Axios

The Trump administration has decided to pause efforts to increase work requirements for some Americans receiving food stamps, due to the coronavirus pandemic, the New York Times reports.

What's happening: Nearly 10 million Americans have filed for unemployment in recent weeks. Meanwhile, demand is surging for food banks across the U.S., as those who rely on food stamps to buy essentials are largely unable to stock up on food and medication amid the COVID-19 outbreak, the Washington Post reports.

This Sunday will be America's biggest test yet for whether people can social distance long enough to flatten the coronavirus curve.

Why it matters: Glimmers of hope in New York and San Francisco aren't a license to mingle. For many families, the holiday could pit relative against relative over how seriously to take social distancing on one of the biggest family gathering days of the year.

San Francisco on Friday announced a temporary 15% cap on fees delivery companies can charge restaurants during the coronavirus crisis.

Why it matters: Food delivery has skyrocketed as residents remain confined in their homes except for essential trips. The service has become the primary source of revenue for restaurants as they can no longer serve on-site patrons.

African Americans, Native Americans, and Hispanics are more likely to be endangered by the coronavirus due to chronic health conditions and the effects of economic inequality, U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams said in Friday's White House briefing.

The XFL suspended its operations and laid off almost all of its staff Friday with no plans to return in 2021 after its inaugural season was cut short by the coronavirus pandemic, ESPN reports.

Why it matters: The football upstart, which was the second attempt to upend the sport's market by WWE chairman and CEO Vince McMahon, would be the first major sports league to be felled by the coronavirus-driven economic shutdown, despite saying last month that it remained "committed to playing a full season in 2021 and future years."

Most of the U.S. will be unable to resume normal life on May 1, the end of the White House's 30-day campaign to slow the spread of coronavirus, Surgeon General Jerome Adams told Fox News' Ed Henry Friday.

Why it matters: Adams' stance conflicts with some signals from others in the federal government as to when the economy should functionally reopen. President Trump's aides have been encouraged by data showing fewer deaths than previously projected, and have pushed for a May 1 reboot, Axios' Jonathan Swan reports.

Nuro received a permit this week to test its driverless delivery vehicles in Silicon Valley — where customers could really use the service right now.

Yes, but: The humans who would need to set the vehicles in motion can't do so because of coronavirus restrictions.

Wundermobility is teaming up with the World Economic Forum and others to launch a new global mobility initiative to help essential workers get where they need to go during the coronavirus crisis. The goal is to reduce dependency on public transit, where there's potentially higher risk of infection.

Why it matters: Transportation options have been sharply curtailed during the epidemic as public transit systems reduce service and ride-hailing drivers shift to delivering food. But essential employees like health care and grocery workers still need to get to work.

Paris' Notre Dame held a special Good Friday ceremony led by the city's archbishop, Michel Aupetit, almost a year after a fire blazed through the cathedral.

Why it matters: Aupetit hoped that the ceremony, which only featured seven people as much of the cathedral still lies in ruin but still aired live on French TV, could provide "a message of hope" amid the coronavirus pandemic, NPR reports.

While dine-in restaurants and bars may be closed due to the coronavirus pandemic, Americans are still drinking at home, the Wall Street Journal reports.

The big picture: Most governors have deemed liquor stores, wineries, distilleries and other providers of alcoholic beverages as essential businesses.

Summer camps across the U.S. are trying to figure out how best to respond to the coronavirus pandemic as May and June inch closer, AP reports.

Why it matters: For many parents, summer camps act like a babysitting service that allows them to keep working — and, for kids, they could be a much-needed outdoor escape after being forced to spend the last bit of their academic year at home.

The coronavirus outbreak will likely cause a drop in global carbon dioxide emissions that's far larger than any prior crisis or war, per a new analysis that combines multiple datasets to provide a wide-ranging look at the pandemic's effect.

What they found: The analysis from the U.K.-based Carbon Brief provides a tentative estimate that global CO2 emissions are likely to fall by more than 4% from 2019 levels.

Premier League players have launched an initiative called #PlayersTogether, which will funnel part of their salaries to the National Health Service to support the U.K.'s front-line workers during the coronavirus crisis.

Why it matters: This decision came at the conclusion of a protracted argument between players, clubs and even government officials over who should bear the brunt of lost revenue in the midst of the pandemic.

Some market analysts and economists have gotten wary of the Fed's expanding laundry list of asset purchases.

Why it matters: The big worry for most is that the Fed is now manipulating larger and larger swaths of what is supposed to be a free market.

Wall Street seems to unanimously approve of the Federal Reserve's actions so far, but most Americans are less enthused, a new poll from data firm CivicScience provided for Axios shows.

The state of play: The data shows that just 12% of respondents say they think the Fed has done "very well" in its response to the coronavirus outbreak, while 19% say the Fed has done "very poorly."

In terms of regulatory flexibility, the FDA's approach to coronavirus antibody testing is a 180-degree turn from its approach to diagnostic testing.

The big picture: The antibody tests, also known as serological tests, essentially detect whether someone's immune system has reacted to the coronavirus, helping determine whether they have had it — regardless of whether they had symptoms.

Republicans are increasingly concerned not only about President Trump’s daily briefings but also his broader plan to ease the nation out of the virus crisis and back to work. This concern is acute — and spreading. 

Why it matters: Trump can easily address the briefing worries by doing fewer, but the lackluster bounce-back planning is what worries Republicans most. 

The first hospital network in the U.S. has joined an international clinical trial using artificial intelligence to help determine which treatments for patients with the novel coronavirus are most effective on an on-going basis.

Why it matters: In the midst of a pandemic, scientists face dueling needs: to find treatments quickly and to ensure they are safe and effective. By using this new type of adaptive platform, doctors hope to collect clinical data that will help more quickly determine what actually works.

It feels like some big, terrible switch got flipped when the coronavirus upended our lives — so it’s natural to want to simply flip it back. But that is not how the return to normalcy will go.

The big picture: Even as the number of illnesses and deaths in the U.S. start to fall, and we start to think about leaving the house again, the way forward will likely be slow and uneven. This may feel like it all happened suddenly, but it won't end that way.

Commercial labs are in a precarious financial position, as the overwhelming demand for coronavirus tests is not close to making up the revenue of other tests that aren't being ordered.

Why it matters: Commercial labs are anchoring coronavirus testing, and testing remains paramount to mitigating the spread of the coronavirus.

Early missteps allowed the new coronavirus to spread throughout the U.S for weeks before state and local officials implemented strict lockdowns designed to keep the pandemic from spinning further out of control.

Why it matters: The U.S. missed the boat on the kind of swift, early response that would have been most effective, and has been scrambling to catch up ever since. This timeline, compiled from official sources as well as media reports, shows how that all-important time was lost.

The auto industry is sharing detailed return-to-work guidelines on how to shield employees from the coronavirus as it prepares to reopen its own factories in the coming weeks.

Why it matters: We might not shake hands again, but sooner or later, most of us will return to our jobs, whether in a factory, office or public venue within close proximity of others. Reestablishing an environment where employees feel comfortable and can remain healthy will be a daunting challenge for every employer.