Much-smaller Italy has still lost more people per capita — roughly 31 of every 100,000 people there have been killed by the virus. If the death rate in the U.S. were to match that in Italy, more than 100,000 Americans would die.

The news comes as Anthony S. Fauci, the nation’s leading infectious disease expert, said he hopes for “a real degree of normality” by November.

Here are some significant developments:

President Trump has blocked potential emergency funding for the U.S. Postal Service, which has suffered financially during the coronavirus pandemic.

With the addition of Wyoming on Saturday, President Trump has now issued coronavirus-related disaster declarations for all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who is sick with covid-19, “continues to make very good progress.”

The U.S. governors have asked Congress for $500 billion to stabilize state budgets decimated by the downturn.

New York’s governor and New York City’s mayor are again feuding, this time over school closings.

People stuck at home are finding new talents

Vincent Djokoto, 24, learns to paint in Ghana while under stay-at-home orders. (Vincent Djokoto, 24, learns to paint in Ghana while under stay-at-home orders. Vincent Djokoto)
The novel coronavirus’s insuperable spread across the globe has caused seismic disruptions to everyday life. Daily activities now rarely extend beyond the confines of one’s home. Social distancing often feels more akin to social isolation.

But with fewer distractions and increased downtime, some have found space to start new projects or complete those long forgotten.

When The Washington Post asked readers how they’ve used their time under quarantine or stay-at-home orders, more than 250 people responded with stories about learning to play instruments, trying culinary techniques and tackling other creative endeavors.

Judge allows drive-in Louisville church services, says mayor ‘criminalized the communal celebration of Easter’
A federal judge has blocked Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer from banning drive-in church services on Easter to slow the spread of the coronavirus, as the fates of Sunday gatherings become political flash points around the country.

“An American mayor criminalized the communal celebration of Easter,” wrote U.S. District Judge Justin Walker in a temporary restraining order issued Saturday. “That sentence is one that this Court never expected to see outside the pages of a dystopian novel, or perhaps the pages of The Onion … The Mayor’s decision is stunning. And it is, ‘beyond all reason,’ unconstitutional.”

Louisville’s On Fire Christian Church sued Fischer and the city Friday, arguing that the mayor’s ban on drive-in church services violated their constitutional rights.

Walker’s order prevents the city from “enforcing; attempting to enforce; threatening to enforce; or otherwise requiring compliance with any prohibition on drive-in church services at On Fire,” according to court documents.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) tweeted Saturday that he was “grateful for this strong, eloquent ruling defending Kentuckians’ religious liberty from Judge Justin Walker … of course church parking lots cannot be singled out with unfair standards that differ from other establishments.”

On Friday, McConnell said prohibiting Christian churches from holding drive-in services infringed on people’s right to exercise their religion. He said it was unfair that residents are still permitted to gather in parking lots to go to grocery stores and other retail operations.

Walker, who once clerked for Supreme Court Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh and now-retired Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, just became the youngest nominee to the D.C. Circuit since 1983.

Walker’s order comes after Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D) urged churchgoers Friday to not attend Easter Sunday services in any fashion — and said those who go to mass gatherings will be ordered to self-quarantine in their home for 14 days. He also said Kentucky will record license plates at large gatherings this weekend to follow up about the quarantines.

Thousands of ‘dreamers’ risk lives on pandemic’s front lines while they await court ruling on their future
Manuel Bernal, 29, a second-year medical resident and DACA recipient, poses for a portrait near Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, Ill., on April 2. Bernal began his emergency room rotation Thursday.

Manuel Bernal could have sought a different assignment once the coronavirus pandemic hit Advocate Christ Medical Center, one of the busiest trauma hospitals serving Chicago’s South Side. His supervisor said she would not ask him to put his life on the line as an emergency medicine physician still in training.

Bernal already felt his future was in jeopardy as one of more than 640,000 undocumented immigrants known as “dreamers,” who could lose their work permits if the U.S. Supreme Court allows the Trump administration to end an Obama-era program that protects them from deportation.

