May 5, 2020 - PBS NewsHour full episode

As the U.S. coronavirus death toll passed 70,000, President Trump departed the White House for his first cross-country trip since the pandemic’s eruption, visiting an Arizona Honeywell plant that makes N95 masks. Despite a projection that daily deaths in the U.S. will continue to rise for weeks, states continue to weigh how and when to reopen their economies. John Yang reports.

Weeks of business closures and stay-at-home orders have left the American economy in shambles. Now, a majority of states are starting to lift restrictions and resume business -- even though COVID-19 cases and deaths nationwide continue to climb. Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson has a phased plan for reopening, and he joins Judy Woodruff to discuss why he thinks this is the right time to implement it.

Regional and rural hospitals can be ill-equipped to handle serious coronavirus cases -- so additional care comes to the patient. Jennifer Adamski is a critical care nurse practitioner with the Cleveland Clinic, an Ohio-based hospital system that dispatches her far and wide to retrieve patients in need, often via helicopter. She joins William Brangham to discuss how COVID-19 has changed her job.

On Tuesday, President Trump traveled to Arizona to visit a Honeywell factory where the crucial N95 face masks are manufactured. The administration is pushing to move production of medical equipment to the U.S., after the coronavirus pandemic sparked a global battle for critical resources -- many of which are made in China. Nick Schifrin reports on challenges of both production and politics.

Even in the best of times, mental health and illness tend to be minimized by U.S. health care. That problem is now magnified by an extended period of social isolation, economic disaster and fear. How can Americans cope with this building mental health crisis? Amna Nawaz talks to Dr. Joshua Gordon of the National Institute of Mental Health and former Rep. Patrick Kennedy of the Kennedy Forum.

Newly released data show that the United Kingdom has Europe’s highest COVID-19 death toll: at least 32,000, second globally only to the United States. But people of color there are being both infected and killed at higher rates than are whites. Special correspondent Malcolm Brabant visited a community whose death rate is among Britain’s highest and shares an intimate portrait of one family’s loss.

During this difficult period, some of the millions of Americans stuck at home have turned to new hobbies and do-it-yourself projects to pass the time and redirect their energy. But while such accomplishments can be fulfilling, experts say it's also important to acknowledge the stress and fatigue inherent in isolation. Jeffrey Brown reports as part of our ongoing arts and culture series, Canvas.