ioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> woodruff: good evening. i'm judy woodruff.sh on the newr tonight: the death toll in the u.s. from covid-19 nearly doubles in a concedes that the power to e social distancing lies with thee ors. then, when to reopen.se as the white hushes an aggressiveestart of the economy, what will it take to get americans back to work safely? and, o nurses in the intensive care unit, amid mounting stress from treating the sick, and fears over the potential for coagion. plus, answering your questions about covid-19-- the risks ofan trission, and how to stay healthy while caring for loved ones. all that and more, on tonight's s newshour.

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at the white house and in state houses tonight, over imposed by covid-19. curbs it comes as the pandemic's death rising, and as the economic damage deepens. john yang reports on the day's developments. >> the plans to reopen the country are close to beingd. finali >> yang: despite president trump's eagerness to lift restrictions, even as covid-19 continues to claim lives, local officials are saying: not so fast. merican epicenter, new york city mayor bill de blasio said today, the response needs to be "purposeful." >> if you want to re-start the economy, get it rit. actually make sure that we've contained this thing. >> yang: new york gornor andrew cuomo said the state's health care system has not been overwhelmed, as initiay feared. but, he said more testing is relaxed, and that the federal

government needs to be involved. >> the states cannot develop. national testi there is no simple answer to it. it'sasically controlled by private sector companies. >> yang:uomo also said he was taking the aggressive step of requiring all people to wear masks in public when they could not keep six feet away from others. senate democratic leader chuck schumer today call for a $30 billion nationwide testing program. mr. trump has already rmed a working group to rebuild the nation's economy. the "great american economic revival industry groups" includes nearly 200 ople spanning 16 industries, like former secretary of ste condoleezza rice, apple c.e.o. tim cook, n.b.a. commissioner adam silver, and, the afl-cio's richard trumka. the president also announced tuesday that the u.s. will suspend funding the world health

organization, sayingt pushed chinese misinformation. today, t w.h.o.'s top official rejected that claim and called for cooperation. >> this is a time for all us be united in our common struggle against a commonat th >> yang: the dispute comes amidt fresh rethat the chinese government withheld information in january, as coronavirus spread in wuhan. today, a government spokesman pushed back: >> ( translated ): china has always timely notified the w.h.o. and relevant countries oc the epidnformation with an open, transparent and responsible attitude. >> yang: meanwhile, cases of vid-19 continue to increase across the united states, now representing a third of the more than two million cases worldwide. outside the michigan state capital in lansing today, a conservative group rallied against democratic governor gretchen whitmer's moves to close places like golf courses

and landscaping companies, unless they adhere to social g distancingdelines. nationwide, the widespread economic damage is becoming clearer. retail sales dropped 8.7% in march-- the steepest decline in nearly three decades of record- keeping. while some americans have begun seeing their $200 in stimulus money in their bank accounts, the treasury department now says 70 million paper checks will go out with presidentrump's name on them, but officials say it will not delay the mailing. elsewhere, the start of a new normal.>> e have set the tables twopa meters, we have soap, disinfectant all over the place. >> yang: in denmark, schools years old and younger if they meet governmt requirements, ke keeping a 6.5-foot distance between children, and parents n oose to keep their kids

home. denmark was the first european country to shut down in early march. and, donning face masks and gloves, south korean poll workers gan counting ballots in this year's parliamentary elections.id officials urnout was higher than expected. for the pbs newshour, i'm john yang.>> oodruff: and, underscoring how far the u.s. may be from returning to normal-- the mayor of los angeles said late todayhe thatity is not likely to allow sporting events, concerts and other large events until next year. in the day's other news, wall street swung lower again, as oil prices fell and banksf warned ollions in loan defaults caused by the pandemic. the dow jones industrial average dropped 445 points to close at 23,504. l the nasdaqost 122 points, and the s&p 500 gave up 62. california wl make pandemicre

ef payments of $500 apiece to 150,000 migrants living in the state without documentation. emocratic governor gavin newsom said today they ential work and pay millions of dollars in taxes. almost 40% of the money willat come from prcontributions. the migrants are not eligible for federal payments. the world's 20 richest economies are freezing debt payments for poorer countries during the pandic. the g-20 nations announced it today. the moratorium covers paymentsli to $20 billion. it is aimed at helping african nations spend more on health today marked one ynce firetions. gutted notre dame cathedral in paris. but now, covid-19 has halted reconstruction work. plans to remove 250 tons of scaffolding have been delayed. but, french president emmanuel macron pledged again today that

the huge project will be done, on schedule. >> ( translated ): i promised we would rebuild note within five years. anwe will do everything weo respect that delay. the building work is of course at a halt at the moment because of the health crisis but it will resume as soon as possf:le. >> woodronight, the giant bell in the church's south towea out, joining a nightly ause for health workers treating pandemic victims. back in this country, about 50 vehicles piled into each other on a chicago expressway, after a winter storm left the road iced over. hospitals from the scene.aken to illinois state police clos the expressway's southbound lanes for three hours to clean up. and, in the democratic presidential campaign,na massachusetts r elizabeth warren endorsed former vice president joe biden. she was the last of his major rivals to do so.

