States Declare Emergencies, Ban Large Gatherings As Coronavirus Sweeps The Nation

The Hill: Washington State Governor Bans Events With More Than 250 People In Three Counties Struck By Virus
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (D) banned events of more than 250 people in three counties on Wednesday but noted more restrictions could be implemented if the coronavirus continues to spread. "This is an extremely dangerous event that we are facing, but we are not helpless," Inslee said at a press conference." These are not easy decisions. The decisions that we're making today and the decisions we probably will be making in the upcoming days are going to be profoundly disturbing to a lot of the ways we live our lives today," he added. "But I believe they are the right ones." (Hellmann, 3/11)

Los Angeles Times: Coronavirus: Large Gatherings Should Be Canceled, California Governor Says
Gov. Gavin Newsom joined state health officials in recommending the cancellation of gatherings of 250 or more people across the entire state, escalating the effort by his administration to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus. The new policy from California Department of Public Health, which will be in effect at least through March, marks the first time the state has issued a request for all residents across California to adopt so-called “social distancing” measures and represents a new sense of urgency in the administration’s approach to fighting the virus in a state with 177 confirmed cases. (Luna and Myers, 3/11)

San Francisco Chronicle: Coronavirus: Gov. Newsom Tells Californians To Cancel, Postpone Events Of More Than 250 People 
Under a new policy issued by his Department of Public Health, Newsom said public events should be limited to no more than 250 people and should not proceed unless organizers could ensure at least 6 feet of distance between attendees. Gatherings of people who are at high risk of contracting the virus, he said, should be kept to 10 or less. “Changing our actions for a short period of time will save the life of one or more people you know,” Newsom said in a statement. “That’s the choice before us. Each of us has extraordinary power to slow the spread of this disease.” (Koseff, 3/11)

San Francisco Chronicle: SF Bans Large Gatherings As Nation Moves To Confront Pandemic 
San Francisco Mayor London Breed and city health officials on Wednesday ordered the cancellation of all large gatherings in the city in response to the growing threat of the coronavirus — on a day that saw sweeping changes across the country including a ban on travel from Europe and the suspension of the NBA season. The city’s move was aimed in part at suspending basketball games and other events at Chase Center and preceded the NBA’s dramatic decision to halt all games until further notice amid the outbreak. (Fracassa, 3/11)

Politico: San Francisco Bans Mass Gatherings, Warriors To Become First NBA Team To Play With No Fans
The move follows Santa Clara County's similar directive Monday night and signaled that local governments are taking more aggressive measures. By late afternoon, the city of Oakland across the bay followed suit and issued its own order banning all events through March 31 with more than 1,000 people.(Cooliver and Kahn, 3/11)

The Associated Press: Coronavirus Could Take Big Bite Out Of California Budget
From cruise ships to quarantines to school closures, California leaders have had plenty to worry about with the rapid spread of the coronavirus. Add one more thing to the list: The state's $222 billion annual budget. California is home to some of the largest and most successful companies in the world and the executives who run them. That makes the state particularly vulnerable to short-term swings in the stock market, which is why state officials watched with concern Monday as U.S. stock indexes had their worst day since the start of the Great Recession in 2008. (Beam, 3/11)

San Francisco Chronicle: Bay Area Campuses Become Ghost Towns After Students Ordered Out Of Dorms 
College students across the Bay Area started packing up their dorm rooms to move back home after several universities, hoping to curb the spread of the coronavirus, urged them to leave campus. Stanford University and UCSF asked students to leave campus for the foreseeable future and continue their coursework online from home. (Tucker, 3/11)

The Associated Press: Weariness Hits Residents In New York's 'Containment Area'
At the center of one of the nation's biggest clusters of coronavirus cases, restaurant owner Joshua Berkowitz has adopted what he calls a “drop and dash” method of delivering food to customers — including many in quarantine. “I'm afraid for their safety, and they’re afraid for my safety,” he said Wednesday. “I don't want to have contact with them.” (Ehrmann, 3/11)

