Columbiana

Pelosi: Trump's downplaying of coronavirus has cost American lives

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi sharpened her criticism of President Trump’s early dismissal of the coronavirus, saying the delay cost American lives. She criticized the president's initial response to the virus during a Sunday morning interview on CNN.

A New York dad refused to let his 21-year-old son back in their house after the spring breaker partied in Texas amid coronavirus spread

"I was aggravated," Peter Levine said of his son's decision to party on South Padre Island instead of heeding warnings about the virus.

In the coronavirus pandemic, carbon emissions have fallen, but climate change remains an existential threat

In a world desperate for good news about the coronavirus, a dip in global carbon emissions caused by the outbreak’s economic downturn might be seen as a silver lining. But climate scientists and policy experts aren’t encouraged.   

A Connecticut doctor has been charged after authorities said he deliberately coughed on his coworkers

People across the United States have been arrested and charged in recent days after allegedly violating social distancing measures.

France steps up coronavirus evacuations from packed hospitals

France on Sunday staged its largest evacuation of coronavirus patients to date from hospitals in the hard-hit east, increasing efforts to free up intensive care units as officials warned of an influx of serious cases in the coming days. Two specially equipped high-speed trains carried 36 patients from Mulhouse and Nancy toward hospitals along France's western coast, where the outbreak has been limited so far. Dozens of hospital workers, flanked by police and soldiers standing guard, spent hours installing four patients in each wagon in an operation that began before dawn.

'Like sitting ducks': Amid coronavirus, families, attorneys sound alarm over ICE detainees

“If he ends up catching something— I don’t know if he’ll survive,” said Rosalia Machado-Orellana, whose husband is in a detention facility.

Coronavirus deaths fall again in Italy but lockdown extension looms

The number of deaths from coronavirus in Italy fell for the second consecutive day on Sunday but the country still looked almost certain to see an extension of stringent containment measures. The Civil Protection department said 756 people had died in the last day, bringing the total to 10,779 - more than a third of all deaths from the virus worldwide. "The measures that were due to expire on April 3 inevitably will be extended," Regional Affairs Minister Francesco Boccia told Sky TG24 television.

Off to the cafe: Sweden is outlier in virus restrictions

People still sit at outdoor cafes in the center of Sweden's capital. Swedish authorities have advised the public to practice social distancing and to work from home, if possible, and urged those over age 70 to self-isolate as a precaution. Standing at bars has been banned in Sweden, but restaurant customers can still be served at tables instead of having to take food to go.

