Tag Archives: Coronavirus

Face masks may be ‘new normal’ in post-virus life as U.S. prepares gradual reopening

By Maria Caspani and Jessica Resnick-Ault

NEW YORK (Reuters) – The death toll from the coronavirus pandemic in the United States approached 31,000 on Wednesday as governors began cautiously preparing Americans for a post-virus life that would likely include public face coverings as the “new normal.”

The governors of Connecticut, Maryland, New York and Pennsylvania each issued orders or recommendations that residents wear face masks as they emerge from isolation in the coming weeks.

“If you are going to be in public and you cannot maintain social distancing, then have a mask, and put that mask on,” said New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat.

Similar orders were imposed in New Jersey and Los Angeles last week and face coverings were recommended by Kansas Governor Laura Kelly on Tuesday.

California Governor Gavin Newsom has said residents across the nation’s most-populous state would likely be wearing masks in public for some time to come.

“We are going to be getting back to normal; it will be a new normal,” Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont said, echoing a phrase used by at least two of his fellow governors in recent days.

U.S. Midwest governors were also making plans together to restart their economies, said Jordan Abudayyeh, a spokeswoman for Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker.

In Michigan, hundreds of cars flooded the streets around the state Capitol in Lansing on Wednesday to protest Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s stay-at-home orders, some of the strictest in the country.

Some protesters, in the demonstration organized by conservative and pro-President Donald Trump groups, left their cars to gather on the lawn in front of the Capitol building, many of them not wearing masks or practicing social distancing.

TOLL ON HEALTHCARE STAFF

As of Wednesday night, 30,885 people in the United States had died of COVID-19, the respiratory illness caused by the novel coronavirus, according to a Reuters tally.

That includes more than 4,000 deaths newly attributed to the disease in New York City after health officials revised their counting methods to include “probable,” but unconfirmed, cases.

Healthcare workers have faced unique health threats while working on the front lines trying to tackle the pandemic.

Reuters has identified more than 50 nurses, doctors and medical technicians who have died after being diagnosed with COVID-19 or showing symptoms of it. At least 16 were in New York state.

“The emergency room is like a war zone,” said Raj Aya, whose wife, Madhvi Aya – a physician’s assistant in Brooklyn – was one of the healthcare workers who died in New York.

As the outbreak begins to slow, political leaders have bickered over how and when to begin the process of unwinding unprecedented lockdowns that have damaged the economy and largely confined Americans to their homes.

Washington state Governor Jay Inslee told an afternoon news conference the largest obstacle to a return to normalcy was a shortage of coronavirus tests.

“We simply haven’t had enough test kits – they simply do not exist anywhere in the United States right now,” Inslee said, adding the state had purchased about a million swabs, along with vials and test medium but they were just starting to arrive.

At his daily White House briefing hours later, Trump boasted that the United States had “the most expansive testing system anywhere in the world”. But, he said, testing was a problem for the states and not the federal government.

“We can’t be thinking about a Walmart parking lot,” where some testing is being done, but the states and cities should do that, he said.

Senate Democrats on Wednesday unveiled a $30 billion plan to vastly increase nationwide testing for the coronavirus.

‘ALMOST IN FREE FALL’

Trump, citing data suggesting the peak of new infections had passed, said he would announce guidelines on Thursday for reopening the economy.

The sweeping closures of businesses have left millions of Americans unemployed and store owners struggling to pay rent.

Government data released on Wednesday showed that retail sales dropped by 8.7% in March, the biggest decline since tracking began in 1992. Consumer spending accounts for more than two-thirds of U.S. economic activity.

In addition, output at U.S. factories declined by the most since 1946 as the pandemic fractured supply chains.

“The economy is almost in free fall,” said Sung Won Sohn, a business economics professor at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles.

The United States, with the world’s third-largest population, has now suffered the greatest number of reported fatalities from the coronavirus, ahead of Italy and Spain.

Globally, the number of infections has crossed the 2 million mark and over 136,000 people have died, a Reuters tally shows.

The pathogen emerged last year in China.

Trump said on Wednesday his government was trying to determine whether the coronavirus emanated from a lab in Wuhan, China, and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Beijing “needs to come clean” on what they know. The official death toll released by the Chinese government stands at about 3,600.

The source of the virus remains a mystery. General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said on Tuesday that U.S. intelligence indicated the coronavirus likely occurred naturally, as opposed to being created in a laboratory in China, but there was no certainty either way.

