Live updates: As ‘quarantine fatigue’ spreads, Fauci says second wave of coronavirus is ‘inevitable’

Here are some significant developments:

The U.S. economy shrank by 4.8 percent from January through March as it saw the worst slowdown in growth since the Great Recession.

Nearly half of the world’s workforce is at risk of losing their incomes as the pandemic continues to disrupt lives and economies around the globe, a U.N. agency warned.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe warned that holding the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 will be “impossible” if the pandemic is not contained.

Amid mounting reports of deadly outbreaks at U.S. meatpacking plants, President Trump signed an executive order requiring processors to stay open. The move, intended to stave off shortages, was widely criticized by labor leaders.

Signaling confidence that it has contained the virus, China scheduled its big legislative meetings for late May. The “Two Sessions” meetings had been postponed at the height of the outbreak.

Results from antibody tests support the consensus that the novel coronavirus is significantly more lethal than the seasonal flu.

April 29, 2020 at 10:20 AM EDT

Romney criticizes government response to coronavirus

Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) offered a critical assessment of the federal government’s readiness for the novel coronavirus, describing it as not a “great moment in American leadership.”

Romney mostly kept his criticisms broad during an event Tuesday night with Georgetown University students via video chat. He avoided attacking President Trump directly, although he took a few swipes at the president’s management style.

“The speed of our response looked slow compared to other people. That first phase will not stand out as a great moment in American leadership,” Romney said, referring to the onset of the coronavirus outbreak. “We didn’t look real strong, and that’s kind of an understatement.”

By Colby Itkowitz

April 29, 2020 at 10:18 AM EDT

States are reopening despite not meeting White House guidelines for declining cases

When the White House released guidance this month for states weighing when to reopen amid the coronavirus pandemic, the guidelines suggested waiting for declines in documented cases and reported illnesses before lifting restrictions.

But as states have begun lifting restrictions and announcing plans to reopen, they are falling short of some of this guidance. The White House guidelines suggest a “downward trajectory of documented cases within a 14-day period” before reopening â€" a figure that states reopening thus far are not meeting, based on publicly reported data.

In Georgia, which began reopening businesses last week, the number of reported coronavirus cases has fluctuated in recent days, according to data compiled by The Washington Post. The same is true in South Carolina, Tennessee, Minnesota and Colorado, all states that have begun easing at least some restrictions recently.

Reported cases might not reflect real-time trends, because there are some lags in testing and reporting, health officials say. But they give an idea of the data being released publicly, which businesses and residents alike can view when weighing their next actions.

States gearing up to reopen have similarly seen fluctuations, which included more confirmed cases on some recent days than they had the day before. In Texas, the numbers have gone up and down in recent days. Iowa plans to lift restrictions later this week, even as its cases have risen on some recent days, The Washington Post’s data show. In Ohio, officials laid out plans to reopen some things even as cases spiked.

The White House guidance also suggests another criteria for states to consider: a downward trajectory of new positive tests within a two-week period. Ultimately, this guidance is only that â€" recommendations.

“The governors are going to adhere, hopefully, or they’re going to do what they think is best,” President Trump said last week. “I want them to do what they think is best, but ideally they’ll adhere.”

By Mark Berman

April 29, 2020 at 10:03 AM EDT

The return of erratic Elon Musk: Amid outbreak, Tesla CEO spreads misinformation, overpromises on ventilators

SAN FRANCISCO â€" Elon Musk promised to ship more than 1,000 ventilators to hospitals around the country last month â€" and pledged that his Tesla electric-vehicle company would pump out its own version of the devices as soon as possible.

Many of the machines the Tesla chief executive sent were continuous or bi-level positive airway pressure machines, noninvasive devices used for patients with sleep apnea who have trouble getting air inside their lungs, according to some of the hospitals that received them. They can aid in treatment for the coronavirus but typically don’t work for the sickest patients unless they are converted into more advanced machines.

While hospital executives said they were grateful for the mechanical reinforcements brought by Tesla, the shipments continued a pattern by Musk of brash proclamations on Twitter with mixed results on follow-through. Since the coronavirus started to spread, he has peddled the drug chloroquine before clinical tests and questioned the ongoing need for stay-at-home orders â€" while touting his own relief efforts.

One coronavirus-related YouTube video he tweeted was removed because it violated the company’s guidelines.

By Faiz Siddiqui

April 29, 2020 at 10:02 AM EDT

India to allow stranded workers to go home in relaxation of world’s biggest lockdown

NEW DELHI â€" India will permit workers, students and tourists stuck across the country to return to their homes after five weeks of nationwide lockdown, the government said Wednesday.

The change represents a significant shift in India’s restrictions on movement. On March 25, the government shut down all long-distance transportation â€" including flights, trains and buses â€" in this country of more than 1.3 billion to combat the spread of the novel coronavirus. The abrupt lockdown stranded millions of laborers in Indian cities without jobs and with no means to leave. In desperation, thousands set off on foot.

Now India will allow state governments to arrange special buses to bring home their residents. Such travelers will be quarantined when they arrive at their destinations. Meanwhile, the national lockdown will remain in place at least through May 3. India has already loosened some restrictions on industry and commerce, especially in rural areas. The country has nearly 32,000 confirmed coronavirus cases and about 1,000 deaths.

The relaxation announced Wednesday came after several states mounted their own initiatives to bring back residents despite the lockdown. The government of Uttar Pradesh, India’s largest state, organized buses to transport thousands of students stranded in a city known for its medical and engineering training courses. Several other states followed suit.

