Update on Sunday, March 8 (ET):
—Grand Princess cruise ship, holding 3,500 people with 21 who have tested positive for the coronavirus, will dock off Oakland, California, Monday (March 9).
—Italy's Prime Minister Guiseppe Conte announced Sunday (March 9) a lockdown of some 16 million residents in the northern part of the country.
—1st coronavirus deaths on U.S. East Coast, reported in Florida.
—At least 437 confirmed cases in the U.S., with 86 of those in Washington state and 79 in California.
—The South by Southwest (SXSW) festival in Austin, Texas, has been cancelled due to coronavirus concerns. The event, which was to take place March 13–22, typically attracts hundreds of thousands of people.
—The University of Washington in Seattle has become the first U.S. college to cancel in-person classes due to coronavirus.
—WHO director-general calls on countries to take the outbreaks seriously and that "this is not a time for excuses."
—There are 107,485 confirmed coronavirus cases worldwide, with more cases popping up outside China than inside.
—The U.S. has approved $8.3 billion in emergency funding for the country's coronavirus response.
—3,648 deaths have been linked to the virus. Deaths worldwide exceed those from SARS. And 60,637 individuals have recovered from COVID-19.
—Hubei Province, where the outbreak began, reported no new COVID-19 cases on Friday (March 6), the first day without any new infections being reported, The New York Times reported.
—San Francisco reported its first two cases of COVID-19 on March 5. The cases are not connected with a previous case in the area, suggesting community spread. In nearby Santa Clara county (which has 20 reported cases of COVID-19), officials recommended canceling large events, including concerts and sports games, to slow the spread of the virus.
—A dog in China whose owner has a confirmed case of COVID-19 has tested 'weak positive' for the virus, experts confirmed.
—Additional cases have been confirmed in New York, bringing the state's total to 89.
—California reported its first death from COVID-19, in an elderly adult with underlying health conditions, the Sacramento Bee reported. The resident of Placer County had taken a cruise from San Francisco to Mexico Feb. 11 to Feb. 21 and was potentially exposed while abroad.
—The global mortality rate for COVID-19 is 3.4%, WHO said on March 2. This virus causes more severe illness than the flu, but doesn't spread as efficiently, the director-general said.
US CORONAVIRUS CASES
Arizona: 5
California: 99 (1 death)
Colorado: 8
Florida: 12 (2 deaths)
Georgia: 7
Illinois: 6
Indiana: 1
Kansas: 1
Kentucky
Maryland/D.C.: 3
Massachusetts: 13
Minnesota: 1
Missouri: 1
Nebraska: 14
Nevada: 2
New Hampshire: 4
New York: 89
New Jersey: 2
North Carolina: 2
Oklahoma: 1
Oregon: 6
Pennsylvania: 4
Rhode Island: 3
South Carolina: 2
Tennessee: 1
Texas: 19
Utah: 2
Vermont: 1
Virginia: 2
Washington: 106 (16 deaths)
Wisconsin: 1
Sources: Seattle Times, state health departments, NY Times, CDC.
Here's a look at the number of cases in some places outside mainland China where the count is relatively high, according to a Johns Hopkins dashboard:
South Korea: 7,314
Iran: 6,566
Italy: 5,883
France: 949
Germany: 939
Others: 696
Spain: 589
Japan: 461
U.S.: 437
Switzerland: 268
Netherlands: 265
UK: 209
Sweden: 203
Belgium: 169
Norway: 157
University of Washington tells students not to come to class
The University of Washington (UW) in Seattle has become the first U.S. college to cancel in-person classes due to coronavirus, according to The New York Times.
In a statement, UW said that starting Monday, March 9, classes and finals would be held remotely until the end of the winter quarter on March 20. The university hopes to resume normal classes at the start of the spring quarter on March 30. Campus services, including hospitals, clinics, dining services, residence halls and recreation facilities will remain open during this time. The announcement comes amid a growing outbreak of COVID-19 in Washington state, which has reported about 86 cases and 13 deaths so far.
www.livescience.com/coronavirus-updates.html
