The U.S. coronavirus outbreak crossed a grim milestone of over 3 million confirmed cases as more states reported record numbers of new infections, and Florida faced an impending shortage of intensive care unit hospital beds.
As some U.S. states look to start reopening their coronavirus-battered economies amid protests from supporters of President Donald Trump anxious to get back to work, hardest hit New York state began mandating the wearing of masks or face coverings in public to contain the pathogen’s spread.
New Jersey could become the latest state to restrict e-cigarette use, with the governor launching a task force to find ways to curb vaping, linked by U.S. health officials to hundreds of respiratory illnesses and a half-dozen deaths.
U.S. Vice President Mike Pence urged fellow Republicans to get behind the party’s “last best chance” to repeal and replace Obamacare as congressional leaders scrambled to secure enough support ahead of a planned vote.
Democratic and Republican U.S. governors urged the Trump administration, as well as Congress, to continue funding payments to health insurance companies that make Obamacare plans affordable, calling it critical to stabilizing the insurance marketplace.
