US Domestic News Roundup: New Mexico governor issues statewide stay-at-home order; U.S. has potential of becoming coronavirus epicenter and more

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

U.S. clinical trials of possible coronavirus treatments to start in NY on Tuesday - Trump

President Donald Trump on Monday said a clinical trial for possible treatment of the deadly coronavirus will begin in New York soon, reiterating his belief that a combination of anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine and the antibiotic azithromycin could beat back the global pandemic. "Clinical trials in New York will begin on existing drugs that may prove effective against the virus," Trump said. "We have 10,000 units going and it will be distributed tomorrow."

U.S. coronavirus lockdown to last 10-12 weeks, top Trump official says

The lockdown affecting large segments of the American public to try to curb the spread of the coronavirus is likely to last 10 to 12 weeks, or until early June, U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Sunday. Americans are adapting to the biggest change in daily life since World War Two with schools closed, sports canceled and economic upheaval as job losses mount with the shuttering of businesses across many industries.

New Mexico governor issues statewide stay-at-home order

New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham on Monday issued a statewide stay-at-home order asking residents to remain in their houses to slow the spread of the coronavirus. New Mexico joined at least 12 other states that have issued similar orders, urging around 40 percent of the U.S. population to stay at home.

Coronavirus forces New York City schools into daunting experiment with teaching from afar

Apartment floors, kitchen counters, and unmade beds became makeshift classroom desks on Monday as most of New York City's 1.1 million public school students began their first day of remote learning, confined to their homes by the coronavirus outbreak. It was the start of a grand, unwieldy experiment for the nation's largest school system as the city became the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic.

U.S. surgeon general says coronavirus outbreak 'to get bad' this week

The U.S. surgeon general issued his starkest warning to date on Monday about the health risk posed by the coronavirus outbreak, warning Americans that the crisis was "going to get bad" this week. The country's top public health official, Surgeon General Jerome Adams, sounded the alarm as nearly one-third of Americans awoke to "stay at home orders."

U.S. has potential of becoming coronavirus epicenter, says WHO

The World Health Organization said on Tuesday it was seeing a "very large acceleration" in coronavirus infections in the United States which had the potential of becoming the new epicenter. Over the past 24 hours, 85 percent of new cases were from Europe and the United States, WHO spokeswoman Margaret Harris told reporters. Of those, 40 percent were from the United States.

U.S. delays immigration hearings for migrants in Mexico amid coronavirus

The U.S. government said on Monday all court hearings for asylum-seeking migrants in Mexico will be rescheduled due to the coronavirus outbreak. In a bid to slash asylum claims, the administration of President Donald Trump had launched an initiative in January 2019 that has forced more than 57,000 non-Mexican migrants to wait in Mexico for their U.S. immigration court hearings.

Trump: Asian-Americans not responsible for virus, need protection

U.S. President Donald Trump, who has been accused of racism in labeling the coronavirus pandemic the "Chinese virus," said on Monday that Asian-Americans were not responsible for spreading the disease and needed to be protected. Earlier on Monday, the New York Times cited advocacy groups and researchers as saying there had been a surge of verbal and physical assaults on Asian-Americans reported in newspapers and to tip lines as the virus has taken hold in the United States.

Colorado governor signs death penalty repeal, commutes sentences of death row inmates

Colorado's governor signed a repeal of the state's death penalty law on Monday and commuted the sentences of all three death row inmates to life without parole, drawing harsh criticism from a district attorney whose office prosecuted the condemned men. The action by Governor Jared Polis to sign the repeal was expected, as he had indicated support for abolishing capital punishment as it was being debated in the state legislature last month, but the fate of the death row inmates remained unknown until Monday.

Trump says 'not easy' to get face masks, ventilators to U.S. states

U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday acknowledged the difficulty of procuring crucial healthcare supplies amid the coronavirus pandemic as state and local officials raise alarms about a healthcare delivery system in danger of collapse. In an early-morning tweet, Trump said: "The World market for face masks and ventilators is Crazy. We are helping the states to get equipment, but it is not easy."

(With inputs from agencies.)