Miami mayor tests positive after meeting with Brazilian government aide who also has coronavirus
Miami Mayor Francis Suarez has tested positive for covid-19, he said in an interview with the Miami Herald Friday morning, days after attending an event with a Brazilian government aide who also has the novel coronavirus.
In a statement Suarez issued Friday morning, the mayor encouraged those who had close contact with him to isolate for 14 days and monitor their health for flu-like symptoms.
Suarez, along with the mayor of Miami-Dade and 21 Miami police officers, opted to self-quarantine after Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro’s press secretary, Fabio Wajngarten, tested positive for the novel coronavirus, the Herald reported.
Bolsonaro announced on Facebook that he had tested negative for covid-19. Wajngarten appeared in a photograph with President Trump and Vice President Pence at Mar-a Lago.
The 21 officers make up the Miami Police Department’s entire motorcycle brigade and were part of the team that escorted Bolsonaro and Wajngarten during their visit.
“It’s out of an abundance of caution,” Miami Police Chief Jorge Colina told the Herald. “They were in contact during photo-ops or might have shaken hands.”
Wajngarten tested positive for the virus after the Florida trip.
Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez began self-isolating Thursday, the Herald reported, and was tested for the novel coronavirus.
By Katie Mettler
11:46 a.m.
Internet providers agree to not cut off service to people who fall behind on bills
AT&T, Comcast and Verizon joined dozens of telecom providers in agreeing to aid Americans who are out of work or school because of the coronavirus, including by preserving service for those who are unable to pay their bills.
The commitments came Friday as part of a pledge orchestrated by the Federal Communications Commission, whose chairman, Ajit Pai, said the vast disruptions caused by the deadly outbreak make it “imperative that Americans stay connected.”
As part of the “Keep Americans Connected Pledge,” nationwide telecom giants including CenturyLink and T-Mobile and more regional providers across the country agreed for the next 60 days that they would not terminate service or assess late fees on customers and businesses that fall behind on their bills. They also agreed to open WiFi hot spots to any American who needs them.
Read more here.
By Tony Romm
11:43 a.m.
Four new African countries report coronavirus cases
Countries across Africa reported more coronavirus cases Friday, with Ethiopia, Kenya, Guinea and Sudan each confirming their first infections.
The virus that causes the disease covid-19 has now spread to at least 18 countries in Africa, according to Reuters. The majority of the cases have been among non-Africans traveling to the continent or Africans who have recently traveled abroad.
The spread of the disease to Kenya, which has east Africa’s richest economy, and Ethiopia, the continent’s second-most populous country, also raised worries, as both are key transit hubs for the region.
Kenya’s first patient is a 27-year-old Kenyan who recently traveled home from the United States via London, according to the country’s Health Minister Mutahi Kagwe, who said the government was tracing any possible contacts, including flight passengers. The government has suspended all large public gatherings, including sports events.
Ethiopia’s health ministry reported its case involves a 48-year-old Japanese man who arrived on March 4 and was also in Burkina Faso. Guinea’s first patient is an employee of the European Union delegation who had recently arrived and self-isolated after feeling sick, Reuters reported.
Sudan’s health ministry said their case involved someone who had traveled to the United Arab Emirates at the start of March.
Senegal on Friday also reported 11 new cases. The ministry of health said they had all visited the holy city of Touba last week during a religious festival.
The other African countries with confirmed cases are South Africa, Nigeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Algeria, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Gabon, Ivory Coast, Senegal, Togo, Cameroon and Burkina Faso.
By Miriam Berger
10:29 a.m.
Spain declares national emergency over coronavirus
MADRID — Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez on Friday declared a 15-day state of emergency in an effort to stem the spread of the coronavirus as the number of cases continued to climb in Spain, with the epicenter in Madrid.
“The declaration of a state of emergency allows us to mobilize the most resources to combat the virus,” Sánchez said in a nationally televised broadcast. “But the victory depends on each one of us. Heroism consists in also washing your hands and staying home. We are going to stop the virus with responsibility and unity.”
As of the latest count on Friday, Spain had 4,200 cases of infection, more than 2,000 of which were in Madrid. At least 62 countries have imposed restrictions on Spanish travelers.
The prime minister, who has approved 18 billion euros to help stop the spread of the virus, appealed specifically to young people to not transmit the virus to more vulnerable segments of the population, noting that though they may not suffer the worst symptoms, they should still stay home.
