so much to all of us. i'll be back tomorrow night for a special "situation room" at 7:00 p.m. eastern. please join us then. until then, thanks very much for watching. "erin burnett outfront" starts right now. >> thanks, wolf. outfront" next, trump wants to reopen the country as soon as possible as a new government projection reportedly says there will be a spike in cases if stay-at-home orders are lifted too soon. plus, a growing outbreak in a meat processing plant in colorado, impacting as many as 300 people. the governor of colorado is outfront. and why are so many people under 50 getting hit so hard by coronavirus? one of the nation's leading experts on this very question is my guest. let's go "outfront." good evening. i'm erin burnett. "outfront" tonight, homeland security and health officials are warning of a dramatic spike in coronavirus cases if stay-at-home orders are lifted too soon. this is according to projections obtained by "the new york

times," and the warning comes as the president wants to reopen the country -- in his words -- as soon as possible, perhaps even by may 1st. so, when asked about the projection of a spike in cases, trump today claimed to not know anything about that. his top infectious disease expert also said he hadn't seen the projection but added this -- >> don't let anyone get any false ideas that when we decide at a proper time when we're going to be relaxing some of the restrictions -- there's no doubt you're going to see cases. i would be so surprised if we did not see cases. the question is how you respond to them. i think that's what they were referring to. >> no doubt, you'll see cases. it is a new reality that we will all be facing for a long time to reopen the country as soon as possible, major cities are already extending some stay-at-home orders now beyond may 1st. los angeles county, of course, the second largest in this country extending its

stay-at-home order until may 18th. it comes as trump's coronavirus task force says now is not the time to let up. the u.s. death toll tonight now tops 18,000 people. and according to the cdc, almost half of the deaths in the united states at this point are from new york and new jersey. erica hill is "outfront" live in new york. and erica, obviously, everyone in the country and in the world, indeed, is now watching the numbers in new york extremely closely. it's been the epicenter of the outbreak here in the united states. any change here today? >> reporter: change in numbers, yes, but it's cautious optimism. those with the words of the governor. he's looking at a drop in things like hospitalizations and number of people in the icu, but deaths are continuing to rise. and he's been clear, erin, that when you see those drops, that's because of the actions people have taken over the last couple of weeks. and looking at that, it means this is no time to stop. there are now more positive cases in new york state than in any country around the world,

and yet, there are signs of hope. hospitalizations and the number of patients in the icu both down across the state. >> for a long time, they were over 50% of our cases and 50% of our new cases. that is dramatically changed because of the impact of what the citizens of new york and new jersey and across connecticut and now rhode island are doing to really change the course of this pandemic. >> reporter: governor andrew cuomo stressing, any move forward will require massive testing and the power of the federal government. >> we have 9 million people we want to get back to work. you need more than several thousand tests per week if this is going to happen any time soon. if i had a defense production act in this state, i would use it. i would use it. i don't have that tool. the federal government does.

>> reporter: new york city now burying as many as 25 unclaimed bodies each day in a public cemetery on the island to free up desperately needed space in the city's morgues. in houston, a potential hotspot according to the white house task force, the parking lot at energy stadium transformed into an overflow hospital. experts watching the progression as a former fda official says the warmer months may offer a reprieve. >> hopefully, the fact that we're heading into the summer and the summer should be somewhat of a backstop against transmission of this virus as we head into june, july and august. that's going to help us. coronas typically don't circulate in the summertime, so there is a seasonal aspect to coronaviruss generally. this one's so null, it's likely to continue to transfer into the summer, but droplet transmission becomes less efficient in the humid, hot months. >> reporter: florida's governor, meantime, says he may soon reopen schools county by county. >> we're going to look at the evidence and make a decision. for whatever reason, it just doesn't seem to threaten, you

know, kids. >> reporter: governor desantis citing a lack of deaths in his state for those under age 25, though that is not the case nationally. 16 states have already closed schools for the remainder of the academic year. others extending current closures into next month. as officials remind those celebrating easter this weekend, the virus doesn't pause for the holiday. >> we've seen people who have been going to church and ignoring the admonitions, ignoring the orders, getting sick, ministers dying. this is deadly serious, and you can express your faith in lots of different ways, but it can't be by congregating. >> reporter: for some, simply being home is reason enough to celebrate. in miami, cheers as two covid patients are discharged. a similar scene in louisville. and from a hospital at the epicenter, a message of

