US coronavirus news: Mexican border closed to non-essential travel as New York ordered to stay at home – live | US news

North Carolina’s other senator said Richard Burr owes the state an explanation for his stock activity, as some demand Burr’s resignation over the controversy.

Senate Thom Tillis, another North Carolina Republican, said Burr’s request for the Senate ethics committee to investigate the matter was “appropriate” and called for a “professional and bipartisan inquiry into this matter.”

It’s worth noting that the work of the Senate ethics committee is notoriously slow, so it could be many months before the panel reaches any kind of conclusion on the issue.

Senator Kelly Loeffler denied wrongdoing in connection to her stock trades last month, which have raised concerns she tried to profit off the coronavirus pandemic.

“I can only speak for myself in saying I have been very careful though my entire career to adhere to the letter and the spirit of the law,” the Georgia Republican told CNBC.

Loeffler and one of her colleagues, Richard Burr, are facing calls to resign over their stock activity, which shielded them from significant losses as coronavirus devastated the markets in recent weeks.

Burr said earlier today that he had asked the Senate ethics committee to review the matter, which Loeffler appeared to encourage.

“I’m happy to answer any and all questions and will submit to whatever review is needed,” Loeffler said.

The Guardian’s Leyland Cecco in Toronto writes:

Canada’s prime minister Justin Trudeau has announced his government will turn away asylum seekers at the US-Canada border as a temporary measure, meant to further halt the flow of people into Canada amid the coronavirus outbreak.

“Canada and the United States are announcing a reciprocal arrangement that we will now be returning irregular migrants that attempt to cross anywhere at the Canada-US border,” Trudeau said Friday.

Speaking to reporters from self-isolation for the fifth day in a row, Trudeau said the plan to deny entry into Canada for asylum seekers is part of a broader agreement struck with the United States.

The two countries announced plans earlier this week to shutter the 5,500 mile shared border to all non-essential travel.

Trudeau stressed the “exceptional measure” to deny asylum seekers was temporary. The federal government had previously weighed placing those seeking to enter Canada into mandatory self-isolation.

Canada has received roughly nearly 55,000 asylum claims since February, 2017.

The prime minister also announced plans to support manufacturing companies across the country, including large automative companies, as they quickly re-tool much of their production lines to build much-needed medical equipment, including ventilators and masks.

Early indications suggest the virus is hitting the Canadian economy hard as businesses across the country close.. Trudeau said the government has received 500,000 employment insurance applications this week— compared to 27,000 from the same period in the prior year.

Canada has close to 1,000 confirmed cases of Covid-19 and 11 documented deaths from the virus.

Here’s where the day stands so far:

• The US-Mexico border is being closed to non-essential travel, secretary of state Mike Pompeo announced. The news comes two days after it was announced the US-Canadian border was closing to all but essential travel.
• All non-essential employees in New York have been asked to stay home. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced strict guidelines for state residents, banning all non-essential gatherings of any size for any reason and ordering vulnerable groups to remain indoors.
• Senator Richard Burr asked the Senate ethics committee to investigate his recent stock trades. The North Carolina Republican sold up to $1.7 million in stocks last month as he received briefings on coronavirus, raising concerns that he attempted to profit off the pandemic.

The blog will have more coming up, so stay tuned.

Well, that was an eventful daily coronavirus briefing. Here are some of the highlights:

• Secretary of state Mike Pompeo announced the US-Mexican border was being closed to non-essential travel. The announcement comes two days after officials said the US-Canadian border was similarly closing to all but essential travel.
• Trump said the Department of Education was waiving standardized testing requirements for K-12 students. The government is also temporarily waiving interest on all federally-held student loans.
• Trump lashed out against the press for the second day in a row. When NBC’s Peter Alexander asked what message the president had for Americans who are scared right now, Trump replied, “I say that you’re a terrible reporter.”
• Dr Deborah Birx said evidence indicates the coronavirus fatality rate is twice as high for men across all age groups, based on data from Italy, which has recorded the most coronavirus deaths.
• Trump offered a muddled message on whether he is using the powers of the Defense Production Act. The president said he is invoking the act, but he then seemed to say he was not requiring companies to speed up production of medical supplies.
• Trump and Dr Anthony Fauci sent two very different messages about a potential coronavirus treatment. Trump said he was optimistic about using a malaria drug as treatment for coroanvirus. (He said yesterday that the drug had been approved for treating coronavirus, but that was not accurate.) Fauci said the evidence of the drug’s benefits against coronavirus are “anecdotal,” and it should not be viewed as some kind of miracle cure.

The blog will have more coming up, so stay tuned.

Trump and Dr Anthony Fauci both downplayed the need for universal coronavirus testing.

The president said he did not believe every American should go out and receive a coronavirus test, a message that was reiterated by Fauci.

“I don’t see how testing everybody in the country is going to help you implement this,” said Fauci, referring to the social distancing restrictions the CDC has released.

“Let’s not conflate testing with the action you have to take,” Fauci added.

Trump followed up on his comments yesterday that the Carnival cruise company offered their ships for the coronavirus response.

The president clarified that the offer was extended by the company, but he was not currently taking them up on it.

Trump again noted that two hospital ships would soon be deployed to New York City and the west coast to help free up hospital beds.

Vice President Mike Pence sought to answer the question asked to Trump about what message they had for scared Americans right now.

“I would say do not be afraid, be vigilant,” said the vice president, who is leading the coronavirus task force.

Pence noted early evidence indicates coronavirus is three times more contagious than the flu, which is why Americans need to take every possible precaution right now.

Dr Anthony Fauci criticized senator Ron Johnson for downplaying the threat of coronavirus and questioning the drastic government response to it.

“I’m not denying what a nasty disease COVID-19 can be, and how it’s obviously devastating to somewhere between 1 and 3.4 percent of the population,” Johnson said earlier this week.

“But that means 97 to 99 percent will get through this and develop immunities and will be able to move beyond this. But we don’t shut down our economy because tens of thousands of people die on the highways.

Fauci said it was a “false equivalency to compare traffic accidents” to coronavirus and emphasized a drastic response was necessary when a new and dangerously contagious virus was uncovered.

Secretary of state Mike Pompeo is now taking questions from reporters about how the State Department is addressing the coronavirus pandemic.

When Trump introduced Pompeo, he referred to the State Department as the “Deep State Department.”

The derisive nickname appeared to prompt a baffled chuckle from Dr Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

However, when Pompeo was asked about Trump’s use of the term, the secretary shrugged off any concern and insisted the president respects the diplomats carrying out America’s foreign policy.