US BLAMES CHINA, RUSSIA AND IRAN FOR SPREADING 'DISINFORMATION' ON CORONAVIRUS S Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has blamed Russia, China and Iran for spreading "disinformation" on COVID-19 and carrying out coordinated efforts to "disparage" American attempts towards containing the fast-spreading coronavirus pandemic. Speaking at the White House on Friday, Pompeo described the disinformation campaigns as being "pretty diffused" and urged Americans to ensure that they are getting their information from a reliable source and not a "bad actor" trying to create and flow information that they know is wrong. "I wanted to talk about the disinformation the people are seeing both on Twitter and around the world. Some of it coming from government, some of it coming from other individuals," Pompeo told reporters. He identified three countries for these "disinformation campaigns". "It is pretty defused unfortunately but we have certainly seen it come from places like China and Russia and Iran where there are coordinated efforts to disparage what America is doing and our activity to do all of the things that President (Donald) Trump has set in motion here," Pompeo said. "I did just urge everyone as they are seeing information that at one time suggested somehow this virus emanated from the United States Army, this information about lockdowns that are taking place, every American, indeed people all around the world should ensure that where they turn to for information is reliable source and not a bad actor trying to create and flow information that they know is wrong," he added. U.S. SENATE NEGOTIATING A $2 TRILLION PACKAGE The coronavirus stimulus package being negotiated by the US Senate would be worth more than $2 trillion, White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said on Saturday. "The package is coming in at about 10 percent of the GDP," Kudlow told reporters. Asked if that amounted to more than $2 trillion, Kudlow said: "That's correct." "We're just trying to cover the right bases," Kudlow said as he entered the talks. "It's a problem of weeks and months, not years. We just want a bridge." Kudlow also said lawmakers are considering a payroll tax holiday for small businesses. CORONAVIRUS | NO NEW LOCAL COVID-19 CASES FOR THIRD DAY STRAIGHT IN CHINA; SHARP RISE IN CASES FROM ABROAD China has not reported any local coronavirus (COVID-19) cases for the third consecutive day but the country is facing a sharp increase of COVID-19 cases from abroad, a health official said on Saturday. Seven more fatalities reported from the coronavirus' epicentre of Hubei province, taking the death toll in the country to 3,255, China's National Health Commission (NHC) said on Saturday. The NHC said on Saturday that no new domestically transmitted cases of COVID-19 were reported on the Chinese mainland for the third day in a row on Friday. The overall confirmed cases on the mainland have reached 81,008 by the end of Friday, which included 3,255 deaths, 6,013 patients still undergoing treatment, 71,740 patients who have been discharged after recovery, the NHC said. Facing a sharp increase of COVID-19 cases from abroad, China will take strict measures to prevent imported cases, spokesman of the NHC Mi Feng told media in Beijing on Saturday. CORONAVIRUS: USA TRACK AND FIELD CALL FOR OLYMPICS DELAY USA Track and Field, athletics' US governing body, has called for this summer's Olympics in Tokyo to be delayed because of the ongoing coronavirus situation. The federation has asked the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee to advocate to the International Olympic Committee for the postponement of the Games. It follows a request from USA Swimming for it to be delayed by 12 months. The Olympics are scheduled to take place from 24 July to 9 August. USA Track and Field chief executive Max Siegel wrote in a letter to the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee: "We certainly understand the ramifications of this request, and the realities of trying to coordinate the logistics of a postponed Olympic Games around the schedules of other athletes, sport federations, key stakeholders etc. "But the alternative of moving forward in light of the current global situation would not be in the best interest of our athletes (as difficult as that decision might be)." There are a growing number of calls for the Games not to take place this summer.