By Daily Caller. States across America are beginning to take various measures in an effort to combat the spread of the novel coronavirus. . .

ALABAMA : All K-12 schools closed for two weeks; state of emergency issued

ALASKA: Public schools closed for two weeks; State Capitol in Juneau, Alaska closed to the public as well as all government buildings; several public spaces shut down by the Municipality of Anchorage (the Brett Ice Arena, borough libraries, swimming pools, municipal recreation centers, ice rinks, museum); limited visiting allowed for Pioneer Homes, the state-run assisted living facilities

ARIZONA: All K-12 schools, including charter and private schools, are closed until March 27; child care centers are not included

ARKANSAS : All schools will suspend on-site lessons starting Tuesday

(Read more from “Here’s What Every State in America Is Doing to Combat the Spread of the Coronavirus” HERE)

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New York City to Limit Restaurants and Bars to Take-Out and Delivery, Movie Theaters to Shut

By CNBC. New York City will limit restaurants, bars, and cafes to serve only take-out and delivery, Mayor Bill de Blasio said. Nightclubs, movie theaters and small theater houses as well as concert venues have been ordered to close. Those measures will go into effect starting March 17 at 9 a.m. local time.

“The virus can spread rapidly through the close interactions New Yorkers have in restaurants, bars and places where we sit close together. We have to break that cycle,” de Blasio said in a statement.

“This is not a decision I make lightly,” he added. “These places are part of the heart and soul of our city. They are part of what it means to be a New Yorker. But our city is facing an unprecedented threat, and we must respond with a wartime mentality.”

The city’s public school system will also begin temporarily shutting down this week to help combat the spread of infection. (Read more from “New York City to Limit Restaurants and Bars to Take-Out and Delivery, Movie Theaters to Shut” HERE)

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With U.S. Death Toll at 69, Health Officials Set to Ramp up Testing; CDC Offers New Guidance; Fed Cuts Rate to Zero

By USA Today. The race to get home was in full swing Sunday for Americans abroad while millions of students at home were facing a Monday without school as the coronavirus crisis continued its dangerous spiral around the world.

The U.S. death toll rose to 68 across 12 states on Sunday, with the total number of confirmed cases surging to 3,774. The worldwide death toll topped 6,500.

Anxiety and action were on the rise. Thousands of schools for kindergartners to doctoral candidates will be closed nationwide, and no one knows for sure when they will reopen. Stores and supermarkets were curbing hours or shutting down altogether. Cities and states were recommending or requiring mass closure, even mass self-isolation.

The CDC on Sunday issued further guidance, encouraging social distancing and recommending against gatherings of 50 or more people for the “next eight weeks.”

At a Sunday evening press briefing at the White House with members of the Coronavirus Task Force, health officials said they are planning to ramp up coronavirus testing by tens of thousands of additional people a week, beginning this week. (Read more from “With U.S. Death Toll at 69, Health Officials Set to Ramp up Testing; CDC Offers New Guidance; Fed Cuts Rate to Zero” HERE)

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The CDC Said Gatherings of More Than 50 People Should Be Canceled Because of the Coronavirus

By BuzzFeed News. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Sunday said that all gatherings — including weddings, religious services, and concerts — should be canceled as the US battles the coronavirus pandemic.

“Examples of large events and mass gatherings include conferences, festivals, parades, concerts, sporting events, weddings, and other types of assemblies. These events can be planned not only by organizations and communities but also by individuals,” the CDC said.

The cancelations should happen for the next 8 weeks, the CDC said.

There’s a lot we still don’t know about the coronavirus outbreak. Our newsletter, Outbreak Today, will do its best to put everything we do know in one place — you can sign up here. Do you have questions you want answered? You can always get in touch. And if you’re someone who is seeing the impact of this firsthand, we’d also love to hear from you (you can reach out to us via one of our tip line channels).

(Read more from “The CDC Said Gatherings of More Than 50 People Should Be Canceled Because of the Coronavirus” HERE)

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By Science News. As sweeping efforts to contain the COVID-19 pandemic go into effect around the globe, researchers are starting to get hints of just when patients are most contagious.

People infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes the disease, may test positive for the virus both before and after they have symptoms. But a new study of nine people who contracted the virus in Germany suggests that people are mainly contagious before they have symptoms and in the first week of the disease.

Infectious viruses were isolated from about 17 percent of nose and throat swabs and more than 83 percent of phlegm samples during that first week, researchers report March 8 in a study posted at medRxiv.org.

Patients produced thousands to millions of viruses in their noses and throats, about 1,000 times as much virus as produced in SARS patients, Clemens Wendtner, director of infectious disease and tropical medicine at Munich Clinic Schwabing, a teaching hospital, and his colleagues found. That heavy load of viruses may help explain why the new coronavirus is so infectious. . .

After the eighth day of symptoms, the researchers could still detect the virus’s genetic material, RNA, in patients’ swabs or samples, but could no longer find infectious viruses. That’s an indication that antibodies that the body’s immune system makes against SARS-CoV-2 are killing viruses that get out of cells, Wendtner says. (Read more from “Here’s When Coronavirus Is Most Contagious” HERE)

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Over 70s to Be Told to Self-Isolate for Months Even If Not Ill

By Mirror UK. People in Britain aged over 70 will be instructed soon by the government to stay in strict isolation for four months as part of a planned response to coronavirus, broadcaster ITV’s political editor said.

Robert Peston said the government was likely to enforce a “wartime-style” mobilisation effort in the next five to 20 days.

Other measures being planned include hotels and other building being used as temporary hospitals, privately-run hospitals being converted into emergency medical care centres and commissioning several companies to make respirators that can keep acutely ill victims alive.

New rules would see pubs, bars and restaurants shut their doors temporarily and schools would close for a few weeks but children of key workers will be allowed to continue attending as skeleton staff will be providing childcare.

A senior government source told ITV News, the belief that the government are reluctant to make difficult and costly decisions to battle the virus is untrue. (Read more from “Over 70s to Be Told to Self-Isolate for Months Even If Not Ill” HERE)

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