Coronavirus live updates: US reports 17th death as domestic cases top 300 in 29 states

LIVE UPDATES CONTINUE BELOW

Iran cases continue increasing

Update 6:58 a.m. EST March 7: Health officials confirmed early Saturday that more than 1,000 novel coronavirus cases were confirmed overnight as were 21 additional deaths.

The latest figures bring the nationwide total to 5,823 infections, resulting in 145 deaths.

Malta reports first novel coronavirus case

Update 6:42 a.m. EST March 7: Malta confirmed its first coronavirus case Saturday morning, The Washington Post reported.

Cyprus and Bulgaria are the last remaining European Union countries without confirmed coronavirus cases.

The country's health minister said during a press conference that the patient is a 12-year-old girl who had recently been in northern Italy with her family, the Post reported citing the Times of Malta.

The girl, who arrived in Malta via Rome, is being treated in an infectious disease unit in the country’s largest hospital.

Grand Princess passenger airlifted to San Francisco

Update 6:38 a.m. EST March 7: One passenger aboard the Grand Princess has been airlifted and flown back to San Francisco, another person aboard the stranded cruise ship told CNN.

Steven Smith told CNN's Michael Holmes that the ship's captain made the announcement over an internal public address system.

"The captain came on a few minutes ago with another announcement that a helicopter was just dispatched to the ship to drop off some supplies and to pick up a passenger who needed medical attention, and they flew that person back to San Francisco," Steven Smith told the network.

"They do not know what they're going to do, where they're going to have us berth. Right now, we don't know what's going to happen tomorrow," Smith said.

Coronavirus cases in France exceed 600

Update 6:28 a.m. EST March 7: The French government confirmed Saturday the number of confirmed novel coronavirus cases in the country has reached 613, resulting in 10 deaths.

“We are currently at stage two of the action plan of the government, whose objective is to prevent and limit the spread of the virus,” the government noted in its statement, attributing the uptick in cases to the detection of “several clusters” of coronavirus activity across the nation.

More cases reported in Greece, Afghanistan

Update 6:22 a.m. EST March 7: The Greek Health Ministry confirmed Saturday the detection of 14 new coronavirus cases, bringing the nationwide total to 45.

Meanwhile, three additional cases have also been confirmed in Afghanistan, Public Health Minister Ferozidin Feroz said Saturday. Afghanistan has a total of four cases.

UK confirms second coronavirus death

Update 5:01 a.m. EST March 7: Health officials in the United Kingdom confirmed early Saturday the country's second death related to the novel coronavirus death.

The National Health Service Foundation Trust issued the following statement:

“Sadly, we can confirm that a man in his early 80s being cared for at Milton Keynes University Hospital has died. The man, who had underlying health conditions, tested positive for coronavirus shortly before his death on Thursday.”

Earlier this week a woman in her 70s, who also had underlying health conditions, became the first person to die after contracting coronavirus in the UK, CNN reported.

US cities ramp up infection-control efforts to protect homeless

Update 4:54 a.m. EST March 7: Cities across the United States are stepping up efforts to try to protect more than half a million people experiencing homelessness from the rapid spread of the novel coronavirus, The Washington Post reported.

According to the Post, a few examples include:

• Seattle erecting tiny homes for homeless people to sleep in. The homes, often barely big enough to fit a bed and a nightstand, are expected to be completed within the next month.

• Denver urging business to keep their bathrooms unlocked, so even non-patrons can wash their hands.

• Portland's health department working to identify masks and hand sanitizers reserves that can be used as part of its outreach to roughly 14,000 chronically homeless people.

State-by-state breakdown of the 307 US coronavirus cases, 17 deaths

Update 3:22 a.m. EST March 7: The novel coronavirus has sickened at least 307 U.S. residents across 29 states, including 49 citizens repatriated from abroad.

The latest figures do not include 21 people aboard the Grand Princess cruise ship off the coast of California who have tested positive for the virus. Meanwhile, some reports indicate the figure could be as high as 332 cases.

Seven states reported their first cases on Friday, including Hawaii, Kentucky, Minnesota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Pennsylvania and Utah.

Forty-six of the 49 repatriated citizens were sickened aboard the Diamond Princess cruise ship, moored off the coast of Japan. The three others were retrieved from the outbreak’s epicenter in Wuhan, China.

The state-by-state breakdown of 258 cases detected on U.S. soil – including presumptive cases – is as follows:

• Arizona: 3

• California: 60 (1 death)

• Colorado: 8

• Connecticut: 1

• Florida: 6 (2 deaths)

• Georgia: 3

• Hawaii: 1

• Illinois: 6

• Indiana: 1

• Kentucky: 1

• Maryland: 3

• Massachusetts: 8

• Minnesota: 1

• Nebraska: 1

• Nevada: 1

• New Hampshire: 2

• New Jersey: 4

• New York: 44

• North Carolina: 2

• Oklahoma: 1

• Oregon: 3

• Pennsylvania: 2

• Rhode Island: 3

• South Carolina: 2

• Tennessee: 1

• Texas: 8

• Utah: 1

• Washington: 80 (14 deaths)

• Wisconsin: 1

Global coronavirus death toll nears 3,500

Update 3:19 a.m. EST March 7: China's National Health Commission reported 28 new deaths from the novel coronavirus early Saturday, bringing the global death toll to 3,493.

The health commission also announced only 99 new cases were confirmed in China on Friday, marking the first time the daily figure dipped below triple digits since figures were first released in January.

Per the latest figures, the total number of confirmed infections in mainland China is 80,651, resulting in 3,070 deaths.

The following is a breakdown of the 425 deaths recorded to date outside mainland China:

• Italy: 197

• Iran: 124

• South Korea: 46

• United States: 17

• Japan: 12

• France: 9

• Spain: 8

• Hong Kong, Iraq and Australia: 2 deaths each

• Taiwan, Thailand, the Philippines, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands have each reported 1 death.

Starbucks closes downtown Seattle store temporarily after employee tests positive

Update 3:!5 a.m. EST March 7: In a letter to employees, Starbucks said Friday that it closed a downtown Seattle store after a team member was diagnosed with COVID-10, the illness caused by the novel coronavirus, KIRO-7 reported.

According to the letter, the employee is in self-quarantine at home.

Starbucks officials said when they learned of the diagnosis, they activated protocols, closed the store immediately and initiated a deep clean, following the recommended guideline from Seattle - King County Public Health.

The store was encouraged to reopen by health officials after preventive cleaning was complete, which has already been done, according to Starbucks. It has also said that the store will be staffed by partners who have not been impacted by the coronavirus, KIRO-7 reported.

Read the full letter to store partners here and the complete KIRO-7 report here.

FBI employee near San Francisco tests positive for coronavirus

Update 3:12 a.m. EST March 7: An FBI official confirmed Friday one of its agents in the San Francisco field division is among those to test positive for the novel coronavirus, CNN reported.

The patient is based out of a smaller satellite office and not the main offices in San Francisco.

According to CNN, employees of the satellite office were sent home, and the FBI is taking "all necessary steps" to prevent further spread of the virus, the official said.

Cases outside mainland China spike: European cases top 7,300; South Korea remains hardest hit

Update 3:!0 a.m. EST March 7: South Korean health officials confirmed 483 new cases of coronavirus cases on Friday and an additional 274 cases early Saturday, bringing the nationwide total to 7,041.

Meanwhile, the head of the South Korean National Institute of Health, Kwon Jun-wook, confirmed two additional deaths early Saturday, bringing the country’s virus-related death toll to 46.

According to The New York Times, France, Britain, Spain, the Netherlands, Italy and others each recorded their biggest one-day increases in cases. More than 30 European countries now have cases; 10 of them have at least 100 each.

In Italy, with the worst outbreak outside of Asia, Friday’s figures brought nationwide infections to more than 4,600, resulting in 197 deaths.