By Joanna Slater and Niha Masih

April 29, 2020 at 9:35 AM EDT

Kushner derides ‘eternal lockdown crowd’ as he presents optimistic scenario on testing

White House senior adviser and presidential son-in-law Jared Kushner on Wednesday derided the “eternal lockdown crowd” as he claimed during a morning television interview that “extraordinary” strides have been made in developing coronavirus testing capacity.

Appearing on Fox News’s “Fox & Friends,” Kushner offered an optimistic scenario about the expansion of testing, which health experts say remains among the greatest challenges in reopening the economy safely in the coming months.

“The hardest work is really developing the tests, and we needed to engage the commercial market to do that,” Kushner said. “Now that the tests are out there, it’s really about scaling supply chain, really in a historic manner and pace.”

“Somebody asked me why it took so long,” he added. “I actually said, ‘You should look at how did we do this so quickly.’ ”

Kushner said the Trump administration is actively working with governors to develop short- and longer-term plans for expansion of testing.

“The goal here is to get people back to work,” he added. “The eternal lockdown crowd can make jokes on late-night television, but the reality is that the data is on our side, and President Trump has created a pathway to safely open up our country, and make sure that we can get our economy going, and get Americans back to a place where it will be even stronger than it was.”

Kushner’s reference to an “eternal lockdown crowd” prompted a sharp rejoinder from Rep. Bobby L. Rush (D-Ill.).

“There is no ‘eternal lockdown crowd,’ ” Rush wrote on Twitter. “There are people who put human health over the health of our economy, and then there are people like you.”

By John Wagner

April 29, 2020 at 9:09 AM EDT

Nearly half of global workforce is in informal economy and at risk of losing livelihood, U.N. agency says

Nearly half of the world’s workforce is at risk of losing their incomes as the coronavirus pandemic continues to disrupt lives and economies around the globe, the International Labour Organization (ILO) warned Wednesday.

The Geneva-based United Nations agency estimated that workers in informal economies account for nearly half of the global workforce, or 1.6 billion people. Those people, already among the most vulnerable in labor markets, now “stand in immediate danger of having their livelihoods destroyed,” ILO said in a statement.

“The first month of the crisis is estimated to have resulted in a drop of 60 percent in the income of informal workers globally,” according to the ILO. “This translates into a drop of 81 percent in Africa and the Americas, 21.6 percent in Asia and the Pacific, and 70 percent in Europe and Central Asia.”

The labor rights organization estimated 68 percent of workers live in countries with recommended or required workplace closures, down from 81 percent two weeks ago. The ILO attributed the decline primarily to China’s lifting of much of its lockdown.

“For millions of workers, no income means no food, no security and no future,” ILO Director-General Guy Ryder said in a statement. “Millions of businesses around the world are barely breathing. They have no savings or access to credit. These are the real faces of the world of work. If we don’t help them now, they will simply perish.”

By Miriam Berger

April 29, 2020 at 9:01 AM EDT

New York mayor breaks up a rabbi’s crowded funeral

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio was so floored Tuesday night by a report of a large funeral gathering in Brooklyn during the coronavirus pandemic that he said he had to see it for himself.

When the Democratic mayor arrived in the Williamsburg neighborhood, he did indeed see hundreds of Orthodox Jewish mourners flooding the sidewalks and intersection of Bedford Avenue and Rutledge Street, honoring the memory of a rabbi who recently died of the coronavirus.

The sounds of police sirens blaring through the streets and officers ordering people to go home did little to disperse the crowd, defying social distancing orders. The mourners, dressed in traditional black garments and hats and forced to yell over the piercing sirens, stood nearly shoulder to shoulder, some with masks and others without them, in a city with almost 158,000 coronavirus cases and nearly 12,000 deaths.

By Timothy Bella

April 29, 2020 at 8:55 AM EDT

Coronavirus kills its first female federal inmate weeks after she had an emergency C-section

About a week after U.S. Marshals transferred Andrea Circle Bear from a jail in South Dakota to a federal prison in Fort Worth, the pregnant inmate was sent to a nearby hospital with a high fever.

On March 28, doctors sent Circle Bear, who was serving a two-year sentence on a drug-related charge, back to Federal Medical Center Carswell, a federal prison equipped to provide medical care to incarcerated women, KXAS reported. Three days later, prison medical staff saw that she had developed a fever, dry cough and other covid-19-like symptoms, the Bureau of Prisons said in a statement Tuesday.

She returned that day to the hospital, where she was placed on a ventilator. On April 1, doctors performed an emergency Caesarean section to deliver her premature baby, the bureau said. She tested positive for the novel coronavirus on April 4.

By Katie Shepherd

April 29, 2020 at 8:43 AM EDT

About a quarter of Americans consider White House briefings a ‘major’ information source, survey finds

As the White House wrestles over whether to continue coronavirus task force briefings led by President Trump, new polling shows that only 27 percent of Americans consider them to be a “major” source of information.

According to the Gallup/Knight Foundation survey, 26 percent say the near-daily briefings are a “minor” information source, while a 46 percent plurality of U.S. adults say that they do not use the briefings as a source of information.

The White House has not advertised a coronavirus task force briefing for Wednesday, which would mark the fifth day in a row without one. Trump, however, has appeared at other events in recent days and taken questions from reporters.

Some Trump aides and allies worry that the often-lengthy briefings are not helping the president politically, particularly in light of one last week in which he mused about injecting disinfectants as a possible coronavirus treatment.

