Live updates: First U.S.

death confirmed; travel

restrictions announced affecting Iran, Italy and
South Korea in response to coronavirus
Standing with President Trump on Feb. 29, Vice President Pence announced new travel restrictions
affecting Iran, Italy and South Korea. (Reuters)

By Gerry Shih, James McAuley, Miriam Berger and Katie Mettler -Feb. 29, 2020

The Trump administration on Saturday announced additional travel restrictions affecting Iran, Italy and
South Korea in response to the coronavirus outbreak, following the first death from the virus in the
United States.

Vice President Pence said the existing travel ban on Iran would extend to foreign nationals who had
been in that country the past 14 days. The State Department also is increasing its warning advising
Americans not to travel to parts of Italy and South Korea affected by the virus.

Right before White House’s news conference, health officials in Washington State confirmed that a
person diagnosed with coronavirus in the state’s King County had died. President Trump described her
as a “wonderful woman” and a “medically high risk patient” in her late 50s, at a news conference at the
White House.

More coronavirus infections were additionally reported from South Korea to France to Qatar on
Saturday after health officials in Washington state, Oregon and California on Friday reported another
worrying development: new cases among people who have not traveled recently to countries hit hard
by the outbreak or come into contact with anyone known to have the disease, which public health
officials refer to as community transmission.

The four new cases Friday bring the total number of covid-19 cases detected through the U.S. public
health system to 19, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Washington state announced late Friday that a high school student in Snohomish County, just north of
Seattle, tested positive for the deadly virus and was in home isolation in a suspected community
transmission case. State health officials also said a woman in her 50s in King County tested positive after
traveling to Daegu, South Korea, the site of a major coronavirus outbreak. She, too, is in home isolation.

Earlier Friday, Oregon health officials reported a presumptive positive test in an elementary school
employee with no known travel history or contact with infected individuals. California also reported a
second case of community transmission, in Santa Clara County, after reporting the nation’s first such
case, in Solano County, earlier in the week.

Here are the latest developments:

 The Washington State Department of Health and Seattle and King County health officials said
they would offer more details on the death at a 1 p.m. local time news conference.

 The Food and Drug Administration expanded coronavirus testing by speeding up hospitals’
abilities to test, though some worried the changes fell short in reducing logistical burdens.

 France banned gatherings of more than 5,000 people after the Health Ministry confirmed 19
new cases late Friday, a nearly 100 percent increase since the day before.

 Iran reported more than 200 new cases of the virus causing covid-19 — as well as nine deaths,
adding to the highest death toll from the virus outside of China.

 China reported its lowest manufacturing numbers on record for the month of February, as the
epidemic-stricken economy ground to an unprecedented standstill.

Mapping the spread of the coronavirus | What you need to know about the virus | How to prepare for
coronavirus in the U.S. | Post Reports: Your questions about coronavirus, answered

3:37 p.m.

CDC announces three new cases in United States, identifies nursing facility as possible epicenter
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirmed three new coronavirus cases on
Saturday, bringing the total number of infections in the U.S. to 22 shortly after the announcement of the
first U.S. death from the virus.

The new cases also included the first possible outbreak in a long-term nursing facility and raise the level
of concern for certain communities, said the CDC’s Nancy Messonnier.

Jeffrey S. Duchin, the chief health officer for Seattle and King County, Wash., identified the nursing
facility as Lifecare in Kirkland, Wash. One of the infections there involves a health-care worker in good
condition at Overlake hospital, he said.

Another patient is a woman in her 70s, who is in serious condition at EverGreen hospital.

Duchin said he would not be surprised to find additional cases at the nursing home as an investigation
continued.

Lifecare has more than 108 residents and about 180 staffers. Of them, 27 residents and 25 staffers have
shown coronavirus symptoms, Duchin said.

The death in Washington State occurred at EverGreen hospital, but is not associated with the long-term
care nursing facility.

By William Wan

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3:10 p.m.

Covid-19 patient died at Kirkland, Wash., hospital after coming in with ‘serious respiratory issues'

The first covid-19 patient to die in the United States came to EvergreenHealth in Kirkland, Wash., with
“serious respiratory issues,” the hospital said in a statement Saturday, though it remains unclear when
the patient was admitted, when the symptoms first appeared and how long it took health officials to
test the person for the novel coronavirus.

According to EvergreenHealth’s statement, the patient was tested for covid-19 per guidelines set forth
by the CDC. The test came back positive, the hospital said. A second patient also tested positive and is in
isolation receiving appropriate treatment.

“We are working with the CDC and the Washington Department of Health to ensure that those who
have come into contact with the patient are screened and tested as appropriate,” EvergreenHealth’s
statement said.

The name of the patient who died has not been released, though President Trump identified the person
as a woman in her 50s who had underlying health problems.

