DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The head of an Iranian government task force on the coronavirus who had urged the public not to overreact about its spread has tested positive for the illness himself, authorities said Tuesday, as new cases emanating from the country rapidly emerged across the Middle East....
Desperate to Stop Virus' Spread, Countries Limit Travel
SEOUL, South Korea — Police manned checkpoints in quarantined towns, guests were confined to their rooms in a hotel in the Canary Islands, governments issued travel warnings and more flights were suspended Tuesday as officials desperately sought to stop the seemingly inevitable spread of a new virus. Clusters of the...
Judge Orders Pause in Move of Virus Patients to SoCal City
SANTA ANA — A federal judge on Monday ordered U.S. and California officials to answer questions from local officials about plans to relocate former cruise ship passengers who test positive for a new coronavirus to a facility in Southern California. U.S District Judge Josephine Staton, who had already temporarily blocked...
Iran Says 12 Dead From New Virus, Rejects Higher Death Toll
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Iran's government said Monday that 12 people had died nationwide from the new coronavirus, rejecting claims of a much higher death toll by a lawmaker from the city of Qom that has been at the epicenter of the virus in the country. The conflicting reports...
White House Readying Coronavirus Response Request
WASHINGTON — The White House is readying an urgent budget request to address the deadly coronavirus outbreak whose rapid spread is spooking financial markets and restricting international travel. The request is still being developed but is likely to come this week, a senior administration official confirmed Monday. The Department of Health and...
California Tells 7K People to Stay Home Because of New Virus
SAN FRANCISCO — California health officials said Friday that 7,600 people who returned to the state after visiting China during the outbreak of the new virus have been asked to quarantine themselves at home this month as health officials try to stop the spread of the virus. The people returned...
16 Cruise Ship Evacuees Being Moved to US Hospitals
SEATTLE — Eleven Americans who were brought to the U.S. from a quarantined cruise ship have been moved to hospitals, because delayed Japanese test results showed they had the new virus that caused an outbreak in China, officials said Thursday. Five other people from the ship have shown symptoms of...
Poll: More Americans Worry About Flu Than New Virus
A wide share of Americans are at least moderately confident in U.S. health officials’ ability to handle emerging viruses, and more express concern about catching the flu than catching the new coronavirus, according to a poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. The findings are encouraging to...
New Threats Emerge in Outbreak While China Voices Optimism
BEIJING — Chinese health officials expressed new optimism Thursday over a deadly virus outbreak while authorities in South Korea’s fourth-largest city urged residents to hunker down as fears nagged communities far from the illness’ epicenter. The confidence voiced by China’s government came as it reported a reduced number of new...
Iran Announces 3 New Cases of New Virus After 2 Deaths
TEHRAN, Iran — Iran said Thursday that three more people have been infected with the new virus that originated in central China, following an announcement the day before that two people had died of the illness caused by the virus in the Iranian city of Qom. All schools and universities,...