(AP/CNN) - Washington state has reported a 10th death from the new coronavirus and California announced its first.
A worker at the Life Care Center in Kirkland, Wash., near Seattle, wears a mask as she leaves the building, Monday, March 2, 2020. Several of the people who have died in Washington state from the COVID-19 coronavirus were tied to the long-term care facility, where dozens of residents were sick. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)
Officials in Placer County, northwest of Sacramento, said Wednesday an elderly adult who tested positive for COVID-19 after returning from a San Francisco-to-Mexico cruise had died. They said the victim had underlying health conditions.
Amazon said earlier this week that two of its employees in Milan, Italy have contracted the virus and are quarantined.
“We’re supporting the affected employee who is in quarantine,” the online retailer said in a statement.
As the coronavirus spread through Asia officials closed the schools in China, Japan and Hong Kong.
At the epicenter of the outbreak in the United States officials in Washington have so far not ordered that schools be shuttered or that activities be canceled.
Washington state reported a total of nine deaths, and and most were residents of a nursing home in suburban Seattle.
There have been at least 27 reported cases in the Seattle area.
Washington state and Seattle have declared emergencies, which gives leaders broad powers to suspend activities. But so far no direct orders have been issued.
The U.N. health agency says about 3.4% of people infected with the virus COVID-19 globally have died, making it more fatal than the common flu.
China’s deaths caused by virus surpass 3,000
China's deaths from the new COVID-19 illness have surpassed 3,000 though new cases have fallen steadily.
Authorities on Thursday reported 31 deaths over the previous 24 hours.
Another 139 cases of infection with the new coronavirus were reported, all but five of them in the hardest-hit province of Hubei.
While Hubei hospitals admitted another 134 patients, a further 1,923 were declared cured and released.
The update brings China's totals to 80,409 cases and 3,012 deaths. It has the vast majority of cases and deaths though the virus has spread to more than 70 countries.
China’s numbers have fallen steadily. Though Thursday’s cases were up by 20 from Wednesday’s, deaths were seven lower.
House passes bipartisan $8.3B bill to battle coronavirus
The House has easily passed an $8.3 billion measure to battle the coronavirus outbreak in the U.S. The sweeping bipartisan vote came just nine days after President Donald Trump requested action.
The legislation more than triples the $2.5 billion plan unveiled by Trump just last week. It would speed development of vaccines and new medicines to battle the virus, pay for containment operations, and beef up preparedness.
Trump is expected to sign the measure, which has the blessing of top Republicans.
Next up is the GOP-controlled Senate, which hopes to pass the bill Thursday for Trump’s signature.
Virus death rate still uncertain as mild cases are missed
The World Health Organization says globally, about 3.4% of people known to have the new coronavirus have died so far.
That’s a higher death rate than flu, but far lower than the new virus’ infamous cousin, SARS.
But it’s too early to know if the death rate really is that high — because as cases pop up in new places, the first to get counted are the sickest.
To tell, health authorities will have to get a better handle on how many people have mild cases of COVID-19. And they think a lot of those people are going uncounted right now.
United is first to cut US flying due to virus outbreak
United Airlines is cutting back on flights both internationally and within the United States as it grapples with lower travel demand because of the new virus outbreak.
United is also asking employees to volunteer for unpaid time off. The news on Wednesday is the clearest yet of the damage that the coronavirus outbreak is having on the U.S. airline industry.
The CEOs of several airlines went to the White House to discuss the impact of the outbreak on travel.
The administration is seeking the airlines' help in tracing travelers who might have come in contact with people ill with COVID-19.
New York cases increase to 6
Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced that the number of confirmed cases in New York has increased to six, with four newly confirmed cases tied to a hospitalized 50-year-old New Rochelle man.
They include the man’s wife, two of his children and a neighbor who drove him to the hospital.
Yeshiva University, where one of the children is a student, said it’s canceling classes at the upper Manhattan campus where he is enrolled.
