US pushes to develop rapid COVID-19 detection test
The Trump administration is awarding $1.3 million in federal money to two companies trying to develop rapid COVID-19 tests that could detect whether a person tests positive for the new coronavirus within an hour.
The Department of Health and Human Services says Friday it is awarding $679,000 to DiaSorin Molecular, of Cypress, California, and $598,000 to QIAGEN LLC of Germantown, Maryland, to accelerate development of the tests.
The agency says DiaSorin could potentially be ready within six weeks for consideration by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and the QIAGEN test could be ready within 12 weeks for EUA consideration by the FDA.
The Trump administration has been criticized for its lack of testing for the virus, compared to other nations around the world.
Italy numbers soar overnight
Italy’s coronavirus infections rose by more than 2,500 and virus-related deaths hit biggest single-day jump of 250 overnight.
NY, Texas open drive-through testing sites
New York state opened its first drive-through coronavirus testing center Friday in hard-hit New Rochelle, aiming to break a testing bottleneck that Gov. Andrew Cuomo called a crisis.
The New York six-lane testing center will soon handle 500 people a day, with priority given to residents of the New York City suburb of and surrounding Westchester County, which has been at the center of a cluster of virus cases, Cuomo said.
New York state opened its first drive-through coronavirus testing center Friday in hard-hit New Rochelle, aiming to break a testing bottleneck that Gov. Andrew Cuomo called a crisis.
Texas was opening a drive-through site as well.
Delta cuts flights 40%, says lack of demand worse than 9/11
Delta Air Lines will cut existing flights by 40% to deal with a nosedive in travel demand, and it is talking to the White House and Congress about assistance to get through the downturn.
The 40% cut in passenger-carrying capacity is the largest in Delta’s history, surpassing reductions that were made after the September 2001 terror attacks.
And the outlook for airlines is still getting worse.
“The speed of the demand fall-off is unlike anything we’ve seen – and we’ve seen a lot in our business,” CEO Ed Bastian said in a memo to Delta’s 90,000 employees Friday.
US cities more intensive
U.S. cities are taking more intensive steps to fight the spread of the new coronavirus.
The mayor of Dallas, Texas, has declared a local disaster and the city is banning large gatherings as infections continue to grow.
Dallas County announced five more cases, including one being investigated as community-spread. The Texas state capital of Austin saw its first two virus cases on Friday.
Public schools in Washington D.C. were closed beginning Monday until April 1 affecting some 47,000 students. Fairfax County, Virginia also closed schools on Friday, affecting 180,000 students and will evaluate whether to stay closed after a meeting on Monday.
More sports canceled
The virus was causing more of the sports world to shut down.
The Masters at Augusta, Georgia, was called off Friday morning and the Boston Marathon was rescheduled for Sept. 14.
Meanwhile, infected actor Tom Haks tweeted from Australia to remind the world “there is no crying in baseball,” an iconic phrase from his movie about the women’s professional league in the middle of the 1900s.
— Tom Hanks (@tomhanks) March 13, 2020
Brits urge avoiding parts of Spain
The British government is advising against all but essential travel to the Spanish regions of Madrid, La Rioja and the municipalities of La Bastida, Vitoria and Miranda de Ebro due to the new coronavirus.
With 3,864 infections and 90 deaths, Spain is quickly becoming a new hotspot for the virus in Europe. Madrid, the capital, has been especially hard hit.
Sri Lanka bans travelers from 7 European nations
Sri Lanka civil aviation authorities on Friday imposed a two-week travel ban on passengers from seven European countries: France, Spain, Germany, Switzerland, Denmark, Netherlands and Sweden.
The ban will be effective until March 29. Separately on Friday, authority imposed a two-week travel ban on passengers from South Korea, Italy and Iran. This will be effective until March 28.
The authority is asking all airlines not to board any passengers from those countries or who visited those countries in the last 14 days.
France promises compensation
France is promising to compensate the virus-related salary losses for “99%” of workers, as travel bans, school closures and other measures take a heavy toll on the economy.
It’s part of tens of billions of euros the government says it will stump up as French financial markets plunge and companies curb activity to try to stem the spread of the virus.
“Nobody with a job will lose a cent,” Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said on BFM television Friday.
France is also banning all gatherings of more than 100 people now that the virus has infected more than 2,800 people in the country and is spreading fast.
Prime Minister Edouard Philippe announced the measure Friday, reducing the threshold from a previous level of 1,000 people. The night before, President Emmanuel Macron ordered all schools closed and asked companies to allow workers to stay home.
France is going ahead with nationwide local elections on Sunday but is ordering special measures to keep people at a safe distance.
All Romanian ministers asked to self-isolate
The government of Romania, including all ministers, as well as the leadership of the ruling National Liberal Party and all its senators, have been asked to self-isolate because of the coronavirus.
