AP News in Brief at 6:04 p.m. EDT
What you need to know today about the virus outbreak
Boeing said it will put about 27,000 people back to work this week building passenger jets at its Seattle-area plants, with virus-slowing precautions in place, including face masks and staggered shifts. The modest reopenings come amid protests in some states by people who say it's time to get back to work.
Boeing is among a small number of manufacturers around the U.S. that geared up Monday to resume production amid pressure from President Donald Trump to reopen the economy and resistance from governors who warn there is not enough testing yet to keep the new coronavirus from rebounding. Maryland secured 500,000 tests from South Korea after the governor's Korean American wife negotiated the shipment.
Elsewhere around the world, step-by-step reopenings were underway in Europe, where the crisis has begun to ebb in places like Italy, Spain and Germany. Parts of the continent are perhaps weeks ahead of the U.S. on the curve of the virus, which has killed more than 160,000 people worldwide.
Here are some of AP’s top stories Monday 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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Rampage leaves 18 dead in Canada's worst mass shooting
TORONTO (AP) — Police fanned out across more than a dozen crime scenes Monday after a rampage by a gunman disguised as a police officer left at least 18 dead and homes in smoldering ruins in rural communities across Nova Scotia — the deadliest mass shooting in Canada’s history.
Officials said the suspect, identified as 51-year-old Gabriel Wortman, also died in the weekend attack. Authorities did not provide a motive for the killings.
Royal Canadian Mounted Police Chief Superintendent Chris Leather told a news conference Monday that police expect to find more victims once they are able to comb through all the crime scenes, some of which were houses set ablaze as victims were inside, adhering to government calls to stay at home because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Leather said police teams were spread out at 16 locations across central and northern Nova Scotia. He said some of the victims knew Wortman and some didn’t.
“We’re relatively confident we’ve identified all the crime scenes," Leather said. “We have had five structure fires, most of those being residences, and we believe there may be victims still within the remains of those homes which burnt to the ground."
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Oil price goes negative as demand collapses; stocks dip
NEW YORK (AP) — Oil futures plunged below zero on Monday, the latest never-before-seen number to come out of the economic coma caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
Stocks and Treasury yields also dropped on Wall Street, with the S&P 500 down 1.8%, but the market’s most dramatic action by far was in oil, where the cost to have a barrel of U.S. crude delivered in May plummeted to negative $37.63. It was at roughly $60 at the start of the year.
Traders are still paying $20.43 for a barrel of U.S. oil to be delivered in June, which analysts consider to be closer to the “true” price of oil. Crude to be delivered next month, meanwhile, is running up against a stark problem: traders are running out of places to keep it, with storage tanks close to full amid a collapse in demand as factories, automobiles and airplanes sit idled around the world.
Tanks at a key energy hub in Oklahoma could hit their limits within three weeks, according to Chris Midgley, head of analytics at S&P Global Platts. Because of that, traders are willing to pay others to take that oil for delivery in May off their hands, so long as they also take the burden of figuring out where to keep it.
“Almost by definition, crude oil has never fallen more than 100%, which is what happened today,” said Dave Ernsberger, global head of pricing and market insight at S&P Global Platts.
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'Political game'? Governors push back on Trump virus charge
WASHINGTON (AP) — A chorus of governors from both parties pushed back hard Monday after President Donald Trump accused Democrats of playing “a very dangerous political game” by insisting there is a shortage of tests for the coronavirus. The governors countered that the White House must do more to help states do the testing that's needed before they can ease up on stay-at-home orders.
Kansas's Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly said the current federal effort "really is not good enough if we’re going to be able to start to open our economy. We cannot do that safely without the tests in place.”
The plea for stepped-up coordination came on the latest day when the Trump administration provided discordant messaging: Trump blasted state leaders on Twitter for being too dependent on federal government, while Vice President Mike Pence assured governors the government was working around-the-clock to help them ramp up testing.
Pence sought to soften the administration's message amid growing clamor from governors of both parties for a national testing strategy to help secure in-demand supplies like testing swabs and chemical reagents. White House senior adviser Peter Navarro said the Department of Defense is finalizing negotiations with Puritan Medical Products of Guilford, Maine, to ramp up production of nasal swabs under the Defense Production Act.
“When it comes to testing, we’re here to help,” Pence told governors during a videoconference from the headquarters of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The Associated Press obtained audio of the call.
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Georgia to reopen some businesses as early as Friday
ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia's Republican governor announced plans Monday to restart the state's economy before the end of the week, saying many businesses that closed to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus could reopen as early as Friday.
Gov. Brian Kemp's timetable, one of the most aggressive in the nation, would allow gyms, hair salons, bowling alleys, tattoo parlors and other businesses to reopen as long as owners follow strict social-distancing and hygiene requirements. By Monday, movie theaters may resume selling tickets, and restaurants limited to takeout orders could return to limited dine-in service.
In neighboring Tennessee, Gov. Bill Lee announced that most businesses will begin reopening as soon as next week.
"In the same way that we carefully closed businesses and urged operations to end to mitigate the virus’s spread, today we’re announcing plans to incrementally and safely reopen sectors of our economy," Kemp said.
Bars, nightclubs and live performance venues will remain closed.
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AP PHOTOS: Small businesses pivoting during pandemic
NEW YORK (AP) — Without their usual flow of patrons to their three businesses in Chinatown and the Lower East Side neighborhoods of Manhattan, Abby and Paul Sierros needed a plan. They saw a neighborhood need and went to work, replacing the tables and chairs with shelving and refrigerators in their bar, Forgtmenot, transforming it into a grocery store.
Across the East River in Brooklyn, at Clementine Bakery, similar changes are happening. Michelle Barton’s bakery and café added fresh produce, fresh local bread, and protective gloves to their normal vegan fare.
