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State Department employee in DC tests positive The State Department confirmed its first case of COVID-19 in Washington, DC., in a letter sent to affected employees Thursday. The employee who tested positive works in the consular bureau, which is housed separately from the main State Department building in Washington and the department was notified of the result Wednesday. Employees were told the employee was known to be on certain floors in the consular building and those spaces would have a "deliberate and professional disinfection," Thursday, according to the letter. Those areas are expected to be safe for re-occupation on Friday. Staff who frequently work in those areas are being asked to self-quarantine pending interviews with medical professionals about any possible contacts. The State Department on Thursday also raised the global travel advisory Thursday to Level 4: Do Not Travel, citing the coronavirus pandemic. The advisory warns that Americans should consider returning to the U.S. immediately through whatever commercial means are available. Share this -







Trump planning new restrictions on U.S.-Mexico travel President Donald Trump is planning to place new limits on travel between the U.S. and Mexico, similar to those put in place earlier this week with Canada, according to a person familiar with the plans. The move was first reported by Reuters. Mexico has nearly 100 cases of the coronavirus compared to more than 13,000 in the U.S. Trump announced Wednesday that the U.S. and Canada had agreed to close their border to all “nonessential traffic," excluding trade, because of the spread of the coronavirus. Share this -







L.A. County announces 'safer at home' order Los Angeles County officials on Thursday announced stricter guidelines for one of the most populated regions in the country. All residents are urged to stay home except for essential needs. The "safer at home" order requires that all indoor malls, shopping centers, playgrounds and non-essential retail businesses close. It also prohibits gathering in enclosed spaces of more than 10 people at a time. The directive goes into effect Thursday at midnight and will remain through April 19. Residents can leave their homes to visit grocery stores, pharmacies or doctors or for outdoor exercise. Food delivery and pick-up will remain available. "This is not a request. This is an order," L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti said. I’m issuing a Safer at Home emergency order — ordering all residents of @LACity to stay inside their homes and immediately limit all nonessential movement. We’re taking this urgent action to limit the spread of COVID-19 and save lives. https://t.co/4yVdjXMEJ0 pic.twitter.com/QscQUbqkaC — Mayor Eric Garcetti (@MayorOfLA) March 20, 2020 Share this -







Pence chief of staff has no update on coronavirus virus test site The chief of staff to Vice President Mike Pence on Thursday said that he did not have a status update about a coronavirus website promised by the president last week. “I don’t have an update right now, sorry,” Marc Short said. President Donald Trump on Friday said that Google had 1,700 engineers working on a site that would “be very quickly done, unlike websites of the past, to determine whether a test is warranted and to facilitate testing at a nearby convenient location.” The testing website has launched, but it is not yet close to what was promised. A company called Verily, which is Google’s sister company under the corporate umbrella of Alphabet, on Sunday deployed a site that asks about symptoms and points people to testing locations in two San Francisco Bay Area counties. On Thursday afternoon, the site included a note saying, "We are working to rapidly expand testing in every way that we can; please check back soon as we add more testing sites and may expand eligibility criteria." “Verily launched a pilot website late Sunday to counties in the Bay Area, and is working with authorities to scale this effort further," a Google spokesperson said in a statement Wednesday. “With local and national guidance evolving rapidly, Google will continue working with relevant agencies and authorities to roll out a website later this week that will surface authoritative information for people in the U.S., including on screening and testing," the statement said. Trump in late February put Pence in charge of the administration’s response to the coronavirus outbreak. Share this -







Players, staff from the Lakers, Celtics and 76ers test positive NBA players and staff from the Los Angeles Lakers, Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers have tested positive for coronavirus. Marcus Smart of the Boston Celtics announced on Twitter that he was positive and encouraged young people to practice self-distancing even if they might be at low risk for COVID-19, the disease associated with coronavirus. "Ive been self quarantined since the test, thank goodness. COVID-19 must be taken w the highest of seriousness," Smart said. The Lakers announced Thursday that two players, who were not identified, have tested positive and are not symptomatic. All staff and players have been asked to observe self-quarantine and shelter-in-place guidances, the Lakers said. Three from the 76ers also tested positive after the entire organization was tested, the team said in a Thursday statement. The team did not specify whether the positive results came from players, coaches or staff. "All other test results are currently negative. We have reported this information to state and local health authorities as required," the team said. I was tested 5 days ago and the results came back tonight, which were positive. Ive been self quarantined since the test, thank goodness. COVID-19 must be taken w the highest of seriousness. I know it’s a #1 priority for our nations health experts, & we must get more testing ASAP pic.twitter.com/xkijb9wlKV — marcus smart (@smart_MS3) March 19, 2020 Share this -







FDA warns there are no at-home tests as scam kits are on the rise A pathologist holds a nasal swab from a COVID-19 test kit in Lake Success, New York, on March 4, 2020. Michael Nagle / Bloomberg via Getty Images The rush to create higher capacity for coronavirus testing has created an opening for scams and fly-by-night operations making unverified or outlandish claims in an effort to capitalize on public fear of the virus — including for at-home tests. The FDA responded to the shortage of tests this week by relaxing regulatory restrictions, which approved the emergency distribution of new tests and allowed for states to authorize laboratories to develop tests. But there are currently no FDA-approved at-home COVID-19 tests available in the U.S. “No at-home test has been granted an emergency use authorization,” an FDA spokesperson said in an email. “And at-home test kits are explicitly exempt as part of our recent coronavirus diagnostics policy. We are looking into this further.” Read the full story here. Share this -







Trump cancels in-person G7, summit to be held via video conference President Donald Trump canceled the in-person G7 conference that was set to be held at Camp David this June, the White House confirmed to NBC News Thursday. The summit between leaders from the Group of Seven nations will instead be held through video conferencing in an effort to conform with advice from medical professionals regarding social distancing to prevent the spread of coronavirus. The G7 consists of the United States, Canada, Japan, the United Kingdom, France, Italy and Germany. Italy has been hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic as it surpassed China in total deaths connected to the coronavirus Thursday. Share this -