The move comes days after Madrid’s local government closed all schools and universities. Local reports suggest the Spanish capital will order bars, restaurants, theaters and other nonessential businesses to suspend activity to limit social interaction as early as Saturday.
“We are only in the first stage of fighting the virus,” Sánchez said. “We can expect very tough weeks ahead. We will reach 10,000 infected next week."
By Pamela Rolfe
10:17 a.m.
First drive-through testing site opens in coronavirus cluster of New Rochelle, N.Y.
NEW YORK — New Yorkers will have access to coronavirus screening at a drive-through testing facility that opened Friday in New Rochelle, a suburb outside New York City that became a containment zone after dozens of confirmed cases of the virus.
“New Rochelle has the highest cluster of coronavirus cases in the country, the highest density,” New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) told reporters in New Rochelle Friday morning at the opening of the drive-through facility.
Residents in New Rochelle and Westchester County who make appointments by phone will be able to be tested from their cars. The testing facility will prioritize those who are most vulnerable, including New Rochelle residents who have been in precautionary quarantine, the governor’s office said. Swabs will be sent to BioReference Laboratory, which will contact residents with their test results.
“This is a very creative way of testing,” the governor said, because it eliminates potential exposure to others in a waiting room, for instance.
The six-lane testing site can accommodate 200 cars per day. The site will remain open for “the trajectory of the disease,” which could last months, Cuomo said.
More testing = mobile testing.— Tara Joyce (@tarajoycetv) March 13, 2020
.
.
New York’s first drive-through coronavirus testing center is now open in #NewRochelle at Glen Island @News12WC pic.twitter.com/2V3TPE56k7
The state of Colorado opened a similar operation in Denver, where patients with a doctor’s note can be tested free, and in San Francisco, tests have been made available to patients at Kaiser Permanente hospitals who meet criteria from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and have a doctor’s order, KRON 4 reported.
South Korea pioneered the quick and convenient testing method, which the United States has been slow to adopt as cases grow here.
By Ben Guarino and Katie Mettler
9:47 a.m.
Masters golf tournament and Boston Marathon are postponed as sports disruptions continue
The The Masters and the Boston Marathon on Friday became the latest major international sporting events postponed because of the coronavirus outbreak.
Masters officials announced that golf’s first major of the year would not start on April 9 as planned and offered no timeline on when it might be rescheduled.
“We hope this postponement puts us in the best position to safely host the Masters Tournament and our amateur events at some later date,” Fred Ridley, chairman of Augusta National Golf Club, said in a statement.
Moments later, Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh announced that the 124th Boston Marathon would be postponed until Sept. 14.
“Our expectation and hope right now is that this day will get us to a safer date,” Walsh said in a news conference.
The race has been altered only once its history, in 1918 during World War I. The Masters has been held in Augusta, Ga., every year since 1934, except for 1943 through 1945, when it was canceled because of World War II.
By Rick Maese and Matt Bonesteel
8:43 a.m.
Germany announces ‘bazooka’ economic plan to mitigate coronavirus hit
BERLIN — The German government on Friday announced an economic plan to cushion the hit of the coronavirus, including “unlimited” loans for affected businesses, in addition to tax breaks.
German Economy Minister Peter Altmaier described the package as unique in the postwar history of Germany and said that there is no limit to the funding that the government is willing to provide to protect businesses.
“What we are presenting to you today is the most comprehensive and effective help and guarantee that has ever existed in a crisis,” he said in a joint news conference in Berlin with Finance Minister Olaf Scholz.
Altmaier said the package would initially make available around 500 billion euros ($555 billion) in financing.
“That’s the beginning,” Altmaier added. “We’ve said that we shouldn’t fail because of a shortage of money or a shortage of political will.”
The proposals include allowing companies to defer tax payments. Scholz said that it is “not implausible” that Germany would have to take on new debt to finance the rescue plan for Europe’s largest economy.
“Our country is facing a very serious situation, one that we’ve never experienced before,” he said. He described the plan as “the bazooka.”
“What small arms we still need, we’ll see later,” he said.
By Loveday Morris and Luisa Beck
8:18 a.m.
Under harsh criticism, Trump administration announces efforts to speed testing
The Trump administration announced a series of steps Friday aimed at boosting the availability of coronavirus testing, which has drawn heated criticism from lawmakers of both parties and frustrated Americans who are sick and have been unable to find out whether they are infected.
