March 16 coronavirus news

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer will order all bars and restaurants to close at 3 p.m. ET today, according to her spokeswoman Tiffany Brown.

Restaurants will be be allowed to serve takeout and delivery only, Brown said.

The UK government is walking a tightrope in its response to the coronavirus outbreak 

On one hand, it is doing everything it can to keep the public calm, and delay taking the most drastic measures to prevent the spread until absolutely necessary. 

On the other, it is scrambling to let the British public know that it's taking this pandemic seriously. 

Over the weekend, public criticism that the government's response had been less drastic than that of other countries -- and accusations that it was playing roulette with the nation's health -- led to confusing briefings from government officials. And those briefings in some cases seemed to directly contradict what Prime Minister Boris Johnson had told the nation in a high-profile press conference days earlier.

Over the weekend, suggestions that over-70s would be placed in lengthy quarantine and that public gatherings could soon be banned caused confusion among the public, soon after the prime minister had urged the public to remain calm and explained why these measures were not being taken immediately. 

Last Thursday, flanked by the UK's chief medical officer and chief scientific advisor, Johnson explained that even as the nation upped its response to the virus, it would not be shutting schools or banning mass gatherings. Johnson explained that the scientific evidence suggested that doing so would not do anything to prevent the spread and could have a negative impact on the National Health Service. 

This slow approach made the UK an outlier, as its response was less strict than its European counterparts. It didn't take long for Johnson's critics to accuse him of playing roulette with the nation's health. Richard Horton, editor-in-chief of the respected medical journal The Lancet, tweeted: "What is happening in Italy is real and taking place now. Our government is not preparing us for that reality. We need immediate and assertive social distancing and closure policies. We need to prepare the NHS. This is a serious plea."

Government sources acknowledged to CNN on Monday that the longer-term scenario was moving faster than initially expected. They explained that the number of confirmed cases had grown quicker than planned and that the number of elderly people testing positive had caused the government to move faster than they'd have initially liked to. "There is an approach that hasn’t changed but might have accelerated depending on the evidence," said one government minister. 

Impartial civil servants working directly on the government's response to Covid-19 are less generous, claiming that Johnson's inner circle was caught off guard. "I don't think Number 10 are taking it seriously enough. Lots of people are very lax ... Number 10 are taking the approach of being the last people standing," one civil servant told CNN. 

Downing Street was approached for comment on not taking it seriously enough but had declined to respond at time of publication

However, for all the noise over the weekend, very little has actually so far changed in terms of policy. For the time being, this is more government officials putting out fires than anything else. 

Downing Street is being uncharacteristically helpful and responsive to journalist questions over its Covid-19 response and has committed to giving daily press briefings.

Johnson will give the first of these later today. It will be the first indication of whether or not this flurry of activity over the weekend actually marks a serious change in government policy, or if the Johnson is happy that the UK remains a global outlier.

Ukraine International Airlines has suspended all international scheduled flights starting tomorrow through March 31, based on the decision of the country's government to temporarily ban foreigners from entering Ukraine.

Passengers who plan to fly starting from April 1 are advised to keep themselves updated on flight schedule and status changes.

Tomorrow, Ukraine International will operate flights from 11 cities to Kyiv. Only the citizens of Ukraine and foreigners with permanent or temporary residency permits will be accepted aboard. The cities are:

Confusion greeted the launch of a coronavirus testing website built by Verily, a subsidiary of Alphabet and sister company to Google. The site launched Sunday night and is intended for people in the San Francisco Bay Area initially.

The website was supposed to direct Californians who live in the wider San Francisco area to one of two locations in the state where they could be tested for the novel coronavirus, if they met certain criteria established in an online questionnaire.

At first, users who reported they were suffering from symptoms such as “severe cough, shortness of breath, fever or other conceding symptoms" were advised they were not eligible for testing. If you went to the tool and answered “yes” to the symptoms question, the tool told you “based on your symptoms, in-person COVID-19 testing through this program is not the right fit.” 

When asked why those with symptoms were being advised not to receive testing, Verily spokeswoman Carolyn Wang told CNN that the tool is meant for those who are unsure if they are infected. 

Verily later updated the questionnaire to ask if users are experiencing “severe symptoms,” and to emphasize that the tool is not for those with severe symptoms. 

The tool still advises those who report severe symptoms to “seek medical attention” and refers those visitors to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's website. 

However, in testing the website, CNN also discovered that answering the questionnaire correctly — meaning responding in ways that met the site’s criteria for coronavirus testing — led to another error message The message said: “Unfortunately, we are unable to schedule more appointments at this time,” suggesting that there aren’t enough testing appointments available even for those who warrant testing. 