How Trump Learned to Trust Steve Mnuchin With His Presidency

Over the last few weeks, the fate of Donald Trump’s presidency, the global economy, and millions of American lives have hinged on the man who executive-produced The Lego Movie.That man, Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin, might seem like an unusual point person to handle the widespread fallout of a global pandemic. But it’s an unusual moment, and Mnuchin—personally tasked by President Trump to represent him in high-stakes congressional negotiations over coronavirus legislation—has seemingly met it, earning the trust of both parties on Capitol Hill while so far retaining the confidence of his famously mercurial boss.Over the past week, as bipartisan talks in the Senate over a trillion-dollar coronavirus relief bill broke down into angry finger-pointing, it was Mnuchin who seemed almost above the fray, serving as a go-between for the two sides.“Part of power is title, part is knowledge, and part is situation,” said Jack Kingston, the former congressman and current Trump surrogate. “And [Mnuchin] checked all three boxes.”By the time a deal was reached on a $2 trillion bill to respond to the coronavirus outbreak, a rare show of affection between the Trump White House and Capitol Hill Democrats was on display: Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) pointedly noted in a Wednesday letter that he had been “working hard on a bipartisan bill with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and President Trump.” Later, at the White House, Mnuchin effusively praised Democrats’ work on the package and the “enormous bipartisan support” it had. Democrats and administration officials were impressed at the final product. Many congressional Republicans were satisfied; some didn’t love what was in it; but the majority seemed simply relieved that Mnuchin was able to land the proverbial plane at a time when few can. “He has Trump’s ear and he can steer the president,” said a senior House GOP aide. “That’s important and something he has that McConnell or most Senate Republicans can’t claim.”That Trump—infamous for believing in his own brilliance—would entrust the fate of his presidency to Mnuchin is due, in large part, to a sense that Mnuchin’s motivations don’t conflict with his own. In conversations with various confidants and aides over the years, the president has frequently commended Mnuchin as someone who’s been steadfastly “loyal,” the single trait Trump values most in a top official or cabinet secretary. During the 2016 presidential run, the future president would tell people when introducing them to Mnuchin that he makes “the greatest movies in Hollywood” and how much Trump had enjoyed watching with his grandchildren a kids’ movie that Mnuchin had helped finance.“During the 2016 campaign and since he became president, I’ve repeatedly heard President Trump refer to Mnuchin as a ‘smart guy,’ a ‘winner’ who makes the ‘best deals,’ in finance and in Hollywood,” recalled Jason Miller, a former senior Trump adviser. “It is not surprising to me that the president is entrusting the secretary with what could be one of the defining moments of his presidency.” During the course of talks around a coronavirus-related economic package, Trump essentially took a back seat to his treasury secretary, aside from check-in calls with the congressional principals. The sheer size of the package dwarfs any other modern stimulative measure. And it contains provisions that are poised to increase Mnuchin’s own power dramatically. The treasury secretary will have control of a $500 billion pot of loans to companies hit hardest by the coronavirus—which he can award to the companies of his choosing.By Friday, that power had grown only greater after Trump signed an executive order allowing him to override a requirement that the inspector overseeing implementation of the new corporate fund report to Congress if he or she is not given information by the administration. Perhaps, it dawned on some Democrats, Mnuchin wasn’t to be trusted after all. “If I were Secretary Mnuchin I would start thinking about another line of work because he has just blown whatever credibility he built up with congressional Democrats,” said Jim Manley, the former top spokesman for former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV). “This little bit of treachery is going to have lasting consequences.”* * *Mnuchin’s path to becoming a trusted broker for a government in crisis was not obvious, and it was bumpy at times. The secretary’s earlier engagements with congressional Democrats have been acrimonious, especially during the last time Mnuchin was a major player on the Hill: pushing for Trump’s 2017 tax cut bill.While the tax-cut effort was highly partisan and few expected it to earn Democratic votes—nor were they needed in order to become law—Hill Democrats recall radio silence from Mnuchin during that time, aside from a perfunctory call or two. “In some ways, it’s all relative with Mnuchin because we obviously, vividly remember how the ’17 tax bill went down,” said one Democratic aide. Whatever lingering bitterness there was seemed to disappear as talks over the first emergency bill to counter the coronavirus began last month. Democrats appeared to warm to Mnuchin as a rare commodity in the Trump administration: a high-level figure who actually seems to speak for Trump, is far less ideological than his peers, and instead shares his boss’ instinct to cut deals. And it’s not lost on some of them that the former investment banker and Hollywood mogul has, at the very least, some Democratic sympathies—he cut a check for Kamala Harris’ first Senate campaign in California in 2016.“Obviously, he’s a wealthy guy, he doesn’t wanna pay taxes,” said a Democratic aide of Mnuchin, “but I don’t think he’s ideological in the same way [former chief of staff] Mick Mulvaney is. You can deal with him in a way you can’t deal with other members of the administration.”To some Republicans, that perception became a source of anxiety during the marathon negotiations over coronavirus relief. The previous coronavirus bill, which passed last week and largely focused on shoring up the nation’s health care system, was negotiated primarily between Mnuchin and Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA). When those talks produced a bill many Senate Republicans panned, McConnell urged them to vote for it anyway and shift their focus to the third coronavirus bill.Yet again, though, the main interlopers on that bill ended up being a Democrat and Mnuchin. When talks between McConnell and Schumer broke down over the weekend, the secretary continued talks with the Democratic leader.Some Republicans watched anxiously as Mnuchin and Schumer huddled for several lengthy negotiating sessions on Capitol Hill, worried that him staying at the table as long as he did gave Democrats even more leverage. On Tuesday night, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) took to the Senate floor to publicly beg Trump to yank Mnuchin and to tell Democrats to take what they’d worked on or leave it.Other Republicans fretted about what Mnuchin—whom people in both parties describe as a dealmaker, not someone concerned with the weeds of policy—might concede to Democrats in the name of getting something done. “I think the longer that Mnuchin stayed at the table, the less likely it was that McConnell would have been able to undercut him,” said a Republican source.But at that point, said some, Mnuchin of all people was best situated to bring the bill home. “If Chuck and Nancy are going to be difficult, we need someone who can handle that,” said a Senate Republican aide. “It clearly got to a point where it was more beneficial for Mnuchin to be the one doing that and maybe to be the slightly disinterested third person, compared to having McConnell and Schumer in a room.”—with additional reporting from Asawin Suebsaeng and Sam SteinRead more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.

