Axios

President Trump plans to pare back his coronavirus press conferences, according to four sources familiar with the internal deliberations.

• He may stop appearing daily and make shorter appearances when he does, the sources said — a practice that may have started with Friday's unusually short briefing.

Multiple states are preparing to plunge into the unknown with partial coronavirus reopenings for non-essential businesses, and Georgia and Oklahoma will lead the way.

Why it matters: We have no idea how this will go, but experts emphasize that prematurely lifting the lockdowns could create a surge in new cases.

Mosques around the world are empty and silent as Muslims begin breaking their fast, ending the first day of Ramadan.

Why it matters: Many families and friends typically meet up at mosques to pray and celebrate the holy month, but the coronavirus pandemic has forced people to celebrate in isolation. Those who did go to mosques practiced social distancing.

President Trump said Friday that he answered "sarcastically" during a White House task force briefing when he said that disinfectants may be used to treat coronavirus.

The state of play: During a signing for the interim coronavirus funding bill, the president told reporters that he "was asking a question sarcastically to reporters like you just to see what would happen" with the response, per a pool report.

President Trump signed a $484 billion interim coronavirus relief bill on Friday that will add another $310 billion to the small-business Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), as well as provide billions in aid to hospitals and for testing.

What's next: Now that the bill has been signed into law, Congress and the Trump administration will focus on how quickly that money, particularly the replenished PPP funds, can get out the door.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Friday that President Trump was right to criticize the World Health Organization's handling of the global outbreak of the coronavirus.

• "The president says it's the World Health Organization, and that's why he's taken action against them. Not my field. But he's right to ask the question because this was too little, too late."

Restarting vehicle manufacturing plants when it is safe to do so would surely be good news for the U.S. economy, but it's only half the equation for automakers.

The big picture: Until consumers are ready to buy cars again, the industry's recovery will be muted.

Apple and Google announced a series of small changes to their coronavirus contact-tracing technology and shared additional technical details ahead of a launch in the coming weeks.

Why it matters: The system is likely to serve at the heart of major efforts around the world to use technology to detect potential coronavirus exposure, as it will be built into the two main smartphone operating systems.

Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden said Thursday during a virtual fundraiser that he thinks President Trump may try to postpone the 2020 general election because "that’s the only way he thinks he can possibly win," per a pool report.

The big picture: Trump has previously made false claims that alternatives to in-person voting, like mail-in ballots, are rigged, but Biden said he wants Congress to provide alternatives so Americans feel safe heading to the polls amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Merger activity has slowed to a trickle, but it's a raging river compared to what could be coming if some in Congress get their way.

Driving the news: Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.), who chairs House Judiciary's antitrust subcommittee, yesterday proposed a moratorium on all M&A activity outside of situations in which companies are bankrupt or on the brink of insolvency.

Intel reported strong quarterly earnings Thursday, but its shares fell in after-hours trading amid concerns around its near-term outlook.

Why it matters: Investors are trying to figure out what to expect from the tech sector as the impact of the coronavirus and related shutdowns works its way through the economy. Some parts of the tech sector would appear to still be seeing strong demand amid the shift to remote work and e-commerce.

Some warehouse workers at Amazon are expected to call in sick Friday as a protest against what they say are inadequate protections for employees and retribution from the company against those who speak out.

Why it matters: Amazon has become a critical source of goods amid a pandemic that has shut down much of traditional retail. However, critics say the company has not done enough to prevent the spread of coronavirus among warehouse workers.

CityLab has some fascinating reporting on European cities making changes to their transit policy that will outlast the immediate crisis and, more intriguingly, perhaps become permanent after initial reemergence from lockdown.

Driving the news: It notes that in the near term, transit policies and systems will change in recognition that people should not be — and don't want to be — crammed into buses and trains cheek-by-jowl.

The return of Boeing's 737 MAX will likely be delayed until at least late summer as the coronavirus pandemic presents new challenges for the troubled jet's recertification process, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Why it matters: With the airline industry suffering amid coronavirus-driven travel restrictions, the plane's return could have given Boeing a much-needed financial boost.

