WASHINGTON (AP) — Back fully campaigning after COVID-19 sidelined him,President Donald Trump returned to familiar form, spreading a litany of falsehoods.

Over the weekend, he asserted yet again the virus was “rounding the corner” when it isn’t, misrepresented Democratic rival Joe Biden’s tax proposals and resurrected unfounded claims about Biden and the business dealings of his son, Hunter Biden, in Ukraine.

The statements came after Trump and Biden bid for a late advantage this past week in competing forums that replaced a canceled presidential debate. The two are to meet Thursday in the last scheduled debate before the Nov. 3 election.

Meantime, the Senate vetted Judge Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination for the Supreme Court with committee hearings that often seemed to put the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, on trial. Biden went beyond the facts in suggesting that Barrett would undoubtedly strike down the law.

A look:

TAXES and ECONOMY

TRUMP, in all capital letters: “Sleepy Joe Biden is proposing the biggest tax hike in our country’s history!” — tweet Saturday.

THE FACTS: It wouldn’t be the biggest.

Biden’s proposal would raise as much as $3.7 trillion in new revenue over a decade, mostly by increasing business taxes and taxes on households with incomes over $400,000 a year. That revenue would come to about 1.3% to 1.4% of the overall economy, according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.

The Tax Foundation, a nonpartisan tax policy group, evaluated the Biden tax plan against other historical tax increases and found that Biden’s proposal would rank fifth largest among 21 major tax bills passed since 1940, based on the share of the U.S. economy.

Biden’s would-be plan is surpassed by the Revenue Act of 1941, the Revenue Act of 1942, the Revenue Act of 1951, and the Revenue and Expenditure Control Act of 1968, which raised annual federal revenue between 1.5% and 5% of GDP, according to the study.

TRUMP: “We had the greatest economy in the history of our country.” — NBC town hall in Miami on Thursday.

THE FACTS: No, the numbers show it wasn’t the greatest in U.S. history.

Did the U.S. have the most jobs on record before the pandemic? Sure, the population had grown. The 3.5% unemployment rate before the recession was at a half-century low, but the percentage of people working or searching for jobs was still below a 2000 peak.

Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Romer looked at Trump’s economic growth record this month. Growth under Trump averaged 2.48% annually before the pandemic, only slightly better than the 2.41% gains achieved during Barack Obama’s second term. By contrast, the economic expansion that began in 1982 during Ronald Reagan’s presidency averaged 4.2% a year.

So Trump is wrong.

40 PHOTOSTrump and Biden on the campaign trailSee GalleryTrump and Biden on the campaign trailPresident Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally at Carson City Airport, Sunday, Oct. 18, 2020, in Carson City, Nev. (AP Photo/Lance Iversen)Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden boards his campaign plane at Raleigh-Durham International Airport in Morrisville, N.C., Sunday, Oct. 18, 2020, en route to Wilmington, Del. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)President Donald Trump dances after speaking at a campaign rally at Carson City Airport, Sunday, Oct. 18, 2020, in Carson City, Nev. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)DURHAM, NCOCTOBER 18:Presidential nominee Joe Biden speaks during a Voter Mobilization event at Riverside High School in Durham, North Carolina on October 18, 2020.(Photo by Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post via Getty Images)President Donald Trump steps off Air Force One at Reno-Tahoe International Airport, Sunday, Oct. 18, 2020, in Reno, Nev. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)Supporters listen as Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden speaks during a campaign event at Riverside High School in Durham, N.C., Sunday, Oct. 18, 2020. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)CARSON CITY, NV – OCTOBER 18: President Donald Trump smiles during a campaign rally on October 18, 2020 in Carson City, Nevada. With 16 days to go before the November election, President Trump is back on the campaign trail with multiple daily events as he continues to campaign against Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden. (Photo by Stephen Lam/Getty Images)Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden speaks during a campaign event at Riverside High School in Durham, N.C., Sunday, Oct. 18, 2020. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)CARSON CITY, NV – OCTOBER 18: President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally on October 18, 2020 in Carson City, Nevada. With 16 days to go before the November election, President Trump is back on the campaign trail with multiple daily events as he continues to campaign against Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden. (Photo by Stephen Lam/Getty Images)El candidato presidencial demócrata Joe Biden hace campaña el 18 de octubre del 2020 en New Castle, Delaware. (AP Foto/Carolyn Kaster)President Donald Trump tosses face masks into the crowd as he arrives for a campaign rally at John Murtha Johnstown-Cambria County Airport, Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2020, in Johnstown, Pa. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)ABC NEWS – 10/15/20 ABC News will host a town hall with Democratic presidential nominee and former Vice President Joe Biden on Thursday, October 15, 2020 in Philadelphia.The primetime event , “The Vice President and the People” will be moderated by ABC News Chief Anchor George Stephanopoulos and will allow voters to ask questions of the candidate.The live, 90-minute special edition of 20/20 airs on ABC at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT.(Photo by Heidi Gutman/ABC via Getty Images)JOE BIDEN, AUDIENCEPresident Donald Trump sits during a break in an NBC News Town Hall, at Perez Art Museum Miami, Thursday, Oct. 15, 2020, in Miami. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA – OCTOBER 15: Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden prepares for a live ABC News town hall format meeting at the National Constitution Center October 15, 2020 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The second presidential debate was originally scheduled for this day but was cancelled due to President Donald Trump’s refusal to participate in a ‘virtual’ debate. Trump had tested positive for the coronavirus and was hospitalized for three days. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)President Donald Trump speaks during an NBC News Town Hall, at Perez Art Museum Miami, Thursday, Oct. 15, 2020, in Miami. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden participates in a town hall with moderator ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, Thursday, Oct. 15, 2020. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)President Donald Trump talks with voters after an NBC News Town Hall, at Perez Art Museum Miami, Thursday, Oct. 15, 2020, in Miami. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)Democratic Presidential candidate and former US Vice President Joe Biden (L) and moderator George Stephanopoulos participate in an ABC News town hall event at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia on October 15, 2020. (Photo by JIM WATSON / AFP) (Photo by JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)WASHINGTON, DC – OCTOBER 15: President Donald Trump is seen through a television at a takeout pizza shop in the U street corridor as he speaks during a town hall on October 15, 2020 in Washington, DC. Trump and Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden both participated in simultaneous presidential town halls in Miami and Philadelphia, after the cancellation of the second presidential debate. (Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA – OCTOBER 15: Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden prepares for a live ABC News town hall format meeting at the National Constitution Center October 15, 2020 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The second presidential debate was originally scheduled for this day but was cancelled due to President Donald Trump’s refusal to participate in a ‘virtual’ debate. Trump had tested positive for the coronavirus and was hospitalized for three days. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)Supporters cheer as President Donald Trump departs a campaign rally at John P. Murtha Johnstown-Cambria County Airport in Johnstown, Pa., Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2020. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden speaks at Southwest Focal Point Community Center in, Pembroke Pines, Fla., Tuesday Oct. 13, 2020. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally at John Murtha Johnstown-Cambria County Airport, Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2020, in Johnstown, Pa. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)Democratic Presidential Candidate Joe Biden speaks during a drive in rallyin Miramar, Florida on October 13, 2020. – Joe Biden headed for Florida to court elderly Americans who helped elect Donald Trump four years ago but appear to be swinging to the Democratic candidate for the White House this time around amid the coronavirus pandemic. Biden, at 77 the oldest Democratic nominee ever, is to “deliver his vision for older Americans” at an event in the city of Pembroke Pines, north of Miami, his campaign said. (Photo by JIM WATSON / AFP) (Photo by JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)Supporters cheer as President Donald Trump departs a campaign rally at John P. Murtha Johnstown-Cambria County Airport in Johnstown, Pa., Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2020. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)PEMBROKE PINES, FLORIDA – OCTOBER 13: Wearing a face mask to reduce the risk posed by the coronavirus, Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden poses for a socially-distanced selfie after delivering remarks about his ‘vision for older Americans’ at Southwest Focal Point Community Center October 13, 2020 in Pembroke Pines, Florida. With three weeks until Election Day, Biden is campaigning in Florida. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)President Donald Trump moves to the song YMCA as he finishes a campaign rally at John P. Murtha Johnstown-Cambria County Airport in Johnstown, Pa., Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2020. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)Supporters look on as Democratic Presidential Candidate Joe Biden speaks during a drive in rally in Miramar, Florida on October 13, 2020. – Joe Biden headed for Florida to court elderly Americans who helped elect Donald Trump four years ago but appear to be swinging to the Democratic candidate for the White House this time around amid the coronavirus pandemic. Biden, at 77 the oldest Democratic nominee ever, is to “deliver his vision for older Americans” at an event in the city of Pembroke Pines, north of Miami, his campaign said. (Photo by JIM WATSON / AFP) (Photo by JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)Supporters listen as President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally at John Murtha Johnstown-Cambria County Airport, Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2020, in Johnstown, Pa. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) wears a mask depicting Democratic Presidential Candidate Joe Biden as he speaks during a drive in rally in Miramar, Florida on October 13, 2020. – Joe Biden headed for Florida to court elderly Americans who helped elect Donald Trump four years ago but appear to be swinging to the Democratic candidate for the White House this time around amid the coronavirus pandemic. Biden, at 77 the oldest Democratic nominee ever, is to “deliver his vision for older Americans” at an event in the city of Pembroke Pines, north of Miami, his campaign said. (Photo by JIM WATSON / AFP) (Photo by JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)President Donald Trump throws face masks into the crowd during a campaign rally at John Murtha Johnstown-Cambria County Airport, Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2020, in Johnstown, Pa. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)The Florida state flag hands behind Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden as he speaks at Southwest Focal Point Community Center in, Pembroke Pines, Fla., Tuesday Oct. 13, 2020. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally at John P. Murtha Johnstown-Cambria County Airport in Johnstown, Pa., Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2020.(AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)While maintaining social distance, people try to make a selfie as Jill Biden, center, waves to supporters after she was introduced by Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson, D-Texas, left, with Rep. Marc Veasey, D-Texas, looking while campaigning for her husband and former Vice President Joe Biden in a parking lot event at Fair Park Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2020, in Dallas. (AP Photo/LM Otero)Supporters cheer as President Donald Trump departs a campaign rally at John P. Murtha Johnstown-Cambria County Airport in Johnstown, Pa., Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2020. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)Wendy Nelson holds up posters of Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden as she waits for she waits for motorcade to arrive, Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2020, at Miramar Regional Park in Miramar, Fla. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)Supporters cheer as President Donald Trump arrives for a campaign rally at John P. Murtha Johnstown-Cambria County Airport in Johnstown, Pa., Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2020. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden speaks at Miramar Regional Park in Miramar, Fla., Tuesday Oct. 13, 2020. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)A crowd of fans cheer on President Donald Trump during a Make America Great Again campaign rally at the John Murtha Johnstown-Cambria County Airport in Johnstown, Pa., Tuesday, Oct.13, 2020. (John RucoskyMIRAMAR, FLORIDA – OCTOBER 13: Wearing a face masks and sitting in their cars to reduce the risk posed by the coronavirus, supporters listen to Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden delivers remarks during a drive-in voter mobilization event at Miramar Regional Park October 13, 2020 in Miramar, Florida. With three weeks until Election Day, Biden is campaigning in Florida. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)Up Next