strength. mt. sinai's chief medical officer praising her staff as they mark the end of the beginning, assuring them, "we will prevail." erin, in kentucky today, the governor there, andy bashir, saying they will be taking down the license plate information of people who attend a mass gathering this weekend. that information will be given to the health department, and those individuals will be required to self-quarantine for 14 days. he went on to say, they shouldn't need to do this, saying he didn't think it's an act of faith to attend a service in person, but it is an act of faith to sacrifice to protect your fellow americans, erin. >> all right. well said. thank you very much, erica. and "outfront" tonight, dr. sanjay gupta. so, sanjay, i want to start with a point here, one of the main headlines today, these projections from the department of homeland security and health and human services that "the new york times" has obtained. basically saying if stay-at-home orders are lifted after 30 days, there will be a dramatic spike

in coronavirus cases this summer and the death tolls would be similar to what would have happened if nothing had been done in the first place. for a lot of places, that puts you, having these orders ending essentially basically when the president wants them to, in early may. what is the exit ramp here? >> yeah, i mean, you know, it's interesting. people are hearing some good news, i think, over the last few days in terms of these numbers maybe plateauing. obviously, the death toll is still so tragic to think about, but possibly some signs of encouragement. but also this admonition that if we sort of let up a bit here that the virus, which is still a very contagious virus -- it's still out there circulating. we start to congregate, it will start to spread again very quickly and could take us back to the beginning, to square one. the exit strategy, erin, i think is, you know, it's been pretty clear, you know. you've got to, first of all, have the hospitals ready to take care of patients that might get sick. i mean, that's clear. but testing. we talk about this over and over again, but it's important for

people to understand that what should have happened in the beginning, what needs to happen, you know, certainly as we exit out of this, is that people get tested for the virus. if they are found to be positive, they are isolated. if they are isolated, then their contacts have to be traced. erin, before all this happened, think of yourself, how many people did you come in contact with in a few days? you probably couldn't think about that. it's a challenging, laborious tasks. i read an estimate you would have to hire 300,000 people to be contact tracers. point is, a lot of infrastructure, testing in all sorts of different locations, not just hospitals, all of that has to be in place, i think, in order to really get an exit ramp. >> and clearly not returning to life as we knew it before, during this time, not fully. obviously, you're not going to go to a sports stadium or something, and you know, not even know who your contacts were. i guess it states something that's sort of obvious. but when it comes to testing, a committee of the national academy of sciences, sanjay, sent a letter to the white house. and i know you saw it.

but for those who don't know, expressed doubt in the coronavirus testing. they cited one study in this letter of 51 coronavirus patients. and in those 51, the test missed 16 positives. that is obviously a pretty terrifying thing to hear. is this reliable for this type of test? i mean, is this the reliability metric we're looking at? >> i had to go back and read this study a few times, erin, and make sure that i was interpreting that correctly. yeah, you can put up the specific language here, exactly what you said, 16 out of 51 patients who were positive were told they were negative. so, it was a false negative result. now, part of that could be if you test too early, the viral load isn't high enough to detect. it could be that when you do these swabs, you've got to make sure it's a really good swab. you know, people always describe it as painful. there is a reason for that. you have to actually get a good sample. and you know, and part of it is

maybe in some of these situations, the test just wasn't finding it, but that's a 30% false negative rate, erin. it was a small study. this has to be sort of, you know, investigated a little bit further and see if it remains true over larger sample sizes. but in this particular case, it was the standard genetic study and it was compared to cat scans of the lungs. the cat scans, as it turns out, picked up the disease, the covid disease in the lungs, 50 out of 51 times. and with this, the genetic study, they missed it 16 times, as you mentioned. so, that's worrisome, but i think it has to pan out in larger studies still. >> and so, there is another study today about when people are trying to understand -- because it is amazing at this point talking about restarting the economy how much we've learned, but also how much we still don't know about this virus and how it spreads and what it does. there's a new study in the "journal of the american medical association neurology" which says coronavirus patients commonly experience a lot of neurologic problems --

dizziness, headache, seizures, strokes, taste and smell, i guess, which we have heard about, is part of this, but there's a whole other host of symptoms. do we know why and how this happens and how common it is? >> yeah, i mean, it turns out, it was pretty common in this particular study that you're talking about. about a third of the time, people did have some neurological symptoms as well. sometimes it was a first symptom. it was the first thing that you notice. you think of a respiratory virus, you think of cough, fever, you think of lung symptoms, but sometimes it was just a totally strange neurological symptom. i think we have a list to put up, but dizziness, headache, loss of smell, loss of taste. why is that, to your question? again, looking at this -- and i talked to a bunch of my friends in the neuro world -- could it be that the virus is actually causing inflammation at the base of the brain where the nerves for smell, for example, sit, perhaps? it could be that it's causing inflammation in the body

