The rapid spread of the coronavirus is causing cancellations and postponements of sporting events around the globe. As of Tuesday afternoon, there have been at least 116,000 coronavirus cases worldwide, according to CBS News. While 64,000 people have recovered, more than 4,000 have died. In America, multiple states are under a state of emergency and some politicians and public health officials are recommending large gatherings of people — including sporting events — in coronavirus hotspots be canceled or closed to the public.
As college basketball’s postseason, MLB Opening Day and the NBA and NHL stretch runs approach, the coronavirus is set to have a serious effect on American sports. Abroad, soccer games in Europe are already being played in empty arenas without fans in certain countries. Here’s a breakdown of cancellations and postponements of sporting events so far:
College basketball
NCAA president Mark Emmert has announce that all Division I men’s and women’s basketball tournament games will be played in arenas without fans. According to Emmert’s statement, only “essential staff and limited family” will be allowed to attend.
The Big East tournament will limit locker room access to student athletes, coaches, and essential team personnel. Media will only have access in the postgame media interview
The Ivy League canceled its conference tournament on Tuesday. Regular-season champions Yale (men’s) and Princeton (women’s) will earn NCAA Tournament bids. All practices and games through the remainder of the academic calendar will also be cancelled.
The College Basketball Invitational Tournament has been canceled.
In Baltimore, a Division III men’s basketball NCAA Tournament game between Yeshiva University and Worcester Polytechnic Institute was held without a crowd due to coronavirus-related fears and is believed to be the first U.S. sporting event where fans were not allowed because of virus concerns. The only people allowed to attend were players, coaches, referees, employees and media members, so the official attendance was zero.
Summer Olympics
The 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo is the biggest global sporting event of the year, and organizers have already voiced concerns that the disease could cause problems.
The status of the games could be up in the air as late as May.
Japan’s Olympic minister Seiko Hashimoto later clarified that the contract the IOC has with the country states the organization “has the right to cancel the games only if they are not held during 2020,” with no specific dates mentioned.
The IOC has reiterated that there is “full commitment to the success of the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, taking place from July 24 to Aug. 9, 2020.”
The flame lighting ceremony this week in Greece is happening with no fans in attendance.
NBA
The Warriors will play home games without fans in attendance, obeying the San Francisco Health Office’s order prohibiting groups of 1,000 people at events.
The league has advised the players on how to avoid the potential spread of the coronavirus while playing a contact-friendly sport. Among the suggestions was for players to avoid the postgame handshake and instead stick with fist bumps.
The NBA reportedly plans to meet with owners and execs to go over a contingency plans for games, including the option of playing games in empty arenas, with only essential personnel in attendance and no spectators. LeBron James initially spoke out against playing in an empty arena but has since changed his stance.
The Maple Leafs halted air travel for their European-based scouts, amateur scouts and professional scouts that have territory throughout North America. Team scouts that need to travel will do so by car.
The NHL regular season is set to continue as scheduled with the final day on April 6 and the Stanley Cup playoffs beginning shortly after.
The league closed locker room access to media members, beginning Monday.
The San Jose Sharks in particular are feeling the brunt of the coronavirus outbreak. Santa Clara County health officials announced a temporary ban on all events that would draw large gatherings and possibly spread the virus. That ban, which prohibits crowds of more than 1,000 people, will carry through at least the end of March and could affect multiple San Jose Sharks games scheduled at SAP Center in the coming weeks.
MLB
The regular season has not started yet, but in spring training and for the foreseeable future, locker rooms will be closed to the media in an effort to limit the amount of contact between players and media members.
XFL
The Seattle Dragons will host Los Angeles Wildcats on Sunday without fans in attendance
MLS
The Seattle Sounders postponed their March 21st home match against Dallas
Clothing hangs to dry at a makeshift migrant camp for asylum seekers in Matamoros, Tamaulipas state, Mexico, on earlier this month. About 60,000 migrants live in filthy and dangerous conditions as they await their day in U.S. immigration court.
Alejandro Cegarra/Bloomberg via Getty Images
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Clothing hangs to dry at a makeshift migrant camp for asylum seekers in Matamoros, Tamaulipas state, Mexico, on earlier this month. About 60,000 migrants live in filthy and dangerous conditions as they await their day in U.S. immigration court.
Alejandro Cegarra/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Updated at 5:09 p.m. ET
The U.S. Supreme Court delivered the Trump administration another win on one of its signature immigration policies on Wednesday, allowing it to continue the controversial “Remain in Mexico” policy across the entire southern border.
The policy, officially called the Migrant Protection Protocols, requires asylum seekers to wait in Mexico for their day in U.S. immigration court. That has led to roughly 60,000 migrants getting sent back across the border since MPP was first implemented in January 2019. As of now, tens of thousands are still stuck in that country, often living in filthy and dangerous conditions.
The Supreme Court has yet to make a final ruling on the legality of the MPP program itself.
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in California briefly had blocked the policy last month, finding that it violates federal law, before staying its own ruling.
But the appeals court later issued a new order, blocking the policy in just two border states — California and Arizona. That was supposed to go into effect on Thursday. But the Supreme Court’s decision puts an end to that while lawsuits make their way through the federal court system.
Officials credit MPP as a “game-changer” in alleviating what they called a “mass migration crisis.”
In court, the Justice Department argued an injunction on the policy would create chaos along the southern border, prompting a rush by migrants into the country that would put American citizens at risk.
Meanwhile, immigrant advocates say it puts migrants in unnecessary danger by forcing them to wait in dangerous conditions on the Mexican border, in cities such as Tijuana, Juárez, Nuevo Laredo and Matamoros.
“The Court of Appeals unequivocally declared this policy to be illegal. The Supreme Court should as well,” said Judy Rabinovitz, special counsel in the American Civil Liberties Union’s Immigrants’ Rights Project.
“Asylum seekers face grave danger and irreversible harm every day this depraved policy remains in effect,” Rabinovitz added.
Judges from the Ninth Circuit Court agreed that MPP likely violated federal “non-refoulement” obligations under international and domestic laws, which prohibits the government from returning people to a country where they would face persecution or torture.
