Half of all Americans have been financially impacted by coronavirus, poll says

Half of all Americans have been financially impacted by coronavirus, poll says

Fifty percent of Americans say they or someone in their household lost their job or lost hours due to the coronavirus pandemic’s impact on the economy, according to a new national Marist Poll for NPR and the PBS NewsHour released Wednesday. The poll's release comes as the government reports that the U.S. economy plunged at an annual rate of 4.8 percent for the first three months of this year -- the largest contraction since the Great Recession over a decade ago.
 
Still, U.S. equity markets soared Wednesday with upbeat news about a potential coronavirus treatment from drug maker Gilead Sciences.
 
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, in an interview with “Fox & Friends” Wednesday, said the U.S. and other countries must join together and hold the Communist Party of China accountable for its deception in the coronavirus outbreak to prevent future pandemics from happening
 
Echoing similar thoughts from Dr. Anthony Fauci, a group of Chinese scientists said they believe the novel coronavirus is likely to return seasonally, just like the flu, according to a new report.
 
In Massachusetts, the coronavirus has killed at least 80 veterans at the Holyoke Soldiers' Home in what's being described as the deadliest known outbreak at a long-term care facility in the U.S. An additional 82 veterans and 81 employees have tested positive for the virus, and federal officials are trying to determine whether residents were denied proper medical care.
 
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio doubled down Wednesday on his criticism of those involved in a large gathering at a Jewish funeral in Brooklyn — but also apologized for his overnight warning to the Jewish community as a whole that threatened future arrests.
 
And Germany, one of the first European countries to cautiously loosen its coronavirus lockdown, is now facing the bleak prospect of having to restore the measures following a slight uptick in new infections.