Tuesday, March 17, 2020

Coronavirus confirmed in all 50 states and D.C., after West Virginia reports first case; U.S. death toll passes 100





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The rapidly spreading coronavirus outbreak continued to upend life around the world Tuesday as more countries tightened quarantine measures.
Confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus, which has rapidly spread across the United States in a matter of weeks, have now been reported in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. West Virginia became the last state to confirm its first case Tuesday. At least 100 people infected with the virus have died in the U.S. — a toll that experts expect to rise quickly.
Schools, offices, bars, restaurants and many stores remain closed across major U.S. and European cities, and dozens of countries are shutting their borders or implementing mandatory self-isolation for travelers arriving from abroad.

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7:45 PM: Americans stranded in Morocco amid mass confusion over travel bans
Sixty-two-year-old Rhonda Klein wants her vacation to end. But she can’t figure out how to get home.


Slide 1 of 49: Residents step on measured tape placed outside a supermarket to practice social distancing as a precautionary measure against the spread of the new coronavirus in Manila, Philippines, early Tuesday, March 17, 2020. For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms. For some, it can cause more severe illness, especially in older adults and people with existing health problems. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

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The world is battling an outbreak of a new coronavirus called COVID-19, which started in the city of Wuhan, China, and has been spreading since. The virus has claimed more than 5,000 lives and infected more than 100,000 people around the world. The World Health Organization declared a global pandemic on March 11.
(Pictured) Residents step on measured tape placed outside a supermarket to practice social distancing as a precautionary measure against the spread of the new coronavirus in Manila, Philippines on March 17.
2/49 SLIDES© Drew Angerer/Getty Images


President Donald Trump, joined by members of the Coronavirus Task Force, speaks about the coronavirus in the press briefing room at the White House on March 17 in Washington, D.C. The Trump administration is considering an $850 billion stimulus package to counter the economic fallout as the coronavirus spreads.
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Indian workers make face masks which are in demand due to the new virus outbreak at a private manufacturing unit in Mumbai, India on March 17.
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A general view of the sign on the door at Millburn Veterinary Clinic that lets pet owners know that they are inside but the door is locked on March 17 in Millburn, New Jersey.
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Policemen patrol in the streets after French President Macron announced that all people will be on lockdown due to the outbreak of coronavirus in Toulouse, France on March 17.
6/49 SLIDES© Alain Pitton/NurPhoto via Getty Images


A pharmacy has put sheets reading 'No face mask' and 'no hand sanitizer' in Toulouse, France on March 17.
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Mike Mastrian, director of the Senate Radio and TV Gallery, disinfects the podium prior to a press briefing about the coronavirus in Washington, D.C on March 17.
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An AMC theater remains closed on March 17 in New York.
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A tabacco store has put protections for the sellers due to the outbreak of coronavirus on March 17 in Toulouse, France
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A cyclist sits in an empty Krakow's Market Square on March 17 in Krakow, Poland.
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A general view of the sign on Main Street that lets people know that they need to Keep Social Distance on March 17 in Millburn, New Jersey.
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Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak (L) and Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson (R) attend a news conference addressing the government's response to the novel coronavirus outbreak on March 17 in London, England.
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As the coronavirus continues to spread across the United States, stores like Best Market had problems keeping up with the high demand for paper goods leading to empty shelves on March 17 in Merrick, New York.
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Police officers talks to tourists on the Champs-Elysees avenue on March 17 in Paris.
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A worker disinfects a vehicle as part of a preventive measure against coronavirus, in New Delhi, India, on March 17.
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Vehicles queue at the Bardonnex Customs control at the Swiss-French border during the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Saint-Julien-en-Genevois, France on March 17.
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Passengers wait for their flight at the departure area of Manila's International Airport, Philippines on March. 17, while the government implements a localized quarantine as a precautionary measure against the spread of the new coronavirus.
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A man applies a sanitizing hand gel to a customer at a market stall, in Liverpool, England on March 17.
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People stand in a queue to enter a supermarket during the outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in El Masnou, north Barcelona, Spain, on March 17.
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A teacher takes an online class for her students inside a private school after Gujarat government ordered the closure of schools and colleges across the state amid coronavirus fears, in Ahmedabad, India, on March 17.
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A member of the media talks with a driver as border police officers check vehicles at the last toll gate entering Spain from France, following an order from the Spanish government to set up controls at its land borders over coronavirus, in La Jonquera, Spain on March 17.
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Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern speaks to media at a press conference following a COVID-19 financial response package announcement at Parliament on March 17 in Wellington, New Zealand. The New Zealand finance minister Grant Robertson has announced a $12.1 billion package in response to the ongoing pandemic. The package contains an initial $500 million for health services, $8.7 billion in support for businesses and jobs and $2.8 billion for income support and boosting consumer spending.
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Bharatiya Janata Party lawmaker Rajkumar Chahar wears a cap that reads, greet as Namaste as a precaution against the coronavirus at the Parliament House on March 17 in New Delhi.
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Pharmacist Michael Witte, left, gives Rebecca Sirull, right, a shot in the first-stage safety study clinical trial of a potential vaccine for the coronavirus at the Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute on March 16 in Seattle. Sirull is the third patient to receive the shot in the study. 
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A note warning against stealing toilet paper hangs in the bathroom of Flip Flops II internet cafe, which is experiencing a decrease of patrons on March 16 in Florida.
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Hundreds of boats sit docked at the Elliott Bay Marina on March 16 in Seattle, as the advisory has been issued to stay indoors. 
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A theater displays a closed sign and requests to stay healthy in Los Angeles on March 16.
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TPresident Donald Trump flanked by members of the U.S. Coronavirus Task Force, speaks to the media at the White House on March 16 in Washington, D.C.
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People wait for their turn to enter a supermarket in Panama City, on March 16, after the announcement by the Panamanian government to restrict access to 50 people per supermarket as a precautionary measure against coronavirus.
30/49 SLIDES© Peter Dejong/AP Photo


The narrow canal-side streets and alleys of Amsterdam's famed Red Light District, normally packed with tourists, were largely deserted March 16 because of the spread of coronavirus after the Dutch government ordered bars and restaurants closed and made a point of saying that the restrictions also cover sex clubs and weed-selling coffee shops. 
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A man dressed as St Patrick walks past a closed bar March 16 in Dublin, Ireland.
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Railway cleaning staff chemically disinfect and sanitize a Rajdhani train March 16 as a precautionary measure because of coronavirus concerns in New Delhi, India.
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A pedestrian walks past the gates of the closed Tuileries Gardens on March 16 in Paris as all non-essential public places have been closed to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
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A March 16 view of the empty Plebiscito plaza in Naples, Italy, illustrates the effect of the Italian government's unprecedented national restrictions on controlling the coronavirus.
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People wear face masks March 16 as a precaution against the spread of coronavirus in Granada, Spain.
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British Prime Minister Boris Johnson gives a press conference March 16 about the ongoing COVID-19 situation in London.
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A volunteer operates a remote controlled disinfection robot to disinfect a residential area amid the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak March 16 in Wuhan, China.
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A passenger walks on an escalator in a near empty train station in Barcelona, Spain, on March 16.
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A woman wearing protective mask walks across the empty Charles Bridge on March 16, in Prague, Czech Republic.
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A 10 km queue of trucks stuck on the A12 motorway near the Polish-German border from outside the German town of Frankfurt (Oder) is pictured on March 16, as measures are taken to slow down the spread of the novel coronavirus. Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said Poland's borders would be closed to foreigners for 10 days, but that the government might prolong the shutdown. Two weeks of quarantine will also be imposed on people returning from abroad.
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Democratic presidential candidates Joe Biden and Senator Bernie Sanders do an elbow bump in place of a handshake as they greet each other before the start of the 11th Democratic candidates debate of the U.S. presidential campaign, held in CNN's Washington studios without an audience because of the global coronavirus pandemic, in Washington, on March 15.
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DINSLAKEN, GERMANY - MARCH 16: An empty class room of an elementary school is pictured on the first day of the school's temporary closure as part of nationwide measures to stem the spread of the coronavirus on March 16, 2020 in Dinslaken, Germany. Schools, day care centers and universities are closing across Germany this week as the country grapples with the virus that so far has infected at least 5,800 people and killed 13.
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A volunteer from Indonesia's Red Cross, wearing a protective suit, walks while carrying a disinfectant sprayer at a school closed amid the spread of coronavirus in Jakarta on March 16.
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Viewers leave comments as Archbishop of Seattle Paul D. Etienne celebrates Mass over Facebook Live in the chapel of St. James Cathedral on March 15 in Seattle, after all parishes in the Archdiocese of Seattle suspended celebrating the Eucharist with parishioners.
