In Europe, economic data from the first quarter of 2020 showed the economies of the European Union and the United States contracting sharply under the weight of the coronavirus crisis. New unemployment figures from the E.U., however, showed only slight job losses, as government stimulus programs protected employment.
Here are some significant developments:
Anthony S. Fauci, the United States’ top infectious disease specialist, confirmed the Trump administration is working to develop a coronavirus vaccine and aiming to produce hundreds of millions of doses by January, an effort dubbed “Operation Warp Speed.†As some nations look toward easing restrictions, Japan is expected to extend its state of emergency by a month. Sri Lanka, meanwhile, reimposed a 24-hour lockdown after infections jumped amid eased restrictions. Britain is on track to surpass Italy as the worst-hit country in Europe after deaths outside hospitals are included, raising the toll to 26,000, just shy of Italy’s 27,000 dead. The U.S. death toll has passed 60,000. South Korea’s April 15 elections resulted in no new coronavirus infections, authorities announced. Following the two-week incubation period, no new cases could be traced to the 29 million people lining up to cast ballots. The number of publicly reported coronavirus cases in U.S. nursing homes has soared, with more than 1 in 6 facilities nationwide acknowledging infections among residents or staff. The rise is partially driven by new data released by states such as Michigan, Maryland, Kentucky and South Carolina. All Los Angeles County residents will be able to obtain free coronavirus testing, even if they are not displaying symptoms, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti (D) announced Wednesday. Los Angeles will be the first major city in the country to offer such widespread testing. April 30, 2020 at 10:27 AM EDT
McConnell defends decision to call Senate back to Washington next week
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Thursday defended his decision to call the Senate back into session next week, dismissing criticism that the move will unduly put lawmakers at risk.
“We’re going to honor our constitutional duty to the American people and conduct our business in person,†McConnell said during an interview on Fox News Channel, arguing that if bus drivers and other essential personnel need to report to work, then so do lawmakers.
Asked whether he had consulted with the Capitol physician’s office about his decision, McConnell declined to say.
House Democratic leaders had originally planned to call the House back into session next week, as well. But they abruptly dropped those plans after the Capitol physician’s office advised against doing so, noting that the number of coronavirus cases in Washington has continued to rise in recent weeks.
Among those who have criticized McConnell over the move is Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), the oldest member of the Senate. In a letter Wednesday, Feinstein urged McConnell against bringing the Senate back, arguing that “this is not the time to back off of protective measures.â€
During an earlier appearance on CNN on Thursday, meanwhile, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) continued to press her case that one of the most important steps Congress can take is to provide hundreds of billions of dollars in aid to states and localities.
She brushed aside concerns by McConnell that states would use the money for other purposes, saying the funding would be limited to costs associated with responding to the outbreak and tax revenue lost amid the economic fallout.
“It has nothing to do with any other issues of the budget of any state. It only has to do with the coronavirus,†Pelosi said. “Everybody is united in saying â€" in order for us to survive, we need to have these resources. And they will.â€
By Felicia Sonmez and John Wagner
April 30, 2020 at 10:08 AM EDT
Some states signal they could strip workers’ unemployment benefits if they don’t return, sparking fresh safety fears
Iowa, Oklahoma and other states reopening soon amid the coronavirus outbreak are issuing early warnings to their worried workers: return to your jobs or risk losing unemployment benefits.
The threats have been loudest among Republican leaders in recent days, reflecting their anxious attempts to jump-start local economic recovery roughly two months after most businesses shut their doors.
For some states, the concern is that residents who are offered their old jobs simply may not accept them, choosing instead to continue tapping historically generous unemployment aid.
In the process, some states’ public comments have frustrated federal lawmakers, labor activists and public health officials, who say forcing workers to return so quickly might be dangerous â€" and could undermine the country’s response to the deadly pandemic.
By Tony Romm
April 30, 2020 at 10:07 AM EDT
Trump campaign responds to ‘brazen’ Chinese state media video that ridiculed U.S. coronavirus response
The Trump campaign has criticized a video published by Chinese state news agency Xinhua that mocked the U.S. response to the novel coronavirus, dubbing the video a “brazen†attempt to cover up Chinese lies.
The video, published overnight on Xinhua’s social media platforms, portrays a mock conversation between China and the United States about the coronavirus, with both countries represented by Lego toy characters as jaunty piano music plays.
While the Chinese side talks seriously about the virus from the outset, the U.S. side downplays the virus.
“It will magically go away in April,†the U.S. side says at one point, before becoming aggressive as the outbreak spreads.
“We are always correct, even though we contradict ourselves,†the U.S. side says toward the end of the video.
“That’s what I love best about you Americans â€" your consistency,†the Chinese side responds sardonically.
Xinhua is China’s largest and arguably most influential state media organization internationally; the video bears the watermark of New China TV, a video broadcasting wing of the company.
Tim Murtaugh, director of communications for President Trump’s bid for reelection, shared the video on Twitter and suggested that the Chinese were using it to deflect attention from “their lies, coverup & blaming the U.S. military.â€
The Trump administration has been critical of Chinese state media during the coronavirus pandemic. In February, the State Department designated five Chinese media outlets as official government entities under the Foreign Missions Act, including Xinhua.
In response, China announced in March that it would expel about a dozen American journalists working for The Washington Post, the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal.
By Adam Taylor
April 30, 2020 at 9:48 AM EDT
Aerial footage shows thousands of South Africans lining up for food
Aerial footage released Wednesday captured thousands of people in South Africa near the capital, Pretoria, lining up for food amid the upheaval of the novel coronavirus. The footage showed a dirt road near the Mooiplass and Spruit shantytowns on the outskirts of the city.