throughout and it's disproportionately affecting the nervous system. we don't know, but i think it's a really important point for patients and for clinicians. somebody comes in with an unusual neurological symptom, no other explanation, in the midst of a pandemic, you've got to think about covid being a possibility and probably get a test for that patient. >> it is just amazing there. you think about symptoms like that or think masquerading as a heart attack. it is just stunning how many parts of the body this seems to impact so dramatically. sanj sanjay, thank you very much. sanjay's going to be back with us later this hour. next, a massive outbreak at a colorado meat processing plant. the vice president saying as many as 300 people are impacted. the plant, though, is still open. the governor of colorado is my guest. plus, is the antibody test the answer to getting america back to work or just a lot of wishful thinking? sanjay's going to be back with a special report. and the outbreak forcing so many families to say good-bye virtually. i'm going to speak to one woman who witnessed her mother being laid to rest on facetime. (mom) were you planning on mowing the lawn today?

[thunder] (son) no. (burke) seen it. covered it. at farmers insurance, we know a thing or two because we've seen a thing or two. so get a quote at farmers-dot-com. ♪ we are farmers. bum-pa-dum, bum-bum-bum-bum ♪ 450-degree oven, to box, to you, know that from our it's our policy that your pizza is never touched once it comes out of the oven. and we're taking extra steps, like no contact delivery, to ensure it.

from anyone else. so why accept it from your allergy pills? flonase relieves your worst symptoms which most pills don't. get all-in-one allergy relief for 24 hours, with flonase. which most pills don't. i am totally blind. and non-24 can make me show up too early... or too late. or make me feel like i'm not really "there." talk to your doctor, and call 844-234-2424.

that's why lincoln offers you the ability to purchase a new vehicle remotely with participating dealers. an effortless transaction-all without leaving the comfort- and safety-of your home. thats the power of sanctuary. and for a little extra help, receive 0% apr financing and defer your first payment up to 120 days on the purchase of a new lincoln.

to helcvs pharmacyh the curris now offeringation and defer your first payment up to 120 days free one to two-day delivery of prescriptions and everyday essentials. visit cvs.com/delivery or call your local pharmacy to learn more. free prescription delivery from cvs.

breaking news. a growing outbreak at one of the country's biggest meat processing plants killing at least two employees, according to the union representing workers at the greeley, colorado, facility. and words just finding this out after vice president pence just hours ago said up to 300 employees at the plant may be impacted. that was his word, by the outbreak. outfront now, the democratic governor of colorado, jared polis. he spoke with the president earlier today about the outbreak. governor, i appreciate your time. we're trying to understand, obviously, the scale of what's happening here. the union says there are at least 50 cases. the company said there's 36. the vice president said as many as 300 employees may be, quote, impacted. i mean, what do you believe the current number of cases is, and how big this is? >> well, we're going to find out because we're going to have them all tested and test them all in the next few days. but judging from the figures, about two deaths, about 14

hospitalized, i would estimate there's probably between 200 and 400 folks that will test positive, but we'll see. it's smanybody's guess. we're going to get them all tested. those who are cleared to return will return after a short closure, hopefully next tuesday or wednesday or thursday. this is really important in our nation's food supply and for all of the critical workers, of course, health care workers, many others, but there's also many in our nation's food supply that we rely on to keep the grocery store shelves full. this is one of those areas. and so we're going to do everything we can to prioritize it, working with the vice president, with the administration, with the county health department and make sure it can reopen by midnext week. >> so the union i know sent you a letter saying the time for action is now. with each passing day, more employees' lives are at risk. they asked for the plant to be closed at least seven days. you're saying midnext week, but it's closed now, you're saying, so you're getting to what, at least five days or so? >> it will close long enough to test every worker and clear

workers to return to work. about 5,000 folks altogether, at least. 3,000 to 5,000. it's not necessarily just the workers there. it's also truckers who supply it and others who might have been exposed. so, we're doing that over easter sunday. colorado national guard is supporting that work. we're going to do our best to get the big part of the nation's food supply back up by midnext week. >> and you have been assured, of course -- and i think it's important to say this -- in terms of, obviously, the crucial nature here of the employees first and foremost, and also the food supply that goes to so many around this country. the food supply itself, obviously, is safe, correct? >> of course, absolutely. the closures of three, four days, will not be felt at all, five days, won't be felt by consumers at all. that's one of the reasons we've got to do it and do it in a way where employees are safe, as you indicated. these are -- employees speak 25 languages at this facility from all over the world, obviously english and spanish the main two, but many other languages from africa and other areas.