See Gallery

HUNTER BIDEN

TRUMP on Joe Biden and Ukraine: “I never had a quid pro quo. How about this quid pro quo? ‘We’re not going to give you the billion dollars unless you get rid of the prosecutor … Stop investigating my son.’ And then he goes, boom, the prosecutor was fired and they got the billion dollars.” — rally Saturday in Muskegon, Michigan.

THE FACTS: Trump is repeating a false claim alleging that Biden as vice president pressed to have a prosecutor fired while the prosecutor was investigating Burisma, the energy company in Ukraine where Biden’s son Hunter sat on the board of directors. In fact, by the time Biden came out against the prosecutor, the investigation into the company was dormant.

Biden, among other international officials, was pressing for a more aggressive investigation of corruption in Ukraine, not a softer one.

Trump’s team often cites a video of Joe Biden from 2018. Speaking on a public panel, Biden recounted threatening to withhold a loan guarantee from Ukraine’s government unless it fired the prosecutor, who was widely considered ineffective if not corrupt himself.

What Trump doesn’t say is that in February 2016, a few months after Biden threatened to hold back a $1 billion loan guarantee, the International Monetary Fund threatened to delay $40 billion in aid unless Ukraine took action to fight corruption.

An investigation into Burisma’s owner for money laundering, tax evasion and other alleged misdeeds began in 2012 and pertained to the years before Hunter Biden joined the board.

SUPREME COURT

RONNA MCDANIEL, chair of the Republican National Committee, on whether Biden supports “court packing”: “You have a candidate on the Democrat side right now, Joe Biden, who, on your town hall, and continually, after question after question about whether he’s going to upend the third branch of government and burn down our checks and balances, is saying to the American people, ‘I’ll tell you what I’m going to do after the election.’” — interview Sunday on ABC’s “This Week.”

THE FACTS: That’s not what Biden said at the ABC town hall Thursday. She’s correct that the Democrat has repeatedly ducked the question of whether he would support an expansion of the Supreme Court, and at one point this month said people would know his opinion about it after the election.

But he has since revised that stance, saying last week he would reveal his views on the matter before Nov. 3. Voters “do have a right to know where I stand, and they will have a right to know where I stand before they vote,” he added.

Senate Republicans are rushing a Supreme Court confirmation vote for Amy Coney Barrett in the final days before the election. Liberals are pushing for an expanded Supreme Court if Barrett is confirmed. Faced with a likely 6-3 conservative court as the new year begins, Democrats would need to add four seats to overcome the Republicans’ edge.

BIDEN: “This nominee said she wants to get rid of the Affordable Care Act.” – remarks to reporters on Oct. 12.