Meanwhile, Germany, France and Spain reported more than 1,700 cases combined on Friday, an increase of roughly 500 total cases in only 24 hours. The confirmed novel coronavirus cases in Switzerland doubled to more than 200 during the same period, the Times reported.

Outside Europe, Iran confirmed on Friday a total of 4,700 infections, an increase of more than 1,200 cases in only one day. In addition:

• Malaysia reported 28 new cases, bringing its nationwide total to 83.

• Iraq confirmed eight new cases, bringing its nationwide total to 46.

• Ecuador confirmed its 14th case.

Citing data compiled by Johns Hopkins University, at least 101,781 cases had been diagnosed worldwide by Friday night, more than 20 percent of which are now located outside mainland China, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Stanford, USC shift classes online temporarily

Update 2:55 a.m. EST March 7: Both Stanford University and the University of Southern California announced late Friday that classes will temporarily move online due to the coronavirus outbreak, The Washington Post reported.

“We will replace in-person classes with online lectures & seminars to test our readiness should we need to take stronger action for health & safety. The campus will remain fully open and functional at this time,” USC officials tweeted, regarding the shift planned for March 11-13.

According to a statement sent out to the USC community, this is campuswide test in case longer term home classes are ever needed.

“We need to test our technical capabilities to ensure academic continuity in an online environment should there be a disruption.”

Meanwhile, Stanford is cancelling all in-person classes through the close of the winter quarter.

“To the extent feasible, we will be moving classes to online formats in place of in-person instruction,” Stanford Provost Persis Drell said a letter on the university’s website.

In addition, exams Exams that were scheduled to be taken in-person will be taken in a take-home format, the Post reported.

First coronavirus deaths in Florida

Update 10:30 p.m. EST March 6: The Florida Department of Health tweeted that two people in Florida have died from coronavirus.

FLDOH also announced three new presumptive positive cases, two in Broward County and one in Lee County, where a person died from the virus. The second person that died from the virus had a previously announced case in Santa Rosa.

The announcement brings Florida's total cases to seven.

Hawaii’s first case is resident on Grand Princess cruise ship

Update 8:30 p.m. EST March 6: Governor David Ige and state officials in Hawaii confirmed its first case of Coronavirus in a news conference Friday.

The patient is a Hawaiian resident aboard the Grand Princess currently off the coast of California. There was no immediate word on where or when the vessel will dock.

Minnesota’s 1st case of coronavirus in cruise ship passenger

Update 7:30 p.m. EST March 6: A Minnesota resident who had recently been on a cruise is the first confirmed case of coronavirus, health officials said Friday.

The Minnesota Department of Health said the case is an older adult from Ramsey County who traveled recently on a cruise ship that carried another person with a known case. The Minnesotan developed symptoms Feb. 25 and first sought health care Thursday, Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm said at a news conference with Gov. Tim Walz and other officials.

“This is cause for concern but not panic,” Malcolm said, adding that the case was “certainly not unexpected. The likelihood that we would see one or more cases certainly has been going up steadily in recent days.”

Top department officials got first word of the case from their public heath lab at 12:40 p.m. Friday, said Kris Ehresman, the department’s infections disease director.

Coronavirus live updates: 21 aboard cruise ship in California tests positive

Update 6:30 p.m. EST March 6: Twenty-one people aboard a cruise ship off the California coast tested positive for the new coronavirus, including 19 crew members, Vice President Mike Pence announced Friday, amid evidence the vessel was the breeding ground for a deadly cluster of at least 10 cases during its previous voyage.

Federal officials have been working with the state and “we have developed a plan to bring the ship to a non-commercial port,” Pence said. “All passengers and crew will be tested for the virus. Those that will need to be quarantined will be quarantined. Those who will require medical help will receive it.”

Princess Cruises said 45 of the more than 3,500 people on board were tested in the first round. A military helicopter crew lowered test kits onto the 951-foot Grand Princess by rope Thursday and later retrieved them for analysis as the vessel waited off San Francisco, under orders to keep its distance from shore.

Oklahoma and Kentucky confirm first COVID-19 cases

Update 5:15 p.m. EST March 6: Oklahoma Officials confirmed one case of coronavirus in Tulsa on Friday.