But the 29-year-old resident dove into emergency room work. Bernal is among an estimated 29,000 health-care workers enrolled in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, working on the front lines of the battle against coronavirus, even as their own futures in this country hang by a thread.

How Europe manages to keep a lid on coronavirus unemployment while it spikes in the U.S.
BRUSSELS — European workers are facing the same punishing reality as those in the United States: lockdowns, business closures and huge uncertainties about how much the pandemic will gut the economy.

But there are also big differences. Worker-protection measures have kicked in around the European Union to help safeguard jobs and cover lost wages. In the United States, meanwhile, unemployment figures continue to tick higher and could rival those of the Great Depression.

Germany is an example of government intervention to avoid layoffs. The government pays up to two-thirds of normal salary to an employee, while the employer pays little or nothing. Once the employer is ready to pay full wages again, everything returns to normal — there are no layoffs. The idea is for companies not to lose the expertise and be in a better position when economic conditions turn around. Many European countries have adopted the German model.

Miami doctor who tests homeless for coronavirus detained; police department says it will investigate
University of Miami Health System doctor who has been testing and helping homeless people during the coronavirus pandemic, was handcuffed by police Friday while he was putting old boxes on the curb for pickup, according a report from the Miami Herald.

Video of the incident, captured by Henderson’s surveillance footage from outside his home, quickly circulated on social media and led Miami Police Chief Jorge Colina to address the incident in a video Saturday afternoon. Colina said the department will be investigating Henderson’s detainment by a City of Miami sergeant for offloading his van outside his own home.

“Many of the questions that have been asked are, ‘Why did this encounter occur?’ ” Colina says in the video. “We have had a litany of complaints pertaining to illegal dumping … there is a cargo van parked in front of that home where there appears to be trash that is being unloaded. That is the genesis of the stop.”

Colina did not go into detail about what occurred between the officer and Henderson leading up to his detention. Henderson, who is African American, told the Miami Herald on Friday that the police officer told him he was patrolling the area after reports that people were dumping trash. After Henderson told the officer he was unloading his van and did not show his ID, Henderson said, he was put in handcuffs.

As of Saturday morning, Florida had more than 18,000 confirmed cases of the coronavirus and more than 400 deaths, according to the state Department of Health.

Coronavirus gives Israelis and Palestinians something else to argue about in Jerusalem

JERUSALEM — The arrival of coronavirus has brought no pause in tensions between Israelis and Palestinians in the eastern neighborhoods of this contested city, where both sides of the conflict accuse the other of using the pandemic to advance their political purposes.

Some Palestinians complain that Israeli officials, who provide health and police services in East Jerusalem, have been slow to offer virus testing and Arabic-language information in this part of the city and, in some cases, have thwarted the Arabs’ own efforts to respond to the outbreak.

Israeli officials, in turn, contend the Palestinian Authority, which governs the adjacent West Bank, is exploiting the outbreak to meddle in Jerusalem’s Arab neighborhoods.

Michael Avenatti temporarily freed from jail because of coronavirus threat

Celebrity lawyer Michael Avenatti, who was convicted of trying to extort Nike, has been granted temporary freedom from a federal detention center in New York City by a U.S. judge in California.

Avenatti’s lawyers have been pushing for his release amid the coronavirus pandemic since last month, and late Friday, U.S. District Judge James Selna granted the request for up to 90 days. Avenatti, who represented adult film actress Stormy Daniels in a scandal-ridden legal battle against President Trump, must first quarantine for 14 days at a Federal Bureau of Prisons facility to ensure he does not have symptoms of the coronavirus. Then he can stay at the Venice, Calif., home of his friend Jay Manheimer while wearing an electronic monitoring bracelet and having no Internet access.

Bond was set at $1 million.

Avenatti was found guilty in February of demanding $25 million from Nike while threatening to expose alleged misconduct within the company.

