WASHINGTON, March 17 (Reuters) - The U.S. Treasury on Wednesday said it has sent 90 million direct payments worth about $242 billion to Americans from President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion coronavirus stimulus package, with more payments to be distributed in coming weeks. In a statement, the Treasury said most of the payments were sent by direct deposit to recipients’ bank accounts starting on Friday, and the first payment batches were now fully available to be spent. The Treasury said it also mailed out 150,000 paper checks worth $442 million. (Reporting by David Lawder Editing by Chris Reese)