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A worker disinfects the exteriors of a passenger train parked at a railway yard as a preventive measure against coronavirus on March 16 in Kolkata, India.
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President Donald Trump departs after speaking at a news briefing on the administration's response to the outbreak at the White House in Washington, DC, on March 15.
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Asha Grinnell prays with Su Wilson for her mother, Chun Liu, who has tested positive for coronavirus and is a resident of Life Care Center of Kirkland, the Seattle-area nursing home at the epicenter of one of the biggest coronavirus outbreaks in the United States, at Eastside Church, in Bothell, Washington, on March 15.
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Aircrafts are parked on a runway at the airport in Frankfurt, Germany, on March 15. Due to the Coronavirus. Lufthansa had to cancel half of its flights. 
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Dogs play at Rabin square as the municipality building is lit in the colours of the Italian flag in solidarity with the situation, in Tel Aviv, Israel, on March 15.
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The Atlanta-based lawyer is one in a tour group of 12 Americans stranded in Marrakech, Morocco, unsure how to leave a day after much of Morocco went into sudden lockdown to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
She’s been frantically calling the State Department and members of Congress, she says, but they so far have not been able to do much.
“The State Department has not been of any help,” she told The Post. “Not only can no one tell us anything, but what we do get told is conflicting information.”
The Post has reached out the State Department for comment.
“We know we have a lot of congresspeople who are supposedly, and I’ll trust are, trying to help us,” she said. “But I think there’s only so much they can do, which isn’t a lot.”
Morocco on Sunday announced it was suspending all international flights and on Monday closed restaurants, mosques and entertainment centers.
That left Klein’s tour group, which also included a Canadian citizen, in a desperate bind, as borders worldwide continued to close. Seven people in the group are 60 or over and at least two people, including Klein, have a preexisting health condition, putting them in the most at-risk bracket. Klein said she needs a medication she can’t easily get in Morocco.
Before the trip, Klein had some apprehension about traveling during a global outbreak, but her overall sense was that Morocco would remain a relatively safe bet.
But since the border closed, she’s watched other Canadian tourists in similar situations find a way home, while she said she has struggled to get a straight answer from a U.S. official over what planes are flying into the United States.
“It’s a mess over here,” she said.
In February, the United States evacuated hundreds of U.S. citizens and residents from Wuhan, China, then the epicenter of the epidemic. Some evacuees described the journey as disorganized and frustrating.
In recent days the United States has put in place bans on travelers from Europe, leaving U.S. citizens in a desperate dash to return on the few remaining planes. Subsequent crowds arriving in U.S. airports have been packed together at customs, forced to violate the official directive to maintain a safe distance.
By: Miriam Berger
7:23 PM: Europe is closing borders to slow the coronavirus. Reopening them may be hard.
Modern Europe is built on the idea of binding countries together by stripping away borders. But in the space of just a week, the coronavirus pandemic has led countries to reimpose hard borders across the continent, challenging the European Union’s basic model in ways that may reverberate for years.
Until last week, citizens of the E.U. could move across the continent with ease, even as the virus slowly spread through its population. Just as a resident of Maryland can easily pack bags and head to Virginia, so, too, could a Pole cross into Germany.
The about-face in Europe is proving as disruptive as it would be if U.S. states imposed border controls on one another. And since Europe’s countries are no longer built for self-sufficiency and no country manufactures or grows everything it needs, the effect of the internal blockade could quickly become catastrophic.
Already, trucks trying to enter Poland from Germany were backed up 25 miles on Tuesday as Polish border guards checked drivers’ temperatures, overall health and documents before allowing them through.



Leaders of the E.U. institutions in Brussels, watching national leaders erect walls around their countries, have been desperately trying to keep the internal borders open, at least partially. One major risk, they say, is that medical supplies necessary to combat the novel coronavirus will pile up in trucks that have been stopped at national frontiers, hobbling Europe as it fights the crisis.
“For the E.U., this is really an existential threat,” said Stefano Stefanini, an Italian former diplomat who is a security consultant in Brussels. “If the E.U. is seen as not having done enough or not having cared enough or not having been up to the challenge, people will double down on the question of what is the E.U. for.”
Read the full story here.
By: Michael Birnbaum
7:02 PM: Coronavirus confirmed in all 50 states and D.C., after West Virginia confirms first case
Confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus, which has rapidly spread across United States in a matter of weeks, have now been reported in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
West Virginia became the last state to confirm its first case Tuesday as local municipalities, state governments and the White House have worked to broaden testing access and implement mitigation protocols with the hope of slowing down the infection’s spread.
“Our health officials came to me and said we do have our first positive in the Eastern Panhandle,” West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice (R) said in a news conference. “We knew it was coming. We’ve prepared for this, and we shouldn’t panic.”
Alabama, Idaho and Montana were among the final states to report covid-19 cases.
In a statement issued Wednesday evening, Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.) underscored the urgent need for additional testing in the state, which he said contains the highest percentage of adults 18 and over. As of yesterday, West Virginia had conducted 84 coronavirus tests and had just 500 tests available, he added.
Manchin said Stephen Hahn, commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, had committed to supplying more tests.
“I am hearing from West Virginians across the state about being denied testing despite having physical symptoms,” Manchin wrote. “Medical professionals, community leaders and so many others are also reporting a shortage of the equipment they need to do their job safety.”
Manchin said he had also called on Health and Human Service Secretary Alex Azar to help better equip local medical personnel.
The novel coronavirus has infected more than 5,500 people and killed more than 100 in the United States since January, when the first confirmed case was reported in a Washington man who had traveled to Wuhan, China, to visit family.
By: Katie Mettler and Michael Brice-Saddler
6:57 PM: Chicago’s Midway airport issues ground stop after air traffic control technicians test positive
The air traffic control tower at Chicago’s Midway airport was temporarily closed Tuesday after several technicians tested positive for the novel coronavirus, the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement.
The agency said it would clean the tower and reopen it, allowing flights to resume at reduced levels. A ground stop, an order halting new flights from taking off or departing for the airport, was issued just after 5 p.m. Tuesday.
“The air traffic system is a resilient system with multiple backups in place,” the agency said. “This shift is a regular execution of a longstanding contingency plan to ensure continued operations. Each facility across the country has a similar plan that has been updated and tested in recent years.”
The FAA said the airport remained open.
On Monday, the FAA disclosed that three other employees had been diagnosed.
By: Ian Duncan
6:41 PM: Trump’s Bedminster Club will close indefinitely
President Trump’s company has closed down its Bedminster golf club, the club told its members on Tuesday. That appeared to make Bedminster — the New Jersey club Trump visits often and calls his “Summer White House”— the first Trump property to close because of the novel coronavirus.
In an email to members of Trump Bedminster, obtained by The Washington Post, General Manager David Schutzenhofer said that the clubhouse, fitness center and restaurants are all closed. Schutzenhofer cited guidance on Monday from New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D), which limited gatherings to 50 people and required restaurants to close at 8 p.m. The only part of the club that will remain open, Schutzenhofer said, was one of the club’s two golf courses — but golfers would have to play it without caddies or motorized carts.
“Accounting and administrative offices will remain open, but we are staggering schedules and practicing social distancing,” Schutzenhofer said. “If staff members are able to work from home, we have encouraged them to do so.”
His email concluded with the admonition: “Wash your hands!”
Other Trump clubs have reduced services in recent days, according to messages to their members obtained by The Post. The Mar-a-Lago Club in Florida closed for a day of cleaning, and canceled the seafood buffet. Trump’s Northern Virginia golf club has closed its locker room, canceled the valet service, shut the steam room, and offered meals to go, according to an email sent to members last night. At Trump Doral, the spa has been closed.
The Trump Organization did not respond to questions about whether other clubs or Trump hotels would follow Bedminster and close, or whether employees at Trump Bedminster will be paid during the closure. Schutzenhofer’s email did not say when the club was expected to reopen.
By: David A. Fahrenthold
6:37 PM: DNC urges states to expand vote-by-mail to avoid more delays in primary calendar
Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez is urging states to adopt vote-by-mail, no-excuse absentee voting and expanded polling place hours to prevent more delays in the primary calendar, after Ohio and four other states have rescheduled their elections in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
“As our country deals with the uncertainty of COVID-19, it is critical that states provide clarity and not confusion, which could lead to disenfranchising voters,” Perez said in a statement Tuesday afternoon.
Perez urged states to make vote-by-mail available to all registered voters. He also recommended the expansion of no-excuse absentee voting, “whereby a voter can either drop a ballot off at convenient locations or drop it in the mail.”
