So is it just me… but in Presidents Trump speech today about having only 10 people in one location and being like 6 feet apart… Take another look at it… At least 10 people on the stage and Dr Fauci is like almost cheek to cheek with the other female Dr. Very close… They are all very close to get into the “shot” for Trump. Hmm…
I think the group is starting to get it’s act together. If dr Fauci was ok with it for the important info it’s probably ok. But optics aren’t great. I do care more about what they are doing and there must be some screening being done. Who knows.
^Saw a meme that noted there were 16.
At least they weren’t shaking hands today! But very valid point.
Top 10 and some bigger movers today, overall or percentage-wise
CHINA - 21 new cases totaling 80,881 and 13 new deaths totaling 3,226.
930 new discharges
ITALY - 3,233 new cases totaling 27,980 and 349 new deaths totaling 2,158.
IRAN - 1,053 new cases totaling 14,991 and 129 new deaths totaling 853.
SPAIN - 1,954 new cases totaling 9,942 and 48 new deaths totaling 342.
S. KOREA - 158 new cases totaling 8,320 and 6 new deaths totaling 75.
GERMANY - 1,428 new cases totaling 7,241 and 2 new deaths totaling 15.
FRANCE - 1,210 new cases totaling 6,633 and 21 new deaths totaling 148.
**USA - 987 new deaths totaling 4,667 and 19 new deaths totaling 87.
Trump releases new guidelines for the next 15 days to slow coronavirus spread:
- Americans are urged to stay home and work from home if possible
- people should avoid non-essential contacts with others and non-essential travel
- everyone should avoid eating in restaurants and bars
- no social gatherings with more than 10 people
- Governors are urged to close schools in states with ‘evidence of community transmission’
- the guidelines will be reviewed in 15 days
UK - 152 new cases totaling 1,543 and 20 new deaths totaling 55.
NETHERLANDS - 278 new cases totaling 1,413 and 4 new deaths totaling 24.
BELGIUM - 172 new cases totaling 1,058 and 6 new deaths totaling 10.
AUSTRIA - 158 new cases totaling 1,018 and 2 new deaths totaling 3.
MALAYSIA - 138 new cases totaling 566.
CANADA - 100 new cases totaling 441 and 3 new deaths totaling 4.
CZECH REPUBLIC - 51 new cases totaling 344.
PORTUGAL - 86 cases totaling 331. 1st death.
ISRAEL - 85 new cases totaling 298.
PAKISTAN - 131 new cases totaling 184. 1st death.
POLAND - 52 new cases totaling 177 and 1 new death totaling 4.
CHILE - 81 new cases totaling 156.
RUSSIA - 30 new cases totaling 93.
ECUADOR - 21 new cases totaling 58.
COLOMBIA - 20 new cases totaling 54.
1st cases confirmed - Cayman Islands (and first death), Benin, Greenland, Liberia, Somalia, Tanzania.
Agreed. I just watched the whole thing. Stayed away from politics, despite a couple reporters trying to bait him.
All of those people on the stage have been tested.
So I am watching CNN and Amanpour. She is interviewing experts in the UK on the virus. First off the experts are women ???. But even bad news sounds so much better with a British accent 
.
Monaco’s state minister tests positive for coronavirus
From CNN’s Mohammed Tawfeeq in Atlanta and Duarte Mendonça in London
Serge Telle, the state minister of Monaco, has tested positive for the coronavirus, according to the principality’s Ministry of Health.
Health authorities were informed Monday morning about the test results, according to a statement from the ministry.
An epidemiological investigation is underway to trace Telle’s movements in the past few days, according to the statement.
He is not showing any major symptoms, and is quarantined at home, where he’s continuing his professional activities through video conference.
Hong Kong will require all arrivals from foreign countries to undergo quarantine
From CNN’s Karina Tsui and Eric Cheung in Hong Kong
Hong Kong will require all arriving travelers from foreign countries to be quarantined for 14 days at home, Chief Executive Carrie Lam announced during a weekly press briefing today.