In a letter obtained by KIRO-TV News in Seattle, officials advised patients and their families of the death
at EvergreenHealth and offered additional information that was not included in the hospital’s official
statement.

The letter said the two patients tested positive at the hospital Friday night. “While the patients have no
travel history, they were both receiving treatment for severe respiratory illness in our emergency
department and critical care units,” the letter said.

Officials assured EvergreenHealth patients and their families that the hospital was working closely with
state and local health departments to ensure that anyone who may have had contact with the patients
is screened for the novel coronavirus.

By Katie Mettler

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3:08 p.m.

Pence urges Americans not to stock up on face masks

Vice President Pence said that the average American does not need to buy face masks because of the
coronavirus, echoing recommendations by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
that hoarding emergency essentials like masks can put at risk health-care workers who do require these
items.

“Seriously people- STOP BUYING MASKS!,” the U.S. surgeon general’s official account tweeted Saturday.
“They are NOT effective in preventing general public from catching #Coronavirus, but if healthcare
providers can’t get them to care for sick patients, it puts them and our communities at risk!”

Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar previously said the U.S. may need to purchase millions
of masks and other protective gear.

By Miriam Berger

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2:20 p.m.

White House gives details on first coronavirus death, imposes new travel restrictions

President Trump gave the initial details Saturday about the first death inside the United States from the
new coronavirus, saying the victim was a woman in her 50s who had underlying health problems.

Trump said additional cases are likely in the United States but said the illness will be survivable for the
vast majority who contract it. He called for calm and said he will meet at the White House on Monday
with representatives of major drug companies about accelerated development of a vaccine.

Vice President Pence said the risk to most Americans remains low, as he announced additional travel
restrictions on Iran, where the virus is spreading rapidly. On top of existing travel restrictions on that
country, the United States will now exclude any foreign national who has visited Iran in the last 14 days,
Pence said.

The State Department has also raised its warning about travel to Italy and South Korea, Pence said.

The recommendation is now “do not travel to certain regions of both countries,” Pence said.

Pence and Trump addressed reporters in a hastily-called news conference at the White House. Trump
assured Americans that “our country is prepared for any circumstance."
“We are having very good initial feedback” about a vaccine, Trump said.

By Anne Gearan

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1:34 p.m.

Breaking: A person diagnosed with coronavirus in King County in Washington state has died

In a statement released Saturday, the Washington State Department of Health and Seattle and King
County health officials confirmed the death and said they would offer more details at a 1 p.m. news
conference, local time. They will discuss the death and new confirmed cases in the county.

“It is a sad day in our state as we learn that a Washingtonian has died from COVID-19,” Washington Gov.
Jay Inslee (D) said in a statement. “Our hearts go out to his family and friends. We will continue to work
toward a day where no one dies from this virus.”

Inslee said the state departments of health and emergency management are working closely with local
officials to strengthen preparedness and response efforts.

“I am committed to keeping Washingtonians healthy, safe and informed,” the governor said.

By Katie Mettler

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1:14 p.m.

Two million tweets shared coronavirus conspiracy theories, State Department report finds

Roughly 2 million tweets peddled conspiracy theories about the coronavirus over the three-week period
since the outbreak began to spread outside China, according to an unreleased report from an arm of the
State Department, raising fresh fears about Silicon Valley’s preparedness to combat a surge of
dangerous disinformation online.

The wrongful, harmful posts floated a number of hoaxes — suggesting, for example, that the
coronavirus had been created by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation or was the result of a
bioweapon. These and other identified falsehoods represented 7 percent of the total tweets the
government studied, and they might have been “potentially impactful on the broader social media
conversation,” according to the report, which was obtained by The Washington Post on Saturday.

Tech firms take a hard line against coronavirus myths. But what about other types of misinformation?

The Global Engagement Center, the propaganda-fighting program at the State Department whose name
appears on the document, said it focused its analysis on countries excluding the United States between
Jan. 20 and Feb. 10, a period during which the World Health Organization declared coronavirus an
international health emergency. In total, the GEC explored 29 million foreign posts, the report said.

Some of the misinformation exhibited “evidence of inauthentic and coordinated activity,” according to
the report, raising the specter that foreign governments or other malicious actors may have deliberately
tried to sow fear and discord about the international health emergency — much as Russian agents had
done during the 2016 presidential election in the United States.

But the report did not detail fully what led to this conclusion, nor did it attribute the information to a
specific government source. Previously, agency officials signaled in public news reports that some of the
activity may be tied to agents of the Kremlin, though Russia is not mentioned in the study.

Read more here.

By Tony Romm

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12:54 p.m.

A South Korean psychiatric ward became a ‘medical disaster’ when coronavirus hit

SEOUL — The windows are sealed shut in the psychiatric ward at South Korea’s Daenam Hospital to
prevent suicide attempts. The patients sleep together on futons in communal rooms.

And when the coronavirus made its way inside earlier this month, hospital administrators and South
Korean health officials put the psychiatric ward — and its more than 100 patients — on lockdown in an
attempt to contain the virus. The hospital is in Cheongdo County, the center of South Korea’s outbreak.
Of South Korea’s more than 3,150 confirmed cases, 101 were from patients in the psychiatric ward.
Seven patients from the ward have died — among a total of 17 around the country. All but two in the
psychiatric ward contracted the virus.

For South Korea’s public, the actions by hospital overseers touch on difficult issues of ethics and efficacy
as the country struggles to cope with the growing health crisis. South Korean officials have vowed not to
follow China and impose sweeping citywide lockdowns.

But the hospital’s decision has underscored the challenges facing health-care institutions, nursing homes
and other live-in settings if coronavirus flares.

Read more here:

By Min Joo Kim

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12:43 p.m.

Coronavirus test developed by New York state lab approved by FDA

New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said Saturday that the Food and Drug Administration has approved a
test for New York state’s health laboratories to use to detect the coronavirus.

Laboratories at hospitals as well as state public health laboratories have struggled in recent weeks to
use tests they develop without approval from the FDA.

The U.S. response to covid-19 has been hampered by testing issues. Experts have consequently worried
that the small number of U.S. cases may be a reflection of limited testing rather than of the virus’s
restricted spread.

Cuomo (D) said he spoke in recent days to Vice President Pence, who heads the White House’s
coronavirus response, and urged him to approve the test developed by New York state health officials.

With the approval New York received Saturday, Cuomo said, state officials will begin testing immediately
at the Wadsworth laboratory in Albany.
“This approval will expedite wait time and improve New York’s ability to more effectively manage the
coronavirus situation as it unfolds,” Cuomo said.

By Laurie McGinley and William Wan

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12:25 p.m.

Asian American lawmakers condemn xenophobic rhetoric surrounding coronavirus risks

Across the country, Asian American-owned businesses and restaurants are suffering because of
misinformation and xenophobic assumptions about how the novel coronavirus is spreading, creating
stigmas not supported by scientific facts.

At a news conference Friday outside the U.S. Capitol, members of the Congressional Asian Pacific
American Caucus condemned racist rhetoric and “fake news” they say is harming people in their home
districts.

Rep. Judy Chu (D-Calif.), who chairs CAPAC, said restaurant owners in her majority-Asian Los Angeles-
area district have reported a 50 percent drop in business.

“The common thread in all of this xenophobia has been the steady flow of misinformation around covid-
19 and how it spreads,” Chu said.

Health officials have emphasized that the best way to prevent the spread of the novel virus is to practice
good hygiene, which includes frequent hand washing.

“Ethnicity is not a risk factor,” Mitch Wolfe, chief medical officer at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention (CDC), said at the news conference.

Despite clear guidance from the CDC, misinformed rumors continue to circulate, which is what
prompted CAPAC members to issue a letter to their congressional colleagues last week calling on them
to “share only confirmed and verifiable information” with their constituents.
The letter referenced a claim made by Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) without evidence that the virus was
created in a Chinese lab. Chu said that false claim only “reinforces a narrative that China is an enemy,
which puts Chinese Americans particularly at risk."

Other lawmakers and advocates at the news conference cited drops in Asian-owned or operated
businesses in New York City and Houston.

“Across the country, our chapters are reporting diminished patronage to Asian American-owned
businesses, from restaurants to grocery stores, to nail salons and to other places and forcing owners
into financial crisis and sending workers home,” said Rita Pin Ahrens, the executive director of Asian
American advocacy group OCA-Asian Pacific American Advocates.

By Katie Mettler

12:14 p.m.

Why U.S. officials are now trying so hard to speed up coronavirus testing

The United States’ response to the coronavirus in recent weeks has been hampered by problems with its
testing. Experts have worried that the small number of U.S. cases we are seeing may be a reflection of
limited testing, not of the virus’s spread.

One of the three components in the initial test kit created by the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention wasn’t working properly, preventing some labs from being able to offer it.

“This has not gone as smoothly as we would have liked,” top CDC official Nancy Messonnier admitted at
a news conference on Friday. “Please remember that our laboratories developed this test kit before
there were U.S. cases,” she added.

In recent days, testing capacity has improved.

The “Berlin test” was created by researchers in Germany and is being widely used. Hong Kong has its
own test. China has another.

Some have questioned why the United States hasn’t switched to a test being successfully used by other
countries with larger numbers of cases.
Still, the good news is that testing in the United States is improving. As of the end of last week, about
eight labs reported the original CDC test was working. About 40 public health laboratories in the United
States received permission this week to go online with the two working components.

