Reviving America after Covid-19 will take years, not months

11:47 p.m. ET, April 26, 2020

Reviving America after Covid-19 will take years, not months

Analysis from CNN's Stephen Collinson

Another 4.4 million Americans filed first-time jobless claims last week, bringing the number of people who've lost work in the past five weeks to an apocalyptic 26.5 million.

Each individual claim represents a life on edge.

People who never had their hands out before are going to food banks, and the unemployment rate is suddenly approaching Great Depression territory. It's the same story around the world.

President Donald Trump thinks pent-up demand will ensure that the US economy takes off when normal life creaks open and once customers are free to shop and spend again. But even if the virus were waning across the US -- which it isn't -- shops, restaurants, bars and movie theaters would likely reopen at reduced capacity.

And there's no guarantee those other jobs will ever come back.

Fewer workers will mean fewer people with money to buy cars and go on vacation -- which will mean that industries like tourism, entertainment and hospitality have a long haul.

After the battle against the coronavirus is won, the war to revive America will likely continue. We're talking years, not months.

Read the full analysis:

11:34 p.m. ET, April 26, 2020

UK PM Boris Johnson will return to work today

From CNN’s Robert Iddiols in London

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has returned to 10 Downing Street and will be back at work on Monday. Alberto Pezzali/AP

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson will return to work on Monday after recovering from coronavirus, according to a Downing Street spokesperson.

Dominic Raab, the UK's Foreign Secretary and First Secretary of State, will step aside after deputizing for the Prime Minister, allowing Johnson to make a full return.

Downing Street confirmed the previously waylaid Johnson is now "raring to go."

Johnson left hospital on Easter Sunday after contracting Covid-19 and has spent several days recovering further at Chequers, the Prime Minister’s countryside retreat.

11:14 p.m. ET, April 26, 2020

Trump denies he is about to fire Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar

From CNN's Jeremy Diamond, Kristen Holmes and Sarah Westwood

US President Donald Trump attends the daily coronavirus briefing at the White House on April 24, in Washington. Alex Brandon/AP

US President Donald Trump on Sunday denied he was going to fire Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar.

In a tweet, Trump said that "Reports that H.H.S. Secretary @AlexAzar is going to be 'fired' by me" are false.

Azar echoed Trump's message in his own tweet thread later Sunday evening attacking the media and praising the President's coronavirus response.

The public pushback comes after multiple calls between Trump, Azar and top White House advisers, which culminated in the coordinated issuing of a series of tweets that Azar's job was safe for now, CNN has learned.

The flurry of phone calls surrounded a series of news reports Saturday night quoting anonymous sources saying White House officials were looking at the possibility of replacing Azar, two sources familiar with the matter told CNN.

Read the full story:

Trump denies he is about to fire Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar

11:00 p.m. ET, April 26, 2020

Japan reports nearly 200 new coronavirus cases

From CNN's Junko Ogura in Tokyo

A staff member of the Yokosuka Medical Association holds a coronavirus test at the Yokosuka Emergency Medical Center on April 23, in Yokosuka, Japan. Tomohiro Ohsumi/Getty Images

Japan reported 199 new coronavirus cases on Sunday and three deaths, according to the country's health ministry.

The total number of reported infections in Japan now stands at 14,097, including 364 deaths. Some 712 cases and 13 deaths are linked to the Diamond Princess cruise ship.

The number of confirmed cases of the virus in Japan has spiked in the past month -- dashing hopes that the government's initial virus response had succeeded in controlling its spread.

On March 1, the country had reported 243 cases.

10:46 p.m. ET, April 26, 2020

The US has recorded more than 54,000 coronavirus deaths

From CNN's Hollie Silverman

Medical workers load a body into an ambulance at Andover Subacute and Rehabilitation Center on April 16, in Andover, New Jersey. Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/Getty Images

At least 965,435 cases of coronavirus, including 54,856 related deaths have been reported in the United States, according to Johns Hopkins University's tally.

The totals include cases from all 50 states, the District of Columbia and other US territories, as well as repatriated cases and those in the US military, veterans hospitals and federal prisons.

