Reuters US Domestic News Summary

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs. Coronavirus cases surge across U.S. as Americans face looming outbreak

The coronavirus outbreak radiated across the United States on Thursday, surfacing in at least four new states and San Francisco as Congress quickly approved more than $8 billion to fight the outbreak. The death toll from the respiratory illness rose to 12 in the United States, with the latest fatality recorded in King County, Washington, where six people have died in an outbreak at a nursing facility in the Seattle suburb of Kirkland. Americans returning home after quarantine and Tokyo dining enthralled Twitter

An American couple whose cruise ship quarantine and Tokyo dining became a Twitter phenomenon are finally on their way home. Matt Smith and Kathy Codekas, both 57, were passengers aboard the Diamond Princess that was quarantined for two weeks in Yokohama bay as coronavirus cases aboard the ship climbed past 700 and six died. Cruise ship passengers 'in limbo' off San Francisco awaiting coronavirus tests

First, the food buffet was shut down as gloved staff scurried about wiping every surface in sight. Then the ocean liner's gym, bar, casino and boutiques were closed, with passengers urged to keep to themselves. Finally, they were confined to their staterooms. Once the captain announced their vessel may be tainted with coronavirus, Grand Princess cruise ship guests like Kathleen Reid were left with little to do but contemplate the prospect of extended isolation at sea, or worse. United States urges citizens to avoid travel to Haiti

The U.S. State Department on Thursday raised its travel advisory on Haiti to "do not travel" from "reconsider travel" citing risks of crime, civil unrest and kidnapping on the impoverished Caribbean island nation. Haitians have been struggling with a prolonged economic and political crisis, including weeks of violent protests and a three-month lockdown of shops and other businesses. Violence still flares sporadically. Facebook decides to take down Trump 2020 campaign's 'census' ads

Facebook Inc on Thursday removed ads by President Donald Trump's re-election campaign that asked users to fill out an "Official 2020 Congressional District Census" because the ads violate the company's policy against misinformation on the government's census. The ads, which come from the pages of the Republican president and Vice President Mike Pence, link to a survey on an official campaign website and then to a page asking for donations. Prepared yet vulnerable, a battle-tested New York confronts coronavirus

By the time the global coronavirus outbreak arrived in New York this week, the city was armed with hundreds of hospital beds, a growing stockpile of diagnostic testing kits and enough disinfectant to wipe down the entire subway system. Mayor Bill de Blasio's vaunted health department had honed its response to the potential crisis in recent years by tamping down swine flu, Ebola and other epidemics before they could paralyze the nation's financial capital and most crowded metropolis. Alabama man executed for role in 2004 killing of three police officers

An Alabama man was put to death by lethal injection on Thursday for his role in the 2004 killing of three police officers at his Birmingham apartment during a drug bust, state corrections officials said. Nathaniel Woods, 43, was pronounced dead at 9:01 p.m. central standard time at the Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore, Alabama, said Samantha Rose of the state's department of corrections. The condemned man did not make a final statement, she said. U.S. military deploys first kits for coronavirus testing but capacity limited

U.S. military laboratories have started receiving their own testing kits to determine whether American troops have the new coronavirus, officials said, after relying on outside testing in the roughly two months since China reported the first cases. But capacity is still limited, as is the distribution of the test kits, they say. Warren ends White House bid, leaving Biden and Sanders to fight for Democratic nod

Elizabeth Warren ended her presidential campaign on Thursday after concluding she had no realistic path to the Democratic nomination, leaving behind a two-man battle between former Vice President Joe Biden and Senator Bernie Sanders. Warren, a liberal senator who won plaudits for her robust policy plans and focused her campaign on fighting the corrupting influence of money on politics, finished well behind the two front-runners on Tuesday in contests in 14 states, including her home, Massachusetts. 'Do we really want to close schools?' U.S. authorities resist coronavirus closures

Like many Seattle residents, Andrew Davidoff is demanding schools close to slow the country’s deadliest coronavirus outbreak, but as in other U.S. cities school officials are resisting that, saying closures could make things worse. Davidoff, a Microsoft Corp employee, has been told to work from home to slow the spread of the virus. He thinks his daughter, and other children in Lake Washington School District (LWSD) should do the same after 11 people died in the state from COVID-19.