Reuters confirmed the footage, speaking to local charity workers who said that as many as 90 percent of the local inhabitants are foreigners or undocumented immigrants and that the line for food stretched as far as 2.5 miles.
“I’ve not seen anything on this scale, not these levels of poverty and hunger in South Africa,†Yusuf Abramjee, a spokesman for the charity coalition giving out the food, told Reuters. “It’s heartbreaking.â€
South Africa has 5,350 confirmed cases of the coronavirus and 103 deaths, the second highest in Africa behind Egypt. The country has undertaken aggressive steps to battle the virus, including the mobilization of tens of thousands of health workers, but government officials admit the outbreak has exposed the deep-seated inequalities in South Africa’s economy.
“Some people have been able to endure the coronavirus lockdown in a comfortable home with a fully stocked fridge, with private medical care and online learning for their children,†President Cyril Ramaphosa said Monday in a televised speech on Freedom Day, a public holiday marking the country’s first democratic elections in 1994.
“For millions of others, this has been a month of misery, of breadwinners not working, of families struggling to survive, and of children going to bed and waking up hungry,†he said.
By Adam Taylor
April 30, 2020 at 9:30 AM EDT
As New York morgues ran out of space, a funeral home filled U-Haul trucks with dozens of bodies, police say
The neighbors could not ignore the smell of decomposing corpses outside the Brooklyn funeral home.
With New York morgues struggling to find room for the increasing number of people who have died of covid-19, residents looked on as employees at the funeral home placed dozens of body bags inside U-Haul trucks parked on the street. Then, they called the police.
New York police arrived at Andrew T. Cleckley Funeral Services on Utica Avenue in Brooklyn at 11:20 a.m. Wednesday and discovered dozens of bodies stacked inside two U-Haul trucks parked near the building, police sources told The Washington Post. Police also found two refrigerated trucks holding bodies.
By Katie Shepherd
April 30, 2020 at 8:50 AM EDT
U.S. working to deliver coronavirus vaccine by January, Fauci says
Anthony S. Fauci, the United States’ top infectious-disease specialist, confirmed Thursday that the Trump administration is working to speed development of a vaccine and aiming to produce hundreds of millions of doses by January.
Speaking on NBC television’s “Today†show, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases said he is part of the team leading that effort, dubbed “Operation Warp Speed.â€
Fauci said the goal is to develop a vaccine that is safe, effective and able to scale up rapidly to meet the January timeline. “We want to go quickly, but we want to make sure it’s safe and its effective,†he said. “I think that is doable if things fall in the right place.â€
As part of the initiative, he said, manufacturers of the best potential vaccine candidates would ramp up production “at risk†(i.e., before confirming they work).
Bloomberg News, which reported on “Operation Warp Speed†on Wednesday, found taxpayers rather than drug companies would shoulder the financial risk of failed vaccine candidates. Though costly, this could result in one being available months earlier than under the typical process.
The potential January date would be on the early end of the 12-to-18-month timeline that Fauci has repeatedly given for a vaccine.
Meanwhile, he said he is “cautiously optimistic†about states beginning to reopen â€" as long as they follow contact tracing guidelines for the inevitable “blips†in cases. Those that don’t have the capability to test and trace must go “very slowly,†he said.
“There’s a lot of leeway, because we give governors the ability to be very flexible,†Fauci said. “But you have to have the core principles of the guidelines. You can’t just leap over things and get into a situation where you’re really tempting a rebound. That’s the thing I get really concerned about. I hope they don’t do that.â€
By Brittany Shammas
April 30, 2020 at 8:45 AM EDT
Spain posts historic 5.2% plunge in GDP
MADRID â€" Spain posted a historic economic plunge due to the coronavirus pandemic on Thursday, reporting a 5.2 percent drop in gross domestic product for the first quarter, which marked the greatest single plunge in more than a century.
This week’s figures were worse than the Bank of Spain’s predicted 4.7 percent decline. Before Thursday’s announcement, Spain’s biggest recorded drop in GDP was 2.6 percent in the first quarter of 2009.
Spain has been one of the European countries hit hardest by the coronavirus.
As a result, household consumption plummeted 7.5 percent compared to the same period last year. The previous record was 1.7 percent, set in 2009.
The country’s worst-hit subsectors â€" culture and leisure, which declined by 11.2 percent, and retail and restaurants, down 10.9 percent â€" are closely connected with the tourism sector, which accounts for about 12 percent of the Spanish economy.
The new calculations came as Spain prepares to loosen its strict confinement restraints in effect since March 15 and to allow residents out for limited individual exercise on Saturday for the first time in weeks.
Spain also announced Thursday that confirmed coronavirus infections grew less than 1 percent overnight, with 1,309 new cases. The country has tallied a total of 213,435 confirmed infections and 24,543 deaths.
Fernando Simón, head of Spain’s emergency health response, said Thursday that Madrid and Catalonia â€" the country’s main economic hubs and areas hit worst by the virus â€" may not follow the same timetable in Spain’s phased transition to the “new normal†outlined this week and scheduled to begin May 4.
“The starting point for Madrid and Catalonia is a little more complicated,†Simón said. “It’s possible the measures are a little later there, although it depends on the evolution of the epidemic.â€
By Pamela Rolfe
April 30, 2020 at 8:06 AM EDT
Under the cover of coronavirus, governments punish adversaries and reward friends
NEW DELHI â€" The pardon was swift and stunning, overturning the landmark conviction of an army sergeant for massacring civilians during Sri Lanka’s civil war.
Human rights groups decried the move, but there were no protests. Even a legal challenge was impossible: With all of Sri Lanka under a strict nationwide lockdown, the courts, too, were closed.