BIDEN: “Why do Republicans have time to hold a hearing on the Supreme Court? … It’s about finally getting his (Trump’s) wish to wipe out the affordable health care act because their nominee has said in the past that the law should be struck down.” – to supporters in Ohio on Oct. 12.

THE FACTS: No, Barrett has not said explicitly that she would strike down the health law. Biden may ultimately be right that if she joins the court, she would vote to eliminate the law, but there are also reasons to believe she might not.

Biden is alluding to a 2017 commentary Barrett wrote that included a critique of the Supreme Court’s 2012 ruling upholding parts of the law. Barrett was a University of Notre Dame law professor at the time.

In her critique, she specifically took issue with Chief Justice John Roberts’ reasoning that the penalty attached to one part of the law — the mandate that everyone get health coverage — be considered a tax and therefore within the powers of Congress to enforce. She said he stretched the law “beyond its plausible meaning” to uphold it in the 5-4 vote.

That’s not necessarily the same as her wanting to trash the entire law. It’s difficult to take what a prospective jurist wrote about a complex law and use it to state as fact how she might rule years later when some circumstances have changed. But Biden and other Democrats didn’t hesitate to do so.

All that is certain is that Barrett criticized how her potential colleagues on the high court ruled on the law eight years ago.

THE VIRUS

TRUMP, speaking in a state where COVID-19 cases are surging: “We’re rounding the corner. We got the vaccines, all that, but even without it, we’re rounding the corner.” — Wisconsin rally Saturday.

THE FACTS: Rising cases and his own government health experts tell a different story.

Infection has been increasing in the vast majority of states and deaths are rising in 30. This as the flu season approaches, another layer of risk to health.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the government’s top infectious diseases expert, has repeatedly made clear that he disagrees with Trump’s assessment based on the data and has cautioned that people should not underestimate the pandemic. He says Americans will “need to hunker down and get through this fall and winter because it’s not going to be easy.” Fauci and other health experts, such as Dr. Robert Redfield of the CDC, have warned of a potentially bad fall because of dual threats of the coronavirus and the flu season.

Trump spoke in Wisconsin, which broke records last weekfor new coronavirus cases, deaths and hospitalizations. Confirmed virus cases and deaths are also on the rise in the swing states of Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Wisconsin.

The president, who was treated for the coronavirus this month, continues to shun wearing masks and to hold campaign rallies at which face masks are not required. Many attendees don’t wear them.

Dr. Scott Gottlieb, a former head of the Food and Drug Administration under Trump, said even if a vaccine becomes available late this year, the first group of people who get vaccinated probably won’t see the full effects of protection until February or March.

“The next three months are going to be very challenging,” he said Sunday on CBS’ “Face the Nation.” “There’s really no backstop against the spread that we’re seeing.”

