Nearly 2 million cases have been confirmed across globe

During the coronavirus crisis, TODAY is gathering solutions to some common problems:

How to safely shop for groceries 

Experts share tips for stocking up on food and supplies while minimizing the risk of being exposed to the coronavirus and other germs.

Where can you buy a mask?

Here are places to buy face masks while also giving back.

How do you make your own mask?

You don't need a sewing machine to make a mask to wear in public.

Do kids need masks?

The CDC says yes. Here's how to get them to wear them.

For more answers to your frequently asked questions, see this FAQ on TODAY.

Florida's surgeon general warned Monday that until there is a vaccine, which may be a year away, for the coronavirus illness COVID-19, social distancing and other measures to slow its spread will remain necessary.

"As long as we're going to have COVID in the environment, and this is a tough virus, we're going to have to practice these measures so that we are all protected," Dr. Scott A. Rivkees said.

That raises the prospect that the changes in daily life — like sneeze guards and other measures at grocery stores and staying 6 feet away from others — may be necessary until there is a vaccine.

Many states have imposed stay-at-home orders to slow the spread of the virus. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis ordered one April 1. He had been criticized for failing to issue a statewide order sooner.

Florida has had more than 21,000 COVID-19 cases, including almost 500 deaths, according to an NBC News count of reports. 

Most international soccer might not be played until 2021 due to coronavirus pandemic travel restrictions and the need to give club competitions the chance to resume, a FIFA vice president said Monday.

Victor Montagliani, a Canadian who is president of the governing body for North and Central America and the Caribbean, has been heading a FIFA working group formulating plans to deal with the implications of the world’s biggest sport being largely shut down since last month.

FIFA already has called off matches between countries that were due to be played in March and June. Montagliani, CONCACAF’s president, believes the September, October and November windows for national team matches could be scrapped.

“I personally think that might be a bit of a challenge, not so much because of just the health issues around the world and the various degrees of preparedness, but also committing to international travel as soon as we come back,” Montagliani said in an interview with The Associated Press. “I think that domestic football is a priority. September is still in the books, but I would garner to say that I’m not sure it’s there on solid ground the way things are trending right now.”

The return of fans into packed stadiums could be dependent on a vaccine for the COVID-19 disease being ready -- and that might not be until 2021.

As a deadly storm system raged across much of the country on Sunday and Monday, killing at least 33 people and battering homes and power lines, more than a million across the South and East Coast were left without electricity.

In the best of times, a power outage can be agonizing. But during a pandemic ...

On social media, complaints and tips about to handle the unparalleled event were plentiful. One observer in South Fulton, Georgia, said the combination of a shelter-in-place order and a lengthy power outage made her feel like she was on the Discovery Channel reality show “Naked and Afraid.” Another offered “fun” activities like staring at your fridge without opening it.

Read the full story here. 

Around the time school was canceled because of coronavirus, my 5-year-old started climbing in bed with me every night. His excuses got increasingly baroque: bad dreams, a spider, hundreds of spiders, a black hole.

Stress and anxiety can show up in all kinds of ways in children: irritability, defiance, clinginess. But one of the most common responses is regression. Sleep regression and toddler potty training regressions are common, but psychologists say all children (and adults) may regress in times of stress.

“Children who are stressed almost always regress,” said Dr. Laura Markham of AhaParenting. “Regression means that the child is not able to cope in as mature a manner as they have recently mastered, because they feel too overwhelmed.”

Read the full story on TODAY.

Based on one model, California could see its peak in hospitalizations from COVID-19 on Friday and may see its peak in new deaths on Sunday — but only if social distancing rules continue to be followed, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said Monday 

"But these projections, and as I mentioned there are many out there, only work on the assumption that we keep up our work of the physical distancing that we have done, and must continue to do," Garcetti said.

"If we take our foot off the gas right now and stop physical distancing, models show that our hospitals could be overloaded by May 12th," the mayor said.

California has had more than 23,900 cases of the coronavirus illness COVID-19, with 719 deaths, according to an NBC News count. Los Angeles County has had more than 9,400 cases and 320 deaths as of noon Monday, according to the county health department.

With just under 24 hours to go before President Donald Trump officially announces his "opening our country council," no corporate leaders have yet lent their names to the business task force — and it remains unknown which, if any, executives are keen to be formally associated with a team handling such a tricky transition, senior business executives told NBC News.

"We're going to boom," Trump said at a news briefing Monday night. "It's going to go quickly. Our people want to get back to work, and I think there's pent-up demand."

The group's official formation provisionally includes people Trump described as economic experts, medical professionals, elected leaders and members of the business community. 

However, few business leaders seem to want the media scrutiny of their own company — and any government assistance from which they may be benefiting. 

Read the full story here. 

MINNEAPOLIS — Jacqueline Cruz-Towns, the mother of Minnesota Timberwolves center Karl-Anthony Towns, died Monday due to complications from COVID-19 after more than a month of fighting the virus. She was 59.

