captioning sponsored by wnet reenivasan: on this edition s r saturday, apl 11: coronavirucases in the u.s. grow to more than half a million. turning to social media for financial help. and, keeping the faith in cmehanging next, on pbs newshour weekend. >> pbs newshour weekend is made possible by: bernard and irene schwartz. sue and edgar wachenheim iii. tethe cheryl and philip mi family. rosalind p. walter. barbara hope zuckerberg. charles rosenblum. front of us.what's right int,

at mutual of america, we believe taking care of tomorrow can help you make the most of today. al muf america financial group, retirement services and investments. additional support has been herovided by: and byorporation for public broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the american people. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> sreenivasan: od evening and thanks for joining us. we are continuing to bring you our reporting from mulatple remote lns this weekend.s it iill a time of social distancing and crisis here in new york city. and lives are beinst.reading, even for those who are healthy, the coronavirus pandemic has stopped life as we knew it. let's get started with tay's top new

the coronavirus pandemic has claimed more than 18,000 lives in the united states. there are now more than half a million confirmed cases in the u.s., according to john hopkins university's coronavirus resource tracker. city, where more than 5,800y people have died from covid-19. today, mayor bill de blasio announced that the city's schools will rmain closed for the rest of the academic year. >> having to tell you that r cannot bring our schools back for tainder of the school year is painful. but i can also tell s ree right thing to do. >>enivasan: a few hours later, new york governor andrew cuomo said he has the authority over schools statewide and that the mayor's announcement was an "opion." >> i understand the mayor's position, which is, he wants to close until june. and we may dthat. but we are going to do it in a coordinated sense with the other localities. >> sreenivasan: cuomo also reported that hospitalizations in the state are deining, and may have hit their apex, but he said deaths from the virus continue at what he called a" >> terrible news is the number

of lives lost. 783 yestday. that is not an all-time hh, and you can see the nuer is somewhat stabilizing. but it istabilizing at a horrific rate. 783 people, 777, 799... these are just incredible numbers depicting incredible loss and pain. so sreenivasan: the governor arned that until those numbers improve, speculation about re-opening the economy is premature. >> you have to re-open, you have to decide how to re-open, you have to decide when to re-open. and that is going to be impactful. we don't know if there's going to be a second wave or not. the coronavirus has killed nearly 104,000 people around the world, and there are more than 1.7 million confirmed infections. people in london stayed out ofa

parks on sunny holiday weekend ath adhered to strict social distancing measures. officials in the u.k. announced that 917 people had died in hospitals from the coronavirus in the last 24 hours, bringing 0,the ath toll to nearly0. across the u.k., there are nearly0,000 people with confirmed infections, including the prime minister, boris johnson. he remains hospitalized with the virus, but officials y his condition continues to improve and he is no longer in intensive care. imposed a two-day lockdown across much of the country to try and stop the spread of covid-19. in is, tanbcity of 16 million, bridges and streets were almost completely deserted. tuey haslso halted all international flights, restricted domestic travel, and banned largerayer gatherings. in india, prime minister nodarendra modi announced that the country's lockdown would be extended, but didn't say for how lo. a 21-day lockdown was due to end this coming tuesday, bumany regional officials urged for it to be extended, despite the hardship it's imposed on tens of

millions of poorer indians who are unable to work. and in brazil, officials announced that the death toll here had exceeded 1,000, making it the first country in the southern hemisphere to officially surpass that mark. while many regions of brazil are under quarantines, the country's preso,ident, jair bolsonaras ignored warnings from public health officials and flaunted social distancing guidelines. 50 years ago today, the "apollo 13" mission blasted off only to become famous for the astronauts' message two days later: >> houston, we've had a >> sreenivasan: an oxygen tank in the capsule had exploded, keeping astronauts james lovell, fred hais and jack swigert from landing on the moon's surface. the blast also knocked outwo electrical pow-generating fuel cells, and ruptured a third. quick thinking by the crew and mission control brought the astronauts home safely days

later. the rescue is considered to be one of greatest in american paul mccartney's handwritten lycs to the beatles iconic song "hey jude" sold at an online auction yesterday for $910,000. the scribbled notes fetched nine times the original estimate. the lyrics were one of more than 250 items of beatles memorabilia that went on auction to mark the 50th anniversary of the band's breakup. other items included a drum head and drawings by john lennon. for more on the coronavirus outbreak and the latest national and international news, visit www.pbs.org/newshour. >> sreenivasan: when it comes to covid-19, there has been a great deal of discussion about whether or t people are asymptomatic, and what that could really mean when it comes to contracting and spreading the virus. iecently spoke with propublica health reporter caroline chen,nt who delved ithe data to find out more. car toline, let's staking about how do we figure out who