so, the logistics around the testing are more complicated than they would otherwise be because of the language piece, but we're doing it. they'll test negative, they can return to work. they're all going to have masks. and the company's doing a huge cleaning. they always clean the industrial floor because, of course, the food and drug administration tight regulations around safe meat production, but they'll do a deep clean of the employee areas, back rooms, entry ways, the exits, all of the areas that employees encounter, over the next few days to make sure that it's entirely safe when people are able to return to work next week. >> governor, the president wants to open the country by the beginning of may, obviously to many of the public health officials, that seems to be way too early for many places, but obviously, your stay-at-home order right now runs through april 26th. are you planning to stick with that at this point? >> well, i sure hope so. if coloradoans are staying at home, as is important, wearing masks when they go out, we hope that we can do that. and i think it's clear in everything we're talking about,

in all the states, that doesn't mean that on may 1st or any date in early may things are going to go back to how they were in terms of 60,000 people in a stadium, a busy nightclub. those are likely to stay on significantly longer, but our priority's making sure that folks can return to work in a safe way, earn a living, be able to support themselves, and the sooner, the better, with regard to that. and of course, with the additional precautions and social distancing that we'll be taking in workplaces across colorado and hopefully across the nation. >> all right, governor polis, i appreciate your time. thank you so much, sir. >> thank you, erin. and next, it's the test that could help americans do just what governor polis was talking about, get back to partially their daily lives, but just how effective is the antibody test? dr. sanjay gupta's going to be back with a special report. and more than 500 people under the age of 50 have died from coronavirus in new york, just in new york. and the virus is hitting some people much harder than others.

a doctor leading the research on why. why is this happening? he's my guest. for people living with h-i-v, keep being you. and ask your doctor about biktarvy. biktarvy is a complete, one-pill, once-a-day treatment used for h-i-v in certain adults. it's not a cure, but with one small pill, biktarvy fights h-i-v to help you get to and stay undetectable. that's when the amount of virus is so low it cannot be measured by a lab test. research shows people who take h-i-v treatment every day and get to and stay undetectable can no longer transmit h-i-v through sex. serious side effects can occur, including kidney problems and kidney failure. rare, life-threatening side effects include a buildup of lactic acid and liver problems. do not take biktarvy if you take dofetilide or rifampin. tell your doctor about all the medicines and supplements you take, if you are pregnant or breastfeeding, or if you have kidney or liver problems, including hepatitis. if you have hepatitis b, do not stop taking biktarvy without talking to your doctor. common side effects were diarrhea, nausea, and headache. if you're living with hiv, keep loving who you are.

and ask your doctor if biktarvy is right for you. balanced nutrition for strength and energy. whoo-hoo! great tasting ensure with 9 grams of protein, 27 vitamins and minerals, and nutrients to support immune health. and nutrients to i need all the breaks, that i can get. at liberty butchumal- cut. liberty biberty- cut. we'll dub it. liberty mutual customizes your car insurance so you only pay for what you need. only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ athat provides strong, long-lasting pain relief, so sean can help push her on her next adventure.

at bayer, this is why we science. yeah. this moving thing never gets any easier. well, xfinity makes moving super easy. i can transfer my internet and tv service in about a minute. wow, that is easy. almost as easy as having those guys help you move.

we are those guys. that's you? the truck adds 10 pounds. in the arms. -okay... transfer your service online in a few easy steps. now that's simple, easy, awesome. transfer your service in minutes, making moving with xfinity a breeze. visit xfinity.com/moving today. tonight the white house saying the united states will have large-scale antibody testing very soon. >> we're also wokking to bring blood-based serology tests to the market as quickly as possible. when validated, we're confident that the production will scale up to tens of millions of tests very quickly. >> dr. sanjay gupta is out front with a look at these crucial antibody tests and how they work. >> reporter: according to the coronavirus task force, more

than 2 million tests have now been performed in the united states, and yet, there are still people who need to be tested, such as health care workers who can't get one. it's part of the reason there is now so much interest in a different kind of test, an antibody test. dr. fauci told cnn on friday, it's coming soon. >> i'm certain that that's going to happen, within a period of a week or so. we're going to have a rather large number of tests that are available. >> reporter: but what exactly are antibodies? they are proteins in the immune system that develop days after someone has been infected, and it's the antibodies that make someone immune to becoming reinfected. it means two things -- you were previously infected, and you are now likely to be protected, at least for a while. >> we think it will be a tool to help us get people back to work. it will be additional information, because as you know, if you have an antibody, that means you were exposed and have recovered from it. that with the information about