The Food and Drug Administration has created a 24-hour emergency hotline for laboratories having difficulty getting materials or finding other impediments to running tests, according to announcements early Friday.
Officials also announced they were giving nearly $1.3 million in federal money to two companies trying to develop rapid covid-19 tests that could determine whether a person tests positive within an hour.
In addition, the Department of Health and Human Services assigned Brett Giroir, the assistant secretary for health, to coordinate all covid-19 testing efforts among federal public health agencies, including the FDA, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, state and local health departments, and public and private clinical laboratories. The FDA also is giving New York state the ability to authorize certain public and private labs to test for the virus under the aegis of the state health department, without first getting federal approval.
Earlier this week, New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo (D) announced he was moving ahead to contract with 28 private labs in New York. “We’re not in a position where we can rely on the CDC or the FDA to manage this testing protocol,” the governor said. Cuomo said that he told the private labs they should “get up, get running and start moving forward with testing.”
The state’s Health Department has a preexisting relationship with these labs, which Cuomo says has the experience with virology to get the testing done.
The Trump administration announced these and other testing-related measures a day after a particularly harsh drubbing of federal health officials at a congressional hearing on Capitol Hill. At one House hearing, Antony Fauci, longtime director of the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, acknowledged that the system for testing Americans for coronavirus is “not really geared to what we need right now … That is a failing. Let’s admit it.”
Read more here.
By Amy Goldstein
8:16 a.m.
Analysis: Why South Korea, not Iran, is a model for U.S. coronavirus response
A stark contrast in the coronavirus mortality rates in South Korea and Iran show how critical a government’s response can be in determining whether the disease is stymied or spread. Public health experts say they want to ensure the U.S. outcome turns out more like the former.
“Will we take the tough actions to mitigate spread, or will we let this spread like the flu?” said Scott Gottlieb, former head of the Food and Drug Administration. “I think we will end up somewhere in between: not helpless like Iran, but not as aggressive and swift as South Korea.”
South Korea managed to dramatically arrest the spread. It’s conducting more tests per person than any other country in the world, with about 15,000 people getting tested every day. The government has set up dozens of drive-through testing centers. South Korean officials aggressively informed the public about how to respond, including with cellphone alerts notifying people of new cases near them.
The country has reported 7,800 cases, but just 66 deaths — a relatively low mortality rate under 1 percent. Its daily growth in new cases also appears to be slowing. But it’s a different story in Iran, a country with 80 million people where cases are surging and several top officials — including two dozen members of parliament and a vice president — have been infected.
As neighboring countries canceled flights and alerted medical personnel, Iranian officials said little in public about the virus. They didn’t announce the disease’s arrival in the country until Feb. 19, when officials said two people had already died.
The country’s Health Ministry claims that about 10,000 have been infected and 429 have died. But mass graves — confirmed by videos, satellite images and other open-source data — could mean Iran has suffered more deaths than its government has let on.
By Paige Winfield Cunningham
7:32 a.m.
Fauci says coronavirus disruption is unlike anything he has experienced in 36 years on job
During an interview on “CBS This Morning,” Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said the widespread disruption to everyday American life from the coronavirus is unlike anything the nation has experienced in his 36 years on the job.
“There have been an awful lot of challenges,” Fauci said, noting the HIV/AIDS crisis in the 1980s and the H1N1 influenza pandemic in 2009. “With regard to disruption of everyday life, we have not seen that before, but we’ve not had this kind of a situation before."
With H1N1, also known as the swine flu, Fauci said there was less mass panic because unlike the new coronavirus, it was an influenza virus.
“We were familiar with what influenza does. We were familiar with its seasonal capability," Fauci said. "Right now there are a lot of unknowns and I think that’s the thing that’s frightening people.”
By Katie Mettler
7:30 a.m.
Coronavirus can be transmitted before symptoms arise, scientists find
Scientists studying the novel coronavirus are quickly uncovering features that allow it to infect and sicken human beings.
The coronavirus can be shed by people even before they develop symptoms. That pre-symptomatic transmission has helped it become a stealth contagion. The coronavirus may take many days — up to 14 — before an infection flares into symptoms, and although most people recover without a serious illness, this is not a bug that comes and goes quickly.
