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BERLIN — Slowly, tentatively,a handful of European countriesbegan lifting constraints on dailylife this week for the first timesince the start of the coronaviruscrisis, providing an early litmustest of whether Western democra-cies can gingerly restart theireconomies and restore basic free-doms without reviving the spreadof the disease.

On Tuesday, Italy, the epicenterof Europe’s crisis, reopened somebookshops and children’s clothingstores. Spain allowed workers toreturn to factories and construc-tion sites, despite a daily death tollthat remains over 500. Austria al-lowed thousands of hardware andhome improvement stores to re-open, as long as workers andcustomers wore masks.

In Denmark, elementaryschoolteachers readied class-rooms so young children could re-turn to school on Wednesday,while in the Czech Republic, arestless public relished the re-opening of sports centers andsome shops.

When Lukas Zachoval, a salesmanager in the Czech Republic,lost a tennis match to his fatherthis week — in a 6-4, 6-3 drubbing— defeat had seldom tastedsweeter. After all, it was his firstmatch since the Czech govern-ment began lifting sweeping re-strictions on society, including aban on communal sports, that had

been in place for nearly a month.“I cannot live without sports,”

Mr. Zachoval explained.The easing of the lockdowns

was watched with interest andtrepidation across Europe and be-yond, and posed profound andknotty questions.

“How much are we willing topay in order to save people’slives?” asked Jana Puglierin, di-rector of the Berlin office of theEuropean Council on Foreign Re-lations, an independent researchgroup. “And when do we do moredamage — when we keep the lock-down in place, or when we open itup early?”

The fledgling, country-by-coun-try loosening, enacted withoutany coordination between na-tions, underscored the absence ofany common agreement, or evenunderstanding, about the chal-lenge of keeping economies alivewhile stemming the disease.

A similar debate over how to re-open society is taking place in theUnited States, where PresidentTrump has insisted that he “callsthe shots” on the matter, prompt-ing objections from the leaders ofseveral states.

Mr. Trump, under fire and hispoll numbers falling as the disputeintensified, said Tuesday that hewould halt funding to the WorldHealth Organization, which he ac-

EUROPEAN NATIONS WARILY TEST A PATHTO REOPEN SOCIETY

Early Bellwether of Reviving EconomiesWhile Minimizing New Illnesses

By PATRICK KINGSLEY

AUSTRIA Thousands of hardware and home stores were permit-ted to reopen, as long as workers and customers wore masks.

LISI NIESNER/REUTERS

SPAIN Workers were allowed to return to factories and construc-tion sites, despite a daily death toll that remains over 500.

SAMUEL ARANDA FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

ITALY The epicenter of Europe’s crisis reopened some bookshopsand children’s stores on Tuesday, amid confusion over travel.

ANDREW MEDICHINI/ASSOCIATED PRESS

GERMANY A nearly deserted Munich subway station. Germany’sreopening would have to be coordinated with others’ in the bloc.

LAETITIA VANCON FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

Continued on Page A6New York City, already a worldepicenter of the coronavirus out-break, sharply increased its deathtoll by more than 3,700 victims onTuesday, after officials said theywere now including people whohad never tested positive for thevirus but were presumed to havedied of it.

The new figures, released bythe city’s Health Department,drove up the number of peoplekilled in New York City to morethan 10,000, and appeared to in-crease the overall United Statesdeath count by 17 percent to morethan 26,000.

The numbers brought into

clearer focus the staggering tollthe virus has already taken on thelargest city in the United States,where deserted streets arehaunted by the near-constanthowl of ambulance sirens. Farmore people have died in NewYork City, on a per-capita basis,than in Italy — the hardest-hitcountry in Europe.

And in a city reeling from theovert danger posed by the virus,top health officials said they had

identified another grim reality:The outbreak is likely to have alsoled indirectly to a spike in deathsof New Yorkers who may neverhave been infected.

Three thousand more peopledied in New York City betweenMarch 11 and April 13 than wouldhave been expected during thesame time period in an ordinaryyear, Dr. Oxiris Barbot, the com-missioner of the city Health De-partment, said in an interview.While these so-called excessdeaths were not explicitly linkedto the virus, they might not havehappened had the outbreak notoccurred, in part because it over-whelmed the normal health caresystem.

