Here’s what you need to know:
- Warmer weather lures people outdoors, and protests continue over restrictions.
- ‘We had to do something’: Government will spend $300 million on surplus food.
- The race for a vaccine is compressing a process of years into months.
- Researchers in Norway have a suggestion for how U.S. schools might reopen.
- A family faced the coronavirus, 2,500 miles apart.
- Congress declines the administration’s offer of rapid testing.
- Common blood pressure medicines don’t increase risk for coronavirus infections.
Warmer weather lures people outdoors, and protests continue over restrictions.
Warmer weekend temperatures and fatigue over weeks of confinement lured millions of Americans outside on Saturday, adding to the pressure on city and state officials to enforce, or loosen, restrictions imposed to limit the spread of the coronavirus.
In New York City, where the temperature hovered around 70 degrees on Saturday, Mayor Bill de Blasio pleaded with residents to resist the impulse to gather outdoors. In New Jersey, golf courses reopened on Saturday morning, and Gov. Philip D. Murphy said that early anecdotal reports from state police and parks officials indicated people were maintaining social distance.
“If we hear minimal reports of knucklehead behavior at our parks and we see that the metrics we need to meet are being met over the next couple of days, then we know that you have all taken to heart your responsibility,” he said.
Elsewhere, protesters pressing for the loosening of virus restrictions gathered in the capitals of Kentucky, Oregon and even Florida, where the Republican governor has already announced a relaxing of many of the state’s restrictions.
Lee Watts, the organizer of the rally on Saturday in Kentucky, told The Courier-Journal in Louisville that protesters would be “free to social distance themselves” and that the gathering would be “respectful.” Some protesters arrived wearing masks; many others did not.
As people flocked to New Jersey’s newly opened Liberty State Park on Saturday morning, visitors appeared to be taking varying degrees of caution. At Lincoln Park in Jersey City, Hudson County Sheriff’s Department patrol cars and S.U.V.s were on site from the park’s opening around 8 a.m., but there appeared to be little policing needed.
People maintained the six feet of separation throughout the space, and almost everyone wore a mask. A father taught his daughter to fly a kite. A family of four ate lunch on a picnic blanket. A mother played catch with her son.
“We don’t have a lawn,” said Lori Mannette, who lives a half mile from the park and has walked around its perimeter each day. “You just need somewhere to throw a baseball with your kid.”
The lifting of stringent rules across the nation signaled a significant new phase in the country’s response to the virus and came even as confirmed virus cases nationally continue to grow. While the growth rate of the virus has slowed in places like New York and California, new outbreaks are intensifying in Massachusetts, Nebraska and Wisconsin, among other states.
“It’s clearly a life-or-death-sort-of-level decision,” said Dr. Larry Chang, an infectious-diseases specialist at Johns Hopkins University. “If you get this wrong, many more people will die. It’s as simple as that.”
‘We had to do something’: Government will spend $300 million on surplus food.
Even as lines at food banks grow and Americans worry about getting enough to eat, farmers have had to destroy produce, smash eggs and dump milk as the demand from restaurants, hotels and schools has dramatically declined in the coronavirus pandemic.
Now, the Department of Agriculture plans to spend $300 million on surplus produce, milk and meat and ship it to food banks. States have also joined the effort: New York is giving food banks $25 million to buy products made from extra milk produced on farms in the state.
Even college students have stepped in, renting trucks to rescue unsold onions and eggs from farms. They have created a website that connects farmers and food banks around the country.
But the combined efforts are only a “drop in the bucket,” said Jackie Klippenstein, a senior vice president of the Dairy Farmers of America, the largest dairy co-op in the United States. The co-op has diverted almost a quarter of a million gallons of milk to food banks.
And more food is coming — California strawberry growers are fretting about how to sell their goods, with peak harvest season approaching in May.
“Time is not on our side,” said Mary Coppola, a vice president at the United Fresh Produce Association, a trade group of fruit and vegetable growers and processors. “In my own personal opinion, we are not coming up with the supply-chain logistical solutions as quickly as produce is growing.”
