US president Donald Trump offered condolences to the families of those who have died from coronavirus, as America's death toll from the pandemic passed 100,000 – the highest in the world.
“To all of the families & friends of those who have passed, I want to extend my heartfelt sympathy & love for everything that these great people stood for & represent. God be with you!,” he tweeted, describing the 100,000 death toll as a “very sad milestone”.
Mr Trump had been facing pressure to make a public comment about the US’s Covid-19 fatality rate, which has dwarfed that of other countries and undermined claims by the president in January that the virus was “totally under control”.
We have just reached a very sad milestone with the coronavirus pandemic deaths reaching 100,000. To all of the families & friends of those who have passed, I want to extend my heartfelt sympathy & love for everything that these great people stood for & represent. God be with you!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 28, 2020
House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi called the 100,000 figure "a scar on our nation".
“There has to be a stop to this. The answer is testing,” she said during a press conference in Capitol Hill.
Congress is engaged in discussions about a second stimulus package to aid the struggling economy, though Republicans have rejected a $3 trillion (€2.7 trillion) plan passed by the Democratically-controlled House of Representatives earlier this month.
Confirmation of the US’s milestone death toll coincided with fresh economic data revealing that more than 40 million Americans have claimed unemployment benefits since mid-March.
A total of 2.1 million people filed for unemployment for the first time last week, according to data from the labour department on Thursday, bringing to 40.8 million the number of people who have lost their job since the pandemic hit.
It was the eighth consecutive week of increases in jobless numbers, even as states across the country continued to lift restrictions.
Easing lockdown
Washington DC became the latest area to begin easing coronavirus lockdown measures, after mayor Muriel Bowser said the district had seen a fall in cases for 14 consecutive days. From Friday, outdoor dining in restaurants will be permitted, while hair salons can operate, though by appointment only. Parks and tennis courts will also reopen in the nation's capital though swimming pools remain closed.
The governor of Virginia also announced a lifting of restrictions in the northern part of the state, which borders Washington DC. This is despite the fact that the state reported 45 new deaths on Wednesday, and a fresh outbreak of cases on Thursday. In total, the state has reported almost 1,350 deaths from the virus.
As New York continued to see a fall in the rate of coronavirus deaths, the state governor, Andrew Cuomo, signed an executive order authorising businesses to deny entry to people not wearing face masks. "No mask – no entry," he said.
The state reported 74 new deaths from the virus on Thursday, broadly in line with the previous two days.
This compares with a daily death toll of almost 800 at the peak of the outbreak. New York city’s economy has been rocked by the crisis, with most businesses, theatres and schools shut, while tourism has ground to a halt.
Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, who issued a video message to mark the 100,000 deaths milestone, said: "The hard truth is that the crisis didn't have to be this bad."
In a statement responding to Thursday’s job numbers he said: “This is just the latest evidence of Donald Trump’s utter failure to do what a president should and must do: lead in a crisis. He ignored the warnings, refused to prepare the country, and wasn’t honest with the American people about what was needed – and we are all living with the horrific results.”
Tim Kaine, the senator from Virginia who was Hillary Clinton's running mate in 2016, became the latest high-profile person to test positive for coronavirus. His wife, Anne Holton, also tested positive.
