Sunday, March 8, 2020

Coronavirus live updates: Grand Princess cruise ship with 21 positive cases of coronavirus to dock in Oakland Monday

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Coronavirus live updates: Grand Princess cruise ship with 21 positive cases of coronavirus to dock in Oakland Monday

The captain initially announced to passengers that they would dock on Sunday.

The number of patients who have tested positive for coronavirus continues to creep north of 100,000 as states in the U.S. announce new cases every day.
The virus has spread to every continent except for Antarctica after it first broke out in Wuhan, China, in December.
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On Sunday morning, Vermont announced its first presumptive case of the virus, while Virginia and Connecticut also announced new cases.
Hawaii and Utah announced that residents in their states had tested positive on Saturday. Those two patients had recently traveled aboard Grand Princess cruise ships, according to state officials.
Tune into ABC News Live at noon ET every weekday for the latest news, context and analysis on the novel coronavirus, with the full ABC News team where we will try to answer your questions about the virus.

Today's biggest developments:

  • First COVID-19 patient dies in Egypt
  • Grand Princess cruise ship to dock in Oakland
  • Vermont announces first presumptive case
  • U.S. death toll remains at 19
  • Here is how the situation is unfolded on Sunday. All times eastern. Please check back for updates

    1:35 p.m.: 1st death reported in Egypt

    A 60-year-old German national has died in Egypt as a result of the coronavirus, Egypt's health ministry announced Sunday.
    The man showed symptoms of the illness after arriving at the Red Sea resort of Hurghada from the southern city of Luxor on Friday, officials said. He died two days later.
    The country has reported 48 coronavirus cases so far, including 33 who were aboard a Nile cruise ship in Luxor, where 19 foreigners contracted the virus.

    1:20 p.m. 2nd presumptive case confirmed in Virginia

    The state of Virginia has confirmed a second presumptive case of coronavirus.
    The patient is in his or her 80s and had recently taken a Nile River cruise, similar to other positive COVID-19 patients elsewhere in the U.S., state health officials announced Sunday.
    The Fairfax County resident developed symptoms of respiratory illness on Feb. 28 and was hospitalized on Thursday with symptoms of fever, cough, fatigue and shortness of breath. He or she is currently being hospitalized in stable condition.
    The patient has had limited contact with others while ill and risk to the community remains low, officials said. The patient's spouse was also on the river cruise and is being tested but is not displaying any symptoms of the virus.
    Another patient -- a man who lives on the Marine Corp base at Quantico Station in Virginia -- began developing symptoms on Feb. 14 and returned to the U.S. three days later, officials said.
    He is currently being treated at Fort Belvoir, officials said, adding that they believe he became infected during his travels.

    1:10 p.m. Connecticut confirms presumptive case -- 1st in the state

    The presumptive positive case of coronavirus in the state of Connecticut has been confirmed.
    The patient is a resident of Wilton who is 40 to 50 years old and is being treated at Danbury Hospital, according to a statement from Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont. The patient likely became infected with the virus during a recent trip to California and sought medical care after returning to Connecticut, Lamont said.
    The case is not related to a Danbury Hospital employee who is a resident of New York State who was announced on Friday or another case involving a community physician who made rounds at Bridgeport Hospital and is also a New York State resident that was announced on Saturday.
    Twenty-nine tests in the state have had negative results, while the results of eight tests are still pending.

    12:45 p.m. Students returning from Italy to be quarantined

    Eighteen students who recently returned to the U.S. from Italy are being quarantined in upstate New York.
    The students arrived at John F. Kennedy International Airport Saturday afternoon and were taken by bus to an empty residence hall at The College At Brockport State University Of New York, ABC Rochester affiliate WHAM reported.
    Each student has been screened and so far have not shown symptoms of the virus. They will be quarantined on the college campus for 14 days as a "preventative measure," the school said in a statement.

    11:40 a.m. New York governor calls for CDC to allow testing from private labs

    New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo criticized the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for not letting the state of New York use private laboratories to test for the coronavirus.
    The number of people to test positive in New York increased to 105 on Sunday, Cuomo said.
    Cuomo said the "single-best thing" health officials can do is test for the virus to identify and isolate the positive cases.
    The Wadsworth Center, which is run by the New York State Department of Health in Albany, is now overwhelmed with the number of coronavirus tests, so Cuomo is looking to enlist the help of private labs to keep up with the demand.
    One of the labs is run by hospital system Northwell Lab, which is equipped with automated testing -- or machines with the ability to run 120 samples at a time.
    "It expands exponentially the amount of tests that can be done," Cuomo said.

    11 a.m. Vermont announces 1st presumptive case

    A patient in Vermont is the state's first presumptive case of the coronavirus, the Vermont Department of Health announced Sunday morning.
    The adult patient is currently hospitalized in an airborne infection isolation room, and health officials are currently investigating his or her travel and possible exposure history.
    Individuals who have been in close contact with the patient will also be assessed for their exposure risk.

    Earlier

    The cruise ship with 21 positive cases of coronavirus and more than 1,000 elderly passengers on board is slated to dock in Oakland on Monday, according to officials.
    The captain of the ship initially announced to passengers late Saturday night that they would be docking in Oakland on Sunday afternoon.
    Guests who require acute medical treatment and hospitalization will be transported to health care facilities in California, cruise staff announced to passengers. California residents who don't require immediate care will go to a federally operated isolation facility in the state for testing and isolation.
    Americans from states other than California will be transported by the federal government to facilities in other states, according to the announcement.
    Four of the passengers are Georgia residents and are expected to arrive at the Dobbins Air Reserve Base in Marietta late Monday or early Tuesday, said Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp.
    A patient who had traveled aboard a Grand Princess cruise ship in early February became Hawaii's first case of the virus, Hawaii Gov. David Ige announced Saturday.
    Utah's first patient to test positive is also believed to have traveled on a Grand Princess cruise ship, according to state officials, but not the one that is currently off the coast of San Francisco.
    The Carnival cruise ship Panorama has been cleared to disembark in Long Beach, California, on Sunday morning after a passenger tested negative for COVID-19. A guest aboard the cruise had been taken to the hospital in Long Beach for evaluation, according to the cruise line.
    ABC News' Katherine Carroll, Alexandra Faul, Ahmad Hemingway, Joshua Hoyos, Aaron Katersky, Sarah Shales, Ben Stein and Christine Theodorou contributed to this report.

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