What you need to know today about the virus outbreak

U.S. regulators say they will allow emergency use of an experimental drug that appears to help some coronavirus patients recover faster. President Donald Trump announced the news Friday alongside the head of the Food and Drug Administration.

As America tentatively emerges from weeks of lockdowns, the pandemic has taken its toll on workers who have been on the front lines all along. Women and minorities in particular have been packing and delivering supplies, caring for the sick and elderly, and keeping streets and buildings clean.

Around the world, millions of workers worldwide are marking international labor day worried about pay checks and hunger as more countries and states reopen for business even though the coronavirus pandemic is far from vanquished.

Here are some of AP's top stories Monday on the world's coronavirus pandemic. Follow APNews.com/VirusOutbreak for updates through the day and APNews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak for stories explaining some of its complexities.

WHAT'S HAPPENING TODAY:

- President Donald Trump says he's hoping the total number of COVID-19 deaths in the United States will be below 100,000, which he acknowledged Friday is a 'œhorrible number.'ť But he said at a White House event that 'œmaybe millions of lives'ť have been saved by shutting down the economy.

- In Washington state, where the nation's first COVID-19 case was confirmed in January , Gov. Jay Inslee said Friday he is extending the state's coronavirus stay-at-home order through at least May 31 and that he will ease the restrictions in four stages.

- Essential workers are striking nationwide on May Day to demand safer conditions during the coronavirus outbreak, while other groups plan rallies against tight stay-at-home orders they say are crippling the U.S. economy.

- Employee safety is a priority as small and midsize businesses rehire laid-off employees and get back to work and many owners realize that supplying masks and gloves won't be enough. Business owners are staggering work hours and shifts to cut the number of people onsite and redoing floor plans and operations to minimize contact.

- In Brazil's bustling Amazon city of Manaus, so many people have died within days in the coronavirus pandemic that coffins had to be stacked on top of each other in long, hastily dug trenches in a city cemetery. With Brazil emerging as Latin America's coronavirus epicenter with more than 6,000 deaths, even the coffins in Manaus are running out.

- A U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agent and a telecommunications specialist are accused of stealing personal protective equipment, toilet paper and other supplies from an agency warehouse in Florida amid shortages caused by the coronavirus pandemic, law enforcement officials told The Associated Press.

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WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

For most people, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia and death. The vast majority of people recover.

Here are the symptoms of the virus compared with the common flu.

One of the best ways to prevent spread of the virus is washing your hands with soap and water. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends first washing with warm or cold water and then lathering soap for 20 seconds to get it on the backs of hands, between fingers and under fingernails before rinsing off.

You should wash your phone, too. Here's how.

TRACKING THE VIRUS: Drill down and zoom in at the individual county level, and you can access numbers that will show you the situation where you are, and where loved ones or people you're worried about live.

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ONE NUMBER:

- 850. The number of garment factories that have reopened in Bangladesh after nearly one month of closures to fight the pandemic. Critics say the move risks igniting a sharp increase in infections among workers.

IN OTHER NEWS:

- COMICS CONUNDRUM - The comic book shop has long been a wall-to-wall repository for tales of world-threatening cataclysms and doomsday dystopias. But it has never before been drawn into a fight for survival like the coronavirus pandemic.

- PEDIATRIC PATIENT - The parents of a 12-year-old girl from the New Orleans area are overjoyed that their daughter has recovered from a near-death coronavirus infection.

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Follow AP coverage of the virus outbreak at https://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak