With 2 confirmed cases, White House makes adjustments in operations

As he encourages the country to “reopen,” President Donald Trump is confronting cases of the new coronavirus in his own home, spotlighting the challenge the White House faces in instilling confidence in a nation still reeling from the pandemic.

Two known cases of COVID-19 among staffers in one of the most-protected complexes in America have sent three of the nation’s top medical experts into quarantine and Vice President Mike Pence into “self-isolation.”

The scare comes as the White House this week is emphasizing to the American people the steps being taken to assure their safety — in hopes that will coax them to resume normal activities.

What’s happening today

— The White House is recommending that all nursing home residents and staff be tested for the new coronavirus in the next two weeks. Dr. Deborah Birx, coordinator of the White House coronavirus task force, told governors on a video conference call to focus over the next two weeks on testing all 1 million nursing home residents. She says the White House will help states that need it.

— Plastic spacing barriers and millions of masks appeared on the streets of Europe’s newly reopened cities, as France and Belgium emerged from lockdowns, the Netherlands sent children back to school and Spain let people eat outdoors. All faced the delicate balance of trying to restart battered economies without fueling a second wave of coronavirus infections.

— The Department of Veterans Affairs and its partner mental health providers have kept thousands of veterans in treatment during the coronavirus pandemic through telehealth appointments. But as job losses and increased social isolation take an extended toll, veterans advocates worry that VA medical facilities won’t be able to meet demand for mental health services and that telehealth isn’t enough.

— With roughly 175,000 people living in the Navajo reservation spanning three western U.S. states, the tribe has some of the highest rates of coronavirus in the country. It has seen 3,122 cases — a rate of nearly 18 cases per 1,000 people. At least 100 people have died.

— Employees, business owners, police and trade unions in Britain are expressing confusion after the government switched from telling workers to stay at home to urging them to return to work — but preferably without getting near other people or using public transport.

— Stocks are mostly down on Wall Street in midday trading as the market takes a pause following the strong gains it made last week. The S&P 500 was down 0.3% after trimming sharper losses from earlier in the morning.

— A second wave of infections in tightly packed foreign workers’ dormitories has caught the affluent Southeast Asian city-state of Singapore off-guard and exposed the danger of overlooking marginal groups in a health crisis. Infections have jumped more than a hundredfold in two months — from 226 in mid-March to over 23,000, the most in Asia after China and India.

— A majority of Americans disapprove of protests against restrictions aimed at preventing the spread of the new coronavirus. That’s according to a new AP-NORC poll that also finds the still-expansive support for such limits, including restaurant closures and stay-at-home orders, has dipped.

Putin declares Russia shutdown over

Russian President Vladimir Putin has declared an end to a nationwide partial economic shutdown but noted that some restrictions will remain.

Putin, speaking in a televised address to the nation Monday, said that it will be up to regional governors in the far-flung Russian Federation to determine what industrial plants could reopen starting Tuesday. He emphasized that it’s essential to preserve jobs and keep the economy running provided that workers strictly observe sanitary norms.

Putin ordered the economic shutdown in late March, although key industrial plants and some other sectors have been allowed to continue operating. Most Russians have been ordered to stay home, except for visits to nearby stores, pharmacies and visits to doctors.

Moscow will allow all of its industrial plants and construction sites to resume work starting Tuesday, and Putin said other regions may follow the example. Non-food stores, hairdressers, car dealers and most other enterprises in the services sector remain shut.

Putin emphasized that the restrictions must be lifted gradually to avoid triggering a new wave of contagion.

Italy cases decline for 5th day

For a fifth straight day on Monday, Italy’s daily number of new COVID-19 infections has declined.

According to Italian Health Ministry data, there were 744 confirmed new cases registered since Sunday evening.

That number is lower than daily caseloads when contagion containment measures went into effect nationwide in early March.

The country where Europe’s outbreak began now has 219,814 cases, a tally that experts say is surely significantly lower than actual infections, since many with mild or moderate coronavirus symptoms didn’t get hospitalized or tested.

In recent days, the number of daily new deaths also has been significantly lower than in early weeks, with 179 registered on Monday.

Still, the known death toll is one of the world’s highest —30,739. Health officials say it will be later this week at earliest before they can assess if a limited easing of lockdown restrictions on citizens’ movements, including the opening of public parks last week, has triggered any uptick in infections.

