US Domestic News Roundup: Bodies found in unrefrigerated trucks in New York during COVID-19 pandemic; California to close all beaches, state parks amid coronavirus concerns: memo and more

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

Bodies found in unrefrigerated trucks in New York during COVID-19 pandemic

The city of New York delivered a freezer truck to a funeral home on Wednesday after it was found to be storing dead bodies in unrefrigerated U-Haul vehicles, a Reuters eyewitness said. The eyewitness saw bodies in a U-Haul van and said two vans and a truck were parked outside the funeral home.

California to close all beaches, state parks amid coronavirus concerns: memo

California Governor Gavin Newsom will announce on Thursday the closure of all beaches and parks in the state amid concerns over the coronavirus pandemic after crowds jammed beaches last weekend, according to a memo seen by Reuters. The memo was sent on Wednesday by the governor's office to California's police chiefs to plan ahead of Newsom's announcement on Thursday.

Fauci says leak concerns fueled his White House revelation of Gilead drug results

Concerns over leaks compelled the top U.S. infectious disease official to reveal data on Gilead Sciences Inc's experimental drug remdesivir, the first in a scientifically rigorous clinical trial to show benefit in treating COVID-19. The dramatic announcement by Dr Anthony Fauci in the Oval Office on Wednesday prompted concerns among scientists that the Trump administration was raising hopes about a coronavirus treatment before sharing the full data with researchers.

U.S. coronavirus outbreak soon to be deadlier than any flu since 1967 as deaths top 60,000

U.S. deaths from the novel coronavirus topped 60,000 on Wednesday and the outbreak will soon be deadlier than any flu season since 1967, according to a Reuters tally. America's worst flu season in recent years was in 2017-2018 when more than 61,000 people died, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention https://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/burden/past-seasons.html.

U.S. FAA probing runway incident involving actor Harrison Ford - media

The United States' Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is investigating an incident in which actor Harrison Ford was piloting a small plane that wrongly crossed a runway where another aircraft was landing, U.S. media reported late on Wednesday citing an FAA statement. There was no danger of a crash in the incident that occurred last week at an airport in southern California, according to an FAA statement cited by the New York Times.

Democrat Biden faces calls to address sexual-assault allegation

Presumptive U.S. Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden is facing growing calls from within and outside his party to respond to a former aide's allegation that he sexually assaulted her nearly 30 years ago, an assertion Biden's campaign has denied. Tara Reade, who worked as a staff assistant in Biden's U.S. Senate office from December 1992 to August 1993, has accused Biden of pinning her against a wall in 1993 and reaching under her shirt and her skirt.

Florida moves to ease coronavirus lockdown as promising treatment emerges

The governor of Florida, among the last to lock down his state against the U.S. coronavirus outbreak, announced on Wednesday he would permit a limited economic reopening next week while leaving restraints intact for the dense greater-Miami area. Florida became the latest, and one of the two largest, of about a dozen states forging ahead to ease crippling restrictions on business activity without vastly expanded virus testing and other safeguards that medical experts recommend should be in place first.

RVs become temporary homes for doctors caring for COVID-19 patients

Doctors caring for COVID-19 patients at hospitals across the United States have taken up temporary residence in donated recreational vehicles, parked outside their homes, as a way to keep them near to their families yet isolated. Dr. Nick Astras, an emergency room doctor who works at Long Island Community Hospital in New York, is now living in an RV just outside his suburban home of Brookhaven, Long Island, where his children can see their father from their window.

Biden fields committee to help pick a running mate

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden is assigning four close campaign allies to head up the process leading to one of his most important decisions: picking a running mate. Biden, who served as Barack Obama's vice president, chose one of his former Senate colleagues, two elected politicians of color and a former aide to run a panel that scours the backgrounds of those who could be the first U.S. female vice president.

What is at stake as the Supreme Court weighs the future of immigrant 'Dreamers'

The U.S. Supreme Court will soon decide the legality of President Donald Trump's decision to end a program offering work permits and deportation relief to immigrant "Dreamers" who came to the United States illegally as children. Trump, a Republican, moved in 2017 to phase out the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. His administration argued the initiative of his Democratic predecessor Barack Obama was unconstitutional and would not withstand legal challenges.