“And, where in-person voting can still take place under public health guidelines, states should expand days and hours of early voting to reduce lines,” he said.
Perez pointed to the confusion that has stemmed from Monday’s battle among Ohio officials over whether to postpone the state’s primary.
“What happened in Ohio last night has only bred more chaos and confusion, and the Democratic Party leadership in Ohio is working tirelessly to protect the right to vote,” he said. “Eligible voters deserve certainty, safety, and accessibility. That’s why states that have not yet held primary elections should focus on implementing the aforementioned measures to make it easier and safer for voters to exercise their constitutional right to vote, instead of moving primaries to later in the cycle when timing around the virus remains unpredictable.”
By: Michael Scherer and Felicia Sonmez
6:34 PM: Barr vows ‘severe’ action if foreign government is culprit behind disinformation campaign
Attorney General William P. Barr told the Associated Press on Tuesday that there would be swift and “severe” action if a foreign government was behind a disinformation campaign undertaken Sunday to cause fear in the United States over the coronavirus pandemic.
He also vowed punishment if a foreign government was responsible for a Sunday denial-of-service attempt on the computer networks of the Department of Health and Human Services.
He told the AP that the FBI was “very active, trying to determine” who was responsible for the cyber incident and the fake text messages spreading disinformation that President Trump was soon to impose a mandatory two-week national quarantine.
On Monday, Trump said there could be “some foreign groups that are playing games” with disinformation. But he said it “didn’t matter” because he had not decided to order a mandatory lockdown. “Hopefully we won’t have to,” he said.
Barr did not speculate which government might be behind either incident.
“When you’re dealing with something like a denial of service attack on HHS during a pandemic, that’s a very grave action for another country to take,” Barr told the AP. “So, if it is another country doing this, I’m sure the ramifications will be severe.”
By: Ellen Nakashima
5:59 PM: It’s ‘quarantini’ time. People say cheers to video happy hours when they’re stuck at home.
Unable to attend St. Patrick’s Day parades and pub crawls this year, people throughout the country are instead finding ways to drink together, alone, online.
Raising a glass virtually is taking off as people are discouraged from leaving their homes or gathering in large groups because of the novel coronavirus pandemic. Amid physical “social distancing,” friends and co-workers are instead turning to video chats to socialize at a time when friendly faces and breaks from nonstop news can be hard to find. They are getting together with their regular happy hour crew, or with family members and people they haven’t seen in ages. Some are finding new friends to bond with over their shared unshakable sense of dread and a fondness for mezcal.
There’s even a new cocktail emerging online: the “quarantini.” Although its recipe varies, it is best served chilled in front of a laptop or smartphone camera and enjoyed with a twist of levity.
The outbreak of the novel coronavirus has also occurred as people are more connected than ever, adding a new feeling of community in a time of crisis and potential isolation. Technology, including social media sites and smartphones, is enabling the quick sharing of information, memes and communication in a way that wouldn’t have been possible a decade ago.
Read more here.
By: Heather Kelly
5:59 PM: Researchers in Senegal say they’re working on a 10-minute coronavirus test that would cost $1
DAKAR, Senegal — In the race to invent a faster coronavirus test, the West African laboratory that made one of the world’s first yellow fever vaccines has teamed up with the British creator of the pee-on-a-stick pregnancy technology.
Researchers at the Pasteur Institute in coastal Senegal — a World Health Organization partner that has battled viral outbreaks for more than a century — say they are as little as three months away from releasing $1 diagnostic kits that can detect the respiratory disease in 10 minutes.
“People will be able to do it themselves,” said Amadou Sall, the institute’s director. The Pasteur Institute is partnering with Mologic, a British firm founded by the father of the Clearblue pregnancy test.
The pregnancy-test model is used in malaria and HIV test kits worldwide: Patients drop samples of blood or saliva onto the devices and wait for a bold line to appear.
More than 200 companies are working to develop similarly speedy tests, according to the Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics in Geneva, which is tracking progress. None has met the international standard for shelf life and accuracy yet.
Between manufacturing facilities in Dakar and the United Kingdom, the team expects to produce 8 million tests annually, said Joe Fitchett, Mologic’s medical director.
“The idea,” he said, “is we make it available as widely as possible.”
Read more here.
By: Danielle Paquette
5:56 PM: Superintendents lash out over conflicting guidance on school closures
The national association of superintendents called on the federal government to clarify its “ever-evolving” recommendations regarding school closures, saying that school leaders are getting conflicting information about whether and for how long to shut down schools amid the coronavirus crisis.
“It is imperative that information available from the federal government be clear, concise and consistent,” said Daniel A. Domenech, executive director of AASA, the School Superintendents Association, in a statement Tuesday. He said it is critical that local leaders are not left asking “What?” when they review federal recommendations.
For instance, he said, on Sunday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advised against gatherings of more than 50 people but made it clear that that did not apply to schools. Then, on Monday, President Trump advised against gatherings of more than 10 people.
“Given the average classroom is nearly twice the size recommended by the president, and that an individual school often enrolls well more than the CDC-recommended 50-person threshold, school system leaders are rightfully asking, ‘Why are the numbers different, why do the numbers not apply to schools, and what does this really mean for schools?’ ” Domenech said.
On Tuesday, the CDC canceled a scheduled briefing on the matter with the superintendents’ association that some hoped would clarify things.
As of midday Tuesday, 38 states had moved to close all public schools, according to a tally by Education Week. Combined with district closures in other states, at least 38.8 million students in 74,000 schools have been affected.
And yet, these decisions appear at odds with CDC guidance issued last week, and some public health experts are questioning whether the widespread closures make sense at all.
For instance, the CDC guidelines advised that short- and medium-term school closures (as most states have announced) do not affect the spread of the virus and that evidence from other countries shows places that closed schools, such as Hong Kong, “have not had more success in reducing spread than those that did not,” such as Singapore.
Read more about the scientific debate over school closings here.
By: Laura Meckler
5:40 PM: Pentagon to free up 5 million respirator masks, 2,000 ventilators
The Defense Department will give up to 5 million respirator masks and 2,000 deployable ventilators to the Department of Health and Human Services, the Pentagon chief said Tuesday, as the military expands its response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper said the respirators and ventilators will come from the U.S. military’s strategic reserves.
“The first 1 million masks will be made available immediately,” he said, speaking to reporters at the Pentagon.
Esper also confirmed reports that the Navy is preparing its two hospital ships to assist efforts but added that they are designed to treat trauma and do not have the segregated areas needed to treat infectious diseases.
By: Dan Lamothe
5:22 PM: Coronavirus looks different in kids than in adults
A study released this week in the journal Pediatrics provides the clearest confirmation yet that coronavirus infections are, in fact, generally less severe in kids, with more than 90 percent of 2,143 children in the study in China having mild to moderate disease or even being asymptomatic.
But it contains worrisome information about one subset — infants — and suggests that children may be a critical factor in the disease’s rapid spread.
Pediatrics associate editors Andrea Cruz and Steve Zeichner, both physicians, say the study suggests “children may play a major role in community-based viral transmission.”
The data suggests children may have more symptoms that make them contagious, like a runny nose, and that they may have more gastrointestinal symptoms, which raises concerns about the virus being in the feces for several weeks after infection.
Adam Ratner, a doctor in pediatric infectious diseases at NYU Langone Health, said the clear takeaway from the study is that the novel coronavirus “is still something that has the ability to cause severe disease across the age spectrum.”
Read more here.
By: Ariana Eunjung Cha
5:03 PM: Kevin Durant among four Brooklyn Nets players to test positive for coronavirus
The number of NBA players with confirmed cases of the coronavirus rose to seven Tuesday when the Brooklyn Nets announced that four of their players had tested positive. Kevin Durant was one of the four Nets players to test positive but has been asymptomatic, according to the Athletic.
According to the Nets, only one of the four players, who were not identified by the team, has exhibited symptoms. The Nets have advised all players and members of their traveling party to “remain isolated, closely monitor their health and maintain constant communication” with medical staff, according to a statement.
“Everyone be careful, take care of yourself and quarantine,” Durant told the Athletic. “We’re going to get through this.”
The four Nets players join three players — Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell of the Utah Jazz, and Christian Wood of the Detroit Pistons — who had previously tested positive for coronavirus. Gobert’s positive test last week led the NBA to suspend its 2019-20 season.
Read more here.
By: Ben Golliver
4:55 PM: Algeria bans anti-government protests as part of coronavirus response
For a year, Algerians have been marching against the odds for political change. They brought down longtime president Abdelaziz Bouteflika. They challenged the military’s firm grasp on politics. They kept up the pressure and calls for democracy.
