An array of states relaxed coronavirus-related restrictions, and U.S. senators returned to the Capitol on Monday as the country accelerated its fitful efforts to return to normalcy from a pandemic that continues to claim hundreds of lives each day.
Health officials have warned that the coronavirus crisis is far from over and that a rushed resumption of business and social activity could spark a new wave of infections and death. The United States on Monday added more than 21,000 cases and more than 840 deaths to its daily toll. In total, more than 1.1 million Americans have now been diagnosed with the novel coronavirus, and more than 68,000 have died of it.
President Trump on Sunday said the final death count could be as high as 100,000 — a significant increase from his prior prediction of 65,000.
A draft government report revealed Monday suggested an even more grim figure — projecting coronavirus cases will surge to about 200,000 per day by June 1, accompanied by more than 3,000 daily deaths. But the White House and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention quickly disavowed the report, and its creator said it was not complete.
Even as activity returned in some places, it was anything but normal. The U.S. Supreme Court, for example, held its first oral argument by teleconference Monday, and Justice Clarence Thomas, who is famous for making no inquiries at public hearings, asked questions. The justices have not sat as a group since March 9, instead doing their work and issuing opinions remotely.
U.S. senators, meanwhile, returned to Washington — though their offices were urged to limit the number of aides working from their desks, and everyone is bringing lunch from home. The Senate is expected to confirm several Trump appointees.
Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) took sharp aim at Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) as the session opened, noting that the coronavirus situation in Washington continues to worsen and questioning why the chamber had to be summoned back as the crisis continues, without immediate action planned on legislation related to the crisis.
“The Republican leader has called the Senate back into session despite the fact that the District of Columbia appears to be reaching the peak phase of this public health emergency,” Schumer said.
McConnell defended his decision to call senators back to the Capitol, arguing that “we have important work to do for the nation.”
Members of the House of Representatives, in contrast, continued to work from home on the next coronavirus relief package, though they, too, are eyeing a return to the Capitol.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) on Monday shared his vision for such a return. In a Medium post, he wrote that votes could be less frequent so lawmakers spend less time clustered on the floor and that plexiglass barriers could be installed to prevent members from potentially infecting one another.
Trump took fresh aim at congressional leaders for turning down his administration’s offer to supply Capitol Hill with rapid-result coronavirus tests, saying the decision suggested that lawmakers do not think their work is “essential.”
The lawmakers’ position was conveyed Saturday in a joint letter from McConnell and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). In the letter, Pelosi and McConnell said that they were grateful for Trump’s offer of speedy tests but that such devices should be directed to front-line workers who may need them more.
Trump mockingly suggested that meant the lawmakers do not consider their own work of vital importance. “Interesting?” he tweeted. “By Congress not wanting the special 5 minute testing apparatus, they are saying that they are not ‘essential.’ ”
The patchwork opening highlights the lack of a centralized national response to the pandemic, and it represents something of an unplanned experiment, as few health experts are willing to predict the outcome with any precision.
But officials face enormous political and economic pressure to at least attempt such moves, even while the pandemic is not necessarily slowing in a universal way.
In New York — the state hit the hardest — Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo (D) said Monday that certain regions could begin opening up after statewide restrictions expire on May 15. But he said they first must meet certain benchmarks, including a steady decline in cases and capacity for testing and hospitalization sufficient to detect and treat a possible spike in patients. None of the state’s regions meet the criteria so far.
“This is a very, very difficult period, and people want to move on,” Cuomo said. “Yes, but let’s be smart about what we do.”
Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam (D) on Monday extended his state’s shutdown until the night of May 14, but he expressed hope that beginning later this month, nonessential businesses such as hair salons, gyms and restaurants could begin to reopen with significant changes in how they operate. Northam’s earlier order closing most nonessential businesses had been set to expire Friday.
“Everything you have done has truly made a difference — we flattened the curve [of infections], and our hospitals have not been overwhelmed,” Northam said. “I am keenly aware that it has come with a tremendous cost. Now we can start to move into a new phase of our response.”
In California, Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) said his state would move into the next phase of its reopening Friday, relaxing restrictions on clothing stores, florists, bookstores and sporting goods stores.
Businesses, too, were groping toward increased activity Monday. Carnival Cruise Line announced it would start cruises again this summer, though with a fraction of its fleet.
The cruise operator, one of the largest in the world, did not say what changes would be in place because of the pandemic or whether itineraries would be altered. Cruises will start Aug. 1 on eight ships sailing from ports in Miami; Port Canaveral, Fla.; and Galveston, Tex.
All other Carnival cruises in North America and Australia will be canceled through Aug. 31, according to the announcement, with some cancellations extending into the fall.
Cruise lines across the world announced a temporary pause of operations in mid-March. Most have extended that halt into the summer without announcing specific plans for restarting.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said it remains “too hard to tell at this point” whether international travel will reopen by the end of the year but made a pitch for U.S. residents “to explore America” in the meantime.
Mnuchin’s comments came during an appearance on Fox Business Network in which he said that Trump is looking for ways to “stimulate” safe domestic travel and that he anticipates demand will start coming back.
“Our priority is opening up the domestic economy,” he said. “Obviously for business people that do need to travel, there will be travel on a limited basis.”
He then made a pitch for visiting sites in the United States. “But this is a great time for people to explore America,” Mnuchin said. “A lot of people haven’t seen many parts of America. I wish I could get back on the road soon.”
Meanwhile, Kroger, one of the biggest grocery chains in the world, announced it would begin to offer free coronavirus tests to its front-line employees amid persistent public pressure for food markets to protect their workers.
The company’s health-care division will start to provide the testing to associates this month “based on symptoms and medical needs,” Kroger said in a statement. The tests will be conducted through self-administered kits and the company’s public drive-through testing sites. Kroger said it was already testing employees working in hard-hit areas of the country.
Dozens of grocery workers have died of covid-19, the disease the virus causes, and thousands have tested positive.
As the virus continues to rage internationally, other countries are also looking for ways to move toward normalcy.
Australia and New Zealand, for example, are discussing the notion of a “travel bubble” that would allow people to resume journeys between the two countries across the Tasman Sea without quarantine restrictions, though such a move is still probably weeks or months away.
In London, a government spokesman confirmed Monday that a temporary hospital created to help patients during the height of the pandemic would be “placed on standby,” as the need for beds has decreased.
Israel continued its incremental easing of lockdown restrictions, announcing that beginning Thursday, shopping malls and open-air markets will be allowed to reopen, families can visit close relatives, and weddings and funerals of up to 50 participants will be permitted.
Robert Barnes, Lenny Bernstein, Kareem Copeland, Erin Cox, Mike DeBonis, Anna Fifield, Jennifer Hassan, Steve Hendrix, Laurie McGinley, Hannah Sampson, Gregory S. Schneider, Felicia Sonmez and William Wan contributed to this report.