I need gowns and i need face shields and i needed them a week ago. The latest on the supply lines just ahead out of work. New jobs report released this morning. The labor market in free fall. The governments unprecedented rescue plan to help Small Businesses set to launch today why some banks are saying not so Fast Breaking overnight back home, cruise ships stranded at sea for weeks allowed to dock in florida sick passengers rushed to the hospital, others cleared to head home were in the living room, it feels fantastic. Sharing their ordeal with us. Those stories. Plus stand and applaud the powerful tribute to firefighters leading the fight as heroes honor heroes announcer from nbc news, this is a special edition of today the coronavirus pandemic with Savannah Guthrie and hoda kotb, from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. Hi, everybody, good morning. Welcome to today. Doesnt friday sound good . Hoda, good morning, im working from home once again youre holding down the fort in studio 1a and were happy to see the end of the week. We certainly are. Were happy to see your face, too. Were going to let everyone know, worldwide cases top 1 million with virus spreading to 181 countries. In the u. S. More than 245,000 cases and nearly 6,000 americans have died. Meantime new york city has joined los angeles advising residents to cover their faces whenever they go out in public we expect the cdc to soon tell the same to americans in hot spots for the virus. However, the president said it would not be mandatory the fda has authorized the first blood test that identifies people who have had and already recovered from the coronavirus its seen as a potential step forward in the eventual development of a vaccine savannah. So there are a lot of different moving strands this morning. Weve got our team of correspondents covering all of it let us start with nbcs sam brock. Sam, good morning to you. Reporter good morning to you. Floridas statewide order to stay at home kicked in seven hours ago. Im standing on one of the busiest roads in south beach, right now its empty many ramping up, the federal government specifically as it pertains to face masks, there could be big changes foramerica. Millions of americans. A Senior Trump Administration official telling nbc news new guidance is coming soon advising americans who live in areas of High Community transmission to wear cloth masks to prevent the spread of coronavirus. Given the fact that we know that asymptomatic people are clearly transmitting infection, it just makes common sense that its not a bad idea to do that. That measure already taken by the mayors of new york and los angeles. This will be the look. Members of the lapd are now Wearing Masks on patrol. President trump also using the 1950s era production act to pressure manufacturer 3m to make more masks tweeting overnight, we hit 3m hard today after seeing what they were doing with their masks. P act all the way. The white house suggesting weve had some issues making sure that all the production that 3m does around the world, enough of it is coming back here to the right places. Reporter the minneapolisbased company could not be reached for comment but now will have to pump out millions more masks. To ensure that domestic manufacturers have the supplies they need. It comes amid a debate over a nationwide stayathome order. Overnight on cnn Top Health OfficialAnthony Fauci getting more vocal about the need for a blanket policy. I dont understand why thats not happening. If you look at whats going on in the country, i dont understand why were not doing that we really should be. In tennessee, the governor relenting to calls for stay at home in that state citing new evidence of activity. Its dangerous, its unacceptable, and its a threat to lives in our community. But in oklahoma, only people 65 or older or those with compromised immune systems are being advised to stay inside in states like south carolina, alabama, and arkansas, theres still no stayathome mandate at all. In florida, a stayathome order going into effect today, but only after Governor Ron Desantis offered an exception for religious services. I dont think the government has the authority to close a church im certainly not going to do that. Reporter going back to new guidance on covering your face in public, nobody is talking about using the kind of masks, n95 masks, the First Responders need instead, they are discussing homemade versions, scarves or bandanas, not the critical supplies, hoda, needed on the front lines now. Hoda, back to you. Thank you so much. Now, to the deepening crisis in new york, after another surge of covid19 cases and deaths, once again officials are making desperate pleas for more emergency equipment. Nbcs Gabe Gutierrez is at elmhurst hospital in queens. Its one of the busiest in the nation right now hey, gabe, good morning. Hoda, good morning. Just heard an allout effort to flatten the curve in the hard hit city, the mayor is urging all new yorkers to wear some sort of Face Covering. Even people who dont show systems can spread the virus the governor is saying the state could run out of ventilators within days. This morning new guidance for new yorkers. Cover your face when going outside. It could be a scarf. It can be something you create at home. It could be a bandana. It does not need to be a professional surgical mask. That new recommendation comes as the city is in danger of running out of lifesaving ventilators. At the current burn rate, we have about six days of ventilators in our stockpile. In the tristate region more than 3,000 people have died. New york city alone now accounts for about a quarter of all confirmed coronavirus cases in confirmed coronavirus cases in the u. S. This map shows poorer neighborhoods have been hit hardest. Daily calls to 911 have shot up 50 . To ease the strain on overcrowded ers, they are no longer taking cardiac cases to hospitals if they dont have a pulse. Our