it is scary to go to work. i think that i'd be a lot safer if i was sitting at home than i would be going to the west wing. it's a small crowded space you know, it's a little bit risky. but you have to do it, because you have to serve your country >> coronirus races into the ranks at the white house the trump administration fights to contain the spread of covid-19 after top aides test positive newly surfaced video reveals the final moments before ahmaud arbery was shot and killed while his family says he was out for a jog. and the growing calls for the department of justice to step

in hope on the horizon. the breakthrough in testing that could change the course of the outbreak and the paw patrol, and how one city is using robot dogs to enforce social distancing. >> good morning to you on this monday i'm cory coffin. >> and i'm phillip mena. most of the country is pushing ahead with more plans to reopen amid this coronavirus pandemic there are fears as the u.s. reports more than 80,000 deaths. areas that were hit hard early on like new york and louisiana seem to be seeing a slowing of the spread >> in new york, fewer people are being hospitalized with the virus. governor andrew cuomo announced that the number of new patients has dropped to the level that it was out when the state first issued orders to close businesses and the governor also revealed

changes coming to new york's nursing homes. all staff members must be tested twice every week, and hospitals can no longer release covid-19 patients to nursing homes until they test negative in connecticut, the department of health delivered ipads to nursing homes ch with their families foreast mother's daykentucky is using t open back up today thermal imaging is being used to take employees' temperatures as they arrive. masks are mandatory. office and lunch spaces will be at about half capacity, and partitions are up to separate people the trump administration is fighting to continue tain an outbreak of coronavirus sweeping through the white house this morning. vice president mike pence will return to work today, despite earlier reports that he planned to, quote, give a little distance for a day or two after his spokeswoman tested positive for the virus. our capitol hill correspondent tracie potts joins us with the very latest.

tracie, several top health experts say they will quarantine >> good morning. there are three members of the white house coronavirus task force who have decided to self-quarantine. they're isolating themselves because of exposure to people who have tested positive for the virus. they are dr. stephen hahn, the commissioner of the fda, dr. robert redfield, the director of the cdc, and a man we've seen a lot, dr. anthony fauci, the infectious disease director expert from nih. all of them are supposed to testify before a senate committee this week. that will continue, but they will testify remotely vaughia videoconference because they're self-isolating now we also learned overnight that vice president pence is not in quarantine. he is not self-quarantining, but he took a couple of days to back off. he skipped a national security meeting out of caution this weekend, according to a senior administration official, after his press secretary katie miller tested positive. so did a military valet, the president and the vice president

being tested daily along with people around them they have both tested negative and they're also dealing with those dismal april jobs numbers that could get worse >> my numbers aren't rosy. >> may or june would be the low point for unemployment at what? at what rate >> that's what we expect, yeah you know, i'm looking for rates north of 20, sadly >> aren't we talking close to 25% at this point, which is great depression neighborhood? >> chris, we could be. it wouldn't be a surprise if you closed down the economy that in half of the workforce, half the people didn't work and that's why we're very focused on rebuilding this economy and getting it back to where it was >> the treasury secretary says they're looking for an economic bounceback to kick in this fall. cory >> thank you very much we're hearing for the first time from the man who became known as patient zero.

loren was one of the first people to test positive for the virus in new york. many of the people he had contact with were diagnosed. and his suburb was the first under lockdown inside the u.s. he has since recovered and he is now talking to today's savannah guthrie in an exclusive interview. >> i just thought it was a cough, a winter cough. quite frankly, i'm not certain any of the medical staff had been thinking about that initially when they examined me. >> so these were early days. did coronavirus even come up when you went to that first visit to the doctor? >> not at all. there was no mention of it at all. >> his exclusive interview with savannah guthrie airs this morning on "today. now let's get to promising advancements in diagnosing and treating covid-19 patients that could drastically change the course of this crisis. here is kathy park. >> reporter: good morning. two major medical developments hold promise in treating and diagnosing patients with covid-19

health expert says the breakthroughs could change the course of the crisis a major step forward in testing patients for covid-19. the fda issued an emergency authorization for a new type of coronavirus test that detects fragments of virus proteins or antigens why is this significant? >> kit be done in a few minutes, 15 minutes usually >> reporter: much faster than what is currently used to diagnosis covid. >> up until now it's been a nasal swab, a throat swab or saliva test. it's called a pcr test it takes a few hours to do. >> reporter: it also offers some relief for people waiting days for answers. >> frustrating that you have to wait so long for results >> reporter: both diagnostic tests differ from antibodyh shos recovered from the disease >> we have to have a breakthrough innovation in testing. >> reporter: last month white house adviser dr. deborah birx tested t ed thed the importancea testing breakthrough. >> we have to be able to test