“We just made it happen," Forgtmenot managing partner Derek Tigue said. “About five or six of us mobilized and made the adjustments in less than 24 hours with wood from a Chinese lumber yard across the street.”
Using the suppliers from their restaurants, Kiki's Grill and Kiki's, the Forgtmenot bar, now called the FMN General Store, sells bread, jam, peanut butter, flour, Campbell’s soup, beans, pasta, fresh produce, and specialty items like homemade Greek yoghurt, olives, spicy pickles, burrata cheese, and thyme honey along with kitty litter and pet food. They also carry high-demand items like toilet paper, paper towels, and hand sanitizer. Customers can also pick up a canned alcoholic beverage or a cocktail to-go after purchasing their groceries, since the bar is still open, but only to take away.
“It’s been a harsh pill to swallow, not only for us but for all small businesses,” said Tigue, referring to the three businesses’ 90% staff and revenue loss. “It’s a small service we’re providing to the neighborhood. We owe a huge gratitude to the community for being there for us. We just want to keep our restaurants alive, and keep our doors open.”
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16 migrants test positive for coronavirus on Mexican border
CIUDAD VICTORIA, Mexico (AP) — Sixteen migrants from several countries have tested positive for coronavirus in Mexico’s northern border state of Tamaulipas, the state government said Monday.
Fourteen of the infected migrants from Honduras, Mexico, Guatemala, Cuba and Cameroon were staying at a migrant shelter in the city of Nuevo Laredo, across the border from Laredo, Texas. They are in isolation.
The Tamaulipas state government said a migrant deported from Houston, Texas had entered the same shelter without knowing that he had coronavirus. Migrants now make up about 10% of the state's 193 coronavirus cases, causing anger in Tamaulipas.
“The state government, foreseeing the situation of multiple contagions of COVID-19 among the migrant population, has asked the federal government through official channels to transfer out of Tamaulipas the migrants who are stranded on the border,” the state said in a statement.
Hundreds of migrants remain in Nuevo Laredo and in the Tamaulipas border city of Matamoros, an estimated 2,000 people live in a squalid tent camp, waiting for their court hearings a short distance away in Brownsville, Texas.
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Congressional Black Caucus PAC backs Biden's White House bid
DETROIT (AP) — The Congressional Black Caucus PAC endorsed Joe Biden's presidential bid on Monday, further cementing his support among the nation's influential black political leadership.
The political action committee's unanimous endorsement came on the heels of several key nods of support among caucus leadership and members, including civil rights icon Rep. John Lewis of Georgia and caucus Chairwoman Rep. Karen Bass of California. The PAC is the caucus's separate campaign arm.
“There's no question that Joe Biden is badly needed by this country,” CBC PAC Chairman Rep. Gregory Meeks of New York said in an interview with The Associated Press. “His leadership, his experience, his understanding on how to get things done and his ability to work and pull people together is needed now more than ever. We need someone that is a healer and not a divider, and that’s Joe Biden.”
Biden, who is on the cusp of clinching the Democratic presidential nomination, had already scored key endorsements from 38 of the 54 members of the group, which is composed of most African American members of Congress.
Black voters have long anchored the former vice president's White House bid with overwhelming support in South Carolina, on Super Tuesday and in Midwestern states like Michigan. But that was before the coronavirus pandemic disrupted the presidential race, forcing several states with significant black populations, like Georgia, to postpone their primaries. African Americans have been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus.
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Sirio Maccioni, who opened famed eatery Le Cirque, dies
NEW YORK (AP) — Italian restaurateur Sirio Maccioni, who opened the celebrated French restaurant Le Cirque and watched it grow into arguably Manhattan’s favorite dining room of the rich and famous, has died in Italy. He was 88.
Maccioni's son, Mauro, told The Associated Press that his father died in the family's villa in Tuscany early Monday. He had suffered from the effects of a stroke and Alzheimer’s disease, the son said.
Le Cirque was famed for its decadent Grand Marnier souffles and terrines of rabbit rillette. The starry guest list included Frank Sinatra, Henry Kissinger, Princess Grace, Bill Blass, Richard Nixon, Bill Clinton, Diana Ross and Nancy and Ronald Reagan.
Le Cirque opened in 1974 at the Mayfair Hotel. "We weren’t really prepared, but the rest is history. We were the first ‘place to be seen’ that also had good food,″ Maccioni told The AP in 2000.
The restaurant moved and reopened as Le Cirque 2000 in 1997 in the New York Palace Hotel. In 2006, Le Cirque moved again and opened on East 58th Street. In 2017, the restaurant filed for bankruptcy. Le Cirque has branches in Las Vegas, Dubai and India.
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4/20 uncertainty: Marijuana industry tested in virus crisis
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The unofficial holiday celebrating all things cannabis arrives Monday as the nation’s emerging legal marijuana market braces for an economic blow from the coronavirus crisis, with many consumers reducing spending or going underground for deals.
It was supposed to be a long weekend of festivals and music culminating on April 20, or 4/20, the code for marijuana’s high holiday. Instead, it has been reduced to an online replica because of stay-at-home orders to curb the pandemic.
Virtual parties and video chats are replacing vast outdoor smoking sessions to mark the rise of legalization and celebrate cannabis culture. The origins of the annual celebration are believed tied to a group of Northern California high school friends, who used the code as slang for smoking pot in the early 1970s.
“Stay home,” the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, or NORML, said bluntly. San Francisco Mayor London Breed threatened arrests: “We will not tolerate anyone coming to San Francisco for 4/20 this year."
For businesses, 4/20 is usually their once-a-year Black Friday, when sales soar. Instead, they are reporting up-and-down buying and pondering an uncertain future.