March 19 coronavirus news

The US-led international coalition in Afghanistan has implemented a series of restrictions in order to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus, including “temporarily” pausing the movement of personnel movement into Afghanistan and delaying the return of some service members.

“As of March 19, 21 Resolute Support personnel exhibiting flu-like symptoms are in isolation and receiving medical care,” the statement said, referring to the official name of the international coalition operation.

The statement said that because there are no testing facilities in Afghanistan, tests are being performed at a military hospital in Landstuhl, Germany, or at other civilian locations.

Additionally “1,500 multi-national service members, civilians and contractors who have arrived in theater within the past week are living in screening facilities prior to onward movement.”

Miller said that this was due to an “Abundance of caution, not because they are sick.”

He also said that access to bases had been restricted and that while efforts to train and advise local Afghan forces continue there has been a push to conduct meetings via “technical means” as opposed to in person.

The British government currently has no plans to restrict travel in and out of London or to close down the capital’s underground tube service, Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s spokesman told reporters Thursday.

Transport for London (TFL) said Wednesday that it had plans to close “until further notice” up to 40 tube stations that do not interchange with other lines.

Johnson is meeting Thursday with London mayor Sadiq Khan to discuss plans for the capital, according to City Hall.

The meeting comes amid widespread speculation and concern that London could be placed under lockdown.

All the nations of the UK announced school closures starting this weekend “until further notice." Politicians are suggesting that schools might not resume during this academic year.

Eight out of ten people in the Spanish capital will get COVID-19, according to the president of the Region of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso.

“They will have mild symptoms,” she said, but added that "it will be a problem" for the vulnerable population, which is around 15% of people.

She called the disease "lethal" for elderly people with pre-existing conditions, and said that in 24 or 48 hours "it can end the life of a person who is in the vulnerable population group."

As a result of this, the region of Madrid has sought to "save time," unify healthcare in the public and private sectors, and convert "normal beds into ICU beds."

Some 580 beds in these critical units are occupied, Díaz Asuyo said, and the Ministry of Health plans to facilitate "new rapid tests" to detect coronavirus this weekend.

The UK government has attempted to play down the prospect of an imminent lockdown in London, a day after Prime Minister Boris Johnson declined to rule out stricter measures for the city.

On Wednesday, multiple government sources told CNN that conservations had taken place in Downing Street discussing measures ranging from shutting down parts of the capital’s transport network to restricting travel in and out of the city. Similar reports appeared across the UK media. 

On Thursday, the Prime Minister’s spokesman said there was “zero prospect” of any restrictions on travel in and out of London, and that there were “no plans” to shut down its transport network. However, the city’s transport authority had already closed parts of London’s Tube network, and the government did not rule out introducing further social distancing measures in the coming days.

Johnson was due to meet the London mayor, Sadiq Khan, on Thursday to discuss plans to fight coronavirus in London, a spokesman for City Hall told CNN.

Giving evidence to the London assembly on Thursday, Khan said too many Londoners were failing to follow official advice. “We are clearly still in the early phase of this crisis but the spread of the virus is at a more advanced stage in London than in other parts of the country. This means that further measures will need to be introduced at the point at which they will have the biggest effect,” he said.

Chinese authorities have announced that some Beijing-bound international flights will be diverted to nearby cities for health screenings in the coming days.

Passengers will clear immigration and customs at their first point of entry and only those deemed healthy will be allowed to board the same aircraft again to fly to Beijing.

Some context: The Chinese capital has recorded a growing number of imported coronavirus cases in recent days.

Beijing authorities have already tightened screening and quarantine procedures targeting international arrivals. With a few exceptions, all travelers arriving from abroad are now required to undergo a 14-day quarantine at designated government facilities at their own expense.

Deaths from COVID-19 in Spain have jumped over 20% in the last day, reaching 767, according to a Spanish Health Ministry official speaking at a daily briefing in Madrid Thursday.

There are now a total of 17,147 cases recorded in the country, the ministry added.

Meanwhile, 939 people are in intensive care, said Fernando Simón, director of the Spanish Coordinating Centre for Health Alerts and Emergencies at Spain’s Ministry of Health. 

Some in the nursing industry were left "confused" after President Trump appeared to walk back his decision to use the Defense Production Act to combat medical equipment shortages on Wednesday.

Hours after a meeting with industry representatives in which he spoke about “scaling up” supplies, Trump said on Twitter that he had only signed the act “should we need to invoke it in a worst case scenario in the future.” 

"It was so disassociated from what he said this morning at the press conference and what he said to us,” said Dr. David Benton, CEO of the National Council of State Boards of Nursing, who was at the White House meeting.

Benton said representatives “described to the President how critical [ventilators] are" and expressed “anxiety” about the availability of protective equipment including masks and gowns.

The White House said more equipment was coming, just not under the Defense Production Act. A senior administration official said that the Department of Health and Human Services was working with states and the private sector to facilitate distribution as needed.

By the numbers: The Department of Homeland Security estimates that should the virus become "very severe," 38 million people will need medical care and 9.6 million will need hospitalization. 

Of those, an estimated 2.9 million people will need to be admitted to intensive care units, overwhelming current capacity. 

German airline Lufthansa has announced drastic cutbacks in its flight operations, grounding 700 of its 763 planes.

The carrier's CEO Carsten Spohr said the spread of coronavirus had placed the airline in “an unprecedented state of emergency.”

He added that “the longer this crisis lasts, the more likely it is that the future of aviation cannot be guaranteed without state aid."

States across the US have reported 2,760 new cases of novel coronavirus over the past 24 hours, according to a tally by CNN.

On Wednesday morning at 6 a.m. ET, CNN was reporting at least 6,138 cases with 112 deaths. On Thursday morning at 6 a.m. ET, CNN had tallied at least 8,898 cases with 149 deaths; an increase of 2,760 cases and 37 deaths. 

A week ago on March 12, CNN was reporting 1,274 cases and 38 deaths. Two weeks ago on March 5, CNN had counted 161 cases and 11 deaths.

Members of the White House Task Force and public health officials have warned the number of cases in the US will increase as more testing is completed.