Coronavirus Watch: All eyes on Ohio's mail-in primary

The coronavirus is changing how we vote.

Just yesterday, New York took the dramatic step of canceling its presidential primary. And today, we'll start to see how an almost mail-only election plays out in Ohio.

While some worry slow mail delivery and long lines at local board of elections will cause problems, one thing's for sure: Ohio will serve as a blueprint for the rest of the country. Read more here. 

This is Tuesday's Coronavirus Watch from the Paste BN Network. Here's the latest news, as of 1:45 p.m.:

• A leading model now estimates more Americans will die from the first wave of the virus. The model, created by researchers at the University of Washington, predicts a U.S. death toll of 74,073, up from previous estimates of 67,641 deaths.
• To date, more than 56,000 people have died in the U.S. from the coronavirus and almost 1 million have tested positive.  See a map of confirmed U.S. cases here.
• The chairman of Tyson Foods is warning of "meat shortages" due to what he calls a breakdown in the food supply chain stemming from outbreaks in factories throughout the country.
• The U.S. House of Representatives will extend its recess, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said Tuesday. The House had planned to return May 4, the same day the Senate is rescheduled to reconvene.
• In a call with the nation's governors Monday, President Donald Trump urged them to "seriously consider" opening their public schools before the end of the academic year.
• CVS and Walgreens are expanding testing. CVS will start offering free self-swab tests at up to 1,000 stores for those who meet CDC criteria. Meanwhile, Walgreens is opening free drive-thru nasal-swab testing sites in 49 states and Puerto Rico. 
• A top Japanese medical expert worries that without a vaccine widely available, the Olympics, already delayed to 2021, may be "difficult" to hold.
• A pug named Winston has tested positive for the coronavirus, possibly the first dog in the U.S. to contract the disease. Good news: Winston, who lives in North Carolina, has fully recovered.

What do you want to know about the coronavirus? Submit your questions via this form and we'll keep answering them here. Donna from Gainesville, Florida, asks: If the workers in the meat plants are so infected, will the meat they sent out have the virus as well?

Thousands of workers at dozens of meat processing plants have contracted the coronavirus, according to a review of cases by Paste BN and the Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting.

But the Food and Drug Administration says there is currently no evidence of food or food packaging being associated with transmission of COVID-19.

“Unlike foodborne gastrointestinal viruses like norovirus and hepatitis A that often make people ill through contaminated food, SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID-19, is a virus that causes respiratory illness. Foodborne exposure to this virus is not known to be a route of transmission,” the FDA says.

However, research on this topic is ongoing, and our understanding of the coronavirus continues to evolve. The FDA recommends following the four key steps of food safety — clean, separate, cook and chill – to prevent foodborne illness.

And finally, thank you for subscribing and trusting the Paste BN Network with this important information. Know someone who would benefit from this newsletter? Please forward this email so they can sign up here.

— Rachel Aretakis, Breaking News Editor, @raretakis, and Grace Hauck, Breaking News Reporter, @grace_hauck