Then coronavirus came. On Tuesday, Algeria’s president banned mass gatherings and marches as part of new restrictions aimed at stemming the spread of coronavirus in the North African country of 40 million.
“The lives of citizens are above all considerations even if this requires restricting some freedoms,” President Abdelmadjid Tebboune said in television broadcast, according to Reuters.
Algeria has so far reported 60 coronavirus cases and five deaths from the covid-19 disease. Most infections have centered in a town southwest of the capital, Algiers, according to Reuters.
Like other countries in the region, Algeria’s government has banned most international travel and closed down mosques as a means to delay the virus’s spread.
Only now — as in Hong Kong, Iraq and Lebanon — measures intended to prevent crowds that are fodder for the virus have also proved deadly to anti-government and pro-democracy street movements.
By: Miriam Berger
4:52 PM: Massachusetts eases rules for bringing on health-care workers
As confirmed coronavirus cases swell past 200 in Massachusetts, the state is loosening requirements for licensing health-care workers so that more doctors, nurses and emergency staff can respond to the crisis.
Gov. Charlie Baker (R) on Tuesday ordered that any physicians who retired in good standing in the past year can have their licenses reactivated immediately upon request.
Baker’s orders also extend expiring registrations for nurses, pharmacists and physician assistants until 90 days after the state’s emergency declaration ends.
Physicians licensed in another state who can show they are in good standing can receive a temporary Massachusetts license that will remain valid during the state of emergency, according to Baker’s orders.
Health care will continue for the state’s many college and university students throughout the emergency, and nurses, social workers, psychologists and medical doctors will be allowed to provide health services across state lines to students who have had to return home.
Baker also announced the state was distributing $5 million in emergency funds for Massachusetts’s community health boards.
“This additional funding will support COVID-19 public health emergency resources in cities and towns, and the Baker-Polito Administration will execute emergency contracts with cities and health districts that have sufficient capacity to receive and utilize funding,” read a statement from the governor’s office.
By: Derek Hawkins
4:23 PM: U.S. coronavirus death toll reaches 100
Coronavirus has killed from coast to coast. It devastated a nursing home in Washington state and crept into the heartland. Across the United States, at least 100 people infected with the highly contagious new virus have now died — a toll that experts expect to rise quickly.
This country’s first fatal cases offer a preview of the challenges ahead, as Americans battle a disease that has killed thousands of people worldwide. The Washington Post has tracked every known U.S. death and has analyzed data provided by state and local health officials, families of the victims, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Of the first 100 reported fatalities, many people appear to have had underlying health conditions, making it harder for their bodies to fight off covid-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. Some had diabetes, kidney failure, hypertension or pulmonary ailments.
Nearly all — about 85 percent — were older than 60, and about 45 percent were older than 80. It’s unclear how some of them contracted the disease, but more than a third were living in residential care facilities when they became ill.
What is known about the scale of transmission and the high number of deaths among vulnerable populations — as at the Life Care Center of Kirkland in Washington state, where 27 of the facility’s 120 residents have died — have experts deeply concerned.
“I see that as the ‘canary in a coal mine’ situation,” said Fred Buckner, an attending physician at the University of Washington Medical Center. “I suspect it’s going to be taking off in other locations just like it is in the Seattle area. There’s no reason not to think that. Obviously, that means more deaths.”
By: Reis Thebault, Abigail Hauslohner and Jacqueline Dupree
4:12 PM: Guatemala suspends flights of Salvadoran and Honduran asylum seekers
MEXICO CITY — The government of Guatemala said Tuesday that it would suspend flights of Salvadoran and Honduran asylum seekers sent to the country from the United States. Flights of Guatemalan deportees were also suspended “as a precautionary measure while adequate health protocols are established,” the Guatemalan foreign ministry said in a statement.
Since last December, nearly 1,000 Honduran and Salvadoran asylum seekers have been sent to Guatemala from the United States under a so-called “safe third country” agreement. That deal allowed the United States to essentially export asylum seekers to Guatemala, where they were given the chance to apply for refuge.
Guatemala has six confirmed cases of the virus. Its president, Alejandro Giammattei, banned travel from the United States and Canada last Friday.
Despite the coronavirus pandemic, the United States has continued deportations, asylum hearings and immigration enforcement. Guatemala’s refusal to accept Central American asylum seekers still leaves the U.S. with the ability to send those migrants to await their hearings in Mexico, where there are at least 82 confirmed coronavirus cases. The U.S. is also still implementing programs to process and swiftly deport many other asylum seekers back to their countries of origin.
By: Kevin Sieff
3:53 PM: FEMA will play secondary role as White House anchors emergency management
The Trump administration is not preparing to deploy the Federal Emergency Management Agency as the lead agency managing the coronavirus response, despite calls in recent days for FEMA to take on a more muscular role.
Lizzie Litzow, a FEMA spokesperson, said in a statement that the agency “remains in support of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the White House Task Force who is leading the whole-of-government response.”
FEMA is expected to take on more responsibility as states and local jurisdictions appeal for help from the federal government, particularly as they struggle to cope with severe disruptions to daily life and economic activity.
But one senior administration official involved in the response said the White House would remain in the driver’s seat, with HHS and CDC technical guidance, given the magnitude of the challenge facing the government. The global pandemic is not like a hurricane or flood with a localized and regional impact, said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the administration’s strategy.
Litzow said FEMA would play a “supporting role” through its network of regional administrators as states and local jurisdictions appeal for help. The agency is also making incident management teams available to help those jurisdictions on the ground. “FEMA will continue supporting all states and territories during this dynamic situation,” she said.
Though FEMA doesn’t do medical testing, the agency could help hard-hit states with communications, logistics and contracts, experts say. During the H1N1 epidemic in 2009, FEMA was prepared to staff every state with a small team, according to former FEMA administrator W. Craig Fugate.
But, Fugate warned, “FEMA does not have a lot of anything” in terms of stockpiling supplies and materials.
That, he said, is why the current plan of social distancing is so critical. Otherwise, the agency will quickly run out of supplies.
By: Nick Miroff and Frances Stead Sellers
3:46 PM: U.S. government, tech industry are discussing ways to use phone location data to combat coronavirus
The U.S. government is in active talks with Facebook, Google and a wide array of tech companies and health experts about how they can use location data gleaned from Americans’ phones to combat the novel coronavirus, including tracking whether people are keeping one another at safe distances to stem the outbreak.
Public-health experts are interested in the possibility that private-sector companies could compile the data in anonymous, aggregated form, which they could then use to map the spread of the infection, according to three people familiar with the effort, who requested anonymity because the project is in its early stages.
Analyzing trends in smartphone owners’ whereabouts could prove to be a powerful tool for health authorities looking to track the coronavirus, which has infected more than 180,000 people globally. But it’s also an approach that could leave some Americans uncomfortable, depending on how it’s implemented, given the sensitivity when it comes to details of their daily whereabouts.
In recent interviews, Facebook executives said the U.S. government is particularly interested in understanding patterns of people’s movements, which can be derived through data the company collects from users who allow it.
Read the story.
By: Tony Romm, Elizabeth Dwoskin and Craig Timberg
3:38 PM: Iraq’s leading cleric says treating coronavirus patients is a religious duty
a group of people standing in front of a building: A poster of Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani seen in February reads “Peace, father of Iraq,” in Baghdad. © Khalid Mohammed/AP A poster of Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani seen in February reads “Peace, father of Iraq,” in Baghdad. Iraq’s most powerful Shiite cleric issued a ruling Tuesday calling it an Islamic duty for doctors and nurses to help those with the coronavirus and decreeing that medical workers who die while on the job will be considered martyrs, a status of great honor.
Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani released the letter on his official website as the number of infections and deaths continued to rise across the Middle East, following the outbreak of the virus in Iran last month.
“Treating patients, caring for them, and carrying out their affairs is an Islamic duty for all those qualified to perform these tasks including physicians, nurses and others,” he wrote. “The responsible authorities must provide them with all of the necessary supplies to protect them from the risk of contracting the disease themselves and they have no excuse for failing to do so.”
Sistani is the religious leader of Iraq’s majority Shiite Muslim community. He also wields considerable political power, often more than Iraq’s elected officials, and has opposed Iran’s interventions in Iraq.
Iraqis have been watching the spread of the coronavirus with rising panic. Their health-care system, once one of the best in the region, is ill-equipped to handle the epidemic after years of war and corruption.
Neighboring Iran has been hit hardest in the region, and critics say the government has underreported the true extent of the epidemic.
Last week, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, similarly ruled that doctors and nurses killed by the virus will be considered martyrs. However, his decree was met with derision by some inside Iran who accused him of leaving front-line health-care workers unprepared from the start.