Italy has now reported more than 10,000 total coronavirus cases in the country, where deaths from the virus have surpassed 600.
Italy has the most confirmed cases and deaths outside of China, where the virus is believed to have originated.
“Right now, the epicenter — the new China — is Europe,” Robert Redfield, the head of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said, according to The Associated Press.
The death toll in Italy from the virus climbed to 631 people Tuesday from 463 the day before, the Italian Civil Protection authorities reported, the AP noted.
The Italian government has instructed the country’s 62 million people to stay home unless they are working or seeking health care or “necessities,” leading to empty streets, especially in Rome. Police in Rome enforced requirements that people need to stay three feet apart from one another in public and that businesses need to close by 6 p.m.
In response to the virus, Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte announced Wednesday that 25 billion euros, or $28.3 billion, would be dedicated to combating the outbreak and its impact, Reuters reported.
“The main objective is to protect citizens’ health, but we must take into account that there are other interests at stake,” Conte said at a news conference. “We must be aware that there are civil liberties that are being violated, we must always proceed carefully.”
The cabinet requested 7.5 billion euros requested last week before a dramatic rise in Italian cases and deaths.
Italy’s economy and tourism had already been taking a hit before the virus struck the country. Several countries, including the U.S., have issued travel advisories against visiting Italy or even bans.
The virus, which has infected more than 120,000 people worldwide, has limited travel, shut down schools and struck economies around the world as the number of cases increase. The U.S. reached 1,000 identified cases and 29 deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
But officials in Wuhan, China, where the virus is believed to have originated, reported only 24 new cases Wednesday, a plummet from thousands each day last month, according to the AP.
Jerry Wayne is the Michigan voter who confronted Joe Biden over his stance on guns
Former Vice President Joe Biden “went off the deep end” when accused of trying to take away Americans’ Second Amendment rights, said a Michigan construction worker who confronted the 2020 Democratic presidential front-runner on the issue.
“I also asked him how he wanted to get the vote of the working man when a lot of us, we wield arms. We bear arms and we like to do that. And if he wants to give us work and take our guns, I don’t see how he is going to get the same vote,” he said.
Biden was in the state stumping for votes in Michigan, the biggest prize among the states voting Tuesday with 125 delegates at stake. He later handily won the primary race with over 52 percent of the votes.
“You’re full of sh– … I support the Second Amendment,” Biden told Wayne in a dispute caught on camera.
Wayne shot back, “You’re working for me, man,” and told Biden that he saw an online video supporting his claim that Biden is hostile to the Second Amendment.
Biden, pointing at Wayne as they were mere inches apart in the middle of a crowd, said he’s not working for him and told him not to be “such a horse’s a–.”
At one point mistakenly referring to “AR-14’s,” Biden went on to press Wayne to acknowledge that machine guns are illegal. Biden appeared to then misspeak in saying AR-15’s are illegal, before questioning why anyone needs “100 rounds.”
“It was a little bit disturbing to see that a politician wants to take away my right to defend myself,” Wayne told the “Friends” hosts.
“He doesn’t need to touch anybody’s weapon at all. What we need to do is we need to concentrate on teaching people how to respect firearms and how to use them – not take them away,” he advised.
Wayne said that while he didn’t think Biden’s use of profanity was something to beat the candidate up about, he could have “curbed what he said a little bit.”
“Yeah, I thought I was pretty articulate and respectful. I didn’t try to raise any feathers and he kind of just went off the deep end,” Wayne explained.
“I mean, I guess technically speaking he can say whatever he wants,” Wayne conceded. “But, he was the vice president. He wants to be the president now. You are a candidate. You work for the American people. And, if you can’t understand that then you don’t deserve to have a leg in this race.”
Wayne – who declined to say who he plans to vote for in November – said it was an “absolute privilege and an honor” to be the voice of America on guns.
“This is a right that we need to protect with our heart and soul,” he concluded. “It’s not to be infringed.”
Fox News’ Tyler Olson, Allie Raffa, Gregg Re, and Samuel Chamberlain contributed to this report.
The White House insistence on secrecy at the nation’s premier public health organization, which has not been previously disclosed, has put a lid on certain information – and potentially delayed the response to the crisis. COVID19, the disease caused by the virus, has killed about 30 people in the United States and infected more than 1,000 people.
HHS oversees a broad range of health agencies, including the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which among other things is responsible for tracking cases and providing guidance nationally on the outbreaks.
The administration officials, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity, said they could not describe the interactions in the meeting room because they were classified.
An NSC spokesman did not respond to questions about the meetings at HHS. But he defended the administration’s transparency across federal agencies and noted that meetings of the administration’s task force on the coronavirus all are unclassified. It was not immediately clear which meetings he was referring to.
“From day one of the response to the coronavirus, NSC has insisted on the principle of radical transparency,” said the spokesman, John Ullyot. He added that the administration “has cut red tape and set the global standard in protecting the American people under President Trump’s leadership.”
A spokeswoman for the HHS, Katherine McKeogh, issued a statement that did not address questions about classified meetings. Using language that echoed the NSC’s, the department said it that it agreed task-force meetings should be unclassified.
Critics have hammered the Trump administration for what they see as a delayed response to coronavirus outbreaks and a lack of transparency, including sidelining experts and providing misleading or incomplete information to the public. State and local officials also have complained of being kept in the dark about essential federal response information.
“It sounds like a bailout to me,” said Winfree, who is now at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank. “We are going to have to see specifics, but when you are dealing with special treatment given to one industry or sector of the economy, that is, almost by definition, a bailout.”
The World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 viral disease a pandemic Wednesday. Here, workers in Spain place a mask on the figure that was to be part of the Fallas festival in Valencia. The upcoming festival has been cancelled over the coronavirus outbreak.
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The World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 viral disease a pandemic Wednesday. Here, workers in Spain place a mask on the figure that was to be part of the Fallas festival in Valencia. The upcoming festival has been cancelled over the coronavirus outbreak.
