What you need to know today about the virus outbreak

The U.S. death toll from the coronavirus climbed past 3,500 Tuesday, eclipsing China’s official count.

In hard-hit New York, the mammoth convention center started taking patients to ease the burden on the city’s overwhelmed health system and the tennis center where the U.S. Open is held was being turned into a hospital.

There are more than 825,000 global infections and more than 40,000 deaths worldwide.

Here are some of AP’s top stories Tuesday on the world’s coronavirus pandemic. Follow APNews.com/VirusOutbreak for updates through the day and APNews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak for stories explaining some of its complexities.

WHAT’S HAPPENING TODAY:

— Officials are relying on statistical models to predict the impact of the outbreak and try to protect as many people as possible. The public could get its first close look at the Trump administration’s own projections today.

—Italy, Spain and France together make up around a third of the global pandemic’s confirmed cases, and the lack of testing leaves hundreds, potentially thousands, of victims of the disease uncounted as health authorities try to trace its path, The Associated Press has found.

—The Army Field Band’s mission is bringing the military’s story and music to the American people. And they’re not letting the coronavirus get in the way. When the unit was recalled to Fort Meade, Maryland, amid the COVID-19 outbreak, members quickly set up a studio and began live-streaming daily concerts.

— Two ships carrying passengers and crew from an ill-fated South American cruise are pleading with Florida officials to let them carry off the sick and dead. But Gov. Ron DeSantis says Florida’s health care resources are already stretched too thin.

— China’s manufacturing rebounded in March as authorities relaxed anti-disease controls and allowed factories to reopen, an official survey showed Tuesday. But an industry group warned the economy has yet to fully recover.

—As schools, workplaces and public services shut down in the age of coronavirus, online connections are keeping Americans in touch with vital institutions and each other. But that’s not much of an option when fast internet service is hard to come by.

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WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

For most people, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia and death. The vast majority of people recover.

Here are the symptoms of the virus compared with the common flu.

One of the best ways to prevent spread of the virus is washing your hands with soap and water. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends first washing with warm or cold water and then lathering soap for 20 seconds to get it on the backs of hands, between fingers and under fingernails before rinsing off.

You should wash your phone, too. Here’s how.

TRACKING THE VIRUS: Drill down and zoom in at the individual county level, and you can access numbers that will show you the situation where you are, and where loved ones or people you’re worried about live.

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ONE NUMBER:

—479: The countdown clock is ticking again for the Tokyo Olympics. The digital model outside Tokyo Station was switched on almost immediately after organizers announced the new dates. They will now be held from July 23 to Aug. 8, 2021. The clock reads 479 days to go.

IN OTHER NEWS:

—”An angel:” A South Korean shoe cobbler plans to donate parts of his property to help support people facing economic difficulties now.

— With trips to beloved salons and barbershops on hold because of the coronavirus, some are cutting new bangs, turning to over-the-counter color or picking up electric clippers and scissors to work on the heads of loved ones, while others are letting nature take its course.

— The reappearance of Wuhan’s favorite breakfast noodles is a tasty sign that life is slowly getting back to normal in the Chinese city originally at the epicenter of the global cornavirus outbreak.

Follow AP coverage of the virus outbreak at https://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak