US Domestic News Roundup: Top Senate Democrat says momentum growing for state aid package; U.S. food banks run short on staples as hunger soars and more

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

U.S. to test some immigrants for coronavirus before deportation

The United States plans to begin testing some migrants in detention for COVID-19 before deporting them, an official familiar with the effort said on Thursday, after infections among deportees in Guatemala, Haiti, and Mexico. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) will acquire 2,000 tests per month from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to screen deportees, the official said, without mentioning the timing.

Top Senate Democrat says momentum growing for state aid package

The top Democrat in the U.S. Senate said on Friday that momentum is gathering behind efforts to provide federal assistance to state and local governments hit by the coronavirus epidemic, despite opposition from the Senate's top Republican. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said he is seeing "more momentum for state and local assistance" in the next coronavirus assistance package, despite opposition to such action from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

Governor worries cooped-up Californians will hit beaches on warm weekend

Californians locked down for weeks during the coronavirus pandemic have trickled back to local beaches as the weather warms, prompting Governor Gavin Newsom on Thursday to plead for social distancing during a heatwave expected this weekend. Newsom, in his daily remarks on the response to the outbreak, appeared to concede that the state's beaches would be an irresistible lure to residents, who have been largely confined to their homes since mid-March.

U.S. food banks run short on staples as hunger soars

It's pitch black in El Paso, Texas, when the minivans and pickups start lining up at 4 a.m., snaking for more than a mile down the desert roadway leading to the city's largest food bank. When rations are finally distributed five hours later, many boxes are filled with too many castoff beefsteak tomatoes but no pasta. Nor is there any rice, beans or other dry or canned goods.

Trump's disinfectant idea shocking and dangerous, doctors say

Doctors and health experts urged people not to drink or inject disinfectant on Friday after U.S. President Donald Trump suggested scientists should investigate inserting the cleaning agent into the body as a way to cure COVID-19. "This is one of the most dangerous and idiotic suggestions made so far in how one might actually treat COVID-19," said Paul Hunter, a professor of medicine at Britain's University of East Anglia. He said infecting disinfectants would be likely to kill anyone who tried it. On the next COVID-19 front line, a New York nurse tends to discharged patients at home

Nurse Flora Ajayi parks her car on a residential block in Queens, New York and pops open the trunk, revealing plastic bins full of personal protective gear. She dons gloves, a blue gown, two masks, a face shield and shoe covers and turns to enter the home of one of her COVID-19 patients. Ajayi, 47, works alone on the next front line of the coronavirus pandemic. She is part of a network of New York home care nurses treating hundreds of patients who have been discharged from hospitals and sent home to recover from the respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus. U.S. coronavirus death toll expected to reach 50,000 on Friday

The U.S. death toll from the novel coronavirus is expected to reach 50,000 on Friday, doubling in 10 days and the highest in the world, according to a Reuters tally. About 875,000 Americans have contracted the highly contagious respiratory illness COVID-19 caused by the virus, and on average about 2,000 have died every day this month, according to a Reuters tally. Buildings closed by coronavirus face another risk: Legionnaires' disease

Commercial buildings shuttered for weeks to stem the spread of the coronavirus could fuel another grisly lung infection: Legionnaires' disease. Public health experts urged landlords across the globe to carefully re-open buildings to prevent outbreaks of the severe, sometimes lethal, form of pneumonia. Truce over: U.S. Congress heads to partisan battle on coronavirus aid for states

After passing $3 trillion of coronavirus relief in a rare seven-week run of bipartisanship, the U.S. Congress is headed back to its normal state of conflict, with leading Republicans lining up against aid for cities and states that Democrats say is essential. Spurred on by governors and local officials, Democrats have put out the word that they want to provide a sizeable rescue package as part of a broader bill - one that could total at least $2 trillion in coming weeks. U.S. judge blocks California law that required background checks to buy ammunition

A U.S. federal judge has blocked a California law that required background checks for people buying ammunition, saying it violated the constitutional right to bear arms. U.S. District Judge Roger Benitez in San Diego issued a preliminary injunction on Thursday halting the law, ruling in favor of lobby group California Rifle & Pistol Association, which asked him to stop the checks.