JUDY WOODRUFF: Good evening.

I'm Judy Woodruff.

On the "NewsHour" tonight: Deaths in the U.S. top 45,000, as new evidence suggests a different timeline from the virus -- when we think it started and where it goes from here.

Then: COVID-19 and mental health -- what you need to know about the pandemic's effect on psychological and emotional well-being.

Plus: On this 50th anniversary of Earth Day, legendary naturalist Jane Goodall on how COVID-19 is reshaping our relationship with the planet.

JANE GOODALL, The Jane Goodall Institute: We are all interconnected.

And if we don't get that lesson from this pandemic, then maybe we never will.

JUDY WOODRUFF: All that and more on tonight's "PBS NewsHour."

(BREAK) JUDY WOODRUFF: The beginning of the coronavirus pandemic in the United States is coming more clearly into focus tonight, as we learn it started weeks before anyone knew.

That revelation comes as deaths in the U.S. have now passed 46,000, and as a top federal expert on vaccines says he was forced out of his job.

Lisa Desjardins begins our coverage.

LISA DESJARDINS: New information indicates the San Jose, California, area may have been where COVID-19 initially appeared in this country.

Health officials in Santa Clara County have now linked at least two deaths from early to mid-February to the virus.

That's well before what had been the earliest confirmed deaths in Washington state on February 29.

DR. SARA CODY, Santa Clara County Public Health Department: What these deaths tell us is that we had community transmission, probably to a significant degree, far earlier than we had known.

LISA DESJARDINS: Amid questions about the origins of the pandemic, governors in a handful of other states are preparing to reopen.

By the end of this week, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp has ordered some businesses can reopen, including hair and nail salons and massage parlors.

But, on NBC's today program, Atlanta's mayor criticized that move.

KEISHA LANCE BOTTOMS (D), Mayor of Atlanta, Georgia: To lift these restrictions when our numbers are still rising just seems illogical to me.

LISA DESJARDINS: U.S. health officials stress, testing is key for determining when the time is right to restart parts of the economy.

GOV.

ANDREW CUOMO (D-NY): Good morning.

LISA DESJARDINS: New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said today his state is partnering with neighboring Connecticut and New Jersey for a massive testing and tracing operation.

GOV.

ANDREW CUOMO: We have to put together a tracing army.

But it all has to be coordinated.

There is no tracing that can work within one jurisdiction.

LISA DESJARDINS: And back in California, Governor Gavin Newsom laid out his state's plans to do the same.

GOV.

GAVIN NEWSOM (D-CA): We are significantly increasing the sites of availability.

At the same time, we are increasing capacity within the existing system.

There are hundreds and hundreds of testing sites in the state of California, well in excess of 600.

LISA DESJARDINS: In Washington, at an Earth Day event, President Trump said closed national parks would begin to reopen as states are ready.

He also moved ahead today with an immigration executive order he says protects American workers.

The measure pauses issuance of green cards for 60 days.

Thus, it affects only those seeking permanent residency, not temporary workers - - this as the Trump administration faced a new charge.

The doctor who formerly led the COVID vaccine effort at the Department of Health Human Services today said he was pushed out of that job for political reasons.

Dr. Rick Bright says he was sidelined because he wouldn't widely promote treatments touted by President Trump, because there wasn't enough evidence they work.

On Capitol Hill, the House of Representatives is starting to return, with party leaders like Republican Kevin McCarthy preparing for a vote tomorrow on the more recovery funding for small businesses and others.

At the State Department, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo renewed the administration's criticism of how China and the World Health Organization have handled the pandemic.

MIKE POMPEO, U.S. Secretary of State: We strongly believe that the Chinese Communist Party didn't report the outbreak of the new coronavirus in a timely fashion to the World Health Organization.

The World Health Organization's regulatory arm clearly failed during this pandemic.

LISA DESJARDINS: In Geneva, Switzerland, officials at the WHO defended the timing of its initial emergency declaration.

Its director-general also said new infections are now increasing in Eastern Europe and Africa.

TEDROS ADHANOM GHEBREYESUS, WHO Director General: Make no mistake, we have a long way to go.

This virus will be with us for a long time.

LISA DESJARDINS: That warning comes as restrictions in more of Western Europe are easing.

In Berlin, Germany, today, some shops reopened, while taking steps for safety.

PETRA HOFFMAN, Berlin Resident (through translator): Now there is life here again.

The city, especially the center, needs life.

LISA DESJARDINS: One sign of hope in hard-hit Spain, a makeshift morgue at an ice rink in Madrid has now closed, as deaths have plateaued.

For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Lisa Desjardins.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Even as some states are preparing for limited reopenings in the coming days, there are new warnings about a potential second wave of infection and illness later in the year.

And there are new findings about how the virus was spreading in the country earlier than we realized.

John Yang looks at these new developments and their significance.

JOHN YANG: Judy, officials in Santa Clara County in Northern California now say that two residents there died of coronavirus in early and mid-February.

That's weeks before what had been thought to be the first U.S. deaths.

Dr. Tom Frieden is a former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

He's now CEO of an initiative called Resolve to Save Lives, which works to prevent epidemics and heart disease.

Dr. Frieden joins us by Skype from New York.

Thank you very much for being with us, Dr. Frieden.

These two cases in February in Santa Clara County, officials there say they have no indication that they -- these people traveled, so, apparently, it was contracted through the community.

What are the implications and the significance of these earlier cases?