resources are stretched thin. Decisions have to be made to ensure everybody gets the most care possible. Among the lives lost, a veteran and mechanic for fdny. He used to tell me, dont worry. Youre always worrying. He was my strength. He was a calm and quiet spirit. The governor said he doesnt understand why the military is only treating nonCovid Patients aboard usns comfort. It only has 19 patients so far. Help is on the way from across the country. I will be the first one in my car to go wherever this nation needs help as soon as we get past this. I will never forget how people across this country came to the aid of new yorkers when they needed it, and i deeply appreciate it. Reinforcements like 32yearold nurse jessica fink from new mexico, who just started work at a new york icu. I have specifically pulmonary Critical Care experience, so, you know, if anybody should be helping, it should definitely be me. The change comes amid a powerful show of solidarity. Firefighters applauding doctors and nurses at the u. S. Epicenter of the coronavirus crisis. And authorities are also facing a lack of critical hospital bed space. The javits center, the Massive Convention center in manhattan will now start taking patients. Previously it only took nonCovid Patients. And authorities are also looking into whether to take patients to manhattan hotels, which would help treat the sick. Savannah. All right. Gabe gutierrez in new york for us. Thank you. Were joined by nbc news contributor dr. Joseph fair. He studies viruses for a living. Worked in africa during ebola outbreak. Dr. Fair, good morning. I want to zero in on the issue about the masks. Whats the data, whats the Science Behind this new requirement that we expect today from the cdc. Excuse me, not requirement, suggestion that americans in hot spots wear facial covering. Coming out of two studies, china, iceland and here in the u. S. That anywhere from 25 to 50 of infections would be what we call silent infections or asymptomatic. The mask is not to protect yourself, because we dont want people thinking its going to keep you from getting infected but to keep you if youre asymptomatic and you fall in that category of silent infection from others. That is the major cause of explosion in cases were seeing in the u. S. Having a mask on physically keeps those droplets from coming out of your mouth and onto someone else. I should emphasize, a mask does not mean you shouldnt social distance. Because if youre doing the proper social distancing, its still not a problem. We know not everybody is doing that. If you wear the mask, that will physically keep others from getting the mask from literally coming out of your mouth. Might stop you from touching your face as well. Lets talk about what kind of mask. We can all agree and it is worth saying again, not those n95 professional grade masks our Health Care Professionals so badly need right now. Would any kind of Face Covering do . Could you take a handkerchief and hold it over your face, a bandana, if youre not handy with a sewing machine . Absolutely. Can you use anything you can get from your home. One of the more innovative ones i saw was someone using underwear and ties it around their head. Can you use handkerchiefs, anything you tie around your face. Its not ideal to have anything that wouldnt be on your face all the time because youre going to have to keep it up there a lot. Were particularly emphasizing this in grocery stores, pharmacies, we have no choice but to go but you are going to be in close proximity to others. Its our understanding the white house and cdc are going to issue a guideline that it will apply to hot spots only, places where there is Community Spread and it wont be mandatory. Do you agree with that . Do you think it should not be mandatory . No. I dont agree wit. To be honest, if we know that 25 to 50 of infections are silent or asymptomatic, i think just like a lockdown, there should be a nationwide mandate that we all start doing it. Again, were getting this data after talking with china and other countries that had a lot more cases early on. They showed they demonstrated, rather, that a lot of their cases, they were able to lower their numbers by people actually Wearing Masks and not transmitting the virus to others. All right. Dr. Fair, thank you so much. I know youre going to be back in a few minutes to tell us about some other alarming new research on how this virus can be spread. Were learning so much, hoda, as it all unfolds before our very eyes. Back to you for the moment. Thank you, savannah. Lets talk now about the mounting economic toll of this crisis and those record shattering unemployment numbers. So what is being done to help struggling families who have lost their income and will that money arrive on time . Nbcs Business Correspondent jo ling kent has that part of the story. Good morning, jo. Hey, hoda, good morning to you. First time in a decade, the u. S. Economy lost jobs. 701,000 jobs cut in march, after 6. 6 million unemployment claims were filed last week alone. With so much pain out there, washington says help is on the way. This money does people no good if it shows up in four months. This morning as u. S. Unemployment numbers explode, time is running out for struggling americans desperate for federal aid. Now the white house is pushing back on reports that relief could take months saying while paper checks may take longer, direct deposits will come earlier than expected. I told you this would be three weeks. Im now committing to two weeks. Were delivering on our commitments. The rush to help comes as applications for Unemployment Benefits skyrocketed to a record breaking 6. 6 million last week, the most ever on record and double the 3. 