March 29 coronavirus news

Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said Americans could expect the checks from the stimulus bill to be direct deposited in their accounts within three weeks from Sunday. 

He told reporters at the White House that for people who did not provide the government their direct deposit information, there will be a web-based application to get their money.

Mnuchin also told small businesses: “Go back and hire your workers because the government is paying you to do that."

Rhode Island Gov. Gina M. Raimondo signed an order obtained by CNN saying she will demand all travelers coming into the state to self-quarantine for 14 days in hopes to stop the spread of coronavirus.

This comes after Raimondo previously targeted New York travelers, saying she would stop them from coming into the state.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo threatened to sue the governor over that previous order.  

CNN has reached out to Raimondo's office for comment.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi Sunday told CNN’s Jake Tapper that President Donald Trump's “denial at the beginning” of the coronavirus outbreak cost American lives. She also accused Trump of fiddling in his response to the crisis.

While Trump downplayed the extent of the outbreak, the White House coronavirus task force has in recent weeks stepped up the response including measures to get equipment to states and hospitals that need it.

"We really want to work in a unifying way to get the job done here, but we cannot continue to allow (Trump) to continue to make these underestimates of what is actually happening here," Pelosi said. "This is such a tragedy, we don't even know the magnitude of it because we do not have the adequate testing."

Key federal health official Dr. Anthony Fauci told CNN’s Jake Tapper President Trump decided not to impose a “quarantine” on parts of the New York, New Jersey and Connecticut and instead issue a travel advisory for that area after officials “had very intensive discussions last night” at the White House with him. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

“After discussions with the President we made it clear and he agreed it would be much better to do what's called a strong advisory," Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said on CNN’s “State of the Union. "The reason for that is you don't want to get to the point that you're enforcing things that would create a bigger difficulty, morale and otherwise, when you could probably accomplish the same goal."

Fauci said about 56% of the country’s new infections are coming from the New York City area.

The number of people in the Netherlands who have tested positive for Covid-19 has now passed 10,000, according the Dutch Ministry of Health said Sunday.

Some 10,866 people have tested positive for the novel coronavirus — an increase of 1,104 new confirmed cases since Saturday.

The total number of reported deaths now stands at 771, an increase of 132 people since Saturday.

In its update, the Ministry said the number of reported hospital admissions and the number of deceased patients “appears to be increasing less rapidly than would be expected without measures in place.”

There have been another 209 coronavirus related deaths in the UK in the past 24 hours, bringing the total deaths to 1,228, Public Health England said on Sunday.

A further 2,433 people have tested positive for the coronavirus, with a total of 19,522 confirmed cases in the UK.

UK lockdown: The UK public should prepare for a "significant period" where lockdown measures are in place to curb the spread of the coronavirus, Cabinet minister Michael Gove has said.

“I can’t make an accurate prediction, but everyone does have to prepare for a significant period when these measures are still in place,” Gove said speaking on the BBC's Andrew Marr on Sunday.

In the UK people are banned from leaving their homes apart from for a few limited reasons after Prime Minister Boris Johnson imposed the most stringent restrictions seen in Britain since the end of World War II.

Sophie Gregoire Trudeau, the wife of Canada’s Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, announced Saturday evening on Instagram that she has fully recovered from Covid-19.

Gregoire Trudeau tested positive for the virus on March 12 after a visit to the UK. 

Justin Trudeau not tested: Since the announcement, Justin Trudeau has remained in quarantine at his Ottawa home with his wife and 3 children. He has been holding meetings virtually and has been giving daily press briefings outside his home.

Trudeau and his children have not been tested for Covid-19 and the prime minister has said that he and the kids have not shown any symptoms.

When asked if he would be resuming a more regular schedule including in-person meetings, Trudeau said earlier Saturday that he and his family would continue to follow the advice of medical professionals.

The “credibility and usefulness” of the European Union is “at stake” with the coronavirus crisis, French Minister of State for European Affairs Amélie De Montchalin said on Sunday.

Speaking to RTL Radio, De Montchalin said: “If some do not want [solidarity], we'll have to question their place [in the EU], and to question what we are still doing with 27 member states. It's a fundamental, existential question.”

De Montchalin was speaking following disagreements among EU member states over the best way to tackle the impact of the coronavirus on the EU economy. A European diplomat with knowledge of a lengthy EU meeting that took place on Thursday told CNN Italy and Spain had blocked a final EU-wide statement, saying it was vague and lacked concrete measures.

“If Europe is just an internal market when everything is well, then it has no sense to it,” De Montchalin added.

READ MORE: The EU can't agree on how to help Italy and Spain pay for coronavirus relief

Vietnam will halt incoming passenger flights in the coming two weeks, according to a government report released on Sunday.

Flights from Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City to other locations and vice versa will also be reduced as much as possible, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said.

Lottery services will also be suspended for 15 days from April 1.

The Vietnamese government announced containment measures earlier in the week, including a ban of gatherings of more than 20 people and suspension of non-essential services.