Hard-hit Italy sees still-rising infection rate

Streets in Rome were virtually deserted Tuesday as Italy enforced a nationwide quarantine that limited movement within the country that now has the highest number of coronavirus cases outside of China.

By Tuesday, total infections in Italy had reached 10,149, an increase of 11 percent from Monday following many days of increases close to 25 percent. Total deaths, however, rose by 36 percent to 631.

Globally, the total number of confirmed coronavirus cases across 115 countries and regions climbed to 118,252, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University as of Tuesday evening. More than 4,260 people have been killed by COVID-19.

The US has 959 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus, according to data compiled by the university. At least 15 states have declared states of emergency. Declaring a state of emergency concentrates a state government's efforts on dealing with a crisis and allows it to waive or suspend some regulations.

In China, dwindling new-case reports and falling numbers of sick patients suggested the country has brought the epidemic under control within its borders, even as infections continue to jump globally.

The country on Tuesday reported just 19 new coronavirus infections, taking its total number of cases to 80,754. Health authorities said 17,721 individuals are currently ill with the disease after 3,136 people died and more than 60,000 recovered.

South Korea, which was previously the country with the most coronavirus infections outside of China, reported 131 new cases, bringing its total to 7,513, including 54 deaths. Still, new-case numbers in South Korea — which topped 900 at their peak —have dropped over the past week.

Another six countries, including Spain, France and Iran reported more than 1,000 confirmed cases. New cases in Spain rose to 1,646, while the total in France increased to 1,784, with 33 deaths. On Tuesday, Iran reported 54 new deaths from COVID-19, bringing the total number of fatalities to 291 as the number of confirmed cases grew to 8,042.

Dale Fisher, an infectious disease expert at the National University of Singapore, said six weeks after China took the extreme measure of locking down the city of Wuhan in Hubei province, the number of new locally transmitted cases in other provinces is now close to zero, while infection rates in Wuhan have also dropped sharply. Fisher was part of a World Health Organization-led international team of experts that visited China last month to learn more about the epidemic.

In the absence of a cure or vaccine for the disease, he said the formula for containing the virus' spread should be the same everywhere: identify cases early, track down patients' contacts and isolate people with symptoms. "There shouldn't be public debates over what should or should not be done," he said.

In New York, Governor Andrew Cuomo said the state would establish a "containment area" in the Westchester County suburb of New Rochelle, just north of New York City, closing major gathering places and facilities, such as temples, in a roughly 3-square-mile area for two weeks starting Thursday. The governor said National Guard troops would clean schools and deliver food to quarantined residents, adding that individuals would still be free to walk around.

Westchester County, which has 108 virus cases and many more people in quarantine, is "probably the largest cluster in the United States", Cuomo said.

In Washington state, which has the most deaths, Governor Jay Inslee said Tuesday that as many as 64,000 people could be infected with the virus within two months if actions aren't taken now to stop its spread. Although the number of confirmed cases is now 162, Inslee said experts believe the actual number could be 1,000 or more.

"What the experts are telling us is ... the number of people who are infected will double in anywhere from five to eight days ... unless we take some real action," the governor said at a morning news conference.

"And if you do the math, it gets very disturbing. ... If it's 1,000 (infections) today, in seven to eight weeks there could be 64,000 people infected in the state of Washington if we don't somehow slow down this epidemic. And in the next week it could be 120,000, and in the next week a quarter of a million.

"We need to look forward and get ahead of the curve in Washington state," Inslee added. "If we're going to stop this epidemic or seriously slow it down, we need to focus on what's coming — not what's here today."

He then outlined a number of steps the state is taking to slow the spread of the virus, including new rules for nursing homes and an expansion of unemployment benefits. These could be followed by more dramatic actions later, Inslee said.

Inslee also announced an expansion of state policies today to support workers and businesses financially affected by the outbreak. He said the rules will help relieve the burden of temporary layoffs, isolation and quarantine by ensuring unemployment benefits are available to individuals whose employment has been caused directly by the virus.

Another 31 cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed among residents at Kirkland's Life Care Center, the nursing home tied to 19 deaths from the virus.

US airlines on Tuesday announced plans to cut more flights across domestic and international markets, park planes and freeze hiring as more businesses curtail employee travel and consumers put off holiday trips.

In California, passengers began disembarking from the cruise liner Grand Princess in Oakland. The ship was carrying at least 21 people who tested positive for the coronavirus. The vessel's operator said that disembarking all passengers will be a "multiple day process".

Screening passengers will require a step-by-step approach that prioritized the most vulnerable among the ship's more than 3,500 cruisegoers, said Dr Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

The vessel had been waiting off the coast of San Francisco since Wednesday, when officials announced that a passenger from a previous cruise on the vessel had died.

Also Tuesday, Massachusetts reported 51 new cases, bringing the total number of cases in the state to 92. At least 70 of the cases in Massachusetts are linked to a conference in Boston last month held by the biotech company Biogen, according to state health officials. Many of the people who attended the 175-person event have reported feeling ill.

Linda Deng in Seattle contributed to this story.