By: Miriam Berger
3:34 PM: As borders close, E.U. nationals find themselves trapped in other countries
Just a day after Hungary announced that it would shut all its borders to block personal travel, it moved to briefly make an exception to that restriction: so that thousands of Bulgarian and Romanian citizens in the country could leave.
“Our primary criteria is to protect the health of Hungarian citizens, and this is also the goal served by our border protection measures,” Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó said in a Facebook post Tuesday.
“Taking all this into account, we will be affording Romanian and Bulgarian citizens a single transit opportunity during the course of tonight along the designated transit routes, to facilitate their return home,” he added.
The border will be opened for several hours Tuesday evening to allow the foreign nationals to return to their countries, Szijjártó said.
The novel coronavirus outbreak has led many European nations to reconsider their long-standing commitment to visa-free travel under the Schengen Agreement, with nations such as France and Poland suspending borderless travel.
Hungary announced Monday that it would be closing its borders to all personal travel, with the exception of Hungarian nationals returning home. But the abrupt decision had left many foreign nationals, used to the Schengen area’s policy of frictionless travel, stranded.
Romanian Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu complained to his Hungarian counterpart Tuesday that the border closures had left 3,500 Romanians stranded at the border between Austria and Hungary.
Restrictions on travel at Poland’s borders have also left citizens of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania stranded, with governments now trying to mount a rescue operation by air and sea to get their citizens safely home.
By: Adam Taylor
3:26 PM: Pompeo says a ‘handful’ of State Department employees have coronavirus
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said a “handful” of State Department employees have tested positive for coronavirus, his first acknowledgment that the disease has spread to U.S. diplomatic personnel.
“We’ve had a couple of employees — you can count ’em on one hand — who have positive tests,” Pompeo told reporters at the State Department. “We’ve handled those exactly the way we’re asking every American to respond to those, wherever they find themselves in the world.”
Pompeo did not say where the virus was contracted or indicate that the department would shut down or reduce operations beyond the teleworking schedule and restricted travel restrictions that were put in place in recent days.
Pompeo came under criticism on Monday from Sen. Robert Menendez (N.J.), the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, who accused him of failing to provide guidance to employees about the spread of the virus to diplomats.
Pompeo rejected that, saying his aides put out numerous guidelines to employees about cautionary steps they should take.
The secretary also criticized Iran and China for spreading false information about the virus, and blaming the U.S. for its proliferation.
“Iranian leadership is trying to avoid responsibility,” he said. “The Wuhan virus is a killer and the Iranian regime is an accomplice.”
He also said he regretted Beijing’s decision on Tuesday to kick out U.S. journalists operating in China, a move made following the Trump administration placing restrictions on Chinese state-run media in the United States.
“I hope they’ll reconsider,” he said.
By: John Hudson
3:11 PM: Pence asks construction companies to donate masks to hospitals
Emergency Medical Technician Emma Vargas prepares N95 protective masks in New Rochelle, N.Y. on Tuesday. (Mike Segar/Reuters) Emergency Medical Technician Emma Vargas prepares N95 protective masks in New Rochelle, N.Y. on Tuesday. (Mike Segar/Reuters) Vice President Pence on Tuesday called on construction companies to donate protective masks to hospitals, in a stark sign of dwindling supplies.
“We would urge construction companies to donate their inventory of N95 masks to your local hospital and forgo additional orders of those industrial masks,” Pence said at a White House briefing. “Those industrial masks that they use on construction sites are perfectly acceptable for health care workers to be protected from a respiratory disease.”
Some hospitals and former health officials have reported low supplies.
“Doctors in Denver where the virus hasn’t been yet say they are almost out of masks,” Andy Slavitt, the former head of Medicare and Medicaid during the Obama administration, said Monday on Twitter.
“Current mask producers could make more and there are some dormant factories,” Slavitt said. “The government must tell them now that they will pay for them.”
Former Food and Drug Administration chief Robert Califf called for a World War II-style mobilization to produce more protective gear.
“We have a current shortage and a looming crisis,” he tweeted.
Jennifer Ehrlich, a spokeswoman for Minnesota-based 3M, said the company has increased production of N95 masks at its factories in the U.S., China, Europe and Latin America. She declined to quantify the increase, or to provide details on the resources 3M is dedicating to the effort.
“Manufacturing capacities of specific plants and products, as well as specific sales volume and customer information, are 3M confidential information,” Ehrlich said.
3M is dedicating more of its output to health care workers than to industrial customers, she added.
Eric Krantz, a spokesman for Honeywell, said the company is “rapidly moving to add capacity in the U.S. for N95 masks,” after increasing production at multiple factories globally. He did not immediately quantify those increases.
By: Jeanne Whalen
3:08 PM: Italy announces 345 new deaths, pushing toll past 2,500
a man standing in front of a television: A doctor watches a coronavirus patient under treatment in the intensive care unit of the Brescia hospital in Italy on Monday. (Luca Bruno/Associated Press) A doctor watches a coronavirus patient under treatment in the intensive care unit of the Brescia hospital in Italy on Monday. (Luca Bruno/Associated Press) The Italian government on Tuesday announced 345 new deaths from the novel coronavirus outbreak, bringing the death toll up to 2,526.
The total number of confirmed cases in the outbreak in Italy now stands at 31,506, an increase of more than 3,500 from the day before, according to figures released by Emergency Commissioner and Civil Protection Chief Angelo Borrelli.
Just over half of the cases are in the northern province of Lombardy, where there are now 16,220 cases.
The numbers were in line with those from the past three days, where new cases have consistently been above 3,000 each day and new deaths above 300.
The country, which is the hardest hit globally outside of the epicenter in China, now accounts for a third of all deaths from the novel coronavirus around the world.
By: Adam Taylor
2:46 PM: Cruise ship carrying more than 200 Americans turned away after former passengers diagnosed with coronavirus
More than 200 Americans are among over 1,400 people on a cruise ship that was barred from disembarking passengers in the Spanish Canary Islands on Sunday as nations worldwide impose lockdowns and close borders to guard against the coronavirus.
The Costa Luminosa, operated by a subsidiary of Carnival, is one of a number of cruise ships unable to find ports willing to accept thousands of passengers as the crisis intensifies.
The ship passed through the Strait of Gibraltar on Tuesday and was headed toward its next scheduled stop in southern France, but it remains unclear what will happen when it arrives.
France began a lockdown Tuesday ordered by President Emmanuel Macron.
There are 233 Americans aboard, the company said. Some passengers are growing increasingly anxious, according to relatives who have spoken to them. A number have developed coughs, and one woman told her daughter that the crew appeared overwhelmed by the need to deliver food to all the cabins.
Read more here.
By: Rosalind S. Helderman and Tom Hamburger
2:42 PM: NYC Board of Correction calls for fast release of high-risk detainees
a view of a city next to a body of water: The Rikers Island jail complex in New York City. (Seth Wenig/Associated Press) The Rikers Island jail complex in New York City. (Seth Wenig/Associated Press) The New York City Board of Corrections is calling for the city’s jail system to “rapidly” reduce the detention population via emergency release, and immediately release detainees who are at the highest risk of coronavirus complications.
“Significantly fewer people in jail will limit the spread of COVID-19 infection among people in custody and those who work in the jails, minimize the number of people in custody who will need medical care, decrease the density of housing areas for people who remain in jail, and allow New Yorkers to maintain connections with and support from their loved ones,” the BOC, the independent oversight body for the city jail system, said in a statement Tuesday.
The BOC’s advisory would mostly impact two different groups: people over 50 or who have existing health conditions like lung disease or cancer, who are at risk for severe complications if infected by covid-19, and detainees who are being jailed for “administrative reasons,” like failing to appear in court or violating parole.
The board also recommends releasing people serving sentences of less than a year, and further called for the state’s corrections and health departments to issue guidance on how to prevent the spread of coronavirus in the jail system, pointing to officials in other municipalities who have done so, such as San Francisco.
Prisons and jails pose a unique public health threat amid the coronavirus outbreak because of the close quarters, often unsanitary conditions and restrictions on inmates, from accessing soap and water, alcohol-based hand sanitizer and inadequate medical care. Deteriorating conditions amid an escalating outbreak led to prison riots in Italy.
