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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Greece confirms 21 more cases, shuts schools and bans public meetings
Greece reported 21 cases Thursday — all linked to a 66-year-old person who recently traveled to Israel and Egypt on a pilgrimage, health authorities said.
The country's total now stands at 31 and a big rise is expected in the weeks ahead.
On Wednesday, Greece ordered the closure of schools and banned public gatherings in three districts in the west of the country as a precaution until Friday, following Italy, which is trying to combat the worst outbreak in Europe.
Coronavirus questions, answered: What if a household member gets sick?
March 5, 202007:09100 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.