Alberto Saiz/AP
The COVID-19 viral disease that has swept into at least 114 countries and killed more than 4,000 people is now officially a pandemic, the World Health Organization announced Wednesday.
“This is the first pandemic caused by coronavirus,” said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Eight countries — including the U.S. — are now each reporting more than 1,000 cases of COVID-19, caused by the virus that has infected more than 120,000 people worldwide.
“In the past two weeks, the number of cases of COVID-19 outside China has increased 13-fold, and the number of affected countries has tripled,” Tedros said.
Noting the rising death toll from the respiratory virus, the WHO head said, “In the days and weeks ahead, we expect to see the number of cases, the number of deaths, and the number of affected countries climb even higher.”
The WHO is “deeply concerned,” Tedros said, “both by the alarming levels of spread and severity, and by the alarming levels of inaction” by the world’s leaders in response to the outbreak.
“We have therefore made the assessment that COVID-19 can be characterized as a pandemic,” he added.
As he acknowledged the viral disease’s reach, Tedros also urged people not to be fearful because of its status as a pandemic. He also said the term should not be taken to mean that the fight against the virus is over.
“Describing the situation as a pandemic does not change WHO’s assessment of the threat posed by the virus,” Tedros said. “It doesn’t change what WHO is doing. And it doesn’t change what countries should do.”
A severe outbreak in Italy has now caused more than 630 deaths there, and the country’s case total continues to rise sharply. It’s now at 10,000 cases, second only to China. There are 9,000 cases in Iran, and more than 7,700 in South Korea.
Those countries are all imposing drastic measures in an attempt to slow the spread of the COVID-19 illness, which has a higher fatality rate for elderly people and those with underlying health conditions.
“In the Americas, Honduras, Jamaica and Panama are all confirming coronavirus infections for the first time,” NPR’s Jason Beaubien reports. “Elsewhere Mongolia and Cyprus are also now reporting cases.”
The WHO declared the coronavirus outbreak a global health emergency in January, as cases surged in China, the epicenter of the outbreak.
As the outbreak has ballooned, so has speculation that the organization would raise its warnings about the virus to the highest level. But Tedros said WHO experts had determined that the scale of the coronavirus’s impact didn’t warrant the description. And he noted that declaring the outbreak a pandemic would raise the risk of a public panic.
Tedros and others had hoped the virus would be contained, citing data from China showing that the number of new cases there peaked in late January and early February.
Coronavirus symptoms and prevention
To prevent the coronavirus from spreading, the CDC recommends washing hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds or using a hand sanitizer if a sink isn’t available. The World Health Organization says people should wear face masks only if they’re sick or caring for someone who is.
“For most people, COVID-19 infection will cause mild illness; however, it can make some people very ill and, in some people, it can be fatal,” the WHO says. “Older people, and those with pre-existing medical conditions (such as cardiovascular disease, chronic respiratory disease or diabetes) are at risk for severe disease.”
The most common symptoms of COVID-19, according to a recent WHO report that draws on more than 70,000 cases in China: fever (in 88% of cases); dry cough (68%); fatigue (38%); sputum/phlegm production (33%).
Shortness of breath occurred in nearly 20% of cases, and about 13% had a sore throat or headache, the WHO said.
“I believe that Joe Biden will be the Democratic nominee,” Yang said. “And I’ve always said I’m going to support whoever the nominee is, so I hereby am endorsing Joe Biden to be not just the nominee for the Democratic Party but the next president of the United States.”
Yang mentioned his support for Sen. Bernie Sanders in 2016 and cited the senator’s 2016 run as the inspiration for his 2020 candidacy — but noted that he sees the delegate numbers this time favoring Biden, particularly in the wake of the former vice president’s strong performance on Super Tuesday and wins in Idaho, Michigan, Missouri, and Mississippi this week.
“The math says Joe is our prohibitive nominee. We need to bring the party together,” said Yang.
Biden’s victories on Tuesday appeared to bring him closer to capturing the nomination given his defeat of Sanders in Michigan, where the Vermont senator had previously performed strongly in 2016.
Yang’s endorsement could hold serious weight for Biden. A candidate with little national name recognition prior to the primary, Yang’s rise was a stunning success: He attracted a loyal group of supporters and established a unique platform heavily focused on the implementation of a universal basic income.
His backers were also particularly committed to his candidacy — so much so that 40 percent of Yang’s supporters said they didn’t plan to support the candidate who became the party’s nominee if it wasn’t him, according to an Emerson College poll earlier this year. His endorsement of Biden could potentially sway some of them.
Were his endorsement to influence his backers, it could pull some support away from Sanders, at least if Yang Gang voters initially realigned their support in the manner Yang himself predicted.
While Yang is now supporting Biden, he had previously posited that some of his supporters might go toward Sanders. “I think that Bernie and I do have a lot of overlap in support so it wouldn’t be surprising to me if many of our supporters head in that direction,” Yang said at the end of January, regarding the realignment at the Iowa caucuses.
He emphasized Tuesday that he had held off on endorsing Biden until his delegate lead had become more apparent and noted that he was doing so now in order to focus on defeating President Donald Trump in the fall.
“Joe called me last week, you know, we had a really great conversation,” Yang said. “It was hard to say no to Joe at that time, but I have such admiration and respect for Bernie, what he’s meant to so many Americans. I think Bernie has called out the real problems in a very powerful and necessary way, so I wanted to let the Democratic process play out.”
Yang is the latest member of the 2020 field to endorse Biden: The former vice president has picked up endorsements from Sen. Kamala Harris, Sen. Cory Booker, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, former Rep. Beto O’Rourke, and former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg in recent days.
Washington Governor Jay Inslee is expected to ban gatherings of more than 250 people in most of the Seattle metro area, while the state braces for potentially tens of thousands of more cases of coronavirus. Inslee also outlined new rules for nursing homes, which have been hit hard by the coronavirus.
Public health officials said at least 10 long-term care facilities in the Seattle area have reported cases. Patients have died at three of those facilities. Of the 32 people who’ve died from coronavirus in the U.S., 20 of them are linked to the Life Care Center in Kirkland, Washington.
