Former President Barack Obama slammed U.S. politicians for their handling of the coronavirus pandemic at a virtual commencement address to graduating high school seniors across the country on Saturday night.
"Doing what feels good, what’s convenient, what’s easy, that’s how little kids think. Unfortunately a lot of so-called grownups, including some with fancy titles, important jobs, still think that way, which is why things are so screwed up," he said without naming President Donald Trump or his administration.
He was speaking at the televised "Graduate Together: America Honors the High School Class of 2020" event hosted by NBA star LeBron James that included appearances from the Jonas Brothers, Megan Rapinoe, Pharrell Williams, Maren Morris and Malala Yousafzai.
At another virtual commencement ceremony for graduates of historically black colleges and universities, Obama offered his most public and direct criticism yet of the Trump administration's handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
"More than anything, this pandemic has fully, finally torn back the curtain on the idea that so many of the folks in charge know what they’re doing," he said. "A lot of them aren’t even pretending to be in charge."
His comments came a day before the U.S. death toll surpassed 90,000, with almost 1.5 million cases recorded, according to an NBC News tally. Globally, 311,827 have died and there have been more than 4.6 million infections, according to John Hopkins University data.
Here's what to know about the coronavirus, plus a timeline of the most critical moments:
- MAPS: Confirmed cases in the U.S. and worldwide; confirmed deaths in the U.S. and globally
- Reopening America: See what states across the U.S. have already reopened.
- The coronavirus has destroyed the job market in every state. See the per-state jobless numbers and how they’ve changed.
Download the NBC News app for latest updates on the coronavirus outbreak.
This live coverage has ended. Continue reading May 18 coronavirus news.
Trump calls Obama 'grossly incompetent' after coronavirus criticism
President Donald Trump on Sunday lashed out at former President Barack Obama, calling him "grossly incompetent" after Obama on Saturday criticized "the folks in charge" of the coronavirus response.
Asked about Obama's remarks by reporters after returning to the White House from Camp David, Trump said he had not seen Obama's comments but added: "Look, he was an incompetent president, that's all I can say. Grossly incompetent."
He later tweeted:
On Saturday, Obama offered some of his most pointed criticism of the Trump administration's handling of the coronavirus outbreak, which has killed nearly 90,000 people in the U.S., according to an NBC News tracker. Obama did not reference Trump by name.
“More than anything, this pandemic has fully, finally torn back the curtain on the idea that so many of the folks in charge know what they’re doing,” Obama said in the address, which was streamed online. “A lot of them aren’t even pretending to be in charge.”
“If the world’s going to get better, it’s going to be up to you," he said.
Obama's address was delivered to 27,000 students at 78 historically black colleges and universities in a two-hour event called "Show Me Your Walk H.B.C.U. Edition."
It's hard to flee from your domestic abuser during a lockdown
If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline by calling 1-800-799-SAFE (7233), visiting www.thehotline.org or texting LOVEIS to 22522.
When the stay-at-home order went into effect in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, C. realized her plan to leave her abusive husband had just been sped up. Her two teenage children would suddenly be home to witness the violence.
"My kids were home from school and they were going to see this," said C., who asked that her full name not be used to protect her privacy. "They knew how controlling he was, but knowing that they would be home — we didn't make it two weeks into our stay-at-home order."
The family walked on eggshells during the order, she said. "What I wore to the way I did my hair — anything would set him off."
Michigan priest goes viral after using holy water squirt gun during drive-thru service
A Michigan priest who used a water gun to bless parishioners with holy water has gone viral and been given meme-treatment by the internet.
Father Tim Pelc of the St. Ambrose Parish in Grosse Pointe Park, Michigan hosted a drive-thru church service for Holy Saturday. In order to comply with social distancing guidelines, the priest decided to use a squirt gun full of holy water, according to a Facebook post from the church.
