Defying a wave of layoffs that has sent the U.S. job market into its worst catastrophe on record, at least one major industry is making a comeback. Tens of thousands of auto workers are returning to factories that have been shuttered since mid-March due to fears of spreading the coronavirus.
The auto industry is among the first major sectors of the economy to restart its engine.
About 133,000 U.S. workers — just over half of the industry’s workforce before the pandemic — are expected to pour back into assembly plants that will open in the coming week, according to estimates by The Associated Press. A staggering 36 million people have now sought jobless aid in just the two months since the virus first forced businesses to close down and shrink their work forces.
A boy feeds sparrows in front of a bakery at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany, Friday, May 15, 2020. (AP PhotoMichael Sohn)
Here are some of AP’s top stories Friday on the world’s coronavirus pandemic. Follow APNews.com/VirusOutbreak for updates through the day and APNews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak for stories explaining some of its complexities.
WHAT’S HAPPENING TODAY:
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:
FILE - In this Aug. 17, 2016, file photo, United States' Kerri Walsh Jennings digs for a ball while playing Brazil during the women's beach volleyball bronze medal match of the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The volleyball star created a virtual summer camp in 2020 for young volleyball players and others seeking to stay active during the coronavirus pandemic. (AP PhotoMarcio Jose Sanchez, File)
For most people, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia and death. The vast majority of people recover.
Here are the symptoms of the virus compared with the common flu.
One of the best ways to prevent spread of the virus is washing your hands with soap and water. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends first washing with warm or cold water and then lathering soap for 20 seconds to get it on the backs of hands, between fingers and under fingernails before rinsing off.
A woman wearing a mask against the coronavirus rides past graffiti with the words "Wear your mask properly" in Beijing on Friday, May 15, 2020. Factory output rose in April as China's virus-battered economy reopened but job losses depressed consumer spending, a key driver of growth, in a sign of the challenges the ruling Communist Party faces in reviving normal activity. (AP PhotoNg Han Guan)
You should wash your phone, too. Here’s how.
TRACKING THE VIRUS: Drill down and zoom in at the individual county level, and you can access numbers that will show you the situation where you are, and where loved ones or people you’re worried about live.
ONE NUMBER:
Packages of beef imported from Australia are on sale at a supermarket in Beijing, Friday, May 15, 2020. China has too much at stake to destroy its trading relationship with Australia entirely but is using sanctions to send a sharp warning to the South Pacific nation about its calls for a robust coronavirus inquiry, an expert says. China has suspended beef imports from four Australian slaughterhouses and is threatening to impose huge tariffs on barley after Australia called for independent inquiry into the origins of the virus. (AP PhotoMark Schiefelbein)
IN OTHER NEWS:
Follow AP coverage of the virus outbreak at https://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak