AP News in Brief at 9:04 p.m. EDT

Worried about virus, US House won't return — for now

WASHINGTON (AP) — Facing the stark, startling reality that Congress may not be able to fully resume for a year, House leaders are desperately reaching for work-from-home options after a revolt from the ranks over the health risks of convening during the coronavirus pandemic.

House Democratic leaders abruptly reversed course Tuesday, shelving plans for the chamber's 400-plus lawmakers to return for work on the next virus aid package after warnings from the Capitol physician that the public health danger was too great. The Senate, with its smaller numbers, still expects to return next Monday.

“We had no choice,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said. “If the House physician recommends that we not come back, then we have to take that guidance.”

It's not just the elected officials at risk. The U.S. Capitol is a throwback of crowded hearing rooms, packed hallways and thousands of congressional staff crunched in office cubicles and cafeteria lunch lines — all unwelcome in the new era of social distancing. It additionally relies on an army of cooks, custodians, electricians and police, who keep the iconic domed building and sprawling maze of offices running.

Despite a halt in public tours, started in mid-March and extended Tuesday through mid-May by the House and Senate sergeants at arms, few other protocols have been announced beyond masks for lawmakers and staggered roll call votes.

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What you need to know today about the virus outbreak

The summertime clangs chimed by ice cream trucks could be replaced by school bells in California. Gov. Gavin Newsom said Tuesday students could return to the classroom as early as July, and starting early could help make up for some of the “learning losses” as parents have tried to teach their children at home during the coronavirus pandemic.

At the Vatican, Pope Francis called for “prudence and obedience” to government protocols on virus-imposed lockdowns of religious services to prevent infections from surging again. His appeal came two days after bishops complained the Italian government provided no provisions for Masses in its plan to reopen business, social and sporting life starting May 4.

And people are already beginning to mourn the summer of 2020 as festivals are being canceled, youth baseball leagues officials don’t know if they’ll have a season and restaurants wonder if they will open given new guidelines that reduce their seating capacity.

Here are some of AP’s top stories Tuesday 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:

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Easing lockdowns makes day-to-day choices more complicated

Things were so much clearer when just about everything was locked down.

Now, with states lifting their coronavirus restrictions piecemeal and according to their own, often arbitrary, timetables, Americans are facing a bewildering multitude of decisions about what they should and should not do to protect their health, their livelihoods and their neighbors.

Is it safe now to join the crowds at the beach or eat at a restaurant? To visit the elderly parents you haven’t seen in nearly two months? To reopen a struggling business?

In many cases, the less-than-satisfying answer from the experts is: It depends.

“There will never be a perfect amount of protection,” said Josh Santarpia, a microbiology expert at the University of Nebraska Medical Center who is studying the coronavirus. “It’s a personal risk assessment. Everybody has to decide, person by person, what risk they’re willing to tolerate.”

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Biden wins Ohio's mail-in primary delayed by coronavirus

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Joe Biden won Ohio’s presidential primary Tuesday, clinching a contest that was less about the Democratic nomination and more about how states can conduct elections in the era of the coronavirus.

The primary was the first major test of statewide elections via mail amid an outbreak. And the results were mixed.

There were reports of confusion but no widespread disruption. It wasn’t like Wisconsin earlier this month, when voters were forced to overlook social distancing guidelines to stand in line wearing masks to cast a ballot.

Still, overall turnout appeared to be off. The secretary of state’s office said that about 1.5 million votes had been cast as of midday Saturday, down sharply from the 3.2 million cast in Ohio’s 2016 presidential primary.

“Within the context of the threat of the virus, it’s a decision that we will have made the best of,” Republican Ken Blackwell, a former Ohio elections chief who chairs the bipartisan International Foundation for Electoral Systems, said of mail-in balloting.

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Canada mass shooter obtained police car replica at auction

TORONTO (AP) — A gunman who killed 22 people in Nova Scotia this month obtained a replica police car at an auction and outfitted it with a light bar and decals that made it look almost identical to a genuine RCMP vehicle before using it to go on a rampage, police said Tuesday.

Thirteen of the victims were shot to death and nine died in fires set by the suspect, said Royal Canadian Mounted Police Cpl. Jennifer Clarke.

RCMP Supt. Darren Campbell said Gabriel Wortman, 51, owned four used police cars obtained at auction and said he collected police uniforms. He said Wortman was related to retired RCMP officers and they’ve been interviewed. He said there is no indication that a former RCMP officer assisted Wortman or provided him with any police equipment.

Campbell reiterated the weekend rampage on April 18 and 19 started with an assault by Wortman on his girlfriend and ended with 22 people dead in communities across central and northern Nova Scotia. His girlfriend, who survived and is cooperating with police, hid overnight in the woods as the suspect shot his neighbors and set homes on fire. His girlfriend was a neighbor

Campbell said they don’t think Wortman was purposely targeting women.