The virus lurks in the body even after people feel better. A new study in the Lancet, based on research in China, found that the median length of time the virus remains in the respiratory tract of a patient after symptoms begin is 20 days. Among patients who survived the disease, the virus continued to be shed for between eight and 37 days.
This coronavirus can establish itself in the upper respiratory tract, said Vincent Munster, chief of the Virus Ecology Section of Rocky Mountain Laboratories, a facility in Hamilton, Mont., that is part of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. That enables the virus to spread more easily through coughing and sneezing, and stands in contrast to another coronavirus that Munster’s laboratory has studied — MERS, which tends to infect cells in the lower respiratory tract, he said.
Munster and his colleagues have conducted experiments showing that at least some coronavirus can potentially remain viable — capable of infecting a person — for up to 24 hours on cardboard and up to three days on plastic and stainless steel.
During a CNN town hall program on the coronavirus Thursday night, Anthony Fauci, the longtime director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, addressed whether it is safe to open a package delivered by mail: “I think if you start thinking about money and mail and things like that, you can almost sort of immobilize yourself, which I don’t think is a good idea.”
Read more here.
By Joel Achenbach
7:24 a.m.
Federal government could soon send employees home to work. That poses serious cyber dangers.
As coronavirus infections mount, the federal government is preparing for an unprecedented experiment in remote working that brings with it a slew of digital dangers.
The Trump administration is ordering hundreds of thousands of federal employees to be prepared to telework full time if the virus spread worsens, as my colleague Lisa Rein reports. And it’s far from clear government technologists are prepared to handle that strain.
If U.S. adversaries, such as Russia or Iran, creep inside government computer networks, they could disrupt efforts to mitigate the virus by stopping or slowing down communications. They could also sow chaos by sending phony alerts about the virus to the government workforce or the public.
Federal agencies are trying to get ahead of any problems as telework is being encouraged, though not mandated at this point. The Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency is working entirely remotely today to stress-test whether the agency will be up to the job “if CISA-wide telework becomes necessary in response to the outbreak,” spokeswoman Sara Sendek said.
But the government has never attempted to work remotely on anywhere near this scale before. At DHS alone, as many as 240,000 workers could be asked to work remotely; the CISA test alone involves 3,500 people.
Read more here.
By Joseph Marks
7:21 a.m.
This is the coronavirus math that has experts so worried
For weeks now, America’s leaders and its public have been obsessed with one set of numbers: How many people have died? How many confirmed cases? And in what states?
But to understand why experts are so alarmed and what may be coming next, the public needs to start paying attention to a whole other set of numbers: How many ventilators do we have in this country? How many hospital beds? How many doctors and nurses? And most importantly, how many sick people can they all treat at the same time?
Consider the ventilators. For those severely ill with a respiratory disease like covid-19, ventilators are a matter of life and death because they allow patients to breathe when they cannot on their own. In a report last month, the Center for Health Security at Johns Hopkins estimated American has a total of 160,000 ventilators available for patient care.
A planning study run by the federal government in 2005 estimated that if America were struck with a moderate pandemic like the 1957 influenza, the country would need more than 64,000 ventilators. If we were struck with a severe pandemic like the 1918 Spanish flu, we would need more than 740,000 ventilators — many times more than are available.
The math on hospitals isn’t any better. The United States has roughly 2.8 hospital beds per 1,000 people.
South Korea, which has seen success mitigating its large outbreak, has more than 12 hospital beds per 1,000 people. China, where hospitals in Hubei were quickly overrun, has 4.3 beds per 1,000. Italy, a developed country with a reasonably decent health system, has seen its hospitals overwhelmed and has 3.2 beds per 1,000.
Read more here.
By William Wan, Ariana Eunjung Cha and Lena Sun
6:50 a.m.
U.S. stock futures clawing back after worst meltdown in 30 years
Wall Street was poised for a rebound Friday after its most brutal sell-off in more than 30 years, as central banks around the world delivered expansive packages to try to shore up the economy against the novel coronavirus outbreak, which has battered global markets for weeks and disrupted nearly every facet of daily life.
Dow Jones industrial average futures are calling for a more than 1,100-point spike at the open. The Standard & Poor’s 500 and Nasdaq are also signaling surges in excess of 5 percent. Emergency action by the Federal Reserve to free up $1.5 trillion to smooth operations of the massive U.S. Treasury market and an Oval Office speech from President Trump outlining the beginning of the White House’s response to the U.S. outbreak sent investors into complete panic Wednesday, resulting in a jaw-dropping 10 percent decline for the Dow and the week’s second forced halt to trading.