The Timberwolves made the announcement via the Towns family, which requested privacy. Karl Towns Sr., the father of the two-time All-Star player, was also hospitalized with the virus but has since recovered.

A native of the Dominican Republic, Cruz-Towns was a fixture at Timberwolves games from the start of her son’s NBA career. He was the first overall pick in the 2015 draft out of Kentucky.

The Trump administration has asked Congress to delay U.S. Census delivery deadlines because of difficulties amid the coronavirus epidemic, the president and other officials said Monday.

Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney, D-N.Y., who chairs the Committee on Oversight and Reform, said in a statement that there was a conference call arranged by the White House on Monday about the requested delay. She said that members need more information that the administration has been willing to provide. The director of the census bureau was not on the call, Maloney said.

The administration anticipates completing the count by Oct. 31, which would be a delay of around three months, Maloney said. She also said the administration is seeking legislation allowing it to delay the deadline to deliver apportionment counts to Trump from Dec. 31 to April 30, 2021; and to delay the deadline to deliver redistricting data to the states from March 31, 2021, to July 31, 2021.

Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and Census Bureau Director Steven Dillingham said in a statement Monday that field data collection activities were temporarily suspended in March, and field offices are eyed to be reactivated June 1. They said the requested delay is to ensure an accurate count.

The number of coronavirus cases around the world neared 2 million on Monday, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.

The university revised its figure late Monday after previously reporting the number had topped 2 million. 

The United States has more cases than any other country, according to the university, with 682,619 confirmed infections. Spain, with roughly 170,000 cases, is second.

China, where the outbreak began, has recorded 82,000 cases, according to the tally.

Nearly 120,000 people have been killed by COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus.

Boxing champion Floyd "Money" Mayweather and the 7 foot 400 pound Big Show battle it out in front of 74,635 fans at the Citrus Bowl in Orlando, Florida on March 29, 2008. George Napolitano / Getty Images file

The "essential" work of professional wrestling must be allowed to continue in Florida, officials said Monday.

World Wrestling Entertainment, with a major training and TV production base in Orlando, was considered too important an operation to shut down as coronavirus hits the state of Florida, according to Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings.

"They were not initially deemed an essential business," Demings told reporters on Monday. "With some conversation with the governor's office, regarding the governor's order, they were deemed an essential business. Therefore, they were allowed to remain open." 

Gov. Ron DeSantis issued a stay-at-home order for the entire state on April 1, but has allowed essential businesses — like WWE — and churches to continue operating.

Trump uses coronavirus briefing to play 'propaganda' video defending response time

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President Donald Trump's gripes with the media and his political opponents took center stage on Monday during the daily White House coronavirus briefing following a weekend of tough reporting on his administration's handling of the pandemic.

"Everything we did was right," Trump told reporters, after playing a campaign-style video defending the White House's response to the crisis.

The lack of any new information about the coronavirus task force's response during first half hour of the briefing, which was focused almost entirely on the president's complaints about tough news coverage and critical remarks by political opponents, prompted networks such as CNN and MSNBC to cut off live coverage of the event.

Read the full story here. 

Blue preservation solution is shown at Spectrum DNA in Draper, Utah, on April 3, 2020. The company has developed a test kit to detect the coronavirus in patients' saliva. Rick Bowmer / AP

Rutgers University researchers have received U.S. government clearance for the first saliva test to help diagnose COVID-19, a new approach that could help expand testing options and reduce risks of infection for health care workers.

The Food and Drug Administration authorized the test under its emergency powers to quickly clear new tests and therapies to fight the outbreak, the New Jersey university said Monday. The test initially will be available through hospitals and clinics affiliated with the school. The announcement comes as communities across the U.S. continue to struggle with testing to help track and contain the coronavirus.

Read the full article here. 

Bridge City Center for Youth in Louisiana.   Google Maps

At Louisiana's four secure juvenile detention facilities, 27 youths and 14 staff members have tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. Mothers of children incarcerated in these facilities say they're growing increasingly alarmed by what they're hearing from their kids, as the state has shared little information. 

“I just sit by the phone and I wait and I pray, and I wait and I pray, and that's all I can do as a mom," said Nicole Hingle, whose son Jace, 17, is being held at the Bridge City Center for Youth near New Orleans. "I wait for my son to call, and I just pray that my worst fear doesn’t come to reality.”

A spokeswoman for Louisiana's governor said that the state's Office of Juvenile Justice is “reviewing all youth in its custody and working with the courts to determine the most proper placement to maintain their physical health, as well as maintain public safety.”

But Renée Slajda, communications director for Louisiana Center for Children's Rights, an advocacy group, said it’s unclear when those cases will be reviewed.

“We’ve seen no urgency around that,” she said, “and time is of the essence.”

Read the full story here. 

‘Wrong choice of words’: Fauci walks back criticism of Trump coronavirus response

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Dr. Fauci attempted to correct comments he had made in an interview that appeared to criticize President Trump's response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In an interview with CNN, Fauci detailed "pushback" to early ideas of a shutdown in the U.S. In a press briefing, Fauci called that a "wrong choice of words."