The decision in March by Sri Lanka’s newly elected president is part of a broader, disturbing trend in which governments around the world have punished opponents, rewarded friends and stifled dissent amid the global pandemic. The overwhelming nature of the fight against the disease combined with physical restrictions on citizens have meant that such actions incite less opposition at home and abroad than in the past.
By Joanna Slater, Anthony Faiola and Niha Masih
April 30, 2020 at 7:45 AM EDT
As Facebook’s profit doubles, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sounds off on reopening the economy too soon
Facebook reported an 18 percent increase in first-quarter revenue Wednesday, but the social media giant said it wasn’t making financial predictions because of the uncertainty caused by the coronavirus and what is expected to be the greatest economic contraction since the Great Depression.
Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg expressed concern about what lies ahead for the country.
“I worry that reopening certain places too quickly, before infection rates have been reduced to very minimal levels, will almost guarantee future outbreaks and even worse economic outcomes,†he said. “I am very concerned that this health emergency and therefore the economic fallout will last longer than people are currently anticipating.â€
By Elizabeth Dwoskin
April 30, 2020 at 7:28 AM EDT
Trump predicts election won’t be a referendum on his coronavirus performance
President Trump does not believe the November election will be a referendum on his handling of the coronavirus outbreak, he told Reuters in an interview Wednesday.
“No, I don’t think so,†Trump said. “I think it’s a referendum on a lot of things. I think it’s going to be a referendum on all the things we’ve done and certainly this will be a part of it, but we’ve done a great job.â€
His comments come a day after the release of an NPR-PBS NewsHour-Marist poll that found that 55 percent of Americans prefer former vice president Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee, handling the coronavirus response, compared to 40 percent for Trump.
In the Reuters interview, Trump also cast doubt on other polls that have shown Biden leading nationally and in some key swing states. Aides have recently presented Trump with such numbers in an effort to curtail his freewheeling daily briefings on the pandemic.
“I don’t believe the polls,†Trump told Reuters. “I believe the people of this country are smart. And I don’t think that they will put a man in who’s incompetent.â€
“I mean he’s incompetent for 30 years,†Trump said, referring to Biden. “Everything he ever did was bad. His foreign policy was a disaster.â€
By John Wagner
April 30, 2020 at 7:24 AM EDT
Two guards at ICE detention center in Louisiana die
Two guards at an immigration detention center in Louisiana died this week after contracting the coronavirus, the Associated Press reported, ushering in a fresh wave of concerns about outbreaks there and in similar facilities.
Relatives of Stanton Johnson, 51, and Carl Lenard, 61, told the AP they believe the men contracted the virus while working at Richwood Correctional Center in Monroe, La. Although 45 detainees have tested positive for the virus, guards there were allegedly barred from wearing masks.
Both men had a history of diabetes and tested positive for the virus, although the cause of death for Lenard is still being determined, the news agency reported.
The deaths have raised alarm among immigration advocates and civil rights groups, who fear the virus will continue to infect others inside the U.S. government’s crowded detention centers.
Nationwide, at least 449 detainees and 36 guards have contracted the virus, according to data listed on U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s website as of Thursday morning.
Although that figure has steadily increased since March, ICE has yet to report any deaths in its custody, either in Richwood or dozens of other facilities scattered around the country.
But with hunger strikes emerging at some facilities and lawyers filing petitions for migrants with certain health conditions, advocates fear it may be only a matter of time before detainees add to the pandemic’s rising national death toll.
Of about 30,000 people detained in facilities across the country, ICE recently said it had tested nearly 1,000. The agency will receive 2,000 tests a month from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to ramp up its testing, according to the AP.
By Teo Armus
April 30, 2020 at 7:14 AM EDT
Russia surpasses 100,000 confirmed coronavirus cases
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Russia surpassed 100,000, increasing by more than 7,000 in one day, the Russian news agency Tass reported Thursday.
The country’s death toll rose by 101 to a total of 1,073, a relatively low figure given that Russia has half the confirmed cases of Italy, where deaths have surpassed 27,000. According to Russian authorities, the country has conducted more than 3 million tests.
The capital, Moscow, remains the most virus-stricken part of the country, but there are growing concerns that infections could surge in more remote regions with weaker health systems.
After Russia tightened restrictions to slow the spread of the virus, the country’s daily growth rate in new cases has dropped significantly in recent weeks and now stands at about 7.1 percent.
Nationwide measures to keep citizens from working were extended until May 11, but Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the RTVI television network that the country has managed to avoid an “Italian scenario.â€
The Russian government has walked a fine line between trying to praise the performance of officials in recent days and preparing citizens for a prolonged crisis.
Russian President Vladimir Putin had said Tuesday that “a hard and difficult path lies ahead,†according to the Financial Times, suggesting that the peak of the crisis has not been reached.
“Ahead of us is a new stage, perhaps the most intense stage of the fight against the epidemic,†Putin said.
Expectations that the resumption of work will be slow, combined with falling global oil prices, have prompted estimates by the International Monetary Fund that Russia’s gross domestic product could drop by 5.5 percent this year.
By Rick Noack
April 30, 2020 at 7:03 AM EDT
California police association expects Newsom to close all beaches, effective Friday
The California Police Chiefs Association has told its members that Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) plans to announce Thursday that all beaches and state parks will be closed effective Friday.
The anticipated move follows a weekend on which thousands of people took advantage of warm weather and flocked to California beaches in violation of the state’s social distancing restrictions, prompting Newsom to warn of the potential of a second wave of the coronavirus outbreak.