The new polling finds a sharp partisan divide over how useful Americans find the sessions. Sixty-four percent of Republicans say the briefings are a “major” source of information, a view shared by only 5 percent of Democrats and 23 percent of independents.

By John Wagner

April 29, 2020 at 8:37 AM EDT

Fauci: Second wave of coronavirus is ‘inevitable’

A second wave of the novel coronavirus is “inevitable,” said Anthony S. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

The nation’s top epidemiologist said in a Tuesday interview with the Economic Club that the virus probably won’t go away because it’s highly transmissible and globally spread.

“It’s not going to disappear from the planet which means as we get into next season … in my mind, it’s inevitable that we will have a return of the virus or maybe it never even went away,” he said, noting that parts of the world like southern Africa are seeing an increase in cases. “When it does, how we handle it, will determine our fate.”

Fauci said identifying people who are infected, isolating them and tracing their contacts in an effective and efficient way will be instrumental in keeping the number of projected deaths down to about 70,000 or 80,000 as states move to reopen their economies. New cases will emerge in the process, he said.

“If by that time we have put into place all of the countermeasures that you need to address this, we should do reasonably well,” he said. “If we don’t do that successfully, we could be in for a bad fall and a bad winter. ”

Fauci said it’s important for the country to be careful and circumspect as it moves from a lockdown to a “gradual rolling reentry into some sort of normality. ”

The coming winter holds promise for scientists and researchers to know if they have a safe and effective vaccine that could be scaled up for distribution throughout the United States and the world, according to Fauci.

"The fact that people can mount a natural immune response that gets rid of the virus makes me cautiously optimistic that we can develop a vaccine that can mimic natural infection enough to induce that same sort of response that can protect people,” he said.

By Lateshia Beachum

April 29, 2020 at 8:25 AM EDT

Israel deems women’s ritual baths essential, leaving some conflicted over virus risk

EFRAT, West Bank â€" As covid-19 spread rapidly in the first weeks of March, Esther grew nervous. It was nearly time for her monthly visit to the ritual bath that many observant Jewish women use to purify themselves after every menstrual cycle, and she worried she might catch the virus at the very place meant for physical and spiritual cleansing.

“I have a disability and many underlying health issues,” said Esther, 43, an ultra-Orthodox mother of seven. “Deciding whether or not to go was very, very stressful.”

Even as Israel closed down its public sphere to stem the spread of the coronavirus, the government deemed that some 700 of these ritual baths, or mikvahs, were essential and permitted them to remain open along with supermarkets and pharmacies.

By Ruth Eglash

April 29, 2020 at 7:59 AM EDT

Australians toss aside privacy concerns in rush to sign up for virus tracking phone app

SYDNEY â€" A country that cherishes disrespect for authority has shown remarkable enthusiasm for a government tool designed to stop the novel coronavirus spreading by monitoring millions of Australians through their cellphones.

On Sunday, the Australian government launched the COVIDSafe cellphone application. Using Bluetooth sensors, the program is designed to track whom an infected person comes into contact with so other potential carriers can be identified and isolated.

Health officials said they had hoped 1 million people would download the app in the first five days.

By A. Odysseus Patrick

April 29, 2020 at 7:50 AM EDT

Canadian government faces criticism over allowing some products only labeled in English

As governments raced to confront the coronavirus pandemic over the past months, many of the norms that previously appeared sacred quickly faltered: From travel bans to language equality, leaders around the world compromised at a time of global uncertainty.

This would once have been a no-go in the bilingual country: French is regularly spoken at home by more than 20 percent of Canadian citizens, and its status as an official language â€" on an equal level with English â€" is enshrined by the 1969 Official Languages Act.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Tuesday defended the decision to temporarily allow unilingual labels, arguing that supplies must be ramped up quickly and that some producers are unable to comply with the bilingual requirements. Like many other nations, Canada has had to rely on imported products, including from the United States.

Canada has reported more than 50,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus and about 3,000 deaths.

“But we would certainly prefer that this not happen because our linguistic duality is not just a question of our Canadian identity, it’s also a question of safety for consumers,” he added, according to Agence France-Presse. His comment echoed a key argument of the decision’s critics, who say unilingual labeling puts users at risk of using the products incorrectly.

By Rick Noack

April 29, 2020 at 7:45 AM EDT

California governor says other states with more aggressive reopenings make his job harder

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) acknowledged in an interview broadcast Wednesday that protesters and other states with more aggressive reopening plans make his job more difficult â€" but he insisted he will continue to be guided by data rather than public passions.

“There’s no question it puts pressure. I’d be lying to suggest otherwise,” Newsom said during an appearance on NBC’s “Today” show when asked if what’s happening in other states makes it harder for him to follow a more cautious path. “I don’t dismiss any of those protests, or any of those points of criticism.”

Newsom, however, insisted that such pressures will not affect his work.

“It will be data and health that guide our decision-making,” he said.

More than one-third of states have announced reopening plans with dates attached to them.

On Tuesday, Newsom announced a four-stage plan for gradually opening parts of the California economy. His plan includes no timetables. Officials said they instead will use benchmarks around testing, hospitalizations and other factors.

Asked in the NBC interview if his gut tells him the worst of the pandemic is behind his state, Newsom said: “In my gut, I do, with this caveat: Only if we take seriously these next phases. If people just assume … 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.”

By John Wagner

April 29, 2020 at 7:30 AM EDT

Behind London’s shopfronts, coronavirus lockdown forces tough calculations

LONDON â€" Behind every shopfront, people are calculating: their money, their futures, the possibility that their livelihoods (reliant on the sale of lager and ale, big-wheel bikes or creams perfumed with lavender) could be killed off by a spooky virus.

How much longer can they cover rent? Can they persuade creditors to give them a breather? Will a tax holiday tide them over for months â€" even a year â€" of lockdown?

The merchants of Exmouth Market, a two-block stretch of central London known for its bustling food stalls and independent shops, have no answers. Their street is near silent but for birdsong.

By Christine Spolar

April 29, 2020 at 7:15 AM EDT

In a sign the virus is contained, China schedules big political meetings for late May

China signaled confidence that its coronavirus epidemic has finally been brought under control, scheduling for next month its highest-profile annual legislative meetings, which had been postponed at the height of the outbreak.

Known as the “Two Sessions,” the meetings are always a piece of important political theater for China’s ruling Communist Party, a venue for leaders to trumpet their achievements of the past year and lay out their plans and targets for the year ahead.

But that will be particularly tricky this year, with China still emerging from a coronavirus outbreak that began in Wuhan at the end of last year.

By Anna Fifield

April 29, 2020 at 6:58 AM EDT

Greece, an unlikely success story, lifts some restrictions on businesses, residents

Just over a month after Greek officials put the country under lockdown, they are taking several steps to gradually restore daily life.

Bookstores, hair salons and some other shops will reopen starting Monday, authorities said, while people will no longer have to notify the government when and why they are leaving home.

Still, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who last week said the country’s response showed its “best self,” warned against a complete return to daily routines.

“This is not the epilogue of our adventure but the continuation,” he said Tuesday in a televised address, according to Reuters. “Our emergence from quarantine will be done step by step. No one can rule out the risk of the threat rekindling.”

That threat is reflected in the looser restrictions, which also allow churches to reopen, but only for personal worship, and permit residents to return to the beach, but only for exercise.

Other rollback steps will be taken gradually in coming weeks. High schools will partially reopen starting May 11, and younger students will return to class in June.

But businesses that rely on tourism face a less promising summer because of the pandemic’s potentially crippling long-term economic effects on Greece. Restaurants and year-round hotels will probably be allowed to reopen in June, although Mitsotakis said it is very unlikely that large gatherings will be allowed over the next few months.

By Teo Armus

April 29, 2020 at 6:42 AM EDT

Majorities of Americans prefer Biden over Trump on handling coronavirus, economy

Majorities of Americans would prefer former vice president Joe Biden over President Trump when it comes to handling both the coronavirus pandemic and the economy, according to a new poll that includes some ominous findings for the Republican incumbent.

The NPR-PBS NewsHour-Marist poll finds that 55 percent of Americans would prefer that Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, handle the coronavirus response, compared to 40 percent for Trump. On the economy â€" previously a strong suit for Trump â€" Americans prefer Biden by a margin of 51 percent to 44 percent.

Preferences on both questions break sharply along party lines, but Biden enjoys stronger support among independents. When it comes to handling the coronavirus pandemic, independents break in Biden’s favor, 55 percent to 39 percent.

A Washington Post-ABC News poll conducted late last month found Americans nearly divided between Trump and Biden when asked whom they trust more to handle the coronavirus outbreak. On the economy, 50 percent said they trusted Trump more, compared to 42 percent for Biden.

The new NPR-PBS News Hour-Marist poll also finds that most Americans think their governor is doing a better job than Trump on both the coronavirus and the economy. On the coronavirus, 64 percent say their governor is doing a better job than Trump. On the economy, 54 percent say their governor is doing a better job than the president.

By John Wagner

April 29, 2020 at 6:36 AM EDT

Japanese prime minister says holding Olympics will be ‘impossible’ if coronavirus is not contained

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe warned Wednesday that hosting the Tokyo Olympics next year will be out of the question if the coronavirus pandemic is not contained.

Originally slated to take place this summer, the Olympic Games have been postponed until July 2021. A growing chorus of Japanese scientists has warned that even a one-year delay might not be enough, and Abe on Wednesday became the most prominent voice to echo those concerns.

“We’ve been saying the Olympic and Paralympic Games must be held in a complete form, in that athletes and spectators can all participate safely,” Abe said, according to Reuters. “It would be impossible to hold the Games in such a complete form unless the coronavirus pandemic is contained.”

The prime minister’s remarks came one day after Yoshitake Yokokura, chief of the Japan Medical Association, said it would be “exceedingly difficult” to hold the Olympics if a coronavirus vaccine has not been developed by next summer. Experts say that such a vaccine could be a long way off and that making sure it is distributed widely could present a separate set of challenges.

Organizers of the Tokyo Olympics have said that there is no Plan B if the event needs to be postponed again and that the Games will be “scrapped” if they cannot take place next year. Canceling would be a major blow to Abe, who had hoped that an economic boost from the Games would be one of his major achievements.

Before the global pandemic hit, Japan had already spent nearly $13 billion on preparations for the Tokyo Olympics. The country has reported more than 13,700 coronavirus cases and nearly 400 deaths.

By Antonia Farzan

April 29, 2020 at 6:30 AM EDT

E.U. governments ponder how to save tourism industry’s critical summer season

BERLIN â€" European governments are discussing new proposals on how to save the European Union’s estimated 2.3 million tourism businesses amid bleak warnings that the coronavirus pandemic could change vacationing habits for years to come.