(Reporting by Nathan Layne, Lucia Mutikani, Doina Chiacu, Susan Heavey, Maria Caspani, Lisa Shumaker, Gabriella Borter, Peter Szekely, Kristina Cooke, Jessica Resnick-Ault, Sharon Bernstein, Steve Gorman and Dan Whitcomb; Writing by Dan Whitcomb; Editing by Bill Tarrant, Cynthia Osterman, Peter Cooney and Himani Sarkar)

Trump says U.S. investigating whether virus came from Wuhan lab

By Steve Holland and David Brunnstrom

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday his government is trying to determine whether the coronavirus emanated from a lab in Wuhan, China, and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Beijing “needs to come clean” on what they know.

The source of the virus remains a mystery. General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said on Tuesday that U.S. intelligence indicates that the coronavirus likely occurred naturally, as opposed to being created in a laboratory in China, but there is no certainty either way.

Fox News reported on Wednesday that the virus originated in a Wuhan laboratory not as a bioweapon, but as part of China’s effort to demonstrate that its efforts to identify and combat viruses are equal to or greater than the capabilities of the United States.

This report and others have suggested the Wuhan lab where virology experiments take place and lax safety standards there led to someone getting infected and appearing at a nearby “wet” market, where the virus began to spread.

At a White House news conference Trump was asked about the reports of the virus escaping from the Wuhan lab, and he said he was aware of them.

“We are doing a very thorough examination of this horrible situation that happened,” he said.

Asked if he had raised the subject in his conversations with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Trump said: “I don’t want to discuss what I talked to him about the laboratory, I just don’t want to discuss, it’s inappropriate right now.”

Trump has sought to stress strong U.S. ties with China during the pandemic as the United States has relied on China for personal protection equipment desperately needed by American medical workers.

As far back as February, the Chinese state-backed Wuhan Institute of Virology dismissed rumors that the virus may have been artificially synthesized at one of its laboratories or perhaps escaped from such a facility.

Pompeo, in a Fox News Channel interview after Trump’s news conference, said “we know this virus originated in Wuhan, China,” and that the Institute of Virology is only a handful of miles away from the wet market.

“We really need the Chinese government to open up” and help explain “exactly how this virus spread,” said Pompeo.

“The Chinese government needs to come clean,” he said.

The broad scientific consensus holds that SARS-CoV-2, the virus’ official name, originated in bats.

Trump and other officials have expressed deep skepticism of China’s officially declared death toll from the virus of around 3,000 people, when the United States has a death toll of more than 20,000 and rising.

He returned to the subject on Wednesday, saying the United States has more cases “because we do more reporting.”

“Do you really believe those numbers in this vast country called China, and that they have a certain number of cases and a certain number of deaths; does anybody really believe that?” he said.

(This story refiles to remove extraneous word pushed in paragraph 9)

(Reporting by Steve Holland and David Brunnstrom; Editing by Stephen Coates)

Factbox: Latest on the spread of the coronavirus around the world

(Reuters) – Reported cases of the coronavirus crossed 2.07 million globally and more than 138,400 people have died, according to a Reuters tally as of 1400 GMT on Thursday.

DEATHS AND INFECTIONS

* For an interactive graphic tracking the global spread, open https://tmsnrt.rs/3aIRuz7 in an external browser.

* For a U.S.-focused tracker with state-by-state and county map, open https://tmsnrt.rs/2w7hX9T in an external browser.

AMERICAS

* U.S. President Donald Trump plans to announce new guidelines to reopen the economy on Thursday, despite concerns from health experts, governors and business leaders about a resurgence in cases without more testing and protocols in place.

* U.S. defense secretary said he believed China’s leaders have been misleading and opaque about the outbreak and does not trust that they are being truthful even now.

* Mexico’s government said its health experts have recommended the country extend its current measures until May 30.

* Mexico could force the closure of companies in non-essential sectors if they refuse to suspend operations during a state of emergency.

* Haiti will reopen its key textile industry next week.

* A two-month-old baby born to Warao indigenous refugees from Venezuela has tested positive, the mayor’s office in the Brazilian city of Manaus said.

EUROPE

* Europe is in eye of the storm, with the number of cases nearing a million, and should move with extreme caution when considering easing lockdowns, the WHO’s regional director said.

* Spain’s national death toll exceeded 19,000, but figures from the region of Catalonia indicated the real total could be several thousand higher.

* Britain’s outbreak is starting to peak but it is too early to lift the lockdown, its health minister said.