By: Kim Bellware
2:32 PM: Saudi Arabia bans prayer services at most mosques
a group of people standing in front of a building: Muslim worshipers wear masks after the noon prayers outside the Grand Mosque, in the Muslim holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Saturday, March 7, 2020. Few worshipers were allowed to circumambulate the Kaaba, the cubic building at the Grand Mosque, over fears of the new coronavirus. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil) © Amr Nabil/AP Muslim worshipers wear masks after the noon prayers outside the Grand Mosque, in the Muslim holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Saturday, March 7, 2020. Few worshipers were allowed to circumambulate the Kaaba, the cubic building at the Grand Mosque, over fears of the new coronavirus. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil) Saudi Arabia announced Tuesday that it’s suspending prayer services at all mosques except for the country’s two holiest prayer sites, in Mecca and Medina, the Saudi Press Agency reported.
“This is considered a religious duty dictated by the Islamic Sharia and its general and specific rules,” Mohammed al-Issa, secretary general of the Mecca-based Muslim World League, told Al Arabiya English, a Saudi-owned news channel. “Everybody knows that this pandemic requires taking every measure of precaution, including preventing any form of gathering with no exception.”
He added: “The Islamic Sharia advises people whose mouths smell after eating to not go to communal prayer, let alone if they were infected with a fatal virus which everybody has been warned about with no exceptions.”
Religious authorities worldwide have wrestled with how to balance the call to comfort communities and maintain traditions alongside preventive measures needed to stave off the coronavirus pandemic.
On Monday night, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis ordered all places of worship to suspend services except for individual prayers — a move seen as particularly targeting the Greek Orthodox Church, which has refused calls to alter practices that put people in close contact, such as having congregants during Communion sip from the same cup of wine.
Shrines and places of worship have been traced as sites of mass transmission in places such as Iran and South Korea.
That has led many countries to put in place restrictions that in other circumstances might cause an uproar. Pope Francis announced Saturday that he will hold pre-Easter services away from the public, after previously beginning to live-stream Sunday Mass.
Prayer places inside Jerusalem’s al-Aqsa Mosque have been closed while Israel has banned all gatherings of more than 10 people, the minimum traditionally needed for a Jewish prayer service.
By: Miriam Berger
2:10 PM: Most of North Carolina’s Outer Banks shutting down to visitors and tourists
Much of North Carolina’s Outer Banks will begin restricting tourists and visitors this afternoon in an effort to reduce travel and limit permanent residents’ exposure to the coronavirus, officials in Dare County announced Tuesday.
In a statement posted to the county’s website, officials in Dare County, N.C., said the restrictions would begin at 2 p.m. Tuesday. Authorities will use checkpoints to close entry points and will require permits to gain access to the barrier island’s communities.
“In response to updated guidelines from the CDC to avoid discretionary travel and follow the President’s coronavirus guidelines for America, the Dare County Control Group has made the decision to restrict visitor access to Dare County,” the statement said.
“Beginning at 2 p.m., checkpoints will be established at entry points to Dare County, and no visitors will be allowed access.”
To gain entry, Dare County has established entry permits. But the permits are only available to “essential personnel,” including government workers, permanent residents and nonpermanent residents who own property or work in the county.
Dare County includes the popular beach destinations of Nags Head, Kill Devil Hills and Duck, and tourists traditionally begin flocking to the area in late spring. But the statement said the general public and visitors will not “be able to apply for a permit.”
“To avoid contact at checkpoints, please display your permit on your dashboard so it is clearly visible,” the statement said.
By: Tim Craig
2:09 PM: Millions of children rely on schools for meals. This is what happens when they close.
a group of people sitting in front of a building: People grab extra bags of potatoes and carrots at the Capital Area Food Bank’s family food market at D.C. Bilingual Public Charter School in the District last week. School closures are causing concerns students could go hungry. (Michael Robinson Chavez/The Washington Post) © Michael Robinson Chavez/The Washington Post People grab extra bags of potatoes and carrots at the Capital Area Food Bank’s family food market at D.C. Bilingual Public Charter School in the District last week. School closures are causing concerns students could go hungry. (Michael Robinson Chavez/The Washington Post) In Cincinnati, school officials were trying to figure out what kind of nonperishable meals they could distribute to homeless students, who constitute nearly a tenth of the student body. In New Rochelle, N.Y., where residents have been confined to their homes, the National Guard delivered food to needy students.
And in Baltimore, a high school senior was contemplating how he would go two weeks without a school lunch.
As the growing coronavirus pandemic shut down school for millions of students, educators are worried not just about missed class time but also about missed meals. A majority of the nation’s 50 million schoolchildren come from households poor enough to qualify them for free or subsidized lunches.
Before the outbreak, schools served free lunches to more than 20 million students a day. The pandemic has raised questions about how the extended school closures, intended to slow an outbreak that poses particular peril to older people, could threaten the well-being of the young.
Some warn that the pandemic could spur a child hunger crisis. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue announced Tuesday that his department was collaborating with the Baylor Collaborative on Hunger and Poverty, PepsiCo and Houston-based logistics company McLane Global to distribute 1 million meals over the course of five weeks to children in rural school districts.
They plan to target schools in areas that are unable to serve meals during the outbreak.
Read more here.
By: Moriah Balingit
2:07 PM: Trump denies he is belatedly treating the virus seriously, continues to attack Democrats
a man wearing a suit and tie: President Trump speaks during a briefing at the White House on Tuesday. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post) © Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post President Trump speaks during a briefing at the White House on Tuesday. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post) Even as President Trump and his administration urge Americans to come together, Trump has been attacking Democrats almost daily, from governors to former vice president Joe Biden.
He said during a Tuesday news conference that that will continue, accusing them of spreading false information. (Adm. Brett Giroir with the Health and Human Services Department said it’s not true that the U.S. government refused to buy coronavirus tests months ago from the World Health Organization, as Biden claimed in Sunday’s debate.)
Trump praised his administration’s much-criticized travel restrictions to parts of Europe, which were implemented hastily over the weekend and led to crowds of hundreds of people in airports across the country as incoming passengers got health screening, creating the exact opposite environment health experts recommend to avoid spreading the virus.
“O’Hare got backed up a little, but they got everybody,” Trump said, speaking of Chicago’s airport, where the health screenings created packed terminals and lines for hours. “ … It was an incredible thing. They did a fantastic job.”
Trump did not back down or apologize for his and his administration and allies describing the virus as “Chinese,” despite questions about whether it creates a stigma. He accused China of spreading rumors that the U.S. military had caused the virus as his reasoning for labeling the virus “Chinese.”
Trump brushed aside his change of tone Monday, when he for the first time in this crisis appeared to be taking the virus seriously rather than downplaying its danger, saying: “I’ve always viewed it as very serious. There is no difference yesterday from days before. I feel the tone is similar but some people said it wasn’t.”
Conservative media such as Fox News, whose viewers skew older, take their cues from Trump, and by Monday, many hosts stopped saying the virus was a “hoax” or not something to be worried about.
By: Amber Phillips
1:51 PM: OAS ambassador says planned meeting in Washington is ‘dangerous’
A group of ambassadors to the Organization of American States, a multilateral body for the Western Hemisphere, is objecting to a decision to move forward with a long-scheduled meeting in Washington on Friday to elect its secretary general, arguing that the session will contradict health recommendations issued by the White House to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus.
Several nations are officially requesting a postponement of the meeting at the OAS’s Washington headquarters because many of the delegates are over 65 and have preexisting health conditions.
“To proceed with this meeting in circumstances where the president of the United States has said that no gatherings should be larger than 10 people and the CDC has warned against anything over 50 people is extremely dangerous, reckless and irresponsible,” said Ambassador Ronald Sanders of Antigua and Barbuda.
On Tuesday, Gonzalo Espariz, the spokesman for the OAS general secretariat, said the body had planned to cut attendance for Friday’s session, but still would have had some 100 people in attendance. After the CDC said no more than 50 people should gather, he said, the list was pared even further to keep within the guidelines.
The White House on Monday said that meetings should be limited to 10 people.
Any vote delay, Espariz said, must be enacted by the member states. Representatives from the member states discussed a delay on Monday, he said, but had not come to agreement on changing the date.
Josué Fiallo, OAS ambassador from the Dominican Republic, described that call as simply “informative,” with no vote taken, and called for the OAS to find a way to delay the vote.
“After listening to President Trump yesterday, we think we should follow the most recent guidelines for social distancing and avoid gatherings,” Fiallo said.
By: Anthony Faiola and Carol Morello
1:42 PM: Trump emphasizes stay-home guidelines: ‘Enjoy your living room’
Peter Kurth, John Roberts sitting in front of a crowd: President Trump takes questions during a pandemic briefing Tuesday. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images) © Brendan Smialowski/Afp Via Getty Images President Trump takes questions during a pandemic briefing Tuesday. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images) During a lengthy midday Tuesday news conference, President Trump repeated guidelines he announced Monday aimed at keeping Americans in groups of 10 or smaller for the next 15 days.