The Verily website launch follows a series of announcements from the Trump administration in recent days that Google was developing a large scale testing website. On Friday, Vice President Mike Pence promised that “for Americans looking on … we’ll be able to give specific guidance on when the website will be available, you can go to the website, as the President said, you type in your symptoms and be given direction whether or not a test is indicated.” 

But only Verily, not Google, appears ready with a testing website at this time, and it is limited in scope to California. Google is developing an educational site to provide information about the coronavirus, but the company’s announcement stopped short of describing it as a website connecting users to test locations. 

Remember: Verily’s site is distinct from a nationwide informational website Google is building to address the coronavirus. 

Verily and Google are both owned by the same parent company, Alphabet, but Verily is a different business from Google. 

Simon Crow is not a professional athlete. But he has spent the last three months running six times a week, clocking in between 40 and 60 miles. Feeling great, Crow was hoping for a new personal best in the Paris marathon next month. 

And then the novel coronavirus struck and his marathon got called off. 

"Twelve weeks of marathon training down the pan," said Crow, who is one of hundreds of thousands of runners who have had their big spring races canceled or postponed after months of training and sacrifice.

Paris, Tokyo, Boston, London, Rome, Barcelona, Manchester, Rotterdam and Vienna are among the cities that have announced their marathons would not take place as planned because of the outbreak.

Read the full article here

New immigration hearings for migrants who are not in detention will be postponed, the US Department of Justice’s Executive Office for Immigration Review has announced.

The EOIR said in a tweet late on Sunday all non-detained master calendar hearings -- cases of immigrants who are not in detention and are just beginning immigration proceedings -- will be postponed. Last Friday, the federal agency said those hearings would only be postponed at select immigration courts. 

Master calendar hearings often bring large groups of people to the courtroom, raising concern while the country tries to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

The move to extend the postponing of these hearings came hours after immigration judges, lawyers and ICE prosecutors called for courts to be closed altogether. EOIR has not gone that far yet, saying that all other hearings will proceed.

The Seattle immigration court will be closed through April 10.

The European Union launched measures to support its member states in tackling the coronavirus pandemic, the European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, Stella Kyriakides, said Monday. 

"Essential goods and medicines must be able to cross borders as smoothly as possible,” the European health commissioner added, calling for “solidarity and cooperation” across the EU.

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and European Council president Charles Michel on Monday met with French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel to discuss the EU response to the COVID-19 outbreak. 

Macron tweeted that European partners were “working together” to make “rigorous decisions” on a joint course of action.

Europe has become the new epicenter of the outbreak, with the number of confirmed cases and registered deaths across the continent climbing.

The European Commission spoke out against the implementation of internal border controls as COVID-19 spreads across the continent.

“People who are sick should not be denied entry but given access to healthcare,” it said in a statement, outlining that member states must always admit their own citizens, and should facilitate the transit of EU citizens and residents who were returning home.

A former Bond girl has announced she has been diagnosed with coronavirus. 

Olga Kurylenko, who starred as Camille Montes opposite Daniel Craig in the 2008 James Bond film "Quantum of Solace," shared the news on Sunday via Instagram.

"Locked up at home after having tested positive for Coronavirus," she captioned a photo of the view out of a window.

The Ukranian-born former model said she had been ill for almost a week and that fever and fatigue were her main symptoms.

Oscar-winning actor Tom Hanks announced last week that that he and his wife, actress and singer Rita Wilson, had been diagnosed with the virus.

Read the full story here

Tokyo 2020’s “Flame Of Recovery” tour has been reduced in size due to the coronavirus outbreak, relay organisers confirmed on Monday.

The six-day tour, which takes the Olympic flame to parts of Japan devastated by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami, is set to begin on Friday. Organizers said that “the main displays of the Olympic Flame will be staged largely as planned” but that the welcoming event on Friday and various ceremonies have been canceled.

The “Flame Of Recovery Tour” is a precursor to the official Olympic Torch Relay, which is scheduled to begin in Fukushima on March 26 and visit all 47 Japanese prefectures.

Tokyo's Local Organising Committee confirmed on Monday that the test event for volleyball, due to take place in the newly built Ariake Arena from April 21-26, has been canceled.

Qualifying events for sports including climbing, boxing, fencing and judo have already been canceled or postponed with new dates yet to be announced.

Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe insisted on Saturday that the Tokyo Olympics will go ahead this summer as planned.

Japan has had more than 1,400 cases of coronavirus, with 28 reported deaths, but has avoided the spikes seen in other countries.