In the wake of the pandemic. Htall that and more on ton pbs newshour. Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by when it comes to wireless, Consumer Cellular gives its customers the choicet our nocontrans give you as much or as little talk, text and data as you want, and our u. S. Based Customer Service nsumeellular. Tv to help. The john s. And james l. Knight foundation. Fostering informed and engaged communities. More at kf. Org. And with the ongoing support of these ititutions this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. And by contributions to your pbs station from viewers likyou. Thank you. Woodruff coronavirus deaths in the United States hav reached a new milestone 3,700. That overtakes chinas officially announced total of 3,300. Italy and spain each have recorded many more deaths, while the u. S. Has far and away the most cases of any country in the world, more than 180,000 so far. President trump warned tonight that the country faces a vy tough two weeks, and and, everywhere, but especially in new york ate, officials are scrambling to keep up. Amna nawaz begins our coverage. Nawaz across new york city, local landmarks are joining the frontlines of the fight against coronavirus. The Javits Convention center, now a 1,000bed hospittook last night. Atoverflow patients thas new york, the epicenter of americas outbreak, saw knowa s in the state top 75,000. Governor andrew cuomo announced he purchased 17,000 newor ventilfrom china. The need, he said, is desperate. Know how you know . We are paying 25,000 per e. Ventilator and we are br the st thing i want to do is y a single ventilator i dont need. The need is alsgreat in louisiana where 239ve died. Governor bel edwards warned today with over 1300 hospitalized, the state may run out of venrstilahis weekend. He implored residents to do all they can to slow the spread. Stay at home, stop the spread and save lives. A theres noto see that number and not be startled. And, look, im tleelling peo expect things to get worse before they get better. And saw the number and i was startled. Nawaz hospital beds are filling up, but streets remain largely empty across the country. As of tonight, arizona and tennessee join the dozens of states limiting residents activity outside their homes. All told, at least 32 states now have some sort of stayathome order in place, affecting more than threequarters of the entire u. S. Population. And those directives are unlikely to ease soon, according to projections from e white house this week. President trp extended the socialdistancing guidelinesd until of april, after new models estimated that between 100 and 200,000s americuld die of the virus. White house lead coronavirusnt advisor, dr. Ny fauci if we pulled back on what we were doing and didnnd them, there would be more oidable suffering and avoidable death. At the data, that at the end of the day, if we try to push back prematurely, not only would we lose lives but it probably would even hurt the economy. Nawaz President Trump, meanwhile, proposed that the government take advantage of rockbottom interest rates, slashed to mitigate the paemic fallout, and move forward on a very big and bold, 2 trillion infrastructure bill. Leaders in other countries, like chile and hungary, are taking advantage of the uncertainty with power grabs; cracking down on dissenters and consolidating power. Officials at the European Union expressed concern today. Ee respect of m of expression and Legal Certainty are essential in these uncertain times. Nawaz but, in europes hardest hit nationf italy, a glimmer of hope. A Health Official announcing the threeweeklong National Lockdown has led to a leveling off of new infections. In memory of the thousands of italian victims so far, a moment of silence tonight in rome. Nearby in spain, nearly 850 deaths today made it the countrys deadliest 24hour stretch so on the streets of madrid, in the pouring rain. Police officers, ambulance drivers, and street cleaners, stood in silence to y their respects. In other cities, sounds of gratitude echoed in the streets, from singapore skyscrapers, to townhouses in england, residents worldwide stuck at home stepped outside to take part in a new pandemic tradition, applauding medical workers fiting the virus, as one shift ends, and another begins. For the pbs newshour, im amna nawaz. Woodruff in the days other news, wall street ended a brutal First Quarter with fresh losses. The Dow Jones Industrials average dropd 410 points today, to close at 21,917. It lost for the quarter, the most since 1987. The nasdaq fell 74 points day,an the s p 500 slipped 42, ending its worst quarter since 2008. Online retailing giant amazon hafired a worker who led a protest over covid19 protections. Christian smalls organized a walkout monday at a warehouse on staten island. The company says he had violated social distancing rules, and refused to stay home after coming into contact with an infected coworker. Smalls said his bosses ordered him home only to get him out of the way. Senate majority leader mit mcconnell claimed today that President Trumps impeachment trial diverted attention frome ronavirus. He appeared on a conservative radio show, and said the outbreak in china, during ounuary, came as the white and congress were distracted. It me up while we were tied down on the impeachment trial. And i think diverted the attention of the governmytt, because evng every day was all about impeachment. Woodruff President Trumps top aides did brief congress on the outbreak on january 24th, ring the impeachment trial, hed again on february 5th, day he was acquitted. But at the time, mr. Trump maintain the risk was low. The Trump Administration today rolled back obamaera standards for auto mileage. A new rule drops a requirement for annual increases of 5 in fuel economy. Environmental groups promised to challenge the change in court. Well get the details, later in the program. The federal Communications Commission is taking new action against