USS Theodore Roosevelt cases spike by 100 to 550

Another 100 crew members on board the USS Theodore Roosevelt have tested positive for the novel coronavirus, the Navy announced Saturday, bringing the total number of cases tied to the aircraft carrier to 550.

The Navy says it has moved 3,696 sailors and officers ashore, or about 92 percent of those on board. There are 3,673 negative results so far.

The warship became the focus of national attention after its commanding officer, Capt. Brett Crozier, wrote a letter to Navy leaders expressing concern about their handling of the ship’s outbreak and requesting that most of his 4,800-sailor crew disembark in Guam for testing and quarantining. The letter was leaked to the media.

Then-acting Navy secretary Thomas Modly dismissed Crozier and told the crew that Crozier had either written the letter to create controversy or was “too naive or too stupid” to command the ship. Modly resigned Tuesday after those comments, which were recorded by sailors and shared online, drew a backlash and calls for him to step down.

Trump has now approved disaster declarations in all 50 states
With the addition of Wyoming on Saturday, President Trump has now issued coronavirus-related disaster declarations for all 50 states and the District of Columbia, along with the territories of Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands and the Northern Mariana Islands.

American Samoa is the only U.S. territory that has not been placed under a federal disaster declaration by the president.

Trump approved the declaration for Wyoming two days after Gov. Mark Gordon made the request. Emergency declarations permit public officials to exercise emergency powers to protect their citizens. They also permit states and territories to request federal financial aid for safety and recovery projects.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency appointed Lee K. dePalo as the coordinator officer for Wyoming’s affected areas, according to a White House news release.

As of Saturday afternoon, Wyoming had reported 253 confirmed coronavirus cases, 87 probable cases and zero virus-related deaths. It is the only U.S. state to have not reported a death caused by covid-19.

Pentagon will seek production of 39 million N95 masks
The Pentagon announced Saturday it will invest $133 million to increase domestic production of N95 masks, which have been in short supply since the coronavirus outbreak hit the United States.

The Defense Department will seek production over 90 days of more than 39 million masks from companies yet to be announced.

Lt. Col. Mike Andrews, a Pentagon spokesman, said the agency received approval from the White House coronavirus task force on Friday night to use the powers under the Defense Production Act to spur the production. It is the Pentagon’s first project under the DPA in response to the pandemic, Andrews said.

The DPA is a 1950s law giving the federal government the power to compel companies to prioritize projects in the national interest. Trump has invoked it several times in recent weeks to push domestic manufacturers to make ventilators and masks. But he has faced criticism from many Democrats who have argued he waited too long to use the presidential power and should be using it more.

LONDON — In her first-ever Easter address, Queen Elizabeth II told Britons that the “coronavirus will not overcome us.”

“Easter isn’t canceled — indeed, we need Easter as much as ever,” the queen said in a video posted on Saturday evening on the royal family’s social media accounts.

This is the second time the 93-year-old monarch has addressed the nation in the past week. On Sunday, the BBC broadcast a rare, personal address from the queen, in which she told the nation that “better days will return.”

Every year, the queen gives a Christmas Day speech, but this is the first time she’s delivered an address for Easter.

“We know that coronavirus will not overcome us,” she said. “As dark as death can be — particularly for those suffering with grief — light and life are greater. May the living flame of the Easter hope be a steady guide as we face the future.”

She also nodded to the strict restrictions on movement that remain in place.

“This year, Easter will be different for many of us, but by keeping apart, we keep others safe,” she said.

The queen holds the title of “Defender of the Faith and Supreme Governor of the Church of England” and is known for her Christian faith. The two-minute address featured her voice and a video of a flickering candle.

“I wish everyone of all faiths and denominations a blessed Easter,” she said.

New Orleans leads way in moving homeless to hotels during pandemic
The rats were coming, hundreds of them headed toward a large homeless encampment just outside the French Quarter. They were swarming the streets and sidewalks, desperate for something to eat after the state closed all the bars and restricted restaurants to takeout orders in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Most shelters had stopped accepting new residents, leaving no obvious place to house the nearly 200 people living in tents underneath a nearby expressway. With few options left, city and state agencies proposed a solution that is being emulated across the country: move people from the homeless camp into a hotel, the Hilton Garden Inn, one block off Canal Street.