especially if there is this possibility that we are now flatting the curve. how do i know if i'm somebody who's already had it, and if i'm asymptomatic? >> so, i think that there are twnco ts here. a true asymptomatic person is w somebo never had symptoms at all. arend t another word that i'll introduce, which is "pre-symptomatic," which is se omebody who at the tey were tested and was positive, didn't yet have symptoms but then maybe later on had a cough or fever. so, we now know that there are bo types of people, more commonly maybe that there are pre-symptomatics. and is think ially important that we be testing pheople, you know, w diagnostic tests so we can find these people out there because people can start transmitting the disease before their symptoms turn up. to your other question, which is, can i find out if i had been

that requires a different type of test. that's an antibody test that's done with the blood. >> sreenivasan: if we don't know yet exactly when people start transmitting the disease, that makes it incredibly hard to try to say, kay, this group of people, you need to stay home. this group of people, you can walk about in society," right? >> we now know, in fact, that people probably have what's called a really high viral load, which means that they have a lot of infectious virus early on in the course of their disease, started to show ss.ey've and so, that's helped make this disease and this virus particularlcontagious. >> sreenivasan: because most of us in the beginning, wn this started, we were told if you're showing any symptoms, stay hom and we did as best we could. obviously, ii didn't have a cough, i didn't feel feverish, if i didn't have all those aches and pains, i said, "all right, well, let me just go to work." and then, what happens if four days later i get this? so,wh those first three day

i was going to the office, i might have been spreading it to everyone else? that, unfortunately, is now what we think. and this is why, you kno the w.h.o. and the c.d.c. are all saying that social distancing really, really matters, and that six-foot distance really can make a difference. so, i talked to a lot of scientists, and i said, well, you know, we've been told, you oug,, coughing and sneezin knsmitted. and this image was given to me by a virologist, angela rasmussen at columbia. and she said, you know, on a really cold day, when you step outside and you're-- you see that fog in the air? >> sreenivasan: yeah. >> she said that's respiratory droplets. and that's why people keep saying six-foot distance, sifix-foot distance, becaus i'm already infected and i'm not yet maybe actively coughing, i'm still oducing respiratory c droplets, andld infect someone without even realizing it. >> sreenivasan: at's one thing if you're outside. arit's another thing if yoin a space that has, why, the

recycled air or not much airflow. >>eah. and so, you know, a lot of the people that i've been talking to, the experts, sma that densiters, right? so, if you're in a packed subway car where everybody's kind of breathing on each oth's, you know, uch more likely that disease will be transmitted there than if you're in the open air. >> sreenivasan: were any of the scientists surprised by anything that they learned? iis mean, of maybe how irus is behaving differently than previs viruses that they know about? >> yes. so, one of the things that i just mentioned earlier, this concept of viral load, which is when are you most infectious in the cofoursour disease? with this virus, you're probably the most infected, right, early on at th course.f your disease maybe even before you start being symptomatic was-- has been a surprise. >> sreenivasan: and it's also aing to matter about how nd when we get back to life as normal. >> because we know that asymptomatic transmission can happen, we're going to need to tests-- the diagnostic tests tof find out if someone had active infection, and the antibody test

to find out if someone had a previous infection-- to find out boterh the infection, where the viearus is sng, and which people have been previously infected. thesg e tests are go be key to help public health officials figure out what to do. >> sreenivasan:o they have any ea on when my body would form antibodies or how long those antibies would last? yeah. so, these are the questions that are being fured out right now by scientists. and so, at the point you have just be is that the antibody tests should not be used like a-- right then because your body is still forming those antibodie to fight off the infection. and so-- but they should lt at least for weeks and months. and so, you would be able to then look back months later and seeno whether oyou had those antibodies. the open questiwh right now is amount of antibodies you need in your blood to give you immunity. these tests are alady being developed, already being made.

but i think there's a lot of work being done by scientists to hereally study, you know, amount in people's blood and what kind of immunity that >> sreenivasan: all right, caroline chen of propublica, thanks so much. >> thank you for having me. >> sreenivasan: this holy week, celebrated by christians worldwide, coincides with the jewish holiday passover. usually, that means ing with family for religious gatherings. but these are not normal times. newshour weekend's melanie saltzman rneecently met hbor who is finding ways to cope and observe the holidays while being away from her family. >> some parsley to dip in saltwater. >>s reporter: gloria strong neighbor in brooklyn, new york. we just met a cwhple weeks ago i saw her on the elevator. she lives alone. that means, th year, because of social distancing, she'll be celebrating the passover holiday alone, too. >> i-- i think emily's teacher has it.