diagnosis should help. >> reporter: that's why public health agencies around the world want these antibody tests, because it could help some people get back to their daily lives. you remember the swab test we're all familiar with. well, that tests for the virus itself, specifically, its genetic material. problems are, first of all, at some point after you recover, that test will be negative. and secondly, a lot of people have had trouble getting that diagnostic test in the first place. the antibody test is more definitive. there are only a few reasons you would have antibodies in your blood -- you got someone else's antibodies by an injection of their blood, you got a vaccine, which teaches your body to make antibodies, or you were infected. the antibody test requires a sample of your blood and this strip, which has proteins from the virus on it. if your blood reacts to that strip, it means you have antibodies in your blood. >> and i think really being able to tell them, the peace of mind

that would come from knowing you already were infected, you have the antibody, you're safe from reinfection, 99.9% of the time. and so, this, i think, would be very reassuring to our frontline health care workers. >> reporter: another benefit of antibody testing, surveillance. in places like miami-dade county, florida, santa clara county, california, and telluride, colorado, they have already started using antibody tests to get a better sense of how many people, many of whom will be surprised to learn, have already been exposed to the virus. >> whoever volunteers is getting tested twice. and the purpose of that is to see who sero converts and develops the antibodies, meaning who was actively infected during this period of quarantine. >> reporter: a spokesperson says they have already used this to monitor contacts of infected people and to identify individuals who, due to mild infection, may have not known they were infected.

getting the antibody tests up and running, much like the tests to detect the virus itself, have been challenging. in a rush to get these tests to market, the fda lowered the regulatory standards, and what followed were a lot of unreliable and inaccurate tests. >> there's a series of antibody tests out there that have not been validated. some of the tests that may be available on the internet may have very low sensitivity and specificity and give you a false reassurance that you either -- give you a false positive or a false negative, implying that you may be protected. >> and sanjay joins me now along with dr. jonathan reiner, who advised the george w. bush white house medical team for eight years and is the director for cardiac catharization program at g.w. university hospital now. sanjay, look, a lot has been put on these tests. in a sense, it's sort of become the holy grail for a lot of people, right? this is like the silver bullet.

we'll have these antibody tests and everybody will be able to go back to work. but it does seem unclear. >> yeah. i mean, i think it's a really important test, and you know, just candidly, if it were easily and widely available, i would love to get this test, because you know, did i get exposed to coronavirus at some point and not have much in the way of symptoms? i would like to know that, but i don't think it's a silver bullet, erin. i think, you know, in order to actually be able to contain this outbreak, we're really talking about the original tests still, the ones we've been talking about for a few months now. the key is to find people who have the infection, to be able to isolate them, and then trace their contacts. that's a big task, you know? we obviously did not have great -- we were late at the beginning of all this. but as we start to exit out of this in the united states, we've got to be able to do that, and it's laborious. i mean, i read a study, it says it might take 300,000 people to really contact trace people who might have these infections. so, testing, tracing, treating

is the mantra. and the tests they're talking about is for the virus itself, not the antibodies. >> and -- right. and so, here's the point with the antibody tests, right? there's, one, how many people are actually going to have, when you do it, how many people in the population had it? and does that do anything to get you close to herd immunity or anything like that? and then the other issue, of course, is whether having an antibody actually means you're immune for any period of time. dr. reiner, the president said today that people who have had the virus have immunity, but here's how he said it. >> so, they have the disease, and they're better, and they have the immunity now. they have -- supposedly, according to what i'm hearing, it could be for a long period. it could be for a lifetime. it could also be for a year or two. i'm hearing -- >> dr. reiner, basically, i mean, if that's what experts are telling him, they have no idea. that's a really long range. so, there's not even a sense as to whether after you have this you really are immune, right?