“Using hotels is something that seems to be catching on in a lot of places, and New Orleans is a leader in that,” said Steve Berg, vice president of programs and policy at the National Alliance to End Homelessness.

Italy reports 619 new deaths, bringing total death toll in line with U.S.
Italy reported 619 new deaths from the coronavirus on Saturday, nearly aligning its total fatality count with the toll in the United States.

The number of deaths from the coronavirus in Italy reached 19,468, while the latest death count in the United States is 20,000, according to a Washington Post tally.

Even though the United States has a population 5-times larger, the number of deaths are comparable in part because of Italy’s larger percentage of older citizens. Covid-19′s mortality rate is much higher among the elderly.

Also Saturday, the number of confirmed cases in Italy rose to 100,269, from 98,273 a day earlier.

Italy announced on Friday it is extending its lockdown by three weeks to May 3 as officials said it was not yet time to pull back restrictions.

New York appears to have hit an apex, reached ‘the end of the beginning,’ Cuomo says

New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo (D) on Saturday announced the state had reached an apex and plateaued in its numbers of coronavirus cases and hospitalizations, but he warned that the virus’s spread was “stabilizing at a horrific rate.”

Cuomo reported 783 new deaths in the past 24 hours, bringing the state’s total to 8,627 — about 40 percent of the country’s toll. The state recorded 9,946 new cases, bringing its total to 180,458.

Although New York may have reached an apex in new cases, Cuomo cautioned against reopening businesses and schools too soon. He quoted Winston Churchill that this is “the end of the beginning.”

“The game isn’t over yet,” the governor said. “Are we in the sixth inning? Are we at halftime? No one knows.”

Cuomo warned against politicizing the timeline of lifting quarantine orders and said the decision should be based on ensuring there is not a second wave. He said he was working “hand-in-glove” with President Trump, who has said he is eager to reopen the country and restart the economy.

Cuomo said saving the economy and saving lives should not come at the expense of one another.

“Reopening is both a public health question and an economic question, and I’m unwilling to divorce the two,” he said. “You can’t ask the people of this state or this country to choose between lives lost and dollars gained.”for myself, but I have to be complementary,” Newsom said. “Otherwise I would be simply lying to you, misleading you, and that is a wonderful thing to be able to say and I hope that continues.”

He added, “This has been a remarkable moment where at least we’ve been able to rise above that partisanship.”

Earlier in the day, Newsom and Mark Ghaly, the secretary of California Health and Human Services, outlined new data showing the impact of state’s social distancing measures. In the presentation, Ghaly said California’s covid-19 peak “may not end up being as high as we planned around and expected.”

As of Friday, California has more than 21,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus and 587 deaths.

Tiger bone ‘glue,’ rhino horns and bear bile peddled to protect, cure people from coronavirus
TOKYO — Tiger bone “glue,” rhino horns and bear bile are all being peddled as ways to protect people against the novel coronavirus or as potential cures in China, Vietnam or Laos, according to research by the Environmental Investigation Agency.

In Vietnam, one trader is promoting tiger bone “glue” on a social media account as a way to protect family health “during the haunting pandemic,” complete with images of a tiger being butchered and the bones boiled down, the EIA found.

He is one of scores of tiger keepers and butchers in Vietnam who raise cubs that have been trafficked from captive breeding facilities in Thailand and Laos, ultimately boiling down their bones into a gluelike substance taken with other ingredients in tea or wine as a tonic.

The teeth, claws and skins are also sold as luxury ornamental and decorative items.

Last month, the EIA also found that bile extracted from captive bears is being used as an ingredient in traditional Chinese medicine and is being actively promoted by the Chinese government as a cure for coronavirus. Illegal wildlife traders in China and Laos are also peddling fake cures containing rhino horns, the agency said in a separate release.

