March 11 coronavirus news

The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum is closing immediately after two employees attended a conference last week where other attendees had confirmed cases of coronavirus, the organization said in a statement today.

Neither of the employees have shown symptoms and both are in self-quarantine, according to the statement. 

The conference in question was the BLIST Industry Party 2020 held on March 4 at the Row Hotel in Somerville, Massachusetts, JFK library and museum spokesman Matt Porter told CNN. 

The conference was a “pre-season industry bash for Boston’s wedding and event industry,” according to their Eventbrite site. 

CNN has reached out to the event organizer, Whim Events, for more information.

One of the largest livestock exhibitions and rodeos in the world will close early due to novel coronavirus fears, Houston city officials announced today.

The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo opened on March 3 and was scheduled to run until March 22. It will now close this afternoon, officials said at a press conference today.

Despite the containment efforts, "we will see wider spread," Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo said.

"If we had the capability to test more people, we surely would be having more positives and perhaps more evidence of community transmission," Hidalgo said.

All other city events for the month of March will also be rescheduled or canceled, Turner said. 

There are 21 confirmed cases in Texas, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services

The Golden State Warriors will play Thursday night’s game against the Brooklyn Nets at the Chase Center in San Francisco, California, without fans, the team announced.

The team said that all fans who purchased tickets will receive a refund.

Watch:

The San Francisco Giants announce it's canceling their preseason exhibition game against the Oakland Athletics at Oracle Park on March 24 due to a ban on large gatherings in the city and county.

The Giants are scheduled to start the regular season on the road and aren’t slated to host their first regular season game until April 3.

Here's the team's statement:

There are 39 new cases of coronavirus in New York state, bringing the total cases in the state to 212, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said during a news conference today.

Here are where the new cases are being reported:

Starbucks announced today that it will offer any employee diagnosed or exposed to COVID-19 up to 14 days of catastrophe pay. 

The catastrophe pay is an additional measure on top of sick pay and time off. If Starbucks employees are still unable to work after two weeks, they can access additional pay up to 26 weeks.   

Starbucks is also offering employees mental health resources, such as access to free counseling and a meditation app.

San Francisco is halting all large group gatherings in an effort to slow the spread of novel coronavirus, Mayor London Breed announced.

Group events of 1,000 or more people will be prohibited for now.

The order will be in place for two weeks and will be revisited as the coronavirus outbreak in the city continues to evolve.

Gov. Jay Inslee announced that Washington state will prohibit events of more than 250 people in King, Snohomish and Pierce counties to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

At least 273 cases of coronavirus have been reported in Washington state. There have been at least 24 coronavirus-related deaths in the state.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who is 86 and the oldest member of the Senate, suggested that the US Capitol should be closed down — at least temporarily — in light of the coronavirus scare.

Asked to clarify, she said: “I think you close it for meetings and that kind of thing and people can come in if they want to come into their office. I’ve got constituents by the hundreds that come across the country and I don’t think they should right now.”

On whether essential business should continue, she said: “I don’t think there’s anything that’s all that important. We are out next week anyway.”