The priest’s ingenuity has struck a chord on the internet, with the photo garnering more than 120,000 retweets and more than 500,000 likes on Twitter. It has even made its way to Reddit’s photoshop battle page, where users superimposed Father Pelc onto a photo of firefighters battling a fire and onto a movie poster dubbed “The Good, The Bad and The Holy Spirit,” a play on “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly” starring Clint Eastwood.
“It’s an internet law: once a post or photo about you goes viral, you must end up in a meme,” St. Ambrose Parish wrote on its Facebook page. “Now it’s happened to Fr. Tim, who wowed the world with his unique holy water squirt gun, blessing food on Holy Saturday."
Gov. Andrew Cuomo gets coronavirus test during press conference
Gov. Andrew Cuomo was given a coronavirus test live during his daily press briefing on Sunday to demonstrate the ease with which the test is given.
Cuomo was encouraging New Yorkers who think they might have COVID-19 — the disease caused by the novel coronavirus — to go online, find a nearby testing location and schedule an appointment.
"It is a fast and easy thing to do," Cuomo said.
He added that tests are now available but that not enough people in the state of New York were being tested. Cuomo said that when he asks people why they had yet to be tested, they were reluctant for a drove of reasons.
"There is a general proclivity where, and I don't mean any disrespect to the medical professionals — my sister is a doctor — but some people just don't like to go to the doctor and don't like to get tested," Cuomo said.
"I am not good at this, but this test is not an invasive test, there's no pain to this test there is nothing about this test that should intimidate people from not taking this test. ... It is so fast and so easy that even a governor can take this test. That's how fast and easy it is," Cuomo said.
He wanted to show anyone doubting him, he said, how fast and easy it is to take a coronavirus test.
Cuomo then stood to introduce Dr. Elizabeth Dufort, a pediatric infectious disease specialist from Albany, New York, who administered the test to him as he stood up from his seat.
Dufort told Cuomo to lift his head and close his eyes, which he questioned, telling viewers, "You can question the doctor."
Dufort responded that it was for comfort and because Cuomo might tear up.
Then, Dufort inserted a swap into one of Cuomo's nostril for approximately five seconds.
"That's it? That's it. Nothing else? Told you," Cuomo said, almost shrugging his shoulders as he thanked the doctor.
Las Vegas airport installs PPE vending machines
McCarran International Airport announced Thursday that it has installed personal protective equipment vending machines in Terminal 1 and Terminal 3.
The Las Vegas airport said that it is the first airport to install PPE vending machines, which sell an array of products from hand sanitizer to tissues to KN95 masks. Prices range from $3.50 for a pack of tissues to $14.50 for a reusable cloth mask.
The installation of the vending machines come as travel is down all over the world due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The amount of passengers departing and arriving at McCarran Airport was down more than 50% in March 2020 as compared with March of last year, the airport said in a news release.
Martin Shkreli denied release from prison over coronavirus fears
Martin Shkreli, the former pharmaceutical executive who became known as "pharma bro," was denied a compassionate release request Saturday to leave prison early.
Shkreli was found guilty of securities fraud in 2017 for defrauding investors but is best known for his smug online persona and drug price-gouging. The former executive asked to be released from his 84-month sentence early because of the coronavirus pandemic, even claiming that he could help develop a cure.
A judge denied his request, claiming that an early release would go against sentencing goals given the sophisticated nature of Shkreli's crime, according to the court filing.
"Defendant is a healthy, 37 year old man with no recent history of preexisting medical conditions that place him at higher risk for COVID-19 and its potentially life-threatening adverse effects, and he is confined in a facility where there are currently no cases of COVID-19," the judge's motion said.
The motion also included a Probation Department response that said Shkreli's insistence that he is able to find a cure to COVID-19 is an example of the "delusional self-aggrandizing behavior” that preceded his crimes.
Sri Lanka reimposes weekend curfew
Sri Lanka reimposed a strict 24-hour curfew this weekend even though the government has begun easing the two-month coronavirus lockdown.
Private businesses and government offices reopened last week. However, on midnight Saturday, authorities again slapped the curfew in an apparent move to restrict people’s movements during the weekend.
