Coronavirus Watch: America's deadliest week

The second week of April marked the nation's deadliest week since the coronavirus pandemic arrived in the United States three months ago.

As the painful days unfolded, Paste BN reporters interviewed relatives of the deceased, funeral directors, faith leaders, medical examiners, grief counselors, doctors, nurses and others on the front lines. Read their stories of loss and resilience. 

It's Wednesday, and this is Coronavirus Watch from the Paste BN Network.

Here's the latest news, as of 1:30 p.m. ET:

• The U.S. saw the highest number of deaths Tuesday – more than 2,200, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. Friday saw the previous high, with more than 2,100 deaths, but the daily totals had declined over the last three days.
• It was not immediately clear whether the increase was due to new counting methods adopted by New York City, where officials added more than 3,000 deaths to account for people who died at home, weren't tested or never sought treatment.
• More than 610,000 people have been infected in the U.S., and more than 26,000 have died. See a map of confirmed cases here.
• President Donald Trump said Tuesday his administration will "halt" U.S. funding to the World Health Organization as it conducts a review of the global organization's handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
• Trump named dozens of the nation's largest companies to an advisory group that he said will help him study options for restarting the economy.
• Some schools have reopened in Denmark and Australia, and stores are back in business in Austria.
• The U.S. stock market took another dive today, falling more than 2% and retreating from gains one day earlier. The International Monetary Fund said the global economy will suffer its worst year since the Great Depression of the 1930s. Stay up-to-date on the markets by signing up for The Daily Money.
• More than 80 million Americans were expected to receive stimulus payments of up to $1,200 in their bank accounts today, according to Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin.

Keep sending us your coronavirus questions through this form, and we'll continue to answer them! Elliott from Rock Hill, South Carolina, asks: Is it true that China is now having a second wave of infections?

After reaching a low in mid-March, China is now reporting a growing number of cases brought into the country by people returning from abroad. Here's what China says:

• China's new daily cases peaked Feb. 12, when the National Health Commission reported more than 15,000 new cases in a single day. On March 12, the commission reported just eight new cases. By March 18, the commission was reporting no new domestic cases on the mainland – only imported cases.
• Since then, the nation has been reporting dozens of new imported cases each day, with single-digit numbers of new domestic cases. On April 12, the commission reported 98 new imported cases and 10 domestic cases – the most new cases reported on the mainland in weeks.
• Recent reports suggest that many of those imported cases are coming from Russia. China's border with Russia is closed except to Chinese nationals. Earlier this week, the Shanghai Municipal Health Commission told reporters that dozens of Chinese nationals who had arrived on a flight from Moscow were confirmed to have the virus.

When considering these figures, it's important to note that China has faced global scrutiny for cracking down on whistleblowers warning about the outbreak. Chinese officials also determined that they were likely facing a pandemic a week before going public about it, according to internal documents obtained by The Associated Press.

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— Grace Hauck, Breaking News Reporter, @grace_hauck