Already strained by prolonged lockdowns, many businesses are unlikely to survive if summer holidays are axed over virus fears, industry associations say. As an alternative, they are proposing an easing of restrictions to allow more domestic travel in the coming months, as well as bilateral agreements to remove travel bans between nations.

Without eased restrictions, the collapse of Europe’s tourism sector would exacerbate the continent’s recession. More than 12 million people were employed in the travel and tourism industry in 2018, according to the European Union, contributing almost 4 percent to the bloc’s gross domestic product. If associated sectors are taken into account, the GDP contribution rises to more than 10 percent.

Most E.U. nations have imposed travel restrictions or border controls in response to the crisis, and borderless travel appears unlikely to fully resume this summer. Some nations, however, are pondering bilateral agreements to establish “travel corridors,” allowing citizens of less virus-stricken countries to vacation in countries with similarly small outbreaks, without having to spend two weeks in quarantine.

Industry bodies have recently proposed such a solution between the Czech Republic and Croatia, which relies on tourism for about 20 percent of its GDP.

A similar idea has gained traction among Austrian government officials. Austrian Tourism Minister Elisabeth Köstinger and Chancellor Sebastian Kurz have both publicly discussed the possibility of bilateral tourism agreements, specifically with the Czech Republic and Germany.

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas expressed doubts over the proposal, countering that there should be no “European race for who will be the first to once again allow tourism travel.”

By Rick Noack

April 29, 2020 at 5:59 AM EDT

Here’s what it’s like to fly from Turkey to the U.S. during the coronavirus outbreak

Turkey suspended all international travel in late March, but a few flights have continued, including a commercial route from Istanbul through Minsk to a few European cities, and flights bringing home Turkish citizens from around the world.

Last week, U.S. diplomats in Turkey helped arrange several Turkish Airlines flights back to the United States, including Flight 4096, to Washington Dulles International Airport, early in the morning on April 24.

By Kareem Fahim

April 29, 2020 at 5:34 AM EDT

England makes millions more people eligible for covid-19 testing

LONDON â€" Testing across England has been expanded so that construction workers, people in care homes and those experiencing symptoms of the novel coronavirus can now apply to be tested for it, the top health official announced.

People over age 65 who have symptoms and members of their households can now also be tested, along with those who have to leave their homes to get to work and members of their households. Anyone working or living in a care home is also eligible for a test regardless of whether they are displaying symptoms of the virus.

Previously, tests were difficult to obtain and largely reserved for members of the National Health Service, their households and top government officials. Those admitted to hospitals with symptoms were also tested, but for the most part people were told to self-isolate at home without a test.

It was not immediately clear whether these measures were being extended to the rest of Britain, including Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Tests can be booked online.

“From construction workers to emergency plumbers, from research scientists to those in manufacturing, the expansion of access to testing will protect the most vulnerable and help keep people safe,” Health Secretary Matt Hancock said late Tuesday.

The widening of testing comes after months of criticism of Prime Minister Boris Johnson and the government for not testing enough people in efforts to stem the spread of the coronavirus. According to Hancock, 73,400 people a day are now being tested for the infection. The government’s target is 100,000 people a day by the end of the month, which leaves two days for officials to meet their goal.

Across Britain, at least 21,678 deaths and 162,000 confirmed cases of the infection have been reported.

By Jennifer Hassan

April 29, 2020 at 5:12 AM EDT

Lithuanian capital turns outdoor spaces into open-air restaurants to allow social distancing

In an attempt to balance the demands of struggling restaurants that badly want to reopen and social distancing requirements imposed by health experts, the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius, is turning outdoor public spaces into massive open-air cafes.

Lithuania, which has reported 1,344 confirmed coronavirus cases and 44 deaths in a country of roughly 2.8 million, began allowing some businesses to reopen Monday. But restaurants, bars and cafes can serve patrons only at outdoor tables, which have to be spaced about six feet apart.

That requirement presented a challenge for restaurateurs in Vilnius’s tightly packed Old Town, who already struggled to fit one or two sidewalk tables on narrow streets that were laid out in medieval times. Many told the city’s mayor, Remigijus Šimašius, that they would not be able to make enough money to justify reopening.

So Šimašius decided to turn over the city’s plazas, squares and streets to restaurant owners, allowing them to set up outdoor seating areas free of charge. “Just open up, work, retain jobs and keep Vilnius alive,” he wrote in a Facebook post Friday.

The offer was wildly popular: Within just one business day, 151 restaurant owners applied for permits, the city said in a statement.

Eighteen of Vilnius’s most prominent public spaces are being divided up to accommodate the demand, and city officials plan to add more locations as summer approaches. A video posted to Twitter on Tuesday showed that one plaza had already been taken over with cafe tables, and a handful of distantly spaced diners were braving the gloomy spring weather.

By Antonia Farzan

April 29, 2020 at 5:00 AM EDT

Democratic lawmakers propose bill to force Trump to invoke Defense Production Act for medical equipment

Democratic lawmakers in Congress will propose legislation Wednesday that would force U.S. manufacturers to make medical supplies such as gowns, masks and swabs for testing, they said.

The bill would require the president to invoke the Defense Production Act to ramp up the manufacture of protective equipment and put supply chains under federal oversight.

As hospitals and state governments have decried supply shortages and a lack of widespread testing, Trump has repeatedly expressed his reluctance to use the DPA.

