By Meg Wagner, Mike Hayes, Elise Hammond and Veronica Rocha, CNN
From CNN's Chris Boyette
The past 24 hours have seen more people in Illinois die due to Covid-19 than any other day yet, Illinois Department of Public Health Director, Dr. Ngozi Ezike announced at a news conference Tuesday.
Ezike announced 144 new Covid-19 related deaths, bringing the state death total to 2,125.
The state has seen 2,219 new cases of Covid-19 in the past 24 hours. This brings the state total to 48,102 cases, Ezike said.
From CNN’s Anneken Tappe
US stocks lost steam after a buoyant market open, finishing the day lower.
Here's what happened today:
From CNN's Melanie Schuman
Michael Hinojosa, the superintendent of the Dallas Independent School District, said that despite the President Trump's comments suggesting schools should open for just a few weeks, “we really have to listen to our local businesses our local leaders and how we work together here in Dallas. Every situation is different.”
He told CNN's Kate Bolduan he is grateful to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott for closing schools.
Hinojosa said he is very concerned about a potential spike in the virus.
“Parents will forgive us for a few things, but they won’t forgive us if something happens to the health of their students under our care, custody and control," he said.
The district is considering a split schedule for students, staggering arrivals and classroom lunches among the changes.
Plan A is everyone shows up with no restrictions, but Hinojosa admitted, “it’s very unlikely that Plan A will ever happen.”
Requiring all students and teachers to wear masks is another option, he said.
Watch:
From CNN's Nikki Carvajal
President Trump stood by his comments that the number of coronavirus cases would go to zero in the United States, a claim he once made while trying to downplay the virus.
CNN’s Jim Acosta asked the President how the United States got to the grim milestone of one million coronavirus cases, from the President’s prediction back in February that 15 US cases would turn to zero.
“It will go down to zero, ultimately,” he said Tuesday. At least 57,266 Americans have died of coronavirus.
“You have to understand when it comes to cases, we do much more testing than any other country,” the President said. “We’re going to show more cases because we’re doing much more testing.”
He went on to repeat claims that, “many very good experts, very good people too, said this would never affect the United States.”
“The experts got it wrong. A lot of people got it wrong and a lot of people didn’t know it would be this serious,” Trump said.
Watch:
From CNN's Elise Hammond
The USNS Comfort, a hospital ship that was docked in the New York City to assist with the city's coronavirus response, will depart on Thursday, according to a press release form the US military.
The Comfort will return to Naval Station Norfolk in Virginia, where it will wait for "future tasking for Covid-19 operations in support of FEMA," the release said.
The USNS Comfort arrived in New York City on March 30 and was originally tasked with providing care to non-coronavirus patients, but quickly started treating all patients regardless of their Covid-19 status.
From CNN's Joe Sutton
Maine Gov. Janet Mills announced today that the state will extend its stay-at-home order until May 31.
“Today, I am announcing that I will extend the stay at home order, in the form of a new stay safer at home executive order. This order will be effective through May 31," Mills said.
She said the order, "will allow Maine people to continue to engage in activities that are already permitted such as occasional grocery shopping, exercise; but it will also be modified to allow us to participate in the safe and gradual reopening, restarting of our economy.”
From CNN's Cheri Mossburg
As California moves closer toward lifting restrictions, Gov. Gavin Newsom is floating the idea of starting the next school year in late July or early August.
Newsom cited a significant loss in learning during the virtual model implemented by districts across the state.
“We have to make up for those gaps that may have occurred over this time,” State Health Director Sonia Angell said, explaining the plan to move forward
Reopening schools and child care will take more planning, Angell said, and precautions, including face coverings and physical distancing, must remain in place.
From CNN's Lauren del Valle
West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice said in a press conference Tuesday that his administration plans to reopen local businesses Thursday.
Justice announced 37 people have died due to coronavirus since the beginning of the pandemic, but said the positive test result rate was under 3% Monday and today.
Should the positive testing rate fall under 3% again tomorrow, certain healthcare-related businesses will be permitted to open Thursday, Justice said.
Those qualifying businesses include pharmacies, chiropractors, dentists, psychologists, physical therapists, social workers and others. Daycare workers will be tested for the virus beginning this week and will reopen should all working personnel test negative.
All businesses reopening will require personnel to sanitize, physically distance and wear face coverings.
Phase two: If this week continues on track, more businesses will be permitted to open next Monday, Justice said.
This second phase will include small businesses with less than 10 employees, outdoor dining at restaurants, salons and dog groomers.
Places of worship are also expected to be included in that second phase but capacity will be restricted.
From CNN's Maureen Chowdhury
Erin Strine was flying home to be with her family after her grandmother passed away and was shocked to be on a packed American Airlines flight with people who were not wearing masks.
Strine, who took video of the packed flight, said an announcement was made after she boarded that passengers would not be able to move their seats and would not be able to social distance because the flight was full.
“It was a scary thing to experience,” Strine told CNN’s Brooke Baldwin.
“I would’ve felt a little better knowing that everyone had been required to wear masks,“ she said.
American Airlines announced today that the company would require flight attendants to wear face masks starting May 1.
This comes after JetBlue became the first airline to require passengers to wear face coverings starting May 4.
Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants, said while face masks alone aren’t enough, requiring them on flights does keep “everyone safer.”
Nelson added that coronavirus safety requirements should be consistent and that there needs to be a federal mandate for aviation policy regarding the virus across the board.
She said that the rest of the world is “heads above” where the US currently is.
“Canada put this in place a week ago. Other countries around the world have had this in place for several weeks and months and we need to be leaders again among the world and take the best precautions for our health and safety,” Nelson said.