jarun011/iStock
jarun011/iStock(NEW YORK) — There are at least 3,244 confirmed cases of novel coronavirus in the United States and at least 61 coronavirus-related deaths in the country as of Sunday.
COVID-19 has reached 49 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico. More restaurants and schools are closing across the nation to try to stop the spread.
Globally, there are more than 162,600 confirmed coronavirus cases and more than 5,800 deaths, according to data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University and ABC News reporting.
Here’s how the news is unfolding Monday. All times Eastern:
8:18 a.m. NBA star on the ‘scariest part about this virus’
Utah Jazz player Donovan Mitchell, one of several NBA players who tested positive for COVID-19, has no symptoms, he told Good Morning America Monday.
“If you were to tell me I could play in a seven-game series tomorrow, I would be ready to lace up,” he said. “I’m blessed that’s the case.”
Mitchell spoke to GMA anchor Robin Roberts via video Monday as he self isolates.
“I don’t have any symptoms — I could walk down the street. If it wasn’t public knowledge that I was sick, you wouldn’t know it,” Mitchell said. “I think that’s the scariest part about this virus — you may seem fine, be fine, and you never know who you may be talking to, who they’re going home to.”
7:28 a.m. Stock futures pointing down at least 5%
As it stands, stock futures are pointing down 5%. They’re “limit down” which means that they have hit their limit and can’t go any lower until markets open.
“Limit down” is similar to circuit breakers when the market is open to keep stocks from heading into free fall. Stocks are expected to fall even further as there are exchange-traded funds (ETFs) which mimic the S&P 500 which are down around 9% right now.
The first circuit breaker kicks in if S&P 500 falls 7%.
7:16 a.m. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo tells ABC News that federal assistance and a unified approach is needed to take on coronavirus
“Look, we have been behind this disease from day one. We saw the disease developing in China back in November. We weren’t ready for it, and we’ve been playing catchup ever since,” Cuomo told George Stephanopoulos on Good Morning America.
Cuomo continued: “You have to get ahead of this, right? It’s not fighting the last war, it’s fighting the next war. The next war is going to be overwhelming our hospital systems. You look at any of these projections and you see that coming. When you see that chart of the curve, I see it as a wave and the wave is going to break on the hospital system. We don’t have the capacity to build more hospitals quickly. The only way would be if the army corps of engineers came in, worked with the states to retrofit existing buildings.”
Cuomo also railed against what he called the “patchwork quilt” approach has so far allowed to go on.
“This federal government has to get more engaged,” Cuomo said. “There’s been no country that has handled this that has not nationalized it. This patchwork quilt of policies doesn’t work. It makes no sense for me to do something in New York and New Jersey to do something else.”
Said Cuomo: “If I say you can’t go to a bar in New York, you know you’ll go to New Jersey, you’ll go to Connecticut, you’ll go to wherever you can be served. That’s the last thing we want. Set the national standards and let’s live with them. Otherwise, again, you come up with this ad hoc system that’s not going to work.”
7:10 a.m. China relaxes travel restrictions in Hubei
China is relaxing travel restrictions in the hardest-hit virus province of Hubei and sending thousands of workers back to jobs at factories desperate to get production going again.
The move comes as Chinese officials say the outbreak that spread from Wuhan starting in December has mostly run its course domestically, while they remain vigilant against imported cases.
5:30 a.m. Jack Ma says first shipment of masks and coronavirus test kits to the US is taking off from Shanghai
Jack Ma tweeted that a huge shipment of masks and coronavirus testing kits is now en route to the United States from Shanghai.
The first shipment of masks and coronavirus test kits to the US is taking off from Shanghai. All the best to our friends in America.