Bill Gates outlined how he understands the coronavirus pandemic and explained what he thinks the world must do to recover from the outbreak in an essay released on Thursday.

Comparing coronavirus to a world war and calling the current moment "Pandemic I," the Microsoft co-founder spoke to the need to raise huge amounts of money to combat the virus. "I think of this as the billions we need to spend so we can save trillions," Gates wrote.

Discussing plans for contact tracing, testing and vaccination, Gates surmised for the world to get back to normal by 2021 and attend big events there would need to be a "miraculous treatment." 

"We need a treatment that is 95 percent effective in order for people to feel safe in big public gatherings," he wrote. "Although it is possible...it’s not likely, so we can’t count on it."

Gates said that ultimately leaders at every level will "need to make trade-offs based on the risks and benefits of opening various parts of the economy."

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said Thursday that her state’s restrictive stay-at-home order is effectively slowing the rate of coronavirus infections and that she plans to issue an executive order that will extend restrictions while likely permitting some forms of activity.

“It's working. We have flattened our curve, which means we have saved lives,” Whitmer said about her state’s stay-at-home order in an interview on MSNBC’s “Live with Stephanie Ruhle.”

But Michigan is “not out of the woods yet,” she added. The reopening of Michigan’s economy will happen in waves in which officials will measure whether it’s safe to take the next step, she said.

Read more on the story here.

Cornell University has become the first Ivy League school to announce it is dropping requirements for fall 2021 applicants to have taken the SAT or ACT, a decision made in the wake of college testing cancellations amid the coronavirus outbreak.

The university said on its website that students who want to enroll at Cornell beginning next August can submit applications without SAT or ACT results. The exemption will be in effect for both early decision and regular decision applicants.

Officials, however, said the exemption is not permanent. The university anticipates "many students who will have had reasonable and uninterrupted opportunities to take the ACT and/or SAT during 2020 administrations will continue to submit results." Cornell added that it will work with applicants "to arrive at a reasonable and well-informed understanding of each applicant's circumstances."

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., said Thursday that her oldest brother died from coronavirus earlier this week.

“My oldest brother, Don Reed, died from coronavirus on Tuesday evening. He joined the Air Force at 19 and spent his career in the military, including five and a half years off and on in combat in Vietnam. He was charming and funny, a natural leader,” the former presidential candidate said, linking to a story from The Boston Globe about her brother’s death.

The Globe identified Warren's brother as Donald Reed Herring and said he died Tuesday at the age of 86 in Norman, Oklahoma, about three weeks after he tested positive for COVID-19. He was the oldest of Warren’s three brothers. The other two, John Herring and David Herring, are still alive, the report said. 

Read the full story here.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio shared a bit of good news Thursday, saying the number of people with the coronavirus admitted to hospitals and the total number in intensive care have both declined. 

The mayor said the latest daily report shows 227 new hospital admissions. That is down from 252 on April 20. 

The total number of patients currently in intensive-care units has also dropped to 796. De Blasio said that on April 20 more than 800 people were in ICUs.

"This is a good day," he said, adding, "We just have to keep doing what we're doing." 

The newest numbers also show 2,519 new confirmed coronavirus cases in the city, the mayor said.

Citing a lack of a coordinated effort from the White House when it comes to contact tracing, two Congressional Democrats whose states have among the highest cases of the coronavirus in the nation are proposing a "coronavirus containment corps," making up a tracing workforce to assist state and local health departments.

The proposal, shared with NBC News by Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Rep. Andy Levin, D-Mich., would be implemented through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and include the CDC's director submitting a strategy to Congress on hiring, training and deploying people who can help health authorities do contact tracing and with the U.S. Department of Labor providing funding to state and local workforce agencies, which would in turn assist unemployed individuals find jobs as contact tracers and other related roles.

Read more about the proposal here.

Colleges and universities across the U.S. are still waiting for most of the $6.3 billion set aside by Congress to help students struggling to pay for food, housing and child care during the coronavirus pandemic.

And a decision by Education Secretary Betsy DeVos this week to prohibit “Dreamers” and most other foreign nationals from accessing the funds has heightened concerns about the welfare of some of the most economically vulnerable students, university officials said.

Nearly a month after President Donald Trump signed the economic relief package into law, just 1 in 10 schools that applied for funds for their students have been approved, figures provided by the Education Department show.

As of Wednesday, only $750 million if the $6.4 billion had been awarded, although the department said that number was growing quickly.

Get more details here.