By , NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. coronavirus crisis took a sharp political turn on Friday as President Donald Trump lashed out at four Democratic governors over their handling of the pandemic after having conceded that states bear ultimate control of restrictions to contain the outbreak.The Republican president targeted three swing states critical to his re-election bid - Michigan, Minnesota and Virginia - where his conservative loyalists have mounted pressure campaigns challenging those governors’ stay-at-home orders.Amplifying a theme that his supporters have trumpeted this week in...…By , NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. coronavirus crisis took a sharp political turn on Friday as President Donald Trump lashed out at four Democratic governors over their handling of the pandemic after having conceded that states bear ultimate control of restrictions to contain the outbreak.The Republican president targeted three swing states critical to his re-election bid - Michigan, Minnesota and Virginia - where his conservative loyalists have mounted pressure campaigns challenging those governors’ stay-at-home orders.Amplifying a theme that his supporters have trumpeted this week in...WW…

By , NEW YORK (Reuters) - A preliminary survey of New York state residents found that nearly 14% of those tested had antibodies against the novel coronavirus, suggesting that some 2.7 million may already have been infected, Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Thursday.While noting the small sample size of 3,000 people and other limitations of the survey, Cuomo said the implied fatality rate of 0.5% of those infected was lower than some experts feared.“If the infection rate is 13.9 percent, then it changes the theories of what the death rate is if you get infected,” Cuomo told a daily briefing.The...…By , NEW YORK (Reuters) - A preliminary survey of New York state residents found that nearly 14% of those tested had antibodies against the novel coronavirus, suggesting that some 2.7 million may already have been infected, Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Thursday.While noting the small sample size of 3,000 people and other limitations of the survey, Cuomo said the implied fatality rate of 0.5% of those infected was lower than some experts feared.“If the infection rate is 13.9 percent, then it changes the theories of what the death rate is if you get infected,” Cuomo told a daily briefing.The...WW…

By , WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Older Americans, especially those with chronic medical concerns, should probably avoid big social gatherings and airline flights, given the rapid spread of coronavirus, a top U.S. health official said on Sunday, as investors braced for another volatile week in financial markets.Anthony Fauci, the head of the infectious diseases unit at the National Institutes of Health, also said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that after initial missteps distributing diagnostic tests, there should be 400,000 more kits available by Monday and 4 million by the end of the...…By , WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Older Americans, especially those with chronic medical concerns, should probably avoid big social gatherings and airline flights, given the rapid spread of coronavirus, a top U.S. health official said on Sunday, as investors braced for another volatile week in financial markets.Anthony Fauci, the head of the infectious diseases unit at the National Institutes of Health, also said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that after initial missteps distributing diagnostic tests, there should be 400,000 more kits available by Monday and 4 million by the end of the...WW…

By , , SUNDOWN, Texas (Reuters) - Brett Fryar is a middle-class Republican. A 50-year-old chiropractor in this west Texas town, he owns a small business. He has two undergraduate degrees and a master’s degree, in organic chemistry. He attends Southcrest Baptist Church in nearby Lubbock.Fryar didn’t much like Donald Trump at first, during the U.S. president’s 2016 campaign. He voted for Texas Senator Ted Cruz in the Republican primaries.Now, Fryar says he would go to war for Trump. He has joined the newly formed South Plains Patriots, a group of a few hundred members that includes a...…By , , SUNDOWN, Texas (Reuters) - Brett Fryar is a middle-class Republican. A 50-year-old chiropractor in this west Texas town, he owns a small business. He has two undergraduate degrees and a master’s degree, in organic chemistry. He attends Southcrest Baptist Church in nearby Lubbock.Fryar didn’t much like Donald Trump at first, during the U.S. president’s 2016 campaign. He voted for Texas Senator Ted Cruz in the Republican primaries.Now, Fryar says he would go to war for Trump. He has joined the newly formed South Plains Patriots, a group of a few hundred members that includes a...WW…

By , , , KELSO, Wa (Reuters) - Speaking before a crowd of mostly maskless, white and older voters in this rural Washington county south of Seattle, four Republicans last week made their case for trying to unseat Jaime Herrera Beutler, a Republican congresswoman who voted to impeach Donald Trump for inciting a mob that attacked the Capitol.One after another, the candidates used their 15-minute pitches to tout their unshakable loyalty to Trump. Off the stage, the candidates said in interviews they all want his blessing to replace Herrera Beutler, a 10-year incumbent, in Washington’s third...…By , , , KELSO, Wa (Reuters) - Speaking before a crowd of mostly maskless, white and older voters in this rural Washington county south of Seattle, four Republicans last week made their case for trying to unseat Jaime Herrera Beutler, a Republican congresswoman who voted to impeach Donald Trump for inciting a mob that attacked the Capitol.One after another, the candidates used their 15-minute pitches to tout their unshakable loyalty to Trump. Off the stage, the candidates said in interviews they all want his blessing to replace Herrera Beutler, a 10-year incumbent, in Washington’s third...WW…