DR. THOMAS FRIEDEN, Former Director, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: What we're learning is how widespread the infection has been.

It's a web of infection that we're seeing throughout many states of the U.S., and we're learning more each day.

We're learning, for example, from the genetic fingerprints and footprints of this virus how far and wide it has spread.

JOHN YANG: Does this have any implication or tell us anything about where we are now, and perhaps any suggestions about how we should be moving forward?

DR. THOMAS FRIEDEN: One of the things that's clear is that this is a highly infectious virus, and that many people don't show symptoms.

That makes it even harder to control, but still possible.

There's a lot we can do to be safer.

And the more we do now, the sooner and more safely we can come out.

That means boxing it in, doing the testing, isolation, contact tracing, and quarantine, that box, to get the virus in smaller and smaller clusters and cases, so that we can come out more safely.

The longer we wait to do that, the longer we will have to stay inside or the more risky it will be to go out again.

JOHN YANG: There has been so much talk about testing, but you also talk about contact tracing, tracing the contacts of people who have the virus.

Talk about that.

And is that -- in some cases or in some elements, is that as important, more important as broader testing?

DR. THOMAS FRIEDEN: All four aspects, testing, isolation, contact tracing, quarantine, that box, they're all essential.

If any corner of that box is weak, the virus can get out.

Contact tracing is a tried-and-true method of public health.

It means going to a patient, talking with them, earning and gaining and maintaining their trust, helping them remember who they may have exposed, helping them find the contact information of those people, and then warning those people that they may have been exposed, and then connecting with those people for every day throughout their quarantine to see if they're feeling OK, if they're not, to get them tested, if they are, to reassure them until they can finish their quarantine.

It's old-fashioned public health, but it works.

It's hard work, but it's how we can return to a new normal as soon and safely as possible.

JOHN YANG: It's hard work, and it's also labor-intensive; is that right?

DR. THOMAS FRIEDEN: It is.

And while there may be some newer technologies that can make it a bit more efficient, I don't think we're going to get to the place where you can just look at your phone and figure out who you might have exposed or who might have given you an exposure to the virus.

That's an interesting idea.

It's unproven, scary.

But what we do know is that talking to people, understanding who they may have been in touch with, and then using that information to warn people who have been exposed, that works.

It works for tuberculosis.

It works for sexually transmitted infections and other infections, public health.

It's done every day of the year all throughout the U.S.

It's not just anyone who can do contact tracing.

It takes excellent people skills.

It takes the ability to understand the medical aspects of the situation, confidentiality, crisis counseling, referral for further services.

It's a skill, a specialized skill.

JOHN YANG: How concerned are you about what's being called the second wave, perhaps this winter, especially if it were to coincide with the seasonal flu?

DR. THOMAS FRIEDEN: Any time we come back out again, we are at risk of seeing a resurgence of COVID disease.

Even New York City, where we have had a terrible epidemic, with more than 15,000 people killed, that's as many as were killed in a whole year of the great influenza pandemic of 1918.

This is the worst health threat in a century.

And yet, even so, most New Yorkers aren't immune, haven't been infected, and it could get much worse.

That means we need to loosen the faucet on physical distancing gradually.

We need to do it in stages, because, when you loosen once, it may be three or four weeks before you see the spread of the disease from that loosening, if it happens.

If you do it in a faster pace, you could have a roaring infection that rages through society, that kills people in your nursing homes, that endangers health care workers, and that's very hard to reverse.

So, it's not just, unfortunately, a question of a second wave.

It's the question of multiple waves that we're at risk for if we don't emerge from our sheltering in place very carefully, gradually, protecting those who are most vulnerable, using hand sanitizer, using other ways to physically distance, so we reduce the risk.

JOHN YANG: Dr. Tom Frieden, thank you very much.

DR. THOMAS FRIEDEN: Thank you.

JUDY WOODRUFF: In the day's other news: Wall Street steadied, as oil prices halted their plunge and recovered a little.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 457 points, to close at 23475.

The Nasdaq rose 232 points, and the S&P 500 added 62.

President Trump says that he is putting Iran on notice to stay away from U.S. ships in the Persian Gulf.

Last week, the U.S. Navy said that Iranian vessels repeatedly darted close to American warships while they were in international waters.

Today, the president tweeted that he's ordered the Navy to -- quote -- "shoot down and destroy any and all Iranian gunboats if they harass our ships at sea."

Pentagon officials said that the tweet reinforces existing rules.

Meanwhile, Iran's Revolutionary Guard launched its first military satellite today.

The Guard said the satellite was fired into orbit from a desert base.

But, in Washington, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo condemned the act.

MIKE POMPEO, U.S. Secretary of State: One of the things they have said is that, boy, we need resources in order to take care of the virus at home.

And all the while, they are launching satellites, driving ships around the Gulf, coming and harassing U.S.

Naval vessels.

They continue to underwrite Shia militias.

They're working to support Hezbollah.

JUDY WOODRUFF: The U.S. argues that Iran is getting closer to developing nuclear-tipped ballistic missiles.

Iran denies that it wants nuclear weapons.

Back in this country, a federal appeals court today permitted Arkansas to ban most surgical abortions during the pandemic.

That reversed a lower court's ruling.

Texas has also been allowed to enforce abortion curbs related to COVID-19, but courts have blocked similar bans in three other states.

Former Vice President Joe Biden won the backing of another Democratic vice president today.

Al Gore said that supporting Biden over President Trump was -- quote -- "not rocket science."

