Trump administration aims to help Americans with cash payments

The Trump Administration is proposing two rounds of direct payments to Americans totaling $500 billion to tackle the economic impact of the coronavirus outbreak.

The amount of each check based on family size and income, and would begin on April 6 and May 18. The adminstartion would spend $500 billion of the potentially $1 trillion stimulus package being proposed to Congress toward the cash payments, though some people wouldn't qualify if their income is over a certain level. Another $300 billion would be used to help small businesses continue to meet payroll

The IRS can deliver payments to many people via direct deposit and is working with electronic payment providers on other ways to deliver the payments electronically, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Wednesday in an interview on CNBC.

"That is money that we can get to hardworking Americans right away," Mnuchin said.

The administration late Tuesday night also requested $45.8 billion more from Congress -- in addition to the trillion-dollar package currently being negotiated -- to cover unanticipated costs for an array of federal agencies fighting COVID-19.

The White House would create a $50 billion "airline industry secured lending facility" that would allow it to make direct loans to "US passenger and cargo air carriers." Treasury would determine the interest rates and other terms of any loans, but they would include limits "on increases in executive compensation until repayment of the loans".

President Donald Trump said that the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) would be providing "immediate relief to renters and homeowners" by suspending all foreclosures and evictions until the end of April.

"We had the best economy we ever had, and one day you have to close it down to defeat this enemy," he said, calling himself "in a sense, a wartime president".

The Senate was preparing to vote Wednesday to pass an earlier coronavirus rescue bill passed by the House last week that spends around $100 billion on paid sick leave, unemployment insurance, free coronavirus testing and more.

Trump confirmed that he plans to invoke a provision of the federal legal code that would allow him to prohibit certain people from entering the country, including asylum seekers and those entering the country illegally at the southern border.

"The answer's yes," Trump told reporters when asked about the code, adding that he plans to invoke it "very soon. Probably today".

The administration will invoke 42 US Code 265, a section of the federal legal code that states the US surgeon general "shall have the power to prohibit, in whole or in part, the introduction of persons and property from such countries or places as he shall designate in order to avert such danger, and for such period of time as he may deem necessary for such purpose."

When asked whether he was closing the US-Mexico border, Trump said: "No we're not going to close it."

Trump earlier Wednesday announced that the US and Canada had agreed to close their border to most travel as the two countries seek to blunt the spread of the coronavirus.

Two military hospital ships -- the USNS Comfort and USNS Mercy -- were dispatched to New York City and to a location on the West Coast, officials said to help local hospitals treat noncoronavirus patients. House lawmakers from New York on Tuesday asked for the deployment.

IDefense Secretary Mark Esper said the Pentagon already ordered the Navy a few days ago to "lean forward" on preparing to deploy the hospital ships.

Esper stressed that the ships are equipped for trauma not infectious diseases, but that they could be helpful to take noncoronavirus cases from civilian hospitals.

In New York state, there were more than 1,500 confirmed cases of coronavirus as of Tuesday, with more than 800 in New York City.

Johns Hopkins University said the number of confirmed virus cases in the US stood at 6,159 as of Wednesday morning with 55 deaths. Globally, the total number of cases was 204,264, 82,107 listed as recovered and 8,244 deaths.

Lights went out on the famed Las Vegas Strip as Nevada's governor ordered the statewide shutdown of all casinos and other nonessential businesses starting Wednesday.

Kansas became the first state to announce that schools would remain closed for in-person teaching for the rest of the school year.

Some US retailers are setting aside shopping time for their most vulnerable customers, including older adults and persons with underlying health conditions.Panic buying across the country has left store shelves empty for those at-risk groups.

Albertsons, which has 2,200-plus stores under banners including Safeway, Acme and Vons, says it is reserving two hours every Tuesday and Thursday morning for vulnerable shoppers, including senior citizens, pregnant women or those with compromised immune systems.

Starting Wednesday, all Whole Foods Market stores in the US and Canada will let customers who are 60 and older shop one hour before opening to the public. The company, which is owned by Amazon, has approximately 500 stores throughout the UK, Canada and in 42 US states.