robocalls. It ordered phone companies today to implement caller d. Authentication againstlled spoofing. That practice makes it appear that a robocall is coming from a local number, so people will answer. Federal judges have blocked efforts by alabama and ohio to ban abortions during thetb coronavirus ak. Abortions as nonealified medical procedures. Ilanwhile, texas officials appeal a federal judges order that bcked a similar ban. And, the College Sports governing body will grant another yearf eligibility to spring sport athletes, after their seasons were cut short by cod19. The n. C. A. A. s new policy coverl baseball, softnd lacrosse. It does not include sports that had finished most or all of their playing seasons. Still to come on the newshour food banks feel the strain as Many Americans go hungry for the first time. Students and the pandemic the u. S. Gets an education in distance learning. A doctor and writer on how covid19 behaves in the body. The Trump Administration rol back the rules on the Climate Impact of cars. And much more. Woodruff with unemploymentin so the covid19 outbreak is taking a staggering toll on workers. As stephanie sy reports, food banks are ramping up their services to meet demand, even as donations, volunteers, and supplies are pressed. R story is also part of our chasing the dream series on poverty and opportunity in america so im in this lineaiting. Theres over 2,000 people in this line here in mesa, arizona. Reporter matthew, who preferred we not use his last name, was in a long cue leading to the parking lotf the Mesa Convention center, waiting for a weeks supply of food. Im here because im one of those gig workers. Basically the business has dried up. Theres no money to be made. Im down to like 4. 00 in my bank account, and no food. Car payments late, everythings late, for me its worth it, waiting over an hour already, for this food bag. Reporter the distribution line is drive through only, one of many precautions dave richins, president and c. E. O. Of United Food Bank has put in place in the wake of the outbreak. Were going to start temperature readings on every volunteer that comes. Anybody thats not in the safe temperature range is going to om sent just cant risk it. Reporter richins told us by skype they are serving fouras timeany people as usual like many states enlisting tha help of thonal guard. So were seeing the uber driver that has no more fares to pick up. Were seeing the maid at the local hotel that is not working near as much as she used to. Were just seeing a lot more of the recently unemployed in our lines. But the elderly are still there. Anso making sure those populations stay separated and safe is important. But the thing that breaks your heart the most are the families with the kids that come. Reporter the food bank saw s lot of new f student, just finished from pima and right now theyre not hiring for dental assistantsbeo im on holuse of whats going on. So i heard on the news, i have to kids, and this would really helpe out a lot. Reporter heidi nitti was gettinfood for other people. I in need to help people, the disabled and also people that are retired, that cant get out, that are sick, and mostly all thisood is going to people on my property where i live. Reporter from los angeles, california, to duquesne, pennsylvania, across the country, cars waiting in mile long lines to receive food packages. Since the coronavirus outbreak began, food banks have seen demand increase by as much as 50 in some places, biys claire auxfontenot, c. E. O. Of feeding america, the largest hungerrelief organization in the u. S. Weve seen this before, justn never at this ude. The average americannot have 400 cash available to deal with a financial emergency. People started losing their jobs. People started missing checks. Most people in this country are one check away from being in need of some new source of foodn and other that arefo necessarsustenance. Reporter what about the impacts on all of the many people that volunteer their time at food banks, many of whom i would guess are elderly . Our volunteers are inordinately elderly. Consequently, we have a bit of a perfect storm going on right now, so we have increase in demand, decrease in supply and a significant decrease in our volunteer workforce. Some of that decrease in workforce is us wanting to look out for the safety of the people where they are trying to help us and theyre particularly vulnerable. Reporter the mad rush for supplies as families prepared and stockpiled for hometh lockdowns had e knockon effect of limiting donations from major retail grocers ksat food bely on. The recently passed cares act directs more federal funds to food insecurity, including 300 millr purchases for the emergency Food Assistance program. But babineauxfontenot is worried about the needs gap. And her organition issued a statement criticizing lawmakers for not increasing snap benefits in the act, saying they missed an opportunity to help familiese facing h and unfortunately, food banks will bear the burden of this oversight. Its not enough, thou. But weve made some good progress. Our data shows us that the hole a lot bigger than the additional supplemental food toat were going to be abl rely on from the federal government. Eq contly, with the contracting amount of retail donations, wh a bigger population of people in need, were having to go out and purchase more food and were competing in the marketplace in an in a scarcity environment. Reporter back at the United Food Bank, dave richins says supplies from the u. S. D. A. Will help him keep things going at this pace through august. Trucks coming to our warehouseet and delivering food, theres nothing thats going to stop us from filling our mission. P ill krving until the last can of food is on the shelf. Reporter his biggest worry isnt keeping the Food Supplies coming, but keeping his own employees and volunteers safe for the pbs newsho, ims. Stephanie sy in phoenix. Woodruff one of the many consequences oasking