COVID-19 News from Around the Web

Faced with the grim prospect that 200,000 Americans could die even with aggressive action to slow the spread of the coronavirus, President Trump extended the guidelines on avoiding nonessential travel, staying away from work, visiting bars and restaurants and gathering in groups of more than 10 for at least another month. “We can expect that by June 1, we will be well on our way to recovery,” Mr. Trump said on Sunday evening. “We think by June 1. A lot of great things will be happening.” But the virus has already dashed Mr. Trump’s earlier rosy predictions, and as Americans entered their third week living in a work-from-home world, officials warned that the deepening crisis in New York was weeks from peaking. “Thousands of people will pass away,” Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo warned. “I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw over 100,000 deaths,” Dr. Anthony Fauci, the United States’ leading infectious disease expert, said on Monday.

Bracing the nation for a death toll that could exceed 100,000 people, President Donald Trump on Sunday extended restrictive social distancing guidelines through April, bowing to public-health experts who presented him with even more dire projections for the expanding coronavirus pandemic. It was a stark shift in tone by the president, who only days ago mused about the country reopening in a few weeks following the initial 15-day period of social distancing. From the Rose Garden, he said his Easter revival hopes had only been “aspirational.” Trump had expressed interest in relaxing the national guidelines at least in parts of the country less afflicted by the pandemic. He instead decided to extend them through April 30, a tacit acknowledgment he’d been too optimistic. Many states and local governments have stiffer controls in place on mobility and gatherings.

New York state’s death toll from the outbreak climbed above 1,000 on Sunday, less than a month after the disease was first detected in the state. New York state accounts for more than 40% of U.S. deaths from COVID-19. The virus and the disease it causes, COVID-19, has torn through New York with frightening speed.

After broaching the possibility of quarantining New York, Connecticut and New Jersey, President Trump backtracked late Saturday, saying a "quarantine will not be necessary." Earlier in the day, the president said he was "looking at" quarantining New York, New Jersey and parts of Connecticut because they had developed as "hot spots" of the coronavirus outbreak. Several hours later, Trump said in a series of tweets that he would instead "issue a strong Travel Advisory" to be administered by governors in consultation with federal officials. Trump said he made the decision on the recommendation of the White House Coronavirus Task Force and the governors of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.

Due to extensive community transmission of COVID -19 in the area, CDC urges residents of New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut to refrain from non-essential domestic travel for 14 days effective immediately. This Domestic Travel Advisory does not apply to employees of critical infrastructure industries, including but not limited to trucking, public health professionals, financial services, and food supply. These employees of critical infrastructure, as defined by the Department of Homeland Security, have a special responsibility to maintain normal work schedules. The Governors of New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut will have full discretion to implement this Domestic Travel Advisory.

The Tokyo Olympics will open July 23, 2021, the local organizing committee said, following a one-year delay forced by the coronavirus pandemic.

The United States is leading the world in the number of coronavirus cases as of Friday with 85,707 people sick, according to tracking by NBC News — a toll that surpasses the caseload in China where the pandemic ignited in December. The number of deaths has also risen to 1,268, with New York being the worst hit, accounting for 433 of those killed by COVID-19. Meanwhile, the number of confirmed cases worldwide has soared to 533,416 and the death toll reaching 24,082 as of 4:15 am ET, according to the Johns Hopkins University Tracker.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has tested positive for the new coronavirus, but remains in charge of the U.K.’s response to the outbreak. Johnson said Friday that he was tested for COVID-19 on the advice of the chief medical officer after showing “mild symptoms” involving a temperature and a persistent cough. “I’ve taken a test, that’s come out positive so I am working from home, I am self-isolating, and that’s entirely the right thing to do,” he said in a video message posted on his Twitter account.

President Trump told governors his administration is working on publishing guidelines for state and local governments to use to determine whether to increase or relax social distancing rules to contain the spread of the coronavirus. The announcement came ahead of the White House's regular news conference on its response to the pandemic. Trump is under pressure to restart parts of the moribund economy, stalled by skyrocketing unemployment as workers are urged to stay home and companies shut their doors… To that end, Trump told governors in his letter that the administration will use data from expanded testing for the virus to categorized counties as high, medium or low risk. That data will drive the "next phase" of the response to the pandemic, he said. Trump has said he would like people in parts of the country that have not experienced massive outbreaks to be able to go back to work, perhaps around April 12.

As the U.S. coronavirus death toll sailed past 1,000, the governor of New York — the state with the worst outbreak so far — warned residents they're "still on the way up the mountain." The number of COVID-19 cases across the country is fast approaching 70,000, forcing leaders from city halls right up to the White House to grapple with how much to restrict Americans' lives to curb the spread.

The Senate overwhelmingly passed a massive $2 trillion stimulus package late Wednesday that's meant to soften the economic blow of the coronavirus pandemic for American workers and businesses. The Senate approved the 880-page bill in a unanimous 96-0 vote. The measure would provide billions of dollars in credit for struggling industries, a significant boost to unemployment insurance and direct cash payments to Americans. The House is expected to vote on the bill on Friday, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said, which will allow Democrats enough time to review the legislation whose final language was not released until late Wednesday.

A record 3.28 million Americans filed for unemployment benefits last week as the coronavirus pandemic shut down much of the country. The Labor Department's report Thursday was one of the first official indicators of how many people have suddenly been forced out of work nationally. "This marks the highest level of seasonally adjusted initial claims in the history of the seasonally adjusted series," the department said. "The previous high was 695,000 in October of 1982."

Spain is now reporting more than 3,400 COVID-19 deaths, making it the second European country with a death toll higher than in China, where the new coronavirus was first detected in late 2019. … The pandemic has severely disrupted life in Spain and Italy, countries that have much smaller populations than China (1.4 billion). Both European countries are more closely comparable to Hubei province, the area in China where the outbreak was first detected. Italy has around 62 million people, according to the most recent CIA World Factbook data, similar to Hubei's nearly 60 million residents. By comparison, Spain has just 50 million people.

The Prince of Wales has tested positive for coronavirus, Clarence House has confirmed. Prince Charles, 71, is displaying mild symptoms "but otherwise remains in good health", a spokesman said. The Duchess of Cornwall has also been tested but does not have the virus. Clarence House said Charles and Camilla were now self-isolating in Balmoral in Scotland, adding it was "not possible to ascertain from whom the prince caught the virus".

A child under the age of 18 has died of coronavirus in Los Angeles, public health officials announce, in what is believed to be the first child death from the virus in the US. “A devastating reminder that COVID-19 infects people of all ages,” LA health official says.

A quarter of the world's population is now living under some form of lockdown. With four hours’ notice, India’s prime minister announced that no one could leave home for 21 days — the most severe step taken anywhere in the war against the coronavirus. — the biggest and most severe action undertaken anywhere to stop the spread of the coronavirus. “There will be a total ban of coming out of your homes,” the prime minister, Narendra Modi, announced on television Tuesday night, giving Indians less than four hours’ notice before the order took effect at 12:01 a.m.