AP News in Brief at 6:04 a.m. EDT
20,000: US death toll overtakes Italy's as Midwest braces
CHICAGO (AP) — The U.S. death toll from the coronavirus eclipsed Italy's for the highest in the world, surpassing 20,000, as Chicago and other cities across the Midwest braced for a potential surge in victims and moved to snuff out smoldering hot spots of contagion before they erupt.
With the New York area still deep in crisis, fear mounted over the spread of the scourge into the nation’s heartland.
Twenty-four residents of an Indiana nursing home hit by COVID-19 have died, while a nursing home in Iowa saw 14 deaths. Chicago's Cook County has set up a temporary morgue that can take more than 2,000 bodies. And Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot has been going around telling groups of people to “break it up.”
In Europe, countries used roadblocks, drones, helicopters, mounted patrols and the threat of fines to keep people from traveling over Easter weekend. With infections and deaths slowing in Italy, Spain and other places on the Continent, governments took tentative steps toward loosening the weeks-long shutdowns.
Glorious weather across Europe posed an extra test of people's discipline.
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The Latest: British PM says he owes life to health staff
The Latest on the coronavirus pandemic. The new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms for most people. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness or death.
TOP OF THE HOUR
— British PM Boris Johnson says he owes life to health staff
— Some South Korean churches hold Easter services online
— Australia ‘in good place’ after low number of deaths reported
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Pope celebrates joy of Easter amid sorrow of virus, alone
VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis and Catholics around the world marked a solitary Easter Sunday, forced to celebrate the most joyful day in the Christian calendar amid the sorrowful reminders of the devastation wrought by the coronavirus pandemic.
Normally, St. Peter’s Square would be awash in fresh flowers on Easter Sunday, with tulips and orchids decorating the piazza’s promenade in a riot of color to underscore Easter’s message of life and rebirth following Christ’s crucifixion.
This year, however, the cobblestoned piazza was bare. Police barricades ringed the square, blocking the tens of thousands who would normally flock to hear the pope deliver his noontime “Urbi et Orbi” speech and blessing “to the city and the world.”
Like pastors around the world, Francis was to instead celebrate Easter Mass inside the largely empty basilica, while the faithful watched on TV at home. Rather than appearing on the basilica loggia to impart his blessing, he was to speak in front of the tomb of St. Peter, underscoring the solitude confronting all of humanity amid lockdown orders and quarantines to prevent contagion.
It was a scene being repeated around the world, with the faithful either staying home or practicing social distancing in those churches where public Masses were still being celebrated.
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Biden beats Sanders to win Alaska Democratic primary
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Joe Biden has won the Alaska Democrats' party-run presidential primary, beating Sen. Bernie Sanders days after Sanders suspended his campaign.
Biden beat Sanders Saturday 55.3% to 44.7%. A total of 19,759 votes were cast.
Biden gets 11 delegates and Sanders gets 4. Sanders would have won more delegates but after ending his bid for the nomination last week, Sanders is no longer eligible to win delegates based on the statewide vote in primaries and caucuses, according to Democratic National Committee rules. Sanders is, however, still eligible to win delegates based on vote totals in individual congressional districts, which is why the AP allocated four delegate to Sanders in Alaska.
Overall, Biden has 1,228 delegates and Sanders has 918, according to the count by The Associated Press.
Casey Steinau, chairwoman of the state party, said Sanders, along with U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren and U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, who also have suspended their campaigns, asked to be included in the tallies.
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What you need to know today about the virus outbreak
The U.S. death toll from the coronavirus eclipsed Italy’s to become the highest in the world at more than 20,000, as Chicago and other cities across the Midwest braced for a potential surge in victims. Meanwhile, the coronavirus crisis is taxing New York City’s 911 system like never before.
President Donald Trump and his officials have made critical promises meant to reassure a country in the throes of the pandemic. But Americans are still going without medical supplies and financial help from the government at the very time they need it most — and were told they would have it.
Europe is trying to persuade its residents to stay home ahead of the Easter holiday and the anticipated sunny weather while grappling with how and when to start loosening the weekslong shutdowns of much of public life.
Doctors around the world are frantically trying to figure out how COVID-19 is killing their patients so they can attempt new ways to fight back.