50 TSA screening officers and 19 more employees test positive for coronavirus

Fifty TSA screening officers and 19 additional TSA employees across the United States have tested positive for coronavirus in the last two weeks.

Coronavirus: India's PM Modi seeks 'forgiveness' over lockdown

Narendra Modi apologises for sweeping restrictions that have left many jobless and hungry.

'I don't know how you look at those numbers and conclude anything less than thousands of people will pass away': Cuomo discusses state fatality projections

Gov. Andrew Cuomo spoke about New York state’s fatality projections during a press conference on Sunday.

Asia virus latest: People return to China epicentre, security talks off

Wuhan, the central Chinese city where the coronavirus first emerged last year, partly reopened on Saturday after more than two months of near total isolation for its population of 11 million. A top Asian security conference that gathers defence ministers -- including from the US and China -- and senior military officials was cancelled due to the pandemic. Thousands of migrant workers in India, left jobless and penniless by the full shutdown of the country, are walking long distances back to their home villages after all transport was stopped except for essential services.

4 disease experts reveal how they'd address the coronavirus pandemic in the US if they could wave a magic wand

To curb the coronavirus outbreak in the US, experts agree, we need strict social distancing and widespread testing. Two suggested a national lockdown.

China sends medical aid to Pakistan to combat virus outbreak

China sent a plane loaded with medical personnel and supplies Saturday to help Pakistan fight the spread of the coronavirus in one of the world's most populous nations. In Iran, which is battling the worst outbreak in the region, state TV said Saturday another 139 people had died from the virus. China has sought to portray itself as a global leader in the fight against the outbreak, which began a few months ago in its Wuhan province.

A New York nurse shared a chilling photo of coronavirus victims to show 'the ghastly reality of what' medical workers deal with on frontlines

The harrowing image shows the bodies of deceased COVID-19 patients being stored in a refrigerated truck outside the ambulance bay.

Trump boosts virus aid, tells governors to be 'appreciative'

After days of pleas from governors across the country, President Trump took steps to expand the federal government’s role in helping produce critically needed supplies to fight the coronavirus pandemic and warned the leaders of hard-hit states not to cross him.

Fact check: Is the coronavirus being spread 'quickly' via gas pumps?

A Facebook post warned users to be careful at the gas station because coronavirus is spreading "quickly" via pumps. This claim is partly false.

Opinion: Two letter writers are mad at Gov. Newsom, and readers are having none of it

Two letters critical of Gavin Newsom's "stay at home" order drew strong rebuttals from readers, indicating a consensus on action to halt the coronavirus.

Venezuelan ex-general surrenders to US on drug trafficking charges

A retired Venezuelan general who was charged by the United States with "narco-terrorism" along with President Nicolas Maduro and other officials has surrendered in Colombia to US authorities, prosecutors said Saturday. "The national Attorney General learned that Mr Cliver Alcala surrendered to US authorities," the Colombian prosecutor said in a statement, adding there was no arrest warrant when he gave himself up. Alcala turned himself in on Friday to the Colombians, who in turn handed him over to US authorities, the El Tiempo de Bogota newspaper said.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson is spending £5.7 million to write to all 66 million people in the UK, urging them to stay at home to fight coronavirus

"The more we all follow the rules, the fewer lives will be lost and the sooner life can return to normal," Johnson said in a letter

Malaysia arrests hundreds for flouting curbs on movement as virus deaths rise

Malaysia this week arrested hundreds of people for violating restrictions aimed at stemming the spread of coronavirus, a senior minister said on Sunday, amid a spike in the number of deaths linked to the outbreak. The death toll rose from 27 to 34 within a 24-hour period, the biggest daily rise so far, while the number of reported cases was up to 2,470, the highest in Southeast Asia. Malaysia has closed schools and non-essential businesses and imposed restrictions on travel and movement until April 14 to try to contain the spread.

