10 things you need to know today: April 22, 2020

1. Senate passes $484 billion coronavirus relief package

Republicans and Democrats reached a deal on another coronavirus relief package, which includes $310 billion to replenish the Paycheck Protection Program providing loans to small businesses. The deal also includes $75 billion for hospitals and health-care workers, and $25 billion to help expand COVID-19 testing, which public health experts say is a critical component to any plan to reopen the economy. The Senate promptly approved the bill, which has a total cost of $484 billion. A dispute over how to handle the effort to ramp up testing for the virus had held up the legislation. The House plans to vote on the package on Thursday. President Trump signaled he would sign the compromise.

CNN

2. CDC director warns 2nd coronavirus wave could hit in flu season

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Robert Redfield warned on Tuesday that a second coronavirus wave in winter could be "even more difficult than the one we just went through." He said in an interview with The Washington Post that the next wave could coincide with the beginning of flu season, overwhelming hospitals. Redfield said that federal and state officials must use the next few months to prepare for winter, including encouraging social distancing even as stay-at-home orders are lifted, and launching a push in the fall to encourage people to get flu shots. Redfield said protests calling for states to lift stay-at-home orders are "not helpful." Redfield said he and other members of the White House coronavirus task force firmly support social distancing, citing "the enormous impact that it's had on this outbreak in our nation."

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The Washington Post

3. California autopsy finds 1st known U.S. coronavirus death was Feb. 6

Officials in Santa Clara County, California, announced on Tuesday that autopsies had uncovered three early COVID-19 coronavirus deaths. The cases included a person who died at home on Feb. 6, three weeks before the earliest known U.S. coronavirus death was recorded in Kirkland, Washington. The three "died at home during a time when very limited testing was available only through the [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention]," the county said. Deaths typically occur a month after exposure, so the virus could have reached the U.S. by early January. The news came as California became the first state to recommend testing for people who are not showing coronavirus symptoms but work in high-risk places, including nursing homes and prisons, now that major labs say they have capacity to run more tests.

San Francisco Chronicle Los Angeles Times

4. Trump says he will halt new green cards for 60 days

President Trump on Tuesday provided details on a tweet in which he vowed to "suspend immigration," saying that he would order a 60-day halt in issuing green cards to keep people seeking permanent residency from immigrating to the United States during the coronavirus crisis. He framed the policy as a way to protect American jobs during an unprecedented surge of unemployment caused by coronavirus shutdowns, and to prevent people infected with COVID-19 from entering the U.S. Trump decided not to suspend guest worker programs after business groups argued that cutting off access to foreign labor would only damage the economy. Some critics called the move an attempt to distract from Trump's handling of the coronavirus outbreak. Others said it would merely hamper the economic recovery because of the vital contributions made by immigrant entrepreneurs and skilled workers.

The New York Times The Washington Post

5. Milwaukee finds 7 people infected with COVID-19 during voting

Milwaukee's top public health officials said Tuesday that at least seven people appear to have been infected with the COVID-19 coronavirus during activities associated with Wisconsin's April 7 election. Six of the patients were voters, and one was a poll worker. "As of today, we have identified seven individuals that contracted, or at least it appears, COVID-19 through election-related activities," said Jeanette Kowalik, the city's health commissioner. Gov. Tony Evers (D) tried at the last minute to postpone in-person voting, but he was overruled by the Wisconsin Supreme Court. About 400,000 people wound up voting in person. Also on Tuesday, Wisconsin Republican lawmakers filed a lawsuit against Evers over his stay-at-home order in the latest sign of the increasing politicization of the fight to contain the pandemic.

NPR

6. Poll: Most Americans think large gatherings will be unsafe into summer

A Washington Post-University of Maryland poll released Tuesday found that only 10 percent of respondents believe gatherings of 10 or more people will be safe to attend by the end of April. Twenty-one percent said they expected these gatherings to be safe by the end of May, but 65 percent said they don't expect them to be safe until the end of June or later. This includes 20 percent who said the end of June, 13 percent who said the end of July, 19 percent who said later in 2020, and 13 percent who said longer. The poll came as protests against stay-at-home orders spread in some states, even though a recent poll found that 66 percent of Americans are more concerned that coronavirus restrictions will be lifted too soon rather than not soon enough.

The Washington Post

7. Amazon, Target workers use sickouts to demand more virus protections

Hundreds of Amazon and Target workers are starting a nationwide wave of sickouts to call attention to what they described as inadequate efforts to protect employees from the coronavirus pandemic. Amazon warehouse workers went first, with more than 300 calling in sick on Tuesday, accusing the company of failing to provide enough face masks to workers and conduct regular temperature checks. The nationwide protest at 50 locations followed walkouts over working conditions at several Amazon warehouses. The protesters' demands included shutting down any facility with coronavirus cases, and providing workers there with testing and two weeks of pay. Target workers are planning their sickout for May 1.

USA Today The Guardian

8. U.S. warships enter disputed South China Sea waters

U.S. warships have entered disputed waters in the South China Sea off Malaysia, escalating tensions between Washington and Beijing, The New York Times reported Tuesday, citing military analysts. The vessels, an amphibious assault ship and the guided missile cruiser Bunker Hill, cruised into the area after a Chinese government ship spent days following a Malaysian state oil company vessel that was conducting exploratory drilling. Beijing has continued its displays of force in the South China Sea in recent months even as it scrambled to contain the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak that started within its borders. "It's a quite deliberate Chinese strategy to try to maximize what they perceive as being a moment of distraction," said Peter Jennings, executive director of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute.

The New York Times

9. Senate panel reaffirms conclusion that Russia meddled in 2016 election

The Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday released a bipartisan report confirming its conclusion that Russia interfered in the 2016 election aiming to help Donald Trump win the presidency. The panel, supporting the intelligence community's January 2017 assessment, cited "specific intelligence" that Russian President Vladimir Putin "approved and directed" some of the Kremlin's efforts. The report from a Republican-led panel, chaired by Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.), undercut President Trump's repeated attempts to dismiss allegations that Russia tried to help his campaign as a "hoax" fueled by Democrats and "deep state" bureaucrats. Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), the panel's vice chairman, said there was "no reason to doubt that the Russians' success in 2016 is leading them to try again in 2020."

Politico

10. Germany cancels Oktoberfest due to pandemic

Germany authorities announced Tuesday that they were canceling this year's Oktoberfest due to the coronavirus pandemic. "It hurts, it's such a pity," said Markus Soder, Bavaria's minister president. "We have agreed that the risk is simply too high." Soder announced the plan in a news conference with Dieter Reiter, Munich's lord mayor. Nearly 6 million visitors had been expected to attend the German beer festival, which was scheduled for Sept. 19 through Oct. 4. Authorities feared that the coronavirus could spread quickly through crowds packed into beer tents and other cramped venues in Munich during the festival. Clemens Baumgartner, the head of Oktoberfest, said the decision "saddens us all" but it was the right thing to do. Spain canceled its famous Running of the Bulls in July.

USA Today The Associated Press