What You Need to Know Today About the Virus Outbreak

The mounting death toll from the virus outbreak in the United States has it poised to overtake China’s tally of 3,300 deaths, with New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo saying up to 1 million more health care workers are needed in the city.
“Please come help us,” he urged.
There are more than 800,000 global infections and more than 37,000 deaths worldwide.
Here are some of AP’s top stories Tuesday on the world’s coronavirus pandemic.

Thai Buddhist monks wear face shields to protect themselves from new coronavirus as they walk to collect alms from devotees in Bangkok, Thailand. 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/Sakchai Lalit)

What’s Happening Today

— Officials are relying on statistical models to predict the impact of the outbreak and try to protect as many people as possible. The public could get its first close look at the Trump administration’s own projections today.
— President Donald Trump backed away from his hopes for an Easter rebirth for the nation’s economy after doctors presented him with grim projections on the coronavirus pandemic.
— The pandemic has exposed a surprising paradox in Europe: Some of the world’s best health systems are ill-equipped to handle COVID-19 cases. Outbreak experts say Europe’s hospital-centric systems, lack of epidemic experience and early complacency are partly to blame for the pandemic’s catastrophic tear across the continent.
— Two ships carrying passengers and crew from an ill-fated South American cruise are pleading with Florida officials to let them carry off the sick and dead. But Gov. Ron DeSantis says Florida’s health care resources are already stretched too thin.
— China’s manufacturing rebounded in March as authorities relaxed anti-disease controls and allowed factories to reopen, an official survey showed Tuesday. But an industry group warned the economy has yet to fully recover.
— In ex-communist Eastern Europe and elsewhere, rulers are assuming more power while they introduce harsh measures they say are necessary to halt the coronavirus spread.

What You Need to Know

For most people, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as 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.

People prepare places to sleep in area marked by painted boxes on the ground of a parking lot at a makeshift camp for the homeless Monday in Las Vegas. Officials opened part of a parking lot as a makeshift homeless shelter after a local shelter closed when a man staying there tested positive for the coronavirus. (AP Photo/John Locher)

One Number

— 479: The countdown clock is ticking again for the Tokyo Olympics. The digital model outside Tokyo Station was switched on almost immediately after organizers announced the new dates. They will now be held from July 23 to Aug. 8, 2021. The clock reads 479 days to go.

In Other News

— “An angel:” A South Korean shoe cobbler plans to donate parts of his property to help support people facing economic difficulties now.
— With trips to beloved salons and barbershops on hold because of the coronavirus, some are cutting new bangs, turning to over-the-counter color or picking up electric clippers and scissors to work on the heads of loved ones, while others are letting nature take its course.
— Even in pre-virus times, there were people for whom those things were more pressure than pleasure: introverts, those who largely get their energy from inside themselves and selected interactions with people, as opposed to extroverts. The quarantines and distancing have upended that.