Top Eight

Your Monday night briefing from the staff of Courthouse News

Top eight CNS stories for today including whiplashed investors are staking out vastly different positions on the chances of a quick recovery from the coronavirus outbreak; An internal government watchdog reported that hospitals are in dangerously short supply of protective gear, testing kits and basic safety materials; The wave of death caused by the pandemic is slowing in Europe’s hardest-hit countries, and more.

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National

1.) With another day of big gains on Wall Street, whiplashed investors are staking out vastly different positions on the chances of a quick recovery.

In this image provided by Meric Greenbaum, Greenbaum, a Designated Market Maker with IMC, who normally works on the New York Stock Exchange trading floor, works in his home office in Shelter Island, NY, Monday, April 6, 2020. Stocks around the world jumped Monday after some of the hardest-hit areas offered sparks of hope that the worst of the coronavirus outbreak may be on the horizon. (Lucas Greenbaum/Courtesy Meric Greenbaum via AP)

2.) As the U.S. entered “peak death week” in the coronavirus outbreak, an internal government watchdog reported Monday that hospitals are in dangerously short supply of not only protective gear and testing kits, but basic materials like thermometers, toilet paper and disinfectants, putting health care workers at risk.

FILE - In this March 28, 2020, file photo, staff work in a ventilator refurbishing assembly line at Bloom Energy in Sunnyvale, Calif. The COVID-19 outbreak has prompted companies large and small to rethink how they do business. Bloom Energy in San Jose, Calif., makes hydrogen fuel cells. But recently, they have been refurbishing old ventilators so hospitals can use them to keep coronavirus patients alive. (Beth LaBerge/KQED via AP, Pool, File)

3.) The Supreme Court on Monday said no thanks to taking up a debate over the right of the Catholic church to post religious advertisements on the side of Washington buses, but Justice Neil Gorsuch warned the local transit agency to tread carefully on the First Amendment.

In this March 16, 2020 photo, a tree blooms outside the Supreme Court in Washington, Monday, March 16, 2020. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

Regional

4.) New York City will build trenches in public parks as makeshift burial spots for those killed by Covid-19, a city official revealed Monday, saying the plan, albeit disturbing, is unavoidable to confront the mounting death toll.

Ambulances line the street outside Elmhurst Hospital Center, Saturday, April 4, 2020 in the Queens borough of New York. The new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms for most people, but for some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness or death. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

5.) Wisconsin’s Democratic governor on Monday suspended in-person voting for the state’s pivotal primary election set for Tuesday, after weeks of chaos and confusion in which election officials were scrambling to ensure safe access to the polls in light of the Covid-19 pandemic.

From left Katherine Katsekes, and Diane Scott, both paid volunteers, help sort absentee ballots by ward to be opened on election day at Brookfield City Hall, Tuesday, March 31, 2020. Many area communities are having a steady stream of residents voting early as concerns about the coronavirus raise questions about the upcoming April 7 election. (Rick Wood/Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel via AP)

International

6.) After weeks of lockdowns, the wave of death caused by the coronavirus pandemic is slowing in Spain, France and Italy, Europe’s hardest-hit countries, and the debate is turning to how and when restrictions can be eased.

Soldiers patrol in front of the Duomo gothic cathedral in Milan, Italy, Sunday, April 5, 2020. The government is demanding Italians stay home and not take the leveling off of new coronavirus infections as a sign the emergency is over, following evidence that more and more Italians are relaxing restrictions the west’s first and most extreme nationwide lockdown and production shutdown. (Claudio Furlan/LaPresse via AP)

7.) British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was moved to an intensive care unit at St. Thomas’ Hospital in London late Monday after his Covid-19 symptoms took a turn for the worse.

FILE - In this Saturday, March 28, 2020 handout photo provided by Number 10 Downing Street, Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson chairs the morning Covid-19 Meeting remotely after self isolating after testing positive for the coronavirus, at 10 Downing Street, London. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been admitted to a hospital with the coronavirus. Johnson’s office says he is being admitted for tests because he still has symptoms 10 days after testing positive for the virus. (Andrew Parsons/10 Downing Street via AP, File)

8.) Despite some hiccups, the Dutch judicial system is finding its way during a coronavirus-induced lockdown.

Court of North Holland in Alkmaar, Netherlands. (Photo via De Rechtspraak)

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