Announcements then began to trickle in: Massachusetts can now test and Arizona plans to start
processing tests Monday. New CDC tests are expected to be sent out next week, prioritizing a small
handful of labs that also had trouble with the first component, called N1.

Even this capacity will be limited. What most clinicians want is a commercial test they can run rapidly,
and companies are working toward that goal. Hospital laboratory directors have been extremely
frustrated by the rules of a public health emergency, which have made it difficult to increase testing
capacity.

That’s why the Food and Drug Administration on Saturday took new steps to expand testing for the
coronavirus by speeding up hospitals’ ability to test for the virus. The action followed complaints from
hospital laboratories that the previous policy was too burdensome and was slowing their efforts to
create and use their own tests.

Nonetheless, some lab directors say it doesn’t go far enough to ease the red tape holding back U.S.
testing.

By William Wan and Carolyn Y. Johnson

12:09 p.m.

Why shouldn’t everyone in the U.S. just get tested for the coronavirus?

Testing is going to be crucial if we want to contain and mitigate the coronavirus’s spread in the United
States. But labs — which have been hampered by delays — have limited capacity.

Officials also want to make sure the testing adheres to a high standard to prevent false positives, which
would set off panic and sow doubts about the reliability of the testing.
That’s why, for weeks, the criteria for testing patients was very narrow — for people with a travel
history or close contact with a confirmed case, although exceptions could be made. Then, on Thursday,
U.S. officials expanded the criteria to include people with severe respiratory symptoms that had no
explanation.

Testing more widely is important because it will determine how far the virus has spread undetected in
the United States. There is a plan to expand testing to flu surveillance in five U.S. cities, but the rollout
has been delayed by frustrating problems.

New data from China shows just how widely testing may have to be done to find cases. In Guangdong
province, officials said they had tested 320,000 people at fever clinics, but less than 0.5 percent were
positive.

No test is perfect, and in the early days of using a test, laboratories are still gaining field experience that
will help inform how the test is used in broader populations.

Steven Hinrichs, director of microbiology and virology at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, said
he has gotten the original Centers for Disease Control and Prevention test to work and they have
identified 14 positive cases in the lab. He is also working for authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration for a test that could be used in the hospital in a broader set of patients who may not fit
the criteria but raise clinical suspicion.

Even as there’s an urgent need to broaden testing, he emphasized that the test must be held to a high
standard.

“It’s important for all laboratorians to realize the impact of this test — and they need to be as rigorous
for this test as any other, and perhaps even more so,” Hinrichs said. “Can you imagine what a false
positive would do in a community when they really didn’t have the disease?”

By William Wan and Carolyn Y. Johnson

11:13 a.m.

FDA issues new policy to expand coronavirus testing; some worry it’s not enough
The Food and Drug Administration on Saturday took new steps to expand testing for the coronavirus by
speeding up hospitals’ abilities to test. The action followed complaints from labs that the previous policy
was too burdensome and was slowing hospitals’ efforts to create and use their own tests.

Certified hospital labs typically can develop their own tests for in-house use, but the rules of a public
health emergency — which are now governing the coronavirus outbreak — mean those tests first need
to get “emergency use authorization” from the FDA. The lab officials have repeatedly said the FDA’s
emergency use requirements are too onerous.

Under the policy announced Saturday, the labs can begin using their own tests after validating them and
before the FDA has finished reviewing their request for emergency use authorization.

“We believe this policy strikes the right balance during this public health emergency,” FDA
Commissioner Stephen Hahn said in a statement. “We will continue to help to ensure sound science
before clinical testing and follow up with the critical independent review from the FDA, while quickly
expanding testing capabilities in the U.S.”

He said the agency wasn’t changing its standards for issuing emergency use authorizations, but that it
was addressing “critical public health needs” and responding to a “dynamic and evolving situation.”

But Melissa Miller, director of the clinical microbiology laboratory at the UNC School of Medicine, said
the change fell short.

“To still have to file the EUA is disappointing,” she said. She called it “burdensome and unnecessary”
given that the labs already are certified to do high-complexity testing.

The FDA policy goes into effect immediately.

The agency said that following the completion of their test validation, the labs should communicate with
the FDA, via email, to notify the agency that the test has been validated. Laboratories should submit a
completed EUA request within 15 business days of notification.

Read more here:

By Laurie McGinley, William Wan and Carolyn Y. Johnson

10:56 a.m.

Sporting events in Japan go on — but with empty stadiums

Japanese baseball players put on a show Saturday — only spectators weren’t allowed in to see it.

Japan’s professional baseball body, the Nippon Professional Baseball Organization (NPB), decided
Wednesday to keep its opening 2020 games spectator free to limit large gatherings in which coronavirus
could spread.

On Saturday, the Chiba Lotte Marines faced off against the Rakuten Eagles at Japan’s Zozo Marine
Stadium in one of six preseason baseball games set to be played in a closed-door and otherwise empty
field, the Associated Press reported.

Fans of Japan’s oldest and most popular team, the Yomiuri Giants, usually fill Tokyo’s 55,000-seat
stadium to capacity. Saturday night, the Giants are competing against the Yakult Swallows without any
cheers from the stands.

Japan is slated to host the 2020 Summer Olympics in July, putting extra scrutiny on the country as it
struggles to contain the spread of coronavirus. The country has had 941 cases and 11 deaths, though
more than 700 of the infections have been from the Diamond Princess cruise ship, according to the AP.

Japan’s horse racing association also held a spectator-less competition on Saturday. The country’s
domestic soccer team, the J-league, has opted instead to postpone 94 matches planned to run through
March 15.

The Japan Sumo Association is meeting Sunday to decide whether to continue as planned with a spring
tournament scheduled for March 8-22 in Osaka. Authorities already limited Sunday’s Tokyo Marathon to
elite runners, a big leap down from the event’s typical 38,000 participants.

In Italy, the epicenter of Europe’s coronavirus outbreak, the governing body for the Serie A soccer
games announced Thursday that Sunday’s match — one of the biggest of the season — would be one of
five upcoming games similarly played in spectator-less stadiums.

By Miriam Berger

10:42 a.m.

France forbids gatherings of larger than 5,000 as coronavirus precaution

France on Saturday banned public gatherings with crowds of 5,000 or more as a preventive measure
against the spread of coronavirus after the government announced an additional 16 cases of infection.

“All public gatherings of more than 5,000 people in a confined space are temporarily banned across
France,” Health Minister Olivier Véran told journalists, Reuters reported.

“These measures are temporary and we will likely have to revise them,” he added. “They are restrictive
and, paradoxically, we hope they don’t last long, because that means we will have contained the virus’s
spread.”

Two people in France have died from coronavirus, and there have been 73 confirmed infections.
France’s health ministry said Saturday that the country is preparing for an epidemic.

Authorities announced Saturday that they were also postponing the Paris half-marathon, which some
44,000 runners had planed to complete Sunday.

Switzerland on Friday also announced a ban on public events with more than 5,000 people, while Italy’s
three virus-hit northern regions have temporarily closed schools and universities for the second week.

By Miriam Berger

10:20 a.m.

Trump is ignoring the lessons of the 1918 flu pandemic that killed millions, historian says

The first wave wasn’t that bad. In the spring of 1918, a new strain of influenza hit military camps in
Europe on both sides of World War I. Soldiers were affected, but not nearly as severely as they would be
later.

Britain, France, Germany and other European governments kept it secret. They didn’t want to hand the
other side a potential advantage.

Spain was neutral in the war; when the disease hit there, the government and newspapers reported it
accurately. Even the king got sick.
Months later, when a bigger, deadlier wave swept across the globe, people thought it had started in
Spain, even though it hadn’t. Simply because the Spanish told the truth, the virus was dubbed the
“Spanish flu.”

Now, as fears about the coronavirus spread, at least one historian is worried the Trump administration is
failing to heed the lesson of one of the world’s worst pandemics: Don’t hide the truth.

Read more here:

By Gillian Brockell

10:17 a.m.

U.S. travel advisory on Italy is ‘final blow’ to tourism, industry leader says

The head of Italy’s hotel federation on Saturday said the U.S. government’s latest travel advisory, which
cautioned Americans to avoid nonessential travel to the nation, could be the “final blow” to his
country’s tourism industry.

Italy has quickly become Europe’s center for the coronavirus outbreak, now registering 888 confirmed
cases — the greatest number outside Asia.

“We had already registered a slowdown of Americans coming to Italy in recent days,” Bernabo Bocca,
president of hotel federation Federalberghi, said in a statement to the Associated Press. “Now the final
blow has arrived.”

The Level 3 warning, issued by the U.S. State Department and the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, is one step below banning travel to the country altogether.

The Associated Press reported that more than 5.6 million Americans visit Italy every year and represent
9 percent of foreign tourists to the country. They infuse a collective 5 billion euros a year into the Italian
tourism industry and economy, Federalberghi told the AP.

On Friday, before the CDC’s upgraded travel advisory, the Italian government placed a moratorium on
mortgages and delayed deadlines for tax payments in an effort to provide relief to the tourism industry.
Bocca said the move wasn’t enough and called on officials to safeguard the jobs of 1.5 million people
who operate more than 300,000 companies across Italy.

