'Considerable degree of normality' possible by July, Fauci says; Duke in lockdown; learn status of your stimulus cash: COVID-19 updates

Those eagerly awaited stimulus payments and vaccinations should be accelerating this week as the U.S. hopes to gain ground on the relentless pandemic.

Dr. Anthony Fauci told CNN's "State of the Union" on Sunday that federal restrictions "will be much more liberal" and the U.S. could see a "considerable degree of normality" by the Fourth of July if U.S. cases drop as more Americans are vaccinated. But he also warned, on "Fox News Sunday," that the U.S. must gradually lift restrictions or risk a wide-ranging lockdown to halt another surge.

Now the nation just needs former President Donald Trump to help out, Fauci says.

A recent new PBS NewsHour/NPR/Marist poll found 41% of Republicans saying they would not get one of the three federally approved coronavirus vaccines, compared with less than 15% of Democrats. Fauci appeared on NBC's "Meet the Press," where host Chuck Todd suggested President Joe Biden should persuade Trump to encourage doubters to get vaccinated.

"I hope he does because the numbers that you gave are so disturbing," Fauci said. "It makes absolutely no sense. And I've been saying that for so long. We've got to dissociate political persuasion from what's common sense, no-brainer public health things."

►More than 25% of Chileans have received at least one vaccine shot, making the nation of 19 million the Latin America leader. Globally, only Israel, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom have reached a higher percentage of their populations.

►After being canceled last year by the coronavirus pandemic, the NCAA men's basketball tournament is back in 2021. It starts with Selection Sunday, when the field of 68 teams will be announced.

►Residents in more than a dozen California counties woke up Sunday morning to eased business restrictions. State officials loosened the requirements necessary to move out of the most restrictive tiers in California's reopening system because of increased vaccinations in hard-hit communities up and down the state.

📈 Today's numbers: The U.S. has over 29.4 million confirmed coronavirus cases and more than 534,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University data. The global totals: Almost 120 million cases and 2.6 million deaths. More than 135 million vaccine doses have been distributed in the U.S. and 106 million have been administered, according to the CDC.

📘 What we're reading: Spring and summer weather will provide opportunities for people – vaccinated or not – to enjoy low-risk, outdoor activities to better their physical and mental health, experts say.

USA TODAY is tracking COVID-19 news. Keep refreshing this page for the latest updates. Want more? Sign up for our Coronavirus Watch newsletter for updates to your inbox and join our Facebook group.

Duke University locks down students; fate of semester 'hangs in the balance'

Duke undergraduate students have been ordered to stay-in-place until 9 a.m. next Sunday as the school struggles to contain a virus outbreak "principally driven by students attending recruitment parties for selective living groups," the school said in a letter to students. More than 180 students have been placed in isolation after testing positive in the last week; an additional 200 students are being quarantined as a result of contact tracing.

Students living in Duke-provided housing must remain in their residence hall room or apartment "at all times except for essential activities related to food, health or safety," the letter said. Students living off campus are not permitted on campus.

"If this feels serious, it’s because it is," the letter said. "Our ability to complete the semester, commencement for our seniors, and the health and safety of our community, including your fellow undergraduate students, is hanging in the balance."

Some stimulus stimulus stimulus checks sent to wrong bank accounts

Some Americans say their stimulus checks are being deposited in the wrong bank accounts, forcing many of them to wait longer for the badly needed aid after struggling financially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Those taxpayers were surprised to see that the last four digits of their bank account numbers were incorrect when they checked their payment status on the IRS website, an issue that happened during the first two rounds of direct payments when technical glitches from third-party tax preparers caused delays for many filers.

“I’m very frustrated. I have so many bills to pay,” said Lori Young, 52, in Camden, South Carolina. "I have a steady income with my Social Security, but I have a lot of medical issues. I was relying on these stimulus checks to help me pay off my bills."

– Jessica Menton

Here's how to find out when your stimulus payment will come

You can now find out when your next stimulus payment is expected to hit your bank account or get mailed. The IRS updated the "Get My Payment" tool on its website with information on the third round of stimulus checks Saturday, agency spokesperson Karen Connelly confirmed to USA TODAY. Check for your status here. The third round of Economic Impact Payments will be based on a taxpayer’s latest processed tax return from either 2020 or 2019. That includes anyone who used the IRS non-filers tool last year, or submitted a special simplified tax return.

– Kelly Tyko

A year later, docs treating COVID-19 'still flying blind'

Treatment for the sickest patients has improved since the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic a year ago, but about 20% of patients sick enough to be hospitalized still end up in intensive care. That figure that hasn't changed in the last year, said Dr. Kevin Tracey, a neurosurgeon and president and CEO of the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research. Doctors on the front lines say the care they're giving is clearly better than it was a year ago, if only because the disease is better understood and hospitals aren't overflowing with desperately sick patients. But death rates remain concerningly high in ICUs, Tracey said.

"A year later we are still flying blind," Tracey said. Read more here.

– Karen Weintraub

London police tactics at vigil for slain woman draw scrutiny

An official vigil for a London woman whose killing has a police officer facing murder charges and is spurring a national conversation about violence against women in the U.K. ended Saturday night with the city's police department under scrutiny for the way officers handled some participants at the event held in defiance of coronavirus restrictions. Hundreds of people disregarded a judge's ruling and police requests by gathering at Clapham Common in honor of Sarah Everard, 33, who was last seen alive near the south London park on March 3. Demonstrators said they wanted to draw attention to the fear and danger many women see as a daily part of British life; police said the size of the crowd created COVID-19 concerns.

Video of Saturday's informal vigil turned rally showed officers from the same police force tussling with participants as they pushed their way through the crowd. London Mayor Sadiq Khan called police behavior "unacceptable" and said he had reached out to police for an explanation.

Contributing: Susan Tompor, Detroit Free Press; The Associated Press.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: COVID updates: Stimulus checks due soon; Fauci; Duke lockdown