Gore is now a leading climate activist.

Biden was also endorsed by one-time rival Jay Inslee.

He's the governor of Washington state.

And today was the 50th anniversary of Earth Day.

It came as COVID-19 lockdowns have suddenly cleared much of the air and the water.

In Paris, for example, before-and-after images illustrate how air pollution is improved 50 percent from the previous five years.

The same is true in New Delhi and a number of other cities around the world.

Still to come on the "NewsHour": how COVID-19 is escalating global hunger; on the front lines with the medical workers who are battling the pandemic; the tensions behind China delivering shipments of masks around the globe; plus, legendary scientist Jane Goodall on COVID-19 and the natural world.

This week, the United Nations World Food Program warned that, as a result of the coronavirus, the number of people facing food crisis around the world could double to 265 million people.

For how the developing world is faring, already suffering in many places from the effects of climate change and conflict, I'm joined by David Beasley, executive director of the World Food Program.

David Beasley, welcome back to the "NewsHour."

First of all, you came down with COVID-19 some weeks ago, and you have been quarantined.

How are you doing now?

DAVID BEASLEY, Executive Director, World Food Program: Well, I will tell you, Judy, fortunately, I didn't get an extreme case where I had to go to the hospital.

But it just lingered for literally about two-and-a-half, three weeks, and have a little fever, a little ache and pains.

But I have cycled through it.

I am so much better, and I'm grateful to be talking with you today.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Well, we're very glad to hear that.

You are saying this week to the United Nations, to anybody who will listen, that, as the world deals with this terrible health crisis, at the very same time, there's another crisis having to do with food.

DAVID BEASLEY: Well, before COVID came on the scene, literally in the last six months, I had been telling leaders around the world, and especially in Europe, that we had a perfect storm coming.

We literally were going to see 2020 being the worst humanitarian crisis year since World War II, because of Yemen and Syria and South Sudan, the deterioration of the Sahel, climate extremes, cyclones and hurricanes, Sudan, Ethiopia, DRC.

And you just can't imagine all these things together.

Then desert locusts came upon that.

And I'm like, this is just terrible, and then COVID.

We couldn't believe it.

And so we were already calculating 135 million people around the world before COVID marching to the brink of starvation.

And now, with the new analysis with COVID, we're looking at 260 million people, and I'm not talking about hungry.

I'm talking about marching toward starvation.

And that is a catastrophe in itself.

JUDY WOODRUFF: You know, that's a number that I think is almost impossible for us to comprehend, that that many people could be that close to starving.

David Beasley, how has COVID complicated your work?

Clearly, the numbers are potentially bigger, but how has it changed the work you have to do?

DAVID BEASLEY: Judy, it's compounded the problems in so many different ways, economically, but more so, at this stage, in terms of supply chain.

If we can't move food, move commodities, move supplies, then, obviously, even if we have money, if we can't get the food to the people - - you know, you can't go two weeks without food.

That's just the reality of life.

So, out of the 135 million people that we were saying on the brink of starvation, we feed about 100 million.

Out of those, 30 million depend on us 100 percent.

So, if we don't have access to that 30 million, we literally could see 300,000 people die per day over a 90-day period.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Can you get it done, David Beasley?

I mean, when you think about the magnitude of what you're facing, and the constraints now on these countries that you count on to give you money, can you actually get it done?

DAVID BEASLEY: We can.

And that's one thing I love about the World Food Program.

Literally, when a lot of other organizations are having to leave countries, we actually step in, in emergency operations.

We know what we're doing; 97 percent of our people in the field are still in the field doing what they do best.

If we have the money and we have the supply chain, we can keep people alive.

But, right now, we -- it's not COVID vs. hunger.

We have got to work together on these two issues, because they are tied together.

It transcends borders, it transcends cultures, and it certainly transcends politics.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Tell us just briefly about a place like Yemen, racked by war for years, and now that's a country that is -- I can't - - we can't even imagine what they are facing.

How can the World Food Program make a difference there?

DAVID BEASLEY: Yemen is a disaster in so many ways, a nation of about 29 million people ravaged by war.

The health care system is just deplorable.

The economy was terrible before the war started, one of the poorest countries on Earth, population of 29 million people, of which we feed about 12.5 million people.

And that means about 16.5 million people get their food otherwise.

So, if COVID hits Yemen, it will not only be, I mean, destroying our supply chain, but the health care system and the immunity system of a very fragile society, I can't imagine it being anything but just catastrophic.

JUDY WOODRUFF: And on the continent, a place like the continent of Africa, where you have so many countries that don't have the health care infrastructure, in addition to the health - - I mean, I'm sorry -- to the food challenges, how are you having to change what you do there?

DAVID BEASLEY: Well, we are working with leaders right now and maintaining supply chains in terms of moving the supplies, making certain that the food can get from the field to the market to the consumer, and doing everything we possibly can there.

We're trying to uniquely assess the original - - not original, but the initial hot spots that we will have in countries like South Sudan, who are losing their revenue and will lose their remittances, and the list goes on.

And so we're analyzing out every country to make certain that we're doing whatever we possibly can.

But you got to remember, while everybody is focused on COVID right now, desert locust is devastating Kenya, and Somalia, and South Sudan and Ethiopia.

So, we're dealing with several so-called plagues at one time here, and it's not easy.

But our teams are up for it.

We work in war zones.

We worked in Ebola.

We know what we're doing.

If we have the resources, and we get the dynamics out of our way, so that we can do what we do best, we can save lives.

JUDY WOODRUFF: What do you say to Americans who say, we know the need is great out there, but right now we have got 22 million Americans just in the last month who filed for unemployment, we have got almost 800,000 people who have come down with COVID-19 in this country; it can't be a priority for us?

What do you say to them?

DAVID BEASLEY: Since I took this role, the funding, when I arrived, was $1.9 billion.

With the Trump administration and the Republicans and the Democrats in the United States Congress, you know, Judy, they seem like they're fighting over everything.

But when it comes to food security and helping the most vulnerable people in the world, all of them have come together.

And our funding went up to $3.4 billion.

And the United States has not been backing down.

We all want the United States to be strong, because, when the United States is strong, it helps us help other people.

JUDY WOODRUFF: A strong message.

David Beasley, the executive director of the World Food Program, thank you so much, and we're glad to see you feeling better.

DAVID BEASLEY: Thank you, Judy.

Always good to see you.

JUDY WOODRUFF: The number of hospitalizations in New York state has slowed, a pattern that has been consistent for more than a week now.

But to give you some perspective, more than 15,000 people in the state have died from COVID-related complications.

In New York City alone, 35,000 people are estimated now to be hospitalized with COVID-19.

William Brangham gets a front-line dispatch from a group assisting the hospitals there.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: The International Medical Corps is working right now in New York City, the epicenter of America's outbreak.

They're bringing in volunteers from across the country to help four different hospitals to help support the people who are working in those hospitals as they deal with COVID-19 patients.

Susan Mangicaro is the New York coordinator for the International Medical Corps.

And she joins me now from the Javits Center in New York.

Susan, thank you very, very much for being here.

Could you just start off by telling us -- you're in New York City.

Most of our viewers are elsewhere in the country, watching what's going on in New York.

Could you give us a sense, broadly, of what you have been seeing over the last weeks, the last month or so?

SUSAN MANGICARO, International Medical Corps: When we arrived on April 2, it was really at the peak of the storm here.

I have served in disasters for International Medical Corps across the world, and I have never seen anything like this in the United States.

It was truly unprecedented.

The hospitals were completely overwhelmed.

Staff was -- was basically in shock and traumatized from having to make some choices that we're not accustomed to in the United States, and simply the number of deaths of patients dying alone.

The supplies that were needed were eventually brought in.

But, initially, things were very, very tight.

Luckily, things are slightly improved this week, but still quite devastating.

The system is in a state of shock.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: As you alluded to, the International Medical Corps normally responds to wars, conflicts, disasters in other nations.

Do you ever stop for a moment and just sit back and think, we're doing this here in the middle of New York City?

SUSAN MANGICARO: Yes, all the time.

It's -- it's surreal.

Seeing and witnessing in hospital emergency departments the stress that the system was under, it's something that, again, you're kind of not -- we're just not accustomed to this in the United States.

You're used to seeing that perhaps in resource-poor regions or regions that have been devastated from natural disasters or work conflict areas, but certainly not here in our own country.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Are there lessons that you have learned from doing humanitarian work of this sort in other nations that are -- that's applicable here?

SUSAN MANGICARO: Absolutely.

We have done this both in disaster response, but infectious disease outbreak from Ebola to cholera.

We know how to set up quickly.

We know how to bring in the people that are accustomed to dealing with trauma very rapidly.

And we know -- and we have support from wonderful partners and organizations that allow us to do what we do and bring in the relief where it's needed most.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: You're obviously there to help backstop the front-line health care workers that are working in these hospitals, and provide relief and sort of rotate in when they need it.

How are those people doing, from your experience?

SUSAN MANGICARO: So, I will tell you from both perspectives.

We have done a number of things here.

We have brought in emergency field shelters for them to use as surge capacity.

We have brought in supplies and PPE.

But most important, we have brought in medical staff to help relieve those overburdened staff workers.

Some facilities were down 25 percent of patients because -- or of staff, because they were COVID-positive and sick.

And those that were there were working very long shifts and in very critical areas that the hospitals had to adapt to.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: You're standing there in the Javits Center, which we know was an -- is an overflow, a big convention center now turned into an overflow hospital.

We have been seeing some reports that New York state and New York City might be bending its curve a little bit, and seeing some plateauing of cases.

Has that been your experience thus far?

SUSAN MANGICARO: Yes, certainly, in the emergency department, the number of admissions are down.

That is help, providing some relief and to decompress a little bit.

However, if you look at the number of patients still in the intensive care unit, and the acuity level of those patients, they're still at capacity, if not over, beginning to decompress some.

So there is a little sense of relief here in the health care system.

They're -- they're very trepidatious about backing off, because the concern is, what if it -- what if it skyrockets again?

We certainly do not want to see what happened the first time around happen again.

And I don't think it will.

I think one of the biggest lessons for all of us is that, you know, preparedness is really important.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: All right, Susan Mangicaro from the International Medical Corps, thank you very, very much.

And thank you for all the work that you're doing.

SUSAN MANGICARO: Thank you so much.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Today, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo accused China of a cover-up during the early days of the outbreak.

It is the latest in a rhetorical pressure campaign on China throughout this crisis.

China has pushed back, launching an information war that has included conspiracy theories and highly publicized sales of medical equipment to other countries, including the United States.

Nick Schifrin reports on the battle to control the narrative and the blame for COVID-19.

