New York tightened its social-distancing measures, and business executives told President Trump that a dramatic bump in coronavirus testing was needed before Americans could resume their usual lives, as government and industry leaders weighed the logistics of reopening the economy.

Hours later, in a White House briefing, Mr. Trump said his administration would detail new guidelines Thursday for reopening the country. He has said he would work with governors to open states in stages, starting with those states with few cases of Covid 19, the pneumonialike disease caused by the virus.

“It is clear that our aggressive strategy is working,” Mr. Trump said, adding later, “The battle continues, but the data suggests that nationwide we have passed the peak on new cases.”

In the U.S, there were a record-high 2,569 deaths from the coronavirus reported in the 24 hours ended at 8 p.m. Wednesday, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis of data from Johns Hopkins University. In total, there have been more than 28,000 recorded deaths and 636,000 infections in the U.S., according to Johns Hopkins.

Globally, confirmed cases of the coronavirus have passed 2.05 million and deaths have surpassed 134,000, a figure that experts say likely understates the extent of the pandemic.

A man walks by a banner in Beijing warning people to stay home on Wednesday. Photo: Kevin Frayer/Getty Images

The economic toll of social distancing, lockdowns and travel restrictions enforced to curb the contagion was in sharp focus Wednesday. U.S. retail sales posted their largest drop on record last month. The Federal Reserve said the U.S. economy entered a deep downturn in the past few weeks. A small-business loan program designed to support American businesses hit by the outbreak was expected to run out of its initial allocation later Wednesday, The Wall Street Journal reported. California announced a first-in-the-nation plan to assist illegal immigrants hurt by the pandemic-caused downturn.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel announced plans to gradually reopen the nation from a partial lockdown, as the economics ministry said it expected the country to remain in recession at least through midyear because of the confinement measures and the pandemic’s impact on global demand. The head of the European Commission predicted a “very long” exit from the health crisis.

Global stocks fell and oil prices hit an 18-year low.

In New York, the hardest hit U.S. state, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said he was signing an executive order requiring people to wear a face covering when in a public setting where they can come into contact with others.

The order, effective Friday, would apply to people shopping in stores and using public transit. Coverings could include medical masks as well as bandannas or scarfs, the Democratic governor said. Mr. Cuomo said there could eventually be civil penalties for people who don’t comply.

The state has seen coronavirus-related hospitalizations, intenstive-care admissions and intubations fall, but deaths remain high, with 752 fatalities on Tuesday from Covid-19.

Members of the U.S. Army National Guard distribute food boxes provided by New York City agencies Wednesday in Harlem. Photo: bryan r. smith/Reuters

Mr. Cuomo also said that the state’s health department had developed its own coronavirus antibody test that involves the prick of a finger and could test up to 2,000 people a day.

Many experts have said that such tests and restrictions are likely to be part of restarting any economy.

In the inaugural meeting Wednesday of Mr. Trump’s task force to reopen the U.S., banking and financial services executives said the administration would need to increase coronavirus testing before it could effectively reopen the economy, according to people familiar with the call.

No potential dates were discussed to reopen the country, and no follow-up meeting was scheduled.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom said the state would work with philanthropies to create a $125 million fund for illegal immigrants who have lost work because of the pandemic and can’t access traditional unemployment insurance. It would be the first government-sponsored assistance of its type in the U.S.

The fund, with $75 million from the state and $50 million expected to be raised from philanthropies, will benefit an estimated 150,000 people. Beginning next month, the workers will be eligible for a one-time payment of $500 per adult, with a household cap of $1,000, said Mr. Newsom, a Democrat. Undocumented people aren’t eligible for the federal stimulus checks now being sent out by the federal government.

Immigration advocates have said the downturn is hitting workers in service and other industries that employ a disproportionate number of people in the U.S. without legal authorization.

Governors across the U.S. are working to create frameworks to slowly roll back sweeping virus-containment measures. Each state will work with the federal government on individual plans to restart their economies, Mr. Trump has said, and some would be able to open before the administration’s voluntary social-distancing guidelines lapse at the end of April.