antigen rather than testing the viral particles itself. >> reporter: could three drugs be bear than one in the fight against coronavirus? researchers in hong kong say they preliminariry discovered a faster recovery time among patients w patients who receive this. >> it cut down on the time of infection and the time they're hospitalized >> reporter: doctors say these medical advance aren't a cure but offer hope until there is a vaccine. so how soon can we see these antigen tests tonight market since they are much simpler in design, it could be a matter of weeks. and the manufacturer is really ramping up the production. their goal is to supply a million tests per week cory >> hopeful breakthrough, kathy thank you. one country is taking drastic measures to make sure the virus doesn't spread at all. bill neely takes us inside the place where he got a covid test. >> in the lab at vienna airport,

a world first. a test for travelers that detects coronavirus fast sarah walters from philadelphia has just flown in. >> it's brilliant. it allows you to get off the plane, test, and a couple of hours know if you can avoid quarantine or not. >> reporter: that's 14 days of compulsory quarantine for all passengers arriving in austria including us, unless you test negative, which i did. the test costs around $200, but for that, you get a result pretty fast, two to three hours. an example perhaps for american airports >> i think it would be fantastic. >> reporter: it's a coronavirus passport that can be used worldwide to prove you're not infected >> if we pass for another country to enter that. >> reporter: it is one small step to getting austria back to work safely. >> that's a big challenge not only for austria, as for the

whole world, especially the aviation business. >> austria is now three weeks into relaxing its lockdown with shops open one of the first countries in the world to do it later this month, bars and restaurants, hotels and museums are due to reopen here because the government says so far the loosening of the lockdown hasn't led to any spike in infections. >> the experiment has worked, but we have the half lockdown and early lockdown >> reporter: austria's population is roughly the same as new york city's, but its reported only around 600 coronavirus deaths, not 20,000 there have been protests against austria's lockdown and its strict testing and tracing but its success is clear ft takp on its road to recovery. bill neely, nbc news, vienna a georgia father and son duo

who are accused of shooting and killing ahmaud arbery, an unarmed black man as he ran through their neighborhood have been denied bond gregory and travis mcmichael remain behind bars this morning, and there are calms for a federal investigation as the second surveillance video appears to show the 25-year-old before he was shot here is nbc's blayne alexander >> reporter: the georgia bureau of investigation confirms it is looking at this video obtained by station wjxt as part of the investigation into the death of ahmaud arbery. the short video shows a man walk into a construction site and look around. it's one of several angles of video being reviewed, the gbi says, including this obtained by the atlanta journal constitution the gbi says all of these were investigated before arresting gregory and travis mcmichael in a statement, lawyers fo arbery's family say the house was empty, under construction. arbery engaged in no illegal activity and was inside under three minutes. according to police reports, gregory mcmichael says he and his son travis armed themselve

and began to chase arbery because they thought he was a burglary suspect, telling police arbery began the violently attack and shot in self-defense. but arbery's family says he was just out for a jog, unarmed. we're learn mortgage about the initial investigation into the death of ahmaud arbery in a statement, glen county says the d.a.'s office advised the police initially that no arrests were necessary, and a second d.a. deemed the shooting a justifiable homicide but district attorney jackie johnson fired back saying nobody in her office directed any glen county police officer not to make an arrest it was only after the bureau of investigation took over the february shooting case that they arrested gregory and travis mcmichael within 36 hours. >> it gave me a little sense of relief, and again, hope. because i was just about to give up hope. >> the gbi is investigating a threat made on facebook against future protests for arbery it comes as a number of big names are calling for outside help jay-z, alicia keys and others publishing an open letter to georgia's governor, demanding a special prosecutor examine the case

and more than 50 nfl players calling on attorney general william barr to launch a federal inquiry. >> this is just a first step we -- i would like to get all hands involved every hand that was involved, convicted and given to prison. >> reporter: the gbi is not ruling out future arrests. blayne alexander, nbc news, atlanta. all right. we're going to take a look outside with janessa webb. i could not believe my eyes this weekend. i had to do a double take. is it snowing out there? and running to the calendar. we're three weeks away from june what's up with that? >> exactly the weather continues to be up and down record-breaking cold throughout the week and you're waking up to a few 30s this morning across the great lakes. we're in the 40s for the upper midwest and 53 degrees across new york city. but still, this is a good large area that we're seeing freeze watches, freeze advisories that

are currently in place for 38 million people and i think they will continue to expand for the ohio valley. also, watching a storm system, if you're looking for the rain, here it comes acrossd the heat, comes for houston, all the way to tampa, in the mid-80s >> so i know a cold start, but we have better conditions on the way. that's coming up >> sounds good looking forward the that janessa, thank you all right. right now nfl rookies, they aren't able to celebrate entering the league because of all that's going on. but a group of first rounders, they took to zoom for a virtual hat pass look likes a brady bunch thing going on joe burrow, chase young, justin hebert, they're taking turns

passing the draft hats to one