Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Wednesday said "the reversal of economic fortune" brought on by the coronavirus pandemic over the last two months in the United States "has caused a level of pain that is hard to capture in words."

Statistics, though, can help paint a clearer picture of the crisis. In the same address, Powell said the Fed is releasing a survey Thursday which found that among people who were working in February, nearly 40 percent of those in households making less than $40,000 per year lost a job in March.

All told, Powell said, "the scope and speed of this downturn are without modern precedent, significantly worse than any recession since World War II." He also warned that the pandemic could leave lasting economic damage. Read the full address here. Tim O'Donnell

Five players and three staff members of the Philadelphia Phillies have tested positive for COVID-19 at the team's spring training facility in Clearwater, Florida, ESPN reports.

The team announced a shutdown of the facility on Friday, joining the Toronto Blue Jays, who closed their spring headquarters in Dunedin, Florida on Thursday after an unnamed player exhibited symptoms of the coronavirus. In a statement, the Phillies said that "all facilities in Clearwater have been closed indefinitely ... and will remain closed until medical authorities are confident that the virus is under control and our facilities are disinfected."

The positive tests do not bode well for Major League Baseball in 2020. Team owners and the league's players' union engaged in a weeks-long, fan-alienating battle over money that has seen the possible number of games played this season drop from 82 to 70 to potentially 50 — or zero. All 30 teams' spring training facilities are in Florida and Arizona, two states where numbers of confirmed coronavirus cases have exploded in recent days. In their statement, the Phillies said that "in terms of the implications of this outbreak on the Phillies' 2020 season, the club declines comment, believing that it is too early to know." Jacob Lambert

Hey, here's a fun project you can do with that Instant Pot your in-laws gave you for Christmas, and has been gathering dust under your counter for the past six months! The Department of Homeland Security has published a recipe — er, a decontamination guide — for cleaning N95 masks using your multicooker.

You can't make this stuff up:

The DHS provides a video illustrating how the home chef can reuse their N95 masks, which are one of the most effective protections against the coronavirus, albeit in short supply. The process seems straightforward enough: Cover the bottom of the pot in half an inch of water, put the mask in a paper bag and then staple it shut (handling it carefully all the while with disposable gloves on), and then place the bag on a jury-rigged platform that keeps it elevated out of the water. Then select the "sous vide" function, set the cooker to 149 degrees Fahrenheit for half an hour, and … voilà?

Apparently this works because "moist heat" is one of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's recommended decontamination methods. It also works well if you want to cook a perfect medium-rare steak. Learn more at the Department of Homeland Security here. Jeva Lange

President Trump is free to restart his rally circuit.

Trump's first campaign rally since the COVID-19 pandemic began will be allowed to go on this weekend, the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled Friday. While attorneys argued the event should be blocked to avoid becoming a coronavirus "super spreader," the court unanimously decided it wouldn't "fashion rules or regulations where none exist," the Oklahoman reports.

Attorneys objected to Trump's rally at the BOK Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma, which holds nearly 20,000 people, "unless the campaign instituted social distancing protocols." The arena's management team contended that the Trump campaign had already agreed to the arena's health protocols, which included taking temperatures of and providing masks to attendees. The court's nine judges agreed with the BOK Center's argument, saying there were no apparent laws that would mandate social distancing or wearing masks. Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt (R) suggested anyone worried about health stay home from the rally.

The BOK Center released a statement Thursday asking the Trump campaign to provide its own health and safety plan for the rally. New COVID-19 infection rates have more than doubled in Oklahoma in the past week. Kathryn Krawczyk

Some Apple stores that reopened during the coronavirus pandemic will already have to close again as new COVID-19 cases rise in numerous states.

Apple announced on Friday it's temporarily closing 11 stores in Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Arizona, citing "current COVID-19 conditions in some of the communities we serve," CNN reports.

"We take this step with an abundance of caution as we closely monitor the situation and we look forward to having our teams and customers back as soon as possible," Apple added.

Customers will be able to pick up devices they were having repaired at these stores over the weekend, and employees will still be paid, Bloomberg reports. Apple, The Wall Street Journal notes, was "one of the first major U.S. retailers in mid-March to close its stores nationwide amid the pandemic."

Amid reopenings around the country, COVID-19 cases are climbing in 20 states, and 10 have experienced records highs over the past week, including the four where Apple is closing these locations. Experts say Florida has "all the markings of the next large epicenter of coronavirus transmission," and six out of the 11 stores being closed are in Arizona, which Harvard University epidemiologist Dr. Eric Feigl-Ding says "per capita has surpassed Lombardi, Italy." Brendan Morrow

The federal government's crackdown on former National Security Adviser John Bolton's new book is heavy on retrospect.

For starters, the Department of Justice started its attempt to prevent Bolton's book from getting published just a day before it ended up in the hands of journalists. And, as the DOJ admitted in a Friday filing, parts of Bolton's book weren't even classified until the government got its first look at it, Politico reports.

The DOJ's main argument for suppressing the publication and distribution of The Room Where it Happened is that it contains classified information, and that Bolton didn't submit it for a proper review. But several officials did get a look at it — including one who read the book before parts of it ended up classified, the DOJ said Friday during a hearing with Bolton's legal team and the judge overseeing their case.

Current National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien then tasked National Security Council's Senior Director for Intelligence Michael Elliot with a second review of the book. But Elliot had only been on the job for two months when he started reading it, and didn't receive his classification training until the day after he finished.

Even after all of these government missteps — and after 200,000 copies of the book had been distributed — the DOJ argued Friday that Bolton should still be issued an injunction against its publication so he can "focus" on stemming its further spread. Kathryn Krawczyk

The Navy captain who was ousted after warning about an outbreak of COVID-19 on his ship will reportedly not be getting his old job back.

The Navy has upheld Capt. Brett Crozier's firing, Politico reported on Friday, citing two people familiar with the matter. This decision comes after in April, the chief of naval operations recommended that he be reinstated.

Crozier was ousted as commanding officer of the USS Theodore Roosevelt after writing a four-page letter asking for help containing a coronavirus outbreak. Then-acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly at the time said Crozier sent the letter "outside of the chain of command." Modly himself later resigned after controversially saying Crozier was "too naive or too stupid" to run the ship.

Following the recommendation that Crozier be reinstated, acting Navy Secretary James McPherson announced a "deeper review" into the situation, saying he still had "unanswered questions" and was seeking a "more fulsome understanding of the sequence of events."

A source told Politico on Friday that "the results of the investigation justified the relief. He failed to take appropriate action, to do the things that the commanding officer of a ship is supposed to do, so he stays relieved." Additionally, Politico reports that "in a new twist, the Navy is also expected to hold up the promotion of the senior officer onboard the Roosevelt, Rear Adm. Stuart Baker, the commander of Carrier Strike Group 9." Brendan Morrow