By Jessie Yeung, Joshua Berlinger, Adam Renton, Meg Wagner, Mike Hayes and Veronica Rocha, CNN
Universal Orlando announced it will temporarily close its theme parks after this weekend until at least the end of March, but possibly longer.
Universal Orlando’s hotels and Universal City Walk will remain open, according to the announcement.
Read the announcement here:
At CNN's ongoing town hall, we're taking audience questions and answering them with medical experts weighing in.
One viewer asked: What supplies should I get in case my community locks down?
Here's what Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, had to say:
But he and CNN's Anderson Cooper acknowledged that sometimes health insurance doesn't allow for extra medication.
"We're looking at relieving a lot of regulations and other things to make it easier for people to cope with this .. really somebody should look at that," Fauci said.
People have been panic buying: Stores have sold out of face masks, hand sanitizer, food staples, and more.
The cleaning supplies can be good to have, especially soap and sanitizer — but one unusual item selling out is toilet paper.
It's not entirely clear what is driving the panic buying of toilet paper. The trend began in Hong Kong last month after rumors that border closures would cut off the supply from China — but the rumors were dispelled by the government, and there don't appear to be any similar rumors in the US.
Just because someone who had the coronavirus is feeling better, that does not mean they still can't spread the disease, according to Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
Fauci dispelled this misconception tonight during CNN's coronavirus town hall.
"You can become infected, get symptomatic, resolve the symptoms, feel well, and still share the virus. You can go back to your normal life when you have two consecutive tests for the coronavirus that are negative, separated by 24 hours. That is an excellent question. Just because you feel better or feel well does not mean you are not sharing the virus," Fauci said.
From CNN's Homero De La Fuente
NBA commissioner Adam Silver appeared on "NBA on TNT" tonight where he discussed the decision to suspend the league’s season after Utah Jazz player Rudy Gobert tested positive for coronavirus, saying that the NBA’s hiatus “will most likely be at least 30 days.”
Silver didn’t rule out the possibility of the season being canceled.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, believes the US will see "a lot more" coronavirus cases as the disease continues to spread.
Fauci's remarks were made tonight during CNN's coronavirus town hall where he also discussed the need to get the number of coronavirus cases in the US to stabilize.
"What we hope to do with both containment and mitigation is to get this peak to actually flatten out," Fauci said. "We will have a lot more cases. The question is are we going to blunt that peak? The things we are doing by preventing infections from coming outside in with the travel restrictions, which are totally appropriate, and I think very helpful as well as doing containment and mitigation from within."
Watch:
CNN Correspondent David Culver, reporting from Shanghai, joined CNN's coronavirus town hall to describe the improving situation in China.
Just a few weeks ago, the country was reporting thousands of cases a day. Now, it's down to about a dozen a day on average — a huge drop.
"What we need to stress though is that it did not start out this way," said Culver. "Early on, go back seven weeks, they had allegations of cover ups, allegations of underreporting, really only 200 tests a day for a sitting population of 11 million."
Remember: Whistleblowers in Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak, like Dr. Li Wenliang, tried to warn people and sound the alarm as early as December — but were punished and censored by local officials. Li later died of the coronavirus.
What changed: The central government's involvement, Culver said.
"They pushed out the local government. They said, we're taking control. It became a military-like operation. They began ramping up production of face masks. Our daily lives changed drastically."
What China looks like now: Things are slowly getting back to normal, now that the outbreak seems largely contained in most of the country.
"Just today the parks are reopening in Shanghai, restaurants have given the all clear to have as many people as they need to party-wise to come in and book a table. Tourist attractions are starting to reopen," said Culver — a jarring difference from life in China just weeks ago, when people didn't dare go outside, and when major cities felt like ghost towns.
From CNN's Homero De La Fuente
The PGA Tour announced late Thursday night that they are canceling The Players Championship taking place this week in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, and events across all Tours through the Valero Texas Open on April 2.
“We have pledged from the start to be responsible, thoughtful and transparent with our decision process. We did everything possible to create a safe environment for our players in order to continue the event throughout the weekend, and we were endeavoring to give our fans a much-needed respite from the current climate. But at this point — and as the situation continues to rapidly change — the right thing to do for our players and our fans is to pause," the PGA said.
CNN has kicked off its two-hour coronavirus town hall with a look toward Europe, where every member country of the European Union has reported infections.
"It's fairly eerie here, where we arrived just a few days ago and the streets were full of people, full of traffic," said CNN Correspondent Ben Wedeman from Bologna, Italy, where he has been reporting on the nationwide lockdown.
"Now you go out in the main square, the piazza, just up the street from where we are, it's empty. By and large, it just has completely transformed ordinary life in this city."
People can still go outside for a walk, jog, or run errands, said Wedeman — but people have to keep a certain distance from each other, and all public events or gatherings are canceled. That means even things like a children's soccer game are now prohibited under the emergency restrictions.
Churches are closed, even for people going in for private prayer — something that has never happened, even during wartime, Wedeman said.
Some context: Italy has been under total lockdown since Monday. The nationwide lockdown extended measures already in place in the northern Lombardy region to the rest of the country, affecting about 60 million residents.
This means restricted movement, schools closed, public services suspended, events canceled, and more.
Watch:
From CNN’s Patrick Cornell
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s wife, Sophie Grégoire Trudeau, has tested positive for coronavirus, according to a statement from Trudeau’s office.
She is feeling well, only has mild symptoms, and will remain in isolation, the statement said.
The Prime Minister has no symptoms but will be in isolation for 14 days, according to the statement. He is not being tested at this time because he is asymptomatic, and will continue his duties as normal.