>> reporter: her daughter, andresea strong, learby and visits when she can. >> but we're going to get through it. we will. r orter: andrea stands outside of the apartment. gloria uses a measuring tape to reassu her daughter that she's far enough away. what has this time been like for you, with the social diancing and the isolation? >> it's kind of lonely. i find myself crying at the silliest things. you know, i just-- just start crying, and then i'll be okay. but i miss being able to touch, to hug my kids. that's the worst part, you know, with my daughter saying, "you're not gdown for the mail. i don't want you leaviour apartment." i mean, it's too much. >> reporter: that's how we met. i ended up seeing you gog down and saying, "what you doing? i'm going to go g the mail for you. stay home."> you know, going down, at least i could see the doorman, talk to someone.i i meanel like i'm losing my voice. i don't talk at all.

>> reporter: strong, who nortsmally osher food, says it's been haer to find it these days. >> all the supermarkets said they have no delivery. they're not taking orders online. the's a lot of work prepari for passover, usually. but, this yearit's become very difficult because of being unable to get o and get what i need. so, i'm just making do. w you know, when younger, i don't think i appreciated family as much as io now. i used to get annoyed with some of my cousins. but now, it's diff i do miss seeing them all. >> reporter: strong says she'll especially miss a sephardic tradition that commemorates the jewish captivity in egyprm what do you ly do for passover? how do you celebrate? >>hene of our customs, which kids love-- we all love-- is that we take scallions, and we

whip each other to remember what used to happen to these-- the jews when they were in egypt and e they waves. >> reporter: so, are you going toe doing that versus... >> oh, i brought scallions. i'll just beat mysel ( laughs ) >> reporter: on wednesday, the fighrst of passover, strong's seder plate had the traditional symbolic items, includin eg a boil and lettuce. she used substitutes for the thgs she couldn't find, like a chicken bone instead of a lamb shank bone. >> what will be different about this seder from all of the seders? >> reporter: and she still managed to be with her family season, online.le this holiday >> why aren't you eating each other? >> we've got to sing that song. >> well, then, start singing. ♪ ( singing together ) >> love you, mom! >> i love you. ♪ ♪

>> sreenivasan: over the last three weeks, more than 16 million americans have benefits, as the covid-19 pandemic has ground the economy to aear halt. millions of americans are waiting for direct payments from the government as part of the recovery bill. some in dire financial straits are turning to social media to ask for help. newshour weekend producer sam weber reports. >> reporter: in late march, author and marketer frederick joseph sent a tweet to his more than 60,000 followers: "if rtyou're s few hundred bucks on a bill, reply and i'll @zelle/@cashapp you." meaning, "i'll pay it for you." and he pointed his twitter follow where they could help him pay other people's bills. >> d i think we expecybe for it to get to, like, $20,000, $30,000. and thheat's kind of i put some of my maeting muscle in. fice, porsche landon, who is helping with the campaign,

d from their new york ci apartment as donations grew. what started as a $10,000 grant from crowdfunding platform gofundme hagrown to more than $240,000 as of this morning. >> the goal of this fund has been to help as many people as possible, a few hundred dollars here, a few hundred doars there. >> reporter: each day, joseph, landon and a small team working with them are sending that money, $200 at a time, to people who ask for help on twitter and instagram. ey use the hashtag #rentrelief, but they pay more than just rent >> they're actually posting photos of their bills, right? you know, $200t is a lor people right now. >> reporter: each transacon is documented with a screenshot of the confirmation from cash app, a popular app for sending and receiving money. >> we try to find stories that resonate with us but also just to be fair and even and try to see everybody. >> reporter: joseph and landon say they've been deliberate about giving to people in all

kinds of situations. >> so, it's not a matter of them having to beike, "hey, i am rminally ill and have 25 children." it's like, "i'm a college student who's struggling." so, we're showing a spectrum sparently so that people don't assume anything. we're trying to keep people guessing so that there's no formula for them to follow. who saw jo original tweet people was walker gaultney, who goes by >> i was ke, yo, "it can't hurt." ( laughs ) i mean, things have been really tightor quite a while. >> reporter: gaultney started replying to joseph's tweets each day. he posted screenshots of would-be scammers trying to requneest using joseph's likeness, a common trick online. and he posted about himself. the 33-year-old who lives near macon, georgia, hasn't had a steady job since last november. he wrote that he's "negative in the bank and $950 in the hole on rent." >> there's been many times where i've prettyki muc of accepted in my head that i was going to end up homeless. that way t, if it cathat,

i'm prepared. ( laughs ) >> reporter: then, last week,ph josent him $200, no strings attached. it wasn't enough to get him out of debt, but he says it's helped change h>>is attitude. i feel like i've kind of sank to a point twhere i really don't see a lot of faith in humanity, if that makes sense. you know, so something like this happening, it-- it makes me feel a lot better, you know? and i wish i were in a position to do thsame thing he is. >> repor frederick joseph's #rentrelief campaign is donating $10,000 a day, $200 at a time, as lonas the money lasts. and it's not the only one trying to help people in this way. philanthropist bill pulte has been giving away cash and publicizing it on social media since last summer. his posts offering help routinely generate tens of thsands of replies. and in mid-march, writer shea serrano kicked off tens of thousands of dollars in giving

