virus

Some 884,000 Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week as the labor market’s recovery from the coronavirus crisis stalled once again, new data show. That means a seasonally adjusted total of 60.1 million initial jobless claims have flooded unemployment offices during the COVID-19 pandemic — a number larger than the entire population of South Africa. …

President Trump admitted in March that he wanted to publicly downplay the danger posed by the coronavirus in order to avoid creating “panic,” even as he expressed privately that the disease posed a deadly threat, according to a new book on the Trump presidency by Bob Woodward. “I wanted to always play it down,” Trump told …

Governor Andrew Cuomo announced on Wednesday that he would allow New York City restaurants to reopen for indoor dining at 25 percent capacity beginning September 30. The announcement comes more than two months after Cuomo and mayor Bill de Blasio put the brakes on a plan to reopen indoor dining at restaurants in light of …

Hardened Hamptons party crashers are having a harder time getting into VIP bashes during the pandemic. We’re told the clandestine crashers — accustomed to hobnobbing with the East End who’s who by giving false names or managing to sneak past security — have been stymied by stricter guest-list policies, especially in the Hamptons, where people …

The Pennsylvania high school Jamain Stephens attended has issued a correction after initially saying the 20-year-old football player died from COVID-19 complications. In a Tuesday Facebook post, Central Catholic High School in Pittsburgh, where Stephens graduated from in 2017, said that “Jamain went to his eternal reward after suffering from complications of COVID-19.” On Wednesday, …

US employers advertised more jobs but hired fewer workers in July, sending mixed signals about the job market in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak. The Labor Department said Wednesday that the number of US job postings on the last day of July rose to 6.6 million from 6 million at the end of June. …

Dozens of businesses raked in at least $20 million in federal coronavirus relief loans despite appearing ineligible to receive them, a new report says. More than 75 firms got Paycheck Protection Program loans worth at least $150,000 even though they didn’t exist before the spring or failed to meet other criteria for the program, the …

United Airlines on Wednesday forecast a bigger drop in third-quarter passenger revenue than its own expectations and said it would look to cancel more flights until it sees a recovery in air travel. United said it now expects an 85 percent drop in passenger revenue, a closely watched performance measure in the airline industry, down …

Marriott plans to lay off 17 percent of its corporate workforce next month as the coronavirus continues to take a heavy toll on the hotel industry. The Bethesda, Maryland-based company confirmed Wednesday that it will lay off 673 workers late next month. Marriott has around 4,000 employees at its corporate headquarters. Marriott furloughed two-thirds of …

Ellen Pompeo is scrubbing back in for another season of “Grey’s Anatomy.” “First time back in my scrubs… since we shut down filming 7000 healthcare workers have died from Covid,” the actress, 50, captioned a masked selfie with co-star Richard Flood on Tuesday.  The caption continued, “I dedicate my season 17 to all who have …