The patient is in quarantine and recently returned from a trip to Italy.

In Kentucky, Governor Andy Beshear announced the first case in the state of novel coronavirus.

The patient is in isolation at a medical facility in Lexington.

XSW 2020 has been cancelled following Coronavirus concern

Update 5 p.m. EST March 6: Austin city officials have canceled the South by Southwest arts and technology festival.

Mayor Steve Adler announced a local disaster as a precaution because of the threat of the novel coronavirus, effectively cancelling the annual event.

The announcement comes days after several high-profile companies, including Netflix, tech news outlet Mashable, video-based social media platform TikTok and U.S. chip maker Intel, pulled out of the festival.

More than 50,000 people had signed a petition seeking to get the festival cancelled.

The festival drew 73,716 attendees last year, 19,166 of whom came from outside the U.S. Combined with SXSW’s gaming expo and education conference, the 2019 event drew 417,400 attendees, organizers said. An economic impact report found it contributed $355.9 million to the local economy.

Trump tours CDC headquarters in Atlanta

Update 4 p.m. EST March 6: President Donald Trump is touring the Atlanta headquarters of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday afternoon.

Trump arrives in Georgia ahead of trip to visit CDC

Update 3:40 p.m. EST March 6: President Donald Trump has landed at Dobbins Air Reserve Base in Marietta ahead of a planned visit to the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Air Force One landed in Marietta around 3:40 p.m., WSB-TV reported.

Seattle University cancels in-person classes through March 20

Update 3:35 p.m. EST March 6: Officials at Seattle University announced they plan to cancel all in-person classes through the end of the winter quarter amidst continued coronavirus fears, KIRO-TV reported.

The announcement came hours after officials at the University of Washington announced they would cancel classes through the end of the school’s winter quarter, which ends March 15.

New coronavirus cases bring total to 79 in Washington state

Update 3:10 p.m. EST March 6: At least 79 people have tested positive for coronavirus in Washington state as the virus continues to spread, according to KIRO-TV.

Officials said Friday that COVID-19 had spread to one new county: Jefferson County, where one person was reported ill. One other case has been reported in Grant County and 19 in Snohomish County, but a bulk of the cases -- 58 -- have been confirmed in King County, where Seattle is located.

Twelve people who tested positive for the 2019 novel coronavirus have died in King County while one other person has died in Snohomish County, according to KIRO-TV.
Including a death reported in California, 14 fatal coronavirus cases have been reported in the U.S.

Trump to visit CDC Friday afternoon

Update 2:50 p.m. EST March 6: President Donald Trump is scheduled to arrive in Georgia on Thursday afternoon to visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention after cancelling his trip earlier Friday over coronavirus fears.

According to an updated schedule released by the White House, Trump is expected to arrive at the CDC’s headquarters in Atlanta just before 4 p.m. Friday. He’s scheduled to leave Atlanta around 5:15 p.m.

The visit is aimed at highlighting the work the CDC and administration officials have been doing to combat the 2019 novel coronavirus, according to WSB-TV.

613 coronavirus cases confirmed in France

Update 2:35 p.m. EST March 6: Public health officials in France have confirmed 613 cases of COVID-19 in the country, The Guardian reported.

Citing Jerome Salomon, head of France’s public health service, the newspaper reported the numbers included 39 patients who are being treated in intensive care units.

Nine people have died in France of coronavirus.

Presumptive positive coronavirus test would mark 3rd case in Georgia

Update 2:15 p.m. EST March 6: Officials with the Georgia Department of Public Health said a 46-year-old woman who went to a Floyd County hospital several times with symptoms of a coronavirus infection has tested presumptive positive for the illness, WSB-TV reported.

The woman had sought treatment Feb. 29 at Floyd Medical Center's Emergency Care Center after experiencing flu-like symptoms, according to the news station. She was screened but WSB-TV reported hospital officials deemed she didn't meet the testing criteria for COVID-19 or need to be hospitalized.