>> well, viral diseases like this typically do confer immunity for at least a moderate period of time. we don't know how long the immunity that's acquired with coronavirus infection will last, but this is why we need to test, and this is why antibody testing is so important. it gives us the opportunity to identify people who have had the virus, who have developed antibodies, the convalescent antibodies, the igg antibodies, and then test them over a period of time. so, if patients have antibodies a week or two after their illness and the antibodies are still present several months later, those people are probably immune. but we'll need to see and we'll need to do this kind of testing to fully understand. >> and i guess that's interesting when you're saying multiple tests. sanjay, dr. fauci was asked this morning about the possibility of americans carrying immunity certificates, basically, you know, that if there's kind of like a suspicion and a lack of trust in the community, that you

would be able to have those. here's how he said it. >> that's possible. i mean, it's one of those things that we talk about when we want to make sure that we know who the vulnerable people are and not. this is something that's being discussed. i think it might actually have some merit under certain circumstances. >> it is hard as an american in many ways, sanjay, to imagine such a thing, though, an immunity certificate. do you think, though, that from a medical perspective that this is a good idea, that people should start thinking about this? >> you know, i think culturally, you're right, there's going to be -- there's a lot that's different, obviously, that we've been doing in this country that no one's ever done before, so this could be something you add to the list. but i think jonathan reiner's point is the point that really needs to be taken into consideration. what does that immunity card mean? i mean, how much confidence do we have in giving someone an immunity card? does it have an expiration date on it? do you have to continue to get tested to get that card sort of

updated, you know? i'm a little -- you know, i don't think we know enough yet. i mean, we're only 3 1/2 months into this, really, erin, so how long those antibodies last and how much protection they confer, we really don't know. we'd really have to know that ahead of time. >> and dr. reiner -- >> i'll tell you where -- >> go ahead. >> i'll tell you where this may immediately be a big help, and this is to test the docs and the nurses on the front lines. it would be enormously helpful to, now to know who has antibodies to this virus, particularly because we think so many health care workers have been exposed but are asymptomatic. if we knew who was, what we think, immune to this, these are the folks that could be, you know, moved towards, you know, more of the front lines right now with a higher degree of safety. >> and sanjay, before we go, the other issue, of course, is how many people actually have had -- will even have antibodies. you know, the former fda commissioner, we've talked about this, scott gottlieb raised the point that in other countries

where they looked at this, it was very small. italy and spain with 10 to 15%, some of them down to 1%, even less. and you could find similar here in the united states was his point. in other words, antibody testing may not be the silver bullet, right? you know, you're not going to get this, oh, it's so broadly out there that we can really all return to work, that that may not be the test that everyone needs to focus on. >> right, right. i think that's absolutely true. maybe there are specific populations of people like health care workers, like dr. rhine were was saying. but you know, it will be interesting to see. we have not had eyes on this whole problem, you know, almost since the start in terms of how many people are actually infected and now how many people may be carrying these antibodies. we just don't know. but i think these other countries are pretty instructive in this regard and it may be a lot lower than we realize, and therefore, we're not going to get to this point that everyone knows as herd immunity. we're not going to have enough immunity from people being exposed to the virus to ward off

the infection if there's a second wave or something. >> all right. thank you both very much. i appreciate your time, as always. and next, genetics. could genetics be the reason why there are some people, and especially young people, who are more susceptible to the coronavirus? a doctor who says it is possible that it could be genetic as to why some young people are getting hit so hard. outfront to explain why. plus, it's become a heartbreaking reality for tens of thousands of families, forced to say good-bye to a loved one virtual virtually. i'm going to speak to a woman who attended her mother's funeral via facetime. people used to care. heck, they'd come all the way out here just for a blurry photo of me. oh, that's a good one. wait, what's that? that's just the low-battery warning. oh, alright. now it's all, "check out my rv,"

and, "let's go four-wheeling." maybe there's a little part of me that wanted to be seen. well, progressive helps people save when they bundle their home with their outdoor vehicles. so they've got other things to do now, bigfoot. wait, what'd you just call me? bigfoot? ♪ my name is daryl.

but one thing hasn't: breakfast. and, if that feels like a little bit of comfort, it's thanks to... the farmers, the line workers and truckers, the grocery stockers and cashiers, and the food bank workers, because right now breakfast as usual is more essential than ever. to everyone around the world working so hard to bring breakfast to the table, thank you.

tonight, why some young people might be getting hit harder by the virus than others. in new york, the state hit hardest by the virus, they report 508 people under age 49 have died, accounting for 6.5%

of the fatalities in the state. you know, what is behind those numbers? i mean, when you hear especially about some of the very young and people who don't have any underlying conditions, it is absolutely heartbreaking. outfront now, dr. casanova, an investigator at the howard hughes medical institute at rockefeller university. dr. casanova, you've been studying this very issue, trying to understand this. you know, when we hear these stories of perfectly healthy, young people, people in their 20s, people in their 30s, people in their 40s, they're getting incredibly sick. some of them are dying of this. and you're trying to understand why, whether perhaps this is coming down to genetics. why do you suspect that this could be genetic? >> right, well, this is exactly the problem that we try to tackle, as you just said. previously healthy children, adolescents or adults arbitrarily under the age of 50, who suddenly are critically ill. so, the hypothesis that we're