Last month, he claimed that factories were making enough equipment until ordering General Motors to manufacture ventilators. On Tuesday, he used the drastic wartime tool to order meatpacking plants to remain open, even as many experience outbreaks.

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), one of the bill’s sponsors, said the Trump administration’s response has left health workers and local officials scrambling for supplies “in a ‘Lord of the Flies’ environment in the middle of a global pandemic.”

“Governors are forced to compete against each other while suppliers price-gouge. There’s zero transparency from the White House,” he said. “And above all, we still don’t know who’s in charge.”

Democrats have also charged that the White House has offered few clues about the production and allocation â€" or sale â€" of what medical equipment is being manufactured. DPA orders are not public documents.

The bill’s sponsors, who also include Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) and Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), said they hoped it would be included as part of future coronavirus response packages. Similar legislation will be introduced by Democrats in the House.

By Teo Armus

April 29, 2020 at 4:37 AM EDT

DeVos gets mixed reaction to law on educating students with disabilities during pandemic

Advocates for students with disabilities applauded Education Secretary Betsy DeVos for telling Congress to leave intact the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), but special-education administrators said they need flexibility during the coronavirus crisis and called her announcement “confusing. ”

IDEA requires school districts to offer all students an equitable education, and students with disabilities are supposed to receive individualized education programs that spell out the services the children require.

Few school systems have devised a way to extend remote learning and critical services to the 7 million children with disabilities across the country. Some districts, because they cannot provide special-education services at home, aren’t offering online instruction to any student, fearful of breaking the law.

By Valerie Strauss

April 29, 2020 at 4:18 AM EDT

Nation’s biggest mall operator set to reopen 49 shopping centers

The biggest mall operator in the country will reopen nearly 50 shopping centers across 10 states this weekend â€" and it will do so with social distancing, free face masks and packets of hand sanitizer.

According to an internal memo on Tuesday first obtained by CNBC, Simon Property Group is set to open properties starting Friday in much of the South, where many governors are preparing to lift business restrictions in the coming days.

The document offers some clues about what retail and shopping could look like at nonessential businesses in the coming weeks and months. Customers at Simon Property malls will receive infrared temperature testing as they enter and regular audio reminders about social distancing as they walk around, it said.

Traffic will be controlled to prevent too many people from entering, and changes will also be made to physical structures to curb the spread of the virus. Seating at food courts will be spaced out, play areas and drinking fountains will be blocked off, and only every other sink and urinal will be accessible in bathrooms.

Despite these plans, it remains unclear just how many of the retailers inside will be open. Gap and Macy’s, both of which own several clothing stores across Simon Property malls, have said they will not be opening any locales this weekend.

Although the company will encourage shoppers and retail workers to wear face masks and use contactless pay methods, it will not require either practice.

Most of the malls reopening through Monday are in Georgia, Texas and Indiana, where the company is headquartered.

By Teo Armus

April 29, 2020 at 4:00 AM EDT

Black activists and officials see a major threat in South’s plans to reopen

As Southern governors reopen the region this week, black activists are joining with local and federal lawmakers to sound the alarm about what they see as a looming threat to the Black Belt.

They say the mostly white, male Republicans â€" who were reluctant to close their states but are now eager to reopen â€" are effectively issuing a “death sentence” for millions of black Americans who have been disproportionately impacted both economically and medically by the novel coronavirus.

“He’s willing to risk us at any cost,” said Black Voters Matter co-founder LaTosha Brown of Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, who announced a reopening of the state beginning last Friday, with plans to officially let the state’s stay-at-home order expire on Thursday.

This story is part of a collaboration between The Washington Post and The 19th, a nonprofit newsroom covering gender, politics and policy.

By Errin Haines

April 29, 2020 at 3:42 AM EDT

Syria extends curfew but eases restrictions on movements and businesses

BEIRUT â€" Syria has extended its nationwide curfew but said it will ease restrictions on travel in the country and will allow some businesses to reopen, the official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) said.

War-torn Syria has reported shockingly low numbers of coronavirus cases. The government said only 43 cases and three deaths have occurred in its areas, which include about two-thirds of the country. The northeast, controlled by U.S.-backed Syrian Kurdish groups, has reported one death from the virus, whereas the rebel-held northwest, the most isolated area in the country, has reported zero cases so far.

On Tuesday, the Syrian government announced it will allow one-time movement between provinces for three days starting Thursday. It also said it will open markets and all stores and services daily from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m., but will hold all businesses to health and disinfecting protocols.

It also ended the school year early, after students were expected to return to class in early May. Government employees will return to work in phases at the end of May, SANA said.

One province, the coastal Tartus, said it will reopen its seaside promenade, known as the corniche, starting Sunday, as the province has not reported any cases.

Videos in the past week from Damascus, however, have shown that markets continue to bustle with shoppers and that social distancing and preventive measures have not been properly enforced in at least some areas. Panic buying ensued, a result of the curfew as well as the weakening Syrian pound during the holy fasting month of Ramadan.

By Sarah Dadouch

April 29, 2020 at 3:18 AM EDT

British Airways to cut up to 12,000 jobs

British Airways is set to cut as many as 12,000 jobs â€" about one-quarter of its overall workforce â€" as the coronavirus pandemic continues to all but eliminate air travel.

The airline’s parent company, IAG, said Tuesday that it needed to impose a “restructuring and redundancy” program until passengers start traveling as often they did last year.

Those efforts still need to be hashed out with labor unions but will likely affect most of British Airways’s 42,000 employees and result in thousands of layoffs, said IAG, which also owns Iberia and Aer Lingus.

