US briefing: Trump's sombre warning, 'silent' carriers and EPA rollback

Good morning, I’m Tim Walker with today’s essential stories.

US death toll passes 4,000, eclipsing China’s official count

Whether the gravity of the situation has at last sunk in, or he was modulating his tone to mask his missteps, Donald Trump struck a new, sombre note at his daily coronavirus press conference on Tuesday, warning the US to brace for a “very, very painful two weeks” amid predictions of up to 240,000 American deaths, even accounting for the lockdown measures in place. The US death toll has reached 4,000, surpassing China’s official count, according to Johns Hopkins University.

Andrew Cuomo has renewed his criticism of the federal government, which he accused of fuelling an “eBay”-style bidding war between states over life-saving ventilators. The New York governor’s brother, the CNN anchor Chris Cuomo, has tested positive for the virus but pledged to continue hosting his show from quarantine. And while New York’s struggle continues, Detroit is preparing to become the country’s next virus hotspot.

• Aircraft carrier. The captain of the US aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt has called for help to halt the quick spread of the virus through his crew of 5,000 by isolating the majority onshore in Guam.

• Civil rights. The draconian measures being taken to tackle the outbreak in the US have already had a striking impact on civil liberties, especially among asylum seekers, people embroiled in the justice system and women seeking abortions.

• Hospital workers. Medics across the US have expressed fears about the lack of preparation and protective gear, with hospitals potentially becoming major vectors for the virus.

China changes tack to deal with ‘silent’ coronavirus carriers

The coronavirus has killed more than 42,000 people worldwide, according to Johns Hopkins researchers, while more than 860,000 have been infected. As US health chiefs warned up to a quarter of cases could be asymptomatic, Chinese authorities have shifted their focus to identifying and quarantining these so-called “silent” carriers. In Europe, France, Spain, Russia and the UK all suffered their deadliest day to date on Tuesday, while Italy is seeing a rise in social unrest after three weeks of lockdown.

• Extreme lockdowns. Concerns are growing that police forces around the world are using draconian methods to enforce Covid-19 restrictions, including public humiliation and potentially deadly violence.

• Afghan migrants return. The crisis could soon explode in Afghanistan as more than 130,000 Afghan migrants pour back across the border from virus-stricken Iran. In Kabul, many are choosing to defy the lockdown rather than risk their livelihoods.

Trump rolls back Obama-era clean car rules

In an apparent effort to bolster the fossil fuel industry against the economic turmoil of the pandemic, the Trump administration is rolling back US government rules on fuel-efficient vehicles. Critics say it will force Americans to spend more on fuel and, more importantly, remove the country’s single biggest regulatory bulwark against the climate crisis. The scrapping of the Obama-era regulations will allow vehicles to emit about a billion more tons of carbon dioxide per year – approximately a fifth of all US emissions.

• Cancer alley. The Taiwanese plastics giant Formosa plans to open a new factory in an already heavily polluted region of Louisiana, in a parish that borders St John the Baptist parish, home to the most toxic air in America and the subject of the year-long Guardian series, Cancer Town.

Cheat sheet

• Amazon has fired the organiser who led an employee walkout over the company’s alleged lack of coronavirus protections at its New York processing facility, claiming he had refused to self-quarantine after coming into contact with an infected co-worker.

• The US has offered to lift its sanctions on Venezuela if both the country’s president, Nicolás Maduro, and his opposition rival, Juan Guaidó, agree to step aside and allow their respective allies to form an interim unity government.

• While the virus has brought the rest of the sporting world to a halt, the NFL says it still expects to begin the 2020/21 season on time in September – and to play in front of full stadiums.

• Marine biologists have at last confirmed a long-held theory: that fish migrate seasonally through the world’s deep seas. So found a study based on analysis of deep-sea photographs, published in this month’s Journal of Animal Ecology.

Must-reads

How Tiger King’s crass exposé could actually do some good

Tiger King is Netflix’s latest smash hit, a jaw-dropping true crime doc about a “polyamorous, power-ballad singing, gun-toting, murderous tiger-collector”. Despite its sensationalism, says zoologist Jules Howard, the series carries a powerful message about the cruelty of small-scale zoos.

Sixty years of the Dr Martens boot

From Kathleen Hanna to Bella Hadid, the classic, eight-holed Dr Martens boot has won over generations of influencers and their followers. And six decades after its original launch, it is in the middle of another fashion moment, as Lauren Cochrane reports.

How Zoom is using your data

The world’s new favourite videoconferencing app is sharing a lot more information about you than you realise, sending analytics data to Facebook even if you don’t have a Facebook account. Even in a time of crisis, we should be vigilant about our privacy, says Arwa Mahdawi.

The life and mysterious death of a golden eagle

When the remains of a bird known as Golden Eagle 1703 turned up in a snowy field in South Dakota in January 2019, the US Fish and Wildlife Service sprung into action to investigate: was 1703 illegally shot down, or had something else caused it to fall from the sky? Chris Sweeney reports.

Opinion

Despite his disingenuous, dangerous response to the Covid-19 crisis, Donald Trump is enjoying a bump in the polls. But making himself the face of the pandemic could yet backfire, says Simon Tisdall.

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