The curfew is expected to be relaxed on Monday morning. Health authorities say COVID-19 is under control in the Indian Ocean island nation. A total of 960 cases have been confirmed, along with nine deaths.
New York City hits goal of 20,000 tests per day
New York City hit its goal of 20,000 coronavirus tests per day one week early after partnering with walk-in clinic CityMD.
Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Sunday that the city was working with CityMD to add another 6,000 tests per day across the 123 urgent care centers across the city. CityMD will also cover the cost of testing for the uninsured, the mayor said.
"This now puts us ahead of our goal. We had wanted to get the capacity for 20,000 tests per day by Monday, May 25th," de Blasio said. "I can tell you we have hit that goal a week early."
The city also hopes to grow an "army of tracers" as 500 contract tracers are set to begin field training after getting instruction from John Hopkins University, de Blasio said.
De Blasio also insisted that beaches will not open for Memorial Day weekend, the traditional start of summer. New York City remains under strict social distancing guidelines, although other parts of the state have begun to reopen.
"We don't know the day yet when in the future we might be able to reopen the beaches," de Blasio said. "We will have lifeguards trained and ready, we will be ready for that eventuality. But we are not there yet."
The week the White House was masked
It was a jarring sight in the Rose Garden this past Monday as one top administration official after another — senior adviser Jared Kushner, Health and Human Services secretary Alex Azar, press secretary Kayleigh McEnany — all walked to their seats wearing crisp medical masks.
Just that morning I had watched a string of senior aides arrive at the West Wing without any type of face covering, even after two staffers were diagnosed with the coronavirus days earlier. I had been surprised — the White House is a cramped place to work. Despite the expansive feeling on shows like West Wing and Veep, there are narrow hallways and stairwells and desks tightly packed together. It isn’t conducive to maintaining six feet of distance from others.
But after the White House Management Office sent a memo Monday afternoon requiring that everyone entering and moving about the West Wing cover their faces, staffers headed en masse to the medical office to pick one up, a White House aide told me.
South Korea sees decrease in new cases relating to nightclub outbreak
South Korea reported 13 new virus cases on Sunday, raising hopes that a new outbreak linked to nightclubs in Seoul may be waning.
These figures brought the national total to 11,050, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. No new deaths were recorded on Sunday leaving the death toll at 262.
Health authorities have expressed worries about new cases from Itaewon district-related infections over the weekend and have conducted rigorous contact tracing followed and testing to contain the infection from spreading.
After many weeks of a slowdown of new cases, South Korea’s daily jumps associated with the nightclubs marked an average of about 30 for several days. But starting Saturday, the country saw the beginning of a decrease with 19 reported cases.
Knock-knock no more: Doors are being redesigned amid COVID-19
Doors carry disease. A contaminated doorknob can infect half an office in just a few hours. But you can't exactly socially distance from a door.
As some companies plan a return to the office, entrepreneurs, engineers and architects are confronting a design challenge: how to keep the public safe from shared items that require constant decontamination. Grabbing a doorknob is almost as unconscious as touching your face — and both are now considered health risks.
"I’m not seeing my family, but I’m touching things that a thousand other people have, too," said Ziad Salah, 26, from Edmonton, Alberta. His wife, Maram, is pregnant with their first child and both have older parents. "It’s not enough to socially distance from being around people. You have to socially distance from things that are publicly shared, too."
UN warns of vulnerability of LGBTI community during outbreak
The United Nations warned of the increasing vulnerability of the LGBTI community during the pandemic on Sunday — the International Day against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia.
The day is observed to commemorate the World Health Organization’s decision to remove homosexuality from the international list of diseases on that date in 1990, according to the Associated Press.
The U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that the day comes at a time of challenge when the world needs to protect the LGBTI community.
Guterres said in a statement many LGBTI people who already face bias, attacks and murder “are experiencing heightened stigma as a result of the virus, as well as new obstacles when seeking health care.”