Friday’s decision comes after a governing party senator, who took part in high-level meetings, was confirmed to be infected.
Prime Minister Ludovic Orban told reporters during a news conference that he will be quarantined in a state-owned villa and the government will still continue to carry out its duties.
Germans pledge $513B
The Germany government is pledging at least 460 billion euros ($513 billion) in guarantees to cope with the economic impact of the coronavirus outbreak.
Germany’s economy minister, Peter Altmaier, said there was no limit to the amount the government was willing to use to support everyone from individuals, such as taxi drivers, to large companies, to prevent the coronavirus pandemic from causing permanent harm to the economy.
Finance Minister Olaf Scholz said the 2008 financial crisis offered lessons for the current situation. “We will use all means at our disposal,” he said Friday at a joint press conference with Altmaier.
Scholz told reporters in Berlin that thanks to careful spending the government was in a position to spend heavily to put in place necessary measures such as tax relief for companies and relaxing labor regulations.
Olympic Flame relay suspended
Greece’s Olympic committee says it is suspending the rest of its torch relay for the Olympic Flame due to the “unexpectedly large crowd” that gathered to watch despite repeated requests for the public to stay away.
The Hellenic Olympic Committee said Friday a large crowd had gathered to watch the flame for the Tokyo Olympics pass through the southern Greek town of Sparta. The flame was lit Thursday at the birthplace of the ancient games in Ancient Olympia, in a pared-down ceremony due to the coronavirus.
The handover of the Olympic Flame to the Tokyo 2020 organizing committee will go ahead as scheduled on March 19 in Athens, in the stadium in which the first modern Olympics were held in 1896.
Jakarta announces lockdown
Jakarta Gov. Anies Baswedan has announced a lockdown of the Indonesian capital’s entertainment sites and tourist destinations, including museums, the national monument, the beach Dreamland Park Center, the city zoo, bars and clubs.
The measures will go for two weeks effective Saturday to combat the spread of the coronavirus. He also urged residents to stay home and urged businesses to prepare remote working systems.
Some returning Czechs face quarantine
Czech citizens coming home from 15 countries that are considered risky due to the virus outbreak will have to stay under quarantine for two weeks.
The announcement Friday by the Czech Republic’s government listed the following countries: China, Iran, Korea, Belgium, Denmark, France, Italy, Germany, Netherlands, Austria, Spain, Sweden, Norway, Switzerland and Britain.
Foreigners from those countries are barred from traveling to the Czech Republic and Czechs are not allowed to travel to those countries. Those measures become effective Friday midnight when the country renews border checks with Austria and Germany.
The Czech Republic has 117 confirmed cases of COVID-19.
Pakistan urges certain prayers
In Pakistan, clerics in their sermons during Friday prayers asked people to seek forgiveness from Allah for their mistakes and sins and pray for speedy recovery of all those who have been tested positive for the coronavirus.
Despite an appeal from the country’s president, Arif Alvi, to avoid large gatherings at mosques, people worshiped as usual.
Authorities in Pakistan’s eastern city of Lahore asked organizers to postpone an annual five-day congregation and the southern Sindh province closed all education institutions for unusual summer vacations until May to avoid the spread of coronavirus.
Spain plans 1st lock down
Spain’s has ordered its first mandatory lockdown, confining over 60,000 people to four towns as infections for the new coronavirus increase sharply.
The rise is straining health services and putting more pressure on the government to act faster to fight the pandemic.
The country had more than 3,800 cases by Friday morning and at least 84 deaths. The Spanish capital, Madrid, has nearly 2,000 cases alone, many linked to nursing homes.
The government has closed museums and sports centers, sent home nearly 10 million students, asked people to work remotely and limited crowds at public events in high risk areas. But questions are rising whether the measures are enough.
Madrid’s vice president said Friday that the region is in dire need of medical supplies, despite announcing an unprecedented plan to pool intensive care units from both public and private hospitals and to use hotel rooms for medical needs.
Australian testing positive met Barr, Ivanka Trump
Australian Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton is in isolation at a hospital after testing positive for the coronavirus. He returned to Australia on Sunday from Washington, D.C., where he met U.S. Attorney-General William Barr and President Donald Trump’s daughter, Ivanka, last week.
Dutton also attended a conference with other representatives of the Five Eyes intelligence network, which includes the U.S., Canada, Britain, Australia and New Zealand.
Dutton said Friday he was in isolation in a hospital after confirmation he has the virus.
Australian authorities have stepped up their response to the outbreak by recommending people avoid nonessential gatherings of 500 or more and to reconsider all international travel.
Australia has more than 120 confirmed cases.
Tweet from Thai official ignites controversy
Thailand’s health minister has ignited controversy by warning about the possible spread of the coronavirus from vacationing Europeans who wear dirty clothes and don’t shower.
