VOA news for Saturday, May 16th, 2020
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This is VOA news. Reporting by remote, I'm David Byrd.
President Donald Trump said Friday the U.S. government was working with other countries to develop a coronavirus vaccine at an accelerated pace while preparing to distribute a vaccine once one is ready.
In announcing the effort dubbed "Operation Warp Speed," Trump said the government would invest in all the top coronavirus vaccine candidates and said a list had been narrowed to 14 promising possibilities.
He said his administration would mobilize its forces to get a vaccine distributed once one was in place.
"This will eliminate any unnecessary delay and enable us to begin providing Americans with a proven vaccine the day our scientists say, 'We are ready, we've got it.'" Experts have warned it would likely take 12 to 18 months or more to get a vaccine ready for the public. But the president has sought to speed up that time frame while also playing down the need for a vaccine as he encourages U.S. states to reopen their economies.
President Donald Trump expressed no concern Friday about a rapid coronavirus test the White House has been relying on to ensure his safety even though FDA commissioner Steve Hahn has admitted it might not be 100 percent accurate. AP's Sagar Meghani has more.
The Food and Drug Administration says it's reviewing preliminary data suggesting the Abbott Laboratories' test may return an inordinate amount of false negatives.
The president's called the test a "game changer" and it's been used for weeks in a bid to keep the White House complex safe.
"It's a great test; it's a very quick test. And it can always be very rapidly double checked.”
He spoke in the Rose Garden where many officials and staffers were wearing masks but not all.
"... we've all been tested and we're quite a distance away, and we're outdoors. So I told them I gave them the option they can wear it or not.”
Sagar Meghani, Washington.
For more on these stories, visit voanews.com. This is VOA news.
The coronavirus dealt another devastating blow to the U.S. economy. We get details from AP correspondent Mike Hempen.
The Department of Commerce says retail sales dropped by a record 16 percent from March to April as business shutdowns caused by COVID-19 kept shoppers away and threatened stores across the country.
The sharpest drops occurred at clothiers, electronics stores, furniture stores and restaurants. Purchases at retailers are a major component of overall consumer spending which fuels about 70 percent of economic growth. Over the past 12 months, retails sales have plunged nearly 22 percent.
I'm Mike Hempen.
U.N. aid agencies are intensifying COVID-19 operations to prevent the spread of the disease in the Rohingya refugee camps in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh. Lisa Schlein reports from Geneva.
U.N. refugee agency spokesman Andrej Mahecic says there are serious concerns about the potentially severe impact of the coronavirus circulating in the densely populated refugee settlement.
"Another 400,000 Bangladeshis live in the surrounding host communities. These populations are considered to be among the most at risk globally in this pandemic. No effort must be spared if the higher fatality rates are to be avoided in overcrowded sites with limited health and water and sanitation infrastructure.”
The UNHCR says efforts are underway to clean and disinfect communal areas and neighborhoods throughout the camps. The agency is also setting up isolation and treatment centers.
Meanwhile, the U.N. Children's Fund is constructing a 210-bed facility in Cox's Bazar and providing personal protective equipment for health workers.
Lisa Schlein, for VOA news, Geneva.
A U.S. official says the Islamic State in Afghanistan carried out this week's horrific attack on a maternity hospital in Kabul, killing 24 people, including mothers and newborn babies. AP correspondent Zaria Shaklee reports.
Peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad said the U.S. government believes the Islamic State affiliate carried out Tuesday's attack on the hospital and an assault earlier the same day in a different province targeting the funeral of a pro-government warlord, killing 34 people.
Doctors without Borders, which operates the hospital, called the attack "pure hell." It said the gunmen moved directly to the maternity wards, ignoring other medical units closer to the entrance of the medical complex.
I'm Zaria Shaklee.
For more, visit our website voanews.com. You can also follow us on the VOA mobile app. Reporting by remote, I'm David Byrd, VOA news.

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