“We are asking everyone to work from home, if possible, to postpone unnecessary travel and limit social gatherings,” he said.
On Monday, Trump said these restrictions could last until July or August, but Tuesday he focused on how these guidelines for now are just for the next 14 or so days. “We will see what happens after that,” he said. “If we do this right, our country can be rolling again pretty quickly.”
“Enjoy your home. Stay,” Trump said of people considering flying to hot spots across the country and world for work. “I would recommend they just enjoy your living room.”
Trump said he is “not happy” with people who are still out and about, and he appeared to praise societal pressure to keep people home. “Those people are being shouted down by other people,” he said. “It’s almost like self-policing.”
He added a dire warning: “We have to get rid of this. We have to win this war, and ideally quickly, because the longer it takes, it’s not a good situation. And I’m not even talking about the economy. I’m talking about the lives of people.”
“If every American acts on the coronavirus guidelines,” Vice President Pence added later, “we could see substantial reductions in the spread of the coronavirus.”
White House coronavirus response coordinator Deborah Birx expanded on that message, asking older people to avoid going out at all, if possible.
“We are asking the older generations to stay in their homes,” she said, “and we are asking the younger generations to stop going out to bars and restaurants and spreading asymptomatic viruses on countertops.”
She applauded supermarket chains such as Stop & Shop for creating senior-only shopping times.
Trump said he is in talks with Walmart and other retailers to keep their shelves stocked, which he said is happening. But he urged Americans not to hoard food and supplies. “We are trying to get people to buy less, if that’s possible,” he said. “Don’t take everything. Just buy what you need for a while.”
By: Amber Phillips
1:40 PM: 21-year-old soccer coach dies after coronavirus, leukemia diagnosis
A 21-year-old Spanish soccer coach who died after contracting coronavirus was found to have had a form of leukemia, a condition of which he was previously unaware.
Francisco Garcia, coach of Atletica Portada Alta’s junior team in Malaga, died Sunday. He learned he had leukemia only after he was hospitalized with covid-19 symptoms, ESPN reported.
Although young people with coronavirus appear to typically have milder or no symptoms, preexisting conditions such as diabetes or asthma seriously complicate recovery from the virus.
“[W]e want to express our most profound condolences to the family and friends of our coach Francisco Garcia who has unfortunately left us today. What will we do without you now, Francis?” the club said in a statement on Facebook.
“You were always there with us at Portada or wherever we needed you, helping. How are we going to continue to conquer kilometers in the league? We don’t know how but for sure, we will do so for you. We will never forget you.”
According to the Spanish newspaper Malaga Hoy, Garcia sought medical attention when he began struggling to breathe and was found to have pneumonia and the virus.
“We are still in a state of shock,” Pepe Bueno, president of the club, told Malaga Hoy. “I do not believe it. I do not believe it. It seems impossible to me.”
By: Cindy Boren
1:16 PM: Medicare expands telemedicine to allow seniors to get virtual care at home
David Shulkin et al. standing in a room: President Trump talks with a patient during a Department of Veterans Affairs telehealth event in 2017. President Trump talks with a patient during a Department of Veterans Affairs telehealth event in 2017. The Trump administration announced Tuesday that it would expand Medicare coverage of telehealth services to allow seniors to see their doctors without having to leave home.
As the coronavirus spreads throughout the country, doctors have raced to increase telehealth services to keep patients from flooding overtaxed emergency rooms and to reduce the risk of people with covid-19 infecting healthy patients and doctors.
They also have used telemedicine to help people with chronic illnesses, such as diabetes, avoid the hospital or the doctor’s office.
Telemedicine services typically involve video and audio visits between health-care providers and patients, and are available through hospital websites and apps. In most cases, patients can use their smartphones, laptops or tablets.
But the effort to use telehealth has been limited by payment rules. Before the change announced Tuesday, Medicare paid doctors for telehealth services only in certain circumstances.
For example, the beneficiary receiving the services had to live in a rural area and travel to a local medical facility to get the service from a remote location, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. In addition, seniors were not allowed to get the services at home.
The agency said that under the new policy, beneficiaries will be permitted to get telehealth services, including office visits, mental-health counseling and preventive health screenings, at home.
Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said in a statement that the change means providers “will be allowed to use everyday technologies to talk to telehealth patients” and that more telehealth services will be covered for millions more Medicare beneficiaries.
By: Laurie McGinley
12:59 PM: Covid-19 threatens U.S. health system with toll on doctors, nurses and EMTs
a group of people riding on the back of a truck: A caregiver tests a patient for coronavirus in Ohio on Monday. (Tony Dejak/Associated Press) A caregiver tests a patient for coronavirus in Ohio on Monday. (Tony Dejak/Associated Press) Dozens of health-care workers have fallen ill with covid-19 and more are quarantined after exposure to the virus, an expected but worrisome development as the U.S. health system girds for an anticipated surge in infections.
From hotspots such as the Kirkland, Wash., nursing home where nearly four dozen staff tested positive for coronavirus, to outbreaks in Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, California and elsewhere, the virus is picking off doctors, nurses and others needed in the rapidly expanding crisis.
“We all suspect it’s the tip of the iceberg,” said Liam Yore, a board member of the American College of Emergency Physicians. “The risk to our health-care workers is one of the great vulnerabilities of our health-care system in an epidemic like this,” he said. “Most ERs and health-care systems are running at capacity in normal times.”
Gauging how badly providers have been hit is difficult because no nationwide data have been released by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, medical associations or health-care worker unions.
A federal official who was not authorized to speak with the media said the government has received reports of more than 60 infections among health-care workers. More than a dozen are related to travel. Authorities are investigating how the others became sick.
In previous outbreaks of infectious disease and in other countries where the current pandemic arrived earlier, health-care workers have experienced a disproportionate share of infections.
They have been put at risk in the U.S. not only by the nature of their jobs, but by shortages of protective equipment such as N95 face masks and government bungling of the testing program, which was delayed for weeks while the virus spread around the country undetected.
Read more here.
By: Lenny Bernstein, Shawn Boburg, Maria Sacchetti and Emma Brown
12:52 PM: Berlin plans new coronavirus hospital with 1,000-patient capacity
a person standing in front of a building: Rita Belli wears a protective mask as she walks past Memorial Church in Berlin on Tuesday. (Fabrizio Bensch/Reuters) Rita Belli wears a protective mask as she walks past Memorial Church in Berlin on Tuesday. (Fabrizio Bensch/Reuters) BERLIN — Berlin plans to set up a new hospital with the capacity to treat up to 1,000 coronavirus patients, as Germany prepares for an increase in infections.
“These measures are being taken as additional steps to secure an already well-positioned hospital system and prevent possible bottlenecks,” Berlin senator Dilek Kalayci said in a statement. Germany’s military, among other partners, will assist in setting up the facility, according to the plan.
Hospitals across Germany are attempting to expand their capacity to treat new infections by delaying non-urgent operations and acquiring additional ventilators and other ICU equipment. The new hospital is aimed at further increasing preparedness.
“Due to the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic Berlin will experience more covid-19 infections. The highest patient volume is expected within the next months, depending on the course of the pandemic,” the statement said.
As of Monday evening, there were 6,012 infected people in Germany, with 300 in Berlin, according to the Robert Koch Institute, the federal agency tasked with disease control.
By: Luisa Beck
12:49 PM: Uber and Lyft suspend shared rides
An Uber driver wearing a protective glove is seen in the Manhattan borough, following the outbreak of coronavirus disease, in New York City, March 15, 2020. © Jeenah Moon/Reuters An Uber driver wearing a protective glove is seen in the Manhattan borough, following the outbreak of coronavirus disease, in New York City, March 15, 2020. Uber announced it will suspend shared rides for customers in the United States and Canada, while Lyft said it is pausing shared rides across all markets.
Starting Tuesday, users of the Uber app will see “unavailable” next to the Pool option, which lets up to three people share a ride at a discounted price. It’s unclear when the restriction will be lifted.
“We will continue to monitor the situation closely and base our actions on official guidance," a Lyft spokesperson told The Washington Post.
The announcements come a day after the White House urged people to not gather in groups of 10 or more. Experts have recommended limiting rides as part of social distancing practices.
Uber has taken other steps in the face of the pandemic. After it was reported gig workers wouldn’t be subsidized with sick pay, the ride-sharing platform announced financial assistance for up to 14 days for drivers who are asked to self-isolate.
Lyft said it would similarly support affected drivers and distribute 200,000 bottles of hand sanitizer and other cleaning supplies to drivers, at no cost to them.
Uber asked riders to wash their hands before and after the drive, sit in the back seat and consider rolling down the window to improve ventilation.