Wall Street’s stunning meltdown over the past month has erased most of the stock market gains since Trump’s election in November 2016. At its Feb. 12 peak, the Dow had climbed more than 61 percent; by Thursday’s close, that number had been shaved to roughly 11 percent.
Read more here.
By Thomas Heath and Taylor Telford
6:49 a.m.
Coronavirus curve shows much of Europe could face Italy-like surge within weeks
BERLIN — Some of the world’s top experts tracking the spread of the coronavirus predict that in a matter of weeks, much of Europe could be facing a similar surge in cases that has locked down Italy, overwhelmed its hospitals in the north and brought the country of 60 million to a standstill.
Mathematical models developed by epidemiologists to track the virus show a sharp trajectory of infections in Germany, France and Britain. Spain showed particularly concerning exponential growth, some experts said. The modelers in Europe say a similar arc is likely in the United States, but anticipating the spread is made more difficult by the lack of widespread testing of suspected cases there.
“Italy is about two weeks ahead of Britain and the rest of Europe,” said Francois Balloux, director of the Genetics Institute at University College London. Observations by epidemiologists show that if unchecked, the number of infections doubles approximately every five days, with infected individuals capable of passing the virus on to an average of about 2.5 people. “What we are seeing is not rocket science,” Balloux said.
Epidemiologists say that decisive action is required to change the rate of infection and “flatten the curve.” That reality appeared to sink in for some political leaders in the United States and Europe this week, as countries closed schools, encouraged working from home, banned large gatherings and imposed new travel restrictions. French Health Ministry Director General Jérôme Salomon said France must prepare itself for “the Italian scenario.”
Still, some experts worry that governments aren’t doing enough to reduce rates of transmission so cases don’t soar exponentially and overwhelm health systems. A lack of urgency in previous weeks may have wasted valuable time, they say.
Read more here.
By Loveday Morris and William Booth
6:30 a.m.
Champions League, Premier League matches called off as coronavirus puts a halt to European soccer
European soccer officially ground to a halt Friday.
Meanwhile, a number of European professional soccer leagues also announced a halt in play Friday because of the coronavirus.
The English Football League announced Friday that its top-flight soccer leagues, including the Premier League, will halt play until at least April 3, when the situation will be reviewed.
In France, where this weekend’s Ligue 1 and 2 matches originally were to be played without spectators present, the Ligue de Football Professionnel announced Friday that all matches in the country’s top two divisions will be suspended until further notice.
The announcement came a day after French President Emmanuel Macron said the nation’s schools and universities would shutter next week, calling the outbreak the “biggest health crisis that France has known in a century.”
Germany’s Bundesliga and its second-division league will go on hiatus until April 2 after this weekend’s matches, which begin Friday afternoon Eastern time.
Club soccer in Spain, Italy, Portugal and the Netherlands already had been shut down because of the coronavirus, and with club competitions across Europe halted and season completions delayed, UEFA now must decide what to do with this summer’s Euro 2020 tournament.
Read more here.
By Matt Bonesteel and Danielle Paquette
6:18 a.m.
Death toll mounts in Europe, as more governments take action
BERLIN — As coronavirus cases continued to surge across Europe Friday, governments took more decisive but differing measures to slow down the spread of the virus.
In Italy, a nationwide lockdown continued, as almost 13,000 people were confirmed to be infected by the virus Thursday night. Known current cases increased by more than 2,000 within 24 hours.
In central Europe, Poland’s president canceled a planned trip to Russia. The Czech Republic announced self-quarantine rules for travelers from 15 countries, including neighboring Germany.
Meanwhile, some German federal states began announcing school closures Friday, as confirmed cases there exceeded 2,000, but other states remained reluctant to shut down educational institutions.
In Spain, where figures surged this week, the death toll nearly doubled. As of Thursday, it stood at 84, according to local health officials.
Meanwhile, there were signs that the outbreak now covered a wide geographic area. In Bulgaria, the parliament voted to declare a state of emergency, which will last one month, after confirmed cases in the country exceeded 20.
In Romania, interim prime minister Ludovic Orban said he would self-isolate after he came in contact with an individual who was later confirmed to have the virus.
Facing criticism over its handling of the public health crisis, the European Commission was expected to drop spending restrictions that normally apply to member states but have hindered efforts to boost virus-stricken economies.