Charles D. Brown fills a vial with the BCG tuberculosis vaccine, at a state-operated laboratory in Albany, N.Y. on Dec. 2, 1947.  AP file

Scientists are dusting off some decades-old vaccines against other germs to see if they could provide a little stopgap protection against COVID-19 until a more precise shot arrives.

It may sound odd: Vaccines are designed to target a specific disease. But vaccines made using live strains of bacteria or viruses seem to boost the immune system’s first line of defense, a more general way to guard against germs. And history books show that sometimes translates into at least some cross-protection against other, completely different bugs.

Read the full story here. 

President Donald Trump has said he can reopen the country for business after the devastating effects of the coronavirus, calling when and how to do so the "toughest" decision of his presidency even as governors and legal scholars contend that he has no such power.

On Monday, he tweeted that it was "the decision of the President" to open up the states. "And for a good many reasons."

But experts — and the Constitution — say it's not Trump's call.

Read the full story here.

Apple and Google said Monday that engineering and health-focused employees have been working around the clock on new coronavirus tracking technology for two and a half weeks.

The companies hosted a joint press call — a rarity for the tech rivals — and stressed that privacy is paramount for any app used in contact tracing. The lead executives in charge of the effort from both companies emphasized they have designed the Bluetooth technology so individual identities will be anonymized and no locations would be used.

Both companies also said that anonymized data could be held on government-run servers or stored on a server that is provided by the companies for 14 days. Test results would be stored only on individual devices, which Apple called the most important design aspect. 

Apple and Google say they are currently helping public health officials in the U.S. and around the world build free apps that would deploy this new capability. The companies would either build a complete app for a state public health authority that would be rebranded or help them design and write their own. In the apps, users would provide consent then disclose a verified positive COVID-19 test or clinical diagnosis.

The Ohio Department of Health issued an order requiring long-term care facilities to notify residents and families when a resident or staff member tests positive for COVID-19, governor Mike DeWine announced Monday.

"The Ohio Department of Health had been strongly encouraging facilities to notify families all along, but this order makes this notification mandatory," DeWine said. "Families of long-term care residents have a right to know if individuals at these facilities are sick."

The state will begin listing long-term care facilities with positive COVID-19 cases on its coronavirus website as well.

The federal government The federal government does not require nursing homes to disclose coronavirus infections to the families of healthy residents according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. It also does not keep a formal tally of the number of coronavirus deaths in nursing homes or the number of facilities with infections, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. Last week, NBC News tallied more than 2,200 deaths associated with long-term care facilities, based on information from 24 states.

Wyoming reported its first coronavirus related death on Monday, meaning all 50 states now have at least one fatality in the pandemic. 

The state has 275 lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19, the disease associated with the virus, according to the Wyoming Department of Health. There are another 98 probable cases.

There have been more than 22,000 deaths in the U.S. arising from the pandemic and more than half a million confirmed positive cases. 

Robert Redfield, director for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, speaks at a coronavirus task force briefing at the White House on April 8, 2020. Mandel Ngan / AFP - Getty Images

As Americans look toward a return to normalcy after the coronavirus pandemic, a major question will be: Who is immune to the virus? To answer that question, the promise of antibody tests looms large.

These tests are different from the diagnostic tests used to determine whether a person is sick with the virus. Instead, the tests look for the antibodies in a person's blood that the immune system makes in response to an infection.

Read the full story here.

Chicago Bears quarterback Mitchell Trubisky leads teammates out of the tunnel for a game against the New England Patriots in Philadelphia on Nov. 3, 2019. Bill Streicher / USA TODAY Sports via Reuters file

A Seton Hall Sports poll released Monday showed that a majority of Americans believe medical experts — rather than President Trump — should decide when the National Football League season begins amid the coronavirus pandemic.

This comes after the president spoke to league commissioners last Saturday, encouraging them to start the NFL season on time — a move that most of the public disapproved of according to this same survey.

Just 36 percent said the president’s comments were appropriate.

Read the full story here. 

Police Chief Dale Engle.  Davie Police Dept.

Davie police Chief Dale Engle has been placed on administrative leave after officers at his Florida station filed a union complaint alleging that he dismissed their concerns about coronavirus protection measures and blamed the coronavirus fatality of a Broward County deputy sheriff on his sexuality.

Engle allegedly blamed the death of openly gay Broward County Deputy Sheriff Shannon Bennett on a “backstory," claiming he died because he was a “homosexual who attended homosexual events."

Read the full story here. 

About 80 million Americans will get their coronavirus payments this week, and a "large majority" of eligible Americans will get them within the next two weeks, the Treasury Department said. The first payments, which started going out Friday, are going to people who filed 2018 or 2019 tax returns and got their refunds by direct deposit.