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Trump orders meat processing plants to remain open

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump took executive action Tuesday to order meat processing plants to stay open amid concerns over growing coronavirus cases and the impact on the nation's food supply.

The order uses the Defense Production Act to classify meat processing as critical infrastructure to try to prevent a shortage of chicken, pork and other meat on supermarket shelves. Unions fired back, saying the White House was jeopardizing lives and prioritizing cold cuts over workers' health.

More than 20 meatpacking plants have closed temporarily under pressure from local authorities and their own workers because of the virus, including two of the nation's largest, one in Iowa and one in South Dakota. Others have slowed production as workers have fallen ill or stayed home to avoid getting sick.

“Such closures threaten the continued functioning of the national meat and poultry supply chain, undermining critical infrastructure during the national emergency," the order states.

The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, which represents 1.3 million food and retail workers, said Tuesday that 20 food-processing and meatpacking union workers in the U.S. have died of the virus. An estimated 6,500 are sick or have been exposed while working near someone who tested positive, the union says.

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A look at past disappearances of NKorean leaders, officials

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — While Kim Jong Un's two-week absence has inspired speculation and rumors that he is gravely ill, he is not the first member of North Korean's ruling elite to disappear from public view.

Some absences were caused by real trouble, including deaths, illness or purges. But frequently the so-called disappearances have simply shown the disconnect between insatiable curiosity about what's happening inside the isolated, nuclear-armed nation and the thick cloak of secrecy surrounding its leadership.

A look at past cases of missing North Korean officials and when reports about the demise of leaders were premature:

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KIM IL SUNG

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Oklahoma, Utah face scrutiny over malaria drug purchases

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Republican state leaders in Oklahoma and Utah are facing scrutiny for spending millions of dollars combined to purchase malaria drugs promoted by President Trump to treat COVID-19 patients that many other states obtained for free and that doctors warned shouldn't be used without more testing.

While governments in at least 20 other states obtained more than 30 million doses of the drug through donations from the federal reserve or private companies, Oklahoma and Utah instead bought them from private pharmaceutical companies.

Top officials in both states chalked up the decisions to “the fog of war.”

Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt on Tuesday defended the state’s $2 million purchase, saying the drug was showing some promise. His health secretary attributed buying the 1.2 million hydroxychloroquine pills to something that happens in the “fog of war.”

Utah Gov. Gary Herbert at first defended the state’s $800,000 purchase of 20,000 packets of hydroxychloroquine compounded with zinc, but has since ordered an investigation of a no-bid contract with a local company that had been promoting the drugs. Herbert, a Republican, also canceled an additional plan to spend $8 million more to buy 200,000 additional treatments from the same company.

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Streaming films eligible for Oscars, but for 1 year only

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Movies that debuted on a streaming service without a theatrical run will be eligible for the Oscars, but only for this year.

The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences on Tuesday announced the change for the 93rd Academy Awards as a response to how the coronavirus pandemic has impacted the film industry.

The film academy also said it will condense the two sound categories into one and prohibit DVD screeners for 2022's 94th Oscars in an effort to become more carbon neutral.

Oscars eligibility has been a major question since stay at home and social distancing orders led to both the cancellation of major film festivals and the closure of movie theaters. Previously, a film would have to have a minimum seven-day theatrical run in a Los Angeles County commercial theater in order to be considered for film's highest honor. Now films that had a previously planned theatrical release but are made available on a home video on demand service may qualify for best picture and other categories.

“We’re dealing with the unfolding reality of an unanticipated, unprecedented global health crisis and trying to be responsive to what’s going on in the world and at the same time support our filmmakers who are in a circumstance beyond their control,” film academy president David Rubin told The Associated Press Tuesday.

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VIRUS DIARY: Planting an apple seed, dreaming of tomorrow

ALLISON PARK, Pa. (AP) — He winds up and throws the apple core, aiming for the woods where he hopes a tree will grow. He overshoots his mark. It bounces across the hill of the next-door neighbors' yard. “I’ll get it,” he says. But in these days of isolation and distance, that is a dicey proposition.

Almost furtively, he scurries across the property line. He does not find it. I tell him that he must email the neighbors.

For his email, he chooses the subject “Apple Issue.” He writes: ”In this time of crisis, it is understandable that you wouldn’t want to touch a saliva-covered fruit. Therefore, if/when you find the apple core, if you would let me know, I would take it back.”

He is 13. His name is Wyatt. He is my younger son. Other than his immediate family, he has not come within 20 yards of anyone he knows for nearly two months.

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