The race for a vaccine is compressing a process of years into months.
Four months after the coronavirus began its deadly march around the globe, the search for a vaccine has taken on an intensity never before seen in medical research, with huge implications for public health, the world economy and politics.
With political leaders — not least President Trump — increasingly pressing for progress, and with big potential profits at stake for the industry, drug makers and researchers have signaled that they are moving ahead at unheard-of speeds.
But the whole enterprise remains dogged by uncertainty about whether any coronavirus vaccine will prove effective, how fast it could be made available to millions or billions of people, and whether the rush — compressing a process that can take 10 years into 10 months — will sacrifice safety.
“We are going to start ramping up production with the companies involved,” Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the federal government’s top expert on infectious diseases, said on NBC this week. “You don’t wait until you get an answer before you start manufacturing.”
Two of the leading entrants in the United States, Johnson & Johnson and Moderna, have announced partnerships with manufacturing firms, with Johnson & Johnson promising a billion doses of an as-yet-undeveloped vaccine by the end of next year.
While scientists and doctors talk about finding a “global vaccine,” national leaders emphasize immunizing their own populations first. Mr. Trump said he was personally in charge of “Operation Warp Speed” to get 300 million doses into American arms by January. The most promising clinical trial in China is financed by the government. And in India, the chief executive of the Serum Institute of India — the world’s largest producer of vaccine doses — said that most of its vaccine “would have to go to our countrymen before it goes abroad.”
But George Q. Daley, the dean of Harvard Medical School, said thinking country by country rather than in global terms would be foolhardy since it “would involve squandering the early doses of vaccine on a large number of individuals at low risk, rather than covering as many high-risk individuals globally” — health care workers and older adults — “to stop the spread” around the world.
Researchers in Norway have a suggestion for how U.S. schools might reopen.
All but a few states have suspended in-person classes for the rest of the academic year, and some are preparing for the possibility of shutdowns or part-time schedules in the fall.
In New York, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo confirmed Friday that schools throughout the state would remain closed through the end of the school year. “We don’t think it’s possible” to reopen, he said, “in a way that would keep our children and students and educators safe.”
Gov. Gavin Newsom of California raised the idea on Tuesday that the next academic year could start as soon as July, to make up for the abbreviated spring term. And in Illinois, officials have gone further, warning that remote learning could continue indefinitely. “This may be the new normal even in the fall,” said Janice Jackson, the chief executive of Chicago Public Schools.
Whenever students do come back, classes are unlikely to look the same. There may be staggered half-day classes or one-day-on, one-day-off schedules so desks can be spread out and buses can run at lowered capacities.
As different parts of the country try to figure out what and when to reopen, and whether their lockdown measures are making a difference, two Norwegian medical researchers have suggested an approach to safely reopening schools.
The researchers, Dr. Mette Kalager and Dr. Michael Bretthauer, a husband-and-wife team at the University of Oslo, have proposed a test in which similar school districts in adjacent towns are compared when one stays shut and the other is carefully reopened, with students and teachers in both districts tested at the start and end of a 10- to 14-day cycle. If virus transmissions do not increase in the reopened school, the restrictions would be scaled back further. The study’s design could be similar to studies asking, for example, if cancer screening lowered death rates.
A family faced the coronavirus, 2,500 miles apart.
When Eliana Marcela Rendón was finally able to visit her grandmother, a coronavirus patient who had spent four weeks at a Long Island hospital, a staff member met her in the lobby to ask whether the 74-year-old had a favorite song.
Ms. Rendón, after calling family members, requested several religious selections in Spanish. Then she and her husband were guided to a coronavirus intensive care unit.
“Give us a miracle, Lord,” she prayed as the couple waited for an elevator. “Don’t take my grandma, please.”
Her grandmother, Carmen Evelia Toro, who lived with the couple in Queens, had fallen ill after returning from a family reunion in Colombia. Since then, her relatives there and in the United States had joined online nightly prayer sessions, each with a different theme: faith, gratitude, patience, mercy, obedience, love, fidelity. The night before Ms. Rendón visited the hospital, the topic was miracles.