The IRS is also set to have a new web portal up and running later this week, called "Get My Payment," where you can check the status of your payment. There will be a feature there where you can enter your bank account information— if the IRS doesn’t have it from your 2018 or 2019 refund— so that you can get the payment direct deposited.

Members of the House of Representatives are not expected to return to Washington until May 4, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said in a statement Monday. 

Hoyer said members will only meet before that date if the House is required to take action on critical legislation, such as a response to the coronavirus pandemic or other key bills. He said members will be given advance notice if they are expected to return to Capitol Hill. 

House members were initially expected to return on April 20. 

Congress has already passed three coronavirus relief bills with overwhelming support. There has been a push in recent weeks for a fourth aid package, but progress has slowed amid a disagreement between Democrats and Republicans over what should be included.

Oil prices fall as oversupply pressures market

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The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended the day with a loss of around 325 points, as traders digested a historic oil production agreement and prepared themselves for a brutal week of quarterly earnings.

For his part, President Donald Trump now appears more determined than ever to open up the economy with a "big bang" early next month, according to multiple people familiar with the decision-making process.

"I think we are all expecting or planning for May 1," one senior administration official told NBC News. National social distancing guidelines are currently set to expire April 30.

Read the full story here. 

A couple walk past Notre Dame in Paris on Monday. Chesnot / Getty Images

French President Emmanuel Macron announced Monday the country will extend its coronavirus lockdown measures until May 11. 

In a televised national address, Macron said he hopes to gradually reopen schools, factories and businesses after that date. Restaurants, bars, cafés, movie theaters and other public venues will remain closed. 

He added that people will be able to return to work after May 11 under guidelines that are still to be outlined. 

The country has been under lockdown since March 17 to stop the spread of the virus. As of Monday, France has registered 574 new deaths, bringing the total to 14,967. So far, more than 98,000 cases of coronavirus have been confirmed.

West Virginia residents enrolled in Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, a federal assistance program, will be issued one-time payments of $500, state health officials said Monday.

The emergency cash is meant to help low-income families struggling during the coronavirus pandemic, said Linda Watts, the commissioner of the state Department of Health and Human Resource's Bureau for Children and Families.

The state said recipients must have been active in the assistance program in March 2020 and still eligible in April. Payments will be processed starting on Tuesday.

Spain has reached the apex of the coronavirus outbreak, the country's minister of health said Monday, adding that it is still "in the lockdown phase," even as some commerce there slowly resumes.

"We haven’t started any de-escalation phase yet,” said the minister, Salvador Illa. “Economic activity was restarted today in a very limited number of sectors. But the main goal continues to be the fight against the virus in Spain by means of mobility restrictions.”

The hard-hit nation has had nearly 170,000 confirmed cases of the coronavirus and more than 17,400 deaths due to it. Spain is allowing some non-essential workers to return to work this week, but only if they cannot perform their job duties from home. 

“We have made it through the first stage. We’ve reached the peak," Illa said of the pandemic. "Now is the moment to face the second phase: bending the curve, which is our goal this week.”

The governors of several northeastern states on Monday outlined the first steps each state will take towards easing restrictions meant to combat the spread of coronavirus.

The Democratic officials, Andrew Cuomo of New York, Phil Murphy of New Jersey, Ned Lamont of Connecticut, Tom Wolf of Pennsylvania, John Carney of Delaware and Gina Raimondo of Rhode Island, said that each state would form a panel of experts to closely monitor the coronavirus outbreak in the region and help devise a plan to slowly reopen parts of each state. The group will include one public health official from each state, one economic development official and the chief of staff of each respective governor. 

Cuomo said there is no timetable for the group to release its plan, but instead will "follow the data and learn from the other countries."

"We should look forward to reopening but reopening with a smart plan because it can backfire," Cuomo said. "This has to be informed by data and experts you have to take one step forward and then you measure the next step." 

President Donald Trump claimed in a tweet earlier on Monday that only he has the sole power to reopen the country. However, Wolf said on the call that governors closed the state and have the power to say when its right to reopen. Cuomo said there needs to be more "clarity" from the federal government, such as setting a federal program that the states can follow.

Ford is expanding the range of protective medical gear it will produce to meet the nationwide shortage created by the coronavirus pandemic, the automaker said Monday.

The company will now start producing washable and reusable medical gowns, using the same nylon material normally used for airbags.

As with the respirators and other personal protection equipment Ford is currently producing with 3M, the automaker has cut development and production times by using materials already available at its factories. 

Ford and 3M are expected to roll out their first powered respirators later this week, with a goal of producing at least 100,000 by June.

The venture is "a great example of corporate cooperation,” said Mike Kesti, a global technical director at 3M.

The White House Correspondents' Dinner is officially back on the calendar.

The event, originally scheduled for April 25, was postponed due to coronavirus concerns. It's now expected to be held on Aug. 29.

"For most of us, the COVID-19 pandemic has been the most important story of our lifetimes," said Jonathan Karl, president of the White House Correspondents' Association. "We hope our rescheduled 2020 dinner will be a chance to celebrate the kind the important journalism we have seen throughout this crisis."

