Coronavirus update: First antiviral trial starts; Pence put in charge of US response
Key Takeaways
We’re bringing you the latest news on the coronavirus, all in one place:
The number of confirmed US cases of COVID-19 has increased to 60, according to Johns Hopkins. Positive cases have been identified in Arizona, California, Illinois, Massachusetts, Texas, Washington state, and Wisconsin. The number of confirmed cases worldwide is now 83,774, with 2,867 deaths. The number of patients who have recovered is 36,654.
Officials in the US and Germany have identified patients with COVID-19 who have no known connection to others with the illness. The virus may have spread locally or through unknown means, making it more difficult to find and isolate the origin.
Despite doctors’ suggestions, a patient with suspected infection in California was forced to wait days before testing, due to restrictive federal criteria. The patient eventually tested positive for COVID-19 and is being treated at the University of California, Davis Medical Center. The CDC has restricted testing to those patients who have either recently traveled to China or who have had contact with someone who has.
President Trump placed Vice President Pence in charge of the administration’s response to the novel virus. The president put forth an optimistic tone, although the optimism was almost immediately contradicted by government experts in the same press conference.
Olympic organizers in Tokyo are left with few good options ahead of the games that are scheduled to take place in July. Options range from moving the games to outright canceling them, resulting in the potential loss of billions of dollars in revenue. Officials are also discussing holding the games with athletes only, with no spectators.
The first human trials of a potential treatment for COVID-19 have begun. An American passenger who was evacuated from the cruise ship The Diamond Princess was the first patient to receive the antiviral drug remdesivir as part of the trial.