“In the last few weeks, the outlook for the aviation industry has worsened further and we must take action now,” the airline’s chief executive, Alex Cruz, wrote in a letter to staff, according to Reuters.

Globally, the airline industry is bleeding billions of dollars in cash, as some carriers face bankruptcy, other seek government aid and more than half of all passenger aircraft have been grounded due to shuttered borders. Scandinavian Airlines, TAP and Icelandair, among others, have already laid off thousands of workers.

For its part, British Airways has seen a 94 percent drop in passenger capacity compared to April and May of last year, and IAG’s revenue fell by about 13 percent last quarter.

With nearly 23,000 of the airline’s employees already furloughed, IAG said the worst is yet to come. The company did not receive a government bailout, and analysts predict air travel will take several years to return to pre-pandemic levels.

One union, the British Airline Pilots’ Association, said it would be fighting the company to hold onto every single position.

“This has come as a bolt out of the blue from an airline that said it was wealthy enough to weather the COVID storm,” the group said on Twitter. “BALPA does not accept that a case has been made for these job losses.”

By Teo Armus

April 29, 2020 at 2:52 AM EDT

For Brazil’s Bolsonaro, isolated by corruption probe and virus denial, the troubles mount

As Latin America’s largest country plunges into its gravest health and economic crises in a generation, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, the man best positioned to buoy a bewildered people, is floundering â€" hemmed in by scandal, aggrieved by perceived betrayals, unfocused and contradictory in public pronouncements.

His behavior has overlaid the health and economic emergencies with a political crisis, pushing Brazil into a period of extraordinary political volatility.

By Terrence McCoy, Heloísa Traiano and Marina Lopes

April 29, 2020 at 2:36 AM EDT

German doctors pose nude to protest PPE shortages

A group of German doctors has launched an eye-catching campaign to call attention to shortages of personal protective equipment.

To convey how exposed they feel without masks, gloves and goggles, the physicians are stripping down and posing for nude photographs in their offices and examination rooms, often wearing nothing but a stethoscope. They call their protest “Blanke Bedenken,” which loosely translates as “Naked Concerns.”

Worldwide shortages of PPE have prompted Germany to ramp up domestic production, but the manufacturers capable of making protective gear have been overwhelmed with demand, according to the German newspaper Bild.

Doctors taking part in the protest are calling on government health officials to do more to procure masks, disinfectants and protective clothing. They also encourage German citizens to donate any extra PPE to local medical centers.

“When we run out of the little we have, we look like this,” the group’s website says.

Germany has seen a lower death rate from the novel coronavirus than other European nations like Italy and France, which has been credited to the country’s aggressive efforts to identify infection clusters through testing and contact tracing. The country has reported nearly 160,000 coronavirus cases and just over 6,300 deaths.

By Antonia Farzan

April 29, 2020 at 2:26 AM EDT

Pence’s mask-free visit to the Mayo Clinic speaks volumes about Trump’s coronavirus stance

Since mid-March, President Trump has adjusted his tone about the threat of the coronavirus â€" but only so much. Trump has continued to optimistically suggest that the virus might disappear sooner than experts say it could, and has played down the potential death toll and the severity of the situation.

On Tuesday, his approach seemed to bleed over in a way that prompted one of the country’s top hospitals to rebuke the White House.

Vice President Pence visited the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota on Tuesday. But conspicuously absent from his visit was a mask. Pence’s actions are difficult to divorce from Trump’s own stance toward masks. Even after the CDC advised people to wear face coverings in early April, Trump indicated that he didn’t plan to do so and that it was a personal choice for him.

By Aaron Blake

April 29, 2020 at 1:56 AM EDT

Dispute over coronavirus probe intensifies as China accuses Australia of ‘petty tricks’

Simmering tensions over a coronavirus probe heated up Wednesday, as China accused Australia of “petty tricks.”

Australia’s government has joined the United States in calling for an independent inquiry into the origins of the coronavirus, including China’s role in the outbreak. Earlier this week, Cheng Jingye, China’s ambassador to Australia, warned that Beijing could retaliate with a consumer boycott that would lead to reduced tourism and demand for Australian exports. Australian officials hit back, accusing China of “economic coercion.”

The dispute intensified after Frances Adamson, the head of Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, called Cheng to express concern Monday. In a move that the Australian Broadcasting Corp. described as “the equivalent of lobbing a small hand grenade,” the Chinese embassy publicized details of the call on its website the following day.

China defended itself against criticism Wednesday by claiming that Australian officials had leaked details of the call first. “The Embassy of China doesn’t play petty tricks, this is not our tradition. But if others do, we have to reciprocate,” a spokesman said in a statement to Reuters.

Amid the backdrop of rising hostility, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison emphasized Wednesday that the call for an investigation was not intended as a slight toward China. He told reporters that the country’s call for an independent review of the virus’s spread was “entirely reasonable and sensible” and not intended to target any one nation.

By Antonia Farzan

April 29, 2020 at 1:34 AM EDT

Trump compels meat plants to stay open, as only some states look to reopen their economies

Malls, factories and state governments took some steps toward reopening in many parts of the country Tuesday, as President Trump signed an executive order compelling meat processing plants to remain open during the coronavirus pandemic.

Around the country, at least 20 meatpacking plants closed in recent weeks because of outbreaks and mounting worker deaths. Government officials and labor advocates alike have demanded that other facilities follow suit, even as pork and beef processing have fallen an estimated 25 percent.