* Austria plans to test every retirement home resident as it expands efforts to measure the pandemic’s spread.

* Hungary is extending lockdown measures by one week from Saturday.

* The Swiss government will start a gradual relaxation of restrictions from April 27.

* A study of Dutch blood donors found that around 3% have developed antibodies against the virus, an indication of what percentage of the population may have already had the disease.

ASIA-PACIFIC

* China reported fewer imported cases on Thursday, but said locally transmitted infections rose, with the capital Beijing seeing new local cases for the first time in more than three weeks.

* Japan’s prime minister expanded a state of emergency to include the entire country and said the government was considering cash payouts for all.

* South Korea’s ruling party won an absolute majority in parliamentary elections in a landslide victory propelled by successes in the country’s efforts to contain the virus.

* India charged a Muslim leader with culpable homicide not amounting to murder for holding a gathering last month that authorities say led to a big jump in infections.

* Malaysia approved the use of antigen rapid test kits from South Korea, as it looks to increase its testing among high-risk groups and in places where clusters are detected.

* Indonesia expects the number of cases to peak between May and June with around 95,000 infections, a government adviser said.

* Australia will retain curbs on public movement for at least four more weeks, its prime minister said, dashing speculation the sustained low growth in new cases could spur a quicker return to normal.

* China said the WHO has said there is no evidence that the virus was made in a lab, after U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Beijing “needs to come clean” on what they know.

MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA

* Iran’s official death toll reached 4,869 on Thursday but a parliamentary report said the actual number could be much higher.

* Oman locked down a textile market in a town popular with tourists as the country reported more than 100 new infections to take its count above 1,000.

* Six Gulf Arab states approved Kuwait’s proposal for a common network for food supply safety.

* The Kingdom of Eswatini recorded its first death on Thursday.

* South Africa will allow mines to operate at a capacity of 50% during a nationwide lockdown.

ECONOMIC FALLOUT

* Europe led world stock markets higher as tentative moves to reopen parts of the some of its larger economies and a bounce in oil offset some truly dismal global economic data.

* Hedge fund Elliott Management said global stocks could ultimately lose half of their value from February’s high, according to a letter sent to clients.

* The United States opposes creation of liquidity through issuance of the IMF’s Special Drawing Rights as part of the response to the pandemic, U.S. treasury secretary said.

* The Federal Reserve’s program to back emergency government loans to small businesses is “fully operational,” the central bank said.

* Britain’s economy looks set for a record contraction after figures showed retail spending plunged by more than a quarter and one in four firms stopped trading temporarily.

* The Philippine central bank cut its benchmark interest rate for the third time this year, bringing it to a record low of 2.75%.

* China has not seen large-scale exodus of foreign capital amid the outbreak, the commerce ministry said.

* Mexico’s president said the government would provide an additional one million loans to small businesses.

* Russia is set to spend more than 2 trillion roubles ($26.96 billion) on its anti-crisis programme.

(Compiled by Milla Nissi; Editing by Tomasz Janowski)

Trump to announce ‘guidelines’ on reopening U.S. economy Thursday

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that data suggested the country had passed the peak on new coronavirus infections, and said he would announce “new guidelines” for reopening the economy at a news conference on Thursday.

“The battle continues but the data suggests that the nation has passed the peak on new cases,” Trump told his daily White House news briefing.

“While we must remain vigilant, it is clear that our aggressive strategy is working and very strongly working, I might add,” Trump said.

The U.S. coronavirus death toll – the highest in the world – surged past 30,000 on Wednesday after doubling in a week.

The coronavirus crisis has hammered the U.S. economy, overshadowing Trump’s efforts to win re-election in November.

The Republican president has been pushing to reopen U.S. businesses and end orders that Americans stay home to fight the spread of the disease. During the lockdown, millions of Americans have lost their jobs and thousands of businesses have been forced to close their doors.

Trump claimed on Monday had the authority to overrule state governors and order businesses across the country to reopen.

(Reporting by Steve Holland and Patricia Zengerle; Editing by Sandra Maler and Tom Brown)

Abbott launches antibody test for coronavirus, plans to deliver 20 million tests by June

(Reuters) – Abbott Laboratories Inc on Wednesday launched a coronavirus blood test that could show whether a person has been infected and plans to ramp up manufacturing to produce 20 million tests in June.

The test helps identify disease-fighting antibodies in people who have been infected but may have had mild symptoms or none at all, making it different from the current diagnostic tests that require nasal swabs to confirm active infection.

