First Thing coronavirus has brought the US 'to its knees'

Good morning. Coronavirus hospital admissions hit record highs in seven US states on Tuesday, as case numbers continued to surge across much of the south and south-west. In Washington, the director of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr Robert Redfield, told a congressional hearing that “one little virus” had exposed the paucity of the US’s public health infrastructure and “brought this nation to its knees” – adding that spending on the Covid-19 crisis would probably top $7bn.