Students lives are upended more. Everybody assumes that first generation, lowincome students have the same access to resources, have everything that all the privileged ss have. Th e second covid19 hit eaks. S, you saw those you saw those gaps in access. Woodruff all that and more, on tonights pbs newshour. Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by when it comes to wireless, conser cellular gives its customers the choice. Our nocontract plans give you as much or as little talk,at text andas you want, and our u. S. Based Customer Service team is on hand to help. To learn more, go to consumercellular. Tv bnsf railway. Financial Services Firm raymond james. Fidelity investments. The john s. And james l. Knight foundation. Fostering informed and engaged communities. More at kf. Org. And with the ongoing support of these institutions this program was made possible by the corporatiofor public broadcasting. And by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. Woodruff the covid19 pandemic is pushing past new milestones tonight. Some two Million People have been infected worldwide, and 125,000 have died. The u. S. Toll exceeds 26,000 dead. That includes 10,000 in new york city, where officials added hundreds of presumed victims, who never tested positive. All of this, as a struggle began over what hanext. Stephanie sy begins our coverage. Reporter a battle is brewing over who has the power to reopen tst country, the es or President Trump . New York Governor Andrew Cuomo t reject president s claim that he has absolute authoritc to make thation. Country. T have a king in this we didnt want a king, so we have a constitution and we elect a president. Reporter President Trump fired ck over twitter, writing, cuomos been begging for everything. I got it all done, and now he seems to want independence that wont happen the democratic governor refused to take the bait in his daily briefing. The president is clearly spoiling for a fight on this issue. The worst thing we can do in all of this is start wittical division. The president will have no fight with me. I will not engage in it. Reporter cuomo wasnt the only governor to speak out. On monday,arylands republican governor larry hogan told cnn that President Trumps claim of total authority was not my understanding of the constitution. While the federal government does have broad constitutional authority, the 10th amendment grants states the powers not specifically delegated to shington. Still, the Trump Administration is working to form its own team to determine how and when to g e nations economy back up and running. California governor gavin newsom said today his state is moving forward with its own plan to lift restrictions. You may be having dinner a waiter wearing gloves maybe a face mask. Dinner where the menu is disposable, where the tables, half of the tables in that restaurant no longerr. Where your temperature is checked before you walk in to the establishment. These are likely snarios as we start to process the next phase. Reporter that comes a day ter six northeastern states announced theyll work to coordinate their reopening pls. Today, the nations top fectious disease expert, dr. Anthony fauci, warned incread, quality testing is key to determining when to reopen. We have to have something in place that is efficient and that we can rely on, and were not there yet. Ultimately, the virus is going to determine when we really can safely reopen, not only in general, but in a particular location. Reporter some help is on the way. Today, south korea sent a shipment of kits to the u. S. Soat are capable of runnin 600,000 tests. Were winning our battle, were winning our war. Reporter in the meantime, the president met with covid19 survivors at the white house. Ve they inimum numbers of 100,000, and i think were goint to beat th. 100,000 deaths, can you believe that was a minimum. So we made the right moves. Now we have to get our country open again. Reporter but amid all the talk of reopenings, new closures have been ordered atce meat ping plants in south dakota and pennsylvania, after hundreds of workers tested positive for the virus. One of those plants in south dakota produces 5 of the u. S. Pork supply, raising fea m about possibt shortages at supermarkets. With many t of work, foodnw pantries natioe are already seeing high demand. Ub like others, rys food pantry ro green bay, wisconsin has turned to driveugh distribution to ke staff and recipients at a safe distance. Theyll just pull right on through, and we have volunteers that will bring it right out, and they just pop the trunk open, we set it right in their trunk for them, close the trunk and away they go. Reporter overseas, austria is one of the latest countries to ease its lockdowns, reopening small retailers and garden stores. In spain, the number of covid19 infections and deaths rose slightly, after several days of declines. And, the Worlds Largest lockdown, in india, has been extended two more weeks for the countrys 1. 3 billion people. For the pbs newshour, im stephanie sy. Woodruff also today, the u. S. Treasury announced thate x largest u. S. Airlines have agreed in principal to a payroll support package totaling 25 billion. Fund warned that the pandemicry will very likely cause the worst worldwide wnturn since the Great Depression of the 1930s. Predicd a partial rebound, but not until next year. Even so, wall street rallied today on talk of reopening businesses. The Dow Jones Industrial average gained 559 points to close at49 23 the nasdaq rose 323 points, and the s p 500 added 84. In the days other news, former presint obama ended months of neutrality and endorsed his former Vice President , joe biden, for the democratic nomination. He saibiden has the character and experience to guide the nation through one of its darkest times and a long recovery. And, he appealed for an end to the trump era. We need americans of goodll o unite in a great awakening against a