warren said that biden would restore america's faith in good, effective government. still to come on the newshour: president trump threatens to health organization.e world what it would mean, at a time of crisis. when to reopen, and how to do it safely. a conversation on restarting the american economy. on the front lines in the intensive care unit-- how nurses are handling the stress. to south korea, where the government's response to covid-19 may turn the tide ofel today's tion. and, much more. >> woodruff: president trump said yesterday he would cut u.s. funding for the world health organization. he accused the body of being

too trusting of china's assertions that it had the virus under control. our nick schifrin joins me to discuss the dispute and the underlying facts. so, hello, nick. what the president said is that will freeze all funding to the world health organization. what exactly would that look like? yeah, i talked to senior administration officials about this, and ey say that freeze is a 60- to 90-day freeze, an the way it works, judy, is the u.s. who is the largestnt butor to the w.h.o. doesn't cut a single check, so there are different w.h.o. programs that get funded at different mes, so anything ear marked to the w.h.o. over the next two to three months simply would not get paid. the question is officials are knsidering whether to tthat organization or directly tor countries instead of the w.h.o., or they're going to freeze it and hod it, trying to use it as

leverage, and that's what they say they'really trying to get leverage to reform the world health organization. >> woodruff: and, so, what kind of reforms are they loong for? >> judy, the short-term goal is very clear, they want taiwan to be an observer at the w.h.o. again. it was in the past. china resisted giving it back. that status and u.sofficial tell me they believe the director general of the w.h.o. n do that and decide that himself. the second goal is to soehow force cotries to share information about outbreaks. right now they are required to share information to the w.h.o. the u.s. officis sayhere's simply no enforcement mechanism inrder to doat. ohe t ki othalgir reorie nt t priorits of the world health organization. w.h.o. does a lot of things -- it worries about polio, road safety, worries aboocut lal health emergencies -- but the u.s. wants it to focuslmost

ively on infectious disease. >> woodruff: what is the worldul health organization saying? >> the world health organization is saying it hs to work with china and within the confines of those regulations that require more self-reporting. so let's take a listen to michael ryan, the executive director of the world health ornization's emergency program. >> the international health regutions a framework negotiated by 194 countries. we simply implement that framework on behalf of our member sta >> what we need in w.h.o. like so many workers aund the world is the space, the support and the solidarity to do or jobs. >> and, of course, judy, the straes today has been critir zed ducing that support and sol dares in a time of pandemicc and, bause in order to reenact those reforms, it's going to need the support of the other members the world health organization, the other countries around the world. >> woodruff: what sort ofit ism directed at the u.. >> the criticism. is everywhere. you say bill gates whose

foundation is a major funder of e w.h.o. said that c choice, end quote. the w.h.o. is slowing the spread the covid 19 and if that work is stopped and no organization can replace them, the world needs world health organization now more than ever, and speaker of the house nancy pelosi says the president is ignoring global health experts, discounting science and undermining thei heroesghting on the frontline. >> woodruff: that is praise but in contrast to the administration criticizing the w.h.o. for this m months. >> yeah, it's not only been the administration bt a lot of critics around the world have said simply the w.h.o. is too swayed by china. new year's. you back to about this is the time when local doctors in wuhan, china, wereg tellspital administrators that, hey, this is something new and there is human-to-human transmissionnd we are getting sick but the hospitals and local government covered it up or

lenced the local doctors. on december 31, th wuhan government released the statement the investigation found no obvious person-to-person transmission and no mvedical personnel been infected and the w.h.o. basically parroted that language. january 5, based on the preliminary information from the chinese investigation team, n idence of significant human-to-human transmission and no healthcare worker infections reported. . officials said the w.hould have known better and not accepted chinese lanage. >> woodruff: nick, weren't the trump administration and the w.h.o. praisinchina's response back in january? >> yeah, that' a great point and this is really key. let's take a listen to the dictor general of the w.h.o. talking in january the day after the w.h.odeclared this a global emergency, but also president trump praing china. >> w.h.o. continues to have the outbreak. china to control