Fit, healthy 33-year-old recounts falling ill to coronavirus

Andrea Napoli didn’t fit the usual profile of a coronavirus patient. At 33, he was in perfect health, with no history of respiratory disease. Until that day, Napoli was following his routine of work, jogging and swimming.

Mexico's president shifts tone on coronavirus, urges people to stay home, warns of dire consequences

Critics said Mexico's president was downplaying the coronavirus threat. But he has now shifted his tone.

Coronavirus: India defiant as millions struggle under lockdown

The government defends strict lockdown measures that have left millions stranded and without food.

An Arkansas doctor stayed in his home to socially distance from his wife and child. Days after his photo went viral his house was destroyed by a tornado.

He went viral for distancing from his wife and 1-year-old son. Days later, his house was destroyed by a tornado that hit Jonesboro, Arkansas.

Police break up 'illegal' house party that violated N.J.'s stay-at-home order

The party's organizer was charged, the governor said.

North Korea says tested 'super-large' rocket launchers

Nuclear-armed North Korea successfully tested "super-large multiple rocket launchers", state media said on Monday, but leader Kim Jong Un was not described as commanding the drill as analysts say Pyongyang seeks to normalise its launches. With the world focused on the coronavirus pandemic and North Korea insisting it has not had a single COVID-19 case, the isolated state has carried out four such firings this month. Unusually, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) did not say in its report that Kim had directed Sunday's test.

Cruise workers are using TikTok to give a behind-the-scenes look into what life is like on an empty cruise ship

While Carnival, Royal Caribbean, and Norwegian have canceled US-based cruises until mid-April at the earliest, some ships are still at sea.

Saudi Arabia expands lockdown as coronavirus death toll doubles

Saudi Arabia halted entry and exit into Jeddah governorate on Sunday, expanding lockdown rules as it reported four new deaths from a coronavirus outbreak that continues to spread in the region despite drastic measures to contain it. The Saudi health ministry said four more foreign residents, in Jeddah and Medina, had died from the virus, taking the total to eight. Oman, Kuwait and Bahrain reported more cases, taking the total in the six Gulf Arab countries to over 3,200, with 15 deaths.

Indian authorities send buses to take unemployed to villages

Authorities sent a fleet of buses to the outskirts of India's capital on Saturday to meet an exodus of migrant workers desperately trying to reach their home villages during the world's largest coronavirus lockdown. Thousands of people, mostly young male day laborers but also families, fled their New Delhi homes after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a 21-day lockdown that began on Wednesday and effectively put millions of Indians who live off daily earnings out of work. Modi said the extreme measure was needed to halt the spread of the coronavirus in India, which has confirmed 775 cases and 19 deaths, and where millions live in cramped conditions without regular access to clean water.

Choir practice turns fatal. Airborne coronavirus strongly suspected

The deadly outbreak among members of a choir has stunned health officials, who have concluded that the virus was almost certainly transmitted through the air from one or more people without symptoms.

Trump extends social distancing guidelines to April 30, predicts 'great things' by June 1

Trump last week said he wanted to see the much of the country opening back up by Easter.