Abbott has previously won U.S. authorization for two coronavirus testing kits: an automated test that can be used in labs and a test that can deliver results within minutes and be used in physicians’ offices, clinics and hospitals.

(Reporting by Saumya Sibi Joseph in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)

Pandemic could trigger social unrest in some countries: IMF

Pandemic could trigger social unrest in some countries: IMF
By Andrea Shalal

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – New waves of social unrest could erupt in some countries if government measures to mitigate the coronavirus pandemic are seen as insufficient or unfairly favoring the wealthy, the IMF (International Monetary Fund) said in a new report on Wednesday.

Governments had already spent nearly $8 trillion to combat the pandemic and mitigate the economic fallout, but more fiscal stimulus would be needed once the crisis abated, the global lender said in its semi-annual Fiscal Monitor.

The spike in spending would sharply widen fiscal deficits, with global public debt set to rise 13 percentage points to more than 96% of gross domestic product in 2020, it said.

On Tuesday, the IMF forecast the global economy to shrink 3.0% during 2020 as a result of the pandemic, but warned that its forecasts were marked by “extreme uncertainty” and outcomes could be far worse.

Efforts to halt the disease have shut down large swaths of the global economy, with emerging market and developing countries likely to be hardest hit.

While mass protests are unlikely with strict lockdowns in place, unrest could spike when the crisis appeared to be under control, Vitor Gaspar, director of the IMF’s fiscal affairs department, told Reuters in an interview.

To avert further unrest following numerous protests in many parts of the world over the past year, policymakers must communicate with affected communities to build support for measures to tackle the virus, he said.

“This is something we have emphasized: it is crucial to provide support to households and firms that are made vulnerable by the crisis,” he said. “The goal is to support and protect people and firms that have been affected by shutdowns.”

Tensions are already becoming evident as lockdowns leave day laborers and many in the informal economy without jobs or food.

In India’s commercial capital of Mumbai, thousands of jobless migrant workers protested on Tuesday at a railway station, demanding to be allowed to return to their homes in the countryside, after Prime Minister Narendra Modi extended a lockdown of the population of 1.3 billion.

Unemployment has almost doubled to around 14.5% in India since the lockdown began in late March, according to the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy, a private think-tank.

In India and elsewhere, shutdowns have sparked an exodus of millions of workers from city jobs in small industries and service jobs back to their home villages.

Daily wage earners are particularly vulnerable, and many are already having to skip meals, say World Bank officials.

IMF chief economist Gita Gopinath said previous crises and disasters had fostered solidarity, but there could be a different outcome this time.

“If the crisis is badly managed and it’s viewed as having been insufficient to help people, you could end up with social unrest,” she told Reuters.

To avoid future protests, she said it was critical for the international community to play a supportive role for poorer countries through concessional financing and debt relief.

The report said government spending to date included direct fiscal costs of $3.3 trillion, public sector loans and equity injections of $1.8 trillion, plus $2.7 billion in guarantees and other contingent liabilities of $2.7 trillion.

It forecast lower output and said government revenue was now forecast to be 2.5% of global GDP, lower than was projected in October.

Gaspar said it was hard to predict how much more spending would be needed, but broad-based fiscal stimulus would be an important tool to foster recovery once the outbreak abated.

(Reporting by Andrea Shalal; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)

CDC director says 19-20 U.S. states may be ready to reopen May 1

By Doina Chiacu and Susan Heavey

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The director of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Wednesday he believes 19 or 20 U.S. states have had limited impact from the new coronavirus and their governors believe they may be ready to reopen by President Donald Trump’s May 1 target date.

“There are a number of counties within this country that have not experienced really any coronavirus despite testing,” Robert Redfield said in an interview with ABC’s “Good Morning America.”

“There are a number of states – 19, 20 states – that really have had limited impact from it. So I think we will see some states that are, the governors feel that they’re ready, we’re poised to assist them with that reopening,” Redfield said.

Trump said on Monday evening he was close to completing a plan for ending America’s coronavirus shutdown, which has thrown millions out of work, and may restart the battered U.S. economy in some areas even before May 1. He said around 20 states were “in extremely good shape and could reopen fairly quickly.

The president took renewed aim at the World Health Organization at the briefing, saying he has instructed his administration to halt U.S. funding to the Geneva-based institution over its handling of the pandemic.

Redfield would not directly answer a question about the president’s decision but said the CDC and WHO have had a long history of working together on global health outbreaks.

“We’ve had a very productive public health relationship,” he said. “We continue to have that.”