Tweets posted Thursday night by the account linked to Anutin Charnvirakul lashed out at Western visitors for not wearing face masks to protect against the virus, and warned his fellow Thais that they should be more careful in dealing with Westerners than with Asians.
Thailand’s government has come under criticism for confusing and inconsistent handling of the health crisis.
The tweets, along with the entire account, disappeared from Twitter by Friday afternoon.
Spanish royals tested, come up negative
The Spanish royal palace says King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia have tested negative for the coronavirus.
The royal couple took the test on Thursday after the government confirmed the infection of Equality Minister Irene Montero, who had attended an event with the queen last week.
Another Cabinet member was also confirmed to be infected after all the Cabinet was tested.
Germans closing schools
German states are beginning to close down schools as a precautionary measure to protect against the spread of the coronavirus.
The southern state of Bavaria, western state of Saarland and city-state of Berlin all announced school closures Friday, and others were expected later.
Bavarian Gov. Markus Soeder also said the state is implementing strict restrictions on visits to hospitals, retirement homes and other facilities where people may be particularly vulnerable.
He says he’s convinced Germany will weather the crisis, but that the success of government efforts would depend greatly upon “social cohesion” from citizens.
Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government and state governors late Thursday agreed on other measures, including asking hospitals to postpone any non-essential operations or other procedures to keep beds and facilities free for coronavirus patients.
First case in Kenya
Authorities in Kenya say a woman has tested positive for the new coronavirus, the first case in the East African country.
Muhahi Kagwe, Kenya’s health secretary, told reporters on Friday that the patient, a Kenyan citizen, is a woman who recently traveled from the United States via London.
The West and Central African nations of Ghana and Gabon also announced their first confirmed cases of the disease.
Ghana Minister of Health Kwaku Agyeman-Manu said two people who returned from Norway and Turkey tested positive and are in isolation. President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has said that $100 million will be spent on enhancing the country’s preparedness and response plan. All foreign travel for government officials has been suspended.
Gabon also announced its first confirmed case of the virus in a 27-year-old who returned to Gabon on March 8 after staying in Bordeaux, France.
Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Senegal, Cameroon and Togo in the west and central African region have also recorded cases.
S. Korean to limit patient information details
South Korea plans to limit the amount of information it releases about coronavirus patients amid criticism that the details currently shared reveal too much personal information and exacerbate panic.
The director of South Korea’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Jung Eun-kyeong, said Friday her agency is drafting a new guideline for local governments to prevent them from releasing details that are unnecessary for quarantine and prevention work.
South Korean health authorities have been actively using personal information — including immigration, public transportation, credit card and smartphone GPS data — to track patients and their contacts.
Details about the places that patients visited before testing positive are posted online and shared through smartphone alerts to others.
South Korea’s Human Rights Commission on Monday raised concerns about the release of the data, saying patients were being exposed to “criticism, ridicule and hate.”
Some people have used the information to identify the patients and have publicly condemned them.
A survey by Seoul National University’s Graduate School of Public Health found that many people were more afraid of being stigmatized as a virus patient than of catching the virus itself.
Norway records 1st death
Norway has reported its first death from the coronavirus. Prime Minister Erna Solberg said “an elderly person” died Thursday in Oslo, without elaborating.
Protectively, King Harald V, members of the royal family and some government members have been put in quarantine because they had traveled abroad in recent weeks.
Denmark’s popular Queen Margrethe has canceled all events around her 80th birthday on April 16.
China wants joint research
Chinese President Xi Jinping has told the U.N. that his nation wants to conduct joint research on drugs and vaccines and offer “as much assistance as it can” to countries where the novel coronavirus is spreading.
State media reported Friday that Xi told U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres by phone that economic and daily life are gradually returning to normal in China thanks to “arduous endeavors” at prevention and control.
He was also quoted as saying that the Chinese people’s “hard work has won precious time for and made important contributions to other countries’ epidemic prevention and control.”
China, where the virus was first discovered, recorded just eight new infections on Friday.
Indonesia to clean 10K mosques
The Indonesian government is overseeing a campaign to clean 10,000 mosques around the country as part of its bid to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
The cleaning campaign kicked off Friday at Istiqlal mosque in Jakarta and was witnessed by President Joko Widodo and other officials.
Indonesian Religious Affairs Minister Fachrul Razi called on worshippers at mosques to avoid any form of physical contact.
Singapore tightens controls
Singapore has tightened measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus including expanding border controls, banning cruise ships and limiting mass gatherings.
From Sunday, travelers from Italy, Spain, France and Germany will not be allowed to enter the Southeast Asian city-state. Singapore earlier banned those from South Korea, Iran and China.
The Health Ministry said Friday that travelers who showed symptoms but tested negative for COVID-19 will now have to quarantine themselves at home for 14 days.
With immediate effect, it said Singapore will also cease port calls for all cruise vessels.
