12,000 POSITIVE TESTS IN N.Y.
The scramble to marshal public health and political resources intensified in New York, where a statewide lockdown took effect amid worries the city of 8.4 million is becoming one of the world’s biggest hot spots. More than 12,000 people have tested positive in the city and almost 100 have died.
After just a few weeks, the U.S. has more than 43,000 cases and more than 500 deaths.
Worldwide, more than 375,000 people have been infected and more than 16,000 have died from the virus, according to a running tally kept by Johns Hopkins University.
COVID-19 is attacking nearly 1 of every 1,000 persons in the New York metro area of New Jersey,
New York City and parts of Long Island.
Deborah Birx, coordinator of the U.S. coronavirus response, says that’s five times what other areas are seeing.
She says that 28% of the specimens from the New York metro area are testing positive, compared with less than 8% in the rest of the country. New York officials are asking that only people with severe symptoms get tested.
Birx says clearly the coronavirus has been circulating in the New York metro area for a number of weeks for it to have that level of penetration into the general community.
More than one-fifth of the world’s population was ordered or urged to stay in their homes Monday at the start of what could be a pivotal week in the battle to contain the coronavirus in the U.S. and Europe.
“We can change the trajectory of this pandemic,” said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, head of the World Health Organization.
U.K. ramps up response. LONDON» Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced Monday sweeping curbs on everyday activity including the banning of any gatherings of more than two people.
As well as instructing the public to “stay at home” for all but a few exceptions, Johnson said he was ordering shops that don’t sell essential goods, such as food and medicines, to close immediately.
In a somber address, Johnson said it was critical to prevent the virus from spreading between households and that police would be authorized to break up gatherings of more than two people in public in order to deal with the “biggest threat this country has faced for decades.”
The measures announced mark a departure from the British government’s until-now more relaxed approach to the worldwide pandemic, which has stood in contrast to the lockdowns put in place elsewhere in Europe, notably in Italy, France and Spain.
Though Britain has already closed schools, bars and restaurants and urged people to stay home, the advice for people to keep their distance has either been ignored or not understood fully enough — concerns over the strategy were stoked over the past weekend when many of the country’s open spaces were packed in the sunny weather.
The U.K. had the 10thhighest number of virus cases in the world, 5,903, and the sixth-highest number of virus-related deaths as of Monday, according to tallies from Johns Hopkins University. British government figures showed that 54 more people with the virus had died since
Sunday, bringing the country’s total to 335.
Italy records smaller increase. ROME» Italy has recorded a smaller day-today increase in new coronavirus cases for the second straight day, officials said Monday while cautioning it was too soon to know if the worst is behind the country with the world’s second-biggest caseload.
Data released by Italy’s Civil Protection agency showed 4,789 new cases from a day earlier, nearly 700 fewer than the day-today increase of 5,560 new cases reported Sunday.
The number of deaths also did not rise by as much. There were just over 600 more virus-related registered in Italy on Monday compared to 651 on Sunday.
As of Monday, Italy had a total of 59,138 virus cases compared to China’s 81,496, and the country is on pace to soon have twice as many deaths.
India halts its crucial train network.
NEW DELHI» Late Sunday, train services were suspended until March 31 while crowds were still waiting to board. The suspension included major long-distance trains and public transit in India’s big cities, exempting only freight. The New Delhi Railway Station, usually teeming with activity, was empty on Monday.
India’s national railway system totals 42,000 miles and carries more than 8 billion passengers a year.
India has at least 415 active cases of infection with the new coronavirus and seven deaths from COVID-19.
Man sentenced to 25 years for trying to bomb bank. CITY» An
OKLAHOMA man was sentenced Monday to 25 years in prison after being convicted of trying to blow up an Oklahoma City bank with a massive vehicle bomb, according to federal prosecutors.
Jerry Drake Varnell, 26, of Sayre, Okla., was sentenced in federal court in Oklahoma City. When he is released from prison, he’ll be under supervision for the rest of his life.
Varnell was arrested in August 2017 after he tried to detonate what authorities said he believed was a half-ton bomb outside BancFirst in downtown Oklahoma City. The FBI had learned of Varnell’s plan and an undercover agent posed as someone who could help construct the bomb, but instead provided inert materials.
Ex-campaign staffer sues Bloomberg.
WASHINGTON» A former staffer for Mike Bloomberg’s presidential campaign filed a class-action lawsuit Monday alleging the billionaire broke a promise to pay his thousands of campaign workers through November, regardless of whether his 2020 bid was successful.
The lawsuit, filed in federal court in New York City, accuses Bloomberg of “fraudulently” enticing people to join his campaign with promises he did not fulfill and breaching his contract with those employees by laying them off shortly after he ended his campaign on March 4.
The named plaintiff in the lawsuit, Donna Wood, worked as a field organizer for the Bloomberg campaign. The complaint notes that many of the staffers resigned or took leaves of absences from their current jobs or moved to take a position on Bloomberg’s campaign and are now left hunting for jobs — and without health care — during the coronavirus pandemic and as the economy experiences a significant contraction.