I’m sure we would too if Canada and mexico are next. I would think. Shared roads and bridges. Daily travel. Etc.
I was thinking about Nee zealand and others telling every country.
Seems impractical. Probably everyone should prepare for these short term closures.
Hopefully everyone is talking to some degree though.
“Disneyland donates food after coronavirus fears close parks”
Northern Ireland schools will be closed for “at least 16 weeks” but they will they will not be shutting immediately, the region’s first minister, Arlene Foster, has said after a summit with the Ireland’s taoiseach, Leo Varadkar.
The disclosure gives a glimpse of the scale of coronavirus crisis to come and will lead to questions as to whether a four-month schools closure is being planned for the rest of the UK.
Foster confirmed that schools in Northern Ireland will close at some point in an effort to stem the spread of the virus but it was a matter of timing.
The Middle Eastern kingdom Jordan says it will suspend all passenger flights in and out of the country from Tuesday, according to a government statement just issued.
Schools and universities will be closed and so will tourist sites including Petra as part of a number of proposals to limit public gatherings in the country.
The measures may seem onerous, given Jordan has a single confirmed case of the virus - a citizen who returned from Italy and was identified as being infected on 2 March.
But earlier today the Canadian government announced that one of its citizens who recently returned from Jordan had tested positive, raising the possibility there are undetected cases here.
The tour guide who showed the woman around has been quarantined but there’s no idea yet how the Canadian contracted the disease.
10 more deaths reported in England
Ten more patients who tested positive for the coronavirus have died, bringing the death toll in the UK to 21, NHS England has said.
All Guardian.
Dubai has cancelled all events planned in March and has banned hotels from hosting weddings, Reuters is reporting.
The Spanish government have drafted a decree to put the country into lockdown, according to reports in the Spanish media.
The reports say that Spaniards will be told to stay home except to buy food or medical supplies, go to hospital, work or in the case of other emergencies.
Germany is urging people returning from Italy, Switzerland and Austria to self-isolate for up to two weeks, in an attempt to slow the spread of coronavirus.
“Especially travellers and skiers returning from Switzerland, Italy and Austria should stay at home as far as possible for up to two weeks, even without symptoms,” the health minister, Jens Spahn tweeted.
India has recorded its second coronavirus death – a 68-year-old woman in Delhi who caught the virus from her son who had travelled to Italy and Switzerland. The son developed symptoms a fortnight after returning to India. Officials are trying to trace the 1,500 people he may have been in contact with at the large plant where he worked.
Her family complained that the cemetery they took her to refused to cremate her. Crematoriums in India tended to be crowded and the staff felt at risk. It was only when doctors arrived to prescribe the right protocol that her last rites were performed. The number of coronavirus cases in India stands at 84.
With no hand sanitisers available, the New Delhi government has designated them ‘essential commodities’ so that anyone hoarding them or selling them at inflated prices can be punished by law.
As stories trickle in of some people concealing their travel history to affected areas or refusing to be tested and, if necessary, isolated, the Delhi government has also invoked the Epidemic Act. This allows district magistrates to take coercive action to isolate high-risk people.
The wife of a Google employee in Bengaluru, for example, fled her home and vanished last week. Officials found that she had flown to Delhi – at the other end of the country - and travelled by train to Agra to her parents’ home.
Across many states, social life is being curbed with weddings, engagement ceremonies and birthday parties banned in the south Indian state of Karnataka. The message to Indians is to stay at home and avoid large gatherings. Several states have closed swimming pools, gyms, cinemas, night clubs, and theatres.
All Guardian
The House worked with Mnuchin and passed the coronavirus relief bill and the Senate went ahead with a planned 3 day recess? Did someone skip math in middle school where you learn about exponents?
The bill can’t be voted on in the Senate until Monday night at the earliest. Just shameful.
There have been another 22 positive cases in Wales overnight, bringing the total number of people infected with coronavirus to 60.
Indonesia’s capital, Jakarta, will shut schools and organise remote teaching for a minimum of two weeks in an attempt to halt the spread of coronavirus.
The announcement was made today by Jakarta’s governor, following reports of 27 more cases, bringing the total to 96. The number of deaths increased to five.
While most case are in Jakarta, cases were also reported in cities in western and central Java, Manado on Sulawesi island and Pontianak on Borneo island.
“We must massively, in an integrated way and without panic, search and find, and isolate positive cases,” Yurianto said. He added that “a community-based approach” was set to be adopted to prevent healthy people from getting sick.
In Brunei, 38 of the total 40 coronavirus cases in the country had been linked to the religious gathering, as of Saturday.
A total of 85 Bruneians were present at the the gathering, 18 of whom went on to test positive. The remainder of the 38 are their immediate family members, friends or co-workers, the health ministry said.
New cases in Brunei include a nine-month-old baby, the child of a man who attended the religious event.
The speaker of Brunei’s legislative council called for the current session to end on Saturday, a week ahead of schedule, because of coronavirus concerns.
All Guardian
Spain has cancelled Holy Week celebrations in Seville.
Here is an update from Brazil, from my colleague Tom Phillips, the Guardian’s Latin America correspondent:
Rio de Janeiro is starting to go into shutdown mode because of the coronavirus crisis, which looks set to worsen in Brazil in the coming days.
On Friday night Rio’s governor, Wilson Witzel, announced that theatres, cinemas, sports stadiums and nightclubs would be shuttered here for a fortnight while beaches could also be sealed off to prevent large numbers of people coming together.
“This is a moment to stay at home so we can control this epidemic,” Witzel told reporters.
A hospital in western Rio is reportedly being prepared to deal with the anticipated spike in coronavirus cases here.
“One thing is for sure: depending on the speed with which the epidemic spreads, the stress on our health system could be brutal,” a prominent Brazilian doctor, Drauzio Varella, wrote in the Folha de São Paulo newspaper on Friday.
The Spanish government is meeting this morning to decide what urgent measures to take under the state of emergency that was announced yesterday and will be declared later today.
The emergency powers, set out in article 116 of the constitution, allow the government to limit the movement of people and vehicles in specified places, to temporarily requisition goods, to take over factories and businesses, to ration the consumption of basic items, and to issue the necessary orders to ensure the provision of services.
The article has not been used since 2010, when it was enacted in response to an air traffic controllers’ strike. The state of emergency will initially apply for two weeks, but can be extended with parliamentary approval.
The prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, is due to speak at 2pm local time once the cabinet meeting is over.
Meanwhile, all non-essential shops in the Madrid and Galicia regions have shut on the orders of the regional governments. All non-food shops, cafés, bars, restaurants, cinemas, gyms and non-food shops have been ordered shut for a fortnight in a bid to halt the spread of the coronavirus.
The only businesses permitted to remain open are supermarkets, bakeries, butcher’s shops, fishmongers, greengrocers, petrol stations, pharmacies, tobacconists and newspaper kiosks.
On Friday night, the Catalan president, Quim Torra announced plans to close off the north-eastern Spanish region and called on the central government to assist by authorising the closure of ports, airports and railways.
“The evolution of the contagion calls for most drastic action,” Torra said on Friday night. “We need to restrict entry and exit to protect ourselves.”
While Catalonia is one of Spain’s 17 autonomous regions, major transport routes and hubs come under the mandate of the central government.
Guardian
The number of coronavirus cases in the Philippines has jumped by 34 to 98, it was confirmed on Saturday, as the national capital region prepared for major travel restrictions to be imposed tomorrow.
The country also recorded two more fatalities, bringing the death toll to eight.
The Philippines has witnessed a wave of cases over the past week, and there are fears the disease could spread quickly through overcrowded slum areas in the capital, Manila.
Officials announced on Saturday that a night curfew would be introduced in Manila, and said that people should only leave their homes during the daytime for work or urgent errands.
“If you’ll go to work, go. If you need to go out for medical treatment, go. If you’ll buy food, go, but other than that, stay home,” the interior secretary, Eduardo Año, told a news conference.
He said the public should “practice social distancing”, though doing so will be a struggle for the poorest residents who live in cramped housing with poor sanitation.
Metro Manila, which includes 16 cities, has an official population of 12 million but the real figure, including informal settlers, is believed to be much higher.
The curfew is in addition to wider measures due to be introduced on Sunday, including a ban on domestic land, sea and air travel to and from Metro Manila. Mass gatherings will be stopped and schools closed.
Foreigners traveling from countries where there is local transmission of the disease – at least 65 nations, including the UK – will also be banned from entering the country.
Guardian
Rwanda has confirmed its first case of coronavirus.
The health ministry has announced the first confirmed case of coronavirus in Rwanda.
The patient is an Indian citizen who arrived in Rwanda from Mumbai on 8 March, the health ministry said on Saturday.
RwandAir, Rwanda’s national airline, announced it was suspending all flights to India until 30 April and would refund customers.
Rwanda’s case means that 19 African countries have now got coronavirus cases.
Other African nations to have reported cases of the virus include Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Algeria, Senegal, Togo, Cameroon, Burkina Faso, Democratic Republic of Congo, South Africa, Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Sudan, Kenya and Ethiopia.
British GP Sarah Jarvis has said she is doubtful about the UK government’s response to coronavirus.
Herd immunity works on the idea that if enough of the population become infected with a disease, they will become immune, and unable to transmit further.
“We’ve traditionally said we need about 90% herd immunity for it to work,” she said, speaking on Sky News. The government have put the estimated figure for coronavirus at 60% of the population.
“The issue we’ve got is this is a new virus and we don’t know if people will retain immunity,” she said. Whilst it is thought not to be possible to get infected twice, it is unclear how long immunity lasts.
The herd immunity approach is unlike that used in other parts of Europe, and has been thrown into doubt by the WHO.
Guardian
Latvia will also close its borders to all foreigners from Tuesday to stop the spread of the outbreak.
Latvia has banned all public gatherings of more than 50 people, its prime minister, Arturs Krišjānis Kariņš, has announced.
