San Francisco area orders residents to stay home
SAN FRANCISCO — Officials in six San Francisco Bay Area counties issued a sweeping shelter-in-place mandate Monday affecting nearly 7 million people, ordering residents to stay at home and go outside only for food, medicine and outings that are absolutely essential.
The order says residents must stay inside and venture out only for necessities for three weeks starting Tuesday in a desperate attempt by officials to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus.
“I know today’s order is a radical step. It has to be. We need to act now, all of us, to protect the public health,” said Dr. Grant Colfax, director of the San Francisco Department of Public Health.
If affects the counties of San Francisco, Marin, Santa Clara, San Mateo, Contra Costa and Alameda, which includes the cities of Berkeley and Oakland.
The number of infections in the U.S. climbed to nearly 4,500, with at least 81 deaths, two-thirds of them in hard-hit Washington state, where many residents of a suburban Seattle nursing home have been cut down by the virus. The number of cases worldwide topped 181,000, with more than 7,100 deaths. Over 78,000 have recovered, most of them in China.
Elba, Bond actress test positive
Actor Idris Elba tweeted that he has tested positive for coronavirus but has shown no symptoms. Elba said Monday that he has been isolated since Friday, when he found out he might have been exposed.
Olga Kurylenko, the Ukrainian actress who starred in the 2008 James Bond film “Quantum of Solace,” also said she has tested positive.
6 people at CBS News positive
Six people at CBS News have tested positive for coronavirus, including a correspondent stationed in Italy, as media organizations fought Monday against the same epidemic they’re charged with describing. Five employees with the virus work in CBS’ New York offices, where most of its journalists were ordered to stay away as a result.
Meanwhile, at NBC, an employee who worked on the “Today” show’s third hour tested positive, forcing the show’s anchors, Craig Melvin and Al Roker, and others who came into contact with the person to be ordered to isolate in their homes as a result.
Movie theaters preparing for closure
Movie theaters nationwide are preparing to shut down after President Donald Trump announced new guidelines urging against gatherings of more than 10 people. Regal Cinemas, the nation’s second-largest theater chain, said Monday that it would close all cinemas beginning Tuesday. AMC Theaters, the largest theater circuit, didn’t immediately respond to messages. Earlier in the day, AMC said it would limit audiences to fewer than 50 people for every screening to facilitate social distancing.
Universal Pictures on Monday said it will make its current and upcoming films available for on-demand rental. The studio said it will put movies currently in theaters — “Invisible Man,” “The Hunt,” “Emma” — up for rental beginning as early as Friday.
Spain cases jump; Ireland closes pubs on St. Patrick’s Day
New figures on Monday showed that cases outside China — where the virus originated — surpassed those inside its borders for the first time. Spain officially became the fourth-most infected country in the world, surpassing South Korea.
Only China, Italy and Iran have more confirmed cases of COVID-19 than Spain, where the number of infections increased overnight by roughly 20%, to 9,191, and the number of fatalities rose to 309, according to the Spanish Health Ministry.
Ireland ordered all pubs and bars to close for two weeks — including on Tuesday, St. Patrick’s Day.
In France, officials imposed nationwide restrictions on where people could go. French President Emmanuel Macron said the government ordered the restrictions because people hadn’t complied with earlier guidelines and “we are at war.”
In China, thousands of workers headed back to jobs at factories desperate to get production going again, as the virus ebbed. In South Korea, only 74 more cases were reported.
Italy reported another jump in infections Monday, up more than 3,000 to 27,980. With 2,158 deaths, Italy now accounts for well over a quarter of the global death toll. Cases, however, slowed in Lombardy, the hardest-hit region.