The Latest: G7 foreign ministers move meeting online
People wear protective face masks as they walk outside Parliament in London, Wednesday, March 11, 2020. A British government minister Nadine Dorries, who is a junior Heath minster has tested positive for the coronavirus and is self isolating. For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)
Workers wearing protective gears disinfect as a precaution against the new coronavirus at a subway car depot in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, March 11, 2020. For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
Officials arrive to take samples from some passengers near a cruise boat docked along the Mekong River bank in Kampong Cham, Cambodia, Wednesday, March 11, 2020. Passengers and crew of the cruise boat that sailed on the Mekong River from Vietnam to Cambodia have been asked to stay onboard by Cambodian health authorities after a British passenger was confirmed to have been infected with COVID-19. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)
People wearing masks sit in a subway train in Milan, Italy, Wednesday, March 11, 2020. In Italy the government extended a coronavirus containment order previously limited to the country’s north to the rest of the country beginning Tuesday, with soldiers and police enforcing bans. For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia. (Claudio Furlan/LaPresse via AP)
A man wearing a mask descends an escalator at a subway station in Milan, Italy, Wednesday, March 11, 2020. In Italy the government extended a coronavirus containment order previously limited to the country’s north to the rest of the country beginning Tuesday, with soldiers and police enforcing bans. For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia. (Claudio Furlan/LaPresse via AP)
A worker wearing protective gear disinfects as a precaution against the new coronavirus at a subway car depot in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, March 11, 2020. For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
In this Tuesday, March 10, 2020 photo the empty stadium is pictured prior to the Champions League round of 16, 2nd leg soccer match between RB Leipzig and Tottenham Hotspur in Leipzig, Germany. Due to the new coronavirus outbreak several upcoming matches of the German Bundesliga will take place without the attendance of spectators. For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn)
Anti Brexit campaigners hold placards including comments on the outbreak of coronavirus as they protest outside Parliament in London, Wednesday, March 11, 2020. A British government minister Nadine Dorries, who is a junior Heath minster has tested positive for the coronavirus and is self isolating. Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak will announce the first budget since Britain left the European Union.(AP Photo/Matt Dunham)
Governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney, speaks during a news conference at Bank Of England, in London, Wednesday, March 11, 2020. The Bank of England has cut its key interest rate by half a percentage point to 0.25%, as an emergency measure in response to the outbreak of the COVID-19 virus. (Peter Summers/Pool Photo via AP)
A man and a girl on a scooter are backdropped by a Lombardy region campaign advertising reading in Italian ' Coronavirus let's stop it together ', at the Porta Nuova business district in Milan, Wednesday, March 11, 2020. Italy is mulling even tighter restrictions on daily life and has announced billions in financial relief to cushion economic shocks from the coronavirus. For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneu…
Pope Francis holds his general audience at the Vatican, Wednesday, March 11, 2020. Pope Francis held his weekly general audience in the privacy of his library as the Vatican implemented Italy’s drastic coronavirus lockdown measures, barring the general public from St. Peter’s Square and taking precautions to limit the spread of infections in the tiny city state. For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pn…
A Fiaker coach passes in front of a poster is written " closed today" the Burgtheater in Vienna, Austria, Wednesday, March 11, 2020. The culture activities in Austria will be closed at least until the end of March. For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia. (AP Photo/Ronald Zak)
Customers wear face masks inside a supermarket in Madrid, Spain, Wednesday, March 11, 2020. Spain's health minister on Monday announced a sharp spike in coronavirus cases in and around the national capital, Madrid, and said all schools in the region, including kindergartens and universities, will close for two weeks from Wednesday. For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
Customers wear face masks in a supermarket in Madrid, Spain, Wednesday, March 11, 2020. Spain's health minister on Monday announced a sharp spike in coronavirus cases in and around the national capital, Madrid, and said all schools in the region, including kindergartens and universities, will close for two weeks from Wednesday. For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
Staff and shoppers wear face masks inside a supermarket in Madrid, Spain, Wednesday, March 11, 2020. Spain's health minister on Monday announced a sharp spike in coronavirus cases in and around the national capital, Madrid, and said all schools in the region, including kindergartens and universities, will close for two weeks from Wednesday. For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
A man wearing a face mask looks out from a supermarket in Madrid, Spain, Wednesday, March 11, 2020. Spain's health minister on Monday announced a sharp spike in coronavirus cases in and around the national capital, Madrid, and said all schools in the region, including kindergartens and universities, will close for two weeks from Wednesday. For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
