Leader Of Italy's Democratic Party Tests Positive For Covid-19 As Death Toll Passes 200, Iranian Lawmaker Dies: Live Updates
Update (1240ET): Now that every country in Europe has been infected with the virus, Italian health officials confirmed on Saturday that the national death toll has hit 233 after officials reported another 36 deaths.
DEATH TOLL IN ITALY OF CORONAVIRUS PATIENTS RISES TO 233 FROM 197 ON FRIDAY
TOTAL NUMBER OF CONFIRMED CASES OF CORONAVIRUS IN ITALY RISES TO 5,883 FROM 4,636 ON FRIDAY
The epicenter of the outbreak in Europe is seeing shit go straight parabolic.
Italian government officials announced that they would adopt a new decree on Saturday with measures to to try and stem the contagion, but it's not clear yet what exactly they're planning.
Meanwhile, as more European countries track infected Italians spreading the virus within their borders, Sweden - of all places - is presenting a model of how to swiftly identify and quarantine those who have been exposed. All cases of Swedes who traveled to Northern Italy to ski during the holidays have been tracked, all people who came into contact with the possibly infected have been quarantined.
Unfortunately, the outbreak is no longer limited to the north of Italy.On Saturday, CNN reports, a US Navy sailor stationed in Naples tested positive for the virus, marking the first case for a US servicemember stationed in Europe.
The servicemember was stationed at a naval support facility in Naples. They are receiving medical and other support in accordance with CDC guidelines.
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Democratic Party leader Nicola Zingarelli, one of the most powerful politicians in Italy, has tested positive for the coronavirus, Italian media reported on Saturday.
Zingarelli
Since the beginning of the outbreak, Italy has been the epicenter of the outbreak in Europe; on Friday, the total number of confirmed cases in the country climbed above 4,500, with 197 deaths confirmed.
"I have coronavirus too," Zingaretti said in a video posted on Facebook, adding he was in self-isolation at home and that all the people he had been in contact with in the latest days were being contacted for checks. He said he was well.
As the outbreak has spread to nearly every country in North America, Asia and Europe. On Friday, Slovakia, the last remaining nation in Europe without any confirmed cases of the virus, confirmed its first case and almost immediately implemented a ban on flights from Italy, which has been blamed for spreading the virus across the continent, per NYT.
Since the number of new cases being confirmed outside China surpassed the number of new cases being confirmed inside China early last week, South Korea, Italy, Iran and now the US have emerged as the new epicenters, though Europe's largest economies are all struggling with largely uncontained outbreaks.
Across Europe, bureaucrats have been hesitant to suspend Schengen area free-travel, allowing the virus to effortlessly spread across the continent.
Italy has been the European country hardest hit by the epidemic, with a total of 4,636 cases and 197 deaths on Friday, and is currently reporting more deaths per day form the virus than any other country in the world.
The coronavirus death toll in the United States reached 17 when Florida health officials reported two fatalities, the first in the state, late Friday, the Washington Post reports. They were the first deaths recorded outside the West Coast, where Washington State and California have emerged as the hardest hit states.
In Iran, officials reported 1,076 new cases of coronavirus and 21 new deaths on Saturday, bringing the total to 5,823 cases and 145 deaths. And a newly elected Iranina MP has died after two dozen Iranian lawmakers were infected, as well as several senior government officials.
In the Balkans, Bulgaria has closed all schools due to "influenza panic" - even though it's only reported a handful of suspected cases.
Across the US, there are more than 300 cases reported (though not yet 'confirmed' by the CDC) and at least half of all states have confirmed cases. On Friday, Hawaii, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Connecticut, Nebraska, Indiana, Minnesota, Pennsylvania and South Carolina all confirmed their first cases of the virus.
"We believe she was infected in New York," said Kerry Eaton, COO of Danbury Hospital.
As we noted last night, a Hawaii resident who traveled on the Grand Princess but disembarked in Hawaii has been confirmed with the virus.
Over in the tri-state area, where the virus has spread rapidly, nearly 50 cases have been confirmed (between NYC area, NJ & Connecticut). Here's a flow-chart showing the progression of infections in the NYC area.
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear confirmed the state's first case of the virus late Friday afternoon, Kentucky.com reports.
Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt announced Oklahoma's first case yesterday during a press conference where he was flanked by health officials. The Tulsa County man had testied positive and is now in quarantine, according to Oklahoma's Newson6.
Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts and health officials also confirmed their first case on Friday (though a military base in the state hosted some of the evacuees from the 'Diamond Princess' and Wuhan). According to Nebraska health officials, the patient was traveling in the UK when she became ill.
Officials insisted it isn't a case of 'community spread', suggesting she caught the infection abroad.
The 36-year-old woman from Omaha first checked into the Methodist hospital emergency room Thursday, after presenting with symptoms of pneumonia. Before that, she had relatively mild conditions, KETV reports.
Indiana officials Friday urged the public to take necessary precautions after reporting the state's first case of the virus. The person is an adult from Marion County who traveled to Boston where he attended a conference, officials said. He is in stable condition, is self-isolated and does not require hospitalization, according to Indy Star.
The risk to the public is low, health officials said. They said they have no indications so far that the man transmitted the disease to anyone else. They also said that the diagnosis did not come as a surprise.
"The question has never been if Indiana would get a case but when we would see one," said Indiana State Health Commissioner Dr. Kris Box. "This is an isolated case at the time."
She was confirmed to be infected on Friday afternoon. She started showing symptoms 10 days before arriving at the hospital, and the state health department is working to find everyone she had contact with.
Universities, other major institutions and event planners canceled public gatherings and took other steps to combat the rapidly spreading virus. Stanford University said all classes would be conducted online for the remainder of the winter quarter, following the lead of the University of Washington in Seattle. Minutes ago, NBC Bay Area reported that Stanford officials confirmed a faculty member who works in a clinic has tested positive for the virus, while two undergraduates are also under quarantine.
The biggest news overnight was that Austin's South by Southwest festival has been cancelled. The cancellation is a huge blow to Austin's economy - the event is one of the main drivers of Austin's transformation from a quirky Texas college town to a 'destination city' for white middle-class post-grads with no real plans or ambition, other than to maybe work on-set during the next Linklater production.
An Iranian lawmaker died from the novel coronavirus on Saturday, becoming the latest lawmaker or senior government official to succumb to the deadly respiratory illness in a country that is experiencing probably the most lethal outbreak in the world.
In California, negotiations between the state and federal officials about where to dock the 'Grand Princess', the cruise ship stranded off the cost of San Francisco with at least 21 infected passengers and crew (mostly crew) on board. A state source close to the ongoing negotiations told the LA Times that talks would resume on Friday. The Princess Cruises ship remained at sea last night, but moved 20 nautical miles off the coast for easier delivery of supplies and other 'logistical reasons'.
Officials have scrambled to provide updates as quickly as possible, but passengers aboard the ship have taken to the Internet to share their experiences independently. Two women have been posting videos offering their takes on the news. They offered some interesting details about how officials put the pieces together to figure out that the cruise ship might be infected. Notice how the women are clearly ill, but claim to have been tested and come back negative for the virus.
These two Youtubers shared a copy of the letter they received from the Captain, which was also shared by a Redditor posting in the r/Coronavirus subreddit.
Here's the letter:
Just like with the Diamond Princess, which reportedly led the staff to work in unbelievably brutal conditions, the staff aboard the Grand Princes, (so far, mostly staff have been infected) are being put in similarly undesirable conditions.
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