Good afternoon! It’s Thursday, and like some of y’all, I’ve been pretty bummed out by the news. So I created a bingo card for Gov. JB Pritzker’s daily 2:30 p.m. press briefings. Here’s what you need to know today. (PS: You can have this delivered to your inbox by subscribing here.)

1. Pritzker extends stay-at-home order to May 30

Gov. JB Pritzker today announced that his stay-at-home order will last about another month and will require the use of face masks in public indoor spaces beginning May 1. A phased reopening of some state parks will also begin next month.

The governor delivered the news after he unveiled scientific projections showing that Illinois has entered the peak of deaths.

Those models suggest that Illinois could see anywhere from 50 to 150 deaths a day during the peak, which is estimated to last until early May. Afterward, the number of deaths could begin a slow decline that stretches into August.

Pritzker said that if the stay-at-home order were lifted this week, Illinois would see a second wave of infections in May that would last into the summer. [WBEZ]

State officials today announced 1,826 new confirmed cases, bumping the statewide total to 36,934. Officials also announced 123 more people have died, bringing the state’s death toll to 1,688. [WBEZ]

Here’s a map showing where cases have been reported in Illinois. [WBEZ]

Meanwhile, “hidden outbreaks” in Chicago and other major U.S. cities may have occurred much sooner than the public knew, according to models created by researchers at Northeastern University. [New York Times]

And Chicago’s famous Billy Goat Tavern is among millions of businesses across the nation that are suing their insurers to recoup losses from stay-at-home orders. [AP]

2. More than 26 million people filed for unemployment in the past 5 weeks

Today’s unemployment figures show 4.4 million people filed for jobless benefits last week, bringing the total to more than 26 million in the past five weeks.

The unstoppable surge in unemployment means that all job gains made in the last 10 years since the Great Recession have been wiped out.

Jobs in the travel and energy sectors were initially affected by job cuts, but the economic damage has increasingly spread to white collar jobs, like lawyers and accountants.

The enormous uptick in unemployment has stressed trust funds set up by states to pay jobless benefits. In New York, which has seen more than a million people lose their jobs, officials say half of the state’s unemployment fund has been depleted. [NPR]

The economic damage from the pandemic has also hit Europe and Canada, but jobs have not disappeared like they have in the U.S. [NPR]

3. House expected to pass $484 billion relief plan

The House is expected to approve today a $484 billion deal that would replenish a federal loan program for small businesses struggling under the COVID-19 pandemic. The bill would also give $75 billion to hospitals and provide about $25 billion for testing.

Here’s a fascinating analysis about how Democrats waged a risky strategy by blocking two rescue packages and withstood Republican criticism to win some concessions.

And political risks are also emerging for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., who said he wants to hit the “pause button” on further rescue plans, a move that might be difficult to maintain as the public health crisis and its piggybacking economic disaster show no signs of subsiding. [New York Times]

4. Health experts warn states that are beginning to reopen

Several states — such as Georgia, Ohio and Florida — are rushing to ease restrictions that shuttered many businesses. But public health experts say those decisions could cost lives.

“The math is unfortunately pretty simple. It’s not a matter of whether infections will increase but by how much,” Jeffrey Shaman, an epidemiologist at Columbia University, told The Washington Post.

If businesses are allowed to reopen before officials have a firm grasp on the health crisis, we could see multiple cycles of business shutdowns as infections once again grow out of control, experts warn. [Washington Post]

Meanwhile, 10 leading virus researchers say it’s highly unlikely that the coronavirus emerged from a Chinese lab. [NPR]

In the U.S., there have been more than 839,000 cases and more than 46,000 deaths reported, the most of any nation in the world. [NPR]

5. The end of American exceptionalism?

The nation’s image as a global leader has taken a significant hit during the pandemic, according to a number of political scientists who spoke to The New York Times. No one is looking up to the U.S., where President Trump initially downplayed the severity of the coronavirus, they say.

“America has not done badly, it has done exceptionally badly,” Dominique Moïsi, a political scientist and senior adviser at the Paris-based Institut Montaigne, told the Times. [NYT]

Elsewhere in the world, German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned the crisis is “still just the beginning.” [BBC]

Meanwhile, restrictions have been enacted in northern parts of China after a number of new infections were reported, underscoring how hard it may be to recover from the outbreak. [New York Times]

Worldwide, there have been more than 2.6 million cases and more than 187,000 deaths reported. [Johns Hopkins]

Here’s what else is happening

• At least six people are dead after tornadoes swept through parts of Oklahoma, Texas and Louisiana. [NPR]
• Hospitals in New York are playing “songs of hope” when recovered COVID-19 patients are discharged. [New York Times]
• We’ll be getting more Baby Yoda from a documentary on the making of The Mandalorian. [Polygon]
• Peter Sagal has some tips on how to start running. [NPR]

Oh, and one more thing …

Oh hey, early heads up: I’ll be doing another live Rundown show on WBEZ’s Facebook page on Friday beginning at 4:30 p.m. CT.

I’ll be talking about the biggest news of the week with ProPublica Illinois reporter Mick Dumke, who was actually a teacher of mine during college. I’ll also talk about ESPN’s Last Dance with Vocalo sports commentator LaToya Smith and sports journalist Robert “Scoop” Jackson.

AND you’ll also get to see my dog, Princess Leia, who briefly interrupted last week’s show and then got camera shy.

Tell me something good …

If you could be in self-quarantine with anyone other than a family member, who would it be?

Claudia Laupmanis writes:

“My Quarantine wish list would contain Trevor Noah, chef Andre, Bill Gates and of course you, Hunter.”

Who would you quarantine with? Feel free to email at therundown@wbez.org or tweet to @whuntah.

Have a nice night! If you like what you just read, you can subscribe to the newsletter here and have it delivered to your inbox.