Here’s what you need to know about the week’s top stories.
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Here are the week’s top stories, and a look ahead.
1. The U. S. is approaching a grim milestone of 100,000 deaths from the coronavirus.
Almost all of them occurred within a three-month span at an average of more than 1,100 deaths a day. The Times scoured obituaries and death notices honoring those who died. The 1,000 names listed here reflect just 1 percent of the toll.
They are our family members, friends and neighbors. Our Sunday front page is dedicated to them.
The number comes on the eve of Memorial Day, typically a kickoff to the first rites of summer. But public health officials warn that the impulse for social interaction and fun could result in an uptick in cases. Above, a couple on Staten Island distributed flags among the graves of veterans.
President Trump has been questioning the official coronavirus death toll, even as most experts say it is likely higher than what has been reported. And testing remains an issue. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been lumping together tests for active coronavirus with those for recovered patients, muddying the process of tracking the pandemic’s course.
Here is the latest case count.
Have you been keeping up with the headlines? Test your knowledge with our news quiz. Here’s the Sunday Review from Opinion and our crossword puzzles.
2. Hong Kong may be facing the fate of its future yet again.
New national security laws, outlined at the annual session of China’s legislature on Friday, would strip down the territory’s autonomy, and likely curtail some of the civil liberties that differentiate Hong Kong from the rest of the country.
While Beijing considers its intervention a necessary move for maintaining the country’s sovereignty, the U. S. has condemned the move and considers it a full-frontal attack.
There are two great risks facing the territory: The political protests that dominated its streets last summer could return, as seen on Sunday, above, and the Beijing measures could drive away the commerce and capital Hong Kong needs to flourish.
3. What role should employers play in testing workers?
As the country slowly reopens, businesses like Shapiro’s Delicatessen in Indianapolis, above, are looking into how to safely bring back their employees. But with little federal guidance, they are largely on their own in sorting out whether or not to test — and how to do it — to reassure workers and customers.