testing with helen hsu at the national institutes of health, is that these patients carry genetic variations -- in the past, people would say mutations -- genetic variations that are silent clinically until they're infected by the coronavirus. and in a few days or weeks, they develop severe luminitis and have to be into an intensive care unit. >> so it's basically something in their dna that enables the virus to be much more lethal in how it acts? >> right, exactly. but you know, this is not an idea that came out of the blue. helen hsu at the nih had discovered mutations, variations, responsible for luminitis caused by the rhinovirus. and we had discovered other variations responsible for influenza numonitis, so we had already shown for two other types of viral that were aware,

what we know as inbot errors of immunity that could underlay these catastrophic illnesses. so we teamed up and tried to decide to test whether what was true with rhinovirus could apply to coronavirus. >> are these genetic variations consistent across people? in other words, is it something you could find a specific therapy or cure for these people? or are you finding just a countless number of mutations that are interacting in such a deadly way with the virus? >> well, this is another great question. and i don't want to get too technical or detailed, but the infectious diseases, viral illnesses in particular that helen and i have studied in the past, show what we call genetic heterogeneity, that is it seems that for a given viral illness, there can be several different types of airborne errors of immunity. they're related physiologically

but are different from one person to another. and we don't know, of course, whether it's going to be the case or not for coronavirus. >> but that, of course, if it were the case, would make it much more difficult to find a solution, i would imagine. >> no, not necessarily, because even if the variations affect different genes, if these genes are related immunologically or physiologically, then there is be a solution that applies to the different types. >> let's hope that that is the case. thank you very much. i appreciate your time, dr. casanova. thanks for explaining it. >> thank you. thank you very much. >> and of course to know that there are people trying to work for solutions for some of these incredibly tragic stories of young people who are getting so ill and dying from this. "outfront" next, i'll speak to a woman who lost her mother to coronavirus, but she had to attend her funeral via facetime. plus, the coronavirus upending traditions. the world observing holy week. ♪

this is my body of proof. proof i can fight moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis. proof i can fight psoriatic arthritis... ...with humira. proof of less joint pain... ...and clearer skin in psa. humira targets and blocks a source of inflammation that contributes to joint pain and irreversible damage. humira can lower your ability to fight infections. serious and sometimes fatal infections, including tuberculosis, and cancers, including lymphoma, have happened, as have blood, liver, and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure. tell your doctor if you've been to areas where certain fungal infections are common and if you've had tb, hepatitis b, are prone to infections, or have flu-like symptoms or sores. don't start humira if you have an infection. humira is proven to help stop further joint damage,

...and it's the #1-prescribed biologic for psa. want more proof? ask your rheumatologist about humira citrate-free. working day in, day out.e. at&t is here. providing support with advanced services for first responders. and connected temporary hospitals, mobile testing sites and emergency management centers. because until their job is done, it is essential that we all have their backs. it's what we've always done. it's what we'll always do. from anyone else. so why accept it from your allergy pills? flonase relieves your worst symptoms which most pills don't. get all-in-one allergy relief for 24 hours, with flonase. seeing the break in the clouds before anyone else.

together, we'll weather this storm. (vo) was that a pivotal historical moment ♪ we just went stumbling past? here we are dancing in the rumbling dark so come a little closer give me something to grasp give me your beautiful, crumbling heart we're working every dread day that is given us feeling like the person people meet really isn't us like we're going to buckle underneath the trouble like any minute now the struggle's going to finish us and then we smile at all our friends even when i'm weak and i'm breaking

i'll stand weeping at the train station 'cause i can see your faces there is so much peace to be found in people's faces. i love people's faces. ♪

tonight, a sad reality of the coronavirus crisis, grieving families being kept apart when they would normally mourn a loved one together. it's happening to people all across this country, including our next guest, who attended her mother's funeral this week on facetime. outfront now, tracy's mother was years old, marty evans, and she passed away last week from coronavirus. tracy, i am so sorry for your loss, to lose your dear mother. >> thank you. >> you know, i know you were with her in her final days. the hospital let you visit her before she passed. and in that, i know that was a great gift, that many families are not having during this crisis, so i know you are grateful for that. but tell us about those last moments, those moments that you did have with her in the end. >> when we had facetimed throughout the week before, and we could just tell we were losing mom by her facial reactions and able to connect with us. and when we got to the hospital, it was 4:15 in the morning and