"SNL" star Kenan Thompson is set to host the event. Comedian Hasan Minhaj is the evening's featured entertainer.

Russia's President Vladimir Putin said Monday the country might need to call in the army to help with the coronavirus epidemic and warned that the contagion was getting worse there.

In a meeting with the top coronavirus task force officials Monday afternoon, Putin asked them to consider using the army to help tackle the crisis, noting how it had sent doctors and medical equipment to other countries in recent weeks to help.

"It is necessary, of course, to use this experience and keep in mind that all capabilities — including those of the Ministry of Defense — can, of course, and should be used here [at home], if necessary," Putin said. 

Russia's death toll reached 148 on Monday, with the total number of cases now standing at 18,328.

“We are seeing that the situation is changing almost daily. And, unfortunately, not for the better," Putin said. "The number of sick people is rising, and there are more and more cases taking a severe, serious turn.”

N.J. hospital is 1st in U.S to try placenta therapy on critically ill coronavirus patient [NJ.com]

Wildlife is reclaiming Yosemite National Park: ‘The bear population has quadrupled’ [The Los Angeles Times]

As stimulus payments begin, a rural pawnshop keeps an already-struggling town afloat [The Washington Post]

Colorado’s marijuana businesses can remain open during pandemic, but they say they’re still struggling [The Denver Post]

A total of 11,329 people, up by more than 700, have died from the coronavirus in the U.K. as of Monday. The foreign minister Dominic Raab — standing in for Prime Minister Boris Johnson as he recovers from the virus — called that number a “grizzly figure,” with more than 88,000 people infected. 

Raab said the effectiveness of social distancing measures currently in place will be reviewed this week, adding: "We don't expect to make any changes to the measures currently in place at that point and we won't until we're confident, as confident as we realistically can be, that any such changes can be safely made."

Raab added that the numbers of dead and infected suggest that the U.K. is not past the peak of the epidemic yet, asking the public to continue following the government's advice to stay home.

President Donald Trump’s personal friend and New York real estate mogul Stanley Chera died on Saturday from complications of coronavirus, according to a source close to the Trump family.

While the president never mentioned the name of his “friend” who had been “in a coma” in recent weeks, a second source confirms it was Chera. He was in his late 70s.

“I have some friends that are unbelievably sick. We thought they were going in for a mild stay. And, in one case, he's unconscious — in a coma. And you say, ‘How did that happen?’” Trump said at a Rose Garden news conference at the end of last month.

Read the full story here.

A temporary restraining order filed Monday in Louisiana federal court seeks to compel the Oakdale federal prison complex — where six inmates have died after contracting the coronavirus — to expedite the release of inmates who are most vulnerable to infection.

Prison officials pledged last week to release elderly prisoners and those with pre-existing health conditions on a case-by-case basis — a move that the American Civil Liberties Union, which is suing Oakdale and the federal Bureau of Prisons, considers too slow. Among those who have died was a man imprisoned on a nonviolent drug charge.

So far, at least 38 inmates and 17 staff have tested positive for COVID-19 at Oakdale, which is more than any other federal facility.

In its request, the ACLU says a temporary restraining order is "the only way to ensure that Defendants' plan to lockdown Plaintiffs in a tinderbox of infection is not a fait accompli before this Court has the opportunity to pass judgment on it."

The Bureau of Prisons declined to comment about pending litigation, but stressed that the agency is working to place hundreds of inmates in states hit hardest by the coronavirus on home confinement where appropriate.

New York Gov. Cuomo: 671 coronavirus deaths on Easter Sunday 'especially tragic'

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The coronavirus death toll in New York state has reached above 10,000, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced Monday. He reported an additional 671 deaths in the state, bringing it's total to 10,056.

But the governor shared "good news" at his Monday morning press conference as well, saying "the curve continues to flatten," and that "it appears we have a plateau."

Cuomo also noted what he called encouraging numbers of people coming off ventilators and leaving Intensive Care Units around the state.

The coronavirus outbreak in the United States spurred calls to "flatten the curve" in an effort to limit the speed of its spread. Now, as states begin to think about how to ease their lockdowns, a new rallying cry has emerged: "Test and trace."

The terms point to the need for a monumental effort in ramping up testing speed and capacity as well as an extensive — if not ubiquitous — tracing program. Epidemiologists believe that if properly employed, testing and tracing can allow the U.S. to open some businesses and relax social distancing requirements.

But it will almost certainly need to be a slow and methodical process or else the country risks undoing the good from the initial wave of lockdowns.

Read the full report here.

Condé Nast is the latest media company to reduce costs by slashing salaries, implementing furloughs and reducing staff. 

Anyone with an annual salary above $100,000 will see a temporary reduction of between 10-20 percent, from May through September, CEO Roger Lynch said in a memo to staff on Monday. Lynch said he would take a 50 percent cut to his own base salary. The news was first reported by The Daily Beast. 