By Katie Mettler

9:28 a.m.

What does it mean to prepare for an outbreak?

While there is no vaccine for covid-19, preventive steps and awareness are the best tools to prepare and
protect yourself in the event of an outbreak. Learn more here:

By Taylor Turner

8:55 a.m.

Bracing for coronavirus, cash-strapped rural hospitals buy masks from hardware stores

Routine care and elective surgeries — such as knee replacements and gallbladder removal — could be
scaled back if the coronavirus spawns a pandemic, hospital executives are warning, delivering economic
shocks to the hospital system beyond the immediate challenges of protecting health-care workers and
dealing with those stricken with the virus.

Rural hospitals could bear the early brunt. They sit furthest from international airports and urban hubs
where outbreaks are more likely, but they are at the tail end of supply chains for vital medical goods
such as protective masks and gowns.

In addition to preparing for victims and the demands of protecting health-care workers from infection,
fragile hospital networks also are readying for disruptions to the bottom line. If the spreading
coronavirus puts heavy demand on health systems, billable work that keeps revenue flowing on a
weekly basis to hospitals small and large will be curtailed, executives said.

The hospital industry warned policymakers this week that Congress needs to quickly pass emergency
funding for the crisis and direct some of the funding to plug anticipated gaps in hospital operating
budgets. In the event of widespread sickness, costs would soar for isolation rooms for infected patients,
equipment and training.
Read more here:

By Christopher Rowland

8:37 a.m.

A week of coronavirus anxiety, in 11 Google searches

The global coronavirus outbreak dominated headlines this week as it entered the political debate and
sent markets tumbling. In response, Americans did what we always do when confronted with something
new, big and scary: We dumped our anxieties into the nearest Google search bar.

Here are a number of charts illustrating search terms that saw big jumps this week, which give a sense of
our collective coronavirus-related worries, as well as a few hopes.

One important caveat about Google trends data: It doesn’t reveal exactly how many people are
searching for a given term; it just gives a sense of whether that term has risen or fallen in popularity. So
to approximate absolute search volume, presumably popular search terms like “Donald Trump” and
“Kim Kardashian” will serve as guide posts.

Read more here:

By Christopher Ingraham

8:24 a.m.

Governments issue travel advisories and travel bans amid outbreaks

As numbers of coronavirus infections continued to rise around the world, governments ramped up
travel advisories for citizens and even travel bans on incoming travelers from affected countries.

The U.S. State Department raised its travel advisory for Italy to level three, urging citizens to reconsider
all nonessential travel. Italy is the center of Europe’s coronavirus outbreak, with 888 confirmed cases.

Russian officials on Saturday urged citizens not to leave the country. Kuwaiti health officials have also
discouraged traveling, as the small Gulf country grapples with 45 confirmed cases of the virus. Saudi
Arabia likewise urged its citizens to cancel all nonessential travel to Lebanon, where four coronavirus
cases have been confirmed.
“In order to consider yourself protected today, first of all, possible future trips outside the native
country need to be reduced as much as possible,” Anna Popova, a Russian public health official, told
local news affiliates, according to Reuters.

Kuwait has evacuated hundreds of citizens from Iran, the regional focal point of the virus outbreak in the
Middle East. The two latest cases involved people who had entered Kuwait from Iran, according to the
Kuwaiti health ministry.

Following the case of a woman who tested positive for the virus who had recently returned to Australia
from Iran, the Australian government is imposing a travel ban on Iran to begin March 1.

After that date, Australian Health Minister Greg Hunt told reporters Saturday, Australian travelers
returning from Iran will be required to self-isolate for a period of 14 days after their arrival.

All non-citizens, non-permanent residents and those who are not family of Australian citizens and
permanent residents will be denied entry into the country unless their departure from Iran occurred
more than 14 days before their arrival date in Australia.

Travelers who fit this category will be required to spend 14 days in another country before being
granted permission to enter Australia.

“There is likely at this stage a high level of undetected cases, and therefore those cases won’t be
intercepted or identified on departure from Iran,” Hunt said.

By James McAuley

7:20 a.m.

Qatar announces its first confirmed coronavirus case

BAGHDAD — Qatar announced its first case of coronavirus Saturday, days after the country’s ruler
ordered the evacuation of its citizens from Iran.

The country’s state-run news agency did not provide further details about the individual’s background or
travel history.
The Qatari government announced Thursday that it had completed the evacuation of its citizens from
Iran, the focal point of the region’s outbreak. “A hotel has been set up as a quarantine facility to be used
by the Qatari citizens for a 14 day period and will be cared for and monitored by medical,” the
Government Communications Office said. “They have arrived in Doha.”

Qatar is one of a growing number of Middle Eastern states to publicly announce the detection of
coronavirus, and Iraq said Friday a sixth citizen had tested positive.

