Here’s a look at today’s biggest news items: Donald Trump stays away from briefings amid fallout from disinfectant comments. The president remained behind closed doors after advisers reportedly warned him that the briefings were hurting his campaign. Michigan senator sorry for wearing ‘Confederate’ facemask. State senator Dale Zorn has apologized after wearing a facemask that appeared to depict the Confederate flag. Cuomo to sign an executive order allowing pharmacists to conduct diagnostic coronavirus tests. The New York governor called quarantining this generation’s defining challenge in his daily briefing. Georgia, Oklahoma and Alaska have begun loosening lockdown orders on their pandemic-wounded businesses. US states’ moves to ease coronavirus lockdowns risk dangerous patchwork with the confirmed US death toll from Covid-19 having passed 50,000. Dr Anthony Fauci, White House coronavirus task force member and infectious diseases chief at the National Institutes of Health, said on Saturday that a randomized controlled trial is the only way to prove whether any of the drugs being explored as Covid-19 treatments in fact work. “We need something out there, but safety and efficacy is something we owe to the global population,” Fauci said during an online meeting of the National Academy of Sciences. He added that caution must be of paramount importance as economies re-open, lest areas wounded by infections experience a resurgence. “Any attempt to leapfrog over these almost certainly will result in a rebound, and then we can set ourselves back,” he said. “If we don’t get control of it we will never get back to normal. I know we will, but we’ve got to do it correctly.” He added: “We don’t want to get fixated on how many tests you need. ... Instead, places must “have enough tests to respond to the outbreaks that will inevitably occur.” In these extraordinary times, the Guardian’s editorial independence has never been more important. Because no one sets our agenda, or edits our editor, we can keep delivering quality, trustworthy, fact-checked journalism each and every day. Free from commercial or political bias, we can report fearlessly on world events and challenge those in power. Your support protects the Guardian’s independence. We believe every one of us deserves equal access to accurate news and calm explanation. No matter how unpredictable the future feels, we will remain with you, delivering high quality news so we can all make critical decisions about our lives, health and security – based on fact, not fiction. Support the Guardian from as little as $1 – and it only takes a minute. Thank you. Florida governor Ron DeSantis said the re-opening of his state’s economy will begin with “a very, very small step forward”. DeSantis said decisions on which businesses and activities will be permitted when the statewide stay-at-home order ends on Thursday will be made “based on data, where trends are” during a news conference. Orthopedic surgeon Wael Barsoum, speaking alongside the governor at Cleveland Clinic Florida in Weston, said any changes will be evaluated daily. “I think that there is a lot of excitement about seeing what happens as we move forward, as we start slowly seeing changes with the requirements that we’ve had put in place,” Barsoum said. “But please recognize that we will learn every day, and we may have to step back from some of those decisions as a society.” The state’s department of health released data on Saturday showing that 612 people have died from Covid-19 in south Florida – including Broward, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade counties – an increase of 28 people from Friday. Statewide, 1,055 people have died and 30,839 individuals have tested positive. While many Los Angeles area beaches remain closed to the public due to Covid-19, a handful are permitting visitors in a limited capacity amid California governor Gavin Newsom’s pleas to practice social distancing. One such beach is in San Clemente, where the local council voted to reopen the beach for recreational activity such as walking, running, swimming and surfing, but it also said residents should not bring a blanket and hang out. The early returns have been mixed. According to the Orange County Register: This weekend, with a heat wave hitting the region, will be a test to see if keeping the beach open is possible. Will people be able to keep moving and use the sand and surf just for exercise, as San Clemente requires? Can they remember to space out 6-feet away from others to adhere to social distancing rules? Newport Beach had tens of thousands of beachgoers Friday afternoon as the hot weather hit, an influx that concerned residents who worry about out-of-towners and careless beachgoers flooding into the tourist town. The sentiment from residents was mixed – some griping on social media that the sand looked like a hot summer day or the Fourth of July holiday with careless crowds disregarding stay-at-home orders — while others said beachgoers seemed to be mindful of other people’s space and, for the most part, adhered to the rules. “It was extremely crowded, it was the biggest crowd we have seen since last summer,” said Brian O’Roarke, Newport Beach Lifeguard Battalion Chief. “With the boardwalks and parking lots closed, it’s kept the activity more to people on the beach.” With closures of other beaches in Los Angeles, San Diego and next door in Laguna – as well as regular visitors from inland, the crowds have been “pretty thick,” he said. “We’re getting people coming from other counties, without a doubt,” O’Roarke said. “Our message is that the beaches are open, we are encouraging social distancing and discouraging gathering points — that’s why the parking lots, the Wedge and boardwalks and piers are closed. “We want people to follow Gov. Newsom’s stay-at-home order, go out and get exercise, jump in the water, but we’re saying it’s essential to keep up with our social distancing.” Lifeguards are beefing up staffing for the weekend, though a thick, cool coastal fog on Saturday may help ease crowds. Authorities are approaching groups of six or more to remind them about social distancing, he said. “They understand what’s going on,” O’Roarke said. Mike Pence’s office has announced the vice president will lead a White House coronavirus task force meeting at 4pm today in the Situation Room, suggesting there will be no press briefing today. According to reports, Trump is planning to ‘pare back’ the daily briefings after falsely claiming his suggestion to inject cleaning products had been ‘sarcastic’. Yesterday’s presser offered one of the strangest twists of the pandemic so far: the president gave a short pre-written statement and then exited the stage without taking a single question. Canada’s prime minister, Justin Trudeau, has said the country’s economy should not reopen until there is enough personal protection equipment for workers. “I don’t think we should