Bridget Parkhill’s mother recently tested positive for coronavirus at the Life Care Center. She and her sister now visit by standing outside her window.
“It wasn’t a shock that she was positive,” Parkhill told CBS News correspondent Jonathan Vigliotti. “It should have been a priority to get everybody tested so they could get all the negative people out of here before they turned positive.”
But a shortage of tests meant only the critically ill were prioritized.
Another long-term care facility that has reported coronavirus cases, the Josephine Caring Community, is in lockdown, CEO Terry Robertson said.
“No visitors, no consultants and no families. And I can tell you that’s incredibly tough,” he said.
In Northern California, officials confirmed Tuesday that an assisted living resident in their 90s died after getting the virus. And a recent study examining coronavirus cases in China found that in people over 80 years old, the death rate was nearly 15%.
In Seattle’s King County, 74 more cases were announced Tuesday, bringing the statewide total to more than 260.
“If you do the math, it gets very disturbing,” Inslee said.
The new nursing home rules outlined by the governor include limiting patients to one visitor per day and screening employees and volunteers for symptoms at the start of their shift.
“The number of people who are infected in an epidemic like this will double in the state of Washington unless we take some real action here,” he said.
Industry groups have issued recommendations for those whose family members live in nursing homes. They said you should ask your loved one’s facility about its plans for cleaning and staffing, keep in touch remotely for now, and monitor instead of move. Leaving the facility could put the elderly at much higher risk, officials said.
Switzerland is closing nine secondary border crossings to Italy and directing traffic over main routes to help slow the spread of the new coronavirus while still letting the region’s workers get to their jobs, the government said on Wednesday, Reuters reported.
Slovenia, Italy’s neighbor to the north east, has said it will not close its border with Italy to prevent the spread of the virus. — Ellyatt
6:37 pm: Italy hikes spending to tackle coronavirus to $28 billion, says further restrictions could come
Italy’s Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte announced Wednesday that the government will set even more money aside to tackle the outbreak, raising it to 25 billion euros ($28.3 billion) — up from 7.5 billion euros announced last week.
“My own view, I’ll just say, is I want to keep people safe, and I think we’ve got to follow the guidance that medical experts give us,” Pritzker said at a news conference announcing new coronavirus cases in Illinois. “The (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) is talking about avoiding mass gatherings. They aren’t giving a number to what is a ‘mass gathering,’ and I think that’s not helpful, frankly.”
Seattle was poised for a wide-ranging ban on public gatherings, Michigan was dealing with its first infections and the stock market roller coaster was poised for another plunge Wednesday as the new coronavirus raced virtually unimpeded across the globe.
The number of confirmed U.S. cases rose past 1,000 and the national death toll stood at 28.
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee was expected to announce a ban Wednesday on gatherings and events of more than 250 people in the Seattle metropolitan area as the state attempts to slow the spread of the virus that has killed 23 people there. The ban could force the Seattle Mariners to relocate their home games for at least some part of the upcoming Major League Baseball season.
There have been 267 confirmed cases in Washington state, with 19 deaths linked to one suburban Seattle nursing home. Authorities in King County believe the virus has spread to at least 10 long-term care facilities. The three counties affected by the ban, King, Pierce and Snohomish, are home to nearly 4 million people.
Gov. Charlie Baker declared a state of emergency after state health officials said the number of presumptive positive cases of the COVID-19 virus in Massachusetts is now up to 92, more than doubling in one day. The state identified 51 new cases of the coronavirus since Monday, Massachusetts Health Secretary Marylou Sudders said at a news conference with the governor. The vast majority, 70, are tied to a conference the biotech company Biogen held in Boston last month. Four are travel-related and 18 are under investigation.
Baker urged older adults and those with health issues to avoid large crowds and large events. He recommended that employers and other large organizations limit or eliminate non-essential travel, limit or eliminate large events where possible, and explore telework where appropriate. Boston Mayor Marty Walsh said the Boston Marathon scheduled for April 20 is still on – for now. The annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade has been canceled.
– Joey Garrison
Passengers slowly exiting Grand Princess cruise ship
The Grand Princess cruise ship was set to continue unloading passengers for a third day Wednesday in Oakland, California, after those on the ship were in limbo since Thursday when coronavirus cases were discovered on board. As of Tuesday, 1,406 people had exited from the ship. On Monday, when disembarkation began, two passengers were taken to hospitals along with their travel companions after testing positive Friday. Meanwhile, 19 crew members who tested positive but “have been deemed asymptomatic” remain on the ship in isolated cabins, the company said Tuesday.
– Morgan Hines and David Oliver
Michigan reports first cases, declares state of emergency
In announcing Michigan’s first two coronavirus cases Tuesday night, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer pledged to harness all of the government’s resources to slow the spread of the virus. “We’re Michiganders. We’re tough,” Whitmer said. “We know how to take care of each other. We will get through this, but for now, please make sure your family and friends are taking every preventative measure available to keep yourselves safe.”
– Kristen Jordan Shamus, Detroit Free Press
National Guard rolls out in New York City suburb
The National Guard has been deployed to a New York suburb after Gov. Andrew Cuomo ordered schools, houses of worship and other large gathering places in a portion of New Rochelle to temporarily close. Cuomo announced a plan Tuesday to enforce a “containment area” of a 1-mile radius around the Young Israel synagogue at the center of the cluster, which includes part of the city of New Rochelle and stretches into the town of Eastchester, both of which are about 20 miles north of New York City in Westchester County.
Any large gathering places within that containment area will be required to shut down through March 25, Cuomo said. Westchester remains at the epicenter of New York state’s coronavirus outbreak with more than 100 confirmed cases. The National Guard will help residents under precautionary quarantine and help disinfect public areas, Cuomo said.
– Jon Campbell and Joseph Spector
Universities switch to online classes, tell students to stay home
An increasing number of universities and colleges throughout the country — some responding to the impact of the coronavirus in their area, others taking preemptive steps — are suspending in-person classes.