Their story mirrors what many families have experienced in recent weeks, facing excruciating decisions about loved ones whose lives the virus has put in peril. And with rare exceptions, those choices have been all the more wrenching because they have had to be made from afar.
“We feel powerless,” Ms. Rendón said during her grandmother’s illness, “because we want to be with her at this time.”
Congress declines the administration’s offer of rapid testing.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the majority leader, said in a joint statement on Saturday that Congress would decline the White House’s offer to provide lawmakers with rapid-result testing machines, contending that the resources should be deployed to those in greater need.
“Congress is grateful for the administration’s generous offer to deploy rapid Covid-19 testing capabilities to Capitol Hill, but we respectfully decline the offer at this time,” the statement said. “Our country’s testing capacities are continuing to scale up nationwide and Congress wants to keep directing resources to the front-line facilities where they can do the most good the most quickly.”
Mr. Trump responded unhappily on Saturday evening, recirculating an unrelated tweet sent earlier in the day by Mr. McConnell’s office and commenting, “No reason to turn it down, except politics.”
“We have plenty of testing,” Mr. Trump wrote. “Maybe you need a new Doctor over there. Crazy Nancy will use it as an excuse not to show up to work!”
Alex M. Azar II, the secretary of health and human services, had offered late Friday night to send three rapid-result testing machines and 1,000 tests — the same kind currently used by the White House — to the Capitol ahead of the Senate’s return to Washington on Monday.
His offer came after the top physician in Congress warned Republican aides that with his current equipment, he would only be able to test those who were ill, and that it would take at least two days to get test results.
The House on Tuesday abandoned plans to return next week after the physician, Dr. Brian P. Monahan, warned that it might be risky for lawmakers to do so, citing the continued increase of cases of the virus in the capital and its surrounding suburban counties.
Common blood pressure medicines don’t increase risk for coronavirus infections.
Nearly half the adults in the United States have high blood pressure, and since the pandemic began, many have been worried by speculative reports that their medications could make them extra vulnerable to infection and severe illness from the coronavirus.
They can stop worrying, according to several new studies that found no connection between coronavirus risks and two widely used classes of blood pressure drugs, ACE inhibitors and ARBs.
ACE inhibitors include lisinopril, captopril and other drugs with generic names ending in -pril, and brand names such as Zestril and Prinivil. ARBs include losartan, valsartan and other generic drugs ending in -sartan, and brand names such as Cozaar and Atacand.
Three studies published on Friday in The New England Journal of Medicine, based on the records of more than 20,000 patients in Asia, Europe and North America, came to the same conclusion: The blood pressure drugs had no effect on susceptibility to infection or the course of the disease. Similar findings from China were published last week in JAMA Cardiology.
One of the new studies also found no risk linked to three other classes of commonly used blood pressure drugs — beta blockers, calcium-channel blockers and thiazide diuretics.
An editorial accompanying the New England Journal articles said it was “reassuring that three studies in different populations and with different designs” found the drugs “unlikely to be harmful in patients with Covid-19.”
But the editorial also said more research was needed to verify the results, because the studies were based on reviewing patients’ records, which does not provide evidence as strong as the results of controlled clinical trials.
Immigrants in ICE detention clash with officials over virus tests.
A group of immigrants at the Bristol County House of Corrections in Massachusetts clashed with officers late Friday over coronavirus testing, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement and local officials.
The detainees showed symptoms consistent with the virus but refused mandatory testing, the officials said, leading to an altercation with corrections officers that resulted in three injured detainees and $25,000 worth of damage to the facility in Dartmouth, Mass.
The episode is the latest example of a growing backlash against the agency among immigrants in government custody as it grapples with the health concerns of detainees and employees alike. Detainees began a labor strike at the facility last month to call attention to the conditions they faced early on during the pandemic’s spread.
The Bristol County Sheriff’s Office said a group that included 10 detainees who had showed symptoms for the virus and 15 others “rushed violently” at the sheriff and corrections officers, “barricaded themselves inside the facility, ripped washing machines and pipes off the wall, broke windows and trashed the entire unit.”