Italy is moving cautiously and gradually in reopening economic sectors and in removing travel limits.

Illinois governor senior staffer tests positive

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s office says a senior staff member has tested positive for COVID-19, but the governor has tested negative.

The first-term Democrat’s office released a statement Monday saying all employees, including Pritzker, will work from home “for an appropriate isolation period.” The statement didn’t specify how long that would last.

The office says the staff member was asymptomatic, but tested positive last week and was in close proximity to the governor. Pritzker and all other staff have tested negative.

Roughly 20 administration officials have been working from a downtown Chicago office building where Pritkzer was holding daily news conferences during the pandemic.

Germany offers $810M for vaccine

The German government is making available 750 million euros ($810 million) to speed up the production and development of a vaccine against the new coronavirus.

Science minister Anja Karliczek said Monday that about 500 million euros will go into scientific studies and vaccine trials, while 250 million euros will go into expanding production capacities in Germany.

Numerous universities and companies worldwide, including in Germany, are rushing to develop a vaccine for the pandemic-causing virus.

Germany has recorded more than 170,000 cases and at least 7,484 deaths since the start of the outbreak.

French ship has two-thirds infected

French defense minister Florence Parly has acknowledged “mistakes” that led about two-thirds of troops aboard an aircraft carrier to be infected with the coronavirus.

Parly told French lawmakers Monday that one sailor from the Charles de Gaulle remains hospitalized. Others have recovered.

The number of positive cases reached a total 1,046 out of 1,760 sailors onboard the aircraft carrier.

The investigation shows that the virus first infected people after Feb. 26 while the carrier was at sea, Parly said.

The virus was then introduced again onboard during a stop in the French port of Brest in mid-March, as the country was about to enter into lockdown.

Parly said the commandment established precautionary measures, like increasing physical distance between sailors, but they were lifted at the end of March because of concerns of the low morale of the troops. She said the virus was not detected onboard before April 5.

Salons open in Florida

Hair and nail salons along with barbershops began reopening in much of Florida on Monday.

Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis allowed such businesses to reopen with tight regulations except in hard-hit Miami-Dade and Broward counties, the state’s two most-populous. That comes almost six weeks after they were ordered closed statewide.

DeSantis himself has expressed eagerness to get a haircut, saying last week he hasn’t had one since February.

The state has ordered that barbers, cosmetologists and manicurists wear masks when seeing customers, that they require appointments so that few people will be waiting inside and that they spend 15 minutes between each customer sanitizing the work station.

Customers were already waiting when J. Henry opened his barbershop early Monday in downtown Orlando. Folding chairs lined the outside front window for waiting customers so they wouldn’t be inside and there was a sign-in notebook on a stand next to the door to fulfill the appointment requirement.

Infected children do better than adults, says study

U.S. children critically ill with COVID-19 have better outcomes than has been seen in adults, a study published Monday found.

Of 48 children treated in several U.S. intensive care units, more than one-third were put on ventilators but only two died.

By contrast, death rates of 50% and higher have been reported in adults critically ill with COVID-19, particularly among those on ventilators.

The results in JAMA Pediatrics echo reports from China. COVID-19 is generally a much milder disease in children although they can spread it to others without showing symptoms.

Cape Town becomes hot spot

Cape Town and the surrounding Western Cape province have become South Africa’s coronavirus hotspot, accounting for more than half of the nation’s confirmed cases.

South Africa has confirmed more than 10,600 cases of COVID-19 and the Western Cape province has 5,621 cases, according to figures released Monday. Of the country’s 206 deaths caused by COVID-19, 116 have occurred in the province.

Cape Town, with its poor, densely populated townships, is the center of the cases in the province.

South Africa has the continent’s highest number of confirmed cases and has eased its restrictions to allow an estimated 1.6 million people to return to work in selected mines, factories and businesses.

However, the concentration of cases in Cape Town may see the city return to a stricter lockdown.

Two chiefs miss meeting with Trump

Two members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff missed a meeting with President Donald Trump over the weekend because of coronavirus concerns.

The Pentagon says Adm. Mike Gilday, the chief of naval operations, is self-quarantining after having contact with a COVID-positive family member, although Gilday tested negative. He is working from home this week.

Also, the chief of the National Guard Bureau, Gen. Joseph Lengyel, tested positive for the coronavirus on Saturday but later tested negative. The Pentagon says he is scheduled to be retested Monday.