Pakistan resumes domestic flights, insists on masks and empty seats
Pakistan resumed domestic flights between major cities for the first time in nearly two months on Saturday with the requirement that face masks be worn and vacant seats left between passengers, officials said. International flights will remain suspended till May 31.
Domestic and chartered flight operations will require disinfection of the aircraft prior to boarding, at least one vacant seat between the passengers and compulsory wearing of masks and use of hand sanitizers. No food and beverages will be allowed during domestic flights, the statement added.
Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday said that the country could not afford an indefinite lockdown and the nation would have to learn to live with the pandemic. Pakistan has reported over 38,000 cases of infection from the virus, and 834 deaths.
China reopens some schools, revives flights
China reported five new cases of the virus on Sunday, as the commercial hub of Shanghai announced the reopening of some schools and airlines revived flights.
In Shanghai, students retain the option of continuing to follow classes online rather than facing virus testing and social distancing measures at schools. Meanwhile, the number of domestic flights has returned to 60 percent of pre-outbreak levels, exceeding 10,000 per day for the first time since Feb. 1, the country’s civil aviation regulator reported Sunday.
No new deaths have been reported for the past month, although the province of Jilin — which has recently seen a small spike in cases — added one fatality retroactively, bringing China’s death toll to 4,634. 82,947 cases have been recorded since the outbreak was first detected in the city of Wuhan late last year. 78,227 cases are recorded as recovered.
This comes as the last COVID-19-designated hospital in Wuhan restored normal operation on Saturday after nearly four months of treating the coronavirus, according to a state media report.
Brazil confirms more cases than Italy and Spain
Brazil's confirmed cases of the coronavirus rose on Saturday past those of Spain and Italy — which was once the epicenter of the pandemic — making Brazil's outbreak the fourth largest in the world, according to official figures.
Brazil's Health Ministry registered 14,919 new confirmed cases in the prior 24 hours, taking the total to 233,142, behind only the U.S., Russia and the U.K. Brazil has done just a fraction of the testing seen in those three countries.
The global distinction is likely to pile pressure on Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro, who lost his second health minister in a month on Friday as he defies public health experts and calls for widespread use of unproven drugs.
Bolsonaro has been fiercely critical of the orders by many of Brazil's state governors for strict social isolation and quarantine to combat the spread of the virus, including the closure of schools, shops and restaurants. The president argues that the toll on the economy is becoming unbearable and businesses must be allowed to reopen as soon as possible.
Mexico reports 47,144 cases, 5,045 deaths
MEXICO CITY - Mexico registered 47,144 cases of coronavirus on Saturday, with the country's death toll rising to 5,045, health authorities said.
Mexico has seen a slightly higher death rate from coronavirus than the global average so far due to the widespread presence of pre-existing medical conditions such as diabetes, hypertension and obesity, experts say.
Obama tells 2020 high school graduates they'll have to grow up fast
Former President Barack Obama gave a virtual commencement address to graduating high school seniors across the country Saturday night during a televised event hosted by NBA star LeBron James.
It was part of a special called "Graduate Together: America Honors the High School Class of 2020" that included appearances by numerous musical stars, celebrities and athletes, including the Jonas Brothers, Megan Rapinoe, Pharrell Williams, Maren Morris and Malala Yousafzai.
The former president expressed pride in the class of 2020, especially because "the world is turned upside down by a global pandemic," he said.
"You’re going to have to grow up faster than some generations," he said.
New Orleans takes first steps toward reopening
NEW ORLEANS — New Orleans began taking its first steps Saturday toward loosening two months of restrictions on businesses, restaurants and houses of worship.
The city is restricting buildings to 25% of capacity and requiring restaurants, nail salons and other businesses to only take customers by reservation. Malls and retail stores can reopen, but casinos, video poker, live entertainment and bars are still closed.
Officials are still urging people to stay home as much as possible and requiring people to wear masks in public unless exercising.
The coronavirus struck New Orleans so quickly in March there were worries the pandemic would overwhelm the state health system. Hospitalizations have been going down for nearly a month, but officials warned a spike in cases or deaths could lead to putting restrictions back in place.