What You Need to Know Today About the Virus Outbreak

Apr 7, 2020
4:12 PM

Women wearing face masks to protect from coronavirus walk past a billboard with a work by artist Mark Titchner in east London, Tuesday, April 7, 2020. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)

With its biggest one-day jump yet, New York City’s death toll from the coronavirus officially eclipsed the number of those killed at the World Trade Center on 9/11.

At least 3,202 people have died in New York City from COVID-19, according to the count released Tuesday by the city. Across the U.S., the death toll reached about 11,000, with around 370,000 confirmed infections.

In Britain, Prime Minister Boris Johnson remained in intensive care with the virus, while Japan’s leader declared a monthlong state of emergency for Tokyo and six other regions to keep the virus from ravaging the world’s oldest population.

Here are some of AP’s top stories Tuesday on the world’s coronavirus pandemic. Follow AP’s Virus Outbreak section for updates through the day and AP’s Understanding the Outbreak section for stories explaining some of its complexities.

WHAT’S HAPPENING TODAY

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

For most people, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia and death. The vast majority of people recover.

Here are the symptoms of the virus compared with the common flu.

One of the best ways to prevent spread of the virus is washing your hands with soap and water. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends first washing with warm or cold water and then lathering soap for 20 seconds to get it on the backs of hands, between fingers and under fingernails before rinsing off.

You should wash your phone, too. Here’s how.

TRACKING THE VIRUS

Drill down and zoom in at the individual county level, and you can access numbers that will show you the situation where you are, and where loved ones or people you’re worried about live.

ONE NUMBER

3,039: That’s the number of new cases in Italy in a 24-hour period. Italy hasn’t seen such a low daily number since the early weeks of the outbreak. In total, Italy has 135,586 confirmed cases and 16,523 deaths from the COVID-19 outbreak.

IN OTHER NEWS

90-YEAR-OLD SURVIVOR: Anna Fortunato, a 90-year-old survivor of COVID-19, has a message for the rest of us: Do not be afraid. Do not despair.

YOUNG PILOT: A 16-year-old pilot has turned his flying lessons into missions of mercy, bringing desperately needed supplies to rural hospitals in need.

CELEBRITIES UNVARNISHED: They may be revealing a new side to their lives during the lockdown, but there also has been backlash to the wealth inequity regular Americans see online.

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The Associated Press receives support for health and science coverage from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content. Follow AP coverage of the virus outbreak here and here.