politics that too often has been characterized by corruption, carelessness, selfdealing, disinformation, ignorance, a just plain meanness. Woodruff the former president also urged action on addressing economic inequality, expanding the affordare act, and rejoining the fight ainst climate change. The pentagon is extending a halt to nonessential travel fortr ps, their families and civilians due to the pandemic. B it hn set to expire on may 11. Et defense sey mark esper said today he hopes to announce a new target date for ending some of the restrictions this week. The u. S. Justice department sided today with a church that bssued over coronavirus c one of several such fights nationwide. Greenwood, mississippi handing out 500 citations to worshippers attending drivein services. In a statement, u. S. Attornem general willrr supported health restrictions, but he said religious groups must not fa special burdens. Federal appeals courts have weighed in against newbortion barriers related to the pandemic. On monday, one court upheld a ruling against oklahomas ban abortis as nonessential procedures. A second court ruled that women in texas will still be allowed to take socalled Abortion Pills to terminate pregnancies. The u. Senate joined the housees of representatoday in delaying its return to work until may 4, citing covid19 concerns. That came amid a stalemate over another 250 billion to aid Small Business. White house ad warnedhat the initial ec50 billion for the paycheck pron program is nearly gone. The run rate is theyre going to be out of money. The program, the Paycheck Protection Program is going to be out by this week, maybe by thursday or friday, so we could use the 250 to colete that program. Woodruff on the democratic side, House Speaker nancy pelosi ain rejected the ministrations request, unless it also provides more aid for hospitals and for ate and local governments. In israel, primeinister Benjamin Netanyahu and his rival benny gantz reported significant progress toward forming a ity government. The countrys president , reuven rivlin, extended their deadldae until wedn an agreement could end a year long political deadlock. North korea has fired a barrage of shortrange missiles, in a new, highprofile weapons test. South koreas military says the missil were launched from both the ground and air, and landing at sea. North korea has fired off a series of weapons in recent months. Back in this country, the death toll rose to 34 today after severe storms ravaged the south on easter. The National Weather service said that it appears at least 27 tornadoes hit the regn. In alabama and half a dozen other states, crews began clearing debris and removingll trees. Officials said social distancing and other coronavirus restrictions could complicate the effort. He and,nvironmental Protection Agency says that it will not tighten the air qualitp standard flution from soot. Tougher regulationad recommended the auto and Power Industries p. Opposed any change, and administrator Andrew Wheeler said tay that the existing rule isufficient. Still to come on the newshour covid19 comes to Nursing Homes. Vulnerable patients, and the threat of the virus. When to reopen . The question thats beginning to dominate the u. S. Dcollege students are for off campus and face an uncertain future amid social distancing. A swarm of locts, and the risk of starvation in east africa. Plus, much more. Woodruff more than 3,600 deaths from covid19 in this country are believed to be linked with Nursing Homes and assisted living centers. Th that doll has shot up in the past two weeks, and the since it is just an estimate. Unt amna nawaz is going to look closer at some of the specific problems and challenges these facilities face, and how families are coping. Nawaz judy, we can only give an estimate because the federal eagovernment hast been rng a full count of whats happening io these facilities. More than one mipeople live in a nursing home or assisted living center. Were going to begin wme personal stories what families are encountering right now. Well hear from a wife, an adult grandson, and from the head of a company that runs facilities i florida. Im amy johnsonnd i am 38 years old, living in windom, minnesota. My husband, mark, has a rare form of dementia called the frontatemporal dementia, and he lives about an hour away from us in mankato, minnesota. He has been diagnosed for about three years now. So hes in assisted living. Ive got four little kids under the age of eight, and so, they ar. Used to going to see dad even if they dont go every week, its usually every other week, so, they are definitely noticing the huge change. And theyve asked repeatedly, when are we going to go seey . Da my name is keith myers. De i am pre and c. E. O. Of Morselife Health system in west palm beach, florida. We are one of the largest senior Care Organizations in the southeast. We offer the full continuum of care. We can no longer have communal activities, so we have to look at another way. But that was very hard at first, especially in our independent and assisted living facilities, because they enjoy eating with their friends. He we need to letesidents understand that if they want to go out of the campus, they will be quarantined, because i have no idea who they will meet. My name is jaime patino, councilman for the city of union city, california. My grandmother is emma patino. Nursing home in hayward, california. She is curntly at kaiser, san leandro, in the i. C. U. , with a very grim outlk. We were only allowed to visit my grandmother througthe window of her room. She has dementia, so she didnt reallynderstand why we couldnt go inside and why we couldnt visit her. But thats what we did for about two weeks, until this past wednesday, when i got a ne alert via email from the east bay times saying that six people had passed away theret the gateway. On friday morning at 3 00 a. M. , my dad received a phone call at she was being transported to