“After the well-publicized media coverage of overcrowded beaches this past weekend, in violation of Governor Newsom's Shelter in Place Order, the Governor will be announcing tomorrow that ALL beaches and all state parks in California will be closed, effective Friday, May 1st,†the notification to police chiefs said. “We wanted to give all of our members a heads up about this in order to provide time for you to plan for any situations you might expect as a result, knowing each community has its own dynamics. … State Parks personnel will be out … to help support local efforts as well.â€
Law enforcement officials confirmed the authenticity of the notification to multiple news organizations, including NBC News.
Newsom’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In a television interview broadcast Wednesday, Newsom voiced frustration with residents who crowded the beaches. Asked if he thinks the worst of the pandemic has passed in California, he warned that it might not have.
“If people just assume, like they did in Newport Beach over the weekend, that the virus is going to take the weekend off or maybe go on summer vacation, then we’re in real trouble, with a potential second wave that erases all the progress and potentially puts literally tens of thousands of lives at risk,†he said on NBC’s “Today†show.
By John Wagner
April 30, 2020 at 6:48 AM EDT
How a politician with no medical background came to be hyped as ‘the Anthony Fauci of the New York City Council’
NEW YORK â€" Mark Levine, a member of the New York City Council and chairman of its health committee, dismissed early anxieties as “fearmongering.†Then he and his wife fell ill.
In the weeks since their recovery from covid-19, Levine (D) has become one of the city’s most outspoken and occasionally polarizing figures, seizing on his newfound spotlight to make one of the most ambitious proposals in New York’s recent history: the creation of a $1 billion Public Works Administration â€" but for public health.
The thought of resurrecting a Depression-era jobs program â€" Levine calls it the “Public Health Corps†â€" fits a pattern for the city councilor.
By Richard Morgan
April 30, 2020 at 6:36 AM EDT
Roger Goodell taking no salary as NFL implements pay cuts, furloughs
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell is working without a salary, and the league office is implementing pay cuts and furloughs for employees, as the sport grapples with the economic impact of the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Goodell decided last month to voluntarily eliminate his salary, and that went into effect this month, league spokesman Brian McCarthy said. The pay cuts of 5 to 15 percent will affect league employees making at least $100,000, and the furloughs will take effect May 8, according to a memo sent from Goodell to staffers in the NFL office in New York and employees of NFL Films and the NFL Network.
By Mark Maske
April 30, 2020 at 6:19 AM EDT
Republican legislators consider repealing Louisiana’s stay-at-home order
A group of Republican legislators in Louisiana is quietly working to overturn the Democratic governor’s stay-at-home order, the Advocate newspaper reported.
Emails obtained by the paper show that the lawmakers are looking at using a little-known provision that would allow a majority in either chamber of the Republican-controlled state legislature to repeal the emergency public health order issued by Gov. John Bel Edwards (D). Local officials would then have the option to decide whether they wanted to declare a state of emergency.
“Members are weighing the different options that they have, and this is one of them,†Louisiana House Majority Leader Blake Miguez, a Republican, told the Advocate.
The move came as Edwards met with President Trump in the White House on Wednesday and was praised for his work fighting the pandemic. Louisiana has been among the hardest-hit states by the novel coronavirus, with 593 confirmed cases and 39 deaths for every 100,000 people.
But wide-ranging shutdowns have also had a devastating effect on the state with an economy that relies heavily on tourism, leading more than 350,000 workers to file for unemployment. Edwards’s decision to extend the stay-at-home order until May 15 appears to have incensed some lawmakers, prompting them to consider the unprecedented move of rescinding the emergency declaration.
“This may not be a perfect solution, but it is the only one on the table,†state Rep. Alan Seabaugh (R) wrote to other Republican lawmakers in an email obtained by the Advocate. “Doing nothing is not an option!â€
By Antonia Farzan
April 30, 2020 at 6:14 AM EDT
Airbus warns of ‘gravest crisis’ facing aerospace industry
Airbus, the European aviation giant, reported Wednesday troubling losses in the first quarter, marking a sharp reversal for the plane maker that threatens to cause serious ripple effects across Western Europe and the United States.
“We are now in the midst of the gravest crisis the aerospace industry has ever known,†Guillaume Faury, the company’s chief executive, said in a statement.
The aircraft manufacturer, a chief rival to Boeing, was selling planes before the pandemic faster than it could make them.
But as the coronavirus has virtually shut down international travel, the last things most airlines need are more planes to sit idle on runways. Several carriers have tried to delay payments to Airbus, the company said, and it was unable to deliver dozens of its aircraft in the first quarter of 2020.
Those delays could prove devastating to the company, which has been spending far more to pay employees and parts suppliers than it is receiving from customers. After a net profit of $43 million in the first quarter of last year, Airbus reported a net loss of about $522 million this year.
The company is in talks with French officials about receiving support for aircraft deliveries, Faury said Thursday, according to Reuters. Last week, the news agency reported, he told employees the company’s survival was in question without immediate action.
Airbus, whose principal ownership is split among France, Germany and Spain, has plants across Europe and in Mobile, Ala. Earlier in April, the company said it would slow production by about one-third at those facilities.
Boeing, too, has faced serious repercussions due to the pandemic. On Wednesday, the U.S.-based manufacturer said it would cut more than 14,000 jobs, as grounded jets and halted air travel saps the company of billions of dollars.
By Teo Armus
April 30, 2020 at 6:04 AM EDT
European economy declines 3.8 percent during coronavirus crisis, less than U.S.
BERLIN â€" The coronavirus pandemic has thrown Europe into its sharpest economic decline since records began in 1995, according to new data released Thursday by the statistical office of the European Union.
