Coronavirus restrictions begin to ease in some places; wedge between states and White House deepens

WASHINGTON - Individual states and localities - as well as foreign governments - began to announce a gradual easing of restrictions imposed to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus Monday amid protests that openings were not fast or extensive enough.

The demonstrations came as a dispute over the availability of virus tests, and the need to test far more widely to provide crucial data before reopening the economy, deepened a wedge between many of the nation's governors and the White House. While governors want the federal government to take responsibility for ensuring the availability of tests, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the administration favors a "state-driven approach."

President Donald Trump said on Twitter that the demand for more tests was driven by the same "Radical Left, Do Nothing Democrats" who earlier had demanded the federal government intervene to provide more ventilators for acute-care coronavirus patients.

At the White House's daily coronavirus briefing, Trump said Vice President Mike Pence had spoken to all 50 state governors Monday, reminding them of the list that Trump said included "names and phone numbers of labs" that are "ready, willing and able" to perform tests.

Trump directed some of his ire at Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican and the head of the National Governors Association, who he said "didn't understand much about what was going on" when he criticized the federal government's performance in addressing the testing issue.

Pence said he assured governors that there was sufficient testing capacity for all and that the federal government would continue to assist them "in every way." Several task force and public health officials were then brought forward to explain that initial difficulties in making testing equipment and supplies available are rapidly being overcome.

In his remarks, Trump quoted New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, as saying earlier in the day that "the president is right, the states' testing is up to the states to do."

Cuomo, however, went on to say in his own daily press briefing that testing is a joint federal-state responsibility.

"What those states will run into is . . . those labs can only run as many tests as the national manufacturers provide them chemicals, reagents and lab kits," Cuomo said. "The national manufacturers say they have supply-chain issues. I'd like the federal government to help on those supply-chain issues."

Trump, whose relationship with Cuomo has been up and down during the crisis, said he would meet with the governor in the Oval Office on Tuesday.

Although Trump has boasted that the United States has conducted more tests than any other nation, it is significantly behind some others in the number per capita. Governors have complained of scarcities of crucial testing elements, including swabs and reagents necessary to process the tests.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., tweeted that Democrats were seeking "free testing for all, and expanded reporting and contact tracing."

The argument was one of several that delayed action on a new small-business rescue package taking shape on Capitol Hill, which also was expected to include money for testing. An initial $349 billion small-business fund ran out of money last week. Lawmakers of both major parties and small businesses that were turned away said the bulk of the money had gone to large hotel and restaurant chains.

Amid the political disputes in Washington, stock prices tumbled, with the Dow Jones industrial average falling nearly 600 points Monday. The most immediate cause was a record drop in the price of oil - some traders were paying to have short-term contracts taken off their hands as inventories continued to outpace demand during the virus-induced global shutdown.

The total number of confirmed virus cases Monday passed 775,000 in the United States, with more than 42,000 deaths; there are now nearly 2.5 million confirmed cases worldwide and nearly 170,000 deaths. In New York, the national hot spot, the number of hospital admissions continued to slowly fall over the weekend. But Mayor Bill de Blasio, a Democrat, encouraged residents to remain vigilant about social distancing, and he canceled large public events scheduled for June, including the Pride March and the Puerto Rican Day Parade.

Defense Secretary Mark Esper wrote in a memo to Defense Department that the virus "continues to present significant risk to our forces," and he extended a ban on all official military travel, with some exceptions, until June 30.

After protests in several states in recent days, hundreds lined the streets Monday in Harrisburg, the Pennsylvania capital, defying a ban on mass gatherings in an anti-shutdown rally after Gov. Tom Wolf, a Democrat, announced limited reopening measures, including some construction work and curbside pickup for liquor stores, to begin early next month.

"As much as we might wish for a magic wand, it doesn't exist," Wolf said. Pennsylvania has reported 33,232 coronavirus cases and 1,204 deaths.

The protesters, many of whom were not wearing masks or maintaining social distance, included several Republican state legislators, who urged Wolf to sign a bill allowing a broader number of businesses to reopen within three weeks. Wolf has said he would veto the measure.