kaiser hospital, san leandro, because her her oxygen levels had gone down. And when she got there, they found out that, not only was she covid19positive, that it had gone into her lungs, but her kidneys were starting to fail. Her heart was being stressed because it was fighting the ptsease, and she also had shock. The pandemic has definitely influenced the way that weve beenble to interact with him we did go up this last weekend and dropped him off some different clothes, because hiswe nt fitting right. And it was basically just, you know, drive an hour, drop it in the entryway, and walk acay, e were not allowed to really be in contact with the staff there. I have to make sure i have the right amount of equipment to be able to get the resources to our employees, so they feel hecomfortable in providing quality of care that our residents and tients expect. At first they were making sks, they were bringing in bandanas, until i was able to procureem so now were able to offer surgical masks. If gods going to take her, e she lived a great life, and we were all blessed to have her. And as for the future, one of the things im going to do is im going to use whatever platform i can to push for more transparency, so that people know exactly whats going on in these Nursing Homes. I cant be there. If he did decline to the point where he would require, you know, end of life or hospice care, which is what the form of dementia he has, its very possible that it could decline that quickly. ,d with that being the ca it, you know, thats hard to think about. Nawaz and before we go on, a sad update. Jaime patinos grandmother passed away after we so him yesterday. Ea she was 84 old. Our condolences to him and his family. We reached out to the gateway care and reh center, but have not heage back from mant there. For more on what jaime and others have been dealing with, anhow this industry is grappling with the coronavirus, im joined by david grabowski. Hes a professor of healthd policy at harvdical school. Sk david grab thanks for being with us. People are going to look at those numbers that we reportedve earlier,3,600 deaths, up from just a few hundred in a matter of days. Ites an alarming rise. What is behind that rise . Its incredibly alarming. If you can believe it, its actually an underestimate. Whats behind it is just how deadly this virus is iun nrsing homes. We have older adults with high levels of chronic illness. When this gets started in a nursing home, its incredibly harmful to the population there. Woodruff nawaz you called it the perfect storm. Explain to me why. Well, you have oldderults living close together. You have Staff Members mov room the room, potentially spreading the virus. Remember, we dont have testing. Many of these workers dont havl perotective equipment like masks or gowns or glo so theyre slowly spreading it throughout these buildings. It really is this perct sto of lots of older adults with chronic illness and staff slowly ving it around the building. Nawaz why do you believe that an undercount . Do you think we have an accurate tracking facilities within the facilities . Is there any mechanism at the federal level for tracking this . There is no mechani at the federal level currently to track these number, so were totally dependent on state departments of health. Some states have done a great job. Other states are doing nothing. Thats first source of thisng underrepors just that we have a lot of missing data. A lot of states arent reporting. Within states, theres going to be a lot of undocumentedases, and then we know theres a lot of asymptomatic case, that means individuals who arent showing any symptoms of the vius. So i think the number is much higher than the one you reported. Woodruff nawaz we heard about Nursing Homes being locked down, no visitors allowed. Theyre barring all the communal activity, too. Staff, of course, have to come and go, but what else could they be doing . Could they ban new entries, newi ts from coming into the facility . Thats one step. And i think many facilities have stopped taking new patients in from hospitals. Hospitals are looking to discharge patients into Nursing Homes, and many Nursing Homes have held the line and said, we cant safely care for these patients. E trying the keep the residents currently in the facile safe. Y nawaz what about whu facilities and aisted caresing facilities handled these things. You had the believe there was a plan if place the handle an infectious outbreak, right . Unfortunately there wasnt a this has not been a strong suit of Nursing Homes or assisted ling. I think its easy right now just assisted living facilities. The i also think we have to point the finger at how we pay for these services and how we regulate these rvices. We have often uderfunded Nursing Home Services in this country. We have had poor models of oversight and acchentability. Atnd of the day we get nawaz a lot of families have loved ones in these facilities. Theyre reading e headlines, and theyre worried. I want you to speak to them anh tell themt you would advise. Should people be pulling loved ones outf their facility . Should they think twice before pulling someone into the facility . My heart goes out wh everyone with a loved one in a nursing home. This is an incredibly trying time. I dont know many us canull our loved ones out of a facility at this point. I think it maye too late actually. As we were just discussing, the virus is already ia number of nursing hopes around the country. If you do bring them into your house, you have to kep yor loved ones safe are. You able to sort of have a high le Infection Control to keep the virus out of your home . And then finally, remember, therewas a reason they in this nursing home to begin with. They need lots of assistance with activities of daily living like bathing and dressing. Are you an you faily going to be able to provide those serv pes . You coultentially hire somebody into your home, but you are