Major meat companies are touting their role in the nation’s food supply chain, and Trump’s order classifies the plants as essential infrastructure that must remain open. Under the order, the government will provide additional protective gear for employees as well as guidance, The Washington Post reported.

With no federal mandate on reopening the economy, states have looked to lifting restrictions at varying speeds and paces. As states like Massachusetts extended closures through mid-May, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) will allow some businesses to reopen at the end of this week, although at only 25 percent capacity.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) said he would make an announcement Wednesday on plans for his state, where a stay-at-home order expires Friday.

Meanwhile, at the White House, Trump sought to look beyond the deepening recession that economists say is pushing unemployment higher than at any time since the Great Depression.

On Wednesday, the Commerce Department is expected to report that the economy has contracted faster than in the last quarter of 2008, as the global financial crisis was picking up.

But Trump said July, August and September would lead to a stronger rebound around the time of the November election.

“I think next year is going to be an unbelievably strong year,” he told reporters.

By Teo Armus

April 29, 2020 at 1:13 AM EDT

As it works to expand coronavirus testing, Virginia heads to poor neighborhoods

RICHMOND â€" Tiffany Smith tilted her head way back, sending her long ponytail almost to her waist and allowing a nurse to stick a cotton swab up one nostril, then another.

“Oh, damn!” she said, wiping her nose after undergoing a free coronavirus test in an east Richmond parking lot. “Whoo!”

Though she hated how it felt, Smith, 47, had been seeking the nasal swab since she and her husband started having fevers, coughs, sweats and headaches about a week ago. Smith works at an assisted-living facility, where a co-worker caught the novel coronavirus. She and Charles, a self-employed barber, are uninsured, and the cost of tests at a private clinic was too steep.

“Patient First was talking, like, $90,” said Smith, who worries that if she and Charles have the virus, their five children could be next. One has been running a fever.

The Smiths got their tests Tuesday at Eastlawn Shopping Center, a forlorn plaza anchored by a shuttered Food Circus. Next door sits Creighton Court, a troubled public housing complex that the city would like to demolish.

But on this day, with dozens of medical personnel and volunteers decked out in masks, face shields and bright gowns, the site offered a possible way out of the pandemic â€" for a city where 13 out of 14 coronavirus fatalities have been African Americans, and for a state where testing has lagged most of the nation.

By Laura Vozzella and Gregory S. Schneider

April 29, 2020 at 12:50 AM EDT

White House is reviewing guidelines for reopening transit

The White House is finalizing guidelines for the phased reopening of the economy that include detailed recommendations for transit, such as roping off seats, marking where passengers should stand and regularly checking the temperatures of workers to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

The proposed guidelines being reviewed allow for the phased reopening of schools, workplaces, houses of worship, restaurants and other important gathering places after weeks of state and local government restrictions on dining, park use, schools and other essential functions. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention drafted the guidelines, which have not been officially released but were obtained by The Washington Post.

By Justin George and Lena H. Sun

April 29, 2020 at 12:49 AM EDT

Push to reopen economy runs up against workers and consumers worried about risk

Plans for a swift reopening of malls, factories and other businesses accelerated Tuesday, but they quickly collided with the reality that persuading workers and consumers to overlook their coronavirus fears and resume their roles in powering the U.S. economy may prove difficult.

President Trump on Tuesday evening issued an executive order that gives the federal government broad powers to ensure that meat and poultry-processing plants remain open during the pandemic. The move, designed to avert widespread food shortages, came after the Conference Board reported that consumer confidence had plunged to its lowest mark in six years.

By David Lynch and Abha Bhattarai

April 29, 2020 at 12:48 AM EDT

NYC emergency doctor dies by suicide, underscoring a secondary danger of the pandemic

A New York City emergency room director died by suicide on Sunday after treating coronavirus patients and contracting the illness, according to police and the hospital where she worked.

Lorna Breen, chair of the emergency medicine department at NewYork-Presbyterian Allen Hospital, died of self-inflicted injuries Sunday after being transported to UVA Hospital in Charlottesville, police said.

Breen’s father, Philip C. Breen, told the New York Times that she had described coronavirus patients flooding her hospital and sometimes dying before they could be removed from the ambulances. She had no history of mental illness but seemed detached before she died, the Times reported.

By Marisa Iati and Kim Bellware

April 29, 2020 at 12:46 AM EDT

Here’s what you need to know: How the meat industry’s supply chain broke in a month

The coronavirus pandemic is now endangering the U.S. beef, chicken and pork supply chain. Worker illness has shut down meat-processing plants and forced remaining facilities to slow production to accommodate absenteeism and social-distancing protocols.

This problem has been building since mid-March, but it appears to have hit a critical point this week. On Sunday, Tyson Foods, the country’s second-largest processor of chicken, beef and pork, warned that the U.S. “food supply chain is breaking.”

What will that mean to consumers? Read more here.

By Laura Reiley

April 29, 2020 at 12:45 AM EDT

His name on stimulus checks, Trump sends a gushing letter to 90 million people

President Trump pushed to have his name printed on the economic stimulus payments the IRS is sending to tens of millions of Americans. Now he’s written a gushing letter to almost 90 million people, with his jagged signature in thick black pen.

The one-page letter, with one side printed in English and the other in Spanish, was required by the coronavirus economic package approved by Congress as a record of a deposit from the Treasury Department. The law does not say who should mail the letter.

By Lisa Rein and Michelle Singletary