“This is yet another part of the

Review Bumps New York City Deaths Past 10,000By J. DAVID GOODMAN

and WILLIAM K. RASHBAUMThose Not Tested, but

Presumed Positive,Are Added to Toll

Flowers for four different memorial services arriving at Aievoli Funeral Home in Brooklyn.DAVE SANDERS FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

Continued on Page A15

Every year, students in a central Japanvillage put on an elaborate Kabukishow. But it could vanish soon. PAGE A16

INTERNATIONAL A16-17

A Tradition in PerilWant something good, fast and easy forthe lockdown? Here are five recipes totwirl around a fork. PAGE D8

FOOD D1-8

Pasta for Your Shelter

A federal judge ruled that the adminis-tration’s easing of nutritional standardsviolated regulatory law. PAGE A18

NATIONAL A18-21

School Meal Rollbacks VoidedThe International Monetary Fund ex-pects the coronavirus crisis to push theglobal economy into its worst slumpsince the Great Depression. PAGE B1

BUSINESS B1-6

Seeing a Big Downturn AheadNo answers have surfaced to explainwhat happened to Peter Beard, 82, lastseen at his Long Island home. PAGE C1

ARTS C1-6

Artist Remains Missing

For the dancer Megan Fairchild, work-ing remotely isn’t as simple as movingfrom office desk to home laptop. PAGE C1

Pirouetting in Place

Digging deep into the food pantrylately? Maybe it’s time to trash thatpaprika you bought in 1983. PAGE D1

Behind Those Expiration Dates

Dr. Li Wenliang tried to warn Chinaabout the coronavirus but was silenced.People now mourn him online. PAGE B1

Requiem for a Whistle-Blower

Hank Steinbrenner had his father’sbluster but ultimately ceded the spot-light to his brother. He was 63. PAGE B9

OBITUARIES B9-12

An Heir to the Yankees

The surprise defeat of a conservativejustice buoyed Democrats, but there islittle reason to doubt that PresidentTrump retains strong support. PAGE A18

Warnings From Wisconsin

Instead of a knock at the door, athleteswill get a call from U.S. antidopingofficials during the outbreak. PAGE B7

SPORTSWEDNESDAY B7-8

Doping Tests by Video ChatRussia wanted more control over aLibyan strongman. The White Househelped by allowing a civil war. PAGE A17

The Kremlin’s Play for LibyaAmy Klobuchar PAGE A23

EDITORIAL, OP-ED A22-23

WASHINGTON — PresidentTrump’s claim that he wielded“total” authority in the pandemiccrisis prompted rebellion not justfrom governors. Legal scholarsacross the ideological spectrumon Tuesday rejected his declara-tion that ultimately he, not stateleaders, will decide when to risklifting social distancing limits inorder to reopen businesses.

“When somebody’s the presi-dent of the United States, theauthority is total,” Mr. Trumpasserted at a raucous pressbriefing on Monday. “And that’sthe way it’s got to be.”

But neither the Constitutionnor any federal law bestows thatpower upon Mr. Trump, a rangeof legal scholars and governmentofficials said.

“We don’t have a king in thiscountry,” Gov. Andrew M. Cuomoof New York said on Tuesday,adding, “There are laws andfacts — even in this wild politicalenvironment.” He rebutted Mr.Trump’s claim by citing a linefrom Alexander Hamilton, ob-serving that presidential en-

Experts RejectTrump Claim

NEWS ANALYSIS

By CHARLIE SAVAGE

President Trump has ordered ahalt to funding for the WorldHealth Organization. Page A7.

DOUG MILLS/THE NEW YORK TIMES

Continued on Page A7

CHICAGO — In Oregon, Gov.Kate Brown said the move towardreopening her state would be cau-tious and incremental, guided bydata on transmission of the coro-navirus, availability of personalprotective equipment and testingcapacity, among other factors.

Gov. J. B. Pritzker of Illinoissaid he has begun reaching out toleaders of other Midwesternstates to form a regional coalitionto help make decisions on openingbusinesses and schools when thetime comes.