100 PHOTOSCoronavirus in the United StatesSee GalleryCoronavirus in the United StatesNEW YORK, NEW YORK – JUNE 25: A person wears a protective face mask outside a store in Brooklyn as New York City moves into Phase 2 of re-opening following restrictions imposed to curb the coronavirus pandemic on June 25, 2020. Phase 2 permits the reopening of offices, in-store retail, outdoor dining, barbers and beauty parlors and numerous other businesses. Phase 2 is the second of four-phased stages designated by the state. (Photo by Noam Galai/Getty Images)LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – JUNE 25:Aerialists and acrobats David Gray (L) and Alyssa Gray participate in a fashion show in front of the Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas sign on the Las Vegas Strip to kick off the pro-mask wearing campaign “Mask Up for Nevada” put on by Experience Strategy Associates amid the spread of the coronavirus on June 25, 2020 in Las Vegas, Nevada. On Wednesday, Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak signed a directive requiring people to wear face coverings in public places throughout the state beginning on June 26 in response to a four-week upward trend of new daily COVID-19 cases. The governor also cited an increase in confirmed and suspected COVID-19 hospitalizations since the state entered Phase Two of the state’s reopening plan on May 29 as a reason for the mandate.(Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)A person in their car receives a kit at a Covid-19 testing center at Dodger Stadium, June 25, 2020, in Los Angeles, California. – The number of new COVID-19 cases in the United States is hitting levels not seen since the early part of the pandemic in April. (Photo by VALERIE MACON / AFP) (Photo by VALERIE MACON/AFP via Getty Images)Rep. Sean Casten, D-Ill, listens as US Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Jay Clayton, speaks during a House Committee on Financial Services hearing entitled “Capital Markets and Emergency Lending in the COVID-19 Era” in the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC on June 25, 2020. (Photo by Rod Lamkey / POOL / AFP) (Photo by ROD LAMKEY/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)People wearing facemasks stand outside a Burberry store as shoppers return to the streets of iconic Rodeo Drive as the luxury goods stores reopen after three months of closure due to the Covid-19 virus in Beverly Hills, California on June 25, 2020. (Photo by Mark RALSTON / AFP) (Photo by MARK RALSTON/AFP via Getty Images)Olga Karamalak puts the finishing touches on a Mother’s Day flower arraignment at Relles Florist in Sacramento, Calif., Tuesday, May 5, 2020. Florists are among the retail businesses that Gov. Gavin Newsom said might be eligible to open before the end of this week under upcoming state guidelines on the coronavirus. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)MTA officials work on trains for the disinfecting operations at the Coney Island Stillwell Avenue Terminal Wednesday, May 6, 2020, in the Brooklyn borough of New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)Employees wait to hear President Donald Trump speak after a tour of a Honeywell International plant that manufactures personal protective equipment, Tuesday, May 5, 2020, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)A shopper in a face mask looks over cuts of beef piled up in a cold room for purchase at a Costco warehouse store Tuesday, May 5, 2020, in west Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)Bhagirathi Savage pays the cymbals at 7 o’clock, Tuesday evening, May 5, 2020 in the Queens borough of New York. She is part of a community of devotees of the late Indian guru Sri Chinmoy that gathers each evening to salute those on the frontlines of the coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)A fisherman casts into the surf Tuesday, May 5, 2020, in Huntington Beach, Calif. California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration gave approval Tuesday to plans by Huntington Beach and two smaller cities to reopen beaches that fell under his order shutting down the entire Orange County coast after a heat wave drew large crowds to the shore. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)Emory Hospital RN Aisha Bennett takes a nasal swab at a pilot large scale drive-through COVID-19 testing site in the Georgia International Horse Park on Thursday, April 16, 2020, in Conyers, Ga. Testing is by appointment only and open to anyone in the general public who believes they are ill with COVID-19. According to Chad Wasdin, communications director for the Gwinnett Rockdale Newton Health Departments, due to increased testing capacity 400 appointments are scheduled for anyone who thinks they may be ill with the virus. While the Health Department requires a scheduled appointment to test individuals, referral from a doctor is not necessary. There is no charge for the testing, and those tested do not need to provide health insurance information. “We look forward to piloting this large-scale test site,” said Dr. Audrey Arona, district health director and CEO of Gwinnett, Newton and Rockdale County Health Departments. “This is a fantastic collaboration between Rockdale and Newton county governments, their EMAs, and the Health Department. Testing will provide individuals in the community an opportunity to learn if their illness is consistent with the COVID-19 virus, and it will help us improve our plans for providing large-scale testing. (Curtis Compton/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP)BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES – 2020/04/21: People wearing face masks as a preventive measure, line up at one of NYC new testing tents outside Gotham Health in East New York amid the coronavirus outbreak.The Mayor of New York City, Bill de Blasio announced new testing facilities in low income communities where the coronavirus has hit the hardest. (Photo by Braulio Jatar/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)A woman looks to get information about job application in front of IDES (Illinois Department of Employment Security) WorkNet center in Arlington Heights, Ill., Thursday, April 9, 2020. Another 6.6 million people filed for unemployment benefits last week, according to the US Department of Labor, as American workers continue to suffer from devastating job losses, furloughs and reduced hours during the coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)NEW YORK, UNITED STATES – 2020/04/21: Oculus mall and transportation hub stays virtually empty because of COVID-19 pandemic at World Trade Center. (Photo by Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images)ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, UNITED STATES – APRIL 21, 2020: Health workers speak to a man with a bicycle after testing him for COVID-19 at a mobile testing site at the Apostolic Church of Christ in a historic black neighborhood in Seminole County. State and county health officials are offering free tests at six historic black neighbourhoods to help residents who are unable to drive to a health clinic or may be unable to afford health insurance.- PHOTOGRAPH BY Paul Hennessy / Echoes Wire/ Barcroft Studios / Future Publishing (Photo credit should read Paul Hennessy / Echoes Wire/Barcroft Media via Getty Images)Volunteers at the Islamic Society of Central Florida distribute food from the Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida to needy families during a drive-thru event on April 9, 2020 in Orlando, Florida. The food bank has seen record demand for assistance in the Orlando area due to job losses caused by the coronavirus pandemic. (Photo by Paul Hennessy/NurPhoto via Getty Images)USS Intrepid is seen with blue lights on April 9, 2020 in New York City, USA., Landmarks across the United States are Illuminated In Blue To Honor Essential Workers with the hashtag "Light it Blue" (Photo by John Nacion/NurPhoto via Getty Images)NEW ORLEANS, LA – APRIL 09:Some residents are attempting to bring some Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic by dressing as the Easter Bunny and walking the Lakeview neighborhood in preparation for Easter on April 09, 2020, in New Orleans, LA.(Photo by Stephen Lew/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)NEW YORK, NY – APRIL 09: A Building in Times Square, displaying a thank you message to those fighting for our lives,is reflected in a puddle amid the coronavirus pandemic on April 9, 2020 in New York City. COVID-19 has spread to most countries around the world, claiming 96,000 lives with infections at 1.6 million people. (Photo by John Lamparski/Getty Images)WASHINGTON, DCAPRIL 09:Geoff Gilbert(left), Madhvi Venkatraman(CQ)(center), and Megan Macaraeg, help undocumented immigrantswho are in need of help during the pandemic covid19 in Columbia Heights in Washington, DC on April 09, 2020. (Photo by Marvin Joseph/The Washington Post via Getty Images)NEW YORK, USA – APRIL 7: Empire State Building lights up like an ambulance to honor emergency healthcare workers responding to the new type of coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in New York City, United States on April 7, 2020. (Photo by Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)NEW YORK, NY – APRIL 7: Three medical workers wearing gloves and face masks stand at the entrance to the Maimonides Medical Center in the on April 7, 2020 in the Borough Park neighborhood of the Brooklyn borough of New York City. New York City has more than 74,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including more than 3,500 deaths, according to published reports. (Photo by Pablo Monsalve/VIEWpress via Getty Images)”nNEW YORK,New York – APRIL 07:A view of the “Police Line- Do Not Cross” tape marking the parameter of a temporary field hospital to treat covid-19 patients set up in Central Park by “Samaritans purse” a charitable organization working with Mount Sinai. on April 07, 2020 in New York City, United States. COVID-19 has spread to most countries around the world, claiming over 80,000 lives with over 1.4 million infections. (Photo by Roy Rochlin/Getty Images)NEW YORK, UNITED STATES – APRIL 7, 2020: Hospital workers wheel out bodies to be stored in a portable morgue outside Brooklyn Hospital. New York had its highest 24 hour death toll with 731 people dying of the corona virus, however hospitalization seems to be going down.