Tag Archives: virology

Bloomberg News reports: So much for keeping business rolling during the coronavirus pandemic. The Council on Foreign Relations has canceled a roundtable called “Doing Business Under Coronavirus” scheduled for Friday in New York due to the spread of the infection itself. CFR has also canceled other in-person conferences that were scheduled from March 11 to April 3, including roundtables in …

Yahoo News reports: Thousands of people rushed to flee Northern Italy after plans by the government for a 16-million-person quarantine were leaked to the media ahead of time. Italy on Sunday shut down its Northern Lombardy region, which includes Milan, and 14 nearby provinces, a lockdown that is due to last until at least April 3. In Italy’s south dozens …

The Middle East Eye reports: A recently elected Iranian member of parliament died on Saturday from the novel coronavirus, state news agency IRNA has reported. Fatemeh Rahbar, 55, was a conservative MP from the capital Tehran who was elected in last month’s general election. Her party won the most seats in a vote that was marred by the lowest turnout …

The Seattle Times reports: Testing for the novel coronavirus in the Seattle area will get a huge boost in the coming weeks as a project funded by Bill Gates and his foundation begins offering home-testing kits that will allow people who fear they may be infected to swab their noses and send the samples back for analysis. Results, which should …

The New York Post reports: The head of the Port Authority — who has been visiting local airports and other transit facilities — has the coronavirus, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Monday. Cotton is now quarantined, the governor told reporters. Cuomo said he himself “could have been in contact” with infected PA executive director Rick Cotton but hasn’t been tested because …

The New York Post reports: White House coronavirus task force expert Dr. Anthony Fauci admitted on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that early attempts to send out tests were marred by delays, but that the nation’s testing capacity is “accelerating dramatically.” Early on, there were some missteps with regard to the test and some technical aspects to it,” Fauci said. “But …

Reuters reports: Italy ordered a virtual lockdown across much of its wealthy north, including the financial capital Milan, in a drastic new attempt to try to contain a outbreak of coronavirus that saw the number of deaths leap again sharply on Sunday. The unprecedented restrictions, which aim to limit gatherings and curb movement, will impact some 16 million people and …

Reuters reports: Germany’s health minister urged organizers of public events with more than 1,000 participants to call them off, news agency DPA reported on Sunday. A number of large events, including a travel fair in Berlin, have already been called off, but Jens Spahn said other organizers had been too slow to act. “Given how fast things are developing, that …

The New York Post reports: The number of coronavirus cases in Italy leaped by more than 1,200 Saturday, prompting the government to move to lock down the entire northern region of Lombardy, and 11 nearby provinces, according to reports. Italy reported 5,883 cases on Saturday, and 233 deaths. The situation is so dire that the Italian government moved to put …

CNN Business reports: Rationing supplies. Overwhelmed delivery workers. Toilet paper protected by security guards. This is the new reality for some retailers that are having to take drastic action to limit the number of toilet paper rolls, face masks and hand sanitizer bottles each person can buy as customers stockpile goods over fears of the novel coronavirus outbreak. The epidemic …

The New York Post reports: The White House is holding meetings on how to reduce the threat of coronavirus infecting President Trump and his staff after quietly tightening visitor rules last month, The Post has learned. In response to the outbreak of COVID-19, the White House has mandated that guests disclose all countries visited in the past 30 days. And …

The New York Post reports: An additional nine New Yorkers have tested positive for coronavirus, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Thursday, ballooning the total numbers of cases to 22 statewide. Eight of the new cases are in Westchester, connected to a single New Rochelle lawyer, identified by sources as 50-year-old Lawrence Garbuz, while the ninth is on Long Island, Cuomo said. …

The Sacramento Bee reports: California Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency over the coronavirus as a cruise ship that transported at least two infected passengers sailed toward the state Wednesday. One patient who had traveled on the ship died Wednesday in Placer County, marking the first death in California connected to the viruses that has spread to dozens …

The Washington Post reports: Bipartisan congressional negotiators reached agreement Wednesday on a roughly $8 billion emergency spending bill to combat the coronavirus, racing to send it to President Trump’s desk by the end of the week. The deal must still be voted on by the House later Wednesday and the Senate on Thursday, and bipartisan support is expected. The deal …

Bloomberg News reports: Italy will shut down schools across the country until mid-March to curb the spread of the coronavirus epidemic, newswire Ansa reported. The closure, which starts Thursday, is aimed at tackling the outbreak of the highly contagious disease, which has killed 79 people in the country and crippled the rich northern regions. As many as 8.7 million children …

The BBC reports: Iran has temporarily released more than 54,000 prisoners in an effort to combat the spread of the new coronavirus disease in crowded jails. Judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Esmaili told reporters that the inmates were granted furlough after testing negative for Covid-19 and posting bail. “Security prisoners” sentenced to more than five years will not be let out. The …

USA Today reports: Four more people have died of the coronavirus in Washington state, raising the death toll in the state and the nation to six, health officials said Monday. Jeffrey Duchin, a health officer in King County and Seattle, said at a Monday news conference five of the deaths were people from King County and one was from Snohomish …

The Associated Press reports: A member of a council that advises Iran’s supreme leader died Monday after falling sick from the new coronavirus, state radio reported, becoming the first top official to succumb to the illness striking both citizens and leaders of the Islamic Republic. The death of Expediency Council member Mohammad Mirmohammadi, 71, came as Iran announced the virus …

The New York Times reports: Health officials across the United States were scrambling on Monday to trace all those who had come into contact with infected patients, even as they struggled to get a handle on how far the virus had spread in the country. To date, the American authorities have reported a total of 88 cases nationwide, with two …

The New York Times reports: Researchers who have examined the genomes of two coronavirus infections in Washington State say the similarities between the cases suggest that the virus may have been spreading in the state for weeks. Washington had the United States’ first confirmed case of coronavirus, announced by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Jan. 20. Based …