The CDC and the Federal Emergency Management Agency have put together a public health strategy to reopen parts of the country as part of the larger White House effort get Americans back to work, the Washington Post reported.

The plan cites three phases: A national communication campaign and community readiness assessment through May 1; increased emergency funding and production of testing kits and personal protective equipment through May 15; and staged reopenings depending on local conditions.

The plan said some mitigation measures would have to remain in effect and communities that would only need “low mitigation” efforts are places where the virus never took hold, the Post said.

The document warned: “Models indicate 30-day shelter in place followed by 180 day lifting of all mitigation results in large rebound curve — some level of mitigation will be needed until vaccines or broad community immunity is achieved for recovering communities.”

Redfield said mitigation steps such as people staying physically separated would also likely have to continue until a vaccine and treatments are available.

“I do think we’re going to have some social distancing that’s going to be a critical part of our strategy as we go forward,” he told CBS “This Morning” in an interview.

(Reporting by Doina Chiacu and Susan Heavey; Editing by Alex Richardson and Steve Orlofsky)

A day fighting COVID-19: U.S. hospital staff share hardest moments on shift

BALTIMORE, Md. (Reuters) – The shifts are long and the scenes are heartbreaking inside a Maryland hospital where nurses and doctors have been treating coronavirus patients for weeks, unable to let family inside to visit loved ones on their death beds.

One of the hardest moments of a recent work day for registered nurse Julia Trainor was intubating a patient, and then calling the patient’s husband so he could talk to his wife. He was not allowed in the hospital.

“I had to put him on the phone and hold the phone to her ear as he told her that he loved her so much, and then I had to wipe away her tears,” says Trainor, who works in a surgical intensive care unit. “I’m used to seeing very sick patients and I’m used to patients dying, but nothing quite like this.”

The highly infectious COVID-19 disease caused by the novel coronavirus has infected more than 580,000 people across the United States and killed nearly 24,000.

In Maryland, where residents have been ordered to stay at home since March 30 to stem the spread of the disease, around 9,000 have tested positive for the virus and more than 260 have died.

After finishing what for many was a more than 12-hour shift, some nurses and doctors at one hospital shared with Reuters the hardest moments of their days. The hospital asked that it not be named.

The medical workers agreed that one of the toughest parts of the job – more than the exhausting schedule or adjusting to work in a new unit – was witnessing the toll on patients and families.

Because of the hospital’s no-visitor policy, which was implemented to prevent further spread of the virus, the medical staff must care for the patients’ physical needs and offer as much emotional support as they can muster in the absence of the patients’ families.

“The hardest moment during the shift was just seeing COVID patients die helpless and without their family members beside them,” says Ernest Capadngan, a nurse in the hospital’s biocontainment unit.

Communicating with the families has weighed heavily on the hospital staff. Staff cannot bend the no-visit rules, even when a family calls in desperation.

“I had a patient fall out of bed today and I had to call his wife and tell her and she couldn’t come see him, even though she pleaded and begged to come see him,” says Tracey Wilson, a nurse practitioner.

“One of the hardest moments was having to see a family member of a COVID patient say goodbye over an iPad,” says Tiffany Fare, a nurse in the biocontainment unit. “You can’t see your loved one and then they’re gone.”

There are very few opportunities to rest during a shift, although colleagues look out for one another and try to cover for each other when someone needs a break.

Cheryll Mack, a registered nurse in the emergency room, says she tries to get outside for 15 minutes during the day to breathe.

“It has given me relief, just fresh air,” Mack says.

Each shift concludes with a similar decontamination drill. Nurses and doctors must remove their personal protective equipment and shower immediately before coming in contact with their family at home.

“I take a very long, very hot shower. And then I usually sit on the couch and… read a book or watch some mindless reality show in order to destress,” says Martine Bell, a nurse practitioner.

Laura Bontempo, an emergency medicine physician, says she removes her work clothing and gear in a decontamination tent she has set up outside her home, and then wraps herself in a towel and runs inside to shower.

Then she puts the scrubs in the washing machine by themselves to not contaminate any other items.

Meghan Sheehan, 27, a nurse practitioner, says she drives home each night without turning on the radio and uses the quiet time to reflect on her shift and her patients. When she gets home, she tries hard not to dwell on the day.