- PHOTOGRAPH BY Braulio Jatar / Echoes WIre/ Barcroft Studios / Future Publishing (Photo credit should read Braulio Jatar / Echoes Wire/Barcroft Media via Getty Images)WEST COVINA, CA – APRIL 07:Karina Pantoja, left, community home dental coordinator along with Dentist Dr. Rosette El Rehab screens people during Coronavirus testing by the city of West Covina and AltaMed in West Covina on Tuesday, April 07, 2020. (Photo by Keith Birmingham/MediaNews Group/Pasadena Star-News via Getty Images)BOSTON, MA – APRIL 8: Boston Mayor Marty Walsh speaks at a press briefing on the city’s efforts battling the coronavirus pandemic outside City Hall in Boston on Apr. 7, 2020. He wore a New England Patriots protective face mask. (Photo by Matthew J. Lee/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)WASHINGTON, DC – APRIL 07:A “Station Closed” sign is hung at the gate of Federal Triangle Metro Station April 7, 2020 in Washington, DC. Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority announced that it is cutting late night service and closing all Metro stations at 9pm daily until further notice due to lower ridership in the COVID-19 outbreak. Nineteen Metro stations had already been closed prior to the service cut. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)Residents of the Sunrise at FlatIrons assisted living facility participated in a “social distancing” workout from their balconies or in the common area on Tuesday, April 07, 2020, in Broomfield, Colo. Senior living facilities across the state are currently quarantining residents as a precaution to the current coronavirus pandemic. (Photo by Jeremy Papasso/MediaNews Group/Boulder Daily Camera via Getty Images)NEW JERSEY, USA – APRIL 7: A general view of empty city from Eagle Rock Reservation Park during the new type of coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in New Jersey, United States on April 7, 2020. (Photo by Islam Dogru/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)NEW YORK,New York – APRIL 07: A Skater on roller blades wears a surgical mask on the West Side Highway Bike Path in front of the USNS Comfort which is docked on pier 90, in Manhattan on April 07, 2020 in New York City, United States. COVID-19 has spread to most countries around the world, claiming over 80,000 lives with over 1.4 million infections. (Photo by Roy Rochlin/Getty Images)Reading, PA – March 26: A Stay Strong sign has been erected in the cloverleaf at the Penn Street exit of Route 422, in Reading, PA Thursday, March 26, 2020, to offer encouragement in the coronavirus epidemic.(Photo by Bill Uhrich/MediaNews Group/Reading Eagle via Getty Images)UNITED STATES – MARCH 27: Rep. Tom Malinowski, D-N.J., walks down the House steps as the House votes on the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act in Washington on Friday, March 27, 2020.(Photo by Caroline Brehman/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)NEW YORK, USA – MARCH 25: A patient with a face mask is seen at the Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn, New York, United States on March 25, 2020. The coronavirus-related deaths in the U.S. topped 800 on Wednesday, while the number of cases reached over 55,200, according to latest figures by Johns Hopkins University. (Photo by Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)NEW YORK, NY – MARCH 27: A New York Police officer wears a face mask as he directs traffic on a local street on March 27, 2020 in New York City. At least 350 members of the New York City Police Department including deputy commissioner John Miller were confirmed to have the virus. (Photo by Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/Getty Images)NEW YORK, NY – MARCH 27: A New York Police officer wears a face mask as he directs traffic on a local street on March 27, 2020 in New York City. At least 350 members of the New York City Police Department including deputy commissioner John Miller were confirmed to have the virus. (Photo by Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/Getty Images)WASHINGTON, DC – MARCH 27: U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) talks with reporters as she arrives at the U.S. Capitol on March 27, 2020 in Washington, DC. The House of Representatives is scheduled to vote today on the stimulus bill intended to combat the economic effects caused by the coronavirus pandemic. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)NEW YORK, NY – MARCH 27: People cross Park Av. after it was announced that some streets will be shut as lockdown continues in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreakon March 27, 2020 in New York City. Mayor Bill de Blasio chose four streets across four boroughs to test whether shutting down streets to vehicular traffic would increase social distancing among pedestrians during the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown. (Photo by Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/Getty Images)FLORIDA, USA – MARCH 20: Paramedics dressed in hazmat suits assist the evacuation of cruiseships crew members with respiratory symptoms associated with coronavirus (COVID-19) at the Coast Guardâs Miami Beach station, in Miami, Florida, United States on March 26, 2020. (Photo by MARCO BELLO/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)FLORIDA, USA – MARCH 20: An ambulance is seen during the evacuation of cruiseships crew members with respiratory symptoms associated with coronavirus (COVID-19) at the Coast Guardâs Miami Beach station, in Miami, Florida, United States on March 26, 2020. (Photo by MARCO BELLO/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)Reading, PA – March 26: (L-R) Siblings Azuleirys Francisco, 10, Alexander Francisco, 6, and Jovani Francisco, 8, sanitize their hands as a precaution against coronavirus while picking up meals from the parking lot at 4th and Windsor in Reading, PA Thursday afternoon Thursday March 26, 2020. The site is run by Olivets and the Reading School District.(Photo by Lauren A. Little/MediaNews Group/Reading Eagle via Getty Images)Amity twp., PA – March 26: The sign for Hope Church in Amity Township that reads “Social Distancing, Join us online…” Thursday afternoon March 26, 2020.(Photo by Ben Hasty/MediaNews Group/Reading Eagle via Getty Images)A woman poses for a photo with her dog in a mostly empty Times Square, New York, US,on March 25, 2020. (Photo by John Lamparski/NurPhoto via Getty Images)NEW YORK, USA – MARCH 25: A view of empty road in Brooklyn, New York, United States on March 25, 2020. The coronavirus-related deaths in the U.S. topped 800 on Wednesday, while the number of cases reached over 55,200, according to latest figures by Johns Hopkins University. (Photo by Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)A sign is displayed at a coffee shop on March 25, 2020 in New York City. – The number of confirmed cases of the new coronavirus in the United States reached 60,115 on Wednesday while 827 people had died, a tracker run by Johns Hopkins University showed. (Photo by Angela Weiss / AFP) (Photo by ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images)NEW YORK, NY – MARCH 25: Basketball courts are seen empty due to coronavirus spread on March 25, 2020 in New York City, New York. Across the country schools, businesses and places of work have either been shut down or are restricting hours of operation as health officials try to slow the spread of COVID-19. (Photo by Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/Getty Images)SAN FRANCISCO, CA, USA – MARCH 18: Shoppers at Walgreens in San Franciscoâs Castro District make last minute purchases minutes before the shelter in place directive was to take effect on March 18, 2020. (Photo by Neal Waters/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)SAN JOSE, CA, USA – MARCH 18: A Safeway store in San Jose posts new shorter store hours to provide a safer work environment ahead of Tuesdayâs directive to shelter in place for residents of the six counties that make up the Bay Area, on March 18, 2020. (Photo by Neal Waters/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)SAN FRANCISCO, CA, USA – MARCH 18: Mounted officers patrol the area outside Pier 39 in San Francisco on day one of the shelter in place order on March 18, 2020. (Photo by Neal Waters/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)MANASSAS, USA – MARCH 17: Weapons on display at a gun shop in Manassas, Virginia, United States as gun and ammunition sales in the U.S. have skyrocketed as the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic spread across the country. (Photo by Yasin Ozturk/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)A security officer stands guard at a tent set up outside the emergency room at an AdventHealth hospital on March 17, 2020 in Orlando, Florida. The