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U.S. suspending immigration: President Trump says he will sign order to close borders to immigrants

President Donald Trump made the announcement on Twitter on Monday night.

HOUSTON — In response to the global coronavirus pandemic, President Donald Trump said he will sign an executive order to temporarily suspend immigration into the United States.

Trump said the order will be put in place in order to protect the jobs of American citizens.

It's not clear when the order will be signed or how long it will remain in effect.

There were more than 776,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the United States around 4:30 p.m. ET on Monday, according to Johns Hopkins University. There have been more than 41,000 deaths in the U.S., with more than 71,000 recoveries. More than 3.8 million tests have been conducted nationwide.

Worldwide, there have been 2.4 million cases and nearly 169,000 deaths.

President Trump opens Monday White House briefing updating the public on the virus fight

Trump told reporters there are still a number of hot spots around the country where the virus outbreak is continuing to heat up. Trump said the country will have them contained. Trump said tremendous progress is being made on vaccines, but on therapeutics as well. The president said the therapeutics would work on attacking the virus or prevent it from spreading.

Governors from both parties are pushing back after President Donald Trump accused Democrats of playing “a very dangerous political game” by insisting there is a shortage of tests for the coronavirus.

The governors countered on Monday that the White House must do more to help states do the testing that’s needed before they can ease up on stay-at-home orders. Kansas’s Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly said the current federal effort “really is not good enough if we’re going to be able to start to open our economy.” Republican Mike DeWine in Ohio said there's progress but “we've got a ways to go.”

Dr. Deborah L. Birx stressed that their focus now, in regards to mitigation, is to ensure that asymptomatic people do not continue to spread the virus.

Here are some key updates for Monday, April 20, 2020.

  • President Trump leads White House briefing to update the public on coronavirus containment fight
  • MLB can cut pay, lay off managers, coaches starting May 1
  • Massachusetts becoming new virus hotspot
  • Number of daily deaths in New York state continues to drop
  • WHO head warns worst of virus is still ahead 
  • Restaurant industry estimated to lose $240 billion by end of the year
  • Fauci warns economic recovery will not happen if reopening is too fast 
  • Pope Francis postpones international family rally, World Youth Day
  • White House to hold call with governors on testing supplies 
  • US, Mexico and Canada agree to extend border closures 
  • Prince Philip made a public statement praising healthcare workers.
  • Shops, schools begin opening in Germany, Denmark
  • President Trump says his administration and Congress are getting close to a deal on a $450 billion aid package.
  • Trump says he'll use the Defense Production Act to increase the manufacturing of swabs used to test for coronavirus.

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