With experts warning of a second wave of infections in parts of the South and Midwest as all 50 states ease pandemic restrictions, President Trump said the United States would not shut down again if the novel coronavirus comes roaring back. “We’re not going to close the country — we’re going to put out the fires,” Trump said Thursday as more than 25,000 new infections and at least 1,278 virus-related deaths were recorded across the United States.


Meanwhile, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has quietly updated its guidance to say that the virus “does not spread easily” from contaminated surfaces and is primarily transmitted through person-to-person contact. The change to the CDC website was made earlier this month without formal announcement or explanation, and some public health experts worry that it could give people the impression that they don’t have to wash their hands quite so often.