NICK SCHIFRIN: In the European epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak, the cavalry was Chinese.

This is Chinese television showing Chinese doctors and Chinese medical equipment arriving in Lombardy in hard-hit Northern Italy.

FABRIZIO SALA, Vice President, Lombardy Region (through translator): The donations from China are what we urgently need, which can save many lives.

I thank the Chinese people.

Thank you.

NICK SCHIFRIN: The Chinese government says it has exported more than three billion masks, three million test kits, including to the Philippines.

Nigeria held a press conference to show off its Chinese aid.

And Venezuela showcased its Chinese arrival on state TV on March 28.

By that time, China was past its peak, and was trying to help countries in the middle of their peaks, said one of Chinese state television's top international anchors, Zou Yue.

ZOU YUE, China 24 Anchor: It is time to think in the framework of a shared human community.

NICK SCHIFRIN: But shared community didn't mean free.

Italy had to buy Chinese equipment, after it had earlier donated supplies to China.

Spain's prime minister announced publicly the Chinese tests it received were defective.

The U.K. admitted Chinese tests it received didn't work.

And the U.S. called China's mask diplomacy an effort to mask culpability, as Secretary of State Mike Pompeo reiterated today.

MIKE POMPEO, U.S. Secretary of State: China didn't share all of the information it had.

Instead, it covered up how dangerous the disease is.

It didn't report sustained human-to-human transmission for a month, until it was in every province inside of China.

NICK SCHIFRIN: The U.S. accuses China of a pattern of deception beginning in December, when Wuhan's central hospital doctors realized the pneumonia they'd been treating wasn't normal.

YANZHONG HUANG, Council on Foreign Relations: They shared information with their relatives, their friends.

They were asked to shut up.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Yanzhong Huang is the Council on Foreign Relations' senior fellow for global health.

YANZHONG HUANG: In early January, already, the local government officials knew that some health care workers already got infected.

And that was smoking gun evidence suggesting human-to-human transmission.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Dr. Ai Fen was the director of emergency medicine.

On December the 30th, she told her medical school classmates she'd been treating a new coronavirus with apparent human-to-human transmission.

But the hospital rebuked her.

On December 31, the city government further smothered her alarm, releasing a public notice: "The investigation so far has found no obvious person-to-person transmission."

And on New Year's Day, the local government ordered early virus samples destroyed and announced that rumors had spread about pneumonia, "causing adverse social impact."

They detained the eight doctors whom Dr. Ai had told, including Dr. Li Wenliang, who would later become the symbol of China's crackdown.

Dr. Ai said she went home terrified, and told her husband: If something goes wrong, you can raise our child.

Why did local authorities apparently feel like they weren't supposed to share all of the information that they were gathering?

YANZHONG HUANG: I think this has something to do with the political structure.

And so, when you have a political structure that is so centralized, you know, that, when the top leader is making all the major decisions, that they essentially deny their local government officials any incentives to make any initiatives.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Wuhan's Mayor Zhou Xianwang admitted he wasn't allowed to speak openly about the outbreak.

ZHOU XIANWANG, Mayor of Wuhan, China (through translator): As the local government, I can only release the information when I'm authorized to do so.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Local Chinese governments have been accused of hiding fatality figures before, but, since President Xi Jinping took power, Beijing's grip on local governments has tightened, says Huang.

YANZHONG HUANG: Since 2012, we found that the political power has been rapidly centralized to a level that further suppress or stifle the initiatives taken at the local level.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Dr. Li, one of the first medical workers who knew about human-to-human transmission, blew the whistle, warning other doctors about COVID-19.

And on February 7, after treating COVID-19 patients, Dr. Li died.

The outpouring of sympathy and anger at authorities who'd silenced him erupted.

Authorities acted quickly.

Citizen journalists who exposed on social media the slow initial response, including Fang Bin, were arrested.

By March the 5th, when a senior official visited Wuhan, residents shouted out their windows -- quote -- "Everything is fake."

And then came the disinformation.

On March the 12th, China's deputy Foreign Ministry spokesman, Zhao Lijian, wrote on Twitter: "It might be U.S. Army who brought the epidemic to Wuhan."

The suggestion was repeated on Chinese TV Arabic.

WOMAN (through translator): Do you believe a story that the new coronavirus is made by the USA?

YANZHONG HUANG: After Dr. Li Wenliang's death, you know, there was this strong pressure or demand for meaningful change on the political front.

And if you look at the outcome of this disinformation effort, it does actually distract the domestic attention from making change on the political front.

DONALD TRUMP, President of the United States: It could have been stopped.

It could have been stopped pretty easily.

NICK SCHIFRIN: President Trump, who had praised President Xi's and China's response in January, responded to the U.S. Army claim by naming and shaming.

QUESTION: Why do you keep calling this the Chinese virus?

DONALD TRUMP: It comes from China.

That's why.

It comes from China.

NICK SCHIFRIN: One week later, President Trump declared a cease-fire and spoke to Xi Jinping.

That's when China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Chinese media replaced disinformation with deflection.

ZOU YUE: And President Donald Trump and his team were not helpful.

Their problem is a lack of serious commitment.

And, most unfortunately, he failed to communicate the gravity of the problem to the nation, when he still had time to brace for impact.

NICK SCHIFRIN: For the Chinese looking to criticize the U.S., there was ample material.

GOV.

ANDREW CUOMO (D-NY): FEMA says, we're sending 400 ventilators.

Really?

