US on track to pass 100k deaths by June 1

The United States is heading toward more than 100,000 coronavirus deaths by June 1, with leading mortality forecasts still trending upward, CDC Director Robert Redfield tweeted on Friday.

His assessment cited 12 different models tracked by his agency and marked the first time Redfield has explicitly addressed the grim milestone of 100,000 deaths, even as the Trump administration turns its strategy toward reopening the economy.

The CDC director has been mostly sidelined in the government's public-facing response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

President Donald Trump says the US will reopen, "vaccine or no vaccine", as he announced an objective to deliver a coronavirus jab by year end.

"We are looking to get it by the end of the year if we can, maybe before," Trump told reporters at the White House as he discussed America's "Operation Warp Speed" effort in the global race for a vaccine.

Trump announced he would appoint Moncef Slaoui, the former head of GSK Vaccines, and four star army general Gustave Perna, to lead "Operation Warp Speed."

"My administration is providing roughly $10 billion to support a medical research effort without parallel," the president said, comparing the effort with the Manhattan Project during World War 2 that led to the development of nuclear weapons.

Trump added that when a vaccine was ready the military would be enlisted to distribute it -- and evoked a spirit of global cooperation.

"We are working together with many different countries, and again we have no ego," he said.

Scientists have cautioned that it is possible that despite worldwide efforts, it is possible that an effective vaccine may never be found -- or that some vaccines could backfire and make people more, not less, susceptible to infection.

CDC director Redfield in his tweet shared weekly forecast data the agency culls from models run by 12 top institutions including Columbia University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. They show the cumulative reported coronavirus deaths since February and made projections for the next four weeks in the United States.

"As of May 11, all [12 models] forecast an increase in deaths in the coming weeks and a cumulative total exceeding 100,000 by June 1," he tweeted.

The CDC notes that the models are based on varying assumptions about how Americans are following social distancing guidelines and other measures aimed at curbing the spread of the virus, reports Politico.

The coronavirus has already infected more than 1.4 million Americans, and killed more than 84,700, according to tracking by Johns Hopkins University.

President Donald Trump in late March shared White House projections that the death toll could hit between 100,000 and 240,000 Americans, although he spun the forecast as a success, in contrast to an earlier model that predicted more than 2 million deaths if no effort was made to contain the disease.

With 36.5 million Americans -- more than 10 percent of the population -- now out of work, Trump has been keen to ease lockdown measures as he seeks re-election in November.

Some areas are resisting. Lockdown measures in New York City have been extended until May 28.

In the US House of Representatives, Democrats narrowly pushed through a $3 trillion rescue package late on Friday -- but Republicans have vowed to block the package in the Senate, which they control.

In an attempt to counter the pandemic's devastating economic fallout, the 1,815-page measure also would extend food and unemployment aid; provide rent and mortgage support for struggling households, and pump billions of dollars into virus testing, tracing operations and treatment.

"We think this is a major investment in the lives of the American people and in the budgets of our states and localities," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said. "They're suffering so much, in so many ways. We want to lessen the pain for them."

Trump has already signed four pandemic relief measures into law. They include a $2.2 trillion package in March and a $483 billion measure to pump additional funds into a loan program for hard-hit small businesses, reports AFP.

Pelosi has said the latest bill is effectively an opening offer, and she expects Republicans to join Democrats in negotiating a compromise.

The crisis has led to the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, and Trump has been keen to re-open shuttered state economies in a bid to jumpstart business activity that has been frozen during pandemic-related lockdowns.

Across the Atlantic, beaches in France and Italy opened yesterday for the first weekend since the countries eased coronavirus lockdowns, while football fans awaited the return of major league action with Germany's Bundesliga set to kick off.

The re-openings are a major sign of returning normality for countries hit hard by the pandemic, which has killed more than 307,000 people, infected over 4.5 million, wrought vast economic havoc and brought life to a halt.

But as countries lift restrictions to boost their stagnant economies, there have been widespread fears of a second wave of infections that could plunge the world back into lockdown.