Officials said the woman returned March 3 with worsening symptoms, but still, she didn't meet testing guidelines, WSB-TV reported. She tested positive for coronavirus Thursday night after doctors decided to admit her on her third visit the to hospital.

If the diagnosis is confirmed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the case would mark the third in Georgia.

2nd coronavirus case reported in Houston

Update 1:30 p.m. EST March 6: Health officials in Houston have confirmed the city's second COVID-19 case, bringing the total number of virus cases reported in Texas to six.

Officials said the new case involved a patient between 60 and 70 years old. She was hospitalized in stable condition Friday.

Her illness was linked to others reported in the state following a group trip to Egypt, according to the Houston Health Department.

German COVID-19 cases rise to 639

Update 1:20 p.m. EST March 6: The number of coronavirus cases reported in Germany has risen from 520 reported at 7 a.m. local time to 639 by 3 p.m., according to health officials.

Earlier Friday, officials with Germany's largest airline, Lufthansa, announced that the company is cutting planned flights by up to 50 percent in the coming weeks due to booking declines attributed to coronavirus fears, Germany's Deutsche Presse-Agentur news agency reported.

49 more virus deaths reported in Italy

Update 12:40 p.m. EST March 6: Health officials in Italy said Friday that 49 people have died of the coronavirus since Thursday, bringing the total number of virus deaths in the country to 197.

Italy has had the most number of fatal COVID-19 cases in Europe, but the number still falls far short of the number seen in China, where a majority of coronavirus deaths have been reported. Officials in China have reported 2,931 fatal virus cases, according to numbers compiled by John Hopkins University.

11 new coronavirus cases make 33 in New York state

Update 12:30 p.m. EST March 6: New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said 33 cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in the state, up 11 from numbers released Thursday.

Cuomo said the new cases were all linked to a 50-year-old lawyer from New Rochelle who was hospitalized in serious condition earlier this week and who tested positive for the 2019 novel coronavirus.

“As we do more tests, the number of positive cases will rise, as we are seeing,” Cuomo said.

Coronavirus fears prompt University of Washington to cancel in-person classes til end of winter quarter

Update 12:25 p.m. EST March 6: Officials with the University of Washington on Friday announced that all classes at the university's campuses are canceled until the end of the winter quarter, KIRO-TV reported.

In a letter sent to students and faculty members, university administrators said they aimed to minimize the risk of spreading coronavirus by holding classes remotely when possible, according to KIRO-TV.

The announcement came amid a growing number of COVID-19 cases in Washington state.

According to KIRO-TV, 70 coronavirus cases have been reported in Washington, 11 of which have proved deadly. One other person has died of COVID-19 in the U.S.

WHO recommends countries make COVID-19 containment 'their highest priority'

Update 11:50 a.m. EST March 6: At a news briefing Friday, officials with the World Health Organization urged countries to prioritize containment of the 2019 novel coronavirus as cases continue to spread worldwide.

“We continue to call on countries to find, test, isolate and care for every case, and to trace every contact,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.

“Slowing down the (coronavirus) epidemic saves lives, and it buys time for preparedness and for research and development. Every day we can slow down the epidemic is another day hospitals can prepare themselves for cases.”

Officials with WHO said they have recorded over 98,000 coronavirus cases worldwide as of Friday morning. Numbers compiled by John Hopkins University, which includes data from WHO, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other health agencies, showed over 100,500 cases reported globally.

First presumptive coronavirus case reported in Indiana

Update 11:40 a.m. EST March 6: Health officials in Indiana said Friday that a man has tested presumptive positive for the coronavirus, marking the first reported COVID-19 case in the state.

At a news conference Friday, authorities said the Marion County man, who recently traveled to Indiana from Boston, called a hospital Thursday night concerned that he might have the 2019 novel coronavirus, the Indianapolis Star reported. According to the newspaper, he was taken in through a side entrance and had no contact with other patients or caregivers.

Officials described the man's case as "mild." He was in stable condition Friday, the Star reported.

