A Spanish rock group drew a crowd of roughly 5,000 people in Barcelona on Saturday in one of the signs of normalcy returning to the music and live entertainment world.

The Associated Press reported that the group “Love of Lesbian” played to thousands who completed day-of COVID-19 screenings and agreed to wear face masks during the concert. 

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“It’s been a year and half since we last set foot [onstage] as a band,” singer Santi Balmes told the crowd, according to the AP. “This is so….some of the musicians are crying over here.”

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“We were able to evade reality for a while,” one attendee, 40-year-old Jose Parejo, told the news service. “We were inside our small concert bubble. And we were even able to remember back in time when things like this one were normal. Things that nowadays aren’t that normal, sadly.”

Concertgoers were asked not to attend if they have certain risk factors such as heart disease that make COVID-19 infections more deadly. The concert was supported by local health officials, who cited data showing that rigorous pre-screening efforts as well as face mask usage were effective in preventing new infections from spreading at the concert.

“This is another small step toward being able to hold concerts and cultural events,” a local health expert involved in the guidelines’ creation told the AP.

Spain has seen its rate of new COVID-19 cases drop in recent weeks, and the country’s infection rate now sits at a few thousand per day after spiking significantly over the month of February.

Sen. Thom TillisThomas (Thom) Roland TillisBlackburn introduces bill to require migrant DNA testing at border The two women who could ‘cancel’ Trump Former North Carolina chief justice planning Senate run MORE (R-N.C.) disclosed on Monday that he will have surgery next week for prostate cancer. 

“Next week, I will have surgery in North Carolina to treat prostate cancer. I am in the hands of outstanding medical professionals and expect to make a full recovery,” Tillis said in a statement. 

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Tillis, a 60-year-old senator who won his second term last year, said he had no previous symptoms but the cancer was detected during an annual physical. 

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“I can’t emphasize enough how important routine screenings are, regardless of how healthy you think you are. I had no symptoms and would have never imagined I had cancer,” Tillis said.

“My prognosis is good because I went to my annual physical and received a PSA test, which led to a biopsy and eventually my diagnosis. Early detection can truly save lives,” he added. 

Tillis was one of nearly 20 Republicans who recently traveled to the border. His surgery will come amid a two-week recess for the Senate, with lawmakers not expected back in Washington until April 12. 

The Biden administration’s looming infrastructure bill will not include a mileage tax, The New York Times reported on Saturday, citing a Transportation Department spokesman.

This development comes days after Transportation Secretary Pete ButtigiegPete ButtigiegThe Hill’s Morning Report – Biden to talk infrastructure amid border, voting controversies Buttigieg charms Washington with his accessibility Infrastructure bill won’t include mileage tax: DOT spokesperson MORE on Friday said that a tax on how far travelers go would be a promising way to fund the infrastructure bill, which reports say could be as large as $3 trillion.

“I think that shows a lot of promise,” Buttigieg said. “If we believe in that so-called user-pays principle, the idea that part of how we pay for roads is you pay based on how much you drive.”

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“The gas tax used to be the obvious way to do it; it’s not anymore,” he continued. “So, a so-called vehicle miles traveled tax or a mileage tax, whatever you want to call it, could be the way to do it.”

The Hill reached out to the Department of Transportation for confirmation.

During his first press conference on Thursday, Biden said he plans to announce the infrastructure package, which he called “the next major initiative,” on Friday in Pittsburgh.

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Biden said the package is meant to “rebuild the infrastructure — both physical and technological infrastructure in this country — so that we can compete and create significant numbers of really good-paying jobs.”

The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Monday warned of “impending doom” over rising coronavirus cases, telling the public that even though vaccines are being rolled out quickly, a fourth surge could happen if people don’t start taking precautions.

“I’m going to lose the script, and I’m going to reflect on the recurring feeling I have of impending doom. We have so much to look forward to so much promise and potential of where we are, and so much reason for hope. But right now I’m scared,” CDC Director Rochelle WalenskyRochelle WalenskyOne year later, US still seeing too many COVID-19 deaths: CDC director US records over 30M coronavirus cases amid vaccination effort The Hill’s Morning Report – Biden leans heavily into gun control MORE said during a White House briefing Monday.

“We do not have the luxury of inaction,” Walensky added.

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The United States surpassed 30 million cases of COVID-19 on Sunday. According to Walensky, the seven day average of new cases is slightly less than 60,000 cases per day, a 10 percent increase over the past week.

Walensky said hospitalizations have also increased over the past week, as the most recent seven day average is about 4,800 admissions per day, up from 4,600 admissions per day in the prior seven days.