Uber also announced Monday that it would waive the delivery fee for more than 100,000 local restaurants in the United States and Canada, helping businesses affected by slower foot traffic.
By: Meryl Kornfield
12:25 PM: Spain announces 200 billion euro package to mitigate coronavirus effects
a man holding a bag and walking on a sidewalk: A woman wearing a protective face mask goes to buy food in Palma de Mallorca, Balearic Island, on Tuesday. (Cati Cladera/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock) A woman wearing a protective face mask goes to buy food in Palma de Mallorca, Balearic Island, on Tuesday. (Cati Cladera/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock) MADRID — The Spanish government announced a 200 billion euro package Tuesday — the equivalent of 20 percent of Spain’s gross domestic product — to cushion the impact of coronavirus in the country.
“We aren’t going to leave anyone behind,” Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said in a televised address after a Cabinet meeting. “The state is going to assume the entire shock of this screeching halt to the Spanish economy.”
The move comes days after Spain announced a national lockdown as part of the state of emergency because of the climbing numbers of coronavirus cases, which reached more than 11,178 on Tuesday. A total of 491 people have died.
The sweeping economic plan includes measures that facilitate telecommuting for businesses, a moratorium on mortgage payments for those with reduced income, basic utilities for vulnerable groups, access for companies to use temporary unemployment benefits and relaxing unemployment restrictions, among many others.
A total of 100 billion euros ($110 billion) will come from public funds, he said.
Sanchez thanked Spanish society for respecting the lockdown, which means residents cannot leave their homes without an essential reason. He also announced stricter measures that include limiting border crossings and further reducing approved businesses open to the public.
“The time period this will last will depend on how we behave and for that reason, social discipline is important.”
By: Pamela Rolfe
12:13 PM: White House announces intention to defer tax payments and supports sending payments to individuals
Donald Trump, Steven Mnuchin are posing for a picture: Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, right, and President Trump answer questions during a daily coronavirus briefing. (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters) © Jonathan Ernst/Reuters Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, right, and President Trump answer questions during a daily coronavirus briefing. (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters) On Tuesday, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin announced that the IRS would defer $300 billion worth of tax payments for Americans and businesses in the midst of the coronavirus fallout.
Mnuchin urged Americans who can afford it to still file their taxes by April 15, but he said that anyone who owes money to the IRS can defer that payment, interest-free, for 90 days, up to $1 million for individuals and up to $10 million for corporations.
Mnuchin and President Trump also said that they support sending payments to Americans as soon as possible, though they did not offer additional details on how that might work, saying there are several options, including a payroll tax cut or just cutting Americans checks. That would need to be approved by Congress, where there is bipartisan support for such an idea.
“I think we are going to do something that gets money as quickly as possible” into the hands of Americans, Trump said.
“We’re looking at sending checks to Americans immediately,” Mnuchin said “ ... and I mean now, in the next two weeks."
He left the news conference to head to Capitol Hill to negotiate this and a broader coronavirus aid package with senators.
By: Amber Phillips
12:08 PM: Germany’s ‘Big Brother’ cast is about to learn about the global coronavirus crisis
a laptop computer sitting on top of a table: A Berlin schoolgirl works from home to complete an assignment sent by a teacher on Tuesday. (John MacDougall/AFP/Getty Images) A Berlin schoolgirl works from home to complete an assignment sent by a teacher on Tuesday. (John MacDougall/AFP/Getty Images) BERLIN — When the first cast members of Germany’s “Big Brother” reality show entered isolation on Feb. 6, the coronavirus outbreak was still a story centered largely on China, where it first emerged.
But on Tuesday evening, the TV network that airs the show — Germany’s SAT. 1 — is set to inform the cast for the first time about the dramatic events that have since unfolded worldwide.
The cast will be able to “ask questions and view video messages from relatives,” SAT. 1 said in a statement.
While some of the cast members are fully unaware of events since Feb. 6, according to the TV station, some more recently added contestants were banned from discussing the developments.
Germany has reintroduced checks along some of its borders in recent days and shuttered bars, clubs and schools in many regions.
Meanwhile, flagship carrier Lufthansa said Tuesday it is working on an “air bridge” to supply the country amid concerns that border closures are increasingly disrupting supply flows across the continent.
There are more than 7,600 confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany and at least 20 deaths.
“Big Brother” is aired from Cologne, which is in one of the German regions most affected by the coronavirus.
By: Rick Noack
11:54 AM: U.S., China test first coronavirus vaccines in people
An employee of German biopharmaceutical company CureVac demonstrates research workflow on a vaccine for the coronavirus on Thursday. (Andreas Gebert/Reuters) An employee of German biopharmaceutical company CureVac demonstrates research workflow on a vaccine for the coronavirus on Thursday. (Andreas Gebert/Reuters) The first tests of a possible coronavirus vaccine in people are starting, even as U.S. experts have continued to remind people that this is only a first step and it will be at least a year before a vaccine is broadly available.
The U.S. trial, based at Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute in Seattle, is a six-week study geared to test the safety and dosage of an experimental vaccine being developed jointly by the National Institutes of Health and the biotech company Moderna.
The test, in 45 healthy people, will also give the first hints of whether the vaccine works by triggering the immune system — but it will need to be followed by a much longer and larger trial before it can be used broadly.
China announced it would begin safety trials of its own vaccine Monday night.
Countries and companies around the world have been racing to develop a vaccine. The pace of progress is unprecedented, but old-fashioned public health measures like social distancing remain crucial because vaccines are still in the initial phases of being tested.
Depending on the course of the outbreak, it is possible that regulators will be flexible to speed things up for the most vulnerable — for example, allowing it to be tested in front-line health-care workers before it is approved, as happened in Ebola in a 2018 outbreak in Congo.
By: Carolyn Y. Johnson
11:48 AM: Maryland postpones April primary to June
a man wearing a suit and tie: Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, flanked by State Senate President Bill Ferguson, left, and House Speaker Adrienne Jones, speaks during a news conference Thursday in Annapolis. (Michael Robinson Chavez/The Washington Post) © Michael Robinson Chavez/The Washington Post Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, flanked by State Senate President Bill Ferguson, left, and House Speaker Adrienne Jones, speaks during a news conference Thursday in Annapolis. (Michael Robinson Chavez/The Washington Post) Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) announced Tuesday that he is postponing the state’s April 28 primary election to June 2 due to the risk of the coronavirus.
A special election to fill the congressional seat that became vacant with the death of Rep. Elijah E. Cummings (D), which is also scheduled for April 28, will be mail-in only, Hogan said. Maryland is among a handful of states that have postponed their primaries because of the pandemic, including Georgia, Louisiana and Kentucky.
Hogan’s announcement comes after Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) announced late Monday that polls would not open Tuesday, despite a state judge’s ruling the election must go on. DeWine said holding the election would “force poll workers and voters to place themselves at an unacceptable health risk of contracting coronavirus.”
Voters in Arizona, Florida and Illinois are heading to the polls Tuesday.



In Maryland’s elections, in addition to the presidential primary, there will be congressional matchups and a competitive mayoral race in Baltimore in June.
The governor in Maryland has the authority to postpone elections, change locations or specify alternate means of voting when a state of emergency has been declared, according to state law.
By: Rachel Chason
11:37 AM: At-risk Americans are not taking more precautions than other people, poll finds
Americans who face the greatest risk of developing serious health conditions from a covid-19 infection are not being more careful than lower-risk groups, according to a poll released Tuesday by the Kaiser Family Foundation.
The Centers for Disease Control considers high-risk groups people older than 60, those who have a chronic health condition (such as lung disease or diabetes) or those who live in households with someone who does. Those groups, the CDC says, are most likely to develop complications from an infection that include pneumonia and organ failure, both of which can be deadly.
The KFF poll asked respondents about five types of precautions that are recommended by health experts to limit exposure to the coronavirus: canceling or changing travel plans; canceling plans to attend large gatherings; stocking up on supplies such as medications and household cleaners; working and conducting other activities from home; and using a protective mask.
The responses, gathered March 11 through 15, showed that the 60-and-older and other high-risk groups took the same level of precaution as all adults overall, despite their increased risk.
The one precaution that at-risk respondents were even less engaged in than all adults overall was the advice to avoid large gatherings: Poll results showed that while 40 percent of all adults overall were likely to cancel plans to attend large gatherings, only 29 percent of adults over 60 and the already-health compromised said they were doing so.
After warnings from public health officials, local and statewide governments around the United States have taken increasingly strict measures to limit person-to-person exposure, including a “shelter in place” order shutting down the Bay Area, statewide curfews in New Jersey, and bar and restaurant closures in more than a dozen states.
By: Kim Bellware 
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