Even as Republicans were at odds with Democrats over how much money was enough, top Republican members of Congress also faced pushback from the White House.
Republican leaders met US President Donald Trump as the White House panned some US$25 billion in the GOP's plan that would be devoted to testing and tracing, said one Republican familiar with the discussions.
There remains a wide gulf between the Republican and Democratic packages, with Democrats passing in the House a US$3 trillion package, while the Republican package came in at about US$1t.
"We have to end this virus," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on MSNBC. Any attempt by the White House to block testing money "goes beyond ignorance."
The political stakes are high for all sides before the November election, especially with the nation registering more coronavirus infections and deaths than any other country.
With 17 straight weeks of unemployment claims topping one million, many households were facing a cash crunch and losing employer-backed health insurance coverage.
The number of cases was spiking in spots throughout the US, stressing not just the economy and Americans' psyche but also its medical system.
In California, shopping centres in San Francisco were ordered closed about a month after they were allowed to reopen.
Four months after the San Francisco Bay Area became the first place in the nation to issue broad stay-at-home orders to prevent the virus spread, only one Bay Area county is not on the state governor's watch list for areas with rising infection and hospitalisation rates.
In Chicago, the mayor imposed new restrictions on bars, gyms and personal services such as facials as health officials said the city again topped 200 daily cases on average. City officials attributed the rise primarily to young people going to bars and restaurants and Lake Michigan beaches.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, flew to Georgia to help deliver masks, test kits, gowns, face shields and hand sanitiser in Savannah.
His visit offered tacit support to a mayor who has been a pacesetter in a revolt against Republican Georgia Governor Brian Kemp's refusal to allow local governments to order people to wear masks.
Georgia's cases continue to rise and Kemp has been embroiled in a public tussle with some local officials, including Savannah Mayor Van Johnson, over mandates on face coverings.
Cuomo said New York has to be interested in what's happening in other parts of the country because infected people from other states are likely to spread virus cases in New York. He pledged to help Savannah set up two new public testing sites aimed at lower-income people, and said he would share contact tracing expertise.
In Florida, where nearly 9500 people were hospitalised as of today, just 18 per cent of its ICU units were available.
Potions in Motions, a catering company in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, would ordinarily be in high gear for summer weddings, graduations and corporate events, averaging 25 to 35 a week and serving 2000 to 3000 people.
But with restrictions on group gatherings, they're down to "micro-events," averaging two to five a week with eight to 15 people. They've had to cut most of their staff; at peak season, they have 65, but now are down to six.
"We're trying to just stay alive and keep as many people employed," company founder Jason Savino said. "You can't even have a gathering of more than 10 people in your house."
"There's no support coming from any government or anywhere that are accommodating these businesses that are being ordered to dial their business back," he said.
Even a simple attempt to get a day off can have dire consequences.
A busboy at Timbers Seafood and Steakhouse in Ludington, Michigan, said he had Covid-19, but it was later discovered he lied to get a day off. Timbers closed for two days as a safety precaution, canceling a wedding rehearsal and lost thousands of dollars.
"It was heartbreaking," said restaurant manager David Hritco. "I worried about my staff. I worried about, 'Well, now do I have Covid?'"
The timing was terrible for the restaurant, which is trying to recover during the peak summer season after months of being closed. The employee confessed to lying over the weekend, he said.
"This is a young kid that made a mistake," Hritco said. "But this is now a police matter."
The number of confirmed global virus deaths has risen to more than 607,000, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. The US tops the list with more than 140,800, followed by more than 78,000 in Brazil.
The number of confirmed infections worldwide has passed 14.6 million, with 3.8 million in the United States and more than 2 million in Brazil. Experts believe the pandemic's true toll is much higher because of testing shortages and data collection issues.
- AP