Commuters wear face masks as a precaution against the COVID-19 illness inside a subway station during rush hour in Hong Kong, Wednesday, March 11, 2020. For most, the coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. But for a few, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illnesses, including pneumonia. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
In this Tuesday, March, 10, 2020 photo, paramedics test samples taken from patients suspected of being infected with the new coronavirus, at a laboratory in the southwestern city of Ahvaz, Iran. For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia. (Amin Nazari/ISNA via AP)
In this Tuesday, March, 10, 2020 photo, paramedics work in a laboratory that tests samples taken from patients suspected of being infected with the new coronavirus, in the southwestern city of Ahvaz, Iran. For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia. (Amin Nazari/ISNA via AP)
Craftsmen attach a banner with the inscription "Coronavirus Diagnosis Base" to containers set up on the grounds of the University Hospital in Mannheim, Germany, Wednesday, March 11, 2020. Due to the coronavirus epidemic, the University Hospital has established a coronavirus diagnosis and test center. For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia. Uwe Anspach/dpa via AP)
The cruise ship Aidamar is docked at the Port of Zeebrugge, Belgium, Wednesday, March 11, 2020. The ship was briefly held by port authorities on Wednesday over concerns regarding the coronavirus. For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia. (AP Photo/Olivier Matthys)
An employee disinfects the glass cover of a butcher counter to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus in a food store in Budapest, Hungary, Wednesday, March 11, 2020. For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia. (Tamas Kovacs/MTI via AP)
A man disinfects a shop door entrance in the town of Codogno, in the region of Lombardia, northern Italy, Wednesday, March 11, 2020. The Lombardy cluster of COVID-19 was first registered in the tiny town of Codogno on Feb. 19, when the first patient tested positive and has been a red zone until the end of seclusion and return of production in the recent days. For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia. (Clau…
People wear masks as they walk in Codogno, in the region of Lombardia, northern Italy, Wednesday, March 11, 2020. The Lombardy cluster of COVID-19 was first registered in the tiny town of Codogno on Feb. 19, when the first patient tested positive and has been a red zone until the end of seclusion and return of production in the recent days. For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia. (Claudio Furlan/LaPresse…
Jana Harrelson, left, Ronny Young, and Karla Weston, right, all of Port St. Joe, Florida, disembark from the Caribbean Princess at Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Wednesday, March 11, 2020. The cruise ship was been given federal permission to dock in Florida after testing of two crew members cleared them of the new coronavirus and U.S. health officials lifted a “no sail" order. (Joe Cavaretta/South Florida Sun-Sentinel via AP)
A waitress wears a mask and gloves as she carries a tray at a cafe in the town of Codogno, in the region of Lombardia, northern Italy, Wednesday, March 11, 2020. The Lombardy cluster of COVID-19 was first registered in the tiny town of Codogno on Feb. 19, when the first patient tested positive and has been a red zone until the end of seclusion and return of production in the recent days. For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illnes…
A woman wearing a scarf covering a face mask walks past traditional British red phone boxes near Parliament Square in central London, Wednesday, March 11, 2020. A British government minister Nadine Dorries, who is a junior Heath minster has tested positive for the coronavirus and is self isolating. For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)
People wear masks to help protect themselves from the new coronavirus on Hamra street in Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, March 11, 2020. For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Travellers and airport staff, some wearing masks as a precaution against the coronavirus outbreak, walk through Robert Mugabe International airport in Harare, Wednesday, March, 11, 2020. For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)
The Latest on the coronavirus outbreak sweeping the globe:
The U.S. State Department says foreign ministers from leading industrial nations who had planned to meet in Pittsburgh this month will instead hold a video teleconference because of coronavirus concerns.
State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said in a statement on Wednesday that the change in the Group of Seven meeting was made “out of an abundance of caution.”
The G-7 consists of the United States, Canada, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Japan. The meeting was scheduled for March 24-25.
The worldwide epidemic also led more universities to move their classes online, the pope's weekly catechism lesson to be live-streamed and governments to ban public gatherings.
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Italy’s justice minister says 12 prison inmates died of drug overdoses and 16 others escaped during riots at more than two-dozen prisons sparked by new coronavirus containment measures.
The riots on Sunday and Monday broke out after corrections authorities suspended or limited family visits for two weeks to prevent the spread of infections.
While briefing the Italian Parliament on the prison riots, Justice Minister Alfonso Bonafede said the unrest involved some 6,000 prisoners at facilities around the country.
Bonafede confirmed on Wednesday that 16 inmates broke out of a medium-security prison in Foggia and remained at large. The 12 prisoners who died overdosed after breaking into prison infirmaries.
