AP News in Brief at 6:04 p.m. EDT

Outcry over racial data grows as virus slams black Americans

As the coronavirus tightens its grip across the country, it is cutting a particularly devastating swath through an already vulnerable population — black Americans.

Democratic lawmakers and community leaders in cities hard-hit by the pandemic have been sounding the alarm over what they see as a disturbing trend of the virus killing African Americans at a higher rate, along with a lack of overall information about the race of victims as the nation’s death toll mounts.

Among the cities where black residents have been hard-hit: New York, Detroit, New Orleans, Chicago and Milwaukee.

“Everywhere we look, the coronavirus is devastating our communities,” said Derrick Johnson, president and CEO of the NAACP.

Of the victims whose demographic data was publicly shared by officials — nearly 3,300 of the nation’s 13,000 deaths thus far — about 42% were black, according to an Associated Press analysis. African Americans account for roughly 21% of the total population in the areas covered by the analysis.

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What you need to know today about the virus outbreak

The Chinese city at the heart of the global pandemic, Wuhan, reopened Wednesday after 76 days in lockdown. Elsewhere, the economic, political and psychological toll of fighting the new coronavirus grew increasingly clear and more difficult to bear.

New York endured one of its darkest days so far, with the virus death toll surging past the number killed on 9/11. It recorded 731 new coronavirus deaths, its biggest one-day jump yet, for a statewide toll of nearly 5,500.

And British Prime Minister Boris Johnson remains in intensive care with the coronavirus but is improving and sitting up in bed, a senior government minister said Wednesday, as the U.K. recorded its biggest spike in COVID-19 deaths to date. Johnson, the first world leader diagnosed with the disease, has spent two nights in the ICU at St. Thomas’ Hospital in London

Here are some of AP’s top stories Wednesday on the world’s coronavirus pandemic. Follow APNews.com/VirusOutbreak for updates through the day and APNews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak for stories explaining some of its complexities.

WHAT’S HAPPENING TODAY:

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Countries start thinking about easing up on restrictions

NEW YORK (AP) — Even as coronavirus deaths mount across Europe and New York, the U.S. and other countries are starting to contemplate an exit strategy and thinking about a staggered and carefully calibrated easing of the restrictions designed to curb the scourge.

“To end the confinement, we’re not going to go from black to white; we’re going to go from black to gray,” top French epidemiologist Jean-François Delfraissy said in a radio interview.

At the same time, politicians and health officials warn that the crisis is far from over despite signs of progress, and a catastrophic second wave could hit if countries let down their guard too soon. Deaths, hospitalizations and new infections are leveling off in places like Italy and Spain, and even New York has seen encouraging signs amid the gloom.

“We are flattening the curve because we are rigorous about social distancing," New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said. "But it’s not a time to be complacent. It’s not a time to do anything different than we’ve been doing.”

In a sharp reminder of the danger, New York state on Wednesday recorded its highest one-day increase in deaths, 779, for an overall death toll of almost 6,300.

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Jobless claims report Thursday could hit 7 million or higher

WASHINGTON (AP) — The government is set to report another shocking level of unemployment claims Thursday even after nearly 10 million people applied for benefits in the previous two weeks because of business shutdowns from the coronavirus. The number will likely keep increasing, in part because many states are still clearing out backlogs of applications for unemployment aid. And with more companies running through their cash cushions as the virus-related shutdowns persist, they are resorting to layoffs to save money.

As job cuts mount, here are five aspects of the bleakest U.S. job market in memory.

APPLICATIONS FOR UNEMPLOYMENT AID KEEP RISING

Some analysts project that another record will be set by the number of claims filed for the week that ended April 4, which will be reported Thursday at 8:30 am. Jesse Edgerton, an economist at JPMorgan Chase, forecasts that 7 million people sought benefits that week. That would top the previous week's stunning record of 6.6 million.

Up to 50 million jobs are vulnerable to coronavirus-related layoffs, economists say — about one-third of all the jobs in the United States. That figure is based on a calculation of positions that are deemed non-essential by state and federal governments and that cannot be done from home. It's unlikely all those workers will be laid off or file a jobless claim. But it suggests the extraordinary magnitude of unemployment that could result from the pandemic.

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Some doctors moving away from ventilators for virus patients

NEW YORK (AP) — As health officials around the world push to get more ventilators to treat coronavirus patients, some doctors are moving away from using the breathing machines when they can.

The reason: Some hospitals have reported unusually high death rates for coronavirus patients on ventilators, and some doctors worry that the machines could be harming certain patients.

The evolving treatments highlight the fact that doctors are still learning the best way to manage a virus that emerged only months ago. They are relying on anecdotal, real-time data amid a crush of patients and shortages of basic supplies.

Mechanical ventilators push oxygen into patients whose lungs are failing. Using the machines involves sedating a patient and sticking a tube into the throat. Deaths in such sick patients are common, no matter the reason they need the breathing help.