The city will also issue a red outbound travel alert on all foreign countries with the exception of mainland China, Taiwan, and Macao, she said.
Currently, Hong Kong requires anyone traveling from mainland China to the city to self-quarantine at home for 14 days.
The new measures will take effect on Thursday, and will affect both residents and non-residents.
“We are an aviation hub and we have tens and thousands of students studying overseas. We’re giving them until Thursday to make their way home," said Lam.
Rise in imported cases: This comes as the number of imported cases have risen in recent days. In the past two weeks, 50 of the 57 new cases reported have been imported to Hong Kong from overseas, Lam said.
The city now has a total of 157 cases.
Lam urged travelers to practice personal hygiene and wear face masks during the journey, and said the government would provide airlines with masks to prevent a possible shortage.
She also spoke about extending existing measures as the pandemic stretches on; schools have been closed for months now, and are unlikely to fully reopen in the next month as previously planned, Lam said.
Dollar General to dedicate first hour of shopping to elderly customers amid pandemic
The US chain Dollar General is dedicating its first open hour every day to “senior shoppers” in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
The new modified hours will begin on Tuesday local time, the Dollar General Corporation said in a statement.
The measures are to meet the needs of more elderly shoppers, “who are one of the groups most vulnerable to the Covid-19 coronavirus,” the statement said.
“In keeping with the Company’s mission of Serving Others, Dollar General wants to provide these at-risk customers with the ability to purchase the items they need and want at the beginning of each day to avoid busier and more crowded shopping periods.” (CNN)
Colorado shuts down public spaces and restricts restaurants from serving food
Colorado is closing all gyms, theaters, and casinos, and placing restrictions on bars and restaurants, the state’s Department of Public Health and Environment announced on Monday.
Food establishments aren’t allowed to serve food and drink on premises, but can do so through delivery, takeout, and drive-through service.
The new measures will go into effect on Wednesday morning local time, for 30 days.
“We understand the gravity of this public health order, and the disruption it will cause,” said Jill Hunsaker Ryan, executive director of the Department of Public Health and Environment.
“But we are weighing this disruption against the need to save lives. Based on the experience of other countries, the state of Washington, and modeling data, the sooner we begin social distancing measures on a large enough scale, the more quickly we can slow transmission of the virus, which translates into less people requiring hospitalization at the same time and more lives saved.”
Venezuela announces nationwide “social quarantine” to contain coronavirus
From CNN’s Abel Alvarez and Jackie Castillo in Atlanta
Venezuela’s embattled President Nicolas Maduro announced a nationwide quarantine during a televised coronavirus briefing earlier today.
The “social quarantine” will go into effect 5 a.m. local time Tuesday, Maduro said in the briefing.
“We are trying to get ahead of this crisis,” Maduro said. "If we don’t get a hold of it and stop it, it could severely damage our community.”
Police, health officials, and local governments will work together to enforce the quarantine, according to a statement from the presidential press office.
Venezuela has 33 coronavirus cases, according to Maduro.
US Navy sailor tests positive for the coronavirus
From CNN’s Ryan Browne
A US Navy sailor in San Diego has tested positive for the coronavirus, according to a statement from the Navy.
He is stationed at Naval Base Point Loma, and is in quarantine at his residence. People who have been in close contact with him are also self-isolating as military health officials conduct further contact tracing, said the statement.
I’m almost positive that Pence stated during the press conference that he and his wife have NOT been tested. I even made a comment to my husband right after he stated that.
On the bright side…
The Isis terrorist group is steering clear of Europe because of the coronavirus. Having previously urged its supporters to attack European cities, the group is now advising members to “stay away from the land of the epidemic” in case they become infected.
The group has issued a new set of “sharia directives” that instruct followers to “cover their mouths when yawning and sneezing” and to wash their hands regularly.
The Philippine Stock Exchange was closed with no trading Tuesday after the president placed the northern part of the country including Manila in quarantine.
The exchange’s CEO said the end of trading activity would be “until further notice.”
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte placed the northern third of the country under an “enhanced community quarantine” that requires millions of people to stay mostly at home in an attempt to contain the coronavirus.
