooms on occasions “too numerous to count," though he said the information wasn't treated as classified. On Wednesday, Reuters reported that the White House ordered federal health officials at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the nation’s premier health agency, to treat top-level coronavirus meetings as classified, citing four Trump administration officials. Life upended for Americans as U.S. scrambles to contain coronavirus threat

From Disneyland to the U.S. Supreme Court, from Wall Street to Dodgers Stadium, nearly every facet of American life fell into turmoil on Thursday as the coronavirus outbreak caused sweeping closures and economic disruption. As concern grew over a rapid spread of the sometimes-fatal COVID-19 respiratory illness caused by the virus, the U.S. stock market cratered anew, professional and college sports leagues suspended play, Broadway theaters went dark and many schools from Ohio to Texas shuttered.