By Rick Noack
6:16 a.m.
The singing echoing through empty Italy
ROME — Stuck in their houses under lockdown, the people in the Tuscan town of Siena on Thursday night found a way nonetheless to breathe a little life into their empty streets. They opened their windows and started singing.
Video, shared on Twitter and by Siena’s newspaper, showed vacant streets lit up by music — the local song “Verbena.” As the song continued, more and more voices joined in. The local newspaper, the Corriere di Siena, said the music “warmed all of Siena.”
People of my hometown #Siena sing a popular song from their houses along an empty street to warm their hearts during the Italian #Covid_19 #lockdown.#coronavirusitalia #COVID19 #coronavirus pic.twitter.com/7EKKMIdXov— valemercurii (@valemercurii) March 12, 2020
The trend is catching on. Similar events are planned Friday night in Rome, with people widely sharing a memo on social media calling for people to come to their balconies at 6 p.m.
Italians have been largely confined to their homes because of a nationwide government-ordered lockdown. Almost nothing is open aside from supermarkets and pharmacies, and Italians have been advised to remain indoors as much as possible.
By Chico Harlan
5:06 a.m.
Contactless deliveries, medical aid: India’s food delivery apps respond to coronavirus
NEW DELHI – Zomato and Swiggy, India’s most popular food delivery apps, announced that customers can opt for “contactless” deliveries as a precautionary measure to check the spread of coronavirus. In emails sent to customers this week, reviewed by The Washington Post, the companies said that food packets can be left at the customer’s door, if they wanted. Zomato customers will receive a photo of the delivered food as confirmation.
Both companies said they were training their delivery fleets in best practices of hygiene and had asked them to self-quarantine if they showed any symptoms. Swiggy said it would provide “free medical consultation.”
Zomato’s founder, Deepinder Goyal, said in a tweet that the company had informed it’s delivery staff that, “they don’t need to force themselves to work for financial reasons.” The company would provide financial support besides medical insurance for those affected. Media reports suggest that in December the two companies combined received over 2.5 million orders daily.
India’s health ministry has so far reported one death and confirmed 75 positive coronavirus cases. The government has virtually quarantined the country by suspending all short-term visas and sealing land borders in a rash of strict measures to deal the virus. Several states have shut down schools, theaters, and malls. One of India’s biggest sporting extravaganzas, a cricket tournament, has also been postponed to next month.
By Niha Masih
5:04 a.m.
Reluctance to close schools becomes a polarizing issue in Germany and other European countries
BERLIN — Two days after German Chancellor Angela Merkel addressed the nation with a blunt warning — that more than two-thirds of the population could be infected by coronavirus — many German schools remained open on Friday.
As other nations across the continent shut schools and universities, including neighboring France, the German approach appeared to stand out, revealing the country’s struggle to confront the virus in a federal system similar to the United States.
Earlier this week, German Health Minister Jens Spahn had urged the cancellation of big gatherings, but he only could offer a recommendation rather than an outright ban. Under German federal law, such cancellations can only be enforced by the 16 federal states.
The chaos that ensued — with some states pushing ahead with immediate cancellations and other regional governments appearing to hesitate — is now once again playing out with school closures, critics argue.
By Friday morning, the governments of Bavaria, Saarland and Berlin had decided to close their schools. Elsewhere, teachers continued to lack instructions.
Opponents of school closures argue that infection rates there have been relatively low and that sending children home would prevent many parents from being able to work. Case tallies have also strongly differed between federal states, which has made school closures a more pressing concern in some federal states that have already taken action.
But others disagreed. “If the reality is that we all live in the same country and the same world, then it’s unacceptable that schools are closed [in some areas] but not a few kilometers away,” said Heinz-Peter Meidinger, the president of the German teachers’ association, according to Germany’s public broadcaster.
In the Netherlands, the government faced similarly harsh criticism during a parliamentary debate overnight, after it closed museums and banned many gatherings, but kept schools and universities open.
By Rick Noack
4:07 a.m.
European stocks stage a cautious rebound, amid intervention hopes
BERLIN — European stocks rose Friday morning after they suffered major losses Thursday amid concerns over the coronavirus spread.
The Stoxx 600 Index was initially up more than 3.5 percent on Friday. London’s FTSE 100 initially rose by more than 2.5 percent, even though both indexes subsequently retraced some of those gains.
