US House of Representatives approves COVID-19 relief bill worth $484 billion

The US House of Representatives on Thursday passed a coronavirus pandemic relief bill that aims to provide funding worth $484 billion to small businesses, hospitals and for COVID-19 testing.

The bill was the fourth such aid passed to deal with the pandemic that has badly hit the country. It was passed in the Democratic-led House by a 388-5-1 bipartisan vote. Notably, the lawmakers were meeting for the first time in weeks due to the COVID-19 pandemic. All of them wore masks and kept their distance during the proceedings.

The $484 billion aid bill provides a depleted loan program for distressed small businesses and provide funds for hospitals and coronavirus testing.

US President Donald Trump said that he was 'grateful' for the action and indicated that he will sign the bill by end of the week.

Trump also favored the safe and phased reopening of the American economy, which has been devastated by the coronavirus pandemic.

Addressing White House Press briefing, Trump said, "Safe and phased reopening of our economy it's very exciting, but it does not mean that we are letting down our guard at all in any way; on the contrary, continued diligence is an essential part of our strategy to get our country back to work to take our country back."

He further asserted, "To keep America gaining momentum, every citizen needs to maintain the vigilance, and we all understand that very well we've gone over it many, many times this includes practicing good hygiene, maintaining social distance, and the voluntary use of face covering." adding, that "the data and facts on the ground suggest that the US is making great progress."

US is the worst affected country from the coronavirus pandemic. As per the data from John Hopkins University, as many as 8.68 lakh people are confirmed to have the virus.

Giving an update on the number of cases on Thursday, Trump said, 'In 23 states, new cases have declined. In the peak week, 40 percent of American counties have also seen a rapid decline in new cases. As many as 46 states report a drop in patients showing coronavirus-like symptoms."

The US President also said that the country is 'very close' to finding a vaccine for coronavirus.

"We have a lot of great, brilliant minds working on this," adding, "Unfortunately we`re not very close to testing because when testing starts it takes a period of time, but we`ll get it done," he said.