10 things you need to know today: April 3, 2020

1. Coronavirus cases surge to more than 1 million worldwide

The number of coronavirus cases around the world rose above 1 million on Thursday, with 53,211 deaths by early Friday. The toll continued to rise sharply in the U.S., which now has nearly a quarter million confirmed infections and more than 6,000 deaths. The Trump administration said it plans to announce that all Americans should wear cloth masks or other face coverings in public. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended the change to the federal guidance due to new concerns about infections from people with no symptoms, not just those coughing and sneezing. Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House's coronavirus response coordinator, said even with masks, Americans need to be better about staying home and social distancing, because rising infections indicate "not everyone is doing it."

The Associated Press The New York Times

2. Record 6.6 million filed for jobless benefits last week

A record 6.6 million people made initial applications for jobless benefits in the U.S. last week, the federal government reported on Thursday. The figure smashed the previous high mark of 3.3 million set the previous week. The nearly 10 million jobs lost over those two weeks after business shutdowns and slowdowns due to the coronavirus crisis have wiped out nearly all of the job gains of the last five years. Economists believe the Labor Department's March jobs report being released Friday morning will show the unemployment rate rose from 3.5 percent to about 3.9 percent, although the report is based on surveys before mass layoffs due to the coronavirus crisis. Some economists believe by the end of April the unemployment rate will be 15 percent.

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NPR The Associated Press

3. Pelosi announces committee for coronavirus response oversight

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Thursday that she would create a bipartisan House Select Committee to monitor the Trump administration's coronavirus response. The committee, which will be led by Rep. Jim Clyburn (R-S.C.), will focus on oversight and transparency, possibly supervising the distribution of the more than $2 trillion coronavirus relief package. President Trump, without specifically mentioning the committee or Pelosi, said Thursday that the coronavirus crisis was no time for "witch hunts," a term he has used to refer to his impeachment and former Special Counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation. "This is not the time for politics," Trump said. Pelosi said the committee's job is to make sure the money is spent properly, not to investigate the administration.

USA Today

4. Judge declines to postpone Wisconsin's April 7 primaries

U.S. District Judge William M. Conley on Thursday declined to postpone Wisconsin's April 7 presidential primaries, leaving the state as the only one of 11 states with scheduled April elections not to postpone due to the coronavirus crisis. Conley extended the deadline for absentee ballot requests from Thursday to Friday, and gave voters an extra six days to turn in ballots. He also barred the state from enforcing a requirement for a witness' signature on absentee ballots if voters can't safely get one. Conley indicated he disagreed with state officials' decision to proceed with the election. He said he would prefer for Wisconsin's governor and lawmakers to reschedule to protect voters and poll workers from coronavirus, but "that does not appear to be in the cards."

The Washington Post

5. Democrats push 2020 convention from July to August

Organizers of the 2020 Democratic National Convention, which was originally scheduled to begin on July 13, announced Thursday it's being postponed to August. "Ultimately, the health and safety of our convention attendees and the people of Milwaukee is our top priority," DNC Chair Tom Perez said. The convention committee will "further explore all options to ensure nominating the next president of the United States is done without unnecessary risk to public health," Thursday's announcement also said, with options including "everything from adjusting the convention's format to crowd size and schedule." Former Vice President Joe Biden recently suggested that delaying the convention would likely be necessary. The convention is now scheduled to begin on Aug. 17, one week before the Republican convention.

Politico ABC News

6. Navy removes aircraft carrier commander who sounded coronavirus alarm

The U.S. Navy on Thursday relieved Captain Brett Crozier as commander of the aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt after he sent a scathing letter to his superiors demanding "decisive" steps to protect his sailors from a coronavirus outbreak on board. U.S. Navy Secretary Thomas Modly announced the decision to remove Crozier, saying he had exercised poor judgment in broadly distributing the letter, which leaked two days ago. "He did not take care to ensure that it couldn't be leaked and that's part of his responsibility," Modly said. In his letter, Crozier called for providing accommodations off the ship where members of the 5,000-person crew who show no COVID-19 symptoms can be isolated to make sure they don't become infected. Close quarters on board prevent sufficient social distancing.

Reuters

7. Cruise ship with coronavirus patients allowed to dock in Florida

A Holland America cruise ship, the Zaandam, that had at least two passengers who died of the COVID-19 coronavirus was allowed to dock in Florida on Thursday after two weeks at sea. The Zaandam and a sister ship that was sent to help it were given permission to unload passengers at Port Everglades in a deal with local officials in Broward County. Ports in South America had rejected the Zaandam during its two weeks at sea. Florida officials initially balked at accepting the Zaandam, which has nine people who have tested positive and 179 more with flu-like symptoms, because they feared it would divert resources needed to address a spike in local coronavirus cases. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) initially opposed having the ships' passengers "dumped" in the state, but later decided letting them in was "the humanitarian thing to do."

The Associated Press NBC News

8. Amazon vows to increase efforts to protect workers from coronavirus

Amazon plans to step up efforts to protect warehouse workers from coronavirus infections, Dave Clark, head of Amazon's retail operations, said in a blog post Thursday. The online retail giant, which faced protests by workers demanding protections, will take employees' temperatures when they get to work, and give them face masks to help prevent the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus. The temperature checks started at some U.S. sites last Sunday, and will begin at all Amazon operations, including its Whole Foods Stores, in the U.S. and Europe by early next week, Clark said. Any worker found to have a fever above 100.4 degrees will be sent home and allowed to return to work only after three days with no fever. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos said the company has ordered millions of face masks, and Clark said workers would get them "as quickly as possible."

CNBC

9. Washington state nursing home fined $611,000 for coronavirus lapses

Federal regulators are fining a Washington state nursing home tied to at least 37 COVID-19 deaths more than $611,000 for failing to report an outbreak of the respiratory illness for two weeks in violation of federal law, The Washington Post reported Thursday. In a Wednesday letter to Life Care Center of Kirkland, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said the facility provided inadequate care during the outbreak. The facility could lose Medicare and Medicaid funding if it doesn't fix the problems by Sept. 16, according to the letter. Life Care said in a Thursday statement that it was working with the regulators to "find solutions" to the problems outlined in the inspection report. The facility has the right to appeal the penalties.

The Washington Post

10. South by Southwest announces online film festival with Amazon

Organizers of South by Southwest, the annual cultural festival in Austin, Texas, announced they're streaming some movies that were set to premiere at the 2020 event on Amazon as part of a 10-day "online film festival" after the event was canceled amid the COVID-19 pandemic. South by Southwest was among the first major events to be called off due to the coronavirus; it would have kicked off on March 13. Filmmakers who were taking part in the festival this year will be invited to opt-in to the online version. The selection of movies and specific dates haven't been unveiled yet. It will be free to watch in the U.S. and will require an Amazon account but not a Prime Video subscription.

The Associated Press