In the first quarter of the year, seasonally adjusted gross domestic product declined by 3.8 percent in the euro zone, which shares a common currency, the euro. Across the European Union â€" a bloc that includes some countries that do not use the currency â€" seasonally adjusted GDP declined by 3.5 percent during the same time period.
The European data was released shortly after U.S. figures showed a similarly sharp decline, with the U.S. economy suffering a 4.8 percent drop from January through March.
At the end of last year, the E.U. economy had grown, indicating that the bloc was on track for continued economic growth this year.
After European trade unexpectedly began to be impacted by the coronavirus outbreak in China in January, turmoil mounted in March when most E.U. nations imposed their own lockdowns or restrictions to slow the spread of the virus.
Multiple think tanks had previously estimated that the economic fallout of the crisis could hit Europe harder than during the financial crisis in 2009, but Thursday’s data offered the first comprehensive assessment of the impact to date. Analysts have predicted a similarly difficult and perhaps even worse performance during the next quarter, depending on how successful virus-stricken nations are at reopening their economies.
By Rick Noack
April 30, 2020 at 5:59 AM EDT
Europe’s unemployment growth modest during virus outbreak, unlike U.S.
BRUSSELS â€" European unemployment has crept up only modestly since the start of the coronavirus lockdowns, data released Thursday showed, at a time when millions of Americans filed for unemployment benefits.
Seasonally adjusted unemployment across the 27-nation European Union rose by 0.1 percentage point in March, to 6.6 percent, according to data released Thursday by the E.U. statistics agency. The figures reflect about two to three weeks of the pandemic shutdowns, but not the full scale of an economic cataclysm that has only escalated since last month.
Still, the contrast showed the effect of Europe’s starkly different approach to fighting the economy-busting effects of the pandemic, with many governments directly intervening to subsidize the salaries of private-sector employees. In the United States, stimulus and relief programs have been comparable in scale, but not as directly tied to avoiding layoffs, and analysts estimate unemployment in the United States has risen to somewhere between 10 and 15 percent, up from a 50-year low of 3.5 percent in February, before the crisis hit.
Europe is still facing a major economic catastrophe: The same set of statistics showed the economy of the 19 countries that share the euro currency contracted by the fastest rate on record during the first three months of 2020, a 3.8 percent drop.
The jobless figures have been eased by vast numbers of European businesses that have signed up for subsidy programs in which governments pay up to 87 percent of workers’ salaries to avoid layoffs. The system, pioneered in Germany during the 2008-2009 global recession, has been imitated widely in Europe. The thinking among many policymakers is that the economic blow of the pandemic can be softened if workers are able to keep paying their bills and if businesses don’t have to hire and train an entire new set of employees as the crisis abates and ordinary economic life resumes.
By Michael Birnbaum
April 30, 2020 at 5:38 AM EDT
Coronavirus pandemic shines light on deep digital divide in U.S. amid efforts to narrow it
It is estimated that up to 12 million students â€" and some of their teachers â€" don’t have Internet access at home, and many of the 13,000 U.S. school districts don’t have the resources to provide what is needed without outside help.
Rural areas are especially hard-hit, as are high-poverty areas, while schools and families struggle to keep up learning programs with school buildings closed and students at home. The digital divide is not new, but the crisis facing the country has laid bare just how deep and damaging it is.
By Valerie Strauss
April 30, 2020 at 5:23 AM EDT
Analysis: 53 days after Trump said anybody could get tested, the U.S. is still a month away
When President Trump said on March 6 that anyone who wanted a coronavirus test could get one, it was immediately questionable.
On Tuesday, the United States’ top infectious-disease expert, Anthony S. Fauci, illustrated again how far off Trump’s March 6 claim was. Fauci was asked on CNN when everyone who needs a test will be able to get one.
“Hopefully, we should see that as we get towards the end of May, the beginning of June,†he said.
By JM Rieger
April 30, 2020 at 4:57 AM EDT
Smithsonian cuts top executives’ pay in move to avoid furloughs
The Smithsonian Institution will cut the pay of some executives and impose salary and hiring freezes for some workers to cover $22 million in estimated losses resulting from the ongoing closure of its museums.
The salaries of 89 senior-level executives â€" all nonfederal employees â€" will be cut by 10 percent for 12 months, starting May 24, with Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie G. Bunch III and Deputy Secretary Meroe Park taking 15 percent cuts. The senior executives include museum and science directors and officials overseeing investments, security and facilities.
The majority of the institution’s 6,300 employees are federal workers and will not be affected.
By Peggy McGlone
April 30, 2020 at 4:47 AM EDT
Britain’s covid-19 deaths on track to surpass Italy’s as highest in Europe
LONDON â€" Britain now has the second-highest recorded covid-19 death rate in Europe, according to new figures that include deaths in care homes and communities for the first time â€" raising the confirmed number of coronavirus fatalities to 26,097.
Italy is currently the worst-hit country in Europe, with 27,682 recorded deaths. Scenes from Italy stunned the world in recent months, with hospitals running out of beds, faces of the dead flooding the newspaper pages and some Italians saying it was “worse than a war.â€
But while cases in Italy are slowing and the country is expected to gradually begin easing its lockdown starting May 4, Britain is not out of the darkness yet. On Thursday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to chair a meeting and outline “steps to defeat†the infection. Britons are still being instructed to stay home to stop the spread and help ease the pressure on the National Health Service.
This week, it was announced that testing would be expanded so that construction workers, care-home workers and those experiencing symptoms of the virus could be checked for covid-19, although the government has yet to meet its target of 100,000 tests a day.
