Donald Trump repeatedly played down the importance of widespread testing before reopening the country for business during the daily coronavirus briefing. Trump reportedly intends to form another task force that will work on trying to reopen the economy by the end of April. But White House health experts have cautioned against scaling back social distancing too quickly. Mike Pence said the treasury is on track to send Americans payments of up to $1,200 by the end of next week. More than 16 million Americans have submitted unemployment claims in the past three weeks as the coronavirus pandemic devastates the US economy. New York broke its record for the highest single-day coronavirus death toll for the third consecutive day. Governor Andrew Cuomo announced at his daily briefing that 799 New Yorkers died of the virus yesterday, bringing the state’s cumulative death toll to 7,067. British prime minister Boris Johnson was moved out of the intensive care unit. 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Fact check: The majority of states have less than 10% positive cases Earlier, Dr Deborah Birx, a coordinator on the coronavirus response task force, said that 63% of the states (31 states) had less than 10% of total people tested for Covid-19 be positive. A quick glance at data provided by the Covid Tracking Project, a collaborative, volunteer-run project that collects data from local health departments, shows that about 28 states plus US Samoa meet that threshold. While that’s still a slight majority of states, a handful are seeing much more dire statistics. Out of people tested in New York, about 40% have tested positive. Surrounding states also have grim stats: Thirty percent of those tested in Connecticut and 47% of those tested in New Jersey were positive. Presenting this number doesn’t necessarily paint an accurate picture of the spread of the disease in the United States since testing has been limited until very recently. In certain states like New York, where tests have been limited and the spread has been massive, requirements to getting tested are strict. In states that have seen a less intense outbreak, testing has been more widely available. Experts to administration: Evidence on whether homemade masks work is "inconclusive" The CDC is now recommending that all Americans wear homemade, non-medical masks while in public. But experts from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine told the White House in a letter sent yesterday that “the available evidence is inconclusive about the degree to which homemade fabric masks may suppress spread of infection from the wearer to others”. Although any sort of fabric mask will block at least some of the larger respiratory droplets, “there’s little evidence regarding transmission of small aerosolized particulates,” the researchers wrote. Further studies will reveal what sorts of masks, and fabrics, offer the most filtration. White House health officials like Dr. Birx and Dr. Fauci have warned that masks are meant to supplement, not replace, other safety measures such as handwashing and keeping a 6ft distance apart from others. The coronavirus briefing has ended. Fact check: flu comparisons Mike Pence said that “we’ve known from the beginning that this at least three times more contagious than the flu. And, I believe that fact alone has informed our projections and the modeling.” But the president has often compared coronavirus to the flu, from the beginning. In late March, Trump complained about distancing measures on Fox News. “We’ve never closed down the country for the flu,” he said. On March 9, he tweeted, “So last year 37,000 Americans died from the common Flu. It averages between 27,000 and 70,000 per year. Nothing is shut down, life & the economy go on.” On February 26, he said, “I mean, view this the same as the flu. When somebody sneezes — I mean, I try and bail out as much as possible when they’re sneezing. “ A moment for fashion, and recognizing the importance of the world “global” in “global health”: Fact check: Oil market Trump repeatedly said that the oil market lost 40% of demand due to the Covid-19 crisis, but multiple reports say that the drop in demand worldwide is around 25% to 30%. The drop is still massive, largely due to the global halt in flights, and has put major oil-producing countries on edge. Today, members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), excluding the United States, reportedly agreed on a cut in production to stop the steepening of oil prices. The US cannot force cuts on its oil manufacturers as easily as other countries, though countries like Russia are pressuring the US to consider taking measures to cut production. Dr Fauci, on what it could mean to “reopen” the country: “Often, people say re-open the government, like it’s a light switch on-and-off for the entire country. We have a very large country with really different patterns of disease and outbreaks in different parts of the country. So, it’s not going to be a one size fits all.” It’s worth noting here that the federal government doesn’t have the power to “switch on” the economy all at once. States, counties and cities ultimately have a lot of authority to enforce distancing measures for as long as they deem necessary. Coronavirus testing by age: Dr Birx presented the following numbers on testing nationally. People younger than 25: 200,000 have been tested of which 11% tested positive Age 25-45: 500,000 were tested, 17% were positive Age 45-65: 500,000 were tested, 21% were positive Age 65-85: 200,000 were tested, 22% were positive People older than 85: 30,000 tested, 24% were positive Dr Anthony Fauci provided some good news with the bad. This has been a very bad week in terms of the number of deaths, he said. At the same time, “we’re seeing a rather dramatic decrease in the need for hospitalization” in New York, he said. “That means what we are doing is working, and therefore we need to continue.”