be reopening any sector of the economy until we have enough material to protect Canadians and ensure that we are stopping the spread of Covid-19,” said Trudeau during a press conference on Saturday. The prime minister said he expected “plane loads” of PPE to arrive next week. “We know we have to take a gradual and progressive approach and be very careful about reopening the economy,” he said. Canada had recorded 2,350 fatalities from Covid-19 as of Saturday morning. Donald Trump has dipped his toes into Twitter, boasting about the US’s testing program. “We have now Tested more than 5 Million People. That is more than any other country in the World, and even more than all major countries combined!,” he wrote. That’s not quite right. Russia, Italy and Germany alone have issued more than 5.5m tests. Trump also went back to an old theme: China’s place in the pandemic. “The Do Nothing Democrats are spending much of their money on Fake Ads. I never said that the CoronaVirus is a “Hoax”, I said that the Democrats, and the way they lied about it, are a Hoax. Also, it did start with “one person from China”, and then grew, & will be a “Miracle” end!,” he wrote. Trump is correct when he says he did not refer to the virus as a “hoax”. However, as Snopes reports, he “likened the Democrats’ criticism of his administration’s response to the new coronavirus outbreak to their efforts to impeach him, saying ‘this is their new hoax.’” Miami is considering how it will handle a planned easing of restrictions in the city next week, according to a story in the Miami Herald. Some parks are expected to reopen but measures will be in place to maintain social distancing. For example, people will be able to shoot baskets on basketball courts but not play full games, while tennis will be allowed but only if people play singles rather than doubles. Enforcement of the new rules will require huge amounts of manpower, and security staff from Miami’s sports stadiums could be used, reports the Herald. Stadium workers have found themselves out of jobs during the shutdown, which has effectively suspended professional sports in the US. You can read some of the workers’ stories here: Georgia’s governor, Brian Kemp, eased some of the state’s lockdown measures on Friday. That included the reopening of nail salons and barber shops. Keisha Lance Bottoms, the mayor of Atlanta, clearly does not agree with that policy and tweeted out statistics on death rates in Georgia on Saturday, along with a message for people to stay home. “If you’re getting your nails done right now, please share these noon numbers with your manicurist #StayHomeGeorgia,” the mayor wrote. New Jersey has the second-highest death toll from Covid-19 for any state other than New York. The state’s governor, Phil Murphy, reported 249 deaths over the last 24 hours, bringing the total deaths in New Jersey to 5,863 since the start of the pandemic. However, Murphy said the number of deaths now appear to be flattening. “We need to see more progress and more slowing before we can begin implementing any effort to get ourselves on the road to the new normal that awaits our state on the other side of this pandemic,” he said. “Those curves are all going largely in the right direction.” He also called the state’s efforts against the virus “a war”. He wrote on Twitter: “We’ve lost more New Jerseyans to coronavirus than we lost in World War I, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War COMBINED. When we say we’re in a war, we mean it. This is literally a war.” Some have debated how useful war metaphors are during the pandemic. Here’s our own Marina Hyde on language and coronavirus: The global death toll for Covid-19 has now passed 200,000. The Coronavirus Resource Center, run by researchers at Johns Hopkins University, shows that the global death toll stands at 200,698 as of Saturday. The figures for infections are likely to underestimate the true scale of the pandemic due to suspected under-reporting and differing testing regimes. You can read more on developments around the world in our global Covid-19 liveblog: Michigan senator sorry for wearing "Confederate" facemask Michigan state senator Dale Zorn has apologized after wearing a facemask that appeared to depict the Confederate flag. Zorn, a Republican, wore the mask during a senate vote at the Michigan capitol in Lansing on Friday. He initially defended his actions, saying his wife had made the mask and that it depicted the flag of Tennessee or Kentucky. “I told my wife it probably will raise some eyebrows, but it was not a Confederate flag,” Zorn told Lansing TV station WLNS on Friday. “Even if it was a Confederate flag, you know, we should be talking about teaching our national history in schools and that’s part of our national history and it’s something we can’t just throw away because it is part of our history.” When Zorn was asked what the meaning of the Confederate flag is, he replied, “The Confederacy”. However, after receiving criticism from both Republicans and Democrats in the Michigan senate, Zorn issued an apology on Saturday. “I’m sorry for my choice of pattern on the face mask I wore yesterday on the Senate floor. I did not intend to offend anyone; however, I realize that I did, and for that I am sorry. Those who know me best know that I do not support the things this pattern represents,” he wrote on Twitter. “My actions were an error in judgment for which there are no excuses and I will learn from this episode.” Earlier, a spokesperson for Michigan’s senate majority leader, Republican Mike Shirkey said Shirkey “would not support or encourage any senator to display an insensitive symbol on the Senate floor.” The leader of the Democrats in the Michigan senate, Jim Ananich, said: “I’m just really disappointed to see him make a choice that is deeply hurtful to so many people. When he was called out for it, he didn’t seem to even understand or acknowledge what the problem was.” Zorn was in Lansing on Friday to vote on measures that would increase oversight of Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer’s powers during the Covid-19 pandemic. Michigan is one of a number of states that have attracted protests against stay-at-home orders during the pandemic. Zorn said he supported bipartisan oversight of Whitmer’s actions. “The founding idea of a government for the people and by the people should not be tossed aside lightly, even in cases of a public health emergency,” Zorn said in a statement on Friday. “I supported this legislation to give the Michigan people more input into the governor’s use of emergency powers that limit their freedom and affect their lives. “Emergency actions were necessary to protect the public when the coronavirus came to Michigan. This reform is about speeding up the process for ensuring that elected officials listen to the people and work together to both address the crisis and, when appropriate, enable people to live their lives.”