Some of them are on spring break and plan to begin online classes when students return, but some are already alerting students that in-person teaching may not resume again this school year. Several universities have also suspended their international programs.
Among the colleges that have modified their calendars in the wake of COVID-19’s expansion:
Amherst College
Columbia University
Harvard University
Hofstra University
Indiana University
Kent State University
Ohio State University
Purdue University
Princeton University
Stanford University
University of California-Berkeley
University of California, Los Angeles
University of Maryland
University of Southern California
University of Washington
Coronavirus pushes Coachella music festival from April to October
Coachella, one of the country’s most influential annual music festivals, has been postponed into October due to growing public health concerns about the rapidly spreading coronavirus in California.
The festival’s country music counterpart, Stagecoach, will also be pushed into the fall. Both events had been scheduled over three weekends in April. The postponements follow the cancellation of the nearby BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament in Indian Wells and the declaration of a public health emergency in the Coachella Valley’s Riverside County by the top public health officer on Sunday.
Large hospitals in the Nashville area are screening visitors at the front door, limiting patients to just one visitor and, in some cases, not allowing children to visit at all.
The most severe restrictions were adopted at Williamson Medical Center, a hospital in Franklin where the first positive sample of coronavirus was collected last week. The hospital has enacted a strict “no visitors” policy with limited exceptions for new mothers and people who are undergoing surgery.
Man rescued after 69 hours in rubble of collapsed Chinese quarantine hotel
A man was pulled out alive after being trapped for 69 hours under the rubble of a collapsed virus quarantine hotel in southeastern China in which at least 27 other people died and two remain missing.
The official Xinhua News Agency said the man was sent to hospital immediately after being rescued late on Tuesday afternoon.
South Korea reports another spike in coronavirus cases
South Korea reported a cluster of new viral infections at a Seoul insurance company.
The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Wednesday reported 242 new cases of coronavirus infection from 24 hours ago, bringing its total to 7,755.
Of the new cases, 131 were in Daegu, South Korea’s worst-hit city. But 52 new cases were in the capital, Seoul, where dozens of call-center workers for an insurance company tested positive, raising concerns about a further spread. The country has 60 virus deaths.
Map: Which states have coronavirus cases?
Here’s a look at which U.S. states have reported cases of COVID-19:
The total of confirmed cases was nearing 120,000, with more than 80,900 in mainland China, where the virus has killed more than 3,100 people. More than 10,100 cases have now been reported in Italy.
The virus causes only mild or moderate symptoms for most people, such as fever and cough, but can progress to serious illness including pneumonia, especially in older adults and people with existing health problems. The World Health Organization says mild cases last about two weeks, while most patients with serious illness recover in about three to six weeks.
Contributing: Steve Kiggins, USA TODAY; The Associated Press
Former White House press secretary and Fox News contributor Sarah Sanders says Democrats have ‘settled’ for Joe Biden while President Trump maintains high levels of enthusiasm.
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“Students will be required to move out of their Houses and First-Year dorms as soon as possible and no later than Sunday, March 15 at 5:00 pm,” reads Khurana’s email. “We realize that leaving campus in short notice will be challenging for some of you.”
Harvard enrolls nearly 20,000 undergraduate and graduate students, and 97% of undergraduate students live on campus for all four years. According to the most recent figures from Johns Hopkins, there have been 41 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the state of Massachusetts, where Harvard is located.
Khurana’s letter goes on to suggest students consult with their resident dean if they need assistance.
“Though circumstances will require us to physically distance ourselves from each other, we are going to be innovative in finding ways to continue to engage as a community and to draw strength from one another,” writes Khurana. “I have seen us come together and support each other with compassion during difficult times, and I am confident that we will do so now as we meet this new challenge.”
Students, however, seemed less confident that they were prepared to take on the challenge.
Many Harvard students took to Twitter to express their frustration:
Anil Bradley, a Harvard sophomore concentrating (the word Harvard students use in lieu of “majoring”) in physics and computer science from Long Island, N.Y., says that he and his roommates were blindsided by the announcement.
“We were all in shock at the short notice,” Bradley tells CNBC Make It. “I’m lucky enough to have a strong situation where my dad is able to drive up from New York and drive me home, but a lot of my friends who are low-income and rely on the university for housing and dining are having trouble with travel costs and even housing security.”
Bradley expects a relatively smooth transition to taking his courses remotely except for one class, which is discussion-based.
“I’m not sure how that’s going to work,” he says, emphasizing his concern for other students. “The university has not been doing enough, and people very close to me are worried about being able to get home before the deadline.”
Trey Rogers is a member of Harvard’s senior class of 2020 and says while he understands the need for such public health measures, he is “devastated.”
“It’s important for all of us students to realize that we are not the ones who are most in danger of this virus, but staff workers in dining services, and the janitor staff and professors,” he tells CNBC Make It. “They may be in the age group that’s susceptible to the virus, and it would be really horrible for students to transfer this virus to the people who are taking care of us at the college.”
“So I realize that it’s probably the right thing for the college to do and to be especially safe,” he says, “but it’s devastating as a senior to know that I have to abort my college experience on this really sad note.”
Bacow acknowledged that sadness for seniors in a statement.
“To our students, especially those of you graduating this year, I know that this is not how you expected your time at Harvard to end,” he wrote.
As for his coursework, Rogers is skeptical that the school’s plan to use Zoom video conferencing services, a cloud-based communication service, will compare to the small discussion-based classes he is accustomed to in his social studies concentration.
“It’s really hard to think that this is not the end of our academic year because this Zoom thing feels a little bit like a last-minute fix for a problem that is not that easily fixed,” he says.
Originally from Crawfordsville, Ind., Rogers says his mom is driving across the country to pick him up, but says it has been “chaos” for his peers who are more than a road-trip away from home. He describes a friend who is struggling to get a flight back home to Nepal and a professor who offered to loan students cash for transportation.
“For those people who are totally uprooted and have to, in four days, figure out how to get themselves halfway across the world, I have a lot of sympathy,” says Rogers. “It’s hard enough to get back to Indiana.”
While in Indiana, Rogers plans to finish his senior thesis and finalize his professional plans for after graduation.
