12 things to know today about coronavirus

Welcome to The Hill’s daily roundup of coronavirus news. 

U.S. cases of COVID-19 are still climbing, even in states that will lift restrictions, like Georgia. Nearly 62,000 people across the country have died.

At the same time, there’s some good news — one million people have recovered globally. And in South Korea, patients who recovered have not become reinfected. While there was some concern about newly positive tests among recovered patients, Korean health officials said Thursday they were false positives.

Here’s what you need to know today.

Around the world

• More than 1 million people globally have recovered from COVID-19 as of Thursday, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. Read more from Rebecca Klar here. 

In the White House

• Vice President Mike Pence toured a General Motors plant in Indiana on Thursday that is making ventilators, and he wore a mask, after the controversy over him not wearing one on a recent visit to the Mayo Clinic. Brett Samuels reports.
• Second Lady Karen Pence said the vice president did not know about the Mayo Clinic’s policy— even though the clinic initially said it had informed him of the policy prior to his arrival. Read more from Brett here.
• Veterans Affairs (VA) Secretary Robert Wilkie defended the department’s use of an unproven anti-malaria drug for treating patients with COVID-19. Justine Wise has more.
• US intelligence agencies said in a rare public statement that they agree that the coronavirus is not “manmade” but are investigating whether it could have originated in a lab in Wuhan, China. Olivia Beavers reports.
• President Trump on Thursday outlined a handful of new initiatives intended to aid and protect nursing homes as the coronavirus pandemic takes a heavy toll on older Americans. Brett has more details here

In Congress

• Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said she wants almost $1 trillion for state and local governments as part of the next response package. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) called it “a pretty outrageous number.” Mike Lillis reports.
• Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.), the first member of Congress to test positive for coronavirus, is donating blood plasma to be used in an experimental treatment for critically ill COVID-19 patients. Rafael Bernal has the story.
• The Senate is coming back to Washington next week, and that gives Republicans a major political advantage over the Democrats who control the House. Read more from Cristina Marcos and Mike Lillis 

In the states

• New Jersey reported its largest single-day death toll, of 460 people, bringing total deaths to over 7,000 in the state. Justine Coleman has the story.
• Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) said he will lift a statewide shelter-in-place order for most of the state’s residents Friday, but will extend the public health emergency until June 12. Zack Budryk has more.
• A sweeping survey of more than 22,000 voters in all 50 states found that most say their governor is doing a better job than President Trump in handling the coronavirus outbreak. Get more from Reid Wilson.