Corrections officers pepper-sprayed the detainees. Medical staff members evaluated them, and three were hospitalized. No facility staff members were injured.
The statements’ descriptions of the episode conflict with reports from detainees. Annie Gonzalez Milliken, an activist with the Boston Immigration Justice Accompaniment Network, told ABC News that the immigrants wanted to be tested.
“What they said was that they were willing to be tested, in fact they wanted to be,” she said, “but they did not want to be moved. They didn’t want to deal with cross contamination in the medical unit.”
Global roundup: There’s a new reality for places where the virus is under control.
Worshipers at one of Seoul’s largest Catholic churches must refrain from singing hymns or saying “amen” for fear of spreading saliva. Priests sanitize their hands during communion. Holy water has been removed from the chapel.
“This should become the new normal from now on,” said Gong My-young, 53, who owns a tutoring school and attended Mass one night this week in the South Korean capital. “We have to be ready for war.”
South Korea even has a name for the new practices: “everyday life quarantine.” The authorities recently released a 68-page guide, offering advice on situations like going to the movies (“refrain from shouting”) and attending funerals (“bow your head instead of hugging”).
As cities in Asia, Australia and elsewhere get their coronavirus outbreaks under control, churches, schools, restaurants, movie theaters and even sporting venues are starting to open, creating a sense of normalcy for people who have spent weeks and even months in isolation.
But they are returning to a world reimagined for the age of coronavirus, where social distancing, hygiene standards and government-imposed restrictions are infused into nearly every activity — a way of life that is likely to persist until a vaccine or a treatment is found.
In Hong Kong, tables at restaurants must be spaced at least five feet apart and customers are given bags to store their face masks during dining.
In China, students face temperature checks before they can enter schools, while cafeteria tables are outfitted with plastic dividers.
In South Korea, baseball games are devoid of fans and players cannot spit on the field.
The new social customs and mandates in Beijing, Hong Kong and Seoul, as well as Sydney, Australia, and Taiwan’s capital, Taipei, offer a preview of what might soon be common globally.
9/11 prisoners may get video chats with lawyers as Guantánamo isolates in the pandemic.
In a bid to restore some access to Guantánamo’s isolated detainees, prosecutors in the trial over the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks are proposing weekly video meetings between the five defendants and their lawyers, which would require both sides to work around social distancing protocols mandated by the coronavirus.
Lawyers for Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the lead defendant in the death penalty case, had asked the trial judge to let him speak with his lead lawyer, Gary D. Sowards, who is in self-quarantine in Manhattan. In making the request, they agreed that the conversation could be monitored.
In response, prosecutors proposed hourlong video conferences, a more complicated endeavor, Carol Rosenberg reports in an article produced in partnership with the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting.
The effort at a workaround in the slow-moving attempt to bring the case to trial comes as the 40 prisoners at Guantánamo have been increasingly isolated during the pandemic.
The court has been closed since Feb. 25, and judges in the two capital cases have canceled hearings because the prison, in an effort to limit the virus’s spread, has imposed strict restrictions on access to the detainees.
Warren Buffett’s firm lost $49.7 billion last quarter amid the pandemic.
Warren E. Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway swung to a $49.7 billion loss in the first quarter, the conglomerate reported on Saturday, reflecting the toll that the virus has inflicted on one of America’s best-known investors.
The loss — compared with a $21.7 billion profit during the same quarter a year ago — was driven by the pandemic’s hits to its vast array of investments and operating businesses, which expose it to huge parts of an American economy battered by the pandemic.
That portfolio includes stakes in financial firms like Bank of America and American Express, both of which reported steep drops in earnings for the first quarter, and four of the biggest U.S. airlines.
The release comes ahead of Berkshire’s first-ever online-only annual shareholder meeting. It is a change to an event that usually draws tens of thousands of investors to an arena in Omaha, Neb., to listen to Mr. Buffett expound on the state of capitalism, business, politics and much more.
