NEW YORK/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Nearly one in four Americans were under orders to close up shop and stay at home on Saturday, as lawmakers in Washington neared a deal that could pump a record $1 trillion into the economy to limit the economic damage from the coronavirus.
New Jersey’s governor followed four other states – California, New York, Illinois and Connecticut – that have imposed unprecedented public-health restrictions to slow the spread of infections, which have risen exponentially.
As of midday Saturday, 286 deaths and more than 22,000 cases had been reported.
Life will not return to normal any time soon, officials warned.
“I don’t believe it’s going to be a matter of weeks. I believe it is going to be a matter of months,” New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said at a news conference on Saturday.
Federal authorities briefly stopped flights arriving at New York City-area airports after a trainee at an air traffic control center tested positive.
Meanwhile, the global pandemic closed in on the highest levels of power in the nation’s capital.
Two members of the U.S. House of Representatives have tested positive, and U.S. Vice President Mike Pence said he and his wife would be tested after an unidentified aide was diagnosed with the virus. Pence staffers said the aide had mild symptoms and had not had close contact with Pence or President Donald Trump.
Trump tested negative for the virus, his doctor said last week, after dining with a Bra