What you need to know today about the virus outbreak

1 of 12 |

A Sri Lankan Buddhist monk climbs the steps past statues at a deserted temple during curfew on Buddha Jayanthi, a day that celebrates the birth of the Buddha, in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Thursday, May 7, 2020. Sri Lanka has again reimposed a 24-hour countrywide curfew until next Monday, as part of stringent measures to contain the spread of the coronavirus. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)

2 of 12 |

In this April 19, 2020 photo, a worker organizes bananas at a Carrefour supermarket while wearing a face mask amid the coronavirus pandemic, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The coronavirus pandemic has exposed just how vital foreigners are to the Gulf Arab countries where they work as medics, drivers, grocers and cleaners. (AP Photo/Jon Gambrell)

3 of 12 |

Women wearing face masks amid the spread of the new coronavirus walk outside the closed Jamaica flower market in Mexico City, Thursday, May 7, 2020. While some flower vendors with shops still open outside the market, the large wholesale flower market temporarily closed for one week starting Thursday, ahead of Mother’s Day in an effort by the city to keep the usual holiday crowds away. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

4 of 12 |

FILE - In this March 16, 2011, file photo, a security fence surrounds inmate housing on the Rikers Island correctional facility in New York. As of Wednesday, May 6, 2020, more than 20,000 inmates have been infected by the COVID-19 coronavirus and 295 have died nationwide, at Rikers Island and at state and federal lockups in cities and towns coast to coast, according to an unofficial tally kept by the COVID-19 Behind Bars Data Project run by UCLA Law. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews, File)

5 of 12 |

In this photo taken on Thursday, April 9, 2020, Maasai Village elder Letaari Salaash, left, sits with younger Maasai warriors at their village in Kajiado County in Kenya. The Maasai, a semi-nomadic indigenous group in Kenya and Tanzania, have been forced to halt important rituals that bring clans together due to the coronavirus, including the graduation of warriors into young men who can marry and own property. (AP Photo/Khalil Senosi)

6 of 12 |

In this Tuesday, April 21, 2020 photo, relatives attend a mass burial at the Nossa Senhora Aparecida cemetery, in Manaus, Amazonas state, Brazil. The cemetery is carrying out burials in common graves due to the large number of deaths from COVID-19, according to a cemetery official. (AP Photo/Edmar Barros)

7 of 12 |

A flower vendor wearing a face mask amid the spread of coronavirus walks outside the closed Jamaica flower market in Mexico City, Thursday, May 7, 2020. While some flower vendors with shops still open outside the market, the large wholesale flower market temporarily closed for one week on Thursday ahead of Mother’s Day, an effort by the city to keep the usual holiday crowds away. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

8 of 12 |

Beer taps of South African Brewery brands are seen through the window of a bar as a passing man’s reflection is caught in the window in Cape Town, South Africa, Thursday, May 7, 2020. South African Breweries, the second biggest brewer in the world, says it may have to destroy 400 million bottles of the beer because of the country’s ban on alcohol sales during its lockdown to combat the spread of the coronavirus. (AP Photo/Nardus Engelbrecht)

9 of 12 |

A store for rent sign hangs in the window of an empty storefront on Broadway, Thursday, May 7, 2020, in the Soho neighborhood of Manhattan in New York. Nearly 3.2 million laid-off workers applied for unemployment benefits last week as the business shutdowns caused by the coronavirus outbreak deepened the worst U.S. economic catastrophe in decades. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

10 of 12 |

FILE - This Monday, April 6, 2020 file photo shows an arrangement of hydroxychloroquine tablets in Las Vegas. According to results released on Thursday, May 7, 2020, a new study finds no evidence of benefit from a malaria drug widely promoted as a treatment for coronavirus infection. Hydroxychloroquine did not lower the risk of dying or needing a breathing tube in a comparison that involved nearly 1,400 consecutive patients treated at Columbia University Irving Medical Center in New York. (AP Photo/John Locher)

11 of 12 |

ARCHIVO – En esta fotografía del 24 de febrero de 2020 una mujer con una máscara sanitaria pasa frente a la ópera La Scala en Milán, Italia. La famosa ópera de Milán, La Scala, develó el jueves 7 de mayo de 2020 un recorrido virtual por sus instalaciones y archivos a través de Google Arts & Culture. El proyecto se ha desarrollado por años y llega en muy buen momento pues los teatros permanecen cerrados por la pandemia de coronavirus. (Foto AP/Luca Bruno, archivo)

12 of 12 |

Andrea Silva, 44, waits for the results of her father’s COVID-19 disease test at the Marechal Hermes Urgent Care Unit, amid the new coronavirus pandemic in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Wednesday, May 6, 2020. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)

By The Associated Press

Regional and political fractures are emerging in many countries over how fast to lift the lid on coronavirus-imposed lockdowns, as worries about economic devastation collide with fears of a second wave of deaths.

French mayors are resisting the government’s call to reopen schools, but Italian governors want Rome to ease lockdown measures faster. In the U.S., meanwhile, a new report on unemployment claims shows the depth of job losses caused by business shutdowns.

Here are some of AP’s top stories Thursday 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:

— Many governors across the U.S. are disregarding White House guidelines for safely easing restrictions and letting businesses reopen, an Associated Press analysis found. Those states do not appear to meet one of the key benchmarks set by the White House for loosening up.

— Concern is growing that mixed messages about the seriousness of the pandemic from Mexico’s president and lax enforcement of social distancing are manifesting in what could be a frightening preview as infections begin to peak in Mexico City and its suburbs. Some 20 million people live in close quarters in the Mexican capital, jamming subways and buses, shopping in crowded markets and clustering around street food stalls.

— A new study finds no evidence of benefit from a malaria drug promoted by President Donald Trump, among others, as a treatment for coronavirus infection. Hydroxychloroquine did not lower the risk of dying or needing a breathing tube in a comparison that involved nearly 1,400 patients treated at Columbia University in New York, researchers reported in the New England Journal of Medicine.

— As the coronavirus pandemic decimates many companies, big business that has become synonymous with the world’s largest prison system continues to make money. Men and women behind bars in at least 40 states continue to work, sometimes earning next to nothing to make masks and hand sanitizer to help protect others from the pandemic.

— One of the world’s largest brewers may have to dump 400 million bottles of beer as a result of South Africa’s ban on alcohol sales that is part of its lockdown measures to combat the spread of the coronavirus.

___

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

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.

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:

— 3: The number of McDonald’s employees in Oklahoma City who were injured when an angry customer learned the dining area was closed because of the virus and fired a shotgun, police said. The employees were expected to recover.

IN OTHER NEWS:

— ONE-WOMAN MISSION: An 80-year-old woman drives a white minivan every day through St. Petersburg, Russia, on a charitable mission for the elderly and needy families. Galina Yakovleva, who was a child during the World War II siege of Leningrad, has been doing this for a decade and hasn’t let the virus deter her. “My soul does not let me leave all my people in need without attention,” she says.

— FRONT-LINE FOREIGNERS: The global pandemic has drawn attention to just how vital foreigners are to the Arab Gulf countries where they work. They carry out essential work, whether it’s in a hospital in Saudi Arabia, an isolation ward in Kuwait or a grocery store in the United Arab Emirates.

___

Follow AP coverage of the virus outbreak at https://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak