FILE - In this Friday, March 13, 2020, file photo, an Oakland Police boat patrols the waters beside the Grand Princess cruise ship, which remains docked at the Port of Oakland in Oakland, Calif. Nearly 650 crew members of the Grand Princess have completed their 14-day quarantine, ending a month-long period of self-isolation that began when the cruise ship was struck with the coronavirus. The cruise line said the crew members can finally leave their staterooms Saturday, April 4, and roam around the ship as long as they wear personal protective equipment and stay at least six feet from each other. The ship will leave San Francisco Bay and sail out to sea for several days of routine marine operations. (AP Photo/Ben Margot, File)
The Associated Press
As the number of infections from the new coronavirus has grown to more than 1.1 million worldwide, health care systems are straining under the surge of patients and lack of medical equipment like ventilators, protective masks and gloves. The New York governor said the Chinese government was facilitating a shipment of 1,000 donated ventilators to his state.
In the U.S., governors are describing in stark terms the dog-eat-dog global marketplace they must navigate for the protective gear doctors, nurses and other front-line medical workers need as they brace for an expected wave of patients afflicted with severe cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus.
U.S. medical experts estimate the death toll from the coronavirus pandemic could reach 240,000 nationwide. The question of where to put the bodies is worrying just about everyone as cities, hospitals and private medical groups clamor to secure additional storage.
Here are some of AP's top stories Saturday on the 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 returned to the idea of opening up the country's economy as soon as possible, even as he said the United States was heading into what could be its 'œtoughest'ť weeks as coronavirus cases swell nationwide.
- Trump and Democrats are bickering over how to provide voters with safe and secure access to a ballot as the coronavirus pandemic rages and threatens to extend into the fall, affecting the general election. Democrats favor expansion of voting by mail, which Trump opposes, arguing it would encourage fraud and lead to so many people voting that his party could not win.
- Another cruise ship with coronavirus victims on board, including two fatalities, is docking in Florida.
- The coronavirus pandemic could narrow one gaping inequality in Africa, where some heads of state and other elites jet off to Europe or Asia for health care unavailable in their nations. As countries including their own impose dramatic travel restrictions, they might have to take their chances at home.
- Despite the growing infection rate and death toll, some hospitals are laying off medical workers because of sharp reductions in elective procedures and other treatment not related to battling the new coronavirus.
- Funeral homes across the U.S. are restricting the number of mourners at services. Many families are finding it hard to choose which loved ones will be invited to an in-person gathering and which will be relegated to watch via livestream, if at all.
- Bans on group gatherings are creating tension between government and houses of worship whose leaders bristle at the prospect of online religious services.
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WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:
For most people, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as a 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:
- 4,000: Britain is temporarily releasing about 4,000 inmates to ease crowding and try to slow the spread of the coronavirus in prisons.
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IN OTHER NEWS:
- PETS FINDING HOMES: Shelters from California to New York have put out calls for people to temporarily foster pets. Thanks to an overwhelming response, shelters say they have placed record numbers of dogs, cats and other animals in new homes.
- OUT-OF-THE-BALLPARK DONATION: Houston Astros ace Justin Verlander says he will donate his weekly paycheck during the coronavirus shutdown to organizations that are helping with relief efforts. Verlander's salary this year is $33 million, but over the next 60 days he is among a group of major leaguers getting $4,775 a day for 60 days, a total of $286,500.
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Follow AP coverage of the virus outbreak at https://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak
A man crosses a bridge during a nationwide confinement to counter the Covid-19, in Paris, Saturday, April 4, 2020. The new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms for most people, but for some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness or death. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
The Associated Press
Relatives of Rafael Catalan Villasanti, 83, react during his burial during the coronavirus outbreak at the Carabanchel cemetery in Madrid, Spain, Saturday, April 4, 2020. The new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms for most people, but for some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness or death. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
The Associated Press
Coffins with the bodies of victims of coronavirus are stored waiting for burial or cremation at the Collserola morgue in Barcelona, Spain, Thursday, April 2, 2020. The new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms for most people, but for some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness or death. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
The Associated Press
Medical personnel remove their personal protective equipment after delivering a bodies from the Wyckoff Heights Medical Center to refrigerated containers parked outside, Thursday, April 2, 2020 in the Brooklyn borough of New York. As coronavirus hot spots and death tolls flared around the U.S., the nation's biggest city was the hardest hit of the all, with bodies loaded onto refrigerated morgue trucks by gurney and forklift outside overwhelmed hospitals, in full view of passing motorists. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)
The Associated Press
FILE - In this March 31, 2020, file photo, The Grand Princess cruise ship is shown docked in San Francisco. Nearly 650 crew members of the Grand Princess have completed their 14-day quarantine, ending a month-long period of self-isolation that began when the cruise ship was struck with the coronavirus. The cruise line said the crew members can finally leave their staterooms Saturday, April 4, and roam around the ship as long as they wear personal protective equipment and stay at least six feet from each other. The ship will leave San Francisco Bay and sail out to sea for several days of routine marine operations. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)
The Associated Press
Medical personnel wearing personal protective equipment remove bodies from the Wyckoff Heights Medical Center Thursday, April 2, 2020 in the Brooklyn borough of New York. As coronavirus hot spots and death tolls flared around the U.S., the nation's biggest city was the hardest hit of the all, with bodies loaded onto refrigerated morgue trucks by gurney and forklift outside overwhelmed hospitals, in full view of passing motorists. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)
The Associated Press
workers move a coffin with the body of a victim of coronavirus as others coffins are stored waiting for burial or cremation at the Collserola morgue in Barcelona, Spain, Thursday, April 2, 2020. The new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms for most people, but for some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness or death. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
The Associated Press
Colorado Governor Jared Polis dons a mask to encourage state residents to wear them while in public as a statewide stay-at-home order remains in effect in an effort to reduce the spread of the new coronavirus Friday, April 3, 2020, in Centennial, Colo. The new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms for most people, but for some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness or death. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
The Associated Press
Law enforcement officers close Howard Street to vehicular traffic as activists protest outside Moscone Center on Friday, April 3, 2020, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)
The Associated Press
Vanderbilt playground in Brooklyn's Prospect Park is closed on Thursday, April 2, 2020, in New York. On Wenesday, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo ordered all of New York city's playgrounds shut to slow the spread of the coronavirus. The governor followed calls from public-health experts and many City Council members to shut the playgrounds as families gathered there. But the closures presented a new challenge for families weathering a lockdown that also closed schools. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)
The Associated Press
In this image provided by the Office of the Governor of Virginia, Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam as he participates in a Skype interview from his office at the Capitol in Richmond, Va., Thursday April 2, 2020. (Jack Mayer/Office of the Governor of Virginia via AP)
The Associated Press
FILE - In this March 15, 2020, file photo, the Grand Princess cruise ship is shown docked at the Port of Oakland in Oakland, Calif. Nearly 650 crew members of the Grand Princess have completed their 14-day quarantine, ending a month-long period of self-isolation that began when the cruise ship was struck with the coronavirus. The cruise line said the crew members can finally leave their staterooms Saturday, April 4, and roam around the ship as long as they wear personal protective equipment and stay at least six feet from each other. The ship will leave San Francisco Bay and sail out to sea for several days of routine marine operations. Two passengers and a crew member on board the ship have died from COVID-19, while at least 103 have tested positive for the coronavirus. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)
The Associated Press