Johnson’s War With Coronavirus Is No Joke Anymore

(Bloomberg) -- For Boris Johnson, as for others, it started with a cough and a fever.The British prime minister did what he was told by the most senior medic in the land and took a test. Johnson was in his Downing Street apartment at midnight on Thursday when the result came through: he’d tested positive for coronavirus. It was the moment the pandemic literally hit home. Johnson, 55, is the first world leader to reveal he has Covid-19. His illness graphically illustrates the indiscriminate nature of a disease that has now infected almost 650,000 people around the world and killed 30,000. But as Johnson isolates himself, picking up meals and official papers left outside his door, the infection raises more questions about his attitude to a crisis many medical experts felt he failed to take seriously for too long.For one thing, Johnson is not the only member of the British government to be hit. Health Secretary Matt Hancock announced on Friday that he too had tested positive for the virus. Three hours later, Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty revealed he was isolating with symptoms. While all three insist they’re still working, one question now dominates the debate in the U.K.: if the officials leading the fight against the virus can’t even keep themselves safe, how can they protect the rest of the country and its beloved National Health Service?“Patients will die unnecessarily, NHS staff will die unnecessarily,” said Richard Horton, editor of medical journal The Lancet. “The gravity of that scandal has yet to be understood.”In the U.K., 1,019 people have lost their lives. The rate of infection is racing ahead, with the number of new cases doubling every few days. In Italy and Spain, the rapid spread has sent their death tolls way beyond China’s—the virus’s original epicenter—and overwhelmed hospitals.Horton has been an outspoken critic of Johnson’s approach, warning for weeks that the government has been too slow to act.There has been a litany of criticisms from many quarters, though, including among his fellow Conservatives: The government shouldn’t have all but stopped testing in the community or begin a misguided policy of seeking “herd immunity” rather than fighting the contagion. It also delayed the imposition of tough restrictions, and kept schools open. While other countries were ordering curfews and deploying the military, Johnson instead sought to use behavioral psychologists in the government’s so-called “nudge unit” to persuade the public to do the right thing.For Johnson, the gamble on a different approach was offset by the fact that his own advisers lent it their support. But the stakes now are high. “One of the functions of a prime minister is to take the blame,” his biographer Andrew Gimson said. “He will take the blame if it all goes wrong—he will have to go, actually.”At key moments in the outbreak, Johnson has seemed in denial about the size of the threat—and to his critics, it showed. At the start of the month, the premier quipped that while everyone must wash their hands for the time it takes to sing “Happy Birthday,” that did not stop him shaking hands with people he meets.“I can tell you I am shaking hands continuously,” Johnson told reporters in a clip that has since gone viral on Twitter. “I was at a hospital the other night where I think there were actually a few coronavirus patients and I shook hands with everybody.”As the man who led his country out of the European Union, Johnson has often evoked his idea of British-ness, the unflappable belief that the country is different and all will be well. Indeed, it helped him to an emphatic election victory in December. But making light of a crisis has now landed Johnson in trouble.On March 16, after weeks of downplaying the issue, he suddenly urged all U.K. citizens to stay at home and avoid unnecessary contact with other people. It would be the prelude to more action that would shut the nation down. Yet later that evening, Johnson made light of the situation on a call with the manufacturers he was trying to persuade to produce thousands of urgently needed ventilators for hospitals. He joked that their task should be code-named “Operation Last Gasp.”Not everyone saw the funny side. “I was shocked,” said one witness, who asked to remain anonymous. “I don’t know how many people were on that call but some of the comments were not appropriate to the seriousness of the situation.”As the crisis deepened in the days that followed, the government’s response accelerated further. The country’s finance chief, Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak, unveiled a 350 billion-pound ($435 billion) “wartime” rescue package for businesses. The next day, Johnson finally agreed to close schools across the country.Yet after three days of drama and amid growing alarm, an upbeat Johnson decided on March 19 it was time to rally his troops for the push toward victory. He bounded into the wood-paneled state dining room in No. 10 Downing Street, smiling and joking with reporters in front of him.“I am absolutely confident that we can send coronavirus packing,” he defiantly declared. A new test could be a “game changer” in the fight against the disease, he said, adding that the U.K. could “turn the tide” of the outbreak in 12 weeks.By March 23, Johnson was addressing the nation in their living rooms, telling them they would be locked down for an initial three weeks. The first week hadn’t even passed before the prime minister himself fell ill.Throughout, the government has insisted all his decisions were taken on the basis of “the best” scientific evidence. The public would get bored of being told to limit their movements for too long, so timing the restrictions perfectly was vital, officials said. The only verdict that counts will come when the death toll is finally known.But another explanation for Johnson’s approach may lie in his temperament. “He loves being the center of attention,” said Gimson.Most of all, Johnson has defined himself as a liberal conservative. He has long railed against the “nanny state” for telling people how to live their lives. Explaining his own reluctance to order stricter measures, he said on March 18: “We live in a land of liberty.”Even when he did try to stop people socializing in bars and restaurants, Johnson could not quite bring himself to treat the issue seriously. In his words, he was asking people to accept an almost impossible demand and give up the “inalienable right” of every “freeborn” Briton to go to the pub. It was a light-hearted message that threatened to undermine the gravity of his request.On the Sunday before he ordered a full national lockdown, Johnson implored the public to value the freedoms they stood to lose. “Other countries have been forced to bring in restrictions on people’s movements, altogether,” he said. “I don’t want to do that. It’s so important that that pleasure and that ability is preserved—but it can only really be preserved if everybody acts responsibly.”The tussle between freedom and responsibility may become the conflict that defines Johnson’s career. He rode to power on a campaign to release the U.K. from the EU’s legal shackles. His overriding promise was to “unleash” Britain’s potential.Now Johnson, like thousands of his fellow citizens, is living in isolation in his apartment and dealing with the disease for the next week alone. The irony is that he has put the entire population—himself included—on the tightest leash of all.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.