>> i spoke with president xi. we had a great talhek. working very hard. i have to say, he's working very, very hard.d you can count on the repos coming out of china,ea that sprhas gone down quite a bit. >> woodruff: and, judy, obviously, the president's language about china has changed and the u.s. really does want to reform w.h.o., but they need international support to do so and it's not clear that they have that. >> woodruff: nick schifrin, thank you so much. all this background is incredibly important, thank you, nick. >> thank you. >> woodruff: we return tonight tonhe question of how and w we might reopen the country, or big parts of it, and return to something closer to normal. former.d.a. commissioner,

dr. mark mcclean, has been working on a major roadmap to gradually reignite the economy. but that re-opening would happen only after several important milestones are reached. lawmakers and the white house are looking at the framework he proposed with former f.d.a. commissioner scott gottlieb. dr. mcclellan seed in the george w. bush administration. he is now director of the duke- margolis center for alth policy at duke university. mark mccllan, welcome back to the "newshour". it's so go d to haveyou with us. i think, undstdably, americans right now want to believe we are about to go back to normal within a matter of a few weeks.t 's not going to be quick and it's not going to be simple, is is ? >> iot. we are doing a great job. r healthcare system, dealing with the surge in cases and americans across the cntou taking important steps that have the virus. slowed thspread of so we're getting past this initial surge, but this is really just the end of the

ruginning. the is going to be with us for a while. we can take steps to reopen ourm ecand get back toward normal, but it's going to be a new normal and we need to put some real protections in place to harden our communities against the virus ever spreading like it has agin. >> woodruff: and as an example, social distancing isg somethople will be living with for a while. >> and maybe even more. the steps that new york has recommended around wearing face coverings en you're in close quarters with other people and steps in our businesses and our schools to make it harder for the virus to be transmitted, we're going to see more of that in the months ahead. >> woodruff: your report says th in order for ths economy to be reignited, so to speak, that there has to bse seri and comprehensive rapid tes ample testing around the country. give us a sense of what rcentage of americans would need to have this and how fast the results would havto come

before we can talk about anything close normal. >> well, judy, the goal here is of the virus that we reallyread don't understand and haven't controlled well, excepfor these really extreme measures, to being able to identify any new outbreak very quickly and ithen take localght around it steps to contain it before it spreads further, and that meanst g and tracing every case, if possible. that's the goal. so that means diagnostic tesla ave quickly to everyone who might have symptoms that reflect covid 19, respiratory symptoms, fever, things li that, as well as people working in environments where there's a high chance of transmission,ur like ang home, for example. so we think that's on the recorder of a million tests or more per week across th united states, and it's not just having that many tests nationally, it's being able to get them quickly

to every community in theco try so that each community can keep the virus under ufntrol. >> woo and how long is it going to take? i mean, is it even possible to say at this poi? >> absolutely, and this is what we should be building for right now. it doesn't need to be that far f. the test capacity in the united states today which includes public health lab, hospital labs that have expanded, commercial labs that hav ae expanded other point of care testing with new tesinng mechanisms co observonto the market that mn ss get test results quickly into the community, that can meet this capacity. but what we also need is the ability to have the state andak local level tosure everyone has access and to also make sure we have the test materials we need tolong with the test themselves, like swabs for tests thaeneed to b done through the nose, we're working on new tests that can be done b spitting, that will be easier to use. >> woodruff: we know thi like that are not available now

and it's going to take time before they are everywhere they need to be. what about therapy for, in at what point and where are we therapy that could be with a administered to people if they start to come down with coronavirus? >> there are some very promising anti-viral treatments in clinical testing now. for example, te res veer from iliad that could be available in a couple of months. there are oths on the market that have been used for other purposes. e efforts from the f.d.a. to speed the development of the drugs. ahead with asing their going production so they can be available in large quantities help really support these steps to reopening sooner tha tt rathn later. a vaccine is still aways off,

but unprecedented efforts are taking place in not only the united states but inll oration with other countries to do large-scaleic cl testing done fast, manufacturing done fast and hopefully to make vaccines available in t next year or less as well. >> woodruff: and that's the timeline that we hear that at least a year or even a little beyond before there's accine that can be widely available, not just in this country but around the world. but there's also what's called contact tracing surveillance, being able to identify when people have been in touch with someone, who they have been in contact with, rather, who mht have been infected. we're hearing from the tech companies like google and apple. wey're trying to come uh an app. but we know that's complicated, too, isn't it, mark mcclellan? >> it is. but once again, we can takes stw to be ready for the surge in testing capacity that we're going to need in a matter

of a few weeks, so steps to make the test supplies more widely available, that's something the government can be working on with the private sector now and, in terms of doing contact tracing, that is going to take more people, but this is a gre area for further federal support to put those people inace, working with mayors, working with governors to ramp up the ability to track down people who may have been in contact, in close contact with people who test positive. >> odruff: soark mcclellan, when you look at all the things that are needed, we're talking about several months. we're not just talking about next month, may or june, are we? >> well, i think it depends on how fast areas can put togethere these capabiland how hard hit they are now. many areas of the count have been lucky, they haven't had ivry many cases, so, for them, it will be rely easy to put in place testing and tracking. it's not going to take as many people, not going to take as much resources.