americans to stay home is what its meant for schools, teaching and learning. For many, the Normal School day has been halted, at least for now. Were gointo focus on the various aspects of this periodically. Lets start with whateit means to bhing from a distance, learning from home and coping with children at home all day. This is one way teachers and students see each other in the age of coronavirus, organizing parades in small towns where they wave from a distance. More than 55 million American Students are now out of school and expected to learn from home. Im dawn bishop mclin. O im the mothtwo girls. We start every morning about 8 30. We have a schedule. And that schedule is a blessing because it keeps us on track. Its beent. A tough adjustm my name is aaron warner. Im from south burlington,on ve and i have a son who is nine years old my name is megan smith and id live in ia, alaska. I am a teacher and i teach sixth through 12th grade. And i have two kids, cecilia is in kindergarten and kaylee is in third grade and she is eight. Its challenging to not be able to sit one on one with students and really help them understand what theyre missing. And i think as a parent, my biggest challenge is going to is going to be the availability of me. Teaching my own children that theyre just going to have to bm a little be independent and do things on their own . With my son being autistic, its lot of times there are these things where i cant just be like, hey, you know, heres a math worksheet from your teacher. Spend minutes on this. I have to sit there with him and we go through it. And i mean, i probably only worked 15 hours last week at my regular job just because i was taking on all this stuff. And it was important to make sure that he had some consistency from as we make this transiti because its hard for him. Woodruff that transition in by technology. Been helped along play dates via ipad. Classroom Video Conference calls on a technology called zoom. M name is sarah soliz and i live in albuquerque, new mexico. I have two kids and they are eight and 11. One day we watched the life aucebook stream from the cincinnati zoo b theyve been doing every day, theyve been doing a, you know, sort of a show and tell with a different animal. So every hour i try to pick sondthing they can work on, then eventually, you know, i just give up and let them play minecraft my names ricky house. I am an 11th and 12th grade social studies teacher a h woodrow wilsh school in the District Of Columbia. My biggest thing for the past week and a half has juat been commun communicate, communicate. There are definily some students who the minute i post an assignment in the morning, theyre going to get right to it and hand it in. Yohave other students who there are some barriers. F nd out last week that a lot of students, 30 of the student population in think does not have access to technology. So theyre preparing to give out devices to those students who are in need in the coming weeks. Woodruff the Technology Gap is something School Districts are grappling with from east to west, passing out laptops and tablets where possible. Driving wifi buses to internet free zones. We do have a couple of students at the school that we put all paper book packets together and gave them work that y. Im a professor of psychology at jacksontate university. Know some challenges for my College Students are some dont have adequfi. Some live in rural areas here in gississippi. Theres still a l divi among minority populations in their community. So ive had to adjust teach. Woodruff and as for the tallenges of being home a time i feel like there are lots of veert and kind of to do thewo , basically. So were kind of working through that. Not everything i do is, you know, academic per se. I feel like there are lots of things. You know, they can learn from. And so when we learned to make pretzels, for example, and that was reallybuun. Yeah, i mean, it has been challenging. Its hard to get my work done, its hard to, you know, not go crazy in your house and feel junk pile. E just living in a woodruff and teacher and parent megan smith had one final note of advice for parents we dont need to be totally solely focused on academics because at school thats not what the school day looks like. I would say dont beat up yourself as a parent if your kid is not engaged academilly all day long. They really are going to be fine. Oo uff for more on the challenges presented by distance learning, i am joined by kate gardoqui, she is a fo mer teacher w designs curriculum and trains other teachers. As she is a seniociate with the Great Schools partnership and joins me via skype from maine. So, kate gardoqui, how big a for th millions of studentsout and teachers and parents . Challenge. A tre theres just no way to overestimate it. If we think abouthsose gro one by one, for the teachers and the educatove, everyone inv in every school district, they have, some this cases, 24r 48 hours to prepare to completely like, and they diit with greats creativity. Its just its monumental. And for our students, we asked them, also, to reenvision what learning looks like, to reenvision what their social lives look like. And for parents, as we jus heard, were hearing from so many parents trying to educate their children, take care of their children, and do their own jobs at the same time. Woodruff its just remarkable. How different is it e teaching elementary, primary grade students, young studenus, veiddle schoolnd high school . Is one or the other particularly harder, or is there a greatff ence . I think each of those age levels has wan its own chaghlle. The chool students may be able to learn more effectively on tneir ow, or they may be able to, you know, govern but the depth of what we ask of them is so huge, thre the really just great challenges all arou w. Woodruft are the main things, kate gardoqui, that are lost when youont have that persontoperson contact, that eye contract that you have in a classroom . You know, iv