She said that the country has come “such a long way” with three authorized vaccines and pleaded with the nation to keep following mitigation measures and “just please hold on a little while longer.”

States across the nation have been lifting restrictions, including capacity restraints and mask mandates. Walensky said she will speak to governors tomorrow to get them to “buckle down” and refrain from opening up too fast.

The IRS said Friday that taxpayers can deduct the costs of purchasing personal protective equipment (PPE) meant to prevent the spread of COVID-19 from their taxes.

In a Friday announcement, the IRS said that taxpayers who’ve spent at least 7.5 percent of their adjusted gross income on PPE such as masks, hand sanitizer and disinfectant wipes “for the primary purpose” of curbing the pandemic can deduct those costs from their taxes.

“Amounts paid for personal protective equipment, such as masks, hand sanitizer and sanitizing wipes, for the primary purpose of preventing the spread of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19 PPE) are treated as amounts paid for medical care under § 213(d) of the Internal Revenue Code,” the IRS said.

The IRS also said that taxpayers can use funds in tax-exempt health savings accounts, Archer medical savings accounts, health reimbursement arrangements and health flexible spending arrangements to pay for PPE used to stop the spread of COVID-19.

These provisions apply only to PPE-related expenses not covered by the cost of insurance incurred since Jan. 1, 2020. The IRS had previously extended the deadline to file 2020 taxes to May 17.

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Thailand is bracing itself for thousands of refugees who are fleeing Myanmar after its military launched several airstrikes near its border in recent days, further escalating the military crackdown after the coup.

Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-ocha said on Monday that his government is getting ready for a potential flood of refugees amid the recent strike attacks, The Associated Press reported. 

“We don’t want to have mass migration into our territory, but we will consider human rights, too,” Prayut said. 

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A number of migrants have already sought shelter in Thailand, to which the prime minister said, “We have prepared some places, but we don’t want to talk about the preparation of refugee centers at the moment. We won’t go that far.”

Myanmar’s military has conducted the strikes in a region mostly with ethnic Karen people, including three strikes overnight, the AP reported, citing Dave Eubank, a member of the humanitarian relief agency the Free Burma Rangers. 

Sunday’s strikes resulted in a severe injury to a child but no fatalities. Other strikes over the weekend displaced 2,500 people who headed into Thailand, specifically its Mae Hong Son province. 

Besides those who headed to Thailand, the Free Burma Rangers estimate that about 10,000 people are displaced in Myanmar’s Karen state.

The military’s attacks could have been a response to the Karen National Liberation Army’s offensive that allegedly took over a military outpost on Saturday, captured eight soldiers and killed 10, the AP noted, citing Thoolei News. 

Myanmar’s junta also bombed a village in the district on Saturday night and struck a Karen guerrilla position on Sunday.

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The chaos in Myanmar comes after the military launched a coup against the government led by Aung San Suu Kyi on Feb. 1, before officials were slated to take their positions after the November election. Military leaders asserted the elections were fraudulent, which the country’s election commission has dismissed. 

Protests have erupted within the country in response, leading to a harsh military crackdown. On Saturday, more than 100 demonstrators were killed in the deadliest day of demonstrations so far. Military forces also fired at a funeral on Sunday for one of the victims. 

As of the weekend, the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners estimates at least 459 people have been killed since the coup, with the actual number expected to be much higher, according to the AP.

More than 1.5 million people traveled through U.S. airports on Sunday, the first time since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic that aviation throughput has been this high.

The last time more than 1.5 million people traveled through domestic airports in a day was on March 15, 2020, according to the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), before lockdowns and recommendations against travel spurred by the pandemic. 

Sunday was also the 11th day in a row that airports had more than 1 million passengers traveling. TSA screened 1,369,180 passengers on Saturday and 1,468,516 passengers on Friday. 

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Thursday marked the eighth straight day that more than 1 million people traveled through airports, which was the first time during the pandemic air travel hit 1 million passengers for a week straight.

Air travel is rebounding despite the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) recent announcement it would not change its travel recommendations for vaccinated and unvaccinated people. The CDC still recommends against Americans traveling.

The airline industry has been devastated throughout the pandemic due to the lack of travel.

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Jerusalem — A tense quiet has taken hold after a night of heavy fire as Israeli aircraft bombed targets across the Gaza Strip and Gaza militants fired rockets into Israel. Schools in southern Israel were shuttered on Tuesday following the violence that erupted just two weeks ahead of Israeli elections.