What you need to know today about the virus outbreak

A record-high number of people applied for unemployment benefits last week as layoffs engulfed the United States in the face of a near-total economic shutdown caused by the coronavirus. The surge in weekly applications for benefits far exceeded the previous record set in 1982.

That comes as U.S. deaths from the pandemic have now topped 1,000, in another grim milestone for a global outbreak that is taking lives and wreaking havoc on economies and established routines of life. Worldwide, the death toll climbed past 21,000, according to a running count kept by Johns Hopkins University.

Meanwhile, Spanish and Italian medical workers are at breaking point as the coronavirus wages a bitter war of attrition against health care workers around the world.

Here are some of AP's top stories Thursday 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:

— The Senate unanimously passed an unprecedented $2.2 trillion economic rescue package steering aid to businesses, workers and health care systems overrun by the virus and its fallout. It now goes to the House.

— President Donald Trump's desire to reopen the coronavirus-battered economy in a matter of weeks has thrust the administration into the delicate position of weighing the revival of commerce versus the value of American li fe.

— Hospitals in several states are rushing to find beds for a coming flood of COVID-19 patients, opening older closed hospitals and repurposing other medical buildings. Simple math is spurring hospital leaders to prepare.

— A growing number of Americans say state and federal governments are starting to trample civil rights in the name of...