Violent Tornado Rips Through Arkansas Town, Injuries Reported

At least six people were injured after a tornado ripped through downtown Jonesboro, Arkansas on Saturday, ripping entire walls off buildings, flattening homes, and leaving cars overturned. There was no immediate word on fatalities, but videos showed major damage to the area, with only piles of debris apparently left of some buildings. Jonesboro Mayor Harold Perrin issued a 7 p.m. curfew for the entire city as authorities began assessing the damage and conducting search-and-rescue missions throughout the area. Police Chief Rick Elliott urged residents to remain indoors to avoid hazards while authorities clean up all the debris. “We’ve already asked you to stay at home for this virus but we're really stressing to stay at home,” he was quoted saying by CNN.Footage from the scene shared by local media outlets showed that the tornado had obliterated buildings and mangled vehicles; it was reportedly so powerful that it sent debris flying more than 4 miles high. Multiple grocery stores, restaurants, and a Best Buy were reportedly hit by the twister. A National Weather Service spokesman told The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette that he detected “quite a bit” of destruction from the tornado on social media in both Jonesboro and Paragould.“This is a very life threatening situation right now,” Paul Dellegatto, Fox 13’s meteorologist, said in a live stream as the violent tornado was seen on video roaring through the area. “Get in your tornado safe spot immediately. This is businesses, this is homes. This is a major tornado. Look at the size of that debris being wafted. This is as dire of a situation that we could have,” another meteorologist said.The tornado destroyed numerous houses and also reportedly derailed a train. It also struck Jonesboro Municipal Airport, according to the Democrat-Gazette.Rep. Rick Crawford (R-AR), who represents the first congressional district that includes the affected areas, said on Twitter that his family members and staff are safe. “The video and pictures are devastating,” he added. “Reports of some trapped in buildings along the path. Please pray for those assisting and aiding those who have been hurt. Our hospitals are responding too.”Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.

Florida coronavirus cases pass 4000: state border checkpoints begin, vacation rentals halted

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis tells travelers, "Don't come here" as cases pass 4,000. The state is also checking Louisianians crossing the border by car.

How will US bounty affect Maduro's hold on Venezuelan power?

The United States ramped up the pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro this week by accusing him of "narco-terrorism" and offering a $15 million bounty for information leading to his capture. It's the latest in a succession of measures to try and force Maduro from power in favor of Venezuela's opposition leader Juan Guaido. The millions of dollars offered in reward by the US Justice Department are aimed at encouraging divisions amongst the command structures in the Maduro regime, experts say.

CEO of bailed-out United Airlines thanks America for 'vital public assistance' and pledges aircraft to deliver medical supplies throughout the world

United CEO Oscar Munoz pledged several cargo flights to deliver critical medical supplies in the US and abroad at least 40 times per week.