Most office work and mass transit on Luzon Island, including Manila, will be suspended for a month. Public movement will be restricted and large gatherings banned except for medical and other emergencies.
Banks, hospitals, drugstores and supermarkets will remain open but only one family member can make such trips and should observe “social distancing.”
The Philippines has 142 cases of infection. The 12 deaths due to Covid-19 are the most in Southeast Asia.
Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri said he had tested positive for the virus, becoming the highest Philippine official to be infected.
Australia looking into mass testing process
Australia’s health minister, Greg Hunt, says the country now has 375 confirmed cases of coronavirus.
He also says the country is looking at developing a mass testing process.
“We have actually one of the most advanced testing regimes in the world. We have had over 30,000 tests conducted in Australia, and I expect new figures in the next 24 hours which will be significantly in advance of that,” he says.
Testing is one of his “absolute highest priorities” and he is working with the Doherty Institute to look at how to “expand beyond the individual tests,” he says.
“They are looking at ways of expediting the testing process, and, indeed, some significant new mass testing processes over and above what we’re doing.”
China’s state planner says economy will return to normal in second quarter
China’s economy will return to normal in the second quarter as government support measures to mitigate the impact of the coronavirus epidemic take effect, the state planner said on Tuesday.
Officials from the National Development and Reform Commission also told reporters during a briefing that China has ample policy tools and will roll out relevant measures at an appropriate time.
Wuhan, the central Chinese city that was at one time the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak, where the viral illness was first detected in December, was down to just one new case on Tuesday.
UN Security Council halts meetings due to coronavirus
The UN Security Council called off its remaining two remaining meetings for the week, Agence France-Presse reports.
“Council members will maintain communication and consultation on issues on the agenda with a view to taking necessary actions as needed to fulfil the Council’s mandate,” a spokesperson for the mission said in a statement.
A Philippines delegate at the UN tested positive to Covid-19 last week.
Japan’s prime minister, Shinzo Abe, has said that other Group of Seven leaders had agreed to support a “complete” Olympics in Tokyo, as speculation mounts that the coronavirus pandemic could force the Games to be postponed.
Abe said he had told other G7 leaders during their video conference on Monday night: “We are doing everything in our power to prepare, and we want to aim for a complete event as proof that mankind can defeat the new coronavirus.”
He said other leaders had backed his plan, but he would not be drawn on whether their discussions had touched on a possible postponement.
Abe was speaking after the head of the French Olympic committee, Denis Masseglia, said the Olympics would not be able to open as scheduled on 24 July unless the coronavirus outbreak had peaked by the end of May.
“My feeling is that if we’re still in the crisis by the end of May, I can’t see how the Games can happen (on time),” Masseglia told Reuters in Paris. “If we are beyond the peak and the situation is getting better questions will arise about who qualifies, but we will find the least worst solution.”
The International Olympic Committee, which has publicly supported Japan’s insistence that the Games will go ahead as planned, is due to talk to international sports federations on Tuesday, and national Olympic committees the following day.
Tokyo 2020 preparations suffered more disruption this week after organisers said spectators would be asked not to turn out to watch the first part of the Japan leg of the Olympic torch relay, which is due to begin on 26 March. Organisers are expected to ask people not to line the route as the torch passes through the first three of the country’s 47 prefectures, the Kyodo news agency said.
The flame was lit last week in Olympia in a low-key ceremony that was closed to members of the public. The Greek leg of the relay was called off the following day over coronavirus fears, and restrictions will be in place when the flame arrives in Japan at the end of this week.
While Japan has reported comparatively few cases of the virus, some Tokyo residents said they were worried by the prospect of people arriving from overseas to watch the Games.
“To be honest, even if Japan overcomes this crisis, we wouldn’t (want to) receive visitors from the world. I think we’d better not hold it,” Koki Miura, an employee at an internet company, told Agence France-Presse. “We cannot sacrifice people’s lives” for the sake of the Olympics, Miura added.
