Coronavirus in the US: Live Updates

Trump says he will suspend immigration as some governors take first steps to reopen states.

President Trump announced a plan to close the United States to people trying to come to the country to live and work. He justified the drastic move as a necessary step to protect American workers from foreign competition once the nation’s economy begins to recover from the shutdown caused by the coronavirus outbreak.

“In light of the attack from the Invisible Enemy, as well as the need to protect the jobs of our GREAT American Citizens,” Mr. Trump wrote on Twitter late Monday night. “I will be signing an Executive Order to temporarily suspend immigration into the United States!”

The announcement came only hours after the president and several members of his administration had presented lengthy, and at times defensive, explanations of their effort to provide states with the widespread testing they will need to reopen their economies. And it followed announcements by a small group of governors — led by three Republicans in the South — that they were taking the first steps toward doing just that.

But the president’s late-night announcement signaled his most wide-ranging attempt yet to seal the country off from the rest of the world.

Stephen Miller, the architect of the president’s immigration agenda, has pushed repeatedly for regulations and executive actions that would limit the amount of immigration that is allowed each year.

The numbers undermine the notion that many people who have died from the virus may soon have died anyway. In Paris, more than twice the usual number of people have died each day, far more than at the peak of a bad flu season. In New York City, the number is four times the normal amount.

In Tennessee, Gov. Bill Lee, also a Republican, said that he was not extending his “safer-at-home” order that is set to expire on April 30. According to his office, “the vast majority of businesses in 89 counties” will be allowed to reopen on May 1. Businesses in Ohio are expected to reopen on that date as well.

And in South Carolina, the Republican Gov. Henry McMaster, said that department stores and some other retail businesses that had previously been deemed nonessential would be allowed to reopen on Tuesday but must abide by social distancing guidelines. People will also be able to gain access to public beaches on Tuesday.

Even as some governors pressed ahead with plans to reopen, other states and cities prepared for difficult days to come as new infections surged and hospitals prepared for an influx of patients.

At the White House briefing on Monday evening, Dr. Deborah L. Birx, the coronavirus response coordinator, noted that, “We still have a significant number of cases, both in the Boston area and across Massachusetts and Chicago.”

Even in areas where the number of new cases is beginning to flatten, it is doing so at a very high level: New York, which reported its fewest new cases in a month and its lowest one-day death toll in more than two weeks, still reported 4,726 new cases and had 478 new deaths on Sunday.

“The question is, how long is the descent, and how steep is the descent?” Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo of New York said on Monday. “Nobody knows. Just as nobody knew how long the ascent was, nobody can tell you how long the descent is.”

The House could take action as early as Thursday to modify the chamber’s rules to allow remote voting by proxy for the first time in institutional history.

Representative Steny H. Hoyer of Maryland, the majority leader, notified lawmakers that they would most likely vote on the rules change when they returned to Washington to vote on a package to replenish a lapsed loan program for small businesses and provide additional aid for hospitals and testing.

With the agreement unfinished as of early Tuesday, the earliest the House will return to vote is Thursday morning, Mr. Hoyer said in a notice sent shortly before midnight.

The move toward remote voting by proxy is a stark shift for Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California, who had initially resisted it. But it is an acknowledgment that the coronavirus pandemic, by forcing Congress into an extended recess, has made that position untenable.

Representative Jim McGovern of Massachusetts, the Rules Committee chairman who had been studying the issue, recommended voting by proxy to Democrats during a private caucus call last week. It would allow lawmakers who could not travel to the Capitol to give specific instructions on each vote to a colleague authorized to vote on their behalf.

What’s more, the combination of rising shares and reduced profits is making the market look incredibly expensive, according to a metric widely used by investors to value the market, the price-to-earnings ratio.

“Right now, you’re kind of in this no man’s land, purgatory,” said Brian Belski, chief investment strategist with BMO Capital Markets.

Managing your emotions during the lockdown.

As each week of the coronavirus pandemic passes, it is not unusual to experience unusual emotions. Social isolation is causing feelings of extreme loneliness for many. Panic attacks have become more common, too. Here are some strategies that might be helpful in trying to cope.

As the coronavirus outbreak has rapidly remade American education, teachers are facing extraordinary demands, and their unions are seeking new protections, asserting the power they have amassed over the last few years.

What’s happening elsewhere in the world.

Read the latest about the coronavirus pandemic from our international correspondents.

Reporting was contributed by Marc Santora, Allison McCann, Jin Wu, Karen Barrow, Michael Cooper, Dana Goldstein, Miriam Jordan, Matt Phillips, Rick Rojas, Katie Rogers, Eliza Shapiro, Michael D. Shear and Emily Cochrane.

source: nytimes.com