US House passes $3tn stimulus as experts track Covid-19-linked syndrome

The US House of Representatives has narrowly approved a $3tn bill pushed for by Democrats to battle the coronavirus and stimulating a faltering economy. But Republicans who control the Senate have vowed to block the bill, though some support its provisions aimed at helping state and local governments.

Donald Trump has promised to veto the bill if it ever reaches his desk. But its House passage could trigger new negotiations with the president. Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic Speaker of the House, called it a “starting point” for talks. Earlier on Friday the House also approved a change in its rules to allow members to temporarily cast their votes by proxy during the crisis if Pelosi deems it necessary.

The Trump administration is set to restore partial funding to the World Health Organization, Fox News reported late on Friday, citing a draft letter. The Trump administration would “agree to pay up to what China pays in assessed contributions” to the WHO, Fox reported, quoting from the letter.

If the US were to match China’s contribution its new funding level would be about one-tenth its previous funding amount of about $400m per year, the Reuters news agency said. Trump suspended US contributions 14 April, accusing the WHO of promoting China’s “disinformation” about the coronavirus outbreak. WHO officials denied the claims and China has insisted it was transparent and open.

Trump has announced details of a “warp-speed” effort to create a coronavirus vaccine by the end of the year, even as experts warn that such a breakthrough could take longer than 18 months. Standing behind Trump, Anthony Fauci, an infectious diseases, wore a face mask and cast his glance down and reached to adjust his tie as the president spoke. Trump did not wear a face mask.

Earlier in the week, Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, warned: “There’s no guarantee that the vaccine is actually going to be effective,” while Rick Bright, the ousted head of a government agency seeking a vaccine, told Congress: “Normally, it takes up to 10 years to make a vaccine. A lot of optimism is swirling around a 12 to 18-month time frame, if everything goes perfectly. We’ve never seen everything go perfectly.”

The number of deaths in the US is projected to exceed 100,000 by 1 June, the CDC director, Robert Redfield, has said.

According to the Johns Hopkins University tracker there are 4,531,811 confirmed cases worldwide. The number of people who have lost their lives is 307,001 according to official tolls, but the true number is likely to be much higher.

Europe and the US have seen sharp surges in recent weeks of a severe immune disorder in children linked to Covid-19, health authorities have reported. At least five children – three in New York, and one each in France and Britain – have died from the condition which has hallmarks of a rare disease known as Kawasaki syndrome.

Europe has seen about 230 suspected cases of so-called paediatric inflammatory multisystem syndrome (PIMS) in children up to 14 years old, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said on Friday. Doctors in Bergamo, northern Italy, have reported a 30-fold increase in such disorders among young children. In the US, where well over 100 cases have been identified in the New York area, health authorities have issued an alert for the mysterious illness.

France’s state-run health watchdog described the likelihood of a link to Covid-19 as “very probable” and Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the World Health Organization chief, said: “Initial reports hypothesise that this syndrome may be related to COVID-19.”

Experts think the virus might triggers a delayed but violent second-wave immune response causing the immune system to turn against, rather than protect, the tissue and organs of affected children.

In the UK, the British Medical Association has thrown its weight behind teaching unions opposing the government’s push to reopen schools in England. Parents in England writing to the Guardian community team have complained that the decision to begin reopening primary schools on 1 June is rushed and premature.

Brazil’s health minister has resigned after less than a month on the job, and a day after President Jair Bolsonaro stepped up pressure on him to expand the unproven use of the antimalarial drug chloroquine in treating patients. Brazil now has its third health minister in three months as Bolsonaro continues to ignore expert advice.

As Mexico moves toward a gradual reactivation of its economy from Monday, the number of new coronavirus infections grows higher every day, raising fears of a new wave of infections that other countries have seen after loosening restrictions. There were 2,437 new coronavirus test confirmations on Friday, the highest daily total yet and the second straight day with more than 2,000 new cases.

In Australia, as coronavirus restrictions begin to ease, people have started venturing back to weekend activities such as dining out, going to the beauty salon and attending birthday parties while observing social distancing rules. In the state of Queensland, restaurants, cafes, bars and pubs have been allowed to open with 10 sit-down customers. Pubs have also reopened in the Northern Territory, while the Australian Capital Territory and New South Wales are easing restrictions. The state of Victoria is letting households accept up to five visitors but is not yet loosening restrictions on restaurants and cafes in line with other states.