Public opinion in Japan appears to be hardening against holding the Olympics in the capital in less than four months’ time. In a poll by public broadcaster NHK conducted March 6-9, 45% were opposed to going ahead as planned, with 40% in favour. In a Kyodo survey released on Monday, 69.9% of respondents said they did not believe the Games would be held on schedule.
Guardian
However, if they just move the date later (rather than convert to all mail-in or some such), the risk could be even greater then.
978 new positives? Not deaths.
Except that if other countries are no longer buying what China sells because they are locked down or have gone into economic downturn, that may not be so “normal”.
.
“**USA - 987 new deaths totaling 4,667 and 19 new deaths totaling 87.”
I’m sure everyone probably gets that doschicos meant cases but to make sure anyone misses it is 19 deaths. Not 987.
China has begun using Xiaotangshan Hospital in Beijing to screen and test people arriving from overseas for Covid-19 . It was originally built to combat Sars in 2003 and has more than 1,000 beds.
Google delays its rollout of a coronavirus website
From CNN’s Brian Fung
Google will delay the rollout of an informational coronavirus website until later this week, instead of a Monday launch date, the company said.
"With local and national guidance evolving rapidly, Google will continue working with relevant agencies and authorities to roll out a website later this week that will surface authoritative information for people in the US, including on screening and testing,” Google said in a statement.
What the website will not have: Despite the reference to screening and testing, Google still does not appear to be developing a nationwide tool to directly survey patients for their symptoms and guide them to testing sites, as the Trump administration has claimed in recent days.
What it will have: The website is expected to display information about how Americans can access screening, and list other information about local testing sites.
It will also include a link to the CDC’s own screening tool, which is under development.
Why the rollout is delayed: Google says it’s still waiting on more information about local testing sites.
Don’t get confused: Google’s sister company Verily also just launched a website that guides Californian users to testing locations in the San Francisco Bay Area. Verily has said it hopes to expand its tool, but has not issued a timeframe for its deployment.
The two websites were the subject of great confusion after President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence announced that Google is working on a tool that will direct Americans to local testing sites. But Google’s announcement, including its remarks Monday evening, stop short of meeting that description.
[ so everything is under development ]
^Which is the website with 1700 engineers working on it?
Neither I am sure.
There’s an unlikely benefactor of coronavirus: the planet
From CNN’s Rebecca Wright
Factories were shuttered and streets were cleared across China’s Hubei province as authorities ordered residents to stay home to stop the spread of the coronavirus.
It seems the lockdown had an unintended benefit – blue skies.
The average number of “good quality air days” increased 21.5% in February, compared to the same period last year, according to China’s Ministry of Ecology and Environment.
And Hubei wasn’t alone. Satellite images by NASA and the European Space Agency show a dramatic reduction in nitrogen dioxide emissions – those released by vehicles, power plants and industrial facilities – in major Chinese cities between January and February. The visible cloud of toxic gas hanging over industrial powerhouses almost disappeared.
“This is the first time I have seen such a dramatic drop-off over such a wide area for a specific event,” says Fei Liu, an air quality researcher at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. “I am not surprised because many cities nationwide have taken measures to minimize the spread of the virus.”
Coal consumption dropped dramatically. Major coal-fired power stations saw huge drops in consumption, likely because electricity demand is down.
Burning fossil fuels like coal emits carbon dioxide – and emissions were down by at least 25% from February 3 to March 1, according to air pollution research group Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA).
But some are worried that once the coronavirus threat passes, China will be solely focused on restarting its economy, and the pollution will return in full force.
The US has more than 4,400 coronavirus cases and 87 deaths
CNN
There are at least 4,459 cases of the novel coronavirus in the United States, according to state and local health agencies and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
70 cases are repatriated citizens, like those evacuated from China or the Diamond Princess cruise ship in Japan.
4,389 cases were detected, tested, and confirmed in the US.
Washington and New York are the hardest hit states, both with more than 900 cases. California follows with 448 cases.
Only one state has yet to report a coronavirus case – West Virginia.
There have been 87 coronavirus-related deaths in the US.
[Worldometer site is counting 4,712 cases and 91 deaths ]