On Friday, the U.S. House of Representatives is expected to vote on a $3 trillion coronavirus relief bill that would double the amount of aid to ease the economic and human toll of the COVID-19 outbreak.
The bill would send $1 trillion to state and local governments, helping housing payments, and pay front-line emergency workers. It also plans to renew the $1,200 payment to individuals and extend the $600 weekly unemployment benefits.
However, the bill has been deemed "dead on arrival" for the Republican-lead Senate, and President Trump is also against it.
Republicans in general have been more cautious in supporting another bill of this size for American people – arguing that they want to see the effects of the first $3 trillion in coronavirus aid. They also add that the new legislation should include protections for corporations against lawsuits, something pushed for by U.S. President Donald Trump.
According to Johns Hopkins University coronavirus tracker, there are over 1.4 million coronavirus cases and more than 87,000 people have died in the U.S.
Meanwhile, during a press conference on Friday, U.S. President Donald Trump said he would "rapidly" mobilize the U.S. military to distribute a coronavirus vaccine, according on CBS News.
"We're mobilizing our military and other forces but we're mobilizing our military on the basis that we do have a vaccine," Trump said.
While the President said the U.S. could have a vaccine by the end of this year, he continued to push the need for states and government to reopen their economies.
"I just want to make something clear, it's very important. Vaccine or no vaccine, we're back," Trump said.
There has been some optimism as New York, Virginia and Maryland take their first steps in lifting some stay-at-home restrictions – specifically in less populated regions.
In New York state, five out of ten regions were given approval to reopen construction operations and manufacturing facilities. But New York City remains under restrictions.
Governor Andrew Cuomo said, in a press conference that New York needed to join New Jersey, Connecticut and Delaware in partially reopening beaches for the Memorial Day holiday weekend on May 23-25.
A poll from the University of Chicago Divinity School and the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that two-thirds of American believers believe that God is telling humanity to change how it lives – because of the coronavirus.
The poll notes that 31% of Americans who believe in God feel strongly that the virus is a sign from God telling humans to change, with a same amount agreeing with that somewhat.
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