narvikk/iStock(NEW YORK) — As the number of confirmed novel coronavirus cases and deaths continue to rise in the United States, Americans are hunkering down and more and more schools, sports leagues and amusement parks are closing.
There are at least 1,701 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the U.S. and 40 coronavirus-related deaths, according to data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.
Globally there are over 137,000 cases.
Tune into ABC News Live at noon ET every weekday for the latest news, context and analysis on the novel coronavirus, with resources from the full ABC News team.
Today’s biggest developments:
- Trump declares national emergency
- Dr. Fauci says spread will ‘get worse before it gets better’
- New York state cases soar to 421
- Europe now ‘epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic’
- Italy fatalities jump by 250 in 24 hours
Here’s the latest on the developing situation. All times Eastern. Please refresh this page for updates.
3:37 p.m.: Trump declares national emergency
President Donald Trump declared a national emergency on Friday which he said “will open up access to up to $50 billion” to fight COVID-19.
“The secretary of HHS [Health and Human Services] will be able to immediately waive provisions of applicable laws and regulations to give doctors, hospitals, all hospitals and health care providers maximum flexibility to respond to the virus and care for patients,” Trump said at the White House.
Trump also announced private sector partnerships to “accelerate our capacity to test for the coronavirus.”
“We want to make sure that those who need a test can get a test very safely, quickly and conveniently,” the president said.
The FDA approved a new test from Roche Diagnostics which is expected to make “up to half a million additional tests” “available early next week,” Trump said.
Trump said the FDA also hopes to authorize an application from Thermo Fisher within 24 hours, which he said would create 1.4 million more tests next week and 5 million within a month.
“At the same time, we’ve been in discussions with pharmacies and retailers to make drive-through tests available in the critical locations,” he said.
3:15 p.m.: Los Angeles, San Diego, Pennsylvania, West Virginia schools close
All Pennsylvania schools will close for 10 business days starting on March 16 to try to stop the spread of COVID-19, the governor announced.
California’s two largest school districts, the Los Angeles Unified School District and the San Diego Unified School District, will close their doors on Monday. The two districts teach more than 750,000 students combined.
West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice announced he will close his state’s public schools, saying the “risks outweigh the good.”
West Virginia is just one of three states, along with Idaho and Montana, without any confirmed coronavirus cases.
2:17 p.m.: New York cases soar to 421
New York state now has 421 confirmed cases of coronavirus, the highest in the country, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said.
That total includes 154 people in New York City, he said.
Of the 421 people, 50 are in the hospital, the governor said.
“There could be tens of thousands of cases,” he warned. “My guess is there are thousands of cases or people who had coronavirus, didn’t even know they had the coronavirus, had symptoms, resolved, moved on, and never knew they had it.”
1:53 p.m.: Italy fatalities jump by 250 in 24 hours
Italy saw 250 more fatalities from the coronavirus in just 24 hours, the Italian Civil Protection Authorities said Friday.
That brings the total number of infected in Italy to 17,660 since the outbreak began on Feb. 21, and the number of related deaths to 1,266.
1:22 p.m.: Louisiana delays democratic primary
Louisiana’s Democratic primary that -was scheduled for April 4 is now pushed back to June 20, Louisiana Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin said Friday.
One key stakeholder in the decision was to protect the election day polling commissioners as more than half of them are over 65 years old, Ardoin said.
1:05 p.m.: Miami mayor tests positive
Miami Mayor Francis Suarez said Friday that he has coronavirus.
The mayor added that he feels “completely healthy and strong” and will “remain isolated while I lead our government remotely. “
“If we did not shake hands or you did not come into contact with me — if I coughed or sneezed — there is no action you need to take whatsoever,” Suarez said in a statement. “If we did, however, touch or shake hands, or if I sneezed or coughed near you since Monday, it is recommended that you self-isolate for 14 days, but you do not need to get tested.”
According to the Miami Herald, Suarez recently attended an event with a Brazilian government official who later tested positive for coronavirus.
President Donald Trump also met with that Brazilian official over the weekend at Mar-a-Lago.
12:35 p.m.: Los Angeles, San Diego, West Virginia schools close
California’s two largest school districts, the Los Angeles Unified School District and the San Diego Unified School District, will close their doors on Monday to try to stop the spread of COVID-19.
The two districts teach more than 750,000 students combined.
Meanwhile, West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice announced he will close his state’s public schools, saying the “risks outweigh the good.”
West Virginia is just one of three states, along with Idaho and Montana, without any confirmed coronavirus cases.
12:28 p.m.:Trump expected to declare national emergency
Trump is expected to declare a national emergency at a 3 p.m. press conference, four administration sources tell ABC News.
It’s not clear what directives the president may issue under the order.
Former DHS acting Deputy Secretary John Cohen, now an ABC contributor, said declaring a national emergency “conveys to the public that the nation faces a serious crisis and that drastic action is necessary.” Also, “it will immediately make available resources and other support that can be directed to protect communities across the nation.”
12:11 p.m.: Europe now ‘epicenter’
World Health Organization Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, “Europe has now become the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic, with more reported cases and deaths than the rest of the world combined, apart from China.”
He urged other countries on Friday to look toward the actions of “China, South Korea, Singapore and others,” which, he said, “clearly demonstrates that aggressive testing and contact tracing, combined with social-distancing measures and community mobilization, can prevent COVID-19 infections and save lives.”