with this post: "( bleep ) corowhnavirus. has a bill coming up that they're not sure they're going to be ae to pay? send me your bill and venmo." despite all these efforts, of course, the need right now is enormous, and thouopsands of who ask for help don't get it. >> there's so many people trying to get on there that, i mean, we're sitting on there trying to nstantly comment. and it's like-- it's like, if you win, you win the lottery. >> reprter: c.j. edwards is an elementary school teacher, and victoria abnathy is a full-timer sing student. they live in lakeland, florida. to make ends meet, they bt-h worked pime at local restaurant. take-out only because ofbecame covid-19, ty lost those jobs. >> we honestly have to prioritize. okay, rent first. and then, how long can we push out the phone bill? hoarlong can we push off the payment? because i have a car payment, i i go to an accelerated school. it's very expensive. so, that's going to be another anhat i'm going to have to pay off when i gradte. so, it'

think-- i guess, because we live it-- but it's crazy to think that some people think thatar teacher'sy is able to cover. that mu >> reporter: everyday, j. diligently posts on twitter asking for help, hoping that this will be the day he gets noticed by those giving out money. >> i believe that they're doing somethingstncredible. i my biggest thing is that i get my hopes so high up, and then i'm like, ","h, it's not r "it's not us." and i just-- i continue to try, and i continue to hope that maybe one day it will be. win that lottery.can, i g >> for those of you who haven't been chosen yet, please don't be discouraged. >> reporter: frederick jeph acknowledges that philanthropic efforts like his are not enough. he believes the kind of support that can make a real difference right now needs to come from government. >> rent eds to be suspended, right? the goal is that if it does continue, we don't want going to rent. we want it going to the people who need groceries, the people

weeho need totheir light bill on. because, frankly, if rent is due next month and people are dealing with this for the next few weeks, the country's going to explode, frankly. >> sreenivasan: sheltering in place means diffdient things to erent people. for some, it is lonely, even dangerous. for he more fortunate, it can actually create new family opportunities. newshour weekend's christopheron bookerders himself one of the lucky ones. >> repilorter: our f saturdays have always seemed to contradict the purpose of saturdays:o unwind from the week. the day always passed with a rentless tempo as we moved from one obligation to the next. morning swimming lessons, llusually ed by a birthday party, baby shower, barbecue-- you name it. arend somewn-between, a budget-blowing run to target or costco. there would certainly be a year-old, both kids would usually crumble from their sugar

highs in the early afternoon, neither parent s theending with weekend was half-finished or lf-begun. but this is our saturday now. we walk. sometimes just down the street. sometimes on the bike path behind our house. and, today, on a nearby trail. we have been socially distancing for four weeks. each has been a little less confusing than the last. our attempts at simtaneously running a nursery school and a first grade classroom e showing signs of promise, though i'md not entirely convinr kids' teachers would agree. and as the weeks have passed, a routine has set i and it's come with-- if i'm being honest-- a feeling of guilt. whe there have been challenges and frustrations in our attempts to fill the hours for two very active kids, what our family has been asked to do pales in comparison to what health care workers on the frontlines are doing just a few miledown the road from us. but, when we're out walking, the day sloai. anxiety r, but it loses ground against playing drums on

a tree or listening to the fspring peepers, those tigs that sing of winter's end-- small little catails that i 't believe we had left out of our saturdays before. but now, part of something that helpsur family feel normal, at least for a little bit. ( drplayins ) >> sreenivasan: pbs newshour weekend wants to know how you are filling your days. we'd love to hear about your "new normal"-- we might even put it on our eogram. please us an email at nhweekend@wnet.org. >> sreenivasan: tomorrow on pbs newshour weekend, we'll have news from around the world as the coronavus pandemic continues to claim lives. and, we'll talk about lessons learned from the successful battle against the ebola epidemic in the democratic reponublic of. that's all for this edition of pbs newshour weekend. for the latest news updates, visit www.pbs.org/newshour.

i'm hari sreenivasan. thanks for watching, stay well, anhave a good night. captioning sponsored by wnet captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org >>ur pbs newshoeekend is made possible by: sue and edgar wachenheim iii. the cheryl and philipmiilstein . barbara hope zuckerberg. charles rosenblum. we try to live in the moment, to not miss what's right in front of us. at mutual of america, we

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in part by conutions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. - you know, the fundamental of the idea that the adult brain is seton in stone is the coaying but, in fact, you can. the adult brain, again, at the re old age, in their 40s, 50s, 60s, even beyond, can change its structure and function in a significant way. - everyone i know who's getting older and rgets things makes jokes about having sior moments.