Some staff will only work three to four days a week, and Lynch said the company is looking to cut some staff.

The publishing giant, which houses such titles such as Vogue, Condé Nast Traveler and Vanity Fair, is widely dependent on ad revenue from luxury goods and travel category advertising. 

Mayor de Blasio: Recent coronavirus numbers show a ‘step in the right direction’

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New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said Monday that he stands by his announcement that city schools will not open for the rest of the year, even though New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the decision is not the mayor's to make.

"Everyone says keep the schools closed. I literally don’t hear any voice saying we need to open these schools in the middle of so much insecurity," de Blasio said. "I don't hear anyone saying, 'oh don’t worry.'"

Over the weekend Cuomo said it was only the mayor's "opinion" that the city should keep schools closed until fall, and that in this instance Cuomo holds the authority on the issue. The school district serves over 1.1 million students in 1,800 schools.

De Blasio has said that he and the governor's office, which have a reputation of clashing, have mostly been "absolutely on the same page" throughout the coronavirus crisis. 

He also reported Monday that hospital admissions, people in ICUs with COVID-19, and the amount of people who tested positive for the virus between Friday to Saturday were all down in the city. 

He praised New Yorkers for following social distancing directions and urged them to continue, telling them they were on the "most important team you will ever be a part of in your whole life right now." 

For years, Alexandra Clem struggled with severe pelvic pain, migraines and a heavy menstrual cycle without understanding why. It wasn't until last summer when she was diagnosed with endometriosis and learned that would need to have surgery to treat it.

Clem, 24, was gearing up for a second operation March 17, but it was canceled just a day before because her surgeon was being tested for the coronavirus.

"Having my surgery canceled was absolutely devastating," Clem said in an email. "While endometriosis surgery is considered elective, many others like me do not feel that this surgery is 'optional.'"

Clem and an untold number of other women in the U.S. had operations scheduled to treat endometriosis that were postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Read the full story here.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine and his chief medical officer, Amy Acton, whose daily coronavirus briefings have become must-see TV in the Buckeye state, are now starring in their own cartoon.

Inspired by the iconic opening scene and theme song from the classic “Laverne & Shirley” sitcom, local ad man Dave Stofka has created a cartoon tribute to DeWine and Acton.

Both have been praised for taking early and decisive action to keep the coronavirus from spreading.

Supreme Court to hear some cases by phone for first time in history

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The Supreme Court said Monday that it will hear half of the remaining cases of the term by telephone conference call — a first for the court — with the justices and the lawyers calling in remotely.

Among the 10 cases to be heard is the legal battle over access by Congress and a Manhattan prosecutor to President Trump's tax returns and other financial documents. The court will also take up an important issue involving the presidential electors who meet in December to cast the actual vote for president. The question is whether they must vote for the candidates who won the popular vote in their states or are instead free agents.

The cases were to be heard in March and April and now will be argued during the first two weeks in May. Audio of the argument sessions will be provided live to the news media and made available to the public.

Read the full story here.

A voter initiative led by Michelle Obama announced support Monday for making it easier for people to register to vote and cast ballots during the coronavirus pandemic.

When We All Vote, a nonpartisan voting initiative, says Americans should have greater access to voting by mail, early in-person voting and online voter registration.

The announcement follows last week’s primary election in Wisconsin, where thousands of people waited hours in line — without protective gear and in defiance of orders to stay home — after the state Supreme Court overturned the governor’s order to postpone the vote as more than a dozen other states have done because of the pandemic. Thousands of other Wisconsin voters, unwilling to risk their health, stayed home.

When We All Vote’s announcement also comes amid vociferous opposition by President Donald Trump to mail-in voting.

Read the full story here.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Monday that they would not back down from their demands over an interim coronavirus relief bill in Congress, continuing a standoff with Republicans on the additional aid.

In a joint statement, the pair of Democratic leaders said the measure must include money for hospitals and states, support for families who rely on food stamps and aid to small businesses that they say are currently excluded from a government program.

“Small businesses, hospitals, frontline workers and state and local governments across the country are struggling to keep up with this national crisis. They need more help from the federal government and they need it fast – our nurses, doctors and health care workers need it as much as anyone else,” they said.

The funding included in the $2 trillion stimulus package signed into law last month, which was the third installment of coronavirus relief from Congress, “will not be enough to cover the tremendous need,” they said.

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The sailor assigned to the USS Theodore Roosevelt who was admitted to the intensive care unit of the U.S. Naval Hospital in Guam on April 9 died of complications related to COVID-19 on Monday, according to the U.S. Navy.

The sailor, whose named is being withheld pending next-of-kin notification, tested positive for COVID-19 on March 30. He was removed from the ship and placed in an isolation house on Naval Base Guam with four other USS Theodore Roosevelt sailors, the Navy said in a statement.

With no end in sight in the coronavirus outbreak and as President Donald Trump eyes a decision to reopen the government, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said Monday that the U.S. won’t be able to “turn a switch” and return to normalcy.

