Reuters US Domestic News Summary

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs. CDC reports 1,193,813 coronavirus cases, 70,802 deaths

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Wednesday reported 1,193,813 cases of the new coronavirus, an increase of 22,303 cases from its previous count, and said that the number of deaths had risen by 2,523 to 70,802. 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 5, compared with its count a day earlier. (https://bit.ly/2SGLijD) Cigna's Express Scripts offers discounted drugs for U.S. newly unemployed

Express Scripts is offering discounted $25 and $75 prescription drug prices to the newly uninsured, a stop-gap measure aimed at Americans who lose their jobs and health insurance due to the coronavirus pandemic. The U.S. pharmacy benefit manager owned by Cigna Corp said the offer included thousands of generic drugs, which would be priced at $25 and branded medications priced at $75. New York governor says some states making a mistake by reopening

States that are reopening their economies despite rising cases of the novel coronavirus are making a mistake, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Wednesday, urging that such decisions be based on facts and data rather than politics. "You have states that are opening where you are still on the incline," he told a daily briefing. "I think that's a mistake." U.S. records first coronavirus death of immigrant detainee

The United States has recorded its first death of an immigration detainee from the coronavirus, local health authorities in the state of California said on Thursday. A 57-year-old man who was held at a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center near the U.S.-Mexico border before being hospitalized died on Wednesday, the San Diego County Health and Human Services Agency said. Fight brews in Congress over Republican push to protect business from coronavirus lawsuits

A key U.S. Senate Democrat pushed back on Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's drive to protect employers from coronavirus-related lawsuits when the economy begins to reopen, saying it would be unnecessary if the White House set clearer standards. Republicans and business groups warn that companies could face a flood of litigation from employees and customers who become infected after operations resume. Plaintiff advocates counter that employers are protected by legal barriers including the difficulty of demonstrating where COVID infections occur. 'Like a science experiment': A New York family learns the limits of coronavirus tests

After a week or so sick in bed in their New York City apartment in March, members of the Johnson-Baruch family were convinced they had been stricken by the novel coronavirus. Subsequent test results left them with more questions than answers. Tests both for the virus itself and for the antibodies the immune system produces to fight the infection are becoming more widely available, but they are not perfect. The tests can come back with false positives, false negatives or confoundingly ambiguous results. Doctors cannot always offer definitive explanations. Republican donor named U.S. postmaster general

A Republican Party donor was named on Wednesday to lead the U.S. Postal Service, which President Donald Trump has criticized for not charging companies like Amazon.com more for package delivery. The Postal Service's Board of Governors announced it had chosen North Carolina businessman Louis DeJoy to be the U.S. postmaster general, as the agency grapples with severe financial stress due in part to the coronavirus pandemic. Some U.S. senators worry that without tests they could bring coronavirus home

Several U.S. senators have urged congressional leaders to accept the White House's offer of rapid coronavirus testing for lawmakers, saying they could otherwise unwittingly spread the disease when they returned to their home districts. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican, and Democratic House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi issued a rare joint statement on Saturday declining the offer for 1,000 rapid coronavirus testing kits, saying those were needed for front-line workers fighting the virus. Trump to refocus coronavirus task force on economic revival, concedes risks

President Donald Trump said on Wednesday his coronavirus task force would shift its primary focus to reviving U.S. business and social life, while acknowledging that reopening the economy could put more lives at risk. In a series of tweets, Trump said the White House task force he formed in March would not wind down, as he suggested on Tuesday, but would instead add some advisers and center its attention on "SAFETY & OPENING UP OUR COUNTRY AGAIN." Supreme Court's Ginsburg discharged from hospital

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, at 87 the U.S. Supreme Court's oldest member, was discharged on Wednesday from hospital where she was treated for a benign gall bladder condition and took part remotely in arguments in two cases. In a statement released on Wednesday evening, court spokeswoman Kathy Arberg said Ginsburg is "doing well and glad to be home" after being discharged from Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore.