New York state virus toll reaches 10,000

NEW YORK－New York has become the first state in the country to report more than 10,000 cases of the novel coronavirus, says the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.

The state's governor, Andrew Cuomo, said on Saturday that 10,356 people in the state had tested positive, a rise of 3,254 on the previous day.

On Friday President Donald Trump declared the state "a major disaster" area because of the rapid spread of COVID-19, the White House said.

Cuomo asked the public to "remain indoors to the greatest extent" to protect their health. Nonessential gatherings of individuals of any size and for any reason should be canceled and the use of public transit should be limited.

Any businesses violating the order would be fined and forced to close, but the state has no plan to fine individuals who violate the regulations.

Fifty-five percent of those who had tested positive in the state were between the ages of 18 and 49, Cuomo said.

"Young people aren't invincible. You can get this and you can give it to someone older you love."

At least 23,941 cases had been reported across the US, and 306 people had died by Saturday evening, according to a Reuters tally of state and local government websites.

US Vice-President Mike Pence and his wife had both tested negative for the coronavirus, his spokeswoman Katie Miller said on Saturday. Earlier, one of Pence's staff members tested positive for the disease.

Republicans and Democrats in the Senate on Saturday scrambled to complete a deal on a $1 trillion-plus bill aimed at stemming the virus' economic fallout for workers, industries and small businesses.

But after a second day of marathon closed-door negotiations, there was no sign of an overarching deal between negotiators, despite Republicans' claims of bipartisan agreement on specific issues including unemployment insurance and small-business assistance.

"The past two days of intense bipartisan talks are very close to a resolution," said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who planned to hold a vote to pass the measures on Monday.

The White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow told reporters he expected the final legislative package to be worth $1.3 trillion to $1.4 trillion to combat the effects of a health crisis that many fear will lead to a big rise in unemployment as businesses close and the economy falters.

In an effort to tackle a shortage of testing, the US Food and Drug Administration, or FDA, approved the first rapid coronavirus diagnostic test, with a detection time of about 45 minutes.

The test's developer, the molecular diagnostics company Cepheid of California, said it had received an emergency use authorization from the FDA for the test, which will be used primarily in hospitals and emergency rooms. The company plans to begin shipping it to hospitals this week, it said. The FDA confirmed its approval and said the company planned to have its test available by March 30.

Virus in Latin America

Many countries in Latin America have also stepped up their efforts to contain the spread, as more and more confirmed cases were reported.

Bolivia, with 19 confirmed cases, announced on Sunday that it will enter a "total quarantine" for 14 days, and the top electoral court said it would indefinitely postpone a general election due in May.

Sao Paulo state in Brazil also announced a two-week quarantine, and Guatemala imposed a partial curfew.

Mexican health authorities said on Saturday that there were 251 confirmed cases in the country, 48 more than the day before. Chile suffered its first death from the virus on Saturday.

Xinhua - Agencies