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WUHAN, China (AP) — The last restrictions on movement have been lifted in the central Chinese city where the coronavirus pandemic began. People are going outdoors and by the thousands boarded the first trains and planes leaving Wuhan. Its unprecedented, 11-week lockdown has been a model for countries trying to stop the coronavirus. Wuhan now begins another experiment: resuming business and ordinary life while preventing more illnesses. The city that had most of China's 82,000 cases still has measures in place like social distancing and temperature checks. And people leaving the city will face hurdles elsewhere, like 14-day quarantines at their destinations.
NEW YORK (AP) — New York state recorded 731 new coronavirus deaths, marking its biggest one-day jump in the outbreak. Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Tuesday the state's death toll since the beginning of the outbreak is now 5,489. More people have now died from the coronavirus in New York City than perished in the Sept. 11 attack on the World Trade Center. At least 4,009 people have been killed in the city by the virus, according to state officials. The deadliest terror attack on U.S. soil killed 2,753 people in the city. The alarming death number comes even as new hospital admissions have dropped compared to last week. Cuomo said the latest death tally reflects critically ill people hospitalized before this week.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s removal of a watchdog tasked with overseeing how his administration spends the $2.2 trillion coronavirus rescue package is his latest challenge of an inspector general community asked to be impartial, above politics and independent of the White House. Trump has fired one inspector general tied to his impeachment, castigated another he felt was overly critical of the coronavirus response and sidelined a third meant to safeguard against wasteful spending of funds for businesses and people in economic distress. The actions have sent shock waves across the close-knit network of watchdog officials in the government.
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A Houston doctor who's a Republican National Committee member says he is using an anti-malaria drug to treat some of more than 80 people infected at a Texas nursing home. Dr. Robin Armstrong said Tuesday that he's using the drug hydroxychloroquine on nearly 30 residents. President Donald Trump has heavily promoted the drug in the face of a rising death toll in the U.S. Amstrong said it's too early to tell whether the treatment is working in Texas but says he probably wouldn't have been able to access the drug if Trump hadn't been talking about it so much.
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Thousands of Wisconsin voters waited hours in long lines outside overcrowded polling stations to participate in Tuesday's presidential primary election. Thousands more stayed home, unwilling to risk their health even as Republican officials pushed forward with the election amid a stay-at-home order. But many of the potential voters who remained in their homes complained that the absentee ballots they had requested never showed up. The chaos in Wisconsin underscores the lengths to which the coronavirus outbreak has upended politics as Democrats seek a nominee to take on President Donald Trump this fall. Wisconsin is the first state in three weeks to hold a presidential primary contest.
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