There are more than 2,200 coronavirus cases in the US but the country has not yet “reached peak” of the outbreak, according to top infectious disease expert Dr Anthony Fauci.
Guardian
I am very scared for the people of Africa, Latin America and the homeless. Hopefully we can shut this down here as soon as possible and send resources there if needed.
I was curious about the same thing earlier; a quick search revealed that many anti-vaxxers are worried any eventual vaccine will be mandatory!
What I didn’t see answered was whether or not they’re taking any precautions against covid-19 or just going about their business as usual. If they’re consistent, then they probably view the whole thing as a non-issue.
Unfortunately sometimes reality has a way of steamrolling fantasy, and I suspect covid-19 is going to squash the talk track of many people who think it’s all a big uproar over nothing.
ITALY - New cases rose by 3,497 to 17,660 and new deaths rose by 175 to 1,441 from 1,266 on Friday. Yesterday’s change was: 2,547 new cases and 250 deaths.
IRAN - 1,365 new cases totaling 12,729 and 97 new cases totaling 611.
Florida reports 25 new cases and 1 additional death
Florida said there were 25 new people who tested positive for the coronavirus, and one additional death. “One Orange County, FL resident tested positive for COVID-19 while traveling and has died in California,” the health department tweeted.
According to the latest data from the health department, at least 3 Florida residents have died from the flu-like disease that has spread rapidly across the world. CNBC
NY will require insurance companies to waive co-pays for telehealth visits
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that the State Department of Financial Services will require insurance companies to waive co-pays for telehealth visits.
The new policy will encourage people to seek medical help from their homes, reduce strain on the healthcare system and prevent the virus from spreading, according to the governor.
New York has also been authorized to open a drive-through testing center on Long Island in the coming week. New Rochelle, N.Y., which has a containment zone in response to multiple cases of the virus, had a mobile testing facility open Friday.
Cuomo also confirmed 100 additional cases of the coronavirus, bringing the statewide total to 524 confirmed cases. (CNBC)
Massachusetts is temporarily suspending operation at its casino properties
The Massachusetts Gaming Commission voted to temporarily suspend operation at the state’s three casino properties: Encore Boston Harbor, MGM Springfield and Plainridge Park Casino.
“This decision will be re-assessed in two weeks,” the commission said in a statement, “while an orderly shutdown process is actively underway.” It expects the gaming floor to be closed to patrons at 5:59 a.m. on March 15, 2020.
MGM is temporarily closing Empire City Casino in NY, furloughs and layoffs to come next week
MGM will temporarily close Empire City Casino in Yonkers, New York, effective today. It also suspended operations of all nightclubs and day clubs, and all spas and salons will be suspended as of Monday.
In a letter to employees, Bill Hornbuckle, President and COO of MGM Resorts International, announced that furloughs and layoffs will begin next week.
“As the nation grapples with the effort to contain the coronavirus, the travel industry has been challenged, and our company is no different,” he wrote. “Business demand has decreased significantly.“
The letter came after “several of our employees have tested presumptive positive for the coronavirus, and we expect that there will be more in the coming days,” added Hornbuckle.
CNBC
Restaurants, cafes and concert venues are getting pummeled
Servino Ristorante, an upscale Italian restaurant in Tiburon, California, is a short drive or ferry ride from San Francisco, where scores of software and internet companies have emerged over the past decade.
Normally the 42-year-old restaurant, with picturesque views of the Bay, benefits from the thriving local tech economy. But with companies including , and instructing their employees to amid concerns about the spreading coronavirus, Servino has to figure out how to survive a looming crisis.
Corporate events in the banquet hall have all been canceled, said Natale Servino, general manager of the family-owned business. And there’s been a big dip in diners coming in from San Francisco.
For people with full-time salaried jobs that come with health coverage and paid leave, the current state of affairs is very inconvenient, and many retirement accounts are looking scary. But for those working at businesses like Servino, who are facing either dramatically reduced income or the prospect of having to find childcare should their kids’ school close, the potential impact of the coronavirus is dire. It may be hard to pay rent or put food on the table. CNBC
Earlier:
“Jim Bakker selling fake coronavirus cures”
Now:
“Alex Jones Is Told to Stop Selling Sham Anti-Coronavirus Toothpaste”
The bill passed by the House last night exempts companies with more than 500 employees from the paid sick leave requirement.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/14/opinion/coronavirus-pelosi-sick-leave.html
This is disappointing.
Another thing I’m worried about is this: the paid sick leave can only be had if a patient tests positive for covid19. But if there are so many people who aren’t being tested or being denied tests, how will that actually work?
I think this is doubtful. Youngest son has been sharing a bit of what has been posted on a site he watches due to his super “green” nature. We (both) get a chuckle about some of the theories out there, though it’s a bit sobering to realize people actually believe what they post.
One can be super “green” and not believe that nonsense BTW.
Someone sent this to me:
The World Health Organization has announced that dogs cannot contract COVID-19.
Dogs previously held in quarantine can now be released.
To be clear, WHO let the dogs out.
