March 6 coronavirus news

Rationing supplies. Overwhelmed delivery workers. Toilet paper protected by security guards.

This is the new reality for some retailers, who are having to take drastic action to limit the number of toilet paper rolls, face masks and hand sanitizer bottles each person can buy as customers stockpile goods over fears of the novel coronavirus outbreak.

The epidemic has infected more than 97,000 people and killed 3,300 globally, leading to growing alarm that has resulted in mass bulk buying around the world.

Australian supermarket chains Woolworths and Coles both began limiting toilet paper purchases to four packs per person this week. Costco Australia is also restricting how much toilet tissue, disinfectant, milk, eggs and rice each customer can buy.

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Five schools in Pennsylvania have been shut over coronavirus concerns. 

Central Bucks School District (CBSD) announced on Friday that they have closed five schools in the district after being made aware that individuals within the school district were exposed to a confirmed case of coronavirus.

The school district in Doylestown, about 40 miles north of Philadelphia, said in a statement:

CNN is reaching out to the school district for more information.

Fatemeh Rahbar, a newly elected member of the Iranian Parliament, has died from coronavirus on Friday, according to Iran’s Tasnim News Agency. 

Rahbar was a representative for the residents of Tehran. After her health worsened, she had to be connected to an oxygen machine, according to Tasnim.

She is the first known female politician to die from coronavirus in Iran.

This comes as Iran’s health ministry announced Friday that 124 people have died from coronavirus in the country and that there are currently 4,747 confirmed cases. 

Over the past 24 hours, 1,234 new cases have been identified in the country, according to the ministry. 

“Unfortunately, in the last 24 hours, 17 patients died and the death toll rose to 124,” said Health Ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour.  

Since Italy suspended schools, many parents have had to rethink their routines. Some have been forced to work from home or turn to the help of grandparents, and women are taking on a lot of the child care burden. 

“It is hard for families to balance work and life. School is the backbone of the country,” says Gini Dupasquier, a consultant in Milan whose teenage daughters are now studying from home.

The Italian education ministry launched a remote learning information portal and thousands of teachers have participated in related webinars -- but educators say that preparing video lessons, Google quizzes and video conferences have tripled their working days.

Rain lashed down in Bethlehem on Friday but there were few people out on the streets anyway. Main roads were deserted, shops and restaurants were closed. The huge metal gate at Checkpoint 300, the main crossing point between Bethlehem and Jerusalem, was locked shut. 

Doors were closed at the Church of the Nativity, regarded as the birthplace of Jesus. And across Manger Square, the Omar Ben Khatab mosque stood empty as well; Friday prayers, the most important congregation of the week, canceled. 

Mohammad Al-Azzeh sat defiant outside his shop selling gifts for tourists, a teal-colored mask protecting his mouth.

Just around the corner, in the shadow of the huge wall erected by Israel to separate it from the Palestinian territories, the shutters were down at the “Walled Off Hotel” opened by the British graffiti artist Banksy; no guests today for the chimpanzee in the concierge’s costume to welcome.

A couple of miles away in the neighboring town of Beit Jala, there was security tape up in front of the Angel Hotel, and Palestinian police outside wearing face masks. This is the hotel at the center of the coronavirus scare, where seven workers tested positive yesterday, in an outbreak being linked to a Greek tour group that visited last week.

Pastor Chris Bell from Fairhope, Alabama is among a group of 14 Americans who have found themselves caught up in the scare. He told CNN by phone that he and his group were two days into a tour of the Holy Land and had visited Bethlehem and Jerusalem before being told Wednesday evening that the hotel would likely be closed the following day as authorities looked into the possibility of a coronavirus outbreak.

The group was en route on to a new destination Thursday morning when they were told to turn the bus around and go back to the hotel.

Bell paid tribute to the hotel staff. “They have been amazing, they have worked so hard to take care of us,” he said, explaining that staff had cleaned out a whole floor for the group so that they could self-quarantine together. No one in the group was showing symptoms, Bell said, but there were frustrations that no one had come to the hotel yet to test them for coronavirus.

“We understand that it is an overwhelming situation for the local authorities but we are not getting any information from them,” he said.  

One man who was out and about in the city was Jamil Azar, who was filling his car with gas. “People are afraid as they don’t know who has the virus and who does not,” he said. Jamil himself was not overly concerned, though, believing that an age-old elixir, available to him as a Christian, would keep him right.

CNN’s Andrew Carey contributed to this report.

A Lockheed Martin employee has tested positive for the novel coronavirus, according to a statement on the company’s website. 

According to the company, the employee was previously flagged for potential exposure and they are deep cleaning work and common areas.

Lockheed Martin's statement:

Thailand has reported one new case of the novel coronavirus on Friday, taking the national total to 48, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Public Health Sukhum Kanchanapimai said in a news conference.

The new case is a 43-year-old British corporate adviser who traveled from London on February 28.

The man transited via Hong Kong, where he spent about seven to eight hours, before traveling on to Bangkok, where he was admitted to hospital on February 29, Kanchanapimai added.

Of the 48 confirmed cases in Thailand, one person has died, 31 have been discharged and 16 remain in isolation receiving treatment, with one of them in a critical condition.

With US coronavirus cases topping 220 across 19 states and the death toll climbing to more than a dozen, state governments have asked thousands of residents to seclude themselves from the rest of the community to help contain the virus. 

While the practices of both self-quarantine and self-isolation are used to help curb the spread of the virus, they target different groups. 

People who are in isolation are those who have contracted a contagious disease -- in this case, people who tested positive for the coronavirus. That includes the North Carolina resident who was isolated after testing presumptive positive this week and the Tennessee resident who tested positive after out-of-state travel and is also in home isolation.

Residents in self-quarantine are people who may have come in contact with someone who was infected. Officials ask these individuals to stay at home for two weeks until it can be determined that they are not ill.

For about 14 days, individuals under self-quarantine can't go to "work, school or any other public places where they could have contact with others," according to Seattle & King County's department of public health in Washington state.

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A part-time employee at CenturyLink Field who worked at the February 22 game between the XFL’s Seattle Dragons and Dallas Renegades has tested positive for coronavirus, according health officials for King County in Washington. 

Officials said in a press release that no extra precautions were required for those attending the game or future events, but warned:

Seattle’s professional sports organizations -- Dragons, First & Goal/Seahawks, Mariners, and Sounders FC -- will continue with scheduled events for now, but the teams are in touch with local health officials and their respective leagues on a regular basis.             

The Seattle Sounders released a statement on Thursday saying that they are working closely with First & Goal Inc. and CenturyLink Field to provide a safe matchday experience.

This “includes expanded sanitation procedures -- encompassing enhanced cleaning treatments to disinfect all areas of the stadium before and after every event -- in addition to increased hand sanitizer stations throughout the venue and continued staff education and training.”