The family has been quarantined at home in suburban Westchester County. The neighbor is also self-quarantined at home.
“There is no cause for undue anxiety,” the governor said.
6 new cases in Los Angeles County
A U.S. health official says six new cases of the coronavirus have been confirmed in Los Angeles County, where there was one previously.
Each case confirmed Tuesday night was due to a known exposure and not the result of community transmission, according to Dr. Barbara Ferrer, director of the county Department of Public Health. She spoke at a press conference on Wednesday.
She says one person has been hospitalized and five others were in self-quarantine at home.
The county’s first case was in January, a person who lived in Wuhan, China, the epicenter of the outbreak. She says that person is no longer infectious.
Companies trim outlooks, travel and staff as virus spreads
General Electric is cutting its profit expectations, Starbucks big annual meeting will go virtual, and companies are reporting illnesses among workers.
The spread of the novel coronavirus is having a broad impact on supply chains, communications and staffing as the virus shifts westward.
GE became the latest to trim expectations, saying Wednesday that outbreak could have a negative impact of about $300 million to $500 million on its first-quarter industrial free cash flow.
Operating profit for the period could be hurt by about $200 million to $300 million.
The International Air Transport Association says the virus outbreak hit passenger flight demand in January, slowing monthly growth to its lowest level since April 2010, when a volcano erupted in Iceland, causing massive airspace closures and days of travel chaos in Europe.
The group says year-on-year growth in December 2019 was 4.6%. In January 2020, growth in passenger traffic was only up 2.4% compared to a year ago.
IATA, which represents some 290 airlines making up most of the world’s air traffic, said that figures for January this year would only represent the “tip of the iceberg” as China only began imposing major travel restrictions toward the end of the month.
Domestic air traffic in China fell 6.8% in January, year-on-year, as a result of the coronavirus restrictions.
Trump donating quarterly salary to HHS in support of virus efforts
President Donald Trump is donating his quarterly salary to efforts to stop the growing coronavirus outbreak.
On Tuesday, the White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham tweeted a picture of this check along with the announcement.
She says the president is giving the $100,000 to "support the efforts being undertaken to confront, contain and combat coronavirus."
The money will go to the Department of Health and Human Services.
When he took office, the president pledged to donate his salary. He has since given it to various government agencies including Homeland Security, Transportation and Veterans Affairs.
China infections drop as rates surge in other areas
Public health authorities say China’s coronavirus experience offers a sliver of hope for how it might play out in the rest of the world.
There are now more new cases being reported outside China than within, and that could be a sign that containment elsewhere will eventually be possible.
China used drastic measures, including mass quarantines that other countries may try to avoid. How quickly less harsh methods will control the global outbreak is unknown.
A Beijing-based intensive care doctor now working in Wuhan – the city at the epicenter of China’s coronavirus outbreak – says designated hospitals in the city are seeing an increasing number of empty beds after a large number of virus patients were discharged.
Du Bin added, however, that there’s always the possibility of another spike in new cases.
Du said Wednesday that a major cause of deaths in younger patients may have been the prolonged application of certain high-dosage treatments that ended up causing more harm than good.
Cao Bin, a doctor specializing in respiratory research who is also currently in Wuhan, told reporters, “The war is not over.”
Cao said Chinese researchers have led initial clinical trials of two antiviral drugs and will soon share the results of the trials with the World Health Organization.
As China’s new infections drop, three countries are emerging as major trouble areas — South Korea, Italy and Iran.
South Korea is struggling to find enough hospital beds for its sick as the virus outbreak there worsens. The country reported 435 new cases, pushing its total to 5,621 — the second-highest total after China.
Iran says the new coronavirus has killed 92 people amid 2,922 confirmed cases across the Islamic Republic. A Health Ministry spokesman announced the new figures at a news conference Wednesday in Tehran.