The Wall Street Journal: New York’s Coronavirus Containment Zone ‘Blown Out Of Proportion,’ Some Residents Say
The governor announced on Tuesday that for two weeks starting Thursday, a swath of the Westchester suburb must limit large public gatherings. Residents can still go in and out of the roughly 3-mile area, and shops and restaurants can remain open. “It’s a political farce,” said Mark McCarthy, a 66-year-old retiree walking his Bernedoodle, Fisher, near his home in the zone Wednesday. “I think it’s so the governor can demonstrate some action, but I’m not sure how meaningful it is.” (Brody, 3/11)

The Wall Street Journal: New York City’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade Postponed Over Coronavirus Fears
The New York City St. Patrick’s Day Parade has been postponed over concerns about the spread of the novel coronavirus, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Wednesday. The parade, which has never been canceled in its 258-year history, was scheduled for Tuesday and expected to draw hundreds of thousands of spectators along its route on Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue. But Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the parade organizers announced late Wednesday that the parade would take place at an undetermined later date. (Honan, 3/11)

NBC News: Asian Woman Attacked In New York City In Possible Coronavirus Bias Crime
An Asian woman was punched in the face in New York City on Tuesday in what is being investigated as a possible bias incident, with the governor of New York saying it was apparently motivated by bigotry surrounding the coronavirus. Officers responded to a reported assault at a building on West 34th Street about 10:30 a.m., the New York Police Department told NBC News. Upon arrival, a 23-year-old woman told officers she was punched in the face by a woman who also made anti-Asian slurs before fleeing the scene, police said. She was taken to the hospital in stable condition. (Griffith, 3/11)

The Washington Post: D.C. Declares Coronavirus Emergency, Urges Cancellation Of 'Mass Gatherings'
D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser declared a state of emergency Wednesday that allows her to enforce quarantines and cancellations to slow the spread of the coronavirus, as major churches and organizations in and around the nation’s capital said they would shut down for the rest of the month. The Episcopal Dioceses of Washington and Virginia said churches including Washington National Cathedral would close for two weeks. The Walter E. Washington Convention Center canceled upcoming events, as did the promoter of concerts at the Anthem, the 9:30 Club, the Lincoln Theater and U Street Music Hall. (Portnoy, Nirappil and Simon, 3/12)

The Associated Press: DC Mayor Declares State Of Emergency As Virus Cases Rise
Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser declared a state of emergency Wednesday as the number of identified coronavirus cases in the nation's capital reached 10 and officials recommended gatherings of 1,000 or more people be postponed or canceled. The announcement signals a major escalation in the District of Columbia's response to the spread of the virus. (3/11)

The Washington Post: Cherry Blossom Festival Events Canceled As Coronavirus Concerns Mount In Washington
The National Cherry Blossom Festival will cancel several events this month in light of a District recommendation that large gatherings of people be nixed in response to mounting coronavirus concerns. Festival organizers announced Wednesday that several events would be affected, including the annual Kite Festival, which will be canceled, and the opening ceremony, which organizers are considering live-streaming to avoid hosting a crowd of people at the Warner Theatre. (Lang, 3/11)

Boston Globe: ‘How Do You Plan For That?’ Coronavirus Brings Uncertainty To The Boston Arts Scene.
Venue closings. Canceled concerts. Scores of ticket holders who no longer care to sit with a few thousand strangers in a packed theater. There’s no shortage of ways to spend a night on the town in Boston, a city with more arts and cultural organizations per capita than even New York City (according to a 2016 report by the Boston Foundation). But as the number of Covid-19 cases ticks upward, the city’s cultural institutions are taking steps large and small to protect artists, staff, and audiences. (Madonna, 3/11)

WBUR: How Massachusetts Is Planning To Help People Most Vulnerable To Coronavirus
Some of the top figures in public health in Massachusetts are now part of a task force looking at social, economic and political forces that will contribute to inequities in the prevention and treatment of coronavirus. The Massachusetts Public Health Association formed the Emergency Task Force on Coronavirus and Equity. The group includes social service providers who work with the elderly, immigrants, low-wage workers, and other marginalized populations. (Joliocoeur and Mullins, 3/11)

