Here’s what you need to know at the end of the day.
(Want to get this briefing by email? Here’s the sign-up.)
Good evening. Here’s the latest.
1. Sweeping lockdown orders are giving way to measures allowing millions of Americans to return to some parts of public life.
Nearly a dozen states tentatively reopened on Friday. But clashes emerged across the country over how it should be done. Partisan battles flared in Illinois and Michigan, where protesters, some of them armed, demanded that Democratic leaders loosen restrictions. And Texas opened restaurants and businesses just a day after the state reported its highest death toll from the coronavirus.
Here’s the latest and a map of which states are starting to open.
Ultimately, the act of reopening will be carried out by individuals, and the decision has not been easy. In homes across the country this week, Americans whose governors said it was time to reopen, as in Colorado, above, wrestled with what to do, weighing what felt like an impossible choice.
The Times is providing free access to much of our coronavirus coverage, and our Coronavirus Briefing newsletter — like all of our newsletters — is free. Please consider supporting our journalism with a subscription.
2. As the U. S. wrestled with reopening measures, global Labor Day demonstrations were reimagined in cities under lockdown around the world.
In Athens, hundreds of Greeks wearing masks and gloves and standing six feet apart gathered outside Parliament, above. In Spain, labor unions planned to hold only online events, after courts struck down proposals to gather outdoors.
May 1 also means rent is due for many. From New York to Los Angeles, tenant groups are encouraging millions of renters to withhold rent this month, which landlords warn would be devastating.
3. The F. D. A. issued an emergency approval for the antiviral drug remdesivir, shown to modestly speed recovery in severely ill coronavirus patients.
The approval had been expected following modestly encouraging results from a federal trial announced earlier this week.
And as researchers continue to work toward a vaccine, several manufacturers worry that the Trump administration may be waiting too long before ordering an ample supply of medical equipment, above, needed to deliver a vaccine.
