Protests continue through US against isolation orders as Trump insists America has enough Coronavirus tests and economy should return to normal as soon as possible.

PROTESTS flared in parts of the United States against stay-at-home orders while governors disputed President Donald Trump’s claim they have enough tests for the coronavirus and should quickly reopen their economies.
In Denver, hundreds of people gathered at the state capital to demand the end to Colorado’s shutdown. As protesters clogged streets with cars, healthcare workers in scrubs and face masks stood in a counter-protest. Amazingly, the medical workers were greeted with insults, honking horns, and placards waved by hundreds of motorists saying “End the virus, not the economy” and “Fear is the real virus.”
Police were called in after several motorists threatened to run the healthcare workers over.
Many people expressed concerns that their personal freedoms and constitutional rights were being curtailed in the fight to contain the pandemic. Stay-at-home measures, which experts say are essential to slow the spread of the virus, have battered the US economy and more than 22 million Americans have filed for unemployment benefits in the past month.
Shutdowns have disrupted economic, social, cultural and religious life and plunged the world into an economic slump unseen since the Great Depression in the 1930s.
Most Americans, by two-to-one, disagree with the protesters, however. A new Pew survey found most were more concerned about ending home confinement too soon rather than too late.
The US has by far the world’s largest number of confirmed coronavirus cases, with more than 750,000 diagnosed with the disease and more than 40,500 deaths.
Trump’s guidelines to reopen the economy recommend a state record 14 days of declining case numbers before gradually lifting restrictions.

Virus testing rates have also emerged as a point of contention between Trump and state governors. Experts also say extensive testing is crucial to a safe reopening of the economy, but some state governors said testing capacity fell far below the levels needed to avoid sparking new outbreaks of the virus.
Republican Governor Larry Hogan of Maryland said claims by Trump and Vice President Mike Pence that states have plenty of tests were “just absolutely false.”
Democratic Governor Ralph Northam of Virginia said the idea there were enough tests was “delusional”.

The governors of Michigan and Ohio said they could double or triple their testing capacity if the federal government helped them acquire more swabs and reagents, chemicals needed as part of the testing process.
US legislators are nearing an agreement on approving extra money to help small businesses hurt by the coronavirus pandemic and could seal a deal as early as Sunday, congressional and Trump administration officials said.
Congress established the programme last month as part of a $2.3 trillion coronavirus economic relief plan, but it has already run out of money.

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Damon Mitchell

From the interviewed to the interviewer

As frontman of a rock band Damon used to court the British press, now he lives the quiet life in Spain and seeks to get to the heart of the community, scoring exclusive interviews with ex-pats about their successes and struggles during their new life in the sun.

Originally from Scotland but based on the coast for the last three years, Damon strives to bring the most heartfelt news stories from the spanish costas to the Euro Weekly News.

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