The deadly coronavirus outbreak continues to spread across the globe, with cases now confirmed in every American state, the District of Columbia and most U.S. territories. As the number of cases grows despite increasingly strict quarantine measures, experts are warning that life across the globe faces severe disruption for many months.
Meanwhile, China — the original epicenter of the crisis — on Wednesday reported only 13 new cases of the virus. Twelve of those cases were recorded in individuals who recently returned from abroad. The country is clamping down on international arrivals and mandating strict quarantines to prevent imported infections from triggering a resurgence in local transmission, which has slowed dramatically in recent weeks.
Here are some other significant developments:
- Residents of major U.S. and European cities remain in lockdown or self-imposed quarantine as experts urge last-ditch containment efforts to slow the spread of the deadly virus.
- Americans could get a check for $1,000 or more in the coming weeks, as political leaders coalesce around a dramatic plan to try to prevent a deeper-than-expected recession and protect people from going bankrupt.
- New York is considering ordering residents to shelter-in-place, following a similar mandate in San Francisco.
- The Trump administration is developing a plan to impose emergency border controls that would immediately send migrants who cross illegally back to Mexico, including those who arrive seeking asylum, according to administration officials involved in the preparations.
- China’s Communist Party, increasingly sensitive to criticism of its handling of the outbreak, imposed harsh new restrictions on U.S. journalists based in the country, including expelling those who work for The Washington Post, New York Times and Wall Street Journal.
Source: Washington Post