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Good morning.
We’re covering the extension of social distancing guidelines in the U.S., the end of Wuhan’s lockdown and how the pandemic is transforming our relationships.
Mr. spoke after Anthony Fauci — the nation’s top scientist, who is increasingly a target of far-right conspiracy theorists — warned that U.S. deaths from the outbreak could reach 200,000.
New York State, which has more than one-third of the country’s 141,000 known coronavirus infections, reported 237 new deaths, its highest one-day toll so far. And a commercial aircraft loaded with medical supplies from Shanghai landed in New York City, the first of 22 scheduled flights that White House officials say will funnel much-needed goods to the country by early April.
Looking ahead: If the New York metro area maintains its steep growth curve in new cases, it could have a more severe outbreak than the ones experienced in Wuhan, China, or the Lombardy region of Italy, a Times analysis found.
Analysis: The federal government’s failure to roll out large-scale testing of people who might have been infected has set the U.S. back a month in its battle with the coronavirus.
All our coverage: A debate over how much the American public should know about who has the virus highlights a perennial tug of war between privacy and transparency in the country.
‘Thick darkness’ as Europe’s cases swell
Italy reported on Sunday that its coronavirus cases had climbed to more than 97,000, while Spain’s reached over 78,000. The two countries also reported hundreds more deaths, bringing their combined toll to about 17,000 — almost half of the deaths worldwide.
The bleak heart of Italy’s outbreak is the wealthy area of Bergamo, where the local newspaper is now given over to death notices. And the somber mood has crept to the Vatican, where cases of infection have been found.
“For weeks now it has been evening,” Pope Francis said last week, speaking in an empty square on the steps of St. Peter’s Basilica. “Thick darkness has gathered over our squares, our streets and our cities.”
But affluent city dwellers in virus hot spots across Europe are fleeing to second homes near the sea or mountains — igniting a long-simmering anger over class inequality.
Why China failed to contain the virus
Wuhan, the city where the coronavirus pandemic started, began lifting a two-month lockdown over the weekend, and a number of its malls were scheduled to reopen today.
But China’s triumphant narrative about its success so far in taming the outbreak obscures early failures to report cases — and squandered time that could have been used to prevent a pandemic.
After the SARS epidemic that began in 2002, China created an infectious-disease reporting system that was supposed to be immune from political meddling. But when the latest virus hit, Wuhan health officials initially withheld information because they were afraid to share bad news with their bosses in Beijing.
Related: Young people in China, long content to relinquish political freedoms in exchange for jobs and upward mobility, are now challenging the government’s efforts to conceal its missteps.
Another angle: Virus-related disinformation campaigns by China and Russia show how the countries are trying to undermine a shared adversary, the U.S., rather than address public criticism of their own problems.
France has spent seven years, and billions of dollars, battling armed Islamist groups in the Sahel, a sweep of land south of the Sahara. President Emmanuel Macron recently promised to deploy an additional 600 soldiers to join the 4,500 already there.
But the counterterrorism fight has left more than 10,000 West Africans dead, displaced a million others and left France’s military stuck in the region — just as American forces are in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Above, French troops in northeastern Mali near the border with Niger.
Here’s what else is happening
India: The confusing lockdown that Prime Minister Narendra Modi imposed on the country of 1.3 billion has left hundreds of thousands of migrant laborers jobless, homeless and hungry. Many are defying the order, and courting police violence, by trying to walk home.
Middle East: The Syrian government has reported the first death from the virus in its territory, as officials in neighboring Iraq ask for donations to help the country weather the pandemic.
Snapshot: Above, Luba el-Helw, a lion tamer in Gamasa, Egypt, showering a lion named Kiara with love. The struggle for women’s equality lags badly in Egypt — but in her field, women are dominant.
In memoriam: Krzysztof Penderecki, an avant-garde Polish composer and conductor whose versatile compositions appeared in concert halls and in films like “The Exorcist,” died on Sunday at 86.
‘Coivorces’ and ‘Coronababies’: Our reporters looked at how the coronavirus is radically transforming love, dating, sex and family relations — and making the internet a lifeline to millions of singles.
What we’re watching: The first episode of “Pluto Living” on YouTube. “I’m hooked on Pluto the dog, a Canadian terrier dispensing wisdom on toilet paper and social distancing to help the two-leggeds during a time of crisis,” says Tara Parker-Pope, the Well editor. “Laughter is still good medicine.”
Now, a break from the news
Cook: These great biscuits call for a few pantry staples, a little sour milk or yogurt and very little mixing.
Read: Parul Sehgal’s elegant review of Rob Doyle’s novel “Threshold” is a pleasure in itself. So is Gabrielle Hamilton’s essay about cooking crepes.
Listen: It’s time for some new music by the Dirty Projectors and more, brought to us by The Times’s pop-music team. And in case you missed it, here’s Taffy Brodesser-Akner talking to and about Tom Hanks, on a special episode of “The Daily.” It’s sweet.
Play: Time to bring back 20 Questions and Ghost! There’s always our crosswords and Spelling Bee.
And now for the Back Story on …Home schooling amid the coronavirus
Francesca Donner, our Gender Initiative editor, and Corinne Purtill, a journalist based in Los Angeles, chatted about managing home schooling during the pandemic for In Her Words. Here’s an excerpt from their conversation.
FD: You started home school last week. How’s it going?
CP: Last week was a resounding … meh.
This week, we are trying a loose schedule of schoolwork in the morning and free play in the afternoon. Will it work? I have no idea. All of life is an experiment right now.
FD: In concept, I like that very much. But does schoolwork in the morning need to be overseen by you or can you leave them to it?
CP: My 9-year-old daughter and I talk the night before about which activities from the school’s suggested list she’ll want to do in each subject area. She’s old enough to be able to tackle most things on her own, and if she has any questions, I’m around. I’m around a lot these days.
At lunchtime, I look over what she’s done, mainly just to make sure she’s been doing something on the laptop besides watching people make slime on YouTube. The afternoon is free time.
FD: And what does free time actually entail?
CP: My daughter can do her own thing. Her little brother, who can’t read yet, needs more attention.
When I’ve got work, I juggle: playing cars while listening to a conference call, setting him up with a project before opening my laptop and when I need to, turning on the TV or handing him my phone without guilt. Some structure is helpful, but I try not to over-plan.
That’s it for this briefing. See you next time.
— Mike and Isabella
Thank youSam Sifton proed the break from the news. You can reach the team at [email protected].
P.S. We’re listening to “The Daily.” Our latest episode is a special edition featuring a Times editor who wrote a gripping essay last week about what she learned when her husband got sick. Here’s today’s Mini Crossword puzzle, and a clue: Coral formations (five letters). You can find all our puzzles here. NYT Live invites readers to a conference call with Times Opinion’s philosophy forum, The Stone, at 9 p.m. London time today. An editor, Peter Catapano, and the philosopher Simon Critchley will discuss how mortality and hypochondria relate in our new pandemic reality. R.S.V.P. here.