3 million claims filed just the week before. Among those applying, Juanita Flores and her fiancee gary who say their already tight circumstances are just getting worse. We were already living paycheck to paycheck, so it kept snowballing. Reporter while Financial Aid is on the way, Major Companies are furloughing their workers. At disney, all employees whose jobs arent necessary at this time. At caesars in las vegas, 90 of its workforce. For Small Businesses, grant applications are supposed to start today, but banks say they may not be ready, any further guidance on the program. This man who owns the charleston brewery needs the cash to continue to pay his workers. Anything that can be done to stop time on this and defer allows us more options relative to keeping people employed. All this pain is swamping state unemployment offices coasttocoast. Claims in california shot up 370 . In new york where centers typically get 50,000 calls a week, they got 8. 3 million last week alone. Centers in texas received 1. 7 million calls in a single day. In colorado, the Labor Department is doubling its staff to keep up. We are doing the best we can. Reporter for College Seniors preparing to graduate, looking for that first job is looking bleak. Am i going to be hired anywhere . I dont know what my future looks like. Reporter as for that small this jobs report is the beginning of a few difficult months ahead. Unemployment was 4. 4 , expected to spike into double digits soon. We are hearing from big banks. They believe the worst is yet to come and we will likely see this go on through the end of next year. They need that money and they need it now. Thank you. Savannah, over to you. Reporter yeah. An update now, hoda, on a story weve been following all week long. The navy has dismissed the captain of the uss roosevelt from his command after he sounded the alarm about a coronavirus outbreak on board his ship. Navy officials explain the dismissal say the captain created unnecessary panic by sending the letter to a broad array of people, thats a quote, rather than the chain of command. They say he demonstrated extremely poor judgment. But crozier will keep his rank and remains in the navy. 93 crew members on the carrier tested positive for the virus. Meantime, those two cruise ships carrying passengers, they have finally been allowed to dock in ft. Lauderdale, florida. The weeks long saga for many on board this morning is far from over. Nbcs Kerry Sanders is following that story for us. Hey, kerry, whats the latest out there . Reporter well, good morning, zaandam and rotterdam, two ships finally in port, 2,000 passengers, 76 exhibiting symptoms consistent with coronavirus and ten others fighting for their lives in an intensive care unit at a local hospital. Dock side port everglades, a highrisk transfer yesterday of the most critically ill cruise ship passengers, some with worsening conditions, including pneumonia. Ambulance after ambulance quietly rushing at least 10 covid19 patients to intensive care at browards biggest hospital. As weve seen every day, coronavirus is a delicate challenge. Even moving passengers luggage, passengers luggage, a potential hazard, because the viruses can live on surfaces for days. The zaandam and rotterdam had been scheduled to pull into port early thursday but the arrivals were delayed for hours as lawyers from Holland America and Broward County haggled over fine details of potential liabilities and required a 14day selfquarantine for all passengers. Among those who watched the ships come in, lee ann, her aunt on board, but coming home alone. Her aunts 75yearold husband among the four dead. Relieved this finally has some kind of conclusion and these poor people can go home. Late thursday some passengers passed Health Checks and with cleared to debark cards, masks and gloves, they took private, sanitized cars home. What does it say . Welcome home. Doris and cliff. Were home. Were in our living room. We feel fantastic. But passengers worried about those who shared this 27day odyssey of being denied entry in port after port. Whats going through your mind beyond yourself. Obviously we hope that the sick are tended to and get better quickly. Still on board back to the states. Almost to new jersey. 300 americans like wendy and rick who will head home today to another coronavirus hot spot. Ive already been warned by many friends in new jersey that things have really, really changed, and in some ways are unrecognizable. Holland america says disembarkation is expected to be completed by friday evening. My goal is to wake up in your own bed sunday morning. Meantime weve told you about jennifer allens father, who was among those who was desperately ill on board, had developed pneumonia, this morning we understand hes one of those in the intensive care unit getting the important care that you can only get in a hospital. There are 904 nationals, they started to process them, theyre on buses at the international airport. This flight will take 243 to toronto. As for the 76 on board, theyll get the treatment they need right there. Guys . That is good to hear, kerry. Thank you so much. What do you say we switch gears now. Lets check in with mr. Roker sitting at his house. Hi, al. Morning, al. H h hi, guys, good to see you we made it to friday thankfully. Here in the northeast we have this pesky storm offshore. It will not go away. Were looking at more rain, interior sections of new york, new england. The good news is it will be out of here later today. All eyes on texas where were looking at damaging winds, hail, a tornado risk thats fairly low but still cant rule it out. Today that strong cold front will move east, severe storms in Central Texas and continues to push on through saturday and sunday the good news is we finally get rid of that. But we are looking for anywhere from 2 to 3 of rain through south and Central Texas and there could be some flash flooding were going to get to your local forecast coming up in the next 30 seconds census now. Spend a few minutes online today to impact the next 10 years of healthcare, infrastructure and education. Go to 2020census. Gov and respond today to make americas tomor