Analysts credited the interventions by central banks this week for the initial rebound, with U.S. stock futures suggesting that Wall Street may also recover some of Thursday’s losses. Previously, the Federal Reserve had taken the decision to inject more money into the bond market.
Despite such interventions this week, U.S. stock losses snowballed Thursday — compounded by President Trump’s decision to restrict most travel from Europe for a month. The Dow slid by 2,352.60 points, its steepest one-day slide since 1987.
On Wednesday, markets had plunged after the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic.
By Rick Noack
1:11 a.m.
Coronavirus shuts down Mount Everest
NEW DELHI — The most popular route to Mount Everest is shutting down as Nepal seeks to check the spread of the pandemic.
All permits to summit Everest from Nepal will be halted, the country’s tourism department said in a statement on Friday. China earlier reportedly informed tour companies that it was also shutting down access from its side of the mountain.
Most climbers summit the mountain via Nepal and the climbing season runs from April to May. Last year, Nepal issued a record number of climbing permits, leading to dangerous overcrowding on the world’s highest peak.
At least 2,000 people – support staff, porters, medics – normally camp at the base of the mountain for the duration of the climbing season.
Nepal has one confirmed coronavirus case, but the government has announced sweeping new restrictions on people entering the country. The country will no longer issue any visas on arrival, foreigners will be required to show proof of testing negative for the coronavirus, and every person arriving from abroad will be subject to a two-week home quarantine.
By Joanna Slater and Ankit Adkhikari
1:06 a.m.
First coronavirus case spotted in Wuhan in mid-November, newspaper reports
HONG KONG — The first coronavirus case detected in China was a 55-year-old man from Hubei province whose illness was found on Nov. 17, Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post reported Friday, citing Chinese government documents.
This date is almost a month earlier than previous reports that a strange new illness first began to appear in the Chinese city of Wuhan, the capital of Hubei, on Dec. 10 or thereabouts. However, the first person to have caught the virus, which is believed to have jumped from bats to humans, remains unidentified.
China first reported a case of the virus to the World Health Organization on Dec. 8.
The virus spread quickly. By Dec. 31, at least 266 people were infected and had been treated by Chinese medical authorities, the paper reported. The number jumped to 381 on Jan. 1.
Scientists are now trying to identify “patient zero” so they can trace the exact source of the coronavirus.
None of the first nine cases to be reported in November – four men and five women – was this “patient zero,” the paper reported.
The South China Morning Post did not say how it got the documents or which authority they came from.
By Tiffany Liang
1:03 a.m.
Singapore widens travel restrictions to Italy, France, Germany and Spain; bars cruise ships
Singapore on Friday expanded travel restrictions to parts of Europe, barring anyone with recent travel history to France, Germany and Spain from entering or transiting through the country. Travel restrictions against countries like China, South Korea, Italy and Iran are already in place.
These new restrictions will come into effect on Sunday at 11:59 p.m., officials said, citing a “tenfold increase” in coronavirus cases outside of mainland China. In Singapore, as of Thursday, a quarter of the 187 confirmed cases were imported, the government said — including 13 cases with recent travel history to European countries, and six cases from Indonesia in the past 10 days alone.
Singapore has also changed measures for those exhibiting symptoms of respiratory illnesses. Since March 4, all travelers with symptoms have had to do a mandatory swab test for covid-19, regardless of their travel history. With immediate effect, all travelers exhibiting any respiratory symptoms will have to self-quarantine, even if the test results come up negative. Port calls for all cruises have also ceased with immediate effect.
Lee Hsien Loong, Singapore’s prime minister, said in a national address Thursday that though his country had taken the situation with “utmost seriousness,” Singapore too faces a “serious situation” and expects new clusters and waves of infections coming from many countries rather than one or two. He pointed to the World Health Organization’s statements accusing some countries around the world of not doing enough to stem the spread of the virus.
By Shibani Mahtani
12:54 a.m.
Lawmakers near deal on economic relief package, as virus brings most public activities in U.S. to a standstill
The Trump administration and congressional Democrats are close to agreeing on economic relief measures intended to help people and businesses affected by the new coronavirus, they say, as the pandemic leads to more cancellations and generates more uncertainty from the public.
On Thursday alone, major theme parks, houses of worship, museums and cruises said they will shut down. The country’s professional hockey, basketball and soccer leagues suspended their seasons. Small towns have emptied out, big cities have banned large gatherings, and at least five states announced they will close all schools.
