(NEW YORK) — Here’s the latest information on the COVID-19 coronavirus as of 10:00 a.m. ET.
Latest reported numbers globally per Johns Hopkins University
Global diagnosed cases: 350,536
Global deaths: 15,328
Number of countries/regions: at least 167
Total patients recovered globally: 100,182
Latest reported numbers in the United States per Johns Hopkins University
At least 35,225 diagnosed cases in 50 states + the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam.
At least 471 dead
Latest reported deaths per state
Visit https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.htmlfor the latest numbers.
According to Education Week: As of March 19, 2020, 8:20 p.m. ET: 44 states have decided to close schools. Combined with district closures in other states, at least 104,000 U.S. public and private schools are closed, are scheduled to close, or were closed and later reopened, affecting at least 47.9 million school students.
There are 98,277 public schools and 34,576 private schools in the U.S., according to the National Center for Education Statistics. Those schools educate almost 50.8 million public school students and 5.8 million private school students.
The latest headlines
Olympics postponement?
Despite repeated insistence from officials in host country Japan that the summer Olympics would begin Friday, July 24 as scheduled, the International Olympic Committee on Sunday announced it was considering a postponement out of COVID-19 infection concerns. Officials from Australia and Canada have already declared they will not send athletes to the Games if they take place as scheduled. The IOC is expected to announce a decision soon in the face of increasing questions and pressure from all involved parties and nations.
No new Wuhan infections
Two months to the day that the Chinese city of Wuhan was locked down to prevent the further spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus, city officials say they’ve not had any new infections in the past five days. Some restrictions there are starting to be lifted, though cautiously, including quarantines. Wuhan Province in China is where the first cases of the COVID-19 pandemic were reported.
Moscow pledges to pay elderly residents $50 to stay home
Though tallies on the total number of cases there are unreliable at best, Russia’s coronavirus cases are surging. The Washington Post reports Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin declared on his personal blog that pensioners, residents with chronic illnesses and others over the age of 65 will receive a government stipend equal to about $50 USD “to compensate for additional costs that may arise in connection with the regime of self-isolation.” Half will be paid now, and half when quarantines are over. Russia reports only 438 COVID-19 cases, with only one death and 17 people recovered, according to Johns Hopkins University.
Good news!
This NJ restauranteur took out a 50k credit line to pay his employees during the coronavirus crisis
It’s no secret that mandatory closures are threatening some businesses with bankruptcy, and depriving their employees of their paycheck, putting them at risk in return. But NJ.com reports Bryan Morin, owner of Frederico’s Italian restaurant in Belmar, NJ, took out a $50,000 line of credit so he could continue to pay his employees for the next two months, no matter what. “My father told us a long time ago: You’ve got to take care of your employees first, because without those employees, you don’t have a business at all,” Morin said. “I definitely owe them a debt — even if it means I might go into debt.”
Local theater’s costume department shifts gears to make face masks for hospitals
Atlanta’s Alliance Theatre has gone from making theatrical costumes to surgical masks and gowns. WSB Atlanta reports the entire staff is currently working from home to help meet the increasing demand from hospitals and other health care workers and first responders, all of whom are on the front lines of dealing with the COVID-19 coronavirus. “We have 45 people in our production staff,” said Alliance Theatre’s Mike Schleifer. “We love making theater, but sometimes, there is a bigger calling. And that calling is right now.”
Local church begins ‘drive-in’ services
How to do attend church and still practice social distancing? WTVD in Raleigh, N.C. reports a church in the town of Dunn, about 40 minutes south of Raleigh, has found a solution. Taking a cue from their summer drive-in movie family events, husband-and-wife pastors Joanie and Jason Williams from Hood Memorial Christian Church have begun drive-in sermons. While there’s movie to go with it, parishioners at the virtual drive-in church can still tune in to a local radio frequency, as if they were at the drive-in, to hear the sermon.
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