What am I going to do with 400 ventilators, when I need 30,000?

You pick the 26,000 people who are going to die because you only sent 400 ventilators.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Both sides blame each other and portray this moment as a fundamental test of fundamentally different governance.

ZOU YUE: When I saw Governor Cuomo of New York begging the federal government to step in to get ventilators, I thought, wow, what a difference different systems can make.

MIKE POMPEO: What do autocracies do in the face of crisis?

They become more aggressive.

They deny people their rights.

They lie more.

In the end, they do enormous harm to the people of their own nation, and put the rest of the world at risk as well.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Senior U.S. officials tell "PBS NewsHour" China is blocking some medical supplies the U.S. bought from leaving China.

And China still refuses to share the original virus from early COVID-19 victims, the very victims whom Dr. Ai Fen and Dr. Li Wenliang were trying to save.

For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Nick Schifrin.

JUDY WOODRUFF: That brings us to Ask Us, where we take your questions on the coronavirus to experts who can help make sense of these challenging times.

We have had an incredible response across our Web site and our various social media platforms, Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

For the record, Facebook is a funder of the "NewsHour."

Amna Nawaz has more.

AMNA NAWAZ: Thanks, Judy.

And thanks to all of you for sending us your questions.

This week, we're focusing on your concerns about mental health.

And from the responses we got, it's clear it's an issue that's hitting home for many of you right now.

So, to answer your questions, we're joined by Dr. Sue Varma.

She's clinical assistant professor of psychiatry at New York University.

Welcome, and thanks for being here, Dr. Varma.

DR. SUE VARMA, Clinical Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, New York University: Thank you so much for having me.

I appreciate it.

AMNA NAWAZ: So, let's jump right into the questions.

Our first one comes from Sherry Williams in Columbus, Ohio.

She sent us a video on Facebook.

Here is Sherry now.

SHERRY WILLIAMS, Suffers Insomnia: Oftentimes, I'm laying awake at night with my mind racing, thinking about anything from, if I'm going to lose my job, to my finances, wondering if myself or someone in my family is going to catch coronavirus.

Are there any tips for dealing with insomnia during these times?

DR. SUE VARMA: Yes.

AMNA NAWAZ: Dr. Varma, that stress and anxiety of the time can lead to insomnia.

What do you say to Sherry?

DR. SUE VARMA: So, Sherry, first of all, you're not alone.

We know that a lot of people are experiencing a variety of things that you're touching upon, and some of which is anxiety during the day.

And get this.

There are a lot of people who say that they're not even feeling anxious.

They're not even noticing their anxiety during the day, and it's only manifesting in the form of sleep disturbances, like insomnia.

So, one thing I want to say is, good sleep hygiene for me begins during the day.

It's not just at night.

And part of this means, if you're able to get any exposure to daytime sunlight, this would be huge.

What this does is, it shuts down the melatonin, which is a hormone that helps you sleep at night.

It shuts it down during the daytime and it says, hey, it's time for us to stay awake.

Ten or 15 minutes in the morning for a brisk walk would help.

And, in general, getting adequate exercise, movement, again, 15 to 20 minutes.

And I'm a big fan of addressing our worries.

A lot of what you're talking about is what we're thinking, what we call catastrophizing, thinking about the worst-case scenario.

Ask yourself, what is the best-case scenario?

What is the most likely scenario?

And keeping a worry diary, which is basically five minutes a day of writing everything that you're worried about.

And what helps is, over time, we see that, 85 percent of the time, the things that we worried about don't actually happen.

And the 15 percent of the time that they do, we're actually able to better handle it than we think that we are.

But you're not alone.

Stick to a routine daytime, at nighttime.

Wake up the same time as much as possible.

AMNA NAWAZ: Sherry, we wish you good sleep out there.

Let's move now to another question from Sandy Gavilanes.

She's from Chicago.

She also sent us a question on Facebook.

And here's what she wrote.

She says: "I have a 4-year-old son.

How do we explain COVID-19 to him without causing more worry and more stress, especially when he is so young?"

Dr. Varma, how do you talk to young kids about this time that even adults are trying to make sense of?

DR. SUE VARMA: Absolutely.

And it really depends on the age, the developmental stage, how much information they can handle.

But, generally speaking, when it comes to a 4-year-old, what they really need is reassurance from you that everything is going to be OK. And keep things extremely simple.

You can say, some people are getting sick out there.

Some of them are getting better.

We're here to help you.

What are your specific questions?

And maintaining a routine as much as possible, keeping them distracted, being able to have fun with them, but also watching and managing their own stress levels.

We know that children very much experience contagion stress, contagion from their parents.

Try to get 10 or 15 minutes for deep breathing, for meditation, using an app for yourself, so that you can be there to be able to provide the calm reassurance, guidance that your children need.

But when it comes to a 4-year-old, please, just keep it very simple.

AMNA NAWAZ: Great advice we can all use.

I know I'm taking personal notes on all of that.

Let's move now to another video question.

This one is from Sherry Frachey, from Rochester, Illinois.

Here's the thing to know about Sherry, Dr. Varma.

She's been a teacher for 43 years.

She reached out on Facebook.

Here is Sherry now.

SHERRY FRACHEY, Illinois: Recently, I have embraced online learning.

I still miss the students.

Our governor announced that the students and teachers will not reconvene this year.

And I retire at the end of the year.

I never imagined going out this way.

It's really so sad, and I'm grieving.

I imagine there are others in similar situations.

