WASHINGTON – Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., on Tuesday introduced a plan that he said will help make sure the U.S., is better prepared for future pandemics as COVID-19 continues to devastate communities across the nation.

With over 100,000 deaths and two million cases over the course of three months in the United States alone, leading health experts and officials have acknowledged they were not prepared to handle the scope of the coronavirus pandemic.

"In the midst of responding to COVID-19, the United States Congress should take stock now of what parts of the local, state, and federal response worked, what could work better and how, and be prepared to pass legislation this year to better prepare for the next pandemic, which will surely come," said Alexander, who is the chairman of the Senate Health Committee.

The plan states that Congress should work with federal agencies as well as the private sector to address "specific issues and newly identified gaps" to get ready for future pandemics, including improving tests, treatments, vaccine development, disease surveillance and stockpiles. The plan also stresses the need to improve coordination between federal agencies, which is something Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer routinely criticized the Trump administration on in the last few months. 

"Even with an event as significant as COVID19, memories fade and attention moves quickly to the next crisis," Alexander said. "That makes it imperative that Congress act on needed changes this year in order to better prepare for the next pandemic."

Businesses are slowly reopening. "Six feet apart" seems to be shrinking in distance. Face coverings are optional in most places.

Some may believe the COVID-19 pandemic is ending in the United States, but in truth, "we are still in a pandemic," according to Dr. Jay Butler, head of the COVID-19 response at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Many people in the U.S. remain vulnerable to the disease, and the pandemic will continue as long as there's a readily transmissible virus and a population with little or no immunity to it, Butler told NBC News.

While the nation's cases overall have flattened, they are not yet declining — 10,000 to 20,000 new cases of the coronavirus are reported every day in states and U.S. territories. In some states, new daily cases are rising.

Read more here.

A drive-In theater was the venue for a socially-distanced high school graduation in New Hampshire on Monday. 

Maryland health officials announced 500 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, bringing the statewide total to 58,904.

The state also said another 35 people had died of COVID-19; in all, 2,811 people have died of the virus there.

The Paris prosecutor's office said Tuesday it would open an official preliminary investigation into the management of the coronavirus pandemic in France.

Rémy Heitz, the district attorney, said the investigation was prompted by 62 complaints filed by individuals and professional groups. The charges varied from endangering the lives of others to unintentional homicide.

There is no single defendant in the country as investigating judges will have to determine whether charges should be brought against a person, agency or government body.

The purpose of the judicial inquiry will be to examine the decision-making process implemented during the health crisis in order to uncover any criminal offences that may have been committed, Heitz said.

What is thought to be the last cruise ship still carrying passengers has finally docked six months after it set off.

The eight passengers on board the MV Artania disembarked at the German port of Bremerhaven on Monday, according to the ship's owner, Phoenix Reisen. On its epic voyage, a total of 36 passengers tested positive for coronavirus when it docked in Fremantle, Western Australia. Three passengers later died.

The remaining passengers, mostly Germany nationals, chose to fly back from Australia to Frankfurt but a hardy group of eight decided to stay on board the 1,200-capacity ship since it left Australia on April 18 until now. The journey home was even extended by two weeks, as the ship stopped off at various ports to repatriate crew members.

On Monday night Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin unexpectedly announced that from Tuesday various lockdown measures will be cancelled. A QR-code pass system, walking schedule and a self-isolation regime are all now stopped.

However, masks and gloves outside of the home remain technically mandatory — though it is clear that fewer and fewer people are following this rule.

Over the next two weeks, normal life will return to the city and economy in three phases, the first of which sees things like hairdressers, photo shops, veterinary clinics, and employment agencies reopened.

The move comes despite Moscow’s daily new case count remaining consistent at around 2,000 a day for the past month, and repeated warnings that strict measures would remain in place until daily new cases had fallen into the dozens or hundreds.