WASHINGTON — Italy took a page from China’s playbook Sunday, locking down some 16 million people in northern parts of the country, including Milan and Venice, for nearly a month to help stop the new coronavirus across Europe.
In the U.S., the Grand Princess cruise, where 21 people have tested positive, was headed to Oakland. The ship will remain in international waters for at least another day as officials work on plans to transport passengers to facilities around the country, as they'll face quarantines ashore.
The largest school district in Northern California has canceled classes for a week after it was discovered that a family in the district had been exposed to COVID-19. The Elk Grove School District, which is near Sacramento, has nearly 64,000 students.
China has suffered about three-fourths of the world’s 109,000 coronavirus infections and most of its 3,800 deaths, according to The Associated Press.
The U.S. death toll from the virus hit 21 on Sunday. As testing increased, the number of infections in the United States climbed above 500.
Pelosi, Schumer: Trump needs to support help for outbreak
9:45 PM EDT
The two top Democratic leaders in Congress are calling on President Donald Trump to support a series of steps to help Americans deal with the coronavirus outbreak — from paid sick leave to widespread and free testing and other moves.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said Sunday that Trump should put the health and safety of the public first.
They said such steps should take priority over moves to help companies deal with financial losses — like tax cuts for corporations.
Among the steps they are pushing: paid sick leave for workers impacted by the quarantine orders and enhanced unemployment insurance for workers.
Oil plunges 20% as another virus-fueled trading week begins
7:45 PM EDT
Oil prices are plunging amid worries that an OPEC dispute will lead a virus-weakened economy to be awash in an oversupply of crude.
Brent crude, the international standard, lost $9.55, or 21.1%, to $35.72 per barrel, as of 7 p.m. Eastern time on Sunday. Benchmark U.S. crude fell $8.60 to $32.68.
The dramatic losses follow a 10.1% drop for U.S. oil on Friday, which was its biggest loss in more than five years.
Prices are falling amid worries that producers won't cut supplies enough to match falling demand.
The new coronavirus has hit travel and threatens to slow economies around the world.
Arizona Congressman self-quarantining after contact with infected individual
6:40 PM MST
Congressman Paul Gosar stated that he is remaining at his home in Arizona for 14 days after coming into contact with an individual who was infected with the coronavirus, the same man Texas Sen. Ted Cruz also interacted with at a political conference near Washington, D.C.
Gosar also said members of his staff came into contact with the individual at the Conservative Political Action Conference. He said said that neither he nor any member of his staff is experiencing any symptoms.
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz interacted with person who tested positive for coronavirus
6:30 p.m. CDT
U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz came into contact with someone who has tested positive for the coronavirus, according to a press release from his office.
The statement says he shook hands and had a brief conversation with the man at the Conservative Political Action Conference held recently in a Maryland suburb of Washington, D.C.
Cruz says he’s not experiencing any symptoms and feels fine and has been advised by medical authorities that the odds of transmission are extremely low. Yet, he says, out of an abundance of caution he will remain at home in Texas until a full 14 days have passed since the interaction.
RELATED: Gov. Hogan warns residents after person confirmed with coronavirus attended CPAC in Maryland
Cruise cleared to dock in Florida after coronavirus concerns
6:40 p.m. EDT
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has rescinded the no sail order for the Regal Princess near Florida.
The CDC said the two crew members aboard the Regal Princess cruise ship off Florida's coast tested negative for COVID-19. The CDC canceled its holdback of the Regal Princess on Sunday.
It is unclear when exactly the cruise ship will dock.
RELATED: State Department warns U.S. citizens to avoid cruise ship travel, cites increased risk of COVID-19
Cruise ship held off Florida coast as 2 crew members tested for coronavirus
3:25 p.m. EDT
The Regal Princess cruise ship is not being allowed to dock in South Florida after passengers aboard were told two crew members are being tested for COVID-19.
It's believed those crew previously were on board the Grand Princess ship, which for days has been forbidden to dock in San Francisco after 21 positive coronavirus cases were reported.
Iran says 49 more die from virus, death toll reaches 194
6:40 a.m. EDT
Iran says the new coronavirus has killed 194 people amid 6,566 confirmed cases in the Islamic Republic.
Iran saw 49 people die in 24 hours alone. That’s accord to Health Ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour, who gave the figures at a news conference Sunday.
There are over 6,900 confirmed cases of the new virus across the Mideast.
10 dead, 23 missing as hotel in China virus fight collapses
6:15 a.m. EDT
At least 10 people were killed and another 23 are missing after a hotel being used in China's coronavirus fight suddenly collapsed.
Authorities said Sunday that 71 people had been trapped following the collapse of the five-story building in the city of Quanzhou the previous evening.
Firefighters working through the night and into the next day rescued 38 people. The hotel was housing people who had come from areas hit hard by the epidemic. All of them had tested negative.
Chinese cities are isolating people from hard-hit areas for 14 days. The cause of the collapse is under investigation.
China, where the new virus emerged in December, has confirmed more than 80,000 cases, about 75 percent of the global total. More than 3,000 people have died in China.
Cruise ship hit by virus to dock in Oakland, California
1:12 a.m. EST
The captain told passengers Saturday night that a cruise ship hit by the coronavirus is headed to the port of Oakland, California.
Grand Princess Capt. John Smith told passengers in an audio address that the ship will dock in Oakland, California, likely on Monday. Smith told passengers that people who require “acute medical treatment and hospitalization” will be taken to health care facilities in California.
Other guests will be taken to federally operated isolation sites or transported out of California. The captain said he was not given any information about non-U.S. citizens.
Carnival Cruise Lines officials said earlier Saturday that there are citizens of 54 countries aboard the ship.
The Grand Princess had been forbidden to dock in San Francisco amid evidence that the vessel was the breeding ground for a cluster of nearly 20 cases that resulted in at least one death after its previous voyage.
Officials confirm first coronavirus case in nation's capital
12:05 a.m. EST
Officials in Washington, D.C., say a man in his 50s has tested positive for coronavirus, marking the first presumptively confirmed case in the nation’s capital.
District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser said Saturday that the man started exhibiting symptoms of COVID-19 in late February and was hospitalized Thursday. She said another man, from Nigeria, who had passed through Washington has also tested positive for the virus in Maryland.
President Donald Trump says he isn't concerned “at all” about the coronavirus getting closer to the White House after the first Washington case and an attendee of a recent political conference where Trump himself had spoken also tested positive for the virus.
Nineteen people have died in the U.S. from the virus. The number of infections in the U.S. has swelled above 400.
To put the coronavirus numbers in context, millions of Americans get the flu every single year and there are thousands of flu deaths annually. Since October 2019, the CDC estimates around 32 million Americans have gotten the flu. That’s one in every 10 Americans.
Since the coronavirus outbreak began late last year, there have been around 80,000 confirmed coronavirus cases in China. That means those cases account for just around .0056% of China's population.