CNN has an interactive map tracking coronavirus cases across the country:

10:30 p.m. ET, April 26, 2020

South Korea reports 10 new coronavirus cases

From CNN's Sophie Jeong in Seoul

South Korea reported 10 new coronavirus cases on Sunday, raising the national tally to 10,738, according to the South Korean Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Of the new cases, seven are imported from overseas.

South Korea reported one death on Sunday, taking the national death toll to 243, the KCDC said.

Forty-seven more people have been discharged from isolation, bringing the national total of recovered cases to 8,764.

10:17 p.m. ET, April 26, 2020

US beef plant closes after nearly 200 coronavirus infections

From CNN's Dianne Gallagher and Pamela Kirkland

The exterior of the JBS USA plant in Green Bay, Wisconsin, on April 17. Sarah Kloepping/Green Bay Press-Gazette/USA Today Network

A US beef production plant in Green Bay, Wisconsin will temporarily close after 189 coronavirus cases were linked to the facility, the company announced Sunday.

The Green Bay beef plant employees 1,200 people and "feeds nearly 3.2 million Americans every day," according to JBS USA.

A planned reopening date was not given in the initial announcement.

Brown County, where the plant is located, has at least 776 confirmed cases and two deaths related to the virus as of Sunday, according to the county health department.

The Green Bay beef plant is the fourth JBS meat plant to close due to Covid-19.

Greeley, Colorado reopened at a reduced capacity on Friday. A JBS beef plant in Pennsylvania opened back up a week ago. The JBS pork processing facility in Worthington, Minnesota remains closed down indefinitely.

Read more:

Meat processing plants across the US are closing due to the pandemic. Will consumers feel the impact?

10:00 p.m. ET, April 26, 2020

It's just past 7 p.m. in Los Angeles and 10 a.m. in Hong Kong. Here's the latest on the pandemic

Health workers tend to a Covid-19 patient in a Stamford Hospital intensive care unit, on April 24, in Stamford, Connecticut. John Moore/Getty Images

The novel coronavirus has infected almost 3 million people, including 206,495 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University. If you're just joining us, here's what has been happening over the past few hours.

Testing in the US: Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House coronavirus response coordinator, said that the US will need a breakthrough in testing to help screen large numbers of people.
Italy to lift restrictions: These include the loosening of some travel restrictions, increased access to parks and gardens, and the ability to hold funerals with up to 15 attendees, but they won't take effect until May 4.
NYPD deaths: 37 members of the New York Police Department have died due to complications from Covid-19. New York City has recorded more than 11,000 confirmed coronavirus deaths and more than 5,000 probable deaths from the disease.
A presidential letter: The US government is sending stimulus payment recipients a signed letter from President Donald Trump.
Plasma promise: Physicians in Orlando have used convalescent plasma transplants in 12 patients and are seeing “drastic improvements” in at least two of them. The process involves doctors testing the plasma of people who recovered for antibodies to the virus and then injecting that plasma, or a derivative of it, into a sick person.
Heartburn drug: A major New York hospital network has given high doses of an over-the-counter heartburn drug to patients with Covid-19 to see if it works against the coronavirus.
Spain eases restrictions: The country's children can finally leave their homes for the first time in over six weeks.

9:44 p.m. ET, April 26, 2020

China reports 3 new cases of coronavirus

From CNN's Alexandra Lin in Hong Kong

Medical personnel take coronavirus test swabs at a health services center, in Suifenhe, China, on April 24. STR/AFP via Getty Images

China reported three new cases of the novel coronavirus and no new deaths on Sunday, the National Health Commission announced today.

The three cases include two imported from overseas and one local infection from Heilongjiang, China's northernmost province that borders Russia.

There has been growing concern over cases coming into China from Russia, amid fears they could spark a new outbreak in the north as most of the country returns to normal.

In addition, 25 new asymptomatic cases were also reported. Some 974 asymptomatic patients are still under medical observation around the country. China previously did not include those patients not showing symptoms in some of its tallies.

The total number of confirmed cases to date is 82,830, the NHC said.

Of those confirmed cases, 77,474 have recovered and been discharged.

The country's official death toll stands at 4,633.

April 27 coronavirus news