we walked in and it was like she rallied, because she got to see us, because we hadn't seen her. and she was very excited. and i didn't say, "hi, mom," or and she looked at me, you're tracy. that's teresa, the other twin. i said okay. so we were able to have 30 minutes of mom visiting back and forth, and we had our older sister on iphone, facetiming. and then we just lost mom. and that was like waited to get there. >> i'm so sorry. >> as we watched as the hours and then the minutes -- >> i'm sorry, we just had a bit of a delay there. i know you must have been grateful to have that, be together with your twin and

other sister. i know she was on facetime but to be able to say goodbye. >> absolutely. >> then i know though you weren't able to mourn, to be with her, i know she wanted to be buried with your father and that's in kansas. you're in colorado where she was in the hospital, and you're in a stay-at-home order, you couldn't go to that funeral. >> no. >> what was that like, tracy? that's important part of being able to say truly goodbye, to have to do that via facetime. >> it was hard, because when i left the hospital i knew i wouldn't get to say goodbye to mom. and watching the service on the iphone, it was like i wasn't even there to tell her goodbye. >> do you think -- i mean i

hope -- >> i'm sorry. >> go ahead. >> do you think you'll ever be able to get closure? since you weren't there at that moment that mattered so much? >> it's a whole different grieving process for me with mom than dad. i hope i will. when we finally get to go there and have mom's celebration of life. >> and have you been able to spend any time with your siblings at this time when that matters so much? or no because of all of this? >> i have not been able to see my older sister at all. the one that lives in ray, and my twin sister and i, we talk on the phone a lot but since we had mom's burial, we've not been

together because we're supposed to stay at home and no contact. >> well, i know that by doing that, doing the right thing, you are doing the right thing, helping others, setting an example, but i know it must be so very hard. tracy, you're in all of our thoughts on this special weekend for so many. >> thank you. >> thank you. we'll be right back. ♪ (vo) was that a pivotal historical moment we just went stumbling past?

here we are dancing in the rumbling dark so come a little closer give me something to grasp give me your beautiful, crumbling heart we're working every dread day that is given us feeling like the person people meet really isn't us like we're going to buckle underneath the trouble like any minute now the struggle's going to finish us and then we smile at all our friends even when i'm weak and i'm breaking i'll stand weeping at the train station 'cause i can see your faces there is so much peace to be found in people's faces. i love people's faces. ♪

i need all the breaks, that i can get. at liberty butchumal- cut. liberty biberty- cut. we'll dub it. liberty mutual customizes your car insurance so you only pay for what you need. only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ i am totally blind. and non-24 can throw my days and nights out of sync, keeping me from the things i love to do. talk to your doctor, and call 844-214-2424. the spread of covid-19. to help, we're offering free prescription delivery, by simply going to cvs.com or calling your local cvs. so, stay safe. because the more we stay apart, the sooner we can all get back together.

the coronavirus pandemic has exposed a wealth divide and racial divide in america. tom foreman is out front. >> reporter: one-third of all u.s. patients sick enough to be admitted to the hospital for the virus are african-american,

that's much smaller than the population. studied by cdc. not dwechbtive but implies the pandemic is particularly threatening black communities. the virus can be lethal to anyone. >> why is it three or four times more so for the black community as opposed to other people? >> reporter: the answer, more african-americans are living in poverty than almost any other groups as a percentage. often in densely populated cities. less insurance and access to medical care, leaving them more likely to develop the related medical issues proving so deadly. >> underlying conditions like hypertension, diabetes and heart disease, this virus is particularly hard on.

>> reporter: the surgeon general suffers from some of those problems, only 35. >> i represent that legacy of growing up poor and black in america, i and many other black americans are higher risk of covid. >> reporter: as food lines explode, poor communities are growing poorer. even those low income folks who can hold on to jobs can't do them from home. >> work in a lot of the service industry which unfortunately is still dealing with the public, grocery stores and service industries still doing the job we need them to do. they're bringing that home to their families. >> reporter: it's not new. studies have shown almost every calamities poor communities are less prepared, able to compete for resources, recover. >> whatever the situation, natural disaster, hurricane katrina, people standing on the

rooftops were not rich, white people. why? why is that poorest people always pay highest price? >> "ac-360" starts good evening, i'm anderson cooper, thanks for joining us. we heard from the president's coronavirus task force, u.s. death toll now tops 18,000 people in this country. white house believing that the peak may have been reached or soon will be reached. there is some disagreement about that on the coronavirus task force. let's go first to cnn's erika hill standing by. sorry, nic is standing by. what's the latest? >> reporter: he