February 24 coronavirus news

By Jessie Yeung, Jenni Marsh and Tara John, CNN

Updated 9:47 PM ET, Mon February 24, 2020
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3:31 p.m. ET, February 24, 2020

US senators will be briefed tomorrow on coronavirus

From CNN's Manu Raju

All US senators will be briefed Tuesday morning at 8 a.m. in a classified setting on the novel coronavirus, two sources with knowledge of the plans tell CNN. 

One source said that the briefing will be in a classified setting because the senators who are organizing it wanted to be prepared in case a senator asks a question that can only be answered in a classified setting. 

There will be briefers from the Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Homeland Security, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institutes of Health and the State Department, one source added. 

3:28 p.m. ET, February 24, 2020

World Health Organization team arrives in Italy

From CNN's Lindsay Isaac

A team of health experts from the World Health Organization and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control have arrived in Italy, the site of Europe's biggest coronavirus outbreak.

The team will “support Italian authorities in understanding the situation,” the WHO said in a statement. Their focus will be on “limiting further human-to-human transmission,” it said.

“WHO experts are providing support in the areas of clinical management, infection prevention and control, surveillance and risk communication," the statement said.

The WHO said it is concerned over what it calls the “rapid” increase in reported cases in Italy. “However, it should also be noted that based on current data, in the majority of cases (4 out of every 5) people experience mild or no symptoms,” it added.

About coronavirus in Italy: Five people have died and at least 219 others have been infected with the virus in Italy, Angelo Borrelli, head of the country's Civil Protection agency, said at a Monday news conference.

The bulk of the cases — 167 of them — are in the northern region of Lombardy, whose capital is the city of Milan.

2:47 p.m. ET, February 24, 2020

Canada confirms 11th case of coronavirus

From CNN’s Paula Newton

Canada has confirmed its 11th case of coronavirus, according to health officials.

In a joint statement, Health Minister Adrian Dix and Dr. Bonnie Henry, health officer for British Columbia, said the affected person, a male in his 40s, was in close contact with a previously reported confirmed case.

“Both cases remain in isolation at home with support and monitoring from public health teams,” the statement said.  

“Given the changing dynamics of the outbreak in China and globally, and recognizing we are in the midst of influenza season, we ask all travelers who are returning to B.C. — no matter where they were in the world — to monitor themselves and their children closely for symptoms,” the joint statement said. Adding, “the risk of spread of this virus within British Columbia continues to remain low at this time.”

In total, Canada has 11 total cases of confirmed coronavirus; four in Ontario and seven in British Columbia.

1:59 p.m. ET, February 24, 2020

Carnival cancels all cruises to China through mid-March

From CNN’s Vanessa Yurkevich

Carnival Corporation, the parent company of nine cruise lines including Princess Cruises, has cancelled all of its ships to mainland China through mid-March.

That includes four ships – run by Costa Cruises, and three additional ships from Princess and Seabourn Ovation that have been rerouted to other countries, according to Roger Frizzell, Chief Communications Officer for Carnival Corp.

In email sent to passengers who were previously booked on one of the Princess ships to China, the company wrote:

"Sapphire Princess will redeploy to Australia six months earlier than previously planned with 44 new cruises from five major cities. The new year-long program for Sapphire Princess in Australia will be on sale beginning Thursday, February 27, 2020, by contacting a professional travel advisor, calling Princess Cruises, or booking online.”

The financial impact of these cancellations are $0.03 to $0.04 per share, and if routes to China continues to be impacted through the end of April, it would affect the company’s fiscal 2020 financial performance by $0.55 to $0.65 per share, which includes guest compensation. Passengers received full refunds from the cancelled routes and can receive refunds if they do not wish to embark on the adjusted routes, said Frizzell.

Carnival shares are down more than 22% this year. Shares for Royal Caribbean, another large cruise operator, are down more than 24% this year. 

As of right now routes to China are scheduled to come back online in mid-March, except for Diamond Princess which is suspended through late April. 

1:45 p.m. ET, February 24, 2020

Other countries should "jump on this" to prevent coronavirus spread, health expert says

From CNN’s Steven Jiang in Beijing and Claudia Dominguez in Atlanta

Bruce Aylward of the World Health Organization said that that world should "jump on this thing super fast", when asked by CNN if the rest of the world should adopt the all-society approach used by the Chinese government.