tent is part of AdventHealth’s surge planning in case extra space is needed to care for potential coronavirus cases in the community. (Photo by Paul Hennessy/NurPhoto via Getty Images)A tent is seen set up outside the emergency room at an AdventHealth hospital on March 17, 2020 in Orlando, Florida. The tent is part of AdventHealth’s surge planning in case extra space is needed to care for potential coronavirus cases in the community. (Photo by Paul Hennessy/NurPhoto via Getty Images)External and outside of emergency room views of the pandemic, novel Coronavirus, or COVID-19 are seen at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital on March 17, 2020 in Park Ridge, Illinois, United States. The collection includes additional tents, a warning construction sign, an empty road, a congested road, a law enforcement vehicle, and a drive through testing area. (Photo by Patrick Gorski/NurPhoto via Getty Images)NEWTON, MA – MARCH 17: Medical professionals work in coronavirus testing tents at Newton Wellesley Hospital in Newton, MA on March 17, 2020. (Photo by Suzanne Kreiter/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)BOSTON, MA – MARCH 17: An emergency tent is set up at the Carney Hospital in Boston’s Dorchester for coronavirus pandemic use on March 17, 2020. (Photo by David L. Ryan/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)LEONARDTOWN, MARYLAND- MARCH 17: Nurses screen patients for COVID-19 virus testing at a drive-up location outside Medstar St. Mary’s Hospital on March 17, 2020 in Leonardtown, Maryland. The facility is one of the first in the Washington, DC area to offer coronavirus testing as more than 5,200 cases have been confirmed in the United States, and more than 90 deaths have been attributed to the virus. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)A sign on a table provides instructions for social distancing, while a group of people are seen in the background, selective focus, sitting around a small table, at a hospital in San Francisco during an outbreak of the COVID-19 coronavirus, California, March 16, 2020. (Photo by Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images)NEWTON, MA – MARCH, 16: Nurse practitioner Amy Israelian puts on protective gear in a tent in the parking lot of the Newton-Wellesley Hospital before testing a possible coronavirus patient in Newton, MA on March 16, 2020. (Photo by Adam Glanzman/For The Washington Post via Getty Images)Two staff members wheel Amwell telemedicine carts into the entrance of the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) Benioff Children’s Hospital in Mission Bay, San Francisco, California during an outbreak of the COVID-19 coronavirus, March 16, 2020. As a result of the outbreak, patients are increasingly being asked to conduct telemedicine appointments to avoid infecting healthcare workers. (Photo by Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images)People line up to enter a triage tent outside of the emergency room at Memorial West Hospital in Pembroke Pines, Fla., on Monday, March 16, 2020. (Matias J. Ocner/Miami Herald/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)WESTMINSTER, MARYLAND – MARCH 16: Dawn Canova, clinical manager for outpatient wound care at Carroll Hospital, takes off her protective gloves after taking a sample to test a person for the coronavirus at a drive-thru station in the hospital’s parking garage March 16, 2020 in Westminster, Maryland. Not open to the general public for testing, the station was set up to take samples from people who had spoken with their doctors and received explicit direction to get a test for the novel coronavirus called COVID-19.(Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)WESTMINSTER, MARYLAND – MARCH 16: Carroll Hospital Critical Care Unit Clinical Manager Stephanie Bakert talks to a personthrough his car window using a mobile phone before testing him for the coronavirus at a drive-thru station in the hospital’s parking garage March 16, 2020 in Westminster, Maryland. Not open to the general public for testing, the station was set up to take samples from people who had spoken with their doctors and received explicit direction to get a test for the novel coronavirus called COVID-19.(Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)NEW YORK, NY – MARCH 15:An exterior view of Lenox Hill Hospital as the coronavirus continues to spread across the United States on March 15, 2020 in New York City. The World Health Organization declared coronavirus (COVID-19) a global pandemic on March 11th. (Photo by Cindy Ord/Getty Images)NEW YORK, NY – MARCH 15: Passengers disembark from the Norwegian Bliss cruise ship on March 15, 2020 in New York City. Mayor Bill de Blasio said on Tuesday that any cruise ship passenger disembarking in New York City with a temperature over 100.4 will be given the choice of self-isolating at home or be taken to a hospital to protect against the spread of COVID-19. (Photo by Stephanie Keith/Getty Images)DAYTON, WA – MARCH 14: Dr. Lewis Neace, head of the ER at Dayton General Hospital poses for a photograph.Dayton, a small town in rural southeast Washington has an aging population,had its first positive test for Coronavirus and is waiting on results of more tests. (Photo by Nick Otto for the Washington Post)NEW YORK, NEW YORK – MARCH 14: An exterior view of Harlem Hospital Center, aka NYC Health + Hospitals/Harlem, as the coronavirus continues to spread across the United States on March 14, 2020 in New York City. The World Health Organization declared coronavirus (COVID-19) a global pandemic on March 11th. (Photo by Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images)JACKSONVILLE, FL – MARCH 14: A general view of the Ascension St. Vincent’s Riverside Hospital on March 14, 2020 in Jacksonville, Florida. The World Health Organization (WHO) declared Coronavirus (COVID-19) a pandemic.(Photo by Cliff Hawkins/Getty Images)Un puñado de personas transitan la terminal de Grand Central en Nueva York el 23 de marzo del 2020. Normalmente hay multitudes en la estación, pero muy poca gente está viajando como consecuencia del coronavirus. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)A sign displaying messages on how to reduce the spread of COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, is displayed at the mouth of the Manhattan Bridge, Monday, March 23, 2020, in the Brooklyn borough of New York.(AP Photo/John Minchillo)NEW PALTZ, NY – MARCH 22: A highway information display says, “STOP THE SPREAD SAVE LIVES” on a mostly empty Interstate 87 on Sunday afternoon. The highway was mostly empty on the same day that New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo pleads with New York residents to take the stay-at-home orders seriously regarding the Coronavirus pandemic.Photographed in New Paltz, New York on March 22, 2020, USA.(Photo by Ira L. Black/Corbis via Getty Images)People are seen lining up for testing Covid-19 in Elmhurst Queens to test for Coronavirus, on March 21, 2020. (Photo by John Nacion/NurPhoto via Getty Images)People are seen lining up for testing Covid-19 in Elmhurst Queens to test for Coronavirus, on March 21, 2020. (Photo by John Nacion/NurPhoto via Getty Images)STONY BROOK,NEW YORK – MARCH 21: A sign direct people to a COVID-19 test facility at Stony Brook University on March 21, 2020 in Stony Brook, New York. The World Health Organization declared coronavirus (COVID-19) a global pandemic on March 11th.(Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)US President Donald Trump and other members of the task force listen as National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director, Dr. Anthony Fauci, speaks during the daily briefing on the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, at the White House on March 21, 2020, in Washington, DC. (Photo by JIM WATSON / AFP) (Photo by JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)Women wear face masks a a scarf to protect their mouths and nose as they walk along 34th St., Friday, March 20, 2020, in New York. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is ordering all workers in non-essential businesses to stay home and banning gatherings statewide. “Only essential businesses can have workers commuting to the job or on the job,” Cuomo said of an executive order he will sign Friday. Nonessential gatherings of individuals of any size or for any reason are canceled or postponed. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)A subway customer wears protective gloves on an empty car as it stops at a sparsely populated 57th Street station due to COVID-19 concerns, Friday, March 20, 2020, in New York. Gov. Andrew Cuomo is ordering all workers in non-essential businesses to stay home and banning gatherings statewide. “Only essential businesses can have workers commuting to the job or on the job,” Cuomo said of an executive order on Friday. Nonessential gatherings of individuals of any size or for any reason are canceled or postponed. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)A postal worker wears a protective mask and gloves while operating a route in the Queens borough of New York, Friday, March 20, 2020. Gov. Andrew Cuomo is ordering all workers in non-essential businesses to stay home and banning gatherings statewide. “Only essential businesses can have workers commuting to the job or on the job,” Cuomo said of an executive order he will sign Friday. Nonessential gatherings of individuals of any size or for any reason are canceled or postponed. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)A Red Robin reastaurant in Tigard, Ore., has closed some tables in order to maintain ‘social distancing’ between diners per CDC guidelines Sunday, March 15, 2020. They said they were running the place at 50 percent capacity so they could leave tables empty between customers. (AP Photo/Gillian Flaccus)A commuter pauses to read a video display on the Gallery Place Metro subway train platform in Washington, Friday, March 13, 2020, with a message from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on the proper way to wash your hands to combat the coronavirus outbreak. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)US Vice President Mike Pence, flanked by CDC Director Robert R. Redfield (L) and FEMA Administrator Peter Gaynor, shows documents to reporters during the daily briefing on the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, at the White House on March 22, 2020, in Washington, DC. (Photo by Eric BARADAT / AFP) (Photo by ERIC BARADAT/AFP via Getty Images)An electronic billboard sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provides tips for the public on ways to prevent the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19) on March 20, 2020 along Interstate 4 in Deland, Florida. (Photo by Paul Hennessy/NurPhoto via Getty Images)Street performer Eddie Webb looks around the nearly deserted French Quarter looking to make money in New Orleans, Sunday, March 22, 2020. With much of the city already hunkered down due to the coronavirus pandemic, Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards issues a shelter-in-place order to take effect starting Monday at 5:00 PM. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)A sign to draw customers is seen outside the nearly empty Superior Seafood and Oyster Bar in New Orleans, Thursday, March 19, 2020. Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards and New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell have ordered all restaurants and bars to close except for takeout, and asked residents to remain home and maintain social distancing from others when outside, due to the COVID-19 virus pandemic. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)Kamari Fletcher waits for her to-go order inside the nearly empty Superior Seafood and Oyster Bar in New Orleans, Thursday, March 19, 2020. Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards and New Orleans Mayor Latoya Cantrell have ordered all restaurants and bars to close except for takeout, and asked residents to remain home and maintain social distancing from others when outside, due to the coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)A shuttered business is seen in the French Quarter in New Orleans on March 26, 2020, during the coronavirus outbreak. – New Orleans, the Louisiana city known as the “Big Easy” famed for its jazz and nightlife, has become an epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic gripping the United States. The southern US state now has 2,305 confirmed cases and 83 deaths. New Orleans alone accounts for 997 of the cases and 46 of the deaths. (Photo by Emily Kask / 30203169A / AFP) (Photo by EMILY KASK/30203169A/AFP via Getty Images)Words from Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive” are painted onto plywood covering the window of a closed business during the coronavirus outbreak in New Orleans on March 26, 2020. – New Orleans, the Louisiana city known as the “Big Easy” famed for its jazz and nightlife, has become an epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic gripping the United States. The southern US state now has 2,305 confirmed cases and 83 deaths. New Orleans alone accounts for 997 of the cases and 46 of the deaths. (Photo by Emily Kask / 30203169A / AFP) (Photo by EMILY KASK/30203169A/AFP via Getty Images)A closure note is posted on the family-owned Bar Redux in the Bywater in New Orleans on March 26, 2020. – New Orleans, the Louisiana city known as the “Big Easy” famed for its jazz and nightlife, has become an epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic gripping the United States. The southern US state now has 2,305 confirmed cases and 83 deaths. New Orleans alone accounts for 997 of the cases and 46 of the deaths. (Photo by Emily Kask / 30203169A / AFP) (Photo by EMILY KASK/30203169A/AFP via Getty Images)A shuttered business is pictured on Decatur Street in New Orleans, Louisiana, on March 26, 2020. – New Orleans, the Louisiana city known as the “Big Easy” famed for its jazz and nightlife, has become an epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic gripping the United States. The southern US state now has 2,305 confirmed cases and 83 deaths. New Orleans alone accounts for 997 of the cases and 46 of the deaths. (Photo by Emily Kask / 30203169A / AFP) (Photo by EMILY KASK/30203169A/AFP via Getty Images)A shuttered restaurant is pictured in the French Quarter in New Orleans, Louisiana, on March 26, 2020. – New Orleans, the Louisiana city known as the “Big Easy” famed for its jazz and nightlife, has become an epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic gripping the United States. The southern US state now has 2,305 confirmed cases and 83 deaths. New Orleans alone accounts for 997 of the cases and 46 of the deaths. (Photo by Emily Kask / 30203169A / AFP) (Photo by EMILY KASK/30203169A/AFP via Getty Images)National Guard members walk down Rampart Street in New Orleans, Louisiana, on March 26, 2020. – New Orleans, the Louisiana city known as the “Big Easy” famed for its jazz and nightlife, has become an epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic gripping the United States. The southern US state now has 2,305 confirmed cases and 83 deaths. New Orleans alone accounts for 997 of the cases and 46 of the deaths. (Photo by Emily Kask / 30203169A / AFP) (Photo by EMILY KASK/30203169A/AFP via Getty Images)Stony Brook, N.Y.: State workers and members of the National Guard check in people arriving for the drive-thru coronavirus testing at Stony brook University in New York on March 25, 2020. (Photo by John Paraskevas/Newsday RM via Getty Images)Gov. Brad Little issues a statewide stay-at-home order to further prevent spread of coronavirus COVID-19 at a press conference Wednesday, March 25, 2020 held at Gowen Field, headquarters of the Idaho Army National Guard in Boise, Idaho. (Darin Oswald/Idaho Statesman/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)A Healthcare worker help to check in with the assistant from the Florida Army National Guard as vehicles line up at the COVID-19 drive-thru testing center at Marlins Park as the coronavirus pandemic continues on Wednesday, March 25, 2020 in Miami. (David Santiago/Miami Herald/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)A Healthcare worker help to check in with the assistant from the Florida Army National Guard as vehicles line up at the COVID-19 drive-thru testing center at Marlins Park as the coronavirus pandemic continues on Wednesday, March 25, 2020 in Miami.(David Santiago/Miami Herald/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)WASHINGTON, DC – MARCH 26: (L-R) U.S. President Donald Trump and National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Anthony Fauciarrive for a briefing on the coronavirus pandemic in the press briefing room of the White House on March 26, 2020 in Washington, DC. The U.S. House of Representatives is scheduled to vote Friday on the $2 trillion stimulus package to combat the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)WASHINGTON, DC – MARCH 26: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Anthony Fauci listens as U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a briefing on the coronavirus pandemic, in the press briefing room of the White House on March 26, 2020 in Washington, DC. After the U.S. House of Representatives votes on Friday, President Trump is expected to sign the $2 trillion stimulus package to combat the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)WASHINGTON, DC – MARCH 25: Flanked by National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Anthony Fauci (L) and White House coronavirus response coordinator Deborah Birx, Vice President Mike Pence speaks during a briefing on the coronavirus pandemic, in the press briefing room of the White House on March 25, 2020 in Washington, DC. The United States Senate continues to work on a $2 trillion aide package to combat the health and economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)BLOOMINGTON, UNITED STATES – MARCH 26, 2020: A volunteer puts on gloves before participating in the Monroe County Food Train to give meals, and groceries to youth 18 and under, during the COVID-19/Coronavirus emergency in Bloomington. Hundreds of workers have been laid off in the community, and the governor has issued a stay-at-home order.- PHOTOGRAPH BY Jeremy Hogan / Echoes Wire/ Barcroft Studios / Future Publishing (Photo credit should read Jeremy Hogan / Echoes Wire/Barcroft Media via Getty Images)BOSTON, MA – MARCH 26: Secretary of Health and Human Services Marylou Sudders and Gov. Charlie Baker hold a press conference in the Gardner Auditorium at The Massachusetts State House in Boston on March 26, 2020. Baker and Sudders addressed attempting to secure more pieces of personal protection equipment and mobile schooling concerns. (Photo by Blake Nissen/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)The Magic Bag theater is pictured closed, due to Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s measures to stop the spread of COVID 19 in Ferndale, Michigan on March 26, 2020. (Photo by JEFF KOWALSKY / AFP) (Photo by JEFF KOWALSKY/AFP via Getty Images)Up Next

