Reuters US Domestic News Summary

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs. Trump hails U.S. coronavirus testing as infections cross a million

The United States has reported more than a million coronavirus infections only because of its testing, President Donald Trump said on Wednesday, hailing the effort as being "much better than any other country in the world". The Twitter comments came amid warnings from state public health officials that shortages of trained workers and materials have limited testing capacity. Americans losing faith in what Trump says about the coronavirus: Reuters/Ipsos poll

Americans appear to be losing faith in what President Donald Trump says about the coronavirus pandemic, with almost everyone rejecting Trump's remark that COVID-19 may be treated by injecting infected people with bleach or other disinfectants, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Tuesday. The April 27-28 public opinion poll found that fewer than half of all adults in the U.S. - 47% - said they were "very" or "somewhat" likely to follow recommendations Trump makes about the virus. That is 15 percentage points lower than the number who said they would follow Trump's advice in a survey that ran at the end of March. Trump orders U.S. meat-processing plants to stay open despite coronavirus fears

President Donald Trump on Tuesday ordered meat-processing plants to stay open to protect the food supply in the United States, despite concerns about coronavirus outbreaks, drawing a backlash from unions that said at-risk workers required more protection. With concerns about food shortages and supply chain disruptions, Trump issued an executive order using the Defense Production Act to mandate that the plants continue to function. California plans to reopen some retail, manufacturing within weeks

California curbside retail, manufacturing and other "lower-risk workplaces" should reopen within weeks as coronavirus testing and tracing improves, Governor Gavin Newsom said on Tuesday. Non-essential businesses like offices where remote work is not possible and childcare facilities would be in the first phase of reopening, along with some parks, state health officer Sonia Angell told a news briefing. Toilet paper trophy hunters on a roll as U.S. shortages start easing

U.S. consumers have begun spotting rare Quilted Northern and Charmin toilet paper rolls on store shelves across the United States, as stocks start building after weeks of severe shortages. Shoppers who bagged the coveted rolls are crowing on Twitter about their finds. "Found some toilet paper in the wild! Driving it home now," tweeted @TransForYang on April 23. "This is as close as I'll ever come to knowing what it feels like driving one of those armored money trucks." U.S. coronavirus deaths surpass Vietnam War toll as Florida readies reopening plan

The U.S. coronavirus death toll climbed above 58,000 on Tuesday, surpassing the loss of American life from the Vietnam War, as Florida's governor met with President Donald Trump to discuss an easing of economic restraints. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, among the latest to lock down his state against the pandemic, has been weighing whether to join other states in a relaxation of workplace restrictions and stay-at-home orders that have been credited with slowing the contagion but which have battered the economy. U.S. federal inmate dies of COVID-19 weeks after giving birth while on a ventilator

A 30-year-old woman serving a 26-month sentence for maintaining a drug-affiliated business died of COVID-19 on Tuesday several weeks after giving birth to her child while she was on a ventilator, the U.S. Bureau of Prisons said. The death of Andrea Circle Bear, the first female federal inmate to succumb to the respiratory disease, and the circumstances surrounding it will likely fuel more anger among criminal justice reform advocates and families of incarcerated relatives who have criticized the Justice Department for a confusing rollout of rules to release non-violent offenders into home confinement. CDC reports 981,246 coronavirus cases, 55,258 deaths

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Tuesday reported 981,246 cases of new coronavirus, an increase of 23,371 cases from its previous count, and said the number of deaths had risen by 1,336 to 55,258. The CDC reported its tally of cases of the respiratory illness known as COVID-19, caused by a new coronavirus, as of 4 p.m. ET on April 27, compared with its count a day earlier. (https://bit.ly/2IVY1JT) Democrat Mfume retakes Maryland congressional seat in special election

Democrat Kweisi Mfume won a special U.S. congressional election in Maryland on Tuesday to finish the term of Democratic Representative Elijah Cummings, who died in October, while Ohio held mostly mail-in primaries in response to the coronavirus pandemic. Mfume, 71, who defeated Republican Kim Klacik in the heavily Democratic district that covers parts of Baltimore and central Maryland, is reclaiming a seat he held for five terms before leaving Congress to lead the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People civil rights group. New York coronavirus hospitalizations drop to month low, governor says

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Tuesday that new hospitalizations for the novel coronavirus dropped to a one-month low and laid out a plan to employ thousands of case investigators under criteria for reopening his state. Cuomo, who has traded barbs with U.S. President Donald Trump over who was to blame for the crisis, also criticized federal agencies, the intelligence community and the mainstream press for failing to "blow the bugle" early enough, while arguing the primary responsibility for the pandemic did not lie with states.