Generally speaking, 40% to 50% of patients with severe respiratory distress die while on ventilators, experts say. But 80% or more of coronavirus patients placed on the machines in New York City have died, state and city officials say.

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Doctor's death highlights limits of coronavirus death count

NEW YORK (AP) — As the coronavirus bore down on New York, Dr. Doug Bass' family begged him to work from home. He refused, pointing to his patients at Phoenix House, a drug and alcohol treatment center where he served as medical director.

“He said he was on the front lines and they needed him,” his brother, Jonathan Bass, told The Associated Press. “Too many people relied on him.”

Bass, 64, died suddenly last month after suffering symptoms commonly caused by coronavirus, including coughing, a fever and severe stomach cramping. That made him possibly the first physician still treating patients in New York City to die from the disease caused by the coronavirus.

Except he wasn't counted.

It happened so quickly he was never tested for COVID-19, but his brother believes he was among the hundreds of undiagnosed cases that, for weeks, have been excluded from the official coronavirus death toll.

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Sanders drops 2020 bid, leaving Biden as likely nominee

WASHINGTON (AP) — Sen. Bernie Sanders ended his presidential bid on Wednesday, making Joe Biden the presumptive Democratic nominee to challenge President Donald Trump in a general election campaign that will be waged against the backdrop of the coronavirus pandemic.

Sanders initially exceeded sky-high expectations about his ability to recreate the magic of his 2016 presidential bid, and even overcame a heart attack last October. But he couldn't convert unwavering support from progressives into a viable path to the nomination, with "electability” fears fueled by questions about whether his democratic socialist ideology would be palatable to general election voters.

“The path toward victory is virtually impossible,” Sanders told supporters Wednesday. “If I believed we had a feasible path to the nomination I would certainly continue the campaign, but it’s just not there.”

He called Biden a “very decent man” but didn’t offer an explicit endorsement of the former vice president. Sanders said his name would remain on the ballot in states that have not yet held primaries so he can gain more delegates and “exert significant influence” on the Democratic platform.

Biden, who is backed by much of the party's establishment, told supporters at a virtual fundraiser that he had a “short conversation" with Sanders on Wednesday.

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Dems debate how to hit Trump on virus, economy amid crisis

WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats are wrestling over how best to assail President Donald Trump for his handling of the coronavirus pandemic and the economy’s shutdown, even as the country lurches into an unpredictable campaign season during its most devastating crisis in decades.

Trump has provided Democrats with plenty of political fodder, including leading a slow-footed federal response to an outbreak that has caused profound economic, health and social disruption. Democrats are already using reams of video of Trump denying and playing down a crisis now killing hundreds of Americans daily, erasing millions of jobs and closing countless businesses.

Underscoring a Democratic consensus that Trump’s own words will be a potent weapon, Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Wis., said, “Donald Trump does have the biggest bully pulpit. But fortunately for Democrats, Donald Trump has the biggest bully pulpit.”

Yet seven months from Election Day, Democrats have not matched the attention Trump can command with daily, nationally televised briefings that can exceed two hours.

And they’re juggling conflicting instincts: attack Trump aggressively now and risk accusations of using a catastrophe for political reasons, or wait until society starts returning to normal. That might give him time to define himself as a wartime president battling a virus that’s enveloped the globe.

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Working at home tests family atmosphere of TV morning shows

NEW YORK (AP) — For all the planning that went into “CBS This Morning” putting on a broadcast with its anchors working remotely, no one thought about the pillow.

It sat — slightly crookedly — on a chair behind Gayle King in the makeshift studio set up in her family room. And that pillow, every time the camera caught it, was driving one viewer nuts.

More than most news programs, morning shows on ABC, CBS and NBC thrive by fostering a sense that their personalities are a chummy family. Now, due to coronavirus restrictions, those family members appear onscreen in dislocated boxes, and invite viewers into their homes instead of vice versa.

The least they can do is straighten out the furniture.

“We're doing the best we can,” King replied on-air to the pillow-obsessed fan.

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Jews prep for a pandemic Passover: Smaller but no less vital

Passover and its epic story — how the Jewish people escaped to freedom after plagues struck their oppressors — are uniquely resonant this year, as Jews find ways to honor the holiday amid the outbreak of what feels like a real-life plague.

The coronavirus has forced Jewish families to limit the celebratory Passover meals known as seders from extended families and friends to small, one-household affairs.

But the pandemic hasn’t cut the connection that Jews from all backgrounds feel to one of their calendar’s most important holidays – and, for many, the global crisis has deepened its meaning.

Rabbi Noam Marans, director of interreligious relations at the American Jewish Committee, described the gravity of Passover during the coronavirus by reciting a key portion of the Haggadah, the sacred text Jews use on the holiday.

“‘This year we are enslaved – next year we will be free.’ That aspiration is very real this year,” Marans said, looking ahead to a future victory over the disease.