still very important, people are still very vulnerable to thes, viut it could happen quickly. and throughout the country, i think th is going to happen in a step-wide fashion maybe with limited rpeng first. schools should be a priority. businesses that can make the steps to harden their ability to resist infection trnsmission. so i think you will see progress within the next month. t it will happen at different paces across the country, and it really depends on getting these key capabilities in place t ge people confident so they can go out and get back towards normal without risk of contracting the virus. >> woodruff: mark mccwellan, ertainly do hope to stay in touch with you as progress is made in this direction that everybody so badly wants. thank you so much. >> thank you very much. >> woodruff: while some statesdo

ppear to be hitting a plateau, others, like florida, are seeing their cases geew. this the state's surgeon general said residents may need to wear masks in public ur up to a yeail a vaccine is rolled out. urlliam brangham spoke with joseph falise, a at the university of miami health system, about what healthcare workers are facing. they started by focusing on the practical difficulties of treating patients while wearing so much protective gear. >> brangham: for peoo are not familiar with the process of just putting on all of that protective gear in ord to be safe going into care for patients, could you walk us through what that is like physically? >> i think that the main difference between now and prior to covid is that it's palpable, the sense of urgency with which we need to protect ourselves. and if we don't, what wi be the outcome? we've heard of, you know, health

care workers who have gotten sick, we've heard of health care workers that are dying, and somu even iown local community, and we know that we are notth immune t and that if we're not careful and if we don't hold each other accountable, that we will get sick. so we have a very heightened sense of awareness and a very heightened sense of-- of you know, compliance with our current protocols. at brangham: i understand when someone is going through the process that gear, you assign someone else to watch them, to sort of ide them through that process. can you explain why you do that? >> we kind of took a page out of the aviation industry. we know that when you work offs, of checklihings get done much more consistently.op so, we dev a checklist of how to put on the gear, so tha no stuff gets missed. and similarly, we made a checklist of how to take off the gear. it's well known that the most vulnerable, most risky part of

putting-- of this whole process is what we call "doffing the equipment," taking the equipment off. we've been in rooms with patients who have covid and we know that the outer p.p.e. is contaminated. so we want to protect ourselvesn from having contact with that virus. so, we've developed a process where we have an observewho th watches us put on our gear, and then also, we don't allow ourselves to take off the gear unless we have a observerhi wa us. and there's also, again, that absolute awareness that, if we're not extremely careful, you will get sick. >>rangham: i mean, that's got to be on some level, my-- and i mean, i understand the job is physically exhausting, but to deliver wonderful care to people who are themselves very, very sick, at the same time being soo worried abou own health-- that it's going to be a lot to bear, day in and day out. >> yeah, i think that's the hardest part. the hardest part is the mental exhaustion. we're fortunate ght now that we're not understaffed. how do i take re of these

patients with all of this gear on, knowing that putting al protective equipment will restrict the way that i take care of patients? but also, how do i work withinpr this gear anect myself from all the vuses that are out there? so, it is mentally exhausting, absolutely, no doubt about it. and we have nurses that are stayg in these rooms for hou at a time. >> brangham: hours at a time? >> yeah, sometimes they stand there for urs at a time. we have to be there to monitor those machin, dress any alarms that may go off, change i.v. fluid bags. you know, most of these patients are ten and have been on six or seven or eight infusions. l it takes of monitoring to make sure that none of these tubes come out, that all of theu infusions aring and that the bags don't run out. the gear that weear, you know, the bunny suit and the outer gown, it's very hot inside.ex emely hot inside. and if the nurse stays in there for a couple of hours, yeah, the evidence is when they come out,

they look like they are completely drenched in sweat. and not one single person is immune to it. >> brangham: i don't think people appreciate just the physal taxation of what you' doing, on top of the mental taxation. >> yeah, yeah. you know, when i go back into the isolatn units, and i'm in patient rooms, it's a different-- it's... and i've been an i.c. nurse for a long time. if i was to imagine what a war zone would be like, that's... i feel like that's what it would be like, because it doesn't matter what room you walk in you feel the same sense of-- i don't know. you just feel the same sense of: this is a really sick patient, and what can i do to help this patient get back to their family? >> brangham: you're obviously yeing this pandemic in a that very few americans get to see. and ouhere, outside of this front line work that you all are doing, there'shis constant debate about "are these restrictions too much? should people stay ahome more? should we reopen the economy?" do you have anything to say to