Puerto Rico, already strained and under a lockdown, is rattled by an earthquake.
Puerto Rico, which has been under a strict lockdown since mid-March, awoke to a jolt on Saturday from a magnitude 5.4 quake.
Gov. Wanda Vázquez urged Puerto Ricans who evacuated any damaged structures to grab their emergency backpacks — and to wear masks. “Stay safe,” she wrote on Twitter.
The earthquake’s epicenter was in the island’s southwest, according to the United States Geological Survey. No casualties were immediately reported.
The power went out in parts of the island, and Mayor María E. Meléndez of Ponce, on Puerto Rico’s southern coast, reported some structural damage in the city’s historic center. She asked residents to continue to stay at home.
Puerto Rico experienced a flurry of temblors in January that left some people effectively homeless for months. But that was before the coronavirus pandemic.
The island has extended its lockdown until May 25 to prevent the virus’s spread, but some businesses will be allowed to reopen starting on Monday.
The testing rate in Puerto Rico remains low, and it has recently faced scrutiny for its response to the virus. Last month, Senator Charles E. Grassley of Iowa, the Republican chairman of the Finance Committee, submitted an inquiry scrutinizing misuse of disaster aid by Puerto Rican officials.
The letter also raised concerns that some $40 million worth of contracts to buy coronavirus test kits had gone to companies with close ties to Puerto Rican politicians, or that had little experience providing medical supplies.
Extended lockdowns leave foreigners in the U.S. in limbo.
Even as states and cities across the United States have deemed conditions safe enough to gradually reopen some businesses and public spaces, thousands of foreign residents are unable to return home as their countries have extended lockdowns and travel restrictions.
Thousands of Indian citizens in the United States were left stranded for two more weeks on Saturday after Prime Minister Narendra Modi extended a national lockdown until May 18, suspending domestic and international air travel. The lockdown was originally set to expire after May 3.
Worrisome data released this week added to fears that India could remain closed for some time. The country reported 2,293 new cases of the coronavirus on Friday, its biggest single-day increase yet.
While the true count of stranded visitors is unknown, leaving for home has become an increasingly dicey proposition as the United States has emerged as the primary hot spot for the virus, accounting for about a third of cases globally.
Travelers seeking to return to African countries have also faced uncertainty, as 34 of the continent’s 57 international airports remained closed or had significantly scaled back operations, according to a report in The Washington Post.
Travel restrictions have also become increasingly burdensome for the more than a million international students studying at American universities, many of whom often return home for the summer. As universities have closed dorms and suspended summer stipends for graduate students, many face financial instability, with no clear indication of when they can leave.
Lives transformed by the pandemic, in photos.
Restaurants received patrons into dining rooms partly cordoned off for social distancing, friends sought safe conversation in the sunshine, and some tried to continue a productive path forward in isolation.
As the patchwork of rules aimed at slowing the pandemic continued to evolve this week, photographers across the country documented how people were navigating social gatherings, working to preserve their businesses, fitting in outdoor pursuits like surfing and maintaining religious practices.
How to get some crucial sleep.
Getting proper sleep is vital for physical and mental health, particularly during the pandemic. Here are recommendations.
Reporting was contributed by Kevin Armstrong, Julie Bosman, Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs, Emily Cochrane, Michael Corkery, Jo Corona, Joe Drape, Michael J. de la Merced, Catie Edmondson, Nicholas Fandos, Sheri Fink, Jacey Fortin, Michael Gold, Denise Grady, Jack Healy, Javier C. Hernández, David D. Kirkpatrick, Su-Hyun Lee, Ron Lieber, Grace Maalouf, Neil MacFarquhar, Patricia Mazzei, Sarah Mervosh, Zach Montague, Kwame Opam, Katie Rogers, Carol Rosenberg, Katherine Rosman, Rebecca R. Ruiz, David E. Sanger, Sheryl Gay Stolberg, Sabrina Tavernise, Katie Thomas, Sui-Lee Wee, David Yaffe-Bellany and Carl Zimmer.
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