The Washington Post is putting out a superb daily digest of virtually anything and everything related to the coronavirus. Today’s email struck me as extraordinarily depressing as the virus is showing up in places we all know and our social worlds are closing in as cultural, sports, and religious institutions begin to close their doors. Moreover, jobs are disappearing as institutions contract or close. Read on.
| The latest on the pandemic Drastic measures are being taken across America.The World Health Organization declared on Wednesday that covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, is officially a pandemic. The virus has infected more than 125,000 people and killed more than 4,600 globally. At least 44 states now have confirmed cases. Delaware, North Dakota and Mississippi reported their first cases. And the five new U.S. fatalities all happened at an assisted-living facility in Washington state, Teo Armus, Anna Fifield and Rick Noack report on our live blog. A D.C.-based staffer for Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) tested positive, the first confirmed case on Capitol Hill. (Timothy Bella) Mayor Muriel Bowser declared a state of emergency in D.C. after person-to-person transmissions occurred, giving herself the power to order mandatory quarantines and to crack down on price gouging. Health officials said six more people tested positive in the District, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the District, Maryland and Virginia to at least 34. (Justin Wm. Moyer, Jenna Portnoy, Fenit Nirappil and Darran Simon) The NBA indefinitely suspended the rest of its season after Rudy Gobert, the Utah Jazz center, tested positive. Teams that played against the Jazz within the past 10 days have been advised to self-quarantine. The announcement came shortly after a game between the Jazz and the Oklahoma City Thunder was abruptly postponed right before tip-off. (Ben Golliver) The NCAA said the March Madness basketball tournaments will be played without spectators. (Adam Kilgore and Golliver) After California, Oregon and Washington state banned gatherings of more than 250 people, the Seattle Mariners, Oakland Athletics and San Francisco Giants will be forced to postpone or relocate games scheduled at their home stadiums this month or play them without fans. (Dave Sheinin) Kentucky’s governor asked all churches to cancel services. Many are doing so without being asked,including the Washington National Cathedral. The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Seattle suspended all public celebrations of Mass. Episcopal bishops in Virginia and D.C. announced that all churches in the dioceses would be closed for two weeks. (Michelle Boorstein and Sarah Pulliam Bailey) New York City and Chicago canceled their St. Patrick’s Day parades. (New York Daily News and Chicago Tribune) A Broadway usher tested positive for the virus, sparking a cleaning frenzy in theaters as shows, hoping to stay open, suggest that its stars keep their distance from fans. (NYT) For now, health officials have not declared polling sites off-limits. But elections officials in states holding primaries on Tuesday — Ohio, Florida, Arizona and Illinois — are developing on-the-fly contingency plans to mitigate the risks to voters and encourage them to participate. (Elise Viebeck) The hospital industry asked the White House to declare a national emergency. The American Hospital Association’s president and several hospital chief executives said the federal public health emergency that was declared at the end of January is inadequate. (Amy Goldstein) Colorado opened its first drive-up testing facility in Denver. People will need a doctor’s note, but it’s free to get tested if they show up with one. (KOAA) And Tom Hanks tested positive. The 63-year-old and his wife, actress Rita Wilson, are being treated in Australia. (Sonia Rao, Bethonie Butler and J. Freedom du Lac) Amtrak ridership has plummeted. Cancellations are up 300 percent. (Luz Lazo) Princess Cruises announced it will cancel voyages on its 18 ships around the world through May 10. The cruise line has seen passengers and crew on two of its ships face quarantines. Norwegian Cruise Line managers urged salespeople to spread falsehoods about the virus to help land bookings with potential customers. Leaked emails from a company whistleblower show the lengths the cruise giant’s leaders have gone to protect the company. (Drew Harwell) People in Italy are trapped at home with their loved ones’ bodies.“Attempts to slow the spread of the disease have led to unintended consequences, including several instances where funeral homes reportedly refused to collect the bodies of those infected with the virus,” Antonia Noori Farzan reports. [personal story deleted] Experts are struggling to forecast how bad this will get in the U.S.Former CDC director Tom Frieden said deaths in the United States could range widely, depending on what percentage of the population becomes infected and how lethal the disease proves to be. “Frieden, who oversaw the U.S. response to the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic, the 2014 Ebola epidemic and the 2016 Zika epidemic, says that in a worst-case scenario, but one that is not implausible, half the U.S. population would become infected and more than 1 million people would die,” Joel Achenbach, William Wan and Lena H. Sun report. “ In his Capitol Hill testimony, [Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases,] said that a plausible covid-19 fatality rate could be 1 percent. That, he said, is 10 times as lethal as seasonal influenza. He was clear: This is more dangerous than the flu.”Congress’s in-house physician, Brian Monahan, expects 70 million to 150 million Americans will contract the virus. He told Hill staffers during a closed-door meeting that 80 percent of people who contract the virus will ultimately be fine, Axios reports. The coronavirus can live on some surfaces for up to three days. “The first U.S. layoffs from the virus are here. “Interviews with more than two dozen firms and workers reveal that the pain is now translating into layoffs in a wider circle of industries, including a bakery and a chain restaurant,” Abha Bhattarai, Heather Long and Rachel Siegel report. |
| Quote of the dayWashington Gov. Jay Inslee (D) was asked what the punishment will be if more than 250 people gather against his orders. “The penalties are you might be killing your granddad if you don’t do it,” he answered. (NBC News) |
Abycats' Thoughts 