US State Dep’t to Allocate Another $225 Mln to Boost Efforts to Combat COVID-19 – Pompeo

The Trump administration is facing criticism from some members of Congress over shortages of equipment such as protective gowns and masks needed to protect healthcare workers, as well as a lack of COVID-19 diagnostic tests that give results on the day they are taken.

The US State Department will allocate another $225 million in assistance to boost efforts to combat COVID-19, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement.

The funding comes on top of roughly $274 million already provided by the US to 64 countries amid the pandemic.

On 6 April, White House Economic Adviser Larry Kudlow said that the Trump administration had rolled out $38 billion in loans to small US businesses from its $2 trillion coronavirus (COVID-19) stimulus package, just over 10 percent of what was allocated to the group under the pandemic relief. 

Earlier the same day, Kudlow told CNBC that the administration was considering a coronavirus bond issue to help the US economy in its “war” against the COVID-19 pandemic. He said this in response to a suggestion from the network that the government issue an $8 trillion, 30-year bond with a coupon rate of 1.5 percent.

The United States has more than 368,500 confirmed COVID-19 cases with more than 11,000 deaths due to the disease, according to the Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Centre.

Sourse: sputniknews.com