SPLIT SCREEN: MARC CAPUTO in Philadelphia: “Joe Biden took a major step toward clinching the Democratic nomination on Tuesday with three dominant primary victories, including the night’s biggest prize: Michigan.” … DAVID SIDERS: “The night was so debilitating for Bernie Sanders that after retreating to his home state of Vermont on Tuesday, he didn’t even make a speech. In every way other than mathematically, his presidential campaign is done.” The delegate count
TODAY IN CORONAVIRUS … TRUMP OVER A BARREL … AMID THE BACK AND FORTH over the federal response to the coronavirus, this much the top ranks of Republican and Democratic leadership and the White House can agree on: Speaker NANCY PELOSI, once again, has extraordinary leverage over President DONALD TRUMP and the White House. One Republican put it to us this way: PELOSI has TRUMP over a barrel.
HERE’S WHY: TRUMP and his White House are the public faces of the fallout over the deadly virus rippling across the nation, and he needs PELOSI — his nemesis — to cut a deal, and pass a bill. The U.S. just surpassed 1,000 confirmed cases as of Tuesday night.
OF COURSE, PELOSI has a laundry list of priorities of her own. But rarely is the leverage as skewed as it is here.
A BIPARTISAN BILL IS PROBABLY FAR OFF, but there will be immediate action that’s worth keeping an eye on. PELOSI is going to quickly cobble a bill together, present it to Democrats today and put it on the floor Thursday for a vote. This is going to include measures that she has talked about — she’s mentioned bolstered unemployment insurance, food security, paid sick leave, free coronavirus testing — and the thinking is to dare Republicans to vote against it. They might. They might not.
BUT THIS IS JUST THE OPENING ACT OF THIS PLAY. PELOSI has also begun talks with STEVEN MNUCHIN. PELOSI and MNUCHIN are by no means close, but she shares a good relationship with the Treasury secretary and has cut deals with him in the past. MNUCHIN is exchanging paper with the speaker, detailing what the administration is looking for. At the same time, MNUCHIN and Treasury are considering measures they might take unilaterally.
SO, IF A LARGE BIPARTISAN DEAL comes together, it will likely be in days or weeks — not now.
CONVERSATIONS with senior aides, lawmakers and administration officials revealed some overlap in what the administration is looking for and what Democrats want. For example, both the White House and PELOSI are interested in some kind of paid sick leave program. The administration is aiming for 90 days, but it will be forced to take the House’s lead here.
THERE ARE ALSO DIFFERENCES. The administration seems a bit skeptical about new measures to prop up unemployment insurance, because, in part, it tends to think this crisis will not result in an uptick in unemployment applicants. DEMOCRATS, meanwhile, do believe that people will lose their jobs and file for unemployment, and that the program needs reinforcing.
THERE ARE COMPLICATED ELEMENTS, TOO. The administration is going to want stimulus measures for airlines, hotels and transportation-related entities. But the White House seems to want direct cash payments, and that’s going to be tough going on Capitol Hill.
THE NATIONAL SCHOOL LUNCH PROGRAM IS another huge concern for PELOSI and House Democrats. Tens of millions of children get subsidized or no-cost meals through the program. But what happens if schools are closed? Democrats were wrestling with the issue Tuesday night.
THE PAYROLL TAX CUT — which TRUMP has been trumpeting — is falling out of view, a bit, because House Democrats seem roundly against it, and even Republicans are cool to it. The White House is looking for a six-month payroll tax cut that would sunset in the lame-duck session of Congress. There is also some thinking in the administration that it may be worth saving the payroll tax cut for later in the summer if the economy is still sagging.
SOMETHING TO KEEP AN EYE ON: IN OUR CONVERSATIONS Tuesday, one influential Republican made sure to tell us that this is not like TARP. No one had suggested it was, so clearly the GOP is feeling anxious about having this branded as a massive bailout.
SENATE MAJORITY LEADER MITCH MCCONNELL is taking a familiar position here: a seat on the sidelines. He said this all needs to get done between PELOSI and the White House.
NEW: Senate Minority Leader CHUCK SCHUMER and Sens. PATTY MURRAY (D-Wash.) and GARY PETERS (D-Mich.) are readying a letter asking TRUMP to issue a national emergency declaration for the coronavirus. This would allow FEMA to use $40 billion in the Disaster Relief Fund to assist state and local governments in their efforts to stop the spread of the coronavirus. But to the public, it might also signal an escalation to the crisis.
THE CORONAVIRUS TASK FORCE will hold a press briefing at 5:30 p.m. in the James S. Brady briefing room. And both CDC Director Robert Redfield and acting Deputy Homeland Security Secretary Ken Cuccinelli are due on Capitol Hill to testify.
Good Wednesday morning.
THE PRACTICAL IMPACT — WSJ’S KATE DAVIDSON, RICHARD RUBIN and ANDREW RESTUCCIA: “U.S. Treasury Likely to Push Back April 15 Tax Filing Deadline, Sources Say”: “The Trump administration is likely to extend the April 15 tax deadline as part of an effort to mitigate the effects of the novel coronavirus on U.S. households and businesses, according to an administration official and another person familiar with the matter.
“Neither the decision to extend the deadline nor the mechanics of how such an extension might work are yet final. Normally, individuals must pay their prior year’s taxes by April 15 or face penalties and interest charges. People can already get extensions through mid-October to file their returns as long as they have paid on time by mid-April. This decision would go further than that.
“Extending the tax filing deadline would effectively act as a bridge loan for individuals and businesses facing disruptions from the virus. Treasury officials are still considering how far the filing deadline may be pushed back and who would be eligible for the extension, according to the person familiar with the discussions.”
— DAN DIAMOND: “Exclusive: Email crash impeded HHS response to coronavirus”: “As health department officials worked quickly to negotiate an emergency funding package to fight the spreading coronavirus outbreak on Feb. 23, they came to a frustrating realization: Their email system had crashed. The outage in the Health and Human Services secretary’s office stretched on much of the day, with some messages delayed up to 11 hours, creating frustration and slowing the Trump administration’s coronavirus response.