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In Michigan, hundreds of people protested an extended statewide stay-at-home order in the capital of Lansing. Some were armed with semi-automatic rifles and stood just a few feet from each other.

Lee Chatfield, speaker of the Republican-contolled state House of Representatives, waved an American flag from his office window during the protest, dubbed Operation Gridlock by the Michigan Conservative Coalition.

Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer later told reporters that the protest endangered people and could ultimately prolong stay-at-home directives.

Republican lawmakers in Pennsylvania passed a bill Wednesday that would partially repeal Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf’s broad closure order last month. Mr. Wolf’s order, among the nation’s strictest, required non-life-sustaining businesses, from construction companies to car dealerships, to shut down to help stop the spread of the coronavirus. Manufacturing groups and others have said the order was overly broad and had unintended consequences that were counterproductive to containing the virus, such as sending people to nearby states to buy cars.

A spokeswoman for Mr. Wolf said the governor would veto the bill and that reopening businesses too early would only extend the economic hardship of the pandemic.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director Robert Redfield said Wednesday there were up to 20 states that had a “limited impact” from the coronavirus and could reopen by May 1. Dr. Redfield emphasized in the “Good Morning America” interview on ABC that it would be a state-by-state decision.

In Germany, Ms. Merkel outlined her government’s plans to reopen. Smaller stores can reopen Monday and schools will restart in stages on May 4, with older students leading the way. A ban on large public events, from soccer matches to concerts, will be extended until Aug. 31, and restaurants and bars would remain closed, Ms. Merkel said in Berlin.

Related Video The head of the World Health Organization, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, urged solidarity in the global response to the coronavirus pandemic and said they regret the Trump administration’s decision to suspend funding to the WHO. Photo: Salvatore Di Nolfi/EPA/Shutterstock

“We must not be hasty,” Ms. Merkel said. “We must learn to live with the virus as long as there is no therapy and no vaccine. This is about the lives of people.”

She added that once restrictions are loosened, the government would need to increase testing and swiftly trace all contacts of any person infected.

European Union officials earlier Wednesday set guidelines for ending national lockdowns and urged the bloc’s 27 member governments to coordinate their moves.

In South Korea, where social-distancing measures are set to end Sunday, voters streamed into polling places wearing face masks and plastic gloves to choose the 300-seat National Assembly, the world’s first major national election during the pandemic.

Once the most virus-hit nation outside China, South Korea has seen virus infections slow recently to just several dozen a day. It won’t be known for days, if not weeks, if the country’s large turnout on election day—a public holiday—triggers another wave of infections.

South Korea has seen virus infections slow recently to just several dozen a day. Photo: SeongJoon Cho/Bloomberg News

The extent of lockdowns around the world has challenged businesses, schools and leaders dealing with unprecedented circumstances.

Mr. Trump has sought to deflect criticism for his response to the pandemic, including a lack of widespread testing and persistent problems getting crucial medical equipment to states.

On Tuesday, he cast blame on the World Health Organization, a specialized agency of the United Nations, saying it had failed to act quickly to curb the contagion in China, where the virus was first identified. The president asserted that WHO officials weren’t skeptical enough of Chinese officials’ statements about the virus and said they resisted efforts by the U.S. to put travel restrictions on China.

A senior administration official said the funding halt would go into effect immediately. The official said the U.S. provided $453 million to the WHO in fiscal 2019 and the administration would discuss sending the money that would have gone to the WHO to other health programs.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Wednesday he regretted Mr. Trump’s decision and called for solidarity in the world’s fight against a “common struggle, against a common threat.”

The WHO is reviewing the impact that a withdrawal of U.S. funding would have, Dr. Tedros said, and the organization will work with its partners to fill any financial gaps and to ensure work continues.

“WHO is getting on with the job,” he said.

confirmed cases in the U.S. total deaths in the U.S. Note: Last updated .

Source: Johns Hopkins Center for Systems Science and Engineering

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Write to Talal Ansari at Talal.Ansari@wsj.com, Bojan Pancevski at bojan.pancevski@wsj.com and Chong Koh Ping at chong.kohping@wsj.com