EIFFEL TOWER SAYS “MERCI” TO HEALTH WORKERS
PARIS» Health workers have received a huge show of gratitude with the help of the Eiffel Tower. The Paris landmark also had a message for the broader French public: Stay at home. Lights spelled out “Merci,” French for “Thank you,” and “Stay at home” in English on Friday night along with the tower’s famous sparkling illuminations.
British prime minister tests positive. LONDON» For weeks, Prime Minister Boris Johnson of Britain was a defiant holdout among Western leaders in refusing to lock down his country against the spread of the coronavirus. On Friday, he became the first of those leaders known to have contracted the disease.
And with the heir to the throne, Prince Charles, saying this week that he had fallen ill with the virus, Britain faced the alarming prospect of having to confront its greatest crisis since World War II with several of its leading figures in quarantine.
Johnson, 55, insisted he would not relinquish his duties.
U.S. logs another milestone.
YORK» The United States NEW became the first country to surpass 100,000 infections on Friday, according to Johns Hopkins University. In New York, where there are more than 44,000 cases statewide, the number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 passed 6,000 on Friday, double what it had been just three days earlier.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo called for an additional 4,000 temporary beds across New York City, where the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center has been converted into a hospital.
Dr. John Brooks of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the U.S. is “in the acceleration phase” of the pandemic and that all corners of the country are at risk.
Number of cases worldwide approaches 600,000. More than 590,000 people have contracted the virus around the world and approximately 26,000 have died. While the U.S. now leads the world in infections, five countries have more than 1,500 deaths: Italy, Spain, China, Iran and France.
Italy recorded its biggest 24-hour rise in deaths, with 969 more victims, bringing its total number of fatalities to 9,134. The country has more than 86,000 cases, second to the U.S.
Spain, with the world’s fourth-most cases, reported an additional 7,800 infections for a total of 64,000. Health workers accounted for about 15% of its cases.
Deaths in Spain climbed past 4,900 — the world’s secondhighest total after Italy.
Deputy tests positive for coronavirus. COUNTY» A
ARAPAHOE deputy has tested positive, the first confirmed case for the sheriff’s office.
The Arapahoe County Jail, which is staffed and administered by the sheriff’s office, has no positive or presumed positive cases among the inmate population, according to a news release.
The jail has about 1,400 inmates, according to the sheriff’s office website. Individuals who have been in close proximity with the deputy have been notified about the positive test, and the sheriff’s office “is taking necessary precautions to monitor them.”
The sheriff’s office did not identify the deputy. The sheriff’s office employs about 760 people.
New Mexico extends classroom shutdown amid more virus cases. FE» Public
SANTA school students in New Mexico will not return to classrooms or athletic fields during the current academic year because of the coronavirus, the state’s top education official announced Friday as the number of cases rose to nearly 200.
Public Education Secretary Ryan Stewart called the decision to extend a classroom shutdown painful. He explained that students are likely to be graded for remote coursework on a pass-fail basis. High school seniors will be able to graduate through a “demonstration of competency” that may feature a series of assignments and tests, including a college entrance exam.
He said that rites of spring such as proms and graduation should take place, even if they are delayed by several months. Athletics won’t resume before fall.
Kansas coronavirus death toll rises to four, with 202 cases. Kansas health officials reported 202 confirmed coronavirus cases and a fourth death Friday, and the state’s health director said he doesn’t expect the spread of the virus to peak until mid- to late April.
All four of the state’s deaths occurred in the Kansas City area, with the latest a man in his 80s with health conditions who died Thursday, health officials said.
Up to 75 percent of smaller businesses’ salaries will be covered by Canada. TORONTO» Canada is increasing a payroll subsidy to small- and mediumsized businesses to cover up to 75% of those salaries.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced a major increase over his original 10% wage subsidy plan. Trudeau said it became clear that Canada needed to do much more.
The prime minister said it means people will continue to be paid even though their employer has had to slow down or stop its operations because of COVID-19.
He said he hopes employers who are being pushed to lay off workers will think again. And he hopes those who have already let people go will reconsider, given the new wage subsidy. It’s backdated to March 15.
Man charged with making death threats to Pelosi in coronavirus rant.
WICHITA FALLS, TEXAS» A man ranting on social media about the congressional response to the coronavirus outbreak has been charged with making death threats to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other Democrats, federal prosecutors announced Thursday.
Gavin Weslee Blake Perry, 27, wrote on his Facebook page Monday that Pelosi was part of a satanic cult and that she and other Democrats should be killed, authorities said.
Hundreds killed because of false belief that a poison fights the virus. IRAN»
TEHRAN, Standing over the still body of an intubated 5-year-old boy wearing nothing but a plastic diaper, an Iranian health care worker in a hazmat suit and mask begged the public for just one thing: Stop drinking industrial alcohol over fears about the new coronavirus.
The boy, now blind after his parents gave him toxic methanol in the mistaken belief that it protects against the virus, is just one of hundreds of victims of an epidemic inside the pandemic now gripping Iran.
Iranian news reports say nearly 300 people have been killed and more than 1,000 sickened so far by ingesting methanol across the Islamic Republic. An Iranian doctor helping the country’s Health Ministry said the problem was even greater, giving a death toll of around 480 with 2,850 people sickened.
The poisonings come as fake remedies spread across social media in Iran, where people remain deeply suspicious of the government after it downplayed the crisis for days.