people who don't get to see this pandemic the way you do, about that debate? >> i think probably my most portant message would be, nobody is immune to this. and the only way that has been proven to stop the spread of this is through distancing, s is throuying home. these things have been proven to work, and we've known this for many, many, many years. but it's hard to do. and i understand that. i think my most important message would be, it could happen to you. and until it does, perhaps it's as somebody who's seeing it day in and day out and dealing with famili who really are heartbroken and who really are just-- their lives are shattered because they're losing the family members, and their family members are having to die without them. and we do our best to try toha ease some ofsuffering by

face-timing and by promising tor be there as a ate. but the reality is, you have an option. that's my main point. ni brangham: all right. joseph falise, cl nurse manager at the university of miami health system. thank you very much.d od luck in all your work. >> thank you very much. thank you for bringing this up. >> woodruff: south korea has turned from a covid-19 hot zone to a leader in the global fight against the new coronavirus. companies there are now making millions of virus test kits for export, and the public is votiny in a parliamenlection despite the epidemic. correspondent bruce harrison reports from seoul on how the

koreans have worked together to get this far, and aim to prevent a resuence of the virus. >> reporter: to visit this factory, you can't risk contaminating the product. o the work goibehind this door may just save your life. manufacturer bak jin-wook sayspu they'ring chemical agents korean firm gencurix is small. bu packaging just today can be used tein up to 150,000 covid-1s. this is the final product. >> ( translated ): each of these kits can be used to test up to 100 people. a sample is collected from the patient's nose or uth. a method called p.c.r. is used to confirm the diagnosis, which kes three to four hours. >> reporter: the company jumped into action, researching test kits in this lab in january, when it heard about the first coronavirus death in wuhan.

south korea learned the importance of early diagnosis during the 201outbreak of middle east respiratory syndrome, or mers, a viral respiratory illness similar to covid-19. in theory, the faster you test, the faster you're able to the spread of the virus.and stem the government worked with gencurix and other companies this year to produce test ki so they could quickly receive regulatory approval to test koreans. >> although we are not doctors or nurses, walso feere fighting coronaviruses. we feel it's very important in the world. although it's a very business opportunity for us, it's a very sad situation. >> reporter: south korea ran a textbook response to covid-19 and has tested nearly 530,000 avople. more than 10,500tested positive, and 222 have died, for a death ra of just o, half that of the united states. with no shortage of kits he,

gencurix is exporting tens of thousandall over the world. it plans to boost that number and send many to the u.ss once it receid.a. approval. south korea's success at home against cod-19, and its international reputation as a leader in battling the pandemic, have given a boost to president moon jae-in. and it may have come at just the right time, with today's parliamentary election. moon has shouldered much of the economy.r korea's slowing but, the government's covid-19 response may help extend his party's majority in parliament. moon has made election safety a top priority. people had to have their rubber gloves and masks to vote. at least three feet apart, andrs quarantined citizens could only leave home for a short time to vote after the polls had first closed f the rest of the public. t but, it'llake more than a e safelection to prevent a resurgence of covid-19.

ind,his low-income neighborh professionals from the korean pest control association alwayse annoheir arrival, and the goal is to be as swift and non- disruptive as possible. they pay for the supplies and disinfectant out of pocketer this volunteays the residents have very money, so groups like his disinfect the building to keep itafe. dozens of residents here share a single kitchen or bathroom, but it's still outbreak free. >> ( translated ): these peopler lack medicaland most of them are marginalized and lonely. personallyi'm thankful that some people are still concerned about us. >> reporter: residents can also get free facemasks at a nearby community center. center director bae il hwan explains to a resident, she'll need to throw out her disposable mask if she wears it several times. but she can always come back for a new one. seoul has extended a socialpa distancing cn through the end of the week.

the government wants the public to stay home, aside from going buying necessities. doctor or in the early weeks of the outbreak here, most people tried to stay, but that's now proving challenging. there hasn't been a lockdown or even a shelter-in-place order, but the vernment does have its concerns.ea for one, theseiful cherry blossoms. it's the spring flowers and e warm weather in general that are drawing people outdoors in largb s, which could possibly threaten the success here of social distancing. seoul ghtlife is also making a comeback. some bars in this neighborhoodnl shut down, buttemporarily. others are operating at a loss, even with improved traffic. >> ( translated ): we have great preventive measures and a healthcare system to back us up. course, everyone's health is the most important issue, but we have to go on with our lives. >> reporter: and that may be, easi im suggests, in a country with single payer healthcare that she seems tot,

trs perhaps her patrons do as well. and nothing quite marks spring in seoul like a picnic by the han river. like the election, there are prections here, from sns urging people to keep their distance, and bottles of free hand sanitizer. but, unlike the election, there doesn't appear to be any enforcement. >> the convenience store, like, we were just in there. the line is huge. and that's probably not a good social distancing.to practice >> reporter: the growing trash heap near the store says a lot. ly: seoul is ready to ge back to normal. but it's also a sign the people are confident their efforts, and those of the government, have made it possible this soon. for the pbs newshour, i'm bruce harrison, in seoul.

>> woodruff: during these difficult tis, we all have questions, and tonight, we begin a new weekly segment, "ask us." we want you to submit your questions via our website and our various social mediapl forms: twitter, instagram and facebook. for the record, facebook is a funder of the newshour. amna nawaz brings us some answers. >> nawaz: thanks, judy, and thanks to all of you for sending us your questions. we want to answer as many as we can, and for that,'m joined today by dr. ranit mishori. she is a professor of family mecine at georgetown university school of medicine and senior medical advisor for physicians for human rights. welcome and thanks for being here, dr. mishori. >> thank you so much for having me. >> nawaz: so, i want to get to as many questions as we can. let's jump right in. the first one comes to ufrom ingrid in california. she submitted a question via instagram.re what she has to say. >> hi, my name is ingrid echeverria, from pasadena, california, and my question is do you have to go through complete decontamination routine every time you go out? i understand washing your hands, cleaning the doorknob, your keys, etc.

but, do you have to wash your clothes, take a shower each time we come back from the store? say to ingrid?, what do you how careful you have to be? >> well, you'd have to try to be as careful as possible, but i think you don't have to do all of tt every time you step outside of the house. the key is that this virus is transmitted by beingd other people. so if you have to go to work, if you're an essential worker and e,u work with a lot of peo you work at a store or you're a healthare professional? yes, when you come home, take your clothes off, put them in the wash, jump it,the shower. f you go for a walk around the block or if you're going for a littlealk or going to get groceries, you don't need to come home and take a shower. you obviously have to wash your hands. you have to make sure that when you do go out, wear a mask to protect others. but shering and putting your clothes in the washer, every time you step outside of the house, that's not necessary. >> nawaz: here's another question about what'safe or not safe to do. this one comes to us from claire sullivan in wisconsin. she submitted her question o facebook, and she writes, "i'm 67 years old. i still go to my son's house five mornings a week to help

care f his baby. both parents are working from home. is this safe?" what do you say, dr. mishori? i you can stay home, stay home. if you don't have to take public transportation, do not takepu ic transportation. try to be as safe as possible. >> nawaz: so even if you're going to a family member's house, that's the only place you're going, caring for a grandchild, still wear a mask. take all those precautions, if you can. >> absolutely take as many precautions as possible and t understat if you're around other people, you may get the virus and you may transmit it to people you come in contact with. and as i said, the ideal situation would be for you to stay home and not go out at all unless it's absolutely >> nawaz: let's hear now from jason fuller. he submitted a video question via instagram to us. here's what he has to sa i >> my questifor those who are experiencing mild symptoms. is there any particular self- r care yommend that they should be doing? s >> nawaz: miptoms, we know a lot of people have them. what do you say to jason? >> yes, a lot of people have them, and we tell themay

home, which is exactly what he's doing. the question is, wt do you do at home? the ronavirus, some ofhe symptoms, whether milder, are like any other viral symptom, viral infectio so, you would get some rest. you would drink a lot of water. you can take over-the-counter medications to help with pain, to help with a fever. but the key is, if you have the coronavirus infection, you want to isolate yourself at home. possible, to have your own room, to have your own bathroom, not to eat with other family membs, to try and keep yourself in isolation. >> if a person is officially declared recovered from covid- 19, can that person be an asymptomatic carrier of the virus later, if exposed again? >> nawaz: it's a great questionr dr. mi if you think you've

recovered, can you still pass the virus on to other people? >> so, at thisoint, what we know is that there is some very preliminary studies from china and from korea showing that n some people potentially t re-infected after they've recovered. and then if they can get reinfected, they can also infect others potentially again. there's a very big question mark about this. ym also know that there are infections from omatic people. so i think, at this point, we don't have an answer for that. >> nawaz: still so much we don't know. do want to move on to a question from mary liz town. she wrote in on our pbs newsho q website withstion specific to her family. she asks, "when will it be safe for my 83-year-old m with underlying health issues and cognitive decline to leave her apartment?" >> i think one of the issues is the vaccine is probably not going to be available for another year, year and a half. so for now, stay home. later on, hopefully may, june, july-- the models differ i terms of when the peak is goingo

ake place in different cities and different states in the united states. so we have to be patient and hopefully not a year or year and a half, but sooner. >>awaz: hopefully not. one last question befo we let you go, dr. mishori. this one comes to us from janet. here's janet's question now. >> what is the permanent damage done to the lungs and heart by the virus? >> nawaz: dr. mishori, do we do what the long-term effects will be? >> we're just beginning to find out, because we have groups of people who are just recovering from very severe disease. what we do know is that the virus itself, or the inflammatory reaction that is causedy the virus, can cause damage and iitation to the lining of the lungs. similarly, with heart disease related to cid-19,e now discovering that the virus or the inflammatory rean is causing damage to the muscle itself. what's important to know is for people who have been in the

i.c.u. or have been ventilated for days or eks, their recovery, regardless of long- term damage to the lungs or long-term damage to the heart, going to be very long. >> nawaz: we are learning so dr. ranit mishori, thank you so much for taking some of these questions and providing answers today. thank you so much. appreciate it. >> nawaz: and thanks to all ofyo you fo questions. you can keep sending us more via newshour's twitter, facebook and instagram accounts or on our website, at pbs.org/newshour. >> woodruff: we check in again on the latest from the whiteon houshe government's response to this pandemic. our yamiche alcindor is with me now. yamiche, you have been at the briefing, tell us what you have been hearing. >> well, the big thingt

presidump said today is that he is planning on announcing new guidelines for country tomorrow.e parts of the the big news is comming tomorrow. he said what the white house has been looking at, they think they have passed the peak of this, and there's been a lot of progresses in cities like houston,ewk, new orleans, and he said that those numbers and that evidence isin all him to say that some states might even be able to open before may 1, but t president is basically saying that he is ready to reopen parts of this government b may 1, and that tomorrow we'll hear about the procedures to do that. there's a lot of back and forth about whether or not that's going to be a good idea. critics of the president think he may be jumping the gun but c the president nfident he wants to make the decision. >> woodruff: so clarify, miche, the president is saying the country has reached the peak and is now on thedownslope? >> that's right, he's saying the country as a whole has reached a e peak, even though there me parts to have the country still

struggling, he says, overall, the country is dog much better and that we've passed the apex of this coronavirus crisis. >> woodruff: and we know, also, yamiche, the h presides announced ag bi, essentially pretty large council, a group oa people w working with him to reopen the country, get businesses going again.e what were saying about that today? >> well, the president announced a very long lisof people that are going to be part of this white house task force to looking at reopening the government, and he says those leaders are going to be helping him think about which parts to have the economy can be reopened and how to do that. thewed we heard on a call with business leaders, the leaders were telling the president much more testing needs to be done in order to open large parts to ha the government. we are also hearing there are executive who didn't know their names would beon the list to be part of the tasks list until the white house announces them. some say this is chaotic and

rolled out tooi swly, but the president is adamant that he understands this is the way itld shnd could work and tomorrow will be a big day. the president waslso railing against the idea that he's trying to push forward some confirmation through the is that e is and they're not being confirmed becangress and the the senate in particular are out on recess. so the president is also saying he might push to adjou congress in order to get the nominations done. from what we can tell at the "newshour", he can't actually do that. this was a supreme cogurt rul during the obama administration that said that was not possible. he saide confirmed 448 judicial nominees. the president has confirmed about 193 judges, about 200 less than what he was talking about today. so apart from what we were talkinoabout this cuncil, there was also the other piece of news. >> woodruff: quickly,nally, yamiche, reporting that the president wanted his name on the checks that ae going to people

as part of the relief from this what was said about that? >> well, there are reports that name added to the stimulust his checks that americans are going to get about $1,0. have been reporting about it. and his signature is going to end up in the memo section because he's not legally authorized to sign thchecks. but this is a big break in protocol. the president was asked aboth on the white house ln. he's still speaking, he's in the rose garden and he said he had no part in that and didn't ask for his signature to be put on those checks, but tre are people, especially critics of the president, who say he's doing this to brand himself and do it to make amensrihink he's the one who's giving them the checks personally. >> yoodrufiche alcindor, reporting on today's white house briefing. yamiche, thank you. >> thank you. woodruff: and now, some

"home-grown" creativity.br jeffren looks at a social media challenge that is drawing tesponses from around the world, with everyday shr-in-place life imitating art. its part of our ongoing arts and culture series, "canvas." >> brown: ere are no selfies being taken with the "mona lisa" right now. we captured this scene at the uvre last year, during the blockbuster leonardo da vinci exhition. instead, a new kind of "selfie"i with art is its way as people of all aea... an updated version of erant wood's "an gothic." a dad and his home-from-school children, in a loose version of a 17th century italinting titled "lot and his daughters." appropriatto-the-moment creams." the current call for re-creating a work of art at home seems to have beg with a dutch instagram account called, in translation, "between art and quarantine." it was picked up by others, including the world-renowned rijksmuseum in amsterdam,

celebrated for its rembrandt collection. the result: playful recreations of old masters paintings. in los angeles, the getty started #getty-museum-challenge, inviting people to use digitized and downloadable artworks. assistant director of digital's content: >> i've seen total strangers connecting through this experience and cheering each other and liking anditing each other's creations. i think art has a role to play in helping us make sense of this strange time.e i thought ma'd be lucky if we got 30, and that should be a great success. but we got closer to 30,000, soa y a surprise. brown: andy warhol's soup cans get an update to toilet paper. a man stuck at home dreams of napoleonic cquest. >> a favorite is a renaissance manuscript page, and an artist

added a thermometer into the piece and she was struggling with pneumonia at the time. so, sadness can coexist with the joy of being creative in a very lovely way. >> brown: among the clear favorites fosocial-distancing art lovers: pets in all kinds of poses and costumes. and, the work of 17th century dutch painter johannes vermeer. sometimes, as in "pug with a pearl earring," pet and painter come together. another favorite: mexican artisd kahlo. one mother made her own version of kahlo's "self-porwith monkeys." cleaning products.d to household >> i think everyone's been i was looking specifically for just kind of a strong portrait of a woman, and her painting was just striking to me.d just-- there was a sense of empowerment in it that i really enjoyed. >> brown: the challenge is just one among numerous efforts museums everywhere are making to

connect with absent visitors. many are offering virtual tours of their collections and, while it's not the same as being in the museum and standigr in front of t work of art, this challenge is clearly p connectiple to art in new and creative ways, offering thee rest of us a sn the ocess. i'm jeffrey brown, for the pbs newshour. >> woodruff: by no schools ve been shuttered for weeks across the country. it can be hard on parents to help orchestrate remote learning. and, shelter-in-place presents its own challenges for young people. newshour's student reporting labs, our journalism training ogram for high school students, shares some ways enagers are coping in the age of quarantine.

>> me and many other americans have been living on lockdown, and during this time, we've been committing ourselves to a etty strict routine of waking up at a reasonable time, running so i get some vitamin d., eating, doing homework, eating again, doing more homework. >> i have learned to engage with my parents a little bit more, watching television shows.- >> during this whole time, my teachers have been really flexible, especially with the amount of work they give. honestly, i miss the classroom atmosphere. it's sometimes hard to stay motivated when you're at home with all of these other distractions around you. >> this is kind of my setup. we're required to document it for our video log for today.so , pretty much what i'm doings is, i have thittle desk set up here in front of my tv. it has my homework, my folders, and i kind of do that while t watching tv to kind of keep myself updated with the news for the day. >> honesy, i'm very upset. the coronavirus really affected me because it took away my senior year, and i've just been trying to push tough. >> due to this obreak, i won't able to run track to compete. so, i started working out myse. i like to look on the bright side of things by trying to go out for a nice jog once in a while and keep myself fit, not

losing my endurae. >> i can't see my friends, but that's okay becae technology is great and we have xbox live and facetime. >> although social distancing is hard, and it can be very ustrating staying inside every day, all day, these are necessary precautions. so hopefully soon everything will get figured out and everything will go back to normal. >> overall, i'm taking this really seriously and i hope that others are too, so we caget back into the swing of things. >> that's all it for me. thank you guys for tuning in and stay safe. >> thanks for hanging out with me today. >> just keep in mind thatyo ev else is as worried and confused as you are. what i mean is that you're not alone. stay inside and stay safe. >> woodruff: thank you all. and that is the newshour for tonight. i'm judy woodruff. join us online, and again right here tomorrow evening, when i i will have erview with vice president mike pence. for all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you,

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hello,veryone. here is what's coming up. ny." >> it would be nice to be able to open with a bigang and open up our country or certainly most of our country, and i think we dwillthat soon. >> millions out of work, trillions on the line. how will america -open its economy? i speak todent trump's former t economic adviser gary cohn. then coronavirus hit iraq where the government isdy alrn crisis and the economy in freell. president bahram sala joins me for an exclusive interview. >> i say w shut our economy off and on in a rather unpredictable manner over a 12 to 18-month period or we have widespread access to testing. >> nobel