Do you have any advice for us?

AMNA NAWAZ: It's a big change of life.

Go ahead.

What do you have to say to Sherry?

DR. SUE VARMA: Yes, I was going to say, first of all, bless you, bless your heart.

You are the lifeblood of this country, and thank you for teaching and educating our children.

As a parent who is doing homeschooling, I can tell you that doing double duty is not easy.

And I would say, celebrate what you have accomplished.

And this can be in the form of phone calls, letters.

Ask people to -- let people know how you feel.

And if you have access to Zoom or Skype or FaceTime, have a virtual send-off party, a retirement party.

And, hey, when things get better, because I absolutely believe that they will, you will have to have your chance to see people face to face.

But now ask them to express their sentiments by writing or phone calls.

AMNA NAWAZ: And we hope she can have that celebration someday soon.

Thank you to Sherry.

One last question now coming to us from Facebook, Dr. Varma.

This one comes to us from Maryum Saifee.

She writes in about a personal trauma.

And she writes: "As a survivor of female genital mutilation, emotional well-being is a top priority.

This pandemic is a mixed blessing.

The solitude allows for reflection, but can also be deeply isolating.

How can I best handle the ups and downs of social distancing?"

What do you say to her, Dr. Varma?

DR. SUE VARMA: Well, I would say, first and foremost, that, you know, I have so much admiration for the courage that she has to be able to talk about this.

So, don't forget that we're talking about somebody who's extremely resilient.

And when it comes to resiliency, there's certain hallmarks that we look for, optimism, sense of humor, social support, altruism.

I think it's really important to recognize that we are all experiencing grief.

Even if you're used to being a leader, give yourself a break, take naps, take rest, and support yourself and your mental health, and make that a priority right now.

AMNA NAWAZ: It's such an important message: We are all in this together.

Dr. Sue Varma, thank you so much for being with us and taking these questions.

DR. SUE VARMA: Thank you for having me.

AMNA NAWAZ: And thanks to all of you for your questions.

You can send us more via "NewsHour"'s Twitter, Facebook and Instagram accounts or on our Web site.

That's PBS.org/NewsHour.

JUDY WOODRUFF: The daily briefings at the White House do continue, but, tonight, there is new information on a key firing, allegedly pitting science against politics.

Our Yamiche Alcindor is here with the latest.

Yamiche, we did report earlier that a man who was working for the government in the vaccine division of the National Institutes of Health, working on a coronavirus response, says he's been retaliated against.

What more are we learning about this?

YAMICHE ALCINDOR: That's right, Judy.

Dr. Rick Bright says that he was abruptly dismissed from the agency within the Department of Health and Human Services.

He said he was pushing for scientific-based studies.

He said he wanted treatments that were going be vetted thoroughly, and not just treatments that President Trump liked, including that anti-malaria drug that has not been fully tested, but that the president has encouraged Americans to take.

He says that he was moved from that position.

And now his attorneys say that they're getting ready to file a whistle-blower complaint.

They also say that he was retaliated against when he was moved out of his position.

So, we have to watch this closely, but this doctor is making a lot of noise and saying that he's been treated unfairly by the Trump administration.

JUDY WOODRUFF: And, Yamiche, as always, I know the reporters are looking for information from the president on how the administration is managing this crisis.

What more are you learning tonight?

YAMICHE ALCINDOR: Well, two big things happened at the briefing just -- that is still going on today.

The first is that the director of the CDC came out to push back on a headline in The Washington Post that said that the second wave of the coronavirus could be more devastating.

He said that he was quoted accurately.

But it was a scene where you could see the president was essentially marching him out to attack The Washington Post's reporting.

And the only issue that they had was, instead of the word devastating, it should have been they used the word difficult.

So they're still saying that that Washington Post article is accurate.

The second thing is that the president has now come out firmly against the governor of Georgia.

He said that he doesn't agree with the Georgia governor opening up businesses, including salons and barbershops.

He said he specifically spoke to the governor and said that he strongly disagreed with that.

But he said, at the same time, the governor has to do what he thinks is right.

JUDY WOODRUFF: That is so interesting, Yamiche, given the Republican governor of Georgia, Brian Kemp.

And just quickly, Yamiche, when the president - - when Dr. Redfield, who is the head of the CDC, made this clarification today, where did -- where was it finally left?

YAMICHE ALCINDOR: Well -- I'm sorry.

You said, where was he... JUDY WOODRUFF: How did he finally explain what happened?

You said he changed it from devastating to difficult.

Is that pretty much where it's left?

YAMICHE ALCINDOR: Yes, that's where it's left.

He literally took issue with one word.

And that was in the headline.

He said that all of the reporting was accurate.

So, even though he was pushing back on The Washington Post, this was really a copy editing issue, essentially, devastating vs. difficult.

The point is that the second wave of this virus could still really kill a lot of people and infect a lot of people.

And the director of the CDC stood by that statement.

The president says he doesn't think it's going to happen, but he hasn't shown any evidence of that.

What we have heard is that the health officials say that the second wave of the coronavirus could be just as deadly, if not more deadly, even though Dr. Fauci said that the U.S. might possibly be more prepared the second time around.

So the president, though, is pushing back and saying, maybe this won't even happen, which, as I said, Judy, there's no evidence that there won't be a second wave.

JUDY WOODRUFF: So much attention focused on all of this.

Yamiche Alcindor, thank you very much.

YAMICHE ALCINDOR: Thanks, Judy.