“I go home, I shower immediately and try to have dinner with family, and try to not talk about it,” she said. “Nighttime is definitely the hardest because you’re constantly thinking about what the next day will brin

(Writing by Gabriella Borter in New York, Editing by Rosalba O’Brien)

U.S. coronavirus death toll tops 24,000: Reuters tally

(Reuters) – U.S. deaths from the novel coronavirus topped 24,000 on Tuesday, according to a Reuters tally, as officials debated how to reopen the economy without reigniting the outbreak.

The United States, with the world’s third-largest population, has recorded more fatalities from COVID-19 than any other country. There were a total of nearly 583,000 U.S. cases with nearly 2 million reported cases globally.

On Monday, the United States reported about 1,500 new fatalities, far below last week’s running tally of roughly 2,000 deaths every 24 hours, according to a Reuters tally. U.S. deaths exceeded 24,400 on Tuesday with many states yet to report.

Sweeping stay-at-home restrictions to curb the spread of the illness, in place for weeks in many areas of the United States, have taken a painful toll on the economy. With businesses closed and curbs on travel, officials and lawmakers are debating when it might be safe to begin reopening some sectors.

(Writing by Lisa Shumaker; Editing by Howard Goller)

Factbox: Insurers return part of auto premiums as coronavirus cuts driving

(Reuters) – Major U.S. insurers are offering credit to auto and motorcycle policyholders following a decline in driving, as most Americans stay at home under widespread orders to help contain the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Following is a list of companies that have offered to return premiums.

ALLSTATE CORP

Allstate, one of the largest U.S. auto insurers, said on Monday it would return more than $600 million in premiums to customers. Most customers will receive a “payback” of 15% of their monthly premium in April and May, the company said.

AMERICAN FAMILY INSURANCE

The auto insurer said it would return a total of $200 million to auto insurance customers beginning in mid-April. Customers will receive $50 per vehicle covered by their policies, the company said.

AVIVA CANADA

Aviva Canada said it was offering $100 million in additional immediate relief measures to drivers, including options that would reduce insurance premiums. Customers who have stopped driving entirely could reduce their auto insurance premiums by up to 75%.

CHUBB

The world’s largest-listed property and casualty insurance company said it will give personal auto insurance clients in the United States credit on annual renewal premiums, reflecting a 35% cut for the months of April and May.

ERIE INSURANCE

The insurer said it would reduce rates for personal and commercial auto insurance customers in 12 states and the District of Columbia. It estimated the amount of financial relief for Erie Insurance customers to be about $200 million.

FARMERS INSURANCE

Farmers and 21st Century-branded auto customers will receive a 25% reduction in their April premium. The insurer said it has also implemented flexible payment plans and a temporary pause on cancellations.

GEICO

Geico Corp, part of billionaire Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc , said it will offer about $2.5 billion of credits to its 19 million auto and motorcycle policyholders. The insurer said it will offer a 15% credit on policies up for renewal between April 8 and Oct. 7, averaging about $150 per auto policy and $30 per motorcycle policy.

HANOVER INSURANCE GROUP

The company said  it will return 15% of April and May auto premiums to its eligible personal lines customers. Hanover will also offer flexible bill payment options.

LIBERTY MUTUAL INSURANCE

Liberty Mutual Insurance will give personal auto insurance customers a 15% refund on two months of their annual premium, returning about $250 million to Liberty Mutual and Safeco personal auto insurance customers.

METLIFE

The company said it is providing financial relief and preserving coverage in the event of missed payments. Active MetLife auto customers, who have paid to date, will receive a 15% credit for April and May based on their monthly premiums.

PROGRESSIVE INSURANCE CORP

Among the largest U.S. auto insurers, Progressive said it would provide about $1 billion to personal auto customers. The company will credit eligible customers 20% of their April and May premiums.

STATE FARM

The largest U.S. auto insurer said it would pay $2 billion in dividend to its customers, with premium credit of about 25% for the period between March 20 and May 31.

TRAVELERS COMPANIES INC

The insurer said  it was giving U.S. personal auto insurance customers a 15% credit on their April and May premiums through its new stay-at-home auto premium credit program. It said it will continue to provide auto coverage to customers whose jobs include using their personal vehicles to make food, grocery, pharmacy and medical supply deliveries.

USAA

USAA, America’s fifth largest property-casualty insurer, said  it will return $520 million to its members. Every member with an auto insurance policy in effect as of March 31 will receive a 20% credit on two months of premiums in the coming weeks.

(Reporting by Noor Zainab Hussain in Bengaluru; Editing by Aditya Soni, Leslie Adler, Stev Orlofsky and Shinjini Ganguli)