A cruise ship remains at arms length from San Francisco and the number of confirmed cases of coronavirus in Washington state ballooned to 70 on Thursday – pushing the U.S. total close to 200 – as the global struggle against the outbreak intensified.
The nation’s death toll remained at 11, 10 of them in Washington. Fifty-one of the confirmed cases are in King County, home to Seattle, where nine of the deaths have occurred, state health officials said. Many of the cases have stemmed from an outbreak at Life Care Center of Kirkland.
Nearby Snohomish County had 18 cases and Grant County, in the central part of the state, reported its first case Thursday.
More than 3,300 deaths and almost 100,000 cases have been confirmed worldwide, the vast majority of them in mainland China.
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Here’s the latest on the outbreak of COVID-19:
Cruise ship kept away from San Francisco
A cruise ship remained off the coast of California amid concerns its 3,500 passengers and crew may have been exposed to the coronavirus. California Gov. Gavin Newsom said the ship was sailing with 62 passengers who had been on the ship’s previous voyage with a 71-year-old man who eventually died from the virus.
The current cruise was scheduled to arrive in San Francisco on Wednesday but will not return to port until testing can take place, Newsom said. More than 20 passengers and crew members have developed symptoms consistent with COVID-19. Test kits were being flown onto the ship to test them and scores of others on board, the governor said.
The man died in Placer County, near Sacramento, representing the first U.S. fatality outside of Washington state.
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WHO: No pandemic; nations must ‘pull out all the stops’
The director of the World Health Organization urged all nations Thursday to “pull out all the stops” in the fight against the coronavirus and reiterated that the global outbreak is not a pandemic. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the situation in China, the epicenter for the outbreak, continues to improve, and that many countries still have few or no cases. But Tedros said some countries have not made adequate preparations for an outbreak. And he stressed that while public health assets must be directed at treatment, containment of the outbreak remains important.
“If we get there, we will say it,” Tedros said of a pandemic. “We should not give up on containment strategies. WHO is saying ‘Don’t give up, don’t surrender.'”
Trump credits his own efforts, questions WHO stats
President Donald Trump tweeted a pat on the back to his own administration for efforts to combat the coronavirus: “With approximately 100,000 CoronaVirus cases worldwide, and 3,280 deaths, the United States, because of quick action on closing our borders, has, as of now, only 129 cases (40 Americans brought in) and 11 deaths. We are working very hard to keep these numbers as low as possible!”
Trump earlier dismissed a World Health Organization report estimating the death rate at 3.4%, telling Fox News that people with mild symptoms don’t get tested and thus skew the data. That issue is frequently raised by health officials estimating the lethality of the outbreak. Trump estimated the true rate at less than 1%.
Tennessee, reeling from tornado, now has virus case
Tennessee, still recovering from a series of tornadoes and storms that killed 25 people and destroyed hundreds of homes and businesses, now is faced with its first case of coronavirus. Gov. Bill Lee announced the first confirmed case in the state. The patient, a 44-year-old Williamson County man with a recent history of out-of-state travel, is currently quarantined at home with mild symptoms, the Tennessee Department of Health said.
“We prepared early,” Lee said. “We continue to remain confident in our ability and in the measures we are taking to prevent the spread of this infection.”
– Brett Kelman and Joel Ebert, Nashville Tennessean
Airlines could lose $113 billion in revenue
The coronavirus outbreak could cost airlines up to $113 billion in 2020 global revenue, The International Air Transport Association estimated. IATA said losses would reach at least $63 billion even if COVID-19 is contained in current markets.
“The turn of events as a result of COVID-19 is almost without precedent,” CEO Alexandre de Juniac said. “In little over two months, the industry’s prospects in much of the world have taken a dramatic turn for the worse.”
Seattle-area district closes schools for 22,000 students
A suburban Seattle school district closed all its schools for 14 days in an effort to slow the coronavirus outbreak that has infiltrated King and Snohomish counties. In a lengthy letter posted to the Northshore School District website and emailed to all parents on Wednesday night, Superintendent Michelle Reid said she arrived at her decision with support from local leaders, describing the move as a “strategic approach” for the health and well-being of staff and the district’s 22,000 students.
US schools are in a ‘state of alert’ amid coronavirus outbreak:Are they overreacting – or not doing enough?
Amtrak takes action to combat coronavirus threat
Amtrak is intensifying its cleaning protocol for trains and stations and waiving reservation change fees through the end of April. The rail service issued a statement detailing the increased cleaning measures as a safety move, adding that it has had no confirmed cases of coronavirus exposure to passengers and employees and there are no current travel restrictions.
Amtrak says it plans to accelerate cleaning frequency on trains and at stations, sometimes on an hourly basis. Additional antibacterial products, including sanitizers and wipes, will be provided at stations, on trains and in employee work areas.
– Bill Keveney
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Dogs and cats can’t pass coronavirus to humans
Hong Kong’s Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Departments has concluded that pet cats and dogs cannot pass the new coronavirus on to humans, but they can test positive for low levels of the pathogen if they catch it from their owners. This comes after a quarantined dog tested weakly positive for the virus Feb. 27, Feb. 28 and March 2.
Health experts in Hong Kong have agreed that the dog has a low-level of infection and it is “likely to be a case of human-to-animal transmission.” The dog will be tested again before being released. The department suggested any pets, including dogs and cats, from households where someone has tested positive for the virus should be put into quarantine.
– Adrianna Rodriguez
Iran: Put down that paper money
Iranian authorities ordered all educational and cultural institutions closed across the nation through the Persian New Year on March 20 and urged citizens not to use paper money as the coronavirus death toll rose to 107. More than 3,500 cases of the virus have been confirmed there. Officials also have set up checkpoints to limit travel between major cities.Tehran announced that all the city’s public places, including the metro trains and buses, are being disinfected hourly.
How many cases of coronavirus in the US, and where?
There were about 200 confirmed cases across more than 15 states as of Thursday afternoon, according to a coronavirus dashboard run by Johns Hopkins University. That number is expected to rise, as the CDC has expanded its testing efforts and encouraged more testing at health centers across the country. Common signs of infection include fever, cough and breathing difficulties. If the infection worsens, it can cause pneumonia, severe acute respiratory syndrome, kidney failure and death.
What’s the worldwide coronavirus death toll?
The global death toll was at least 3,347 Thursday afternoon, with more than 2,900 in mainland China, where the outbreak began in the bustling capital of the country’s Hubei province, Wuhan. The worldwide count of confirmed cases was at 97,840.
Map of US coronavirus cases
Here’s a look at how coronavirus is spreading in the U.S.
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