“Our message to countries continues to be: You must take a comprehensive approach. Not testing alone. Not contact tracing alone. Not quarantine alone. Not social distancing alone. Do it all,” he said. “Any country that looks at the experience of other countries with large epidemics and thinks ‘that won’t happen to us’ is making a deadly mistake. It can happen to anyone.”
11:25 a.m.: Drive-through mobile testing center opens in hard-hit New Rochelle
New York state’s first drive-through COVID-19 mobile testing center opened in the city of New Rochelle Friday.
The center will test up to 200 people on Friday and that number could reach 500 per day, the governor said.
A one-mile radius “containment area” was established in New Rochelle to try to stop the virus from spreading.
10:25 a.m.: Boston Marathon postponed
The 2020 Boston Marathon is postponed until Monday, Sept. 14, Boston Mayor Marty Walsh announced Friday.
9:43 a.m.: Sen. Ted Cruz extends quarantine
Sen. Ted Cruz has decided to extend his self-quarantine.
While the senator’s elected self-quarantine ended Thursday afternoon, he said he then learned Thursday night that “he had a second interaction” with someone who tested positive for coronavirus on Thursday.
“On March 3, I met in my D.C. office with Santiago Abascal, the leader of the Vox Party in Spain. We met for about 20 minutes, sitting together at a conference table. We shook hands twice and took pictures together,” Cruz said in a statement Friday. “My understanding is that Mr. Abascal tested positive for COVID-19 last night. His staff have informed us that he was asymptomatic at the time of our meeting and that several days after our meeting he had extended interactions with another individual who has also tested positive.”
“I’m still not feeling any symptoms,” Cruz went on. “But, for the same reasons I initially self-quarantined — out of an abundance of caution and to give everyone peace of mind — I am extending the self-quarantine to March 17, a full fourteen days from my meeting with Mr. Abascal.”
Why some people aren’t social distancing
Cruz is one of nine members of Congress who have elected to self-quarantine.
7:45 a.m. DC public schools to close
Washington, D.C., public schools will shutter from Monday, March 16, through the end of the month, said Mayor Muriel Bowser.
After spring break next week, students will learn through “distance learning” the rest of the month, the mayor said.
Children will have access to meals on the days schools are closed, the mayor said.
7:34 a.m. Australian official tests positive after meeting with Ivanka Trump
Australia’s minister for Home Affairs, Peter Dutton, said Friday he’s contracted coronavirus, one week after he was seen meeting with President Trump’s daughter and senior adviser, Ivanka Trump, in Washington, D.C.
Dutton said in a statement, “I feel fine and will provide an update in due course.”
7:16 a.m. Fauci says spread will “get worse before it gets better”
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told ABC News’ Good Morning America Friday that the coronavirus spread will “get worse before it gets better.”
“There’s no doubt that we have not peaked yet,” Fauci said.
“It will be at least a matter of several weeks. It’s unpredictable, but if you look at historically how these things work, it will likely be anywhere from a few weeks to up to eight weeks,” Fauci said. “I hope it’s going to be in the earlier part, two, three, four weeks, but it’s impossible to make an accurate prediction.”
Fauci urged Americans to adapt to physically separating, calling it “one of the very effective ways you can really mitigate the spread.”
As many Americans say they’re not getting access to COVID-19 tests, Fauci told GMA, “I think in the next week or so you’re gonna see an acceleration in the availability of tests.”
As for when people should request testing, Fauci recommended that the public follow the guidelines of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
5:42 a.m. Charles Barkley in self-quarantine, awaiting COVID-19 test results
NBA Hall of Famer and TNT broadcaster Charles Barkley announced Thursday night that he is self-quarantining and is awaiting results from a coronavirus test.
Barkley, in a phone interview with his co-hosts of NBA on TNT, said he felt sick after returning to Atlanta from a trip in New York City.
“I talked to a couple people at Turner and a couple doctors and they told me to self-quarantine for the next 48 hours. I started yesterday, this is my second day,” Barkley said during the interview.
“I haven’t been feeling great and they didn’t want me to take any chances … I went and took the coronavirus test late this afternoon, I have not gotten the results back,” he said. “So I’m just kinda in limbo right now. I’m really hoping it was just a bug.”
Earlier this week, the NBA announced it’s suspending the 2019-2020 season due to the coronavirus. NBA commissioner Adam Silver released a statement Thursday night saying play will be suspended for at least 30 days, but that the league intends to resume play this season when it’s safe.
3:18 a.m. Oregon, Michigan close all schools
The states of Oregon and Michigan announced they are closing all K-12 schools in an attempt to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
“This is a necessary step to protect our kids, our families, and our overall public health,” Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said in a statement Thursday night. “I am working with partners across state government to ensure educators, parents, and students have the support they need during this time, and to ensure our children who rely on school for meals have access to food. I know this will be a tough time, but we’re doing this to keep the most people we can safe.”
There are currently at least 12 presumptive positive cases of COVID-19 in Michigan, the state said.
Oregon also announced school closures Thursday, which will be shut down through the end of March.
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown said she understands the burden closing schools puts on families and students, but the move was necessary for public safety.
“This is a trying time for our community and I am reluctant to increase the burden on families who are already struggling to adapt to and stay healthy during this crisis,” Brown said in a statement. “However, we are left with little choice in light of school districts’ staff capacity and operational concerns.”
In Oregon, there are 24 confirmed cases of COVID-19.
There are zero coronavirus-related deaths in Oregon and Michigan.
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