Here are some of AP’s top stories Saturday 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.
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Trump leaves trail of unmet promises in coronavirus response
WASHINGTON (AP) — For several months, President Donald Trump and his officials have cast a fog of promises meant to reassure a country in the throes of the coronavirus pandemic. Trump and his team haven't delivered on critical ones.
They talk numbers. Bewildering numbers about masks on the way. About tests being taken. About ships sailing to the rescue, breathing machines being built and shipped, field hospitals popping up, aircraft laden with supplies from abroad, dollars flowing to crippled businesses.
Piercing that fog is the bottom-line reality that Americans are going without the medical supplies and much of the financial help they most need from the government at the very time they need it most — and were told they would have it.
The U.S. now is at or near the height of COVID-19 sickness and death, experts believe.
There's no question that on major fronts — masks, gowns, diagnostic tests, ventilators and more —- the federal government is pushing hard now to get up to speed. Impressive numbers are being floated for equipment and testing procedures in the pipeline.
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Turkey charts less restrictive virus path to protect economy
ISTANBUL (AP) — Police across Turkey are conducting routine ID checks on the streets, stopping anyone who looks under 20 or over 65 as they enforce a coronavirus curfew for the young and the elderly. Yet factory workers are still going to their jobs, people freely ride buses and many offices remain open.
Turkey has charted its own course to navigate the pandemic with more relaxed restrictions than its neighbors in Europe and the Middle East, relying on a strategy of limiting access and mobility nationwide that stops short of a mandatory lockdown.
Citing economic concerns, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has so far resisted calls for more drastic measures. But with the number of infections rising sharply — and likely still weeks away from their peak in the country — many believe he will not be able to hold off declaring a total lockdown much longer.
On Friday authorities imposed a surprise two-day curfew in 31 cities to reduce mobility over the weekend. The announcement prompted people to rush into the streets and form long lines outside grocery stores, with many ignoring social distancing rules and not wearing mandatory masks.
Confirmed infections in Turkey have jumped to over 52,000 with more than 1,100 deaths since the first case was announced on March 11, prompting the World Health Organization to warn last week that it was "alarmed that Turkey has seen a dramatic increase in virus spread over the last week.”
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Lives Lost: Milwaukee police leader ensured racial equality
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Lenard “Lenny” Wells didn’t just put on a badge and grind through his police work. He mentored generations of officers and community activists who went on to become police leaders and lawmakers. He helped ensure African Americans had equal access to promotions in the desegregated Milwaukee Police Department.
His influence rippled widely in his decades in law enforcement, and that work didn’t end in retirement: He was teaching young people criminal justice at the University of Memphis in Tennessee when he died last month of complications from the coronavirus.
“Lenny wasn’t just a police officer,” retired Milwaukee police Sgt. Kerry Flowers said. “Lenny wasn’t just an educator. Lenny was a very versatile leader in Wisconsin.”
Wells, who died March 21 at age 69, dedicated his life to racial equality and fairness, both within the Milwaukee Police Department and the larger community.
“He was a legend on the Police Department,” said Andra Williams, a retired police captain, who met Wells in 1991. “We definitely lost a very good person and a good leader and someone who is really unsung for the stuff he did for the city and shaping police officers.”
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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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AP PHOTOS: Down syndrome synchro team aims for Paralympics
ROME (AP) — Under a bright Roman sun, Arianna Sacripante holds her arms out wide, tilts her head back and points her eyes toward the clear blue sky.
The synchronized swimming routine performed on the terrace of Sacripante’s home — with her mother improvising as coach and choreographer — is a shining example of perseverance during the coronavirus pandemic.
Sacripante and her teammates with Down syndrome have met the year-long postponement of their performance after the Tokyo Olympics just as they’ve met every other challenge in their lives: with the will to overcome it.
The "Progetto Filippide” team, which comes under the umbrella of the Italian Swimming Federation, has the goal of achieving inclusion in the Paralympics program.
“When I see them in the water, the first thing that I think of is how sports can erase a disability,” said Sabrina Bernabei, the team’s coach. “The rules are the same and they just want to show what they are able to do. It’s unbelievable what they can pull out and how they can perform.”