The widening of testing comes after months of criticism aimed at the government, which many say has been too slow to implement measures to save lives. Health-care staff say that they have been abandoned in their search for personal protective equipment, with some resorting to making their own from plastic bags or wearing swimming goggles to treat patients suffering from the contagion in British hospitals.
By Jennifer Hassan
April 30, 2020 at 4:12 AM EDT
Asian markets follow Wall Street rise on hopes of experimental drug therapy
Stocks in Asia rose on Thursday, following a rally in U.S. markets amid small but promising steps in the race to find a treatment for the novel coronavirus.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 led gains among the region’s major indexes, climbing nearly 2.4 percent. Japan’s Nikkei 225 benchmark rose more than 2.1 percent and the Shanghai Composite Index was up more than 1.3 percent.
Futures for both the Dow Jones industrial average and the S&P 500 were up more than 0.2 percent.
The mood among investors received a boost from Gilead Sciences, which on Wednesday said clinical trials evaluating remdesivir, a possible treatment for the virus, had accelerated the recovery of hospitalized patients.
Stocks in the U.S. had shot up on Wednesday, as the Federal Reserve assured that it will plow ahead with its stimulus programs.
The Dow Jones industrial average, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq posted finishes Wednesday of 2 percent gains or more, with the Dow gaining more than 500 points.
Markets did not seem to be rattled by grim data showing the economy in paralysis and warnings from the Fed’s chair the worst is yet to come.
By Teo Armus
April 30, 2020 at 4:07 AM EDT
Covid-19 deaths reported in Yemen amid concern virus is spreading undetected in Mideast conflict zones
The United Nations has expressed concerns that the novel coronavirus could be spreading rapidly, and largely undetected, in some of the Middle East’s most war ravaged regions. Officials said Wednesday that Yemen and Syria, where fighting between rival factions has continued even as the world has largely shutdown due to the pandemic, are of particular concern.
Reuters reported Wednesday of the first covid-19 deaths in Yemen, where millions face famine and have little access to medical care as more than five years of conflict deepens.
Tracking the virus in the country, which has been carved up between rival armed groups has been tricky. Part of the problem in the country of 30 million is the prevalence of other diseases with similar symptoms, such as dengue fever. Hostilities have left 80 percent of the population reliant on aid, with 10 million at risk of famine.
Yemen’s internationally recognized government, whose leaders are in exile in Riyadh, on Wednesday confirmed five covid-19 cases, including two deaths, Reuters reported, but efforts to identify cases in the rebel Houthi-controlled city of Sanaa were less clear. The movement’s Health Ministry has denied reports of infections in the city, saying all suspected cases had tested negative.
On Wednesday, U.N. humanitarian chief Matt Lowcock told the U.N. Security Council that Syria had confirmed some 40 cases of covid-19, recording at least three deaths. The low number, he said, was due to the country’s limited health resources, particularly testing.
Nine years of civil war, he said, had destroyed the health care system and with millions of people now displaced, living in crowded conditions without adequate sanitation, Syria would struggle “to cope with a crisis that is challenging even the wealthiest nations.â€
By Ruth Eglash
April 30, 2020 at 3:53 AM EDT
Japan will reportedly extend state of emergency for another month
Japan will extend its national state of emergency over the novel coronavirus to June, Japanese media reported on Thursday, as the country experiences a second wave of infections.
As other nations in Asia and beyond begin to slowly lift lockdowns and other restrictions, the order from Prime Minister Shinzo Abe â€" which has yet to be officially announced â€" would buck global trends.
But regional governors support extending the state of emergency, Kyodo News agency reported, as it would allow them to close down businesses and direct residents to stay at home.
“If you look at whether we can say the emergency will be over on May 6, I think the situation remains severe,†Abe told parliament on Wednesday, according to Bloomberg News.
On Thursday, Abe said that he wanted to give residents of Japan additional time to prepare for the extension. He has implored the public to stay at home during Golden Week, a stretch of holidays in late April and early May that usually marks one of Japan’s busiest times for travel.
Health experts will meet Friday to officially decide whether to extend the current emergency declaration, which lasts through May 6, Japan’s Nikkei newspaper reported.
Japan was reporting nearly 14,000 confirmed infections on Thursday morning, according to a Johns Hopkins tally, although many experts say that figure is likely an undercount due to a lack of widespread testing.
By Teo Armus
April 30, 2020 at 3:43 AM EDT
Very few of Maryland’s coronavirus tests from South Korea have been used so far
When Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) announced the purchase of 500,000 coronavirus tests from South Korea last week, he called it “an exponential, game-changing step forward†in the state’s effort to get more people tested.
The dramatic story drew notice from Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and a dismissive swipe from fellow Republican President Trump.
But more than 10 days after the chartered Korean Air plane landed, Maryland has not allowed access to the test kits, much to the frustration of local, state and federal leaders seeking to alleviate community testing shortages.
By Erin Cox and Steve Thompson
April 30, 2020 at 3:18 AM EDT
Britain’s National Health Service looks at moving minority staff into less risky positions
Minorities working for Britain’s health authority could be reassigned to jobs away from the front lines of the coronavirus crisis, as a growing body of data reveals widespread racial disparities in the virus’s death toll.
In a Wednesday memo to health-care providers, top National Health Service officials acknowledged that people from black, Asian and ethnic minority backgrounds are “being disproportionately affected by Covid-19.†Providers should treat those workers as having a potentially higher risk of contracting and dying from the virus and “make appropriate arrangements,†the letter says.
While the directive doesn’t outline what those arrangements should look like, it allows minority staffers to be moved off the front lines and assigned to less risky positions, the Guardian reported. Already, one NHS medical center in southwest England has announced that minority workers will get priority for face masks and coronavirus testing.
Roughly a fifth of all NHS workers in England come from black, Asian and ethnic minority backgrounds, as do roughly half the doctors working for the NHS in London. But minorities make up nearly three-quarters of the health-care workers known to have died from the virus, a BBC analysis found earlier this month. The first 10 doctors in Britain to die of covid-19 all came from minority backgrounds, prompting calls for an investigation into the virus’s disproportionate impact on communities of color.
Earlier this month, public health officials in Britain announced plans to study why an unusually high number of ethnic minorities have contracted the coronavirus. Some scientists suggest that minorities have heightened risk because they are more likely to live in multigenerational households or densely packed urban areas and often are unable to stay home because they’re considered essential workers. Others believe that the disparity could be due to the prevalence of underlying health conditions such as diabetes and heart disease.
By Antonia Farzan
April 30, 2020 at 2:58 AM EDT
Fed chair warns of ‘heartbreaking’ scenario for U.S. economy, workers
The U.S. economy suffered its sharpest decline since the Great Recession â€" a 4.8 percent drop â€" from January through March, and the head of the Federal Reserve warned the second quarter would be even uglier as many Americans continued to stay home to stem the spread of the coronavirus.
“We are going to see economic data for the second quarter that’s worse than any data we’ve seen for the economy,†Fed Chair Jerome H. Powell said in a video news conference. He called it “heartbreaking†to witness millions of job losses, especially in minority communities.
There is widespread agreement that the U.S. economy is in the midst of its worst crisis since the Great Depression, and Commerce Department data released Wednesday revealed just how severe it is becoming.
By Heather Long
April 30, 2020 at 2:47 AM EDT
Navy will host Hawaii exercises with sailors at sea
The U.S. Navy will host its usual large-scale maritime exercises in Hawaii this summer, authorities said Wednesday, but will conduct drills only at sea to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
Taking place every other year since the 1970s, the Rim of the Pacific exercise is meant to train Navy sailors as they build relationships with forces from dozens of other countries. The most recent edition of the drills involved 46 ships and 25,000 personnel.
A modified version of RIMPAC is meant to “conduct a meaningful exercise with maximum training value and minimum risk to the force, allies and partners, and the people of Hawaii,†the U.S. Pacific Fleet, a subset of the Navy, said in a statement.
Earlier this month, Hawaii Gov. David Ige (D) asked the military to delay the drills until the outbreak had declined. On Wednesday, however, he said he was pleased the Navy agreed to conduct them only at sea.
In 2018, RIMPAC lasted for five weeks, from late June through early August, according to the Associated Press. This year’s drills will instead take place over just two weeks in late August, without any of the usual social events on shore.
By Teo Armus
April 30, 2020 at 2:29 AM EDT
Sri Lanka reintroduces strict 24-hour curfew as new infections spread
Sri Lanka will return to a strict 24-hour curfew on Thursday night, following a new surge in coronavirus cases.
The country has recorded a 630 coronavirus cases and seven deaths to date. Nearly half of the new infections were discovered after April 22, according to the Associated Press.
Many of those new infections were found among navy sailors and people who had recently come into contact with them. The new cluster of cases is believed to have originated after sailors were sent to find a group of drug addicts who had been exposed to someone with the virus and were evading quarantine.
After imposing an islandwide curfew on March 20, Sri Lankan officials had started to ease restrictions in parts of the country with low virus transmission in recent days. Although the capital, Colombo, was considered a high-risk area and remained under a 24-hour curfew, approximately two-thirds of the country was allowed to move freely again.
More than 41,000 people have been arrested for violating Sri Lanka’s curfew in the past month, the AP reported.
By Antonia Farzan
April 30, 2020 at 2:20 AM EDT
White House is not really selling commemorative covid-19 coins
One commemorative coin showed an empty White House podium, encircled by the names of the members on President Trump’s coronavirus task force.
The other, emblazoned with the words “World vs The Unseen Enemy,†depicted a coronavirus spore superimposed on a world map.
For the price of $100, you could buy them from the White House Gift Shop, a seemingly official entity of the executive branch that appeared to be using them to raise money for hospitals.
And on Wednesday, they stirred much of the Internet into a frenzy: Was this really President Trump’s way to celebrate his own, much-criticized response to the global pandemic?
On Twitter, MSNBC host Chris Hayes reportedly shared a post claiming, “This is not a joke.†Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) used it as an opportunity to blast the president, calling on him to federalize supply chains for medical equipment.
“If the White House Gift Shop is going to produce $100 COVID-19 coins,†he wrote, “Trump can sure as hell utilize the Defense Production Act to manufacture the gloves, gowns, and masks our medical workers desperately need.â€
As a matter of fact, though, the coins’ seller has no connections to the federal government. They are being peddled online by a private, for-profit company that says it has received exclusive trademark rights.
The White House Gift Shop was originally created under President Harry S. Truman in 1946 and long operated to raise money for a Secret Service benefit fund.
But as Talking Points Memo reported in 2018, that fund shut down in 2013. The shop’s ownership was later transferred to Pennsylvania-based Giannini Strategic Enterprises.
The coronavirus coins were listed as the 11th edition of a Historic Moments Coin Collection, next to memorabilia for Trump’s meetings with North Korean and Russian leaders. Another commemorative coin is simply monographed, “President Donald J. Trump: A Study in Genius.â€
By Teo Armus
April 30, 2020 at 1:31 AM EDT
South Korea reports no coronavirus transmission from election
No coronavirus cases have been linked to the parliamentary elections that took place in South Korea earlier this month, health officials said Thursday.