In Virginia, the state Republican Party, echoing last week's assertion by Trump that Democrats wanted to use pandemic powers to restrict gun ownership, warned of "tyrannical rule by incompetent liberal governors."

A statement issued by the party - titled "Liberate Virginia," the phrase Trump used in a tweet last week - questioned whether "shutting down Virginia" was actually for health reasons. "When the State bans dentists because it's unsafe, but deems an abortion safe, it's not about your health," it said.

Polls indicate that a majority of Americans do not support the protests. But the rising discontent, though still relatively small, reflected fraying nerves over home confinement and lost jobs as well as political discord. Some of the largest protests have been organized by far-right activists.

Trump, despite his own government's restrictive guidelines, has defended the protesters, arguing that some governors have "gone too far" in closing businesses and restricting movement.

Anthony Fauci, the nation's top expert on infectious diseases and a leading member of Trump's coronavirus task force who has at times publicly disagreed with the president, said Monday that reopening the economy too early would backfire.

"The message is that clearly this is something that is hurting, from the standpoint of economics and the standpoint of things that have nothing to do with the virus," Fauci said on ABC's "Good Morning America." "But unless we get the virus under control, the real recovering economically is not going to happen."

Fauci also addressed concerns over antibody tests, which determine whether a person was already infected with the virus and might be immune to future infection. Experts have not determined whether that protection exists or how long it might last. At the same time, a proliferation of companies offering the tests, following the lifting of government restrictions on who can market them, has led to concerns about faulty results.

"We still have a way to go" with both antibody testing and proven results, he said.

Growing debate in this country over whether a turning point in infections is near and could allow greater social and economic activity was matched in Europe, where Italy and Spain have recorded slow-but-steady declines in cases. Italy, with more than 24,000 deaths, and Spain, with nearly 21,000, have the highest virus-related death totals outside the United States.

In France, the number of daily deaths increased considerably, with 547 new deaths in the 24 hours preceding midday Monday, compared with 395 on Sunday. The overall death toll there is 20,265, with nearly 115,000 confirmed cases.

Overall, the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control said the continent now has more than a million cases of the virus, with about 100,000 deaths.

In Britain, where the death toll was reported early Monday to total 16,509, "the big concern is a second peak" in infections, the government said.

"That is what ultimately will do the most damage to health and the most damage to the economy," a spokesman for Prime Minister Boris Johnson said. "If you move too quickly, then the virus could begin to spread exponentially again."

In Germany, where states have issued different restrictions, some states eased the measures Monday and authorized the opening of small shops, car dealerships, bookstores and other nonessential businesses. But Chancellor Angela Merkel said it would be a "crying shame if we were to stumble into a relapse with our eyes wide open."

"We stand at the beginning of the pandemic and are still a long way from being out of the woods," Merkel said during a news conference.

Merkel said that any relapse could mean a snapback in restrictions and that Germany must be better able to track infection trails, with a team of at least five contact tracers for every 20,000 people.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, whose government has been among the most successful in stemming the spread of the virus - in large part due to a strict lockdown - said restrictions there would remain in place for another two weeks before the government reviews whether to ease them. New Zealand has reported 1,440 cases of the virus, with 12 deaths and 974 recovered patients.

"We have done what very few countries have been able to do," she said. "We have stopped the wave of devastation."

Separately, a number of countries in the Arab world have announced restrictions on the celebration of Ramadan, the Muslim month of fasting, which begins this week. Some have announced ongoing mosque closures. Saudi Arabia's highest religious body on Monday urged Muslims worldwide to observe social distancing requirements in their countries and to pray at home.

The United Arab Emirates said Monday that virus patients and medical workers caring for them are not required to fast.

Asked Saturday about his retweet of remarks questioning whether Muslims would observe social distancing restrictions in this country as Christians did during Easter, Trump said "there could be a difference. And we'll have to see what will happen. Because I've seen a great disparity in this country."

The Council on American-Islamic Relations, in a tweet including the hashtag "#Islamophobia," called Trump's remarks "incoherent."

The Washington Post’s Rick Noack and Loveday Morris in Berlin and Adam Taylor, Erica Werner and Will Englund contributed to this report.