China defends against incoming second wave of coronavirus

A growing number of imported coronavirus cases in China risked fanning a second wave of infections when domestic transmissions had "basically been stopped", a senior health official said on Sunday, while eased travel curbs may also add to domestic risks. China, where the disease first emerged in the central city of Wuhan, had an accumulated total of 693 cases entering from overseas, which meant "the possibility of a new round of infections remains relatively big", Mi Feng, spokesman for the National Health Commission (NHC), said. Nearly a quarter of those came from arrivals in Beijing.

Plane catches fire at Manila airport, killing all 8 aboard

A plane carrying eight people, including an American and a Canadian, burst into flames Sunday while attempting to take off from Manila’s airport on a flight bound for Japan, killing all those on board, officials said. The Westwind 24 plane, which was carrying six Filipino crew members and the American and Canadian passengers, was bound for Tokyo on a medical mission when it caught fire near the end of the main runway, Manila airport general manager Ed Monreal said. The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines said the aircraft apparently encountered an unspecified “problem which resulted in a fire” as it rolled to take off, adding its chief investigator was on the way to the scene.

New York hospitals must allow partners in the delivery room for birth, Department of Health says

The new policy disputes controversial rules announced by some of the state's top hospitals banning visitors in response to the coronavirus crisis.

Uneven coronavirus spread leads to uneven partisan response

Democrats and Republicans seem to be experiencing the coronavirus differently and that may be playing a role in how they see the pandemic.

White House task force official says 'no state, no metro area' will be spared from coronavirus

The United States is preparing for a novel coronavirus epidemic that is national in scope."No state, no metro area will be spared," Dr. Deborah Birx, the coronavirus response coordinator for the White House Coronavirus Task Force, told NBC's Chuck Todd on Sunday's edition of Meet the Press.Birx was clear that no area of the country will evade the effects of the virus, but said the sooner places react and instill mitigation measures, the easier it will be to "move forward."> WATCH: Dr. Deborah Birx says "no metro area will be spared" of the coronavirus outbreak. MTP IfItsSunday> > Dr. Birx: "The sooner we react and the sooner the states and the metro areas react and ensure that they have put in full mitigation ... then we'll be able to move forward." pic.twitter.com/B9Fo3lUVHA> > -- Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) March 29, 2020Dr. Anthony Fauci, the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, also provided a sense of scale Sunday, but he said he doesn't want to be held to any prediction. Fauci told CNN's Jake Tapper that he's never seen an outbreak match the worst-case scenario of its models, and he believes that remains unlikely for the coronavirus, as well. Nevertheless, he thinks it's possible the U.S. could be looking at somewhere between 100,000 and 200,000 deaths. > Dr. Anthony Fauci says there could potentially be between 100,000 to 200,000 deaths related to the coronavirus and millions of cases. "I just don't think that we really need to make a projection when it's such a moving target, that you could so easily be wrong," he adds. CNNSOTU pic.twitter.com/F2MOHY3xl4> > -- State of the Union (@CNNSotu) March 29, 2020More stories from theweek.com Once coronavirus infects a human body, what happens next? Elton John to host 'Living Room Concert for America' with stars performing from home A sustainable energy company is fixing 170 broken ventilators sent to Los Angeles County

Largest U.S. dam removal sparks debate over coveted West water

California’s second-largest river has sustained Native American tribes with salmon for millennia, provided upstream farmers with irrigation water for generations and served as a haven for retirees who built homes along its banks.

Should travelers cancel their vacation to Mexico? Travel experts discuss the options.

Travel agents say tourists should consider rebooking their trips to Mexico for later in the year rather than asking for a refund. Here's why.

Nigeria orders lockdown in Lagos, Abuja over virus

Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari on Sunday ordered the "cessation of all movements" for two weeks in the largest city Lagos and capital Abuja to stop the spread of coronavirus. "All citizens in these areas are to stay in their homes" starting from 2200 GMT on Monday, Buhari announced in a televised address to the nation. Buhari said the restrictions -- which also cover Ogun state neighbouring Lagos -- do not apply to hospitals, food shops or petrol stations.