See Gallery

TRUMP, asked about the many attendees at a White House event who got sick with COVID-19: “Just the other day they came out with a statement that 85% of the people that wear masks catch it.” — Miami forum.

NBC’S SAVANNAH GUTHRIE: “Well, they didn’t say that, I know that study.”

TRUMP: “Well that’s what I heard and that’s what I saw, and – regardless, but everybody’s tested and they’re tested often.”

THE FACTS: That was at least the third time the same day that he flatly misstated the findings of a federal study and the first time he was called out on it. The study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention did not find that 85% of mask wearers catch COVID-19. If that were so, the majority of Americans would be infected.

It found something quite different: that 85% of a small group of COVID-19 patients surveyed reported they had worn a mask often or always around the time they would have become infected. Dining in restaurants, where masks are set aside for meals, was one activity suspected of spreading community infection. The study not declare masks ineffective.

Trump told a North Carolina rally earlier in the day: “Did you see CDC? That 85% of the people wearing a mask catch it, OK?” And to Fox Business News: ”CDC comes out with a statement that 85% of the people wearing masks catch it.”

TRUMP: “We’re a winner on the excess mortality.” — Miami forum.

THE FACTS: That marker of mass death is a problematic bragging point.

Excess mortality estimates take a look at how many more people are dying than usual. The estimates help to illustrate that the death toll attributed to COVID-19 understates how many are actually dying from the disease.

As many as 215,000 more people than usual died in the U.S. during the first seven months of the year, suggesting that the number of lives lost to the coronavirus was significantly higher than the official toll, which was then about 150,000. More than half the dead in the excess mortality count were people of color, a higher proportion than their share of the population, according to an analysis by The Associated Press and the Marshall Project, a nonprofit news organization covering the criminal justice system.

Exactly how many of the abnormally high deaths were from the virus cannot be known, and international comparisons cannot be made with precision.

But the findings don’t make the U.S. a “winner.”

DEM INFECTIONS

TRUMP, reacting to news that several people associated with the Biden campaign on a recent flight with Biden’s running mate, Sen. Kamala Harris, tested positive for COVID-19: “We extend our best wishes, which is more than they did to me, but that’s OK.” — North Carolina rally Thursday.

THE FACTS: That’s false.

Hours after Trump’s early morning announcement on Oct. 2 that he had tested positive, both Biden and Harris sent their wishes for a quick recovery via Twitter.

“Jill and I send our thoughts to President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump for a swift recovery,” Biden wrote. “We will continue to pray for the health and safety of the president and his family.”

Harris tweeted a similar message “wishing President Trump and the First Lady a full and speedy recovery. We’re keeping them and the entire Trump family in our thoughts.”

The Biden campaign at the time also said it would stop running negative ads, with the candidate tweeting that “this cannot be a partisan moment” when Trump was going to a hospital for treatment of his coronavirus infection. Biden’s camp resumed the advertising after Trump was released.

GOP v. OBAMACARE

SEN. TED CRUZ: “Obamacare has doubled the profits of the big health insurance companies, doubled them. Obamacare has been great corporate welfare for giant health insurance companies at the same time, according to the Kaiser foundation, premiums — average families’ premiums — have risen more than — have risen $7,967 per year on average. That is catastrophic that millions of Americans can’t afford health care. It is a catastrophic failure of ‘Obamacare.’” — Barrett nomination hearing Wednesday.

THE FACTS: No, family premiums for health insurance have not risen by $7,967 per year, as Cruz asserted. Nowhere close.

That figure comes from the Kaiser Family Foundation but it captures the increase over 11 years — 2009 to 2020 — not per year, as the Republican senator from Texas put it. In addition, the figure applies to the cost of premiums for employer-provided coverage, not for “Obamacare” or for health insurance overall.

Kaiser’s Larry Levitt says the cost of employer coverage wasn’t much affected by the health law and “the increase in premiums is largely due to changes in underlying health care costs over this period.”

The law’s premiums for a standard “silver” individual plan purchased by a hypothetical 40-year-old went up from an average of $273 a month nationally in 2014, to $462 this year.

Levitt said there’s not a clear equivalent for a family premium in the health law’s marketplaces; what a family pays is the sum of each member’s individual premiums.

Cruz’s take on insurer profits also missed the mark. Some major insurers lost money for a time selling “Obamacare” coverage, and several companies exited the health law’s markets. The law actually has a provision that in effect limits insurer profits.

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM: “Under the Affordable Care Act, three states get 35% of the money, folks. Can you name them? I’ll help you, California, New York and Massachusetts. They’re 22% of the population. … Now, why did they get 35% of the money when they are only 22% of the population?” — Barrett confirmation hearing Tuesday.

THE FACTS: The South Carolina senator’s suggestion that Democrats designed the health law to benefit Democratic states is misleading.

Big states with higher premiums and more enrollment in the health insurance marketplaces get more federal money. But that’s driven by differences in premiums between states and by the number of people who sign up for taxpayer-subsidized coverage.

Moreover, some states such as South Carolina get much less federal money under the health law because they chose not to expand Medicaid, where the federal government picks up 90% of the cost.

More from last week’s town halls

CRIME

BIDEN: “The crime bill itself did not have mandatory sentences, except for two things, it had three strikes and you’re out, which I voted against in the crime bill.” — ABC forum in Philadelphia.

THE FACTS: That’s misleading. Biden is understating the impact of the Clinton-era bill and the influence he brought to bear in getting it passed into law.

Biden wrote and voted for that sweeping 1994 crime bill, which included money for more prisons, expanded the use of the federal death penalty and called for a mandatory life sentence for three-time violent offenders — the so-called three strikes provision.

He did call the three-strikes rule “wacko” at one point, even as he was helping to write the bill. Whatever his reservations about certain provisions, he ultimately voted for the legislation, which included the three-strikes rule and has come to be seen in the Black Lives Matter era as a heavy-handed and discriminatory tool of the justice system.

ELECTION FRAUD

TRUMP: “When I see thousands of ballots dumped in a garbage can and they happen to have my name on it? I’m not happy about it.” — Miami forum.

THE FACTS: Nobody has seen that. Contrary to Trump’s repeated, baseless attacks on voting security, voting and election fraud is vanishingly rare. No cases involving thousands of ballots dumped in the trash have been reported in this election.

Trump has cited a case of military ballots marked for him being thrown in the trash in Pennsylvania as evidence of a possible plot to steal the election. But he leaves out the details: County election officials say that the seven ballots, along with two unopened ones, were accidentally tossed in an elections office in a Republican-controlled county by a single contract worker and that authorities were swiftly called.

The Brennan Center for Justice in 2017 ranked the risk of ballot fraud at 0.00004% to 0.0009%, based on studies of past elections.

In the five states that regularly send ballots to all voters, there have been no major cases of fraud or difficulty counting the votes.

Source: Read Full Article