Amid intense pressure from both sides, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said she expected a vote Friday ”one way or another” to approve the economic relief package. Expected to total several tens of billions of dollars, it will include expanded unemployment insurance, paid sick leave and food security assistance, as well as free coronavirus testing.
But concerns about testing are already well underway, vexing laboratories, health officials and patients across the country. Strict regulations on who can be tested mean that not everyone who wants one has been able to get one, despite President Trump’s sweeping declarations to the contrary.
As of early Friday, more than 1,600 cases of the virus were being treated across the United States, including at least one patient in nearly every state and the District of Columbia. But experts — including many government officials — say the spread of the virus may be far more pronounced.
The coronavirus increasingly appears to be turning into one of the biggest tests for Trump’s presidency, it has taken a toll on him personally. As many of his family’s hotels and clubs shut down this week, a Brazilian official who had been photographed next to him and Vice President Mike Pence tested positive for the virus.
On the Democratic campaign trail, meanwhile, both Sen. Bernie Sanders and former vice president Joseph R. Biden Jr. slammed the president for his response to the virus. And the president hit back.
Late on Thursday, Trump said Biden’s efforts to curb the H1N1 swine flu epidemic in the Obama administration were some “one of the worst on record.”
“Our response is one of the best,” Trump said on Twitter.
By Teo Armus
12:15 a.m.
Analysis: Trump’s nationalism can’t fix a global crisis
Diseases know no borders, but President Trump seems to think otherwise. In an address to the nation Wednesday, he called the coronavirus spreading a “foreign virus,” an external menace that originated in China and was handled improperly by the United States’ European allies. He slapped a 30-day travel ban on most of Europe, to the bemusement of officials in Brussels, and tried to spin an earlier decision to block travel from China as a prescient measure.
Trump also hailed his administration’s mobilization of federal resources to combat the spread of the disease. “The virus will not have a chance against us,” he said.
But that bravado, which preceded the worst day for U.S. stocks since 1987, appeared to backfire. “From the misstatements to the omissions to his labored demeanor, the president sent a message that shook financial markets, disrupted relations with European allies, confused his many viewers and undermined the most precious commodity of any president, his credibility,” wrote The Post’s Dan Balz.
In the view of many European officials, Trump’s rhetoric and travel ban smacked of naked ideology, not sound public health policy. After all, quite a few countries from within Europe’s Schengen zone — targeted by the U.S. ban because of the open borders policy inside it — had reported smaller numbers of coronavirus cases than Britain, which was exempt from the restrictions.
Read more in today’s WorldView analysis here.
By Ishaan Tharoor
12:15 a.m.
Asian markets slump on pandemic disruption fears
HONG KONG — Asian markets were firmly in the red Friday as coronavirus-induced shutdowns of swaths of public life in the United States heightened concerns about prolonged global economic disruption.
Stocks retreated despite increasing signs that the pandemic is under control in the region, especially in China, where new cases of coronavirus infection have slowed to a trickle. China’s National Health Commission on Friday reported only eight new infections the day before, five of them in the epicenter province of Hubei.
But with the world’s largest economy in the throes of a meltdown, investors again took fright, sending Japan’s Nikkei index and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng down about 6 percent. That was something of an improvement on earlier in the day, however, when the Nikkei plunged 10 percent after Wall Street’s worst day for stocks since 1987.
Oil and U.S. index futures were higher.
Earlier, President Trump praised Japan’s preparations for this summer’s Tokyo Olympics and said there were still “lots of options” for holding the Games, only hours after suggesting they might have to be postponed for a year.
The shift in the president’s tone came after a phone call with Japanese leader Shinzo Abe.
--Anna Fifield contributed to this report.
By David Crawshaw
Coronavirus: What you need to read
The Washington Post is providing some coronavirus coverage free, including:
Live updates: The latest in the U.S. and abroad | The stock markets | The outbreak in the D.C. area
More news today: Under heavy fire, Trump takes steps to expand testing | 7 important things we learned from the coronavirus hearings | Disney and Universal close major theme parks
What you need to know: Coronavirus FAQ | Coronavirus cases map | How to prepare for the novel coronavirus | Should I get tested for the coronavirus? | Follow all of our coronavirus coverage and sign up for our newsletter
No comments:
Post a Comment