Boston Globe: Coronavirus Prompts Mass. To Restrict Nursing Home Visits 
Massachusetts is restricting who can visit nursing and rest homes in the state in an attempt to protect older people who are at higher risk for coronavirus, authorities said Wednesday evening. State officials are banning visitors who show signs or symptoms of a respiratory infection such as a fever, cough, shortness of breath, or sore throat. Visitors will also be barred from entering such homes if during the last 14 days they had contact with someone with a confirmed diagnosis of Covid-19, are under investigation for Covid-19 or has been sick. (McDonald, 3/11)

Boston Globe: Students At The Private School That Had R.I.'s First Coronavirus Cases May Be Used In A CDC Study 
The principal of the private Rhode Island high school tied to the state’s first coronavirus cases is asking parents to allow their children to participate in a federal study to help researchers understand how and why the virus affects various populations differently. In an e-mail sent Tuesday to parents whose children attend Saint Raphael Academy in Pawtucket, Principal Daniel Richard said the voluntary study will be conducted Friday. He said the study will help the Rhode Island Department of Health and the Centers for Disease Control better understand the virus. (McGowan, 3/11)

Boston Globe: Coronavirus Outbreak Is Officially Declared A Pandemic, As Events, Schools Are Closed And Dow Continues To Plummet 
The World Health Organization on Wednesday declared that the novel coronavirus spreading across six continents can now be called a pandemic, and President Trump announced he was sharply restricting travel from Europe to the United States in an attempt to limit the spread of the disease. Massachusetts cases of the coronoavirus increased slightly to 95 Wednesday, from 92 the day before, and the number of state residents who have been subject to quarantine topped 1,000. Worldwide, the number of cases are more than 120,000 while the number of deaths exceed 4,300. (Freyer, 3/11)

The New York Times: ‘An Eviction Notice’: Chaos After Colleges Tell Students To Stay Away
The day after colleges across the country suspended classes over fears of the coronavirus, Abigail Lockhart-Calpito, a freshman from San Antonio, ran across the Harvard campus trying to get answers. Her lectures were being replaced by online classes. Her residence hall was being cleared out. She, like thousands of others in her shoes, had a million questions: What was going to happen to her financial aid? Where would she stay? What about her credits? (Hartocollis, 3/11)

ABC News: Man Battling Coronavirus Speaks Out: 'I Ain't Never Felt This Bad' 
A man in Rome, Georgia, said he was initially sent home after he went to the hospital with flu-like symptoms and later tested positive for coronavirus. Clay Bentley told ABC News on Wednesday that on March 1 he sang in the more-than-100-member choir at the Church at Liberty Square in Cartersville, Georgia. Bentley said he went home after church and woke up Monday morning, feeling so sick he went to urgent care in Rome, Georgia. When they checked his vitals, he said, his oxygen levels were really low and he was sent to a hospital. (Francis, Adib and Schwartz, 3/11)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Kemp Asks Georgia Lawmakers To Include $100 Million In Budget To Deal With Coronavirus
Gov. Brian Kemp on Wednesday asked lawmakers to add $100 million in emergency funding to the mid-year budget to deal with coronavirus.Kemp said he will raise the revenue estimate - increasing the amount of money the General Assembly can appropriate - by using state reserves, something that hasn’t been done since the Great Recession. (Salzer, 3/11)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Nurses Union Holding Rallies Wednesday To Protest Virus Response
The National Nurses United union called for rallies across the nation Wednesday, including Georgia, to protest what they call weakening federal measures to contain the coronavirus. (Darnell, 3/11)

Houston Chronicle: Assisted Living Facilities In Northwest Harris County Take Precautions To Avoid Spread Of Coronavirus
Assisted living facilities in northwest Harris County are screening visitors with questions and increasing sanitization efforts in order to prevent spread of the virus to their more susceptible residents. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention declared that older adults, and people with chronic medical conditions and compromised immune systems are more susceptible to severe sickness from COVID-19, the disease caused by coronavirus. Area assisted living and memory care facilities are taking extra precautions to protect their patients and staff. (Pryce, 3/11)

Houston Chronicle: Coronavirus ‘Community Spread’ Has Started In Houston Area 
The confirmation of the new coronavirus in a Montgomery County man who hadn’t recently traveled outside Texas marks the expected but challenging next phase in the Houston-region outbreak: community spread. Public health officials Wednesday provided no information about how the patient might have acquired the virus but acknowledged that it must have been transmitted locally, not brought in from another area, like the other 13 cases in the region. (Ackerman and Hensley, 3/11)

