WARREN, Mich. (AP) — More than 130,000 autoworkers returned to factories across the U.S. for the first
time in nearly two months Monday in one of the biggest steps yet to restart American industry, while an
experimental vaccine against the coronavirus yielded encouraging results in a small and extremely early
test.
At a Fiat Chrysler pickup truck assembly plant in Warren, outside Detroit, workers entered a giant white
tent with a sign that read: "Let’s restart and keep each other safe." Inside they had their
temperatures checked and answered a set of questions on whether they had symptoms of COVID-19.
"I feel safer than being anywhere at any stores, because they got the screening and
everything," said Ann’alazia Moore, a janitor at the factory. "I feel like that’s amazing.
That’s smart. I like that. So, I feel more safe. I won’t get sick."
Detroit’s Big Three — Fiat Chrysler, General Motors and Ford — as well as Honda and Toyota all had
screening procedures in place at dozens of factories that reopened from the Great Lakes states south to
Tennessee and Texas and out west at Tesla’s factory near the San Francisco Bay.
But no one was immediately cranking out vehicles, because it will take time to get the plants restarted.
Many workers were afraid of getting the virus but believed the automakers were trying to keep them safe.
"The parts of the plant where people would be closer together, they’ve put up a lot of
partitions," said Cole Stevenson, who installs steering wheels at a Ford pickup truck plant in
Dearborn, Michigan. "You can tell they’ve taken tape measures to just about any surface two people
would need to be near each other."
Meanwhile, an experimental vaccine by Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Moderna Inc. triggered hoped-for
immune responses in eight healthy, middle-aged volunteers. They were found to have antibodies similar to
those seen in people who have recovered from COVID-19.
Further studies on the vaccine’s safety, effectiveness and optimal dosage still need to be done. But
stocks rallied on the news on Wall Street.
Worldwide, about a dozen vaccine candidates are in the first stages of testing or nearing it. Health
officials have said that if all goes well, studies might wrap up by late this year or early 2021.
Despite warnings from health experts that the virus could make a resurgence, many states have eased their
lockdowns under pressure from President Donald Trump to save businesses and livelihoods. About 36
million Americans have applied for unemployment benefits over the past two months, and U.S. unemployment
surged in April to 14.7%, a level unseen since the Depression.
U.S. health authorities will be watching closely for a second wave of infections over the next few weeks
and worry that Americans will disregard social distancing over Memorial Day weekend, the unofficial
start of summer. Over the past weekend, there were already large crowds. Connecticut had to close
beaches before noon when they reached capacity under new restrictions.
One of California’s largest tribal casinos, Viejas Casino & Resort, near San Diego, reopened to a
large crowd Monday. Customers had their temperatures taken at the door and were ordered to over their
faces, and very other slot machine was turned off to keep people separated. But the strong turnout meant
many customers were still playing less than 6 feet (1.8 meters) apart.
Ronda McLauchlan lined up at 7:30 a.m. before going to work as a painting contractor because "it’s
all about freedom." She was highly critical of lockdown orders.
Elsewhere around the world, Europe pushed ahead with its reopening, allowing people into the Acropolis in
Athens, high-fashion boutiques in Italy, museums in Belgium, golf courses in Ireland and beer gardens in
Bavaria.
More than 4.7 million people worldwide have tested positive for the virus and over 315,000 deaths have
been recorded, including about 90,000 in the U.S. and over 160,000 in Europe, according to a tally by
Johns Hopkins University. Those figures are believed to understate the true dimensions of the outbreak
because of limited testing, differences in counting the dead and concealment by some governments.
In other developments, the World Health Organization bowed to calls from most of its member states to
launch an independent investigation into how it responded to the coronavirus. Trump has repeatedly
attacked both WHO and China, claiming the U.N. agency helped Beijing conceal the extent of the outbreak
in its early stages.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the probe will take place "at the earliest
appropriate moment." The announcement, made at WHO’s annual meeting, came after a watchdog body
found possible shortcomings in the agency’s warning system.
Chinese President Xi Jinping defended China’s record, saying the country provided all relevant outbreak
data to WHO and other countries, including the virus’s genetic sequence, "in a most timely
fashion." He also announced that China will give $2 billion to the global fight against the virus.
But the Trump administration stepped up its attacks at the meeting, with U.S. Health and Human Services
Secretary Alex Azar accusing WHO of failing to obtain the information the world needed as the outbreak
emerged.
Without mentioning China by name, Azar said: "In an apparent attempt to conceal this outbreak, at
least one member state made a mockery of their transparency obligations, with tremendous costs for the
entire world."
He said the United States has allocated $9 billion for the global coronavirus response.
With new infections and deaths slowing considerably in Europe, many countries are preparing to reopen
their borders and trying to draw up rules for a highly unusual summer tourist season.
"This vacation this year won’t be like the ones we know from the past," German Foreign Minister
Heiko Maas told ZDF television. "The pandemic is still there, and we must at least have safety
precautions for the worst case that the figures get worse again."
Greece reopened some of its ancient sites, along with high schools, shopping malls and mainland travel.
Paving stickers were used to keep visitors apart. Tourists were local, for the country still has a
14-day quarantine for arrivals, and travel to Greek islands remains broadly restricted.
Churches in Italy and at the Vatican resumed public Masses. Guards in hazmat suits took the temperatures
of the faithful entering St. Peter’s Basilica, where Pope Francis celebrated an early morning Mass in a
side chapel to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the birth of St. John Paul II.
Turkey’s president announced a four-day curfew during the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr. The country has
opted to impose short weekend and holiday curfews, instead of full lockdowns, fearing damage to the
already troubled economy.
In France, authorities were concerned after about 70 infections popped up in the country’s schools since
they started reopening last week. France reopened about 40,000 preschools and primary schools last week,
with classes capped at 15 students.
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Long reported from Washington, Krisher from Detroit. Associated Press writers around the world
contributed.
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Follow AP pandemic coverage at http://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak and
https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak.