There are now over 3,140 cases of the new virus across the Mideast. Of those outside Iran in the region, most link back to the Islamic Republic. The virus has sickened top leaders inside Iran’s civilian government and Shiite theocracy.
Iranian state television says Friday prayers have been canceled across all provincial capitals amid the country’s growing coronavirus outbreak.
The report Wednesday comes as Tehran and other areas canceled Friday prayers last week over the outbreak.
Italy eyes plan to close all schools for 2 weeks
Italian media say the Italian government has ordered schools nationwide to close for the next two weeks to limit the spread of the coronavirus, but the country's education minister says a final decision on the closure not yet been confirmed.
State-run RAI, the ANSA and LaPresse news agencies reported Wednesday that Italian Premier Giuseppe Conte had agreed on the closure during a cabinet meeting. But Education Minister Lucia Azzolina told reporters that nothing is final yet.
Italy has seen its virus caseload explode since the first positive test was registered in northern Lombardy on Feb. 19. Since then, more than 2,500 people in Italy have tested positive, and 79 have died. Italy is the epicenter of Europe's outbreak.
In the early days of the outbreak, officials closed schools in Lombardy and Veneto, the two hardest-hit regions. Over the weekend, they closed schools in Emilia Romagna.
Virus halts pilgrimages to Mecca, Friday prayers in Iran
The coronavirus outbreak is disrupting Islamic worship in the Middle East. Saudi Arabia banned its citizens and other residents of the kingdom from performing the pilgrimage in Mecca and Iran canceled Friday prayers in major cities.
The decisions affected both Sunni and Shiite Muslims alike.
The Saudi Interior Ministry did not say how long it will stand. Last week, Saudi Arabia closed off the holiest sites in Islam to foreign pilgrims over the virus.
That disrupted travel for thousands of Muslims already headed to the kingdom and potentially affected plans later this year for millions more ahead of the fasting month of Ramadan and the annual hajj pilgrimage.
Germany, other nations ban exports of protective gear, including masks
The expanding problem in Europe and beyond has led some governments to try to control supplies of necessities. The Czech, Russian and German governments announced bans Wednesday covering various protective gear like masks.
India, meantime, has tightened exports of 26 key drug ingredients used in pharmaceutical manufacturing, a potentially disruptive move taken as its caseload rose to 28 from an earlier tally of just 5.
Indian Health Minister Harsh Vardhan says an earlier COVID-19 patient who had traveled to Italy led to the confirmation of six other infections.
Another cluster of cases that emerged centered around a large group of Italian tourists who had entered India on Feb. 21.
India also announced Wednesday that it has imposed universal screening of all passengers on international flights.
Louvre bans cash over virus fears
The Louvre museum in Paris is temporarily no longer accepting cash as part of new measures adopted to persuade employees worried about catching the coronavirus to return to work Wednesday.
Staff members at the world's most-visited museum walked off the job on Sunday.
Fears that banknotes might be vectors of disease aren't restricted to workers at the home of Leonardo da Vinci's "Mona Lisa" and other famous masterpieces.
Workers at the Versailles Palace and the Eiffel Tower also are concerned about handling cash and tickets during the virus epidemic, but both popular tourist attractions still take banknotes for now.
Public health historian Patrick Zylberman says the fear of getting diseases from money are age-old.
More virus cases linked to UAE Tour as riders face isolation
Six more people with links to the canceled UAE Tour cycling race have been infected with the virus spreading around the world.
The Ministry of Health in the United Arab Emirates says two Russians, two Italians, one German and one Colombian have been diagnosed with the virus. They were all linked to two previous cases involving Italians.
Rider Igor Boev of the Gazprom-RusVelo team told Russian news agency RIA Novosti that he was in the hospital after being diagnosed.
Boev said he was waiting for more test results and said the hospital food was “more than fine for a normal person but not enough for a pro rider.”
Copyright 2020 Associated Press and CNN. All rights reserved. Gray Media Group, Inc. contributed to this report.