Although the Baghdad government has ordered a temporary shuttering of public spaces including cafes
and cinemas, the capital’s streets were still busy Friday night as residents wore protective masks but did
not stay home.

The arrival of coronavirus in Baghdad has even delayed the formation of a new government:

Parliament announced last week that a planned vote on the new cabinet would not be possible
Saturday, since the chamber was being disinfected.

By Louisa Loveluck

6:24 a.m.

France confirms 19 new cases as officials declare epidemic inevitable

PARIS — France confirmed 19 additional cases of coronavirus late Friday, bringing the national total to
57. Health officials warned that an epidemic was now imminent.

“We are preparing for an epidemic,” French Health Minister Olivier Véran said. He added that “we are
now moving to stage two. The virus is circulating in our country and we must stop its spread.”

Twenty additional cases had been confirmed in France late Thursday; the new 19 cases were diagnosed
in the 24 hours since then.

Authorities on Saturday were still struggling to identify the initial source of an outbreak in the Oise
region north of Paris, with particular attention being paid to links between the Creil military base in that
region and the nearby Charles de Gaulle international airport, one of the busiest passenger airports in
Europe.

On Friday, France’s Le Monde newspaper, citing airport security officials, reported that one airport
worker who lives in the Val d’Oise region had tested positive for the virus.

The rapidly growing numbers of coronavirus cases come at a time of general malaise among public
health workers in France. Earlier this year, hundreds of hospital department heads resigned over
complaints about insufficient resources and staffing.

“We are facing an epidemic that will affect the whole system and will very quickly impose a
reorganization of care,” Xavier Lescure, an infectious disease specialist at Bichat hospital, one of the
three designated coronavirus treatment hospitals in the Paris region, told Le Monde.

By James McAuley

5:24 a.m.

Iran reports more than 200 new virus cases, 9 deaths

ISTANBUL — Iran on Saturday confirmed more than 200 new cases of the coronavirus — as well as nine
deaths — amid a widening outbreak that has put other Mideast nations at risk.

At least 205 new infections appeared in Iran in the last 24 hours, including in provinces with no previous
known cases, bringing the total number of patients to 593, Health Ministry spokesman Kianush Jahanpur
said.

The death toll from the virus, which causes the disease known as covid-19, rose to 43, Jahanpur said.
Iran has suffered the highest number of deaths from virus outside of China, where it originated in
December. It was first detected in the Iranian holy city of Qom earlier this month.

Jahanpur and other officials have warned citizens that the number of cases will rise in the coming days
and weeks. In Iran, several senior officials have also been infected, including a vice president, the deputy
health minister and as many as four parliamentarians. A former ambassador to the Vatican also died this
week after contracting the virus.
Authorities suspended the activities of parliament, banned Friday prayers in multiple cities and
shuttered schools and theaters in an effort to contain the outbreak.

By Erin Cunningham

5:20 a.m.

Japan’s Abe says it was a ‘tough decision’ to close schools, pledges to increase virus testing

TOKYO — Acknowledging widespread public criticism of the government’s handling of the coronavirus
epidemic, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said it had been a “tough” but necessary decision to
request schools across the country to close in March and also promised to expand and enhance virus
testing capacity.

“We understand that people have various views and criticism to any decisions made by the government
that would directly affect your lives,” Abe said at a televised news conference on Saturday. “Of course,
we need to sincerely listen to your voices. However, as the prime minister of Japan, I need to protect the
lives and health of the people.”

Abe reiterated the government’s view that the next one to two weeks are a critical time to curb the
speed at which the new coronavirus will spread around Japan and said the government “must never
allow a mass infection” of children at school.

“The closure of schools will put a burden on parents, especially families with small children,” he said. “I
understand the difficulties these people will have to go through, yet we need to put children’s health
and safety first.”

Abe pledged additional spending to tackle the impact of the virus, as well as an expansion of child care
services.

Abe’s government has also been widely criticized for a shortage of virus tests, which has left doctors
around the country unable to get tests for patients they believe could be infected.
Abe vowed to increase testing capacity so anyone who doctors felt needed a test could obtain one and
also pledged to roll out a new test in March that could give results in 15 minutes. He said three drugs are
being used to treat patients with the virus.

“All those drugs have been confirmed to have efficacy to a certain degree in the basic study using new
coronavirus,” he said. “Therefore, we will use them with the consent of patients so as to develop
therapeutic drugs as soon as possible.”

Japan has more than 200 confirmed coronavirus cases, not including more than 700 people from the
Diamond Princess, but medical experts believe the real number of infections is significantly higher.

Read more here.

By Simon Denyer

4:08 a.m.