JUDY WOODRUFF: On this 50th Earth Day, one like no other, we want to mark this moment with Jane Goodall, one of the world's most renowned scientists and environmentalists.

A new "National Geographic" documentary explores her life and work, teaching generations how interconnected we are with the natural world.

Jeffrey Brown spoke with Goodall, who was at her home in Bournemouth, England, about the pandemic and her life's work.

It's part of our ongoing arts and culture series, Canvas.

JEFFREY BROWN: For decades, Jane Goodall has traveled the world as a nonstop advocate for the conservation of animals and the Earth.

Now, like the rest of us, she's confined to her home.

But, she says: JANE GOODALL, The Jane Goodall Institute: I have never worked harder in my life, because, you know, it's the 60th anniversary of the research at Gombe.

We were going to be celebrating all the year.

We were just in a perfect situation for good fund-raising, and then, boom, everything stopped.

So I'm trying to keep up the momentum.

JEFFREY BROWN: Her work now is virtual, and, as always, even at 86, virtually nonstop.

As we see in the film, it all began in 1960, when a young British woman without a college degree went to what is now Gombe Stream National Park in Tanzania to live with and study chimpanzees in a new way.

JANE GOODALL: It's absolutely so vivid.

And, of course, it was a time when the chimpanzees were like part of my family.

And the striking thing was how like us they actually are.

When I got to Cambridge, because Louis Leakey said I had to get a degree, I was told I'd done everything wrong.

I shouldn't have given the chimps names.

They should have had numbers.

I couldn't talk about personality, mind or emotion.

Those were unique to us, I was told.

But I had been taught by my dog Rusty... JEFFREY BROWN: Yes.

JANE GOODALL: ... who sits near me, Rusty, he was a very, very special dog.

And there's never been another dog quite like him.

JEFFREY BROWN: Look at look.

Look at Rusty and look at a young Jane Goodall.

JANE GOODALL: Look at us side by side.

(LAUGHTER) JANE GOODALL: But Rusty was a special dog.

All dogs are special, really, but he was extra special.

And of course animals have personalities, minds and emotions.

And now science has been forced to accept we're not, after all, the only beings with those attributes.

JEFFREY BROWN: Changing minds and practices hasn't always been easy, but she's gotten results.

Goodall campaigned against using chimpanzees and other animals for medical research.

She's also been a leading voice against animal trafficking and other abuses.

And she sees a disregard for nature and disrespect for animals behind today's global pandemic.

While the exact origins of COVID-19 are being examined and debated, evidence points to China's so-called wet markets, where live animals and meat are sold.

This is a virus that jumped from animals to humans.

JANE GOODALL: We are all interconnected.

And if we don't get that lesson from this pandemic, then maybe we never will.

JEFFREY BROWN: How does that force the lesson on us?

JANE GOODALL: Well, it should force a lesson on us because it's our interactions with animals and the environment, all of it, that has led to the virus being able to leap over from some kind of animal into us, as has happened before.

And I just hope that, when this is over, we're wiser.

And I hope that the Chinese ban on the wet markets will, A, be made permanent, and, B, extend to the use of wild animals for medicine like pangolin scales, bear bile, and so on.

JEFFREY BROWN: Is that the most important thing you think needs to happen now to prevent future pandemics?

JANE GOODALL: I think it's extremely important.

But we also need to fight the animal trafficking, because that, too, brings animals together in close contact, where they are being sold in markets, for example.

JEFFREY BROWN: There's been so much attention, first in China, then Europe and, of course, here in the U.S. And I wonder about your fears for what's happening in Africa.

JANE GOODALL: I'm extremely worried about Africa, because so many countries, you know, they haven't got well-developed health care systems.

And people who make their money by living day by day by day, like the street vendors and people like that, if they can't ply their trade -- and they can't -- I don't know what's going to happen.

There will be anger.

There'll be riots.

There will probably be violence.

And so some countries are saying, all right, let's carry on with business as usual.

And then, of course, the virus will spread.

It's a pretty grim picture.

And I don't think anybody really has got a grip on it.

JEFFREY BROWN: Where is there hope?

Jane Goodall and her institute began creating their own version of it in Tanzania in 1991 through a conservation education program for young people.

Called Roots & Shoots, it's now in 65 countries around the world and has served several generations.

I wonder if you're thinking about your own mortality and what you will leave behind and who will pick up afterwards.

JANE GOODALL: Well, I'm -- being 86, I'm -- obviously, the time I have left is slowly shrinking, which means I have to work ever harder.

People go, you need to slow down.

But I have to go quicker.

The main message that I have is that every single one of us, every single day, we make some impact on the planet.

And we have a choice as to what impact we make.

What we buy, what we wear, where did it come from?

And if enough of us make ethical choices and start thinking in a new way, then business will have to change because of consumer pressure, and governments will just have to obey the will of the people, because enough of us willing it.

So, each one of us is part of this growing - - it's my greatest reason to hope.

JEFFREY BROWN: All right, Jane Goodall, thank you for talking to us.

JANE GOODALL: Thank you very much for inviting me.

JUDY WOODRUFF: What an extraordinary woman, and what an extraordinary life of contributions.

Thank you, Jane Goodall and Jeff Brown.

And that's the "NewsHour" for tonight.

I'm Judy Woodruff.

Join us online and again here tomorrow evening.

For all of us at the "PBS NewsHour," thank you, please stay safe, and we'll see you soon.