“Whenever we open up, however we do it, if people aren't confident, if they don't think they're safe, they're not going to go to restaurants, they're not going to go to bars, they're not going to really get back into society,” DeWine said in an interview on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”

DeWine, a Republican who issued a stay-at-home order in Ohio on March 22, said that it could be very difficult to begin opening things up.

“I will say this, that going out of this thing is going to be just as tough, if not tougher, than going into it and closing things down,” he said.

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The director for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Monday that in order for the country to reopen, swift testing for people who have the virus and for people who might be immune to the virus will need to be available.

Robert R. Redfield said on the "TODAY" show that early case identification of the virus will allow for swift isolation and contact tracing that will be needed before social distancing guidelines are loosened.

He also said testing for people who are already immune will provide even "greater confidence" in communities, "particularly in the health care setting."

"There's no doubt that we have to reopen correctly," Redfield said, adding it would be "a step-by-step gradual process, that's got to be data-driven."

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CDC director Dr. Robert Redfield: ‘We are nearing the peak right now’

06:30

The Olympic rings in front of the New National Stadium in Tokyo. Jae C. Hong / AP

The International Olympic Committee will face “several hundred million dollars” of added costs because of the postponement of the Tokyo Games, the body's president said in an interview with German newspaper Die Welt on Sunday.

Estimates in Japan put the overall cost of the postponement at $2 billion to $6 billion. Except for the IOC portion, all added costs will be borne by the Japanese side according to an agreement signed in 2013 when Tokyo was awarded the Olympics.

“We agreed with the prime minister that Japan will continue to cover the costs it would have done under the terms of the existing agreement for 2020, and the IOC will continue to be responsible for its share of the costs,” IOC President Thomas Bach said. "For us, the IOC, it is already clear that we shall be faced with several hundred million dollars of additional costs."

People walk through the business district of Paris during nationwide confinement measures to curb coronavirus on Thursday, April 9.  Thibault Camus / AP

French President Emmanuel Macron will address the nation Monday evening about what is expected to be another lockdown extension nearly a month after severe restrictions to stop the spread of the coronavirus epidemic were first announced. 

The death toll from the coronavirus outbreak rose at a slightly slower pace on Sunday than a day earlier, the French public health authority said, adding that the lockdown was producing its first effects.

The total death toll, which includes data from hospitals and nursing homes, rose to 14,393 as of Sunday. The total number of confirmed cases now stands at 95,403. 

A municipal worker disinfects a bridge near the Kremlin in Moscow on Sunday.  Dimitar Dilkoff / AFP - Getty Images

Moscow authorities blamed hackers Monday for bringing down a website meant to issue permits to the capital's residents to use during the lockdown as the number of coronavirus cases in Russia continued to rise.

Health officials reported 2,558 new cases and 18 new deaths in the past 24 hours, bringing the overall nationwide tally to 18,328, with 148 fatalities. 

Moscow, the worst-hit area, and several other regions have imposed a lockdown to try to stop the spread of the virus, ordering residents to stay at home.

The city's mayor, Sergey Sobyanin, moved to strengthen enforcement of the capital's lockdown on Monday with the unveiling of an electronic pass system that will issue residents with single-use passes authorizing journeys outside of the house, but the portal was still down as of Monday morning.

ABC News' George Stephanopoulos said Monday on "Good Morning America" that he has tested positive for COVID-19.

Stephanopoulos' wife, Ali Wentworth, had previously tested positive for the virus about two weeks ago. Stephanopoulos said that he is asymptomatic. 

"I actually feel great," he said. "I've never had a fever, never had cough, never had shortness of breath, never had chills, any of the classic symptoms you've been reading about."

The Ellery Hotel, a colonial style B&B in Northampton, Mass., acquired and renovated by Bob Thomas and Dierdre Savage, Saltaire Hotels co-owners.  Courtesy of Saltaire Hotels

As the government's small business lending program struggles to find its footing, many online and alternative lenders say they're filling the void, offering to help merchants tap into federal funding designed to ease the economic pain caused by coronavirus.

But because most of these lenders are not yet approved to handle Small Business Administration (SBA) loans directly, some experts fear that merchants may be targeted by unregulated lenders and wind up with loans costing far more than the 1 percent, two-year deal the government is backing.

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Chinese officials have rejected claims of discriminatory policies towards Africans in how they are fighting the coronavirus spread on Monday, arguing that the country treats foreign nationals as equal to own its citizens. 

Reuters reported that several African ambassadors said heightened measures in China to prevent the disease spread have led them to be mistreated, harassed and even ejected from their homes. But China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said Monday it values the safety of all foreign personnel and had treated African students who had fallen ill within its borders. 

"The Chinese people always see in the African people partners and brothers through thick and thin. China-Africa friendship is unbreakable as it is deeply rooted in this land," his statement said.

Meanwhile 108 new cases of COVID-19 were confirmed across the Chinese mainland on Sunday — the highest number seen in five weeks.

