• ‘No Evidence’ Yet That Recovered COVID-19 Patients Are Immune, WHO Says (NPR)
• Global coronavirus death toll could be 60% higher than reported. Mortality statistics show 122,000 deaths in excess of normal levels across 14 countries (Financial Times)
• U.S. intelligence agencies issued warnings about the novel coronavirus in more than a dozen classified briefings prepared for President Trump in January and February, months during which he continued to play down the threat, according to current and former U.S. officials (Washington Post)
• House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said Monday that Democrats will push for a vote-by-mail provision in Congress’ next coronavirus relief package. Trump, however, opposes the idea and has urged Republicans to fight the effort. (NBC News)
• Tyson Foods: “The food supply chain is breaking” and “millions of pounds of meat will disappear” from the national food supply chain as the coronavirus outbreak forces the closure of some of the country’s biggest slaughterhouses, where tens of thousands of animals are processed daily. One commodity broker/livestock analyst suggested that “around May 1, shortages will begin developing at retail meat counters.” (NBC News / Washington Post / Bloomberg / The Guardian)
• The White House is finalizing expanded guidelines to allow the phased reopening of schools and camps, child-care programs, certain workplaces, houses of worship, restaurants and mass transit, according to documents under review by administration officials (Washington Post)
• Trump and retailers are expected to announce wider availability of coronavirus tests as his administration seeks to address concerns from states and business leaders that U.S. testing must be more robust for Americans to feel comfortable returning to work (Bloomberg)
• Trump thinks that the daily briefings are a “waste of time” but, presses on as advisors plead for him to stop, “Two hours of anybody every day won’t help politically” Said Chris Christie, as 56,715 Americans are dead… (NBC News / Politico / The Guardian / Axios)
• Trump tweeted, then later deleted a series of attacks against journalists who received awards for their reporting on Russia and the Mueller investigation. He called on all reporters who received “Noble Prizes” – misspelling the word “Nobel” – to return them “so that they can be given to the REAL REPORTERS & JOURNALISTS who got it right.” The Nobel Prize, however, is not awarded for works of journalism. Trump then quickly deleted the tweets and claimed he was only being sarcastic when he posted them. “Does sarcasm ever work?” he tweeted. It is the second time over the last two weeks that Trump has tried to deflect blame for his comments by claiming that he was being sarcastic (Business Insider / Washington Post / CNBC / Independent)

Today’s projections:

Total projected cases in the US: 1,031,437
Total projected deaths in the US: 56,255

Actual cases in the US: 1,011,685
Actual deaths in the US: 56,715

Link, text, and photo credits: 1point3acres, WTF Just Happened Today, and fipilele