Vegas casinos set the date: June 4
A person rides a bicycle along the Las Vegas Strip devoid of the usual crowds during the pandemic Tuesday in Las Vegas.
Las Vegas casinos plan to welcome tourists again on June 4. South Korea on Wednesday announced a spike in new coronavirus infections and considered reimposing social distancing restrictions, revealing the potential setbacks ahead for others on the road to reopening.
The European Union unveiled a massive stimulus package for the bloc’s ailing economies as European nations scrambled to emulate South Korea’s widely praised strategy of tracing, testing and treating that initially tamed its outbreak.
In the United States, the confirmed death toll from the virus exceeded 100,000 — the highest by far in the world. Nations from Mexico to Chile to Brazil are struggling with surging cases and overwhelmed hospitals.
Here are some of AP’S top stories Wednesday on the world’s coronavirus pandemic.
What’s happening
today
♦ A moment of silence is being planned for noon Monday to honor those who have died from the virus. “As a nation, together, we grieve the lives that have been taken by this dreadful disease,” said U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, an Alaska Republican and a sponsor of the bipartisan effort in the Senate.
♦ A Wyoming tradition is being canceled for the first time in its 124-year history. Mayor Marian Orr told The Associated Press on Wednesday that organizers decided the risk of spreading the coronavirus was too great for the more than 140,000 people who visit Cheyenne for Frontier Days in late July. Frontier Days has carried on through both world wars and the Great Depression.
♦ In further signs the U.S. is reopening, professional sports can resume in Pennsylvania but without spectators, and a small cruise company says it will next month begin offering cruises in the Pacific Northwest and on the Mississippi River.
♦ More than one in every six young workers have stopped working during the coronavirus pandemic, the U.N. labor agency reported, warning of long-term fallout that could lead to a “lock-down generation” if steps aren’t taken to ease the crisis.
♦ Only about half of Americans say they would get a COVID-19 vaccine if scientists produce one. An additional 31% simply aren’t sure, while one in five say they’d refuse. That’s according to a survey from The Associated PRESS-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
♦ French lawmakers were set to vote Wednesday on whether to endorse a contact-tracing app designed to contain the spread of the coronavirus amid sharp debate over privacy concerns.
♦ British Prime Minister Boris Johnson refused to hold an official inquiry into the actions of his closest adviser for allegedly flouting lockdown rules, imploring an angry public to move on from the scandal rocking his government.
♦ Five people have been killed in a fire that swept through a tent in the Bangladesh capital of Dhaka that was set up to treat people infected with the coronavirus. The cause of the fire was under investigation.
♦ Miami Dolphins fans will soon be able to return to Hard Rock Stadium — to watch a movie. Months after hosting the Super Bowl, the stadium is converting into both a drive-in and openair move theater.