The big multinational oil-and-gas company Eni posted a roughly $3.15 billion net loss for the quarter on Friday, citing the combined effect of the "ongoing economic recession" due to coronavirus and low prices.

Why it matters: It's a sign of what's to come for the sector in this earnings period and going forward for a while.

The coronavirus pandemic is amplifying the debate over the relevance of individual behavior in fighting climate change.

Why it matters: The real-time experiment is lending itself to different takes on whether individual steps — as opposed to only systemic policy changes, cracking down on polluters and tech innovations — can play a major role in cutting emissions.

Major League Soccer should be celebrating its 25th season right now. Instead, the league is waiting out this pandemic like the rest of us with a tentative return date of June 8.

Why it matters: Despite rising team valuations and soccer's growing popularity among young people, MLS attendance has declined for two straight seasons and the league faces an uncertain future heading into the 2022 World Cup cycle.

Institutional investors revived their flight to safety last week, pushing inflows to money market funds to all-time-high levels, largely unaccompanied by retail investors.

What it means: Money market funds saw inflows of $108.70 billion for the week ending April 22, almost all of which came from professionals who added $108.26 billion.

The news about U.S. job losses has been grim, as around 26.5 million workers have filed for unemployment benefits in the past five weeks, but the number of Americans who have lost their jobs is likely far higher.

The state of play: The true number of people currently unemployed in the U.S. is likely between 32 million and 70 million, putting the unemployment rate somewhere between 20% and 45%.

The stock market has risen by 25% since the Fed announced its QE-infinity program on March 23, committing to buy an uncapped amount of U.S. government debt for an unspecified amount of time, but 2020 has been all about the surge in U.S. Treasuries.

The big picture: Already seeing a bid this year as bond investors piled in because of early fears about the coronavirus and the U.S.-China trade war, long-dated Treasuries have been the world's best performing major asset class this year by a wide margin.

A new study found that 13.9% of 3,000 New Yorkers tested had signs of the coronavirus, suggesting that about 10 times the number of people who have officially tested positive have had the virus, Bloomberg reports.

Why it matters: Studies like these will help us understand the virus and its true spread. So far, what we've been able to learn about it has been limited by inadequate testing, because that's resulted in only the sickest patients being tested.

The financial toll brought on by the coronavirus pandemic could hinder plans for countries' ambitious renewable energy goals, as jobs disappear amid strict nationwide lockdowns.

Driving the news: Milestones for low-carbon energy policies in China, India and the European Union, which were all expected to drive new projects this year, are scheduled to expire soon.

Reckitt Benckiser, the maker of disinfectants Lysol and Dettol, released a statement Friday that its products cannot be injected or ingested to combat coronavirus after President Trump suggested the possibility during Thursday's task force briefing.

What Trump said: "I see the disinfectant that knocks it out in a minute, one minute. And is there a way we can do something like that by injection inside, or almost a cleaning? Because you see it gets inside the lungs and it does a tremendous number on the lungs, so it would be interesting to check that."

Bill Gates, who has warned about the impact of a global pandemic for years, has a brutal reality check on his GatesNotes blog — an antidote to happy talk about "reopening America."

Why it matters: Gates shows that activity will remain severely constrained — making you wonder how many businesses will be able to survive even after they "open up."

Nearly 1.8 billion Muslims around the world start their monthlong fast for Ramadan on Friday as the coronavirus continues to engulf the world and impede everyday life.

Why it matters: Long-standing traditions, such as gatherings with family and friends for iftar, the meal for breaking fast, and evening prayers, are set to be upended as people are forced to isolate.

Depending on the study, remdesivir is either a clinical failure or a godsend for treating the novel coronavirus.

The big picture: The grim reality of the coronavirus pandemic has the world itching to know which experimental treatments actually work, but we're not necessarily getting any smarter from these incremental drips of incomplete information.

The South is at risk of being devastated by the coronavirus.

Why it matters: Southern states tend to have at-risk populations and weak health care systems — and they're the ones moving fastest to loosen social distancing rules. That puts them at risk for the worst-case coronavirus scenarios.