Reuters US Domestic News Summary

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs. Beyond Trump's Wall: the Americans riding out coronavirus in Latin America

Some Americans, from young backpackers to retirees, are hunkering down for the coronavirus pandemic far from home in Latin America, saying they feel safer and see no point in scrambling to return. While thousands of Americans sought help from the government or private security firms to evacuate, others chose to stay, worried about what they see as a skyrocketing U.S. caseload made worse by laxer containment measures. Why is New Orleans' coronavirus death rate seven times New York's? Obesity is a factor

The coronavirus has been a far deadlier threat in New Orleans than the rest of the United States, with a per-capita death rate much higher than in New York City. Doctors, public health officials and available data say the Big Easy's high levels of obesity and related ailments may be part of the problem. "We're just sicker," said Rebekah Gee, who until January was the Health Secretary for Louisiana and now heads up Louisiana State University's healthcare services division. "We already had tremendous healthcare disparities before this pandemic – one can only imagine they are being amplified now." Pentagon looking to provide up to 100,000 body bags for civilians in virus outbreak

The Pentagon is looking to provide up to 100,000 body bags for use by civilian authorities as the coronavirus outbreak worsens in the United States with a high death toll expected in coming weeks. The Federal Emergency Management Agency has requested 100,000 such bags to the U.S. Department of Defense, a Pentagon official told Reuters on Wednesday. Onshore quarantine of U.S. aircraft carrier sailors begins on Guam

About 1,000 sailors from the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt - roughly a fifth of its crew - were under quarantine at a U.S. naval base on Guam on Thursday as the Navy sought to control a coronavirus outbreak aboard the warship. The evacuation of sailors from the vessel began on Wednesday, a week after the first coronavirus case was reported on the aircraft carrier, and followed public disclosure of a scathing letter to Navy command from the ship's captain urging "decisive action" to control the outbreak. Coronavirus-infected New York nurse finds hospital transformed as a patient

When the coronavirus struck Sylvia LeRoy, she turned to the hospital she knew best - Brooklyn's Brookdale University Hospital Medical Center - where she has worked for seven years as a labor and delivery nurse and planned to give birth herself in just two months. Suffering from fever and vomiting last week, LeRoy, 36, rushed to Brookdale, hoping that despite dire conditions at the hospital, she would be surrounded by familiar faces and treated “as one of their own,” said family members. Trump says U.S. will soon have more ventilators than it needs for virus victims

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday the United States will soon have more ventilators than it needs and there will be enough eventually to send some to other countries. Many state governors complain they do not have enough of ventilators at present to meet the urgent need. U.S. weekly jobless claims hit record once again

The number of Americans filing claims for unemployment benefits last week shot to a record high for a second week in a row - topping 6 million - as more jurisdictions enforced stay-at-home measures to curb the coronavirus pandemic, which economists say has pushed the economy into recession. Initial claims for unemployment benefits rose to 6.65 million in the latest week from an unrevised 3.3 million the previous week, the U.S. Labor Department said on Thursday. Trump considers canceling domestic flights to coronavirus hot spots

President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he was considering a plan to halt domestic flights to coronavirus hot spots inside the United States as the country struggles to contain a pandemic projected to kill at least 100,000 people. "We're certainly looking at it, but once you do that you really are clamping down on an industry that is desperately needed," Trump told a White House news briefing. U.S. Social Security recipients to automatically get coronavirus money

U.S. Social Security recipients will not have to file a tax return to receive a payment from the federal government to help offset the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic, the U.S. Treasury Department said on Wednesday. "Social Security recipients who are not typically required to file a tax return need to take no action, and will receive their payment directly to their bank account," Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement. Most Americans huddle indoors as coronavirus deaths keep spiking

Four new states imposed sweeping stay-at-home directives on Wednesday in response to the coronavirus pandemic, putting over 80% of Americans under lockdown as the number of deaths in the United States nearly doubled in three days. The governors of Florida, Georgia, Mississippi and Nevada each instituted the strict policies on a day when the death toll from COVID-19 shot up by 925 to more than 4,800 nationwide, with 214,000 confirmed cases, according to a Reuters tally.