California has declared an emergency over the coronavirus outbreak, as tests continue Thursday on board a Princess cruise ship that has been linked to two cases of the illness in the state.
The first death in California related to coronavirus was confirmed Wednesday, while another fatality in Washington brought that state's death toll to 10.
Congressional leaders have agreed on an $8 billion emergency funding package to help fight the coronavirus that is headed to the House.
The virus is now spreading more rapidly outside China, where the epidemic started, with mainland China recording just 119 new confirmed cases while hundreds of cases were reported globally.
South Korea alone recorded an additional 516 cases of coronavirus Wednesday, bringing the total to 5,328 confirmed cases, the largest outbreak outside of mainland China.
Governments around the world are introducing a range of measures to stop the spread of the disease. In Italy, where there have been more than 2,000 cases, all schools and colleges are shut for 10 days.
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100 new cases in France, first death in Switzerland
The number of confirmed cases of coronavirus in France jumped by 92 to 377 on Thursday, while the number of deaths rose by two to six, according to the French Health Ministry.
The two people to die after contracting virus are a 73-year-old man and a 64-year-old man
France is currently in “stage 2” of the management of the spread, which is focused on limiting infection and secondary cases.
Separately, authorities in Switzerland confirmed the first death there from the coronavirus outbreak, a 74-year-old woman from Vaud, a mountainous district bordering France.
Grant County, Washington reports new case
Prayers against the virus
Top commercial diagnostic lab to launch coronavirus test service
U.S. lab operator Quest Diagnostics said on Thursday it was launching a test service for coronavirus, a day after the Trump administration met with private lab test developers to discuss increasing the availability of diagnostics.
Quest said it would be in position to receive specimens for testing and begin to provide testing next week.
How does the coronavirus compare to MERS, SARS?
Dow falls 750 points as rollercoaster week continues
Wall Street plunged on Thursday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average falling by 750 points the morning after a 1,200-point rally.
Traders continued to digest the economic impact of the coronavirus, after the number of confirmed U.S. cases mounted overnight.
Within minutes of the opening bell, every single component on the 30-member Dow index was down. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq were both trading lower by just over 2 percent.
It's day four of a wild week for markets, with the Dow posting its second-biggest points gain on Wednesday after key wins by former Vice President Joe Biden on Super Tuesday.
New York confirms 2 more cases, state-wide total now 13
Two more people in New York have tested positive for the new coronavirus, according to NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio, bringing the total across the state so far to 13.
Speaking on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" on Thursday, de Blasio said the patients were a man in his 40s and a woman in her 80s.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo confirmed the existence of 11 cases in the state on Wednesday, including the wife, son, daughter and neighbor of a Manhattan lawyer, who is being treated in a hospital.
Also in New York, two school districts in Westchester County have shut down schools until Monday after two students from the same family and a parent from a separate family were possibly exposed to the virus. Mount Vernon has shut 16 schools, while Hastings-on-Hudson has shut all three of its schools.
Both school boards stressed there were no confirmed cases among staff, students or parents and that the closures were to enable a deep clean under an "abundance of caution."
The two students who may have been exposed to the virus will be off school for two weeks.
What happened to an attempt to find a coronavirus vaccine?
HOUSTON — Dr. Peter Hotez says he made the pitch to anyone who would listen. After years of research, his team of scientists in Texas had helped develop a vaccine to protect against a deadly strain of coronavirus. Now they needed money to begin testing it in humans.
But this was 2016. More than a decade had passed since the viral disease known as severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, had spread through China, killing more than 770 people. That disease, an earlier coronavirus similar to the one now sweeping the globe, was a distant memory by the time Hotez and his team sought funding to test whether their vaccine would work in humans.
Try not to touch your face, if you can
President Donald Trump confessed Wednesday that for the last few weeks he's been missing something: touching his face.
"I haven't touched my face in weeks,” Trump said during a meeting about coronavirus with airline executives. "I miss it."
He's not alone. The emergence of a new coronavirus around the world has triggered widespread warnings about personal hygiene and habits in an effort to limit its spread: wash your hands, limit unnecessary travel and don't touch your face.
Japan to quarantine all visitors from China and South Korea
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Thursday that visitors from China and South Korea — two countries hardest hit by the outbreak so far — would need to complete a two-week quarantine at a government facility, and would be barred from public transport
Japan has so far confirmed more than 300 cases and at least seven people have died, according to WHO data.
Meanwhile, Japan's Olympics minister signaled the Tokyo Olympics would go ahead as planned even as the outbreak spread to new parts of the country, with the western Shiga prefecture confirming its first case on Thursday.
Japan also said Chinese leader Xi Jinping's state visit planned in April has been postponed.
Middle East: Palestine shuts down schools and religious buildings, Iraq death toll rises to two
Public buildings including schools, colleges, mosques and churches in the biblical city of Bethlehem will be closed for the next 14 days as concerns about coronavirus in the region grow.
The Palestine Health ministry announced the move Thursday and said events such as lectures, conferences and sporting events will be shut down as well.
Bethlehem's Nativity Church, built on the spot where Christians Jesus was born, will also close Thursday. The church was expecting a large number of visitors over the forthcoming Easter holiday.
This comes after four people were identified as suspected virus-carriers in a Bethlehem hotel, which hosted Polish and American guests. Cases samples were sent to Israeli labs, the results of which are still unknown.
While there are no confirmed cases yet in the West Bank, there have been 15 cases confirmed in Israel.
Israel has dramatically enhanced it’s protective measures, restricting travel from Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, and Spain (in addition to Italy and countries in Asia) as well as cancelling joint military exercises scheduled with United States European Command.
Meanwhile, Iraq confirmed its second coronavirus death on Wednesday.
Iran's schools and universities are closed till the end of the Iranian calendar year, Mar. 20, as the death toll there rises to 107.
Kuwait also confirmed two more cases on Thursday, bringing its total to 58.