Some 29 million voters lined up to cast ballots on April 15, Yoon Tae-ho, the country’s director general for public health policy, said at a news briefing. None of the cases reported over the subsequent two-week incubation period could be traced to the election.
That outcome offers a stark contrast to the results of Wisconsin’s controversial April 7 primary election, which took place against the wishes of the state’s governor and public health officials. As of Monday, at least 36 people who voted in person or worked the polls had tested positive for covid-19, according to Politico. Several of the people included in that count reported that they could have contracted the virus before election day, and the total number of infections is expected to increase in coming weeks.
Though South Korea was one of the hardest hit countries in the early days of the coronavirus outbreak, an aggressive approach to testing and contact tracing has since brought the virus under control. The country has managed to drastically reduce the number of infections without imposing severe lockdowns and has been hailed as a model for other nations.
South Korea’s government introduced extensive safety measures for the April 15 election, including taking voters’ temperatures before allowing them to enter polling booths. Poll workers donned hazmat suits and face shields and made sure that mask-clad voters stood at least three feet apart.
Thursday marked the first day since February that no new domestic coronavirus cases were reported in South Korea. The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the country only saw four new cases in the past 24 hours, all coming from overseas.
By Antonia Farzan
April 30, 2020 at 1:15 AM EDT
Vietnam offers tough lessons for U.S. on coronavirus
The United States passed a tragic milestone this week in its novel coronavirus outbreak. Less than three months after the first case was confirmed on U.S. soil, more lives have now been lost in the United States from the pandemic than the 58,220 Americans who died over nearly two decades of fighting during the Vietnam War.
Coincidentally, the fall of Saigon 45 years ago on Thursday ended that conflict. But despite these milestones, in Vietnam many are focused on a very different marker: According to official figures, the country has recorded no new cases of domestic transmission of the coronavirus in almost two weeks.
Despite its border with China, relatively low income and population of 95 million, Vietnam is an outlier success story in the pandemic. It has 270 confirmed cases of the virus and no deaths. The country is beginning to lift the strict lockdown measures it began imposing in February and reopened restaurants and barber shops last week.
By Adam Taylor
April 30, 2020 at 1:09 AM EDT
Donated U.S. field hospitals meant for combat injuries converted for use in global battle against virus
As the coronavirus spreads around the world, countries that have received medical equipment donated by the United States for peacekeeping and counterterrorism missions are converting it to civilian use during the pandemic.
Already, four expeditionary hospitals in Africa, each made up of 14 tents that can handle everything from surgery to dentistry, have been moved from military bases where doctors train in treating battlefield casualties to cities where covid-19 outbreaks have stretched the health-care systems.
The State Department this week notified Congress that it plans to allow seven additional countries engaged in U.S.-backed counterterrorism operations to use donated ambulances, tactical vehicles, cots, tents and other equipment in their domestic response to the virus.
By Carol Morello
April 30, 2020 at 12:32 AM EDT
Iconic brands like Neiman Marcus and J.C. Penney may crumble under closures
The retail industry, rife with bankruptcies and shuttered stores long before the coronavirus, is facing its biggest test yet.
Lockdowns triggered by the pandemic have forced the temporary closures of 263,000 stores, according to GlobalData Retail, and analysts say it remains to be seen how many will be able to reopen.
A number of the nation’s most iconic brands are at risk of disappearing, as weeks-long lockdowns and deep economic unrest disrupt consumer spending. More than 100,000 stores could disappear by the end of 2025, according to UBS. There already are signs of distress: Retail sales plummeted 8.7 percent in March, their worst drop on record, and analysts say conditions will only worsen in the coming months.
By Daniela Santamarina, Abha Bhattarai and Kevin Uhrmacher
April 30, 2020 at 12:28 AM EDT
Scientists know ways to help stop viruses from spreading on airplanes. They’re too late for this pandemic.
The Federal Aviation Administration and major manufacturers have long been aware of the risk of diseases spreading on flights and have sponsored research seeking improvements.
But fighting illnesses and preparing for disaster were not the industry’s top priorities as global air travel soared.
Though there have been significant advances since the 1970s, and airlines spent weeks touting the safety of flying and their steps against the coronavirus, passenger cabins still pose a danger for the spread of infectious diseases, experts said.
It is a problem of biology, physics and pure proximity, with airflow, dirty surfaces and close contact with other travelers all at play.
By Michael Laris
April 30, 2020 at 12:27 AM EDT
Supreme Court arguments resume next week, with all the grandeur of working from home
On Monday, Washington lawyer Lisa S. Blatt will pull out her favorite suit, put on her lucky, understated jewelry and stride to the lectern to address the justices of the United States Supreme Court.
In her dining room. On the telephone.
It is unclear exactly where the nine justices will be â€" other than, apart â€" as they begin two weeks of oral arguments unlike any in the court’s 230-year history.
By Robert Barnes
April 30, 2020 at 12:26 AM EDT
U.S. passes 60,000 dead as hopes rise for a promising drug therapy
U.S. deaths from the coronavirus passed 60,000 on Wednesday, a figure President Trump had once projected would be the upper limit, as hopes rose for a drug treatment that the top U.S. infectious-disease expert said has shown a clear benefit in an early trial.
Trump welcomed the promising early signs that an experimental antiviral drug, remdesivir, can be effective in speeding the recovery time for covid-19 patients.
“The data shows that remdesivir has a clear-cut, significant, positive effect in diminishing the time to recovery,†Anthony S. Fauci said alongside Trump at the White House on Wednesday. “That is really quite important.â€
By Anne Gearan, Christopher Rowland and Laurie McGinley
Media playback is unsupported on your device Media captionWATCH: 'One of two things happened'