Boston Mayor Marty Walsh just announced that the Boston Marathon will be postponed.
The new date for the marathon is September 14.
The marathon also just tweeted this:
March 13 coronavirus news
By Jessie Yeung, Joshua Berlinger, Adam Renton, Meg Wagner, Mike Hayes and Veronica Rocha, CNN
Updated 9:49 p.m. ET, March 13, 2020
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Boston Marathon postponed until September
U-Haul offers 30-day storage free for college students forced to move out
From CNN’s Francisco Guzman and Saeed Ahmed
With the coronavirus pandemic forcing colleges and universities to cancel classes, U-Haul is stepping in to help students who suddenly have to move out of their dorms.
The moving storage company is offering 30-day free self-storage, U-Haul said this week.
"We don't know how every student is affected. But we know they are affected," U-Haul President John Taylor said on the company's website. "More and more universities are giving instructions to leave campus and go home. Students and their parents are in need of moving and storage solutions. We have the expertise and network to help, and that's exactly what we're going to do."
Some colleges — like Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Berea College and Cornell University — have asked students to vacate their on-campus housing for the rest of the semester. That's left students scrambling to find last-minute housing, storage and transportation.
How this works: Students can reserve a U-Haul truck, trailer or a U-Box — a portable moving and storage container that can be stored in U-Haul warehouses — by showing the company their college IDs.
Students can also get Collegeboxes, a kit of five standard-sized boxes, shipped to them for free. Once all the belongings are packed, the company will pick up the boxes from a dorm or apartment to be shipped anywhere across the globe or stored in a U-Haul facility.
Masters golf tournament postponed
Fred Ridley, chairman of Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia, has announced that the 2020 Masters tournament has been postponed.
Ridley said in a statement:
"Ultimately, the health and well-being of everyone associated with these events and the citizens of the Augusta community led us to this decision. We hope this postponement puts us in the best position to safely host the Masters Tournament and our amateur events at some later date."
European Union unveils coronavirus economic support
The European Union has unveiled a series of measures to try to limit the economic impact of coronavirus.
The European Commission says it will direct around $40 billion of funds to fight against the coronavirus crisis. It will also relax rules limiting how much EU member states can spend and borrow and is promising help for small and medium businesses across Europe.
Italy's most prestigious bicycle race postponed
From CNN’s Aleks Klosok
The Giro d'Italia has been postponed due to the outbreak of the coronavirus, race organizers RCS Sport said today.
The Giro is Italy’s most prestigious road bicycle race, and along with the Tour de France and Vuelta a España, it makes up cycling's prestigious three-week-long Grand Tours.
“The organising committee of the Giro d'Italia's Hungarian stages declared the Giro's start could not be held in Hungary at the originally scheduled time,” the organizers said in a statement.
“All parties have agreed that they are determined to work together to enable the Giro d'Italia to depart from Hungary at a later time.”
The Tour had been due to start in Hungary in May. A new date will be announced later.
Why is the US so far behind other countries with coronavirus testing?
Your coronavirus questions, answered
South Korea has tested more than 230,000 people for free and set up drive-thru testing weeks ago.
Meanwhile, the US vice president and the Health and Human Services secretary said this week they don't know how many Americans have been tested. But members of both parties say there aren't nearly enough tests available.
There are a few factors for the difference in responses, said Dr. Rob Davidson, an emergency room doctor and executive director of the Committee to Protect Medicare.
"The public health infrastructure and the response to outbreaks and the National Security Council have been gutted by this administration," Davidson said.
Two years ago, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stopped funding epidemic prevention activities in 39 countries, including China, after the Trump administration refused to reallocate money to a program that started during the government's response to the Ebola outbreak in 2014.
At that time, former CDC director Dr. Tom Frieden said the move "would significantly increase the chance an epidemic will spread without our knowledge and endanger lives in our country and around the world."
Another factor involves the tests themselves — including malfunctions, shortages and delays in availability.
In the first few weeks of coronavirus in the US, the CDC was the only facility in the country that could confirm test results.
"We had the ability about five weeks ago to use a WHO — World Health Organization — approved test that's been used in other countries that was available, and that was rejected so we could use a test that was developed here," Davidson said.
After test kits were later sent across the country, some were flawed. "So they go back to the drawing board," Davidson said. "It put us behind by about four or five weeks."
Markets open higher after worst sell-off since 1987
From CNN’s Anneken Tappe
US stocks bounced back from their worst day since “Black Monday” in 1987 on Friday.
Wall Street entered a bear market Thursday, ending an 11-year bull market run.
Here's how things look this morning:
- The S&P 500 opened up 4.9%.
- The Dow kicked off 5.6%, or 1,190 points, higher.
- The Nasdaq Composite rose 5.7%.
All three indexes extended their gains after the opening bell.
If you're just joining us, here's what you've missed
- America faces a new normal: Travel restrictions into the US are going into effect today. Leaders across the country are banning public gatherings, dozens of school districts and universities hit the pause button on classes, sports leagues suspended their seasons and major entertainment venues -- including Broadway and Disney World -- announced a halt in activities.
- Infection rate in China and South Korea slows: Mainland China reported only eight new infections Thursday, with five in Wuhan, ground zero for the pandemic. South Korea reported its lowest daily increase since February 22.
- Museums, theme parks and places of worship are closing down globally, as people were asked to avoid crowds.
- Sporting events suspended: The English Premier League -- the world's richest top-flight division -- has been hit by the decision to postpone all professional football in England until early April due to the coronavirus outbreak.
- UK's chief scientist explains "herd immunity plan": The UK government has explained the country's plan to "delay the peak" of infection until summertime.
Will warmer weather slow the rate of infection, as it does with the flu? Here's what the experts think.
FDA gives emergency approval for new coronavirus test
The Food and Drug Administration announced Friday it is allowing emergency use of a novel coronavirus testing system designed by Roche Molecular Systems “within 24 hours of receiving the application,” the agency said.
This is the first commercially distributed diagnostic test to receive an emergency use authorization during the COVID-19 outbreak, the FDA said.
“Laboratories can immediately run tests on Roche’s high-volume platform, which will greatly increase national testing capacity,” the agency said.
FDA also announced its allowing the New York State Department of Health to authorize some New York laboratories to test for the novel coronavirus after validating their tests. Generally, a lab would have to pursue emergency use authorization through the FDA
The FDA granted this flexibility based on the urgent public health need for additional testing capability, according to a statement.