Saudi Arabia tells citizens not to travel to Lebanon

BAGHDAD — Saudi Arabia urged citizens Saturday not to travel to Lebanon, after the number of
confirmed coronavirus edged steadily upward.

In a statement, the Saudi Embassy in Beirut asked Saudi nationals to postpone non-urgent travel and, if
in Lebanon, stay away from crowded places, according to Lebanon’s National News Agency.

Lebanon confirmed its fourth coronavirus on Friday, with Beirut’s Rafik Hariri Hospital describing the
individual as a Syrian national, now in quarantine. It was unclear whether she had recently traveled to
China or Iran, where many other cases appear to have been contracted.

Lebanon is in the throes of its worst economic crisis since its civil war and the downturn has hit the
health care system hard. As foreign reserves evaporate, doctors have staged sit-ins at hospitals to warn
that lifesaving medicines are in short supply. Health care professionals have also pointed to an
increasing shortage of medical equipment.

The Lebanese government has been slow to react to the spread of coronavirus, only stopping flights
from affected countries on Friday, a week after the first case was confirmed there. Shortly afterward,
Lebanon’s education ministry announced Friday that it would close all universities and schools until
March 8, as a precautionary measure.
“In the interest of the health of students and their families ... the minister of education Dr. Tarek
Majzoub requests all educational institutions including kindergartens, schools, high schools, vocational
institutions and universities to close,” the education ministry said in a statement.

By Louisa Loveluck

3:42 a.m.

South Korea reports biggest single-day jump in cases since outbreak

South Korean health officials on Saturday reported the country’s biggest single-day increase in new
coronavirus cases since infections there began to surge earlier this month.

The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it had confirmed 594 new cases, bringing the
country’s total number of infections to nearly 3,000. Before Saturday, South Korea had not tallied more
than 334 new cases in a single day, according to the KCDC.

Seventeen people have died from the novel virus in South Korea, and 27 have recovered, according to
the country’s health officials.

Nearly all of the new cases came from the sprawling southeastern city of Daegu, where earlier in
February officials linked a sudden burst of infections to an obscure church.

South Korean vice health minister Kim Kang-lip said the country has reached a “critical moment” in
stopping the spread of the virus, and advised citizens to refrain from going outside or taking part in
public events this weekend, as Reuters reported.

By Derek Hawkins

3:30 a.m.

Three nurses among Taiwan’s latest coronavirus cases

BEIJING — Taiwan on Saturday reported five new confirmed coronavirus cases, including nurses and a
cleaner working at a hospital and a woman who began showing symptoms while traveling through the
Middle East.

Including the five, Taiwan’s case count now stands at 39.

Three nurses became infected while treating a coronavirus patient at an emergency ward, and one of
the nurses came in contact with the cleaner, who subsequently contracted the disease, Taiwan’s Central
Epidemic Command Center said.

In a statement, the command center did not positively pinpoint where the fifth case, a woman in her
60s, contracted the illness but noted that she was in the United Arab Emirates and Egypt between Jan.
29 and Feb. 21, when she began coughing. Authorities are now following up with other people she
traveled with.

The Emirates, a regional transportation hub with a significant population of Chinese businesspeople, has
seen a slight uptick in cases, with the total reaching 21 on Friday. Several of its other cases include
travelers from Iran, where officials have reported at least 245 cases.

By Gerry Shih

1:52 a.m.

Chinese manufacturing plunges to record low

BEIJING — China reported its lowest manufacturing numbers on record for the month of February, as
the epidemic-stricken economy ground to an unprecedented standstill.

China’s National Statistics Bureau said Saturday that the Purchasing Managers’ Index plummeted to
35.7, a reading below the previous record low of 38.8 in November 2008, during the global financial
crisis. Any reading below 50 signals that manufacturing activity contracted.

Aside from languishing factories, the services industry also reported record-low activity, the statistics
bureau reported.
“There was a plunge in demand for consumer industries,” the bureau said, noting a deep freeze in
restaurants, transportation and tourism.

The extent of the historic drop will likely fuel fears that China will struggle to mount a swift economic
recovery, with knock-on effects for the rest of the world. China’s factories remain at the heart of the
global supply chain.

Chinese monetary authorities have promised to take drastic action to jump-start the economy, including
breaking ground on massive new infrastructure projects. The government is also pressuring banks to
pump out loans and landlords to forgive late payments to help businesses back on their feet.

Chinese manufacturers say they have had difficulty staffing factories with their rural employees
reluctant to return to work and in some cases even running into logistical difficulties, such as quarantine
controls and roadblocks erected by fearful communities.

In recent weeks, the state railway and other transportation authorities have been chartering trains and
buses to shuttle workers from the countryside back to factories. An economic planning official said this
week that three-fourths of industrial firms have restarted production.

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