Houston Chronicle: Texas Medical Center Hotel Employs Germ-Killing Robots To Fight Coronavirus
As the coronavirus continues to spread around the world and in the Houston area, the owner of a new hotel in the Texas Medical Center has purchased two of these germ-fighting cleaning robots from a San Antonio-based company founded in 2008 to serve hospitals and health care facilities that are constantly battling pathogens in their patient rooms, operating rooms and elsewhere. The robots use pulses of high-intensity ultraviolet light to damage the DNA of bacteria and viruses that may be living on surfaces such as hospital beds and medical equipment, or in a hotel’s case, remote controls, bathroom countertops or coffee pods. (Sarnoff, 3/12)

ABC News: Police Issue Warning Over Spray Sanitizer Sold At 7-Eleven That Burned Child 
As shoppers look for products to stay healthy amid the novel coronavirus outbreak, police have issued a new warning for a certain spray sanitizer. The owner of a 7-Eleven store in New Jersey was arrested after police said she sold a spray sanitizer that reportedly burned a child. (McCarthy, 3/11)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Emory, Cartersville Hospitals Say They Have Patients With Coronavirus
Both Emory Healthcare and Cartersville Medical Center confirmed they are treating patients with the coronavirus. “Emory Healthcare has admitted our first patient who has tested positive for COVID-19,” the hospital system posted on its website late Tuesday. Emory did not say which of its 10 hospitals is treating the patient. Emory University Hospital, Emory Midtown and Emory Saint Joseph’s are among those in the network. (Stevens, 3/11)

The Baltimore Sun: Four More Cases Of New Coronavirus Confirmed In Maryland, Including First In Baltimore County 
Gov. Larry Hogan announced four more cases of the new coronavirus in Maryland on Wednesday, in addition to the nine already confirmed. Three new cases reported Wednesday night included a Baltimore County resident in his 60s who worked at the recent American Israel Public Affairs Committee in Washington, D.C., a Montgomery County resident in his 20s who recently traveled to Spain, and a Prince George’s County resident in his 60s whose travel history is under investigation. (Wood, Sanchez and Cohn, 3/11)

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Coronavirus Wisconsin: Milwaukee Mayor Seeks Emergency Declaration
Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett on Wednesday said he is requesting that Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers declare a public health emergency over the coronavirus pandemic. "This is not alarmist, this is very, very much a preparedness measure," Barrett said. The mayor said he was asking for the declaration in an effort to help obtain needed supplies from the federal stockpile, such as N95 masks, gowns, goggles, gloves and wipes. (Spicuzza and Dirr, 3/11)

Detroit Free Press: Michigan Coronavirus Patient At University Of Michigan Hospital
One of the two Michiganders with confirmed cases of new coronavirus is being treated at the University of Michigan Health System, Mary Masson, a spokeswoman for Michigan Medicine, said Wednesday morning. The patient is in stable condition, she said, adding that she could not release any more information about the patient. (Shamus, 3/11)

New Orleans Times-Picayune: Tulane Medical Center In New Orleans Treating 'Presumptive Positive' Coronavirus Patient 
Yet another local hospital is caring for a patient who has a presumptive case of the new coronavirus. Tulane Medical Center said it was informed by the Louisiana Department of Health on Tuesday night that a patient in its care has tested positive for COVID-19. The hospital didn’t immediately release further details about the patient’s condition. (Sledge, 3/11)

The Baltimore Sun: More Maryland Residents Who Took Egyptian Cruises Test Positive For Coronavirus, Bringing State’s Case Total To Nine 
Three more Marylanders who took Nile River cruises recently tested positive for the novel coronavirus Tuesday, bringing the state’s total case count to nine people, state officials said. They now include a woman in her 60s from Montgomery County and a couple in their 50s from Prince George’s County. The three were among a group of six state residents that health officials reached out to because they took cruises on the same ship that was tied to Maryland’s first three cases of COVID-19, announced last week. (Dance, 3/10)