Aylward added that Chinese’s response was broader than their containment efforts in Wuhan and Hubei, saying, “The danger is looking at Wuhan and Hubei and say[ing] okay that is the Chinese approach – because actually that isn’t. That’s the exceptional part of the Chinese approach that is being applied in an area where you got community-level transmission right through the whole place.”

Aylward said countries should "isolate the contacts” and not let them "wander around and restart the transmission chains," which is what China did.  Aylward’s exception, though, was that it was not necessary to lock down entire cities as China did. 

“So I think the big message is: You can control this particular respiratory virus by using these measures. You don’t have to lock down cities is the big message from China in fact”, said Aylward.  

12:49 p.m. ET, February 24, 2020

Alabama mayor: "We're simply not prepared" to help patients with coronavirus

From CNN's Amanda Watts 

Anniston, Alabama, Mayor Jack Draper said based on a series of meetings with the Department of Health and Human Services, they were not prepared to handle coronavirus patients.

"We're simply not prepared to help our fellow citizens, at this time, who have been diagnosed with this disease," Draper said.

The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) told Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey on Friday it was evaluating the possibility of using a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Center for Domestic Preparedness in Anniston as a backup location for some Americans infected by the virus, according to statements from the Alabama Department of Public Health (ADPH) and the governor's office. 

During a news conference Monday, Draper said it became apparent after several meetings with HHS that there was no real plan and no idea what would be expected of the local community, first responders and local healthcare.

12:21 p.m. ET, February 24, 2020

CDC has confirmed 53 cases of novel coronavirus in the US

From CNN’s Michael Nedelman

Officials board the Kalitta Air flight carrying American evacuees from the Diamond Princess cruise ship at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland on February 17 in San Antonio, Texas. 
Officials board the Kalitta Air flight carrying American evacuees from the Diamond Princess cruise ship at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland on February 17 in San Antonio, Texas.  Edward A. Ornelas/Getty Images

There are now 53 confirmed cases of novel coronavirus in the United States, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Monday.

These include 36 people who were aboard the Diamond Princess cruise ship, three people repatriated from China and 14 US cases.

This reflects an increase in 18 cases from Friday, all among Diamond Princess passengers. At the time, CDC officials said that there were additional passengers who had tested positive for the virus in Japan and would likely be added to the official US count once those test results had been adjudicated.

The 14 US cases include eight in California, one in Massachusetts, one in Washington state, one in Arizona, two in Illinois and one in Wisconsin. Among these cases, there are two instances of person-to-person transmission, one in Illinois and one in California. 

11:25 a.m. ET, February 24, 2020

Coronavirus will "decrease earnings and growth" around the world, analyst says

From CNN’s Alison Kosik

Ryan Detrick, Senior Market Strategist for LPL Financial, said in a statement today, “The coronavirus might be slowing in mainland China, but the huge jump over the weekend to various other countries has many reassessing 2020 growth estimates."

Detrick continued:

"The [International Monetary Fund] already lowered China’s growth this year, but should the virus continue to spread to other parts of the world, we could see quickly decreasing earnings and growth outlooks.”

What's this about: Earlier today, US stock markets plunged almost 1,000 points as coronavirus fears mount.

The Dow has now lost more than 1,400 points in the span of the three trading days. That sharp drop wiped out the Dow’s gains for the year — leaving the index slightly negative for 2020.

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq are both down this morning, but remain positive on the year.

11:01 a.m. ET, February 24, 2020

Health official: "We are in the phase of preparedness for a potential pandemic"

From CNN's Amanda Watts

Mike Ryan, Executive Director of the World Health Organization WHO for Health Emergencies, speaks on the second day of the 56th Munich Security Conference, on Saturday, February 15.
Mike Ryan, Executive Director of the World Health Organization WHO for Health Emergencies, speaks on the second day of the 56th Munich Security Conference, on Saturday, February 15. Tobias Hase/picture-alliance/dpa/AP

Mike Ryan, executive director of the World Health Organization's Health Emergencies Programme, said today it's too early to declare the novel coronavirus a pandemic — but now is the time to prepare.

“Look what’s happened in China, we’ve seen a significant drop in cases, huge pressure placed on the virus and a sequential decrease in the number of cases, that goes against the logic of pandemic. Yet we see in contrast of that, an acceleration of cases in places like Korea, and therefore we are still in the balance.”

He added: “We are in the phase of preparedness for a potential pandemic.” 

Ryan said countries must prepare to take and treat patients and push for adequate containment.