Corona virus: Donald Trump announces multi-billion dollar aid package for farmers

The United States wants to help farmers in the corona crisis with $ 19 billion. President said Donald Trump at a press conference on Friday evening (local time) in the White House. Minister of Agriculture Sonny Perdue said that $ 16 billion will go directly to farms. Three billion dollars are said to be used to buy meat, dairy products and other foods from farmers. These should be given to those in need.

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With a view to the further development of the corona pandemic in the US, Trump said he hoped that the number of deaths in his country would remain well below 100,000. Every death is one too many, the President emphasized, adding: “At the moment we are probably moving to around 60,000, maybe 65,000.”

At the moment, according to the Johns Hopkins University, there are more than 692,000 confirmed infections with Sars-CoV-2 in the USA, more than 36,700 people have died from Covid-19 so far. It is the highest number of infected and dead in the world.

Trump expressed confidence that his country would successfully fight the spread of the virus. Important advances have already been made in the past few days and will soon see “the light at the end of the tunnel”. “We did it right,” said Trump. It has managed to save the lives of millions of US citizens.

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Trump had on Thursday Guidelines announced that will bring the US back to normal in three phases and the economy should gradually be reopened. Accordingly, slight easing should initially apply from May. Gatherings of more than ten people should be avoided, for example, restaurants, cinemas and places of worship should only open if a safe distance between visitors can be guaranteed.

Vice President Mike Pence said on Friday, citing experts, there are enough tests available in the US to meet the guidelines in the first phase.

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Some U.S. states had already responded to Trump’s plan and announced that they would partially relax the current corona measures. According to Governor Greg Abbott, stores in Texas should reopen from Friday next week when they deliver, send, or make goods available for pickup. In Florida, Governor Ron DeSantis left it open to communities, parks, and beaches if they could provide the necessary security measures.

Trump had previously shown solidarity with anti-lockdown protesters on Twitter. On Twitter, Trump wrote, among others, “Liberate Michigan!” and “Liberate Minnesota!” – the governors there, Whitmer and Walz, are both Democrats and had taken strict protective measures.

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