WASHINGTON — With his hoped-for Easter timeline having come and gone, President Donald Trump now appears more determined than he has ever been to open up the economy with a "big bang" early next month, according to multiple people familiar with the decision-making process.

As the U.S. leads the world in COVID-19 cases and deaths, aides are cautioning the president about too quickly lifting national social distancing guidelines, now set to expire April 30. An internal debate continues about how best to reopen certain sections of the country at the end of the month, these people said.

"I think we are all expecting or planning for May 1," said a senior administration official, cautioning that major new outbreaks in cities could change the thinking and that no final determination has been made.

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A session of 14th Supreme People's Assembly at the Mansudae Assembly Hall in Pyongyang on Sunday, as released by North Korea's official news agency. STR / AFP - Getty Images

North Korea's rubber-stamp Parliament gathered on Sunday, a day after leader Kim Jong Un presided over a ruling party politburo meeting where he called for strict measures to prevent an outbreak of the new coronavirus.

Photos released by state news agency KCNA on Monday showed hundreds of lawmakers sitting in close proximity to each other with no masks or other visible anti-infection measures.

North Korea has said it has tested at least 700 people and has put more than 500 in quarantine, but has no confirmed cases of the new coronavirus, the World Health Organization (WHO) told Reuters last week.

Oil prices moved higher early Monday morning stateside after OPEC and its allies agreed to cut production by 9.7 million barrels per day. The deal, which was finalized on Sunday after marathon discussions that spanned four days, is the single largest output cut in history.

President Donald Trump, who was heavily involved in brokering a deal between Saudi Arabia and Russia after a price war broke out between the two countries, cheered the agreement. “Great deal for all!” he said on Twitter late Sunday.

Commuters wearing face masks sit on a train at the Atocha Station in Madrid on Monday as some companies were set to resume work. JAVIER SORIANO / AFP - Getty Images

In Italy and Spain some non-essential workers will be able to return to work this week, as the two southern European countries attempt to shore up their ailing economies.

In Italy, some shops will be permitted to reopen from Tuesday including bookstores, stationery stores and those selling children’s clothes. Forestry businesses will also be able to restart operations to ensure the supply of wood.

While in Spain, any worker who cannot work from home will be able to return to work this week, with more than 10 million masks being distributed at bus, metro and train stations throughout the country.

Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu speaks during a news conference for foreign media correspondents in Istanbul, Turkey, in 2019. POOL New / Reuters

Turkey’s president has rejected the resignation of the country's interior minister who took responsibility for a poorly timed announcement of a weekend lockdown that prompted thousands of people to rush into the streets to stock up on supplies.

The 48-hour lockdowns across 31 cities — which were aimed to contain the spread of the coronavirus — were announced just two hours before taking effect on Friday night. Thousands of people rushed into the streets to stock up on goods, many without wearing mandatory face masks as closely-bunched crowds sparked criticism of the government’s planning.

Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu, one of the most senior figures in Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government, announced late Sunday that he was stepping down, saying: “responsibility for implementing the weekend curfew decision ... belongs entirely to me."

But Erdogan’s office said it would not accept the resignation.

America's rats are being hit hard by the coronavirus.

As millions of Americans shelter indoors to combat the deadly virus, which has claimed over 21,000 U.S. lives, many businesses — including restaurants and grocery stores— have closed or limited operations, cutting off many rodents' main sources for food. On deserted streets across the country, rats are in dire survival mode, experts say.

"If you take rats that have been established in the area or somebody's property and they're doing well, the reason they're doing well is because they're eating well," Bobby Corrigan, an urban rodentologist, told NBC News. "Ever since coronavirus broke out, not a single thing has changed with them, because someone's doing their trash exactly the same in their yard as they've always done it — poorly."

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An emergency medical technician for the New York City Fire Department who worked on the World Trade Center rescue and recovery effort after 9/11 has died, the department said early Monday

Gregory Hodge, 59, was a 24-year veteran of FDNY most recently working as a watch commander at the emergency management office.

“EMT Hodge was a skilled first responder who provided outstanding emergency medical care to thousands of New Yorkers throughout his long and distinguished career of service,” said Commissioner Daniel A. Nigro. “This pandemic has impacted our Department at every level, especially our EMS members who are responding to more medical calls than ever before."

The Manhattan resident began his career assigned to a station in Harlem and later worked in the Bronx. He is survived by an adult son.

IDLIB, Syria — Thousands of displaced Syrians have begun moving back to their homes in war-torn Idlib province despite the risk of renewed conflict, some driven by fear that the coronavirus could wreak havoc on crowded camps near the Turkish border.

About 1 million Syrians fled Idlib and its surrounding countryside in northwest Syria this past year after Russian-backed government forces stepped up a campaign to retake the last rebel stronghold after nine years of war.

Syria's northwest does not yet have a confirmed case of coronavirus, but doctors fear the area's ravaged medical infrastructure and overflowing camps would quickly turn any outbreak into a humanitarian disaster.