President Donald Trump announced guidelines Thursday for reopening the U.S. economy, giving governors the authority to decide when and how to reopen their states amid the coronavirus pandemic.
There will be at least one significant reopening on Friday. In Jacksonville, Florida, city parks and beaches will open again for "essential activities" including walking and biking for a couple of hours in the morning and evening.
The decision came after early discussions between Mayor Lenny Curry and Gov. Ron DeSantis on how to reopen the city. While it's too early to tell, Curry said data on confirmed coronavirus cases and hospitalizations suggest the city is successfully flattening the curve.
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp reopened state beaches last week, drawing criticism from some local officials. Like in Jacksonville, Kemp's order allows people to exercise while following social distancing guidelines.
Trump's "Opening Up America Again" guidelines include three phases but won't begin until states have had 14 consecutive days of decreases in COVID-19 cases and have testing and hospital capacity to deal with potential coronavirus spikes.
"Some states will open sooner than others," Trump said Thursday. "We are not opening all at once, but one careful step at a time."
There are over 671,400 coronavirus cases in the U.S. and over 2.1 million worldwide early Friday, according to John Hopkins University data. COVID-19 has killed more than 33,200 Americans and 145,700 worldwide.
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Asian shares surge Friday after better-than-expected China economy data
Shares surged Friday in Asia after China reported economic data that, while bleak, was better than expected.
The strong open followed a Thursday rally on Wall Street powered by buying of Amazon, health care stocks and other market niches that are thriving in the coronavirus crunch.
China reported its economy contracted 6.8% in January-March as the country battled the coronavirus. That is the worst performance since at least the late 1970s. It's also not as bad as the double-digit declines some analysts had forecast, though the latest numbers suggest the recovery will be a slow one.
U.S. futures were higher, with the contract for the S&P 500 up 3.3%, while the Dow industrials gained 3.6%.
Harvard professors caution that widespread testing still needed
Two doctors from Harvard's T.H. Chan School of Public Health praised the gradual nature of President Donald Trump's plan to reopen the country, but both say the nation has to bolster its testing capabilities.
Barry Bloom, professor of public health, and William Hanage, associate professor of epidemiology, called the plan "thoughtful." Hanage said the "glaring problem" with the plan lies with testing.
"Figuring out what's actually going on in the community is the key part of dealing with this pandemic, and we're still early on in this pandemic," Hanage said.
"When we're flattening the curve, when it's doing that, that's us that's doing that by our actions," Hanage said. "Our actions are doing that. It's not something which is happening because of the immunity that it's generating. That's down to us. That's an achievement the human beings are having over the virus.
"What I think has to be made clear is the bending of the curve is not really bending the curve of the epidemic," Bloom said. "It's bending the curve to keep it below the capacity of hospitals to take care of people who are really sick."
– Jordan Culver
Beyoncé makes surprise appearance on ABC's 'Disney Family Singalong'
Beyoncé made a surprise appearance Thursday during "The Disney Family Singalong," an ABC special designed to provide spoonfuls of sugar – as in the "Mary Poppins" classic and a brighter mood – during challenging coronavirus times.
The cavalcade of stars, many performing from their living rooms and kitchens, also featured Christina Aguilera, Ariana Grande, Josh Groban, Michael Bublé and Demi Lovato.
Scenes from classic Disney animated films provided colorful backdrops for many of the performances, which, obviously, had to be limited in production scope. Lyrics ran at the bottom of the screen, with a golden set of Mickey Mouse ears doing a follow-the-bouncing-ball imitation to help at-home singers.
Beyoncé, an unannounced addition, dedicated "When You Wish Upon a Star" from "Pinocchio" to "all of the health care workers who have been working tirelessly to keep us healthy and safe."
– Bill Keveney
Movie theaters will be among first businesses to reopen under White House plan
Movie theaters would be allowed to reopen in the first of three phases under the guidelines released Thursday by the White House.
Just when theaters, along with restaurants, sports stadiums and churches, will be allowed to welcome back the public under the Trump administration plan is yet to be seen. It will be left largely up to governors to decide when their states are ready to take the first step back to what was once considered normal.
President Donald Trump, in announcing the reopening at his daily news conference, said some are more ready than others. The plan didn't include a timetable.
– Chris Woodyard and Bryan Alexander
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo extends stay-at-home order to May 15
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, after noting a marked drop in COVID-19 deaths overnight, extended the state's stay-at-home policy until next month and expanded the new order on wearing masks to include subways, buses, trains and taxis.
Cuomo said 606 people had died overnight, compared to the previous two days, which registered 778 and 752 deaths. He credited the state's "N.Y. Pause" policy of closing businesses and stay-at-home orders and said those measures will be extended until at least May 15.
Cuomo said he had gotten a lot of "not happy phone calls" about the mandated use of face masks starting this week.
– Doug Stanglin
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Britain extends lockdown 3 weeks
The United Kingdom's lockdown, scheduled for review today, has been extended by at least three weeks. "Relaxing any of the measures currently in place would risk damage to both public health and our economy,” Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said during a briefing Thursday, adding, “We must keep up the social distancing measures.”
Raab is standing in for Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who is recovering from the coronavirus after a stay in the ICU. The national lockdown has been in place since March 23. More than 104,000 people have tested positive for the coronavirus in the U.K., and more than 13,700 have died, according to the Johns Hopkins database.
– Grace Hauck
Midwest governors to partner to reopen regional economy
The governors of Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Indiana and Kentucky on Thursday announced that the states plan to coordinate efforts to reopen the Midwest economy.
In the statement, the governors said they’ll be considering four main factors before reopening: Sustained control of the rate of new infections and hospitalizations, enhanced ability to test and trace, sufficient health care capacity to handle resurgence and best practices for social distancing in the workplace.
Michigan and Illinois are among states reporting the most confirmed coronavirus cases.
– Grace Hauck
More coronavirus headlines from USA TODAY
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- President Donald Trump has halted U.S. funding to WHO. Experts say we need it now more than ever.
- Unproven tests. Inaccurate results. Public health labs worry 'bad data' could taint US recovery from coronavirus crisis.
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Contributing: The Associated Press
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Coronavirus live updates: Florida's Jacksonville parks, beaches to reopen; China reports worst economy data since 1970s