The minister says 40 prison guards were injured.
Anxiety about the virus and overcrowding fueled the protest over the family visit decision.
The Italian Justice Ministry ministry says 100,000 face masks have been allocated to protect prison guards, personnel and inmates alike.
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The director of the U.S. government health agency that deals with infectious diseases says he'd welcome the restoration of a White House National Security Council office that dealt with pandemic preparedness.
Dr. Anthony Fauci directs the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Lawmakers asked him at a House Oversight hearing on Wednesday if the dismantling of the National Security Council office had been a mistake.
Fauci responded that he wouldn't necessarily characterize that as a mistake. But he added: “We worked very well with that office, and it would be nice if that office were still there.”
Congressional Democrats accuse the Trump administration of dismantling the pandemic preparedness office and are pushing legislation to set up such an office again.
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Belgium's health ministry has announced the country's first three deaths related to the novel coronavirus and Albania and Bulgaria each had their first deaths.
In Belgium, a 90-year-old woman and two men aged 73 and 86 with the virus have died.
The ministry said infections have been confirmed in 314 people but it expects more cases to soon emerge in Belgium.
Health authorities in Bulgaria say the country's first virus victim was a 66-year-old woman who had a preexisting health condition, while Albanian authorities reported the death of a 73-year-old-woman with complications from other diseases.
Honduras, meanwhile, confirmed its first two coronavirus cases. One was a 42-year-old pregnant woman who traveled from Spain to Tegucigalpa, the Honduran capital. . The other patient is a 37-year-old woman who had traveled from Switzerland.
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Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has told a U.S. House committee that the coronavirus outbreak in the U.S. is going to get worse.
Fauci told the the House Oversight and Reform Committee in Washington on Wednesday that "I can say we will see more cases and things will get worse than they are right now."
He says how much worse it gets depends on two things: the ability of U.S. authorities to curtail the influx of travelers who may be bringing the disease into the country and the ability of states and communities to contain local outbreaks in this country.
Asked if the worst is yet to come, Fauci said: "Yes, it is."
Centers for Disease Control Director Robert Redfield reported that U.S. virus deaths now stand at 31 and confirmed cases are over 1,000.
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Canada is announcing $1 billion ($730 million) in funding to help health-care workers cope with the increasing number of new cases and to help Canadian workers who are forced to isolate themselves.
The money will help buy masks and other supplies for health-care workers as well as funding research for a vaccine.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he is also loosening restrictions on employment insurance payments for people who are off work due to illness by waiving the waiting period for benefits. Trudeau says Canada has been fortunate so far. Canada had 93 confirmed cases and one death as of Wednesday morning.
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Swiss customs authorities have shut down nine border crossings with Italy, the epicenter of Europe's coronavirus outbreak, to channel border traffic through seven other sites.
The move announced Wednesday follows a decision by Italian authorities to continue to allow cross-border traffic with Switzerland despite adopting strong quarantine measures across Italy. Neighbors Austria and Slovenia have barred travelers from Italy without a medical certificate.
Swiss customs officials are advising tourists from Italy to refrain from traveling to Switzerland by rail or road “insofar as possible.”
Italy has been hardest hit in Europe, with over 10,100 cases and 631 deaths.
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The U.S. military says some passengers from a cruise ship that carried at least 21 people infected by the coronavirus have arrived at an air base in Georgia and will now begin a 14-day quarantine.
The passengers arrived early Wednesday at the base in Cobb County, just northwest of Atlanta, Dobbins Air Reserve Base said in a statement.
Base officials didn't specify the number of patients now on base, but they've said previously they were planning for dozens.
The passengers are from the Grand Princess, which had to circle at sea for days before being allowed to disembark in Oakland, California.
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Britain’s Treasury chief has announced a 30 billion-pound ($39 billion) package of measures designed to help the economy as it struggles in the face of the coronavirus outbreak.
Rishi Sunak, who has been Chancellor of the Exchequer for less than a month, said Britain's Conservative government would do “whatever it takes” to shore up the economy through what he said will be a “temporary disruption.”
The Bank of England issued an emergency rate cut earlier Wednesday, slashing its key interest rate by half a percentage point to 0.25%. Britain has 373 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and six deaths.
Sunak said the government will provide whatever resources the National Health Service needs to get through the outbreak, which he said could affect one-in-five workers.
He said the government’s statutory sick pay will apply to anyone who has to self-isolate, even without showing any symptoms..
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German Chancellor Angela Merkel has made clear that Germany doesn’t intend to close its borders in the light of Europe's coronavirus epidemic, arguing that it makes more sense for people arriving from badly hit regions to quarantine themselves at home.