“The HHS officials soon discovered the culprit: An email test conducted by the team at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, a branch of the health department that hadn’t briefed HHS leaders or alerted the department’s chief information officer before sending thousands of messages through their shared system. Although it was a Sunday, top officials were negotiating with the White House over a soon-to-be-announced coronavirus funding plan and tackling other urgent decisions — which were interrupted by the email outage.
“The previously unreported episode was the latest in a series of information technology snafus caused by the department’s Medicare branch dating back more than a year. This time, HHS decided to remove the agency’s control over its own email operations and launch an audit of its entire information technology infrastructure.
“The episode has exacerbated tensions inside a department that’s already been split by intense fights between HHS Secretary Alex Azar and CMS chief Seema Verma while it strains to coordinate the government’s response to the viral outbreak.” POLITICO
MARKET WATCH — “Global Markets Buffeted Again by Virus Concerns,” by WSJ’s Frances Yoon and Anna Isaac: “U.S. stock futures and Treasury yields fell on Wednesday, pointing to sustained doubts about the ability of governments and central banks to combat the economic headwinds caused by the coronavirus.
“Futures contracts tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 2%, suggesting U.S. stocks could open lower Wednesday. European stock markets opened higher, with the Stoxx Europe 600 rising 1.3%. The U.K.’s benchmark FTSE 100 was also up 1.2%, shortly after an unexpected rate cut by the Bank of England.” WSJ
WHAT METRO IS SAYING:“In addition to the measures Metro takes every day, we’ve stepped up deep cleaning and disinfecting railcars, stations, bathrooms, buses, and MetroAccess vehicles. Our staged pandemic response plan includes preparing for any service changes that may be required based on the CDC’s guidance and regional public health requirements for our employees and customers. We are mindful that Metro provides essential services, and the health and safety of our workforce and the communities we serve are paramount as this situation evolves.”
BIDEN’S NOT-SO-MINI TUESDAY …
— NYT NEWS ANALYSIS:“Joe Biden Is Poised to Deliver the Biggest Surprise of 2020: A Short, Orderly Primary,” by Matt Flegenheimer and Katie Glueck: “The state of our union is unsettled, chaotic, impossible to pin down. The state of the Democratic primary, improbably, is not.
“With a string of commanding victories on Tuesday — Michigan, Missouri, Mississippi, probably any other ‘M’ state that might have bothered with a primary this week — Joe Biden appears poised to complete one of the most striking turnarounds in recent campaign memory, finding himself in a dominant position only 10 days after the first state victory of his three presidential runs. His remarkable reversal has banished Senator Bernie Sanders to a familiar electoral perch: an insurgent progressive long shot straining to catch an establishment favorite.”
— WAPO’S DAN BALZ: “The campaign for the Democratic nomination has moved at warp speed over the past 10 days, and on Tuesday night it reached a decisive turning point. Barring something unforeseen, Democrats now know that former vice president Joe Biden will be the party’s nominee to challenge President Trump in November.”
MARIANNE LEVINE: “Sen. Murphy seeks to probe agencies of political bias in Hunter Biden requests”: “Sen. Chris Murphy is requesting an investigation into whether certain federal agencies are demonstrating political bias by complying with Republican-led requests related to Hunter Biden and the Ukrainian gas company Burisma.
“In a letter set to be sent Wednesday to inspectors general for the State Department, the Treasury Department, the Department of Homeland Security and the National Archives, the Connecticut Democrat expressed concern that the agencies were cooperating with Republican-led investigations connected to former Vice President Joe Biden’s son. But he said those same agencies didn’t comply with congressional investigations into President Donald Trump.” POLITICO
BIG PICTURE — JOHN HARRIS COLUMN: “Biden and Trump: Don’t Stop Thinking About Yesterday”: “At a transformative moment in history — when the onrush of changes in climate, technology, demography, and global balance-of-power are creating a new generation of urgent policy challenges in the United States and around the world — the 2020 race now promises to be effectively devoid of new ideas.
“Instead, this promises to be a race above all about character and personal qualities. It will be waged by old men — age 73 for the incumbent, age 77 for the presumptive challenger — whose essential worldviews were formed decades ago and whose essential instincts and preoccupations are backward-looking.”
TRUMP’S WEDNESDAY — The president will meet with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo at 12:15 p.m. in the Oval Office. He will hold a coronavirus response meeting with bankers at 3 p.m. in the Cabinet Room. Trump and first lady Melania Trump will leave the White House at 6:45 p.m. en route to the U.S. Naval Observatory to have dinner with VP Mike Pence and Karen Pence. Afterward, the Trumps will return to the White House at 8:30 p.m.
PLAYBOOK READS
WHAT PEOPLE IN THIS TOWN ARE ACTUALLY TALKING ABOUT … @washingtonian: “Breaking tonite: Per email to parents, @NatCathedralSch @BeauvoirDC & @StAlbans_STA, elite private schools, closing over #coronavirus, citing ‘abundance of caution.’ Spring break is next week, so technically just starting break early. No schedule change announced re end of break.”
— “Gridiron Dinner, an annual D.C. tradition, canceled over coronavirus concerns,” by Caitlin Oprysko: “The spring dinner, which would have drawn around 600 attendees, has taken place almost every year since 1885, club historian and National Journal White House correspondent George Condon said. Only during World War I in 1918 and World War II in 1942 did the dinner not take place, but Condon said he could find no record of the event ever getting canceled for public health reasons, including during the 1918 influenza pandemic.”
ACROSS THE POND — “My life in Italian isolation,” by Silvia Sciorilli-Borrelli: “We sat 1 meter apart from each other, as per the health authorities’ guidelines, five on each side of the 2-meter-wide table. It was a first. During main course, I apologized and said I had to turn on the television. By the time Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte announced that the whole country was being shut down, the guests — all, excluding myself, in their sixties and seventies — had lost their appetite and the celebration was over.” POLITICO Europe … AP: “Italy passes 10,000 infections”
— PROTOCOL is tracking how the virus is affecting life in Silicon Valley and among tech firms.