“If ever there was a time to rethink our relationship with nature, it is now, in the midst of the biggest ever wake-up call,” the EIA wrote. “The coronavirus is symptomatic of our biodiversity and climate crises — a pandemic of our own making.”

Maryland inmates sharing sinks, showers and cells say social distancing isn’t possible
Every morning, Diallo Shalto sees how flagrantly he violates Maryland’s social-distancing rules. And there’s nothing he can do about it.

Within several feet, he said, four other men sleep in bunks. Beyond them are another two dozen men on beds lined up inside an open room at Dorsey Run Correctional Facility — a minimum-security prison in Jessup where inmates serve the last 12 months of their sentences.

The men share a bathroom area — toilets, sinks, showers — with another open room of about 30 inmates, Shalto said. Over any given 24-hour period, he added, at least a half dozen different correctional officers walk through the two dorms, wearing masks over their face and coming and going every day in a state where more than 6,900 people have tested positive for the coronavirus.

In Japan, fears rise that exodus from cities will spread virus across the country
TOKYO — The city of Kyoto, famous for its temples and cherry blossoms, does not want tourists any more, nor does the island of Okinawa, famous for its beaches and coral reefs.

All around Japan, governors of prefectures are asking people to stay away, as fears rise that an exodus of people from the big cities of Tokyo and Osaka could spread the novel coronavirus around the country.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe declared a state of emergency this week covering seven of the country’s 47 prefectures, including Tokyo and three surrounding prefectures, and Osaka.

But several regional governors, including from Kyoto and Nagano, have already asked the central government to extend the state of emergency to cover their prefectures.

“Unless we are placed under emergency, people may think Kyoto is safe and good to visit,” said Kyoto Gov. Takatoshi Nishiwaki.

The city’s mayor also asked tourists to stay away.

“To people across Japan who love Kyoto, I would like to ask you not to visit Kyoto for sightseeing until the infection winds down,” said Kyoto Mayor Daisaku Kadokawa.

Concerns rose in Nagano after residents reported seeing many cars with out-of-prefecture license plates last weekend, according to media reports, while the prefectures of Okinawa in the southwest and Hokkaido in the northeast have both reported new infections brought by visitors.

Abe appealed to people not to flee Japan’s cities, warning that such action could spread the virus into rural areas where a high proportion of residents are elderly and vulnerable.

Japan reported 635 new cases of coronavirus Friday, a record. It is also a significant jump compared with just three weeks ago, when it was around 40 a day. There are now more than 6,100 total infections, with 120 deaths, not including cases from the Diamond Princess cruise ship.

Trump threatens visa sanctions against countries that block deportees
Citing concerns about the coronavirus pandemic, President Trump on Friday threatened to impose visa sanctions on countries that don’t act quickly to accept citizens the U.S. government seeks to repatriate.

In a memorandum, Trump wrote that the homeland security secretary should notify Secretary of State Mike Pompeo if any country “denies or unreasonably delays the acceptance of aliens who are citizens, subjects, nationals, or residents of that country after being asked to accept those aliens.”

Pompeo would then have a week to develop a plan to impose visa sanctions, which would restrict visas issued to the country’s citizens, according to the memorandum.

“Countries that deny or unreasonably delay the acceptance of their citizens, subjects, nationals, or residents from the United States during the ongoing pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2 create unacceptable public health risks for Americans,” the document read. “The United States must be able to effectuate the repatriation of foreign nationals who violate the laws of the United States.”

The memorandum didn’t name any countries.

In mid-March, Guatemala announced it would block deportation flights from the United States to curb the spread of the coronavirus. It was the first Central American country to do so.

Trump has made wide use of visa sanctions since taking office to pressure countries that try to block deportations.

The administration has identified at least 10 countries as “uncooperative” when it comes to repatriating their citizens, meaning they have been slow to accept deportees or have refused to do so entirely. Those on the list include China, the original epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak, as well as Iran, Pakistan and Cuba.