In Mississippi, where a state-wide shelter-in-place order is setto expire on Monday, Gov. TateReeves said parts of the statecould soon prepare to see other re-strictions lifted.

The nation’s governors andmayors on Tuesday proceededwith their own plans for how com-munities will reopen public life, inmany cases ignoring PresidentTrump’s declaration that he alonehas the authority to decide whento “open up the states.”

Just as the governors were theones who shut the country down,they will be the ones to decidewhen to open it, they indicated.

“He might want to read the Con-stitution,” Mr. Pritzker, a Demo-crat, said of Mr. Trump.

In many parts of the country,governors from both parties saidthey were a long way off fromtelling Americans to go back towork and to their normal lives, butthey also said it was not too earlyto make plans for that eventuality.

“We have some very difficultdays and weeks ahead,” said Gov.Charlie Baker of Massachusetts, aRepublican.

Gov. Gavin Newsom of Califor-nia avoided providing any time-line, but he offered a glimpse ofwhat his state’s “new normal”would be like. Face coverings are

Governors Insist The Next MovesBelong to Them

By JULIE BOSMAN

Continued on Page A8

The 31-year-old from Houstonknew she did not want anotherbaby. She already had three — heryoungest, a boy, was just 6 monthsold. And she had just been laid offfrom her job in a medical billing of-fice, another casualty of America’sgrowing unemployment crisis.

So she scheduled an abortion ata local clinic. But when she ar-rived for her appointment fourweeks ago, the doors were lockedand a sign was taped inside theglass: The clinic was closed.

Abortions in Texas were off af-ter the state included them on alist of medical procedures thatwere not essential and needed tobe postponed during the coro-navirus pandemic.

The woman, who asked that hername not be used to protect herprivacy, walked back to her car,took out her phone and immedi-ately started Googling her op-tions.

Her search would eventually in-volve four states and six clinics.Last week, she was 18 weeks preg-nant and considering driving ninehours to a clinic in Wichita, Kan.,with her infant son in the backseat.

“I’m just kind of overwhelmedand frustrated and stressed,” thewoman said last week. “I justknow I can’t handle another baby.I just know. I know physically,emotionally, financially.”

The fight over abortion rights,rather than receding into thebackground during the pandemic,

Feeling StuckAs ShutdownsCurb Abortion

By SABRINA TAVERNISE

Continued on Page A11

Over the past year, Joseph R.Biden Jr. and former PresidentBarack Obama practiced a politi-cal distancing of sorts, with Mr.Obama maintaining a posture ofpublic neutrality in the Democrat-ic primaries, offering counsel toany candidate who called (mostdid), and Mr. Biden saying hewanted to win on his own.

But with calibrated stealth, Mr.Obama has been considerablymore engaged in the campaign’sdenouement than has been previ-ously revealed, even before he en-dorsed Mr. Biden on Tuesday.

For months, Mr. Obama hadkept in close contact with seniorparty officials, in hopes of pre-venting a repeat of the protractedand nasty 2016 primary race.

Then, in the weeks after it be-came clear that Mr. Biden was the

party’s near-certain nominee, Mr.Obama — telling a friend heneeded to “accelerate theendgame” — had at least four longconversations with his formervice president’s remaining rival,

Senator Bernie Sanders. Mr. Oba-ma’s efforts to ease the senatorout of the race played a significantrole in Mr. Sanders’s decision toend his bid and endorse Mr. Biden,according to people close to theVermont independent.

By that time, Mr. Biden and Mr.Obama had already begun hash-ing out the thorny questions ofhow, when and where to deploy aformer president thrust into an

Invisible Hand of Obama Nudged Primary Toward Amicable End

By GLENN THRUSH Subtle Mediation Froma Political Distance

Continued on Page A19

Late Edition

VOL. CLXIX . . . No. 58,664 © 2020 The New York Times Company NEW YORK, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 15, 2020

Today, rain, with sunny breaks in theafternoon, high 52. Tonight, partlycloudy, showers late, low 38. Tomor-row, clouds then sunshine, high 50.Weather map appears on Page A24.

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