Trump’s CDC visit back on after employee tests negative for COVID-19

Update 11:10 a.m. EST March 6: President Donald Trump's planned trip to the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which was cancelled early Friday, is back on, according to White House press pool reports.

White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham told reporters the trip would likely include a tour of CDC facilities. She said the trip had been canceled “out of an abundance of caution” amidst testing of a CDC employee suspected of having coronavirus.

“Thankfully she’s negative, the person,” Grisham said.

Trump is expected to visit Nashville, where a deadly tornado left destruction earlier this week, before visiting Atlanta.

Coronavirus tests delivered to Washington, California

Update 11 a.m. EST March 6: President Donald Trump said he spoke Friday morning with California Gov. Gavin Newsom as officials in the state dealt with a cruise ship quarantined off the coast due to coronavirus fears.

“We had a good conversation,” Trump told reporters Friday morning while signing an $8.3 billion spending bill aimed at fighting COVID-19. “We are both working on the ship together. (There are) close to 5,000 people. It’s a big ship. We are doing testing on people.”

Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said officials delivered test kits to health officials in Washington and California, the two states with the highest number of coronavirus cases in the country.

According to numbers posted Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, at least 39 coronavirus cases have been reported in Washington. In California, at least 36 cases have been reported.

Peru reports first COVID-19 case

Update 10:50 a.m. EST March 6: Peruvian President Martin Vizcarra confirmed in a televised statement Friday that health officials in the country have confirmed the first 2019 novel coronavirus case in the country, according to Reuters.

Vizcarra identified the patient as a 25-year-old man with recent travel to Spain, France and the Czech Republic, Reuters reported.

"We have arranged, through the Ministry of Health, all the appropriate measures from the medical point of view so that this patient, who is stable, has comprehensive care," Vizcarra said Friday, according to CNN.

600 coronavirus cases reported in Germany

Update 10:45 a.m. EST March 6: The number of coronavirus cases reported in Germany has risen to 600 as of 3 p.m. local time, The Guardian reported.

The numbers include 66 cases confirmed since German health officials released official numbers at 7 a.m. local time reporting 534 cases nationwide.

Officials with Lufthansa, the country's largest airline, announced Friday that they will cut planned flights up to 50 percent in the coming weeks due to booking declines attributed to coronavirus fears, Germany's Deutsche Presse-Agentur news agency reported.

2 coronavirus cases confirmed in Pennsylvania mark first in state

Update 9:50 a.m. EST March 6: Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf announced Friday that two cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in the state.

One case was confirmed in Delaware County while the second was confirmed in Wayne County, WPXI reported. Wolf said Friday that the patients were being quarantined in their homes, according to WPXI.

Trump says he might visit CDC after trip cancelled

Update 9:45 a.m. EST March 6: President Donald Trump told reporters Friday that he might visit the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention hours after reports surfaced that his trip had been cancelled.

While speaking after signing an $8.3 billion spending bill aimed at fighting the virus, Trump said his trip had been cancelled in light of a possible coronavirus case with the CDC.

“They thought there was a problem with CDC with somebody who had the virus,” he said, though he added the test came back negative. “I may be going.”

163 coronavirus cases reported across UK

Update 9:35 a.m. EST March 6: As of 9 a.m. local time Friday, health officials in the United Kingdom said 163 people have tested positive for COVID-19 in the country, including one person who died of the viral infection.

Trump signs coronavirus spending bill

Update 9:25 a.m. EST March 6: President Donald Trump on Friday morning signed an $8.3 billion spending bill aimed at fighting the coronavirus in the U.S.

“We’re signing the 8.3 billion. I asked for 2 and a half and I got 8.3, and I’ll take it,“ Trump said while signing the bill in the Diplomatic Reception Room.

Global coronavirus cases top 100,000

Update 8:45 a.m. EST March 6: The number of confirmed coronavirus cases reported worldwide has risen past 100,00, according to numbers compiled by John Hopkins University.

As of 8:35 a.m. EST, the cases include 55,694 people who have recovered from the viral infection and 3,408 who have died, mostly in China.