By , CEDARTOWN, Ga (Reuters) - From the pulpit this past Sunday, Pastor Brian Crisp prayed for President Joe Biden and delivered a passionate sermon on loving one’s neighbor. But away from church, the Baptist preacher was steeling for battle.This rural stretch of northwest Georgia is Marjorie Taylor Greene country. The freshman congresswoman won this district in a landslide in November. Voters here aren’t happy that the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives on Feb. 4 stripped Greene of her committee assignments - diluting her influence - for, among other things, advocating violence...…By , CEDARTOWN, Ga (Reuters) - From the pulpit this past Sunday, Pastor Brian Crisp prayed for President Joe Biden and delivered a passionate sermon on loving one’s neighbor. But away from church, the Baptist preacher was steeling for battle.This rural stretch of northwest Georgia is Marjorie Taylor Greene country. The freshman congresswoman won this district in a landslide in November. Voters here aren’t happy that the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives on Feb. 4 stripped Greene of her committee assignments - diluting her influence - for, among other things, advocating violence...WW…

By , ATLANTA (Reuters) -Democrats on Wednesday completed a sweep of the two U.S. Senate seats up for grabs in runoff elections in the state of Georgia, giving the party control of the chamber and boosting the prospects for President-elect Joe Biden’s ambitious legislative agenda.Raphael Warnock, a Baptist preacher from Martin Luther King Jr.’s former church, beat Republican incumbent Kelly Loeffler to become the first Black senator in the deep South state’s history while Democrat Jon Ossoff, a documentary filmaker who at 33 would become the Senate’s youngest member, beat Republican David...…By , ATLANTA (Reuters) -Democrats on Wednesday completed a sweep of the two U.S. Senate seats up for grabs in runoff elections in the state of Georgia, giving the party control of the chamber and boosting the prospects for President-elect Joe Biden’s ambitious legislative agenda.Raphael Warnock, a Baptist preacher from Martin Luther King Jr.’s former church, beat Republican incumbent Kelly Loeffler to become the first Black senator in the deep South state’s history while Democrat Jon Ossoff, a documentary filmaker who at 33 would become the Senate’s youngest member, beat Republican David...WW…

By , ATLANTA (Reuters) - Democrats won one hotly contested U.S. Senate race in Georgia on Wednesday and pulled ahead in a second, edging closer to control of the chamber and the power to advance Democratic President-elect Joe Biden’s policy goals when he takes office this month.Democratic challenger Raphael Warnock beat Republican incumbent Kelly Loeffler, TV networks and Edison Research projected. Democrat Jon Ossoff held a narrow lead over Republican David Perdue in the other race, with a final outcome not expected until later on Wednesday.With 98% reporting, Warnock was ahead of Loeffler...…By , ATLANTA (Reuters) - Democrats won one hotly contested U.S. Senate race in Georgia on Wednesday and pulled ahead in a second, edging closer to control of the chamber and the power to advance Democratic President-elect Joe Biden’s policy goals when he takes office this month.Democratic challenger Raphael Warnock beat Republican incumbent Kelly Loeffler, TV networks and Edison Research projected. Democrat Jon Ossoff held a narrow lead over Republican David Perdue in the other race, with a final outcome not expected until later on Wednesday.With 98% reporting, Warnock was ahead of Loeffler...WW…

By CUTHBERT, Ga. (Reuters) -Georgia’s secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, says he was just following the law when he rejected claims by Donald Trump, his fellow Republican, that the president’s election defeat was the result of widespread fraud.Trump returned the 65-year-old former businessman to the limelight when he called Raffensperger on Saturday to badger him to “find” enough votes to reverse Democratic President-elect Joe Biden’s victory in the state, according to audio of the call published by the Washington Post on Sunday.As Georgia’s top election official, Raffensperger oversaw...…By CUTHBERT, Ga. (Reuters) -Georgia’s secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, says he was just following the law when he rejected claims by Donald Trump, his fellow Republican, that the president’s election defeat was the result of widespread fraud.Trump returned the 65-year-old former businessman to the limelight when he called Raffensperger on Saturday to badger him to “find” enough votes to reverse Democratic President-elect Joe Biden’s victory in the state, according to audio of the call published by the Washington Post on Sunday.As Georgia’s top election official, Raffensperger oversaw...WW…

By , WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Less populated areas of New York, Virginia and Maryland took their first steps towards lifting lockdowns on Friday, part of a patchwork approach to the coronavirus pandemic that has been shaped by political divisions across the United States.Construction and manufacturing facilities in five out of 10 New York state regions were given the green light to restart operations, although New York City, the country’s most populous metropolis, remained under strict limits.Joe Dundon, whose construction business in Binghamton, New York, was able to start up again after...…By , WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Less populated areas of New York, Virginia and Maryland took their first steps towards lifting lockdowns on Friday, part of a patchwork approach to the coronavirus pandemic that has been shaped by political divisions across the United States.Construction and manufacturing facilities in five out of 10 New York state regions were given the green light to restart operations, although New York City, the country’s most populous metropolis, remained under strict limits.Joe Dundon, whose construction business in Binghamton, New York, was able to start up again after...WW…