Germany had some 1,300 infections as of Wednesday but, so far, only three deaths — a low rate that experts have put down to rapid testing as the outbreak unfolded.
Merkel said at a rare, hastily convened news conference Wednesday in Berlin that it’s important for European leaders to discuss “what are good and effective measures and what aren’t.”
She said “we in Germany, in any case, are of the opinion that border closures are not an appropriate response to the challenge.”
Austria and Slovenia to Italy's north and Malta to the south have largely closed their borders with Italy.
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Spain's coronavirus cases have surpassed 2,000, with roughly half of them in the Madrid region, where two-thirds of the country’s virus deaths have occurred.
The Health Ministry on Wednesday reported 2,002 cases nationally, up by 363 from the previous day. Deaths reached 47, up by 11 from Tuesday.
Fernando Simón, director of Spain's health emergency center, said Wednesday that Madrid’s fatalities are high because much of the contagion there is taking place in nursing homes. The COVID-19 virus is particularly hard on the elderly and those with underlying health conditions.
Madrid and two regions in northern Spain are closing schools and universities for two weeks to try to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
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Beijing's city government says all passengers arriving in the city from overseas, regardless of their points of departure, are now be required to undergo a 14-day quarantine.
The order, which goes into immediate effect Wednesday, is part of stepped-up measures to prevent the virus that was first detected in China from re-entering the country.
The move was announced by the deputy head of the city's Communist Party committee's organization department, Zhang Qiang, at an emergency meeting on the virus. It reverses a previous order that only required quarantine for those arriving from countries with a large number of cases, including South Korea and Japan.
Chinese health ministry spokesman Mi Feng told reporters Wednesday that domestic control efforts remained effective but the rapid spread of the virus abroad was "introducing uncertainties."
Of the 24 new virus cases reported by China on Wednesday, five had arrived from Italy and one from the United States. China has had over 81,000 virus infections and over 3,000 deaths.
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The Italian government announced Wednesday it is earmarking 25 billion euros (nearly $28 billion) to confront the coronavirus with the first spending commitments by the end of week.
Economic Minister Roberto Gualtieri said a decree expected by Friday will outline spending of about 12 billion euros ($13.4 billion). That will include measures to support health services and the civil protection agency and to support the labor market.
The measures aim to ensure that no one loses work due to broad government restrictions on movement, to provide liquidity to support families and businesses and to allow delays in payments such as taxes and mortgages. He declined to specify exactly what measures would be included in the first decree.
Italian Premier Giuseppe Conte said the European Union has indicated a willingness to contribute resources, which could ease the fiscal burden on Italy and keep down its deficit.
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German Chancellor Angela Merkel is citing expert estimates that up to 70% of the population could be infected by the new coronavirus as she insists on the necessity of measures to slow its spread.
Germany had confirmed some 1,300 infections as of Wednesday, with two deaths. The government has recommended the cancellation of all events with more than 1,000 people, among other things.
Merkel noted at a news conference in Berlin: “You have to understand that if the virus is there, and the population has no immunity yet to this virus, there are no vaccines and no therapy so far, a high percentage – experts say 60 to 70% -- of the population will be infected."
She said the priority is to slow the spread of the disease “so all the measures we are taking are of the greatest significance because they are giving us time – it does matter what we do, it is not in vain.”
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Pope Francis held his weekly general audience in his private library as the Vatican implemented Italy’s drastic coronavirus lockdown measures and barred the general public from St. Peter’s Square and took precautions to limit the spread of infections in the tiny city-state.
Francis sent out special prayers for prisoners, the sick and hospital personnel caring for them, delivering his weekly catechism lesson via livestream rather than in person. He was surrounded by a handful of priest translators who took turns delivering his comments in a variety of languages, making sure to sit a meter (yard) apart.
Usually the pope’s weekly Wednesday audience is a boisterous affair that fills St. Peter’s or the Vatican auditorium with tens of thousands of people. But for this week's audience, the first of Italy’s nationwide lockdown, the square was empty and police barred access to St. Peter’s Basilica to anyone but individuals seeking to pray.
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Indonesia says a foreigner has become its first fatality from COVID-19.
Achmad Yurianto, the government spokesman on efforts to contain the coronavirus, said Wednesday the 53-year-old woman had diabetes and lung disease and had contracted the virus abroad. Yurianto did not reveal the patient's nationality and said her husband will be repatriated soon.
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Follow AP coverage of the virus outbreak at https://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak
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The Associated Press receives support for health and science coverage from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
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