HMMM — “Intelligence Officials Temper Russia Warnings, Prompting Accusations of Political Influence,” by NYT’s Julian Barnes, Nick Fandos and Adam Goldman: “Intelligence officials told lawmakers behind closed doors on Tuesday that Russia was not directly supporting any candidates as it tried to interfere in the presidential race, an assertion that contradicted an earlier briefing and prompted accusations from Democrats that the Trump administration was politicizing intelligence.
“‘The I.C. has not concluded that the Kremlin is directly aiding any candidate’s re-election or any other candidates’ election,’ an unclassified summary given to lawmakers said, using shorthand for the intelligence community. ‘Nor have we concluded that the Russians will definitely choose to try to do so in 2020.’” NYT
— WAPO: “On Tuesday, senators also were disconcerted that [acting DNI Richard] Grenell, as the head of the intelligence community, was not present, said one of the people briefed on the session. The heads of other agencies, including acting homeland security secretary Chad Wolf, were there, and Grenell had been scheduled to appear, according to a list of participants circulated to lawmakers on Monday.
“But Grenell declined to go to the Hill, citing apprehension about his preparedness to address sensitive subjects that tend to upset the president, according to three people familiar with the matter.”
TWISTING THE KNIFE — “Trump endorses Sessions’ opponent in Alabama Senate primary,” by James Arkin: “President Donald Trump spurned Jeff Sessions and endorsed Tommy Tuberville in the Alabama Senate race Tuesday, an enormous blow to Trump’s former attorney general, whom he had excoriated for recusing from the Justice Department’s Russia investigation.
“The endorsement of Tuberville is a major boost for the former Auburn University football coach three weeks before the primary runoff between the two Republicans. Tuberville earned the top spot in last week’s primary, narrowly edging out Sessions but falling well short of the 50 percent of the vote needed to avoid a runoff.” POLITICO
WOMEN RULE — ANNA sat down with KATIA BEAUCHAMP, co-founder and CEO of BIRCHBOX, for a live Women Rule podcast taping last week as part of the 10th annual International Women’s Day Forum. Listen and subscribe… Story by Zack Stanton
TRANSITIONS — Leslie Shedd is now comms director for the House Foreign Affairs GOP. She most recently was an SVP at Firehouse Strategies. … Michaela Sundermann is now press secretary for the House Homeland Security GOP. She previously was digital director for Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.).
BIRTHWEEK (was Monday): Bailey La Sage, deputy comms director and digital director for Rep. Greg Gianforte (R-Mont.) (h/t Travis Hall)
BIRTHDAY OF THE DAY: Amy Weiss, CEO of Weiss Public Affairs. A fun fact people might not know about her: “In the mid-’80s, I was studying in London and got tickets to dance on stage at ‘Top of the Pops’ (the U.K. version of ‘Soul Train’ or ‘American Bandstand’ — two of my favorite programs as a kid). I danced on air to the Fine Young Cannibals’ song ‘Blue.’ Except for my trip to Liverpool to do the Beatles tour, it was the highlight of my semester.” Playbook Q&A
BIRTHDAYS: Rupert Murdoch is 89 … Michael Holley … Curt Cashour … Perri Peltz … MC Gonzalez Noguera, SVP of global public affairs at Estée Lauder … Sam Donaldson is 86 … Adam Piper, executive director of the Republican Attorneys General Association (h/t Kelly Laco) … Matt Sobocinski … Ben Becker of Precision Strategies … Jon Cohen, chief research officer at SurveyMonkey … Claire Burghoff of Cornerstone Government Affairs … Jen Mullin, VP of public affairs at Exelon … NBC News’ Miguel Almaguer … Austin Carson … former Interior Secretary Gale Norton is 66 … Justin Weaver … CNN’s Emily Riley … Nick Shapiro, VP and global head of trust and safety at Lime … Jason Herbert … former Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead is 58 …
… Christina Arvanites, producer at MSNBC’s “The Last Word” with Lawrence O’Donnell … Roll Call’s Micaela Rodríguez … James Pollack … Jon Schneider … Laura Zimmerman (h/t Jon Haber) … Suzanne Hammelman … Charles McElwee is 31 … Michal Grayevsky … Alice Stewart, CNN political commentator and NPR political contributor … Nik Holtan … Allison Muehlenbeck … Joe Quinn, VP of public affairs at the Aluminum Association, is 42 … Haley Viccaro … Alexandria Mayor Justin Wilson … Nikki Budzinski … Rachel Dodsworth … Cookie McCarton … State’s Jeff Hayes … NEA’s Carrie Pugh … Tripp Wellde … Lars Florio is 51 … Tim Mack, press secretary for Rep. Madeleine Dean (D-Pa.) … Virginia state Del. Will Wampler (h/t Mary Trigiani)
As the United States scrambled to understand the scope of the escalating public health crisis, the number of known U.S. cases of coronavirus infection passed 1,000 on Tuesday night, signaling that the virus was spreading widely in communities on both coasts and in the center of the country.
In yet another sign that the pace of infections was increasing, more than a quarter of the country’s cases were announced on Tuesday. As of early Wednesday, people in 37 states and Washington, D.C., had tested positive for the virus. There were at least 31 related deaths.
As health officials around the country take increasingly drastic measures to try to slow the virus’s spread, Gov. Jay Inslee of Washington State planned to announce on Wednesday a prohibition on community gatherings of 250 or more people in the Seattle area, according to a person involved in the discussions. The announcement is expected to target events such as sports games and entertainment gatherings while offering exceptions to schools and retail stores.
In California, second only to Washington State in the number of cases, passengers continued to disembark from a cruise ship on which about two dozen people had tested positive for the virus.
As of Tuesday evening, about 1,406 people had been able to leave the ship, the Grand Princess, after it docked in Oakland. Some passengers and state officials expressed frustration about what they said was the slow pace of the departures.
“I don’t want to start crying, but I’m stressed,” said Denise Morse, from Davis, Calif., who has been quarantined in her stateroom since Friday. “This is very exhausting to experience.”
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