US coronavirus response ramps up as feds, states mobilize

As the coronavirus outbreak continued to disrupt American life, numerous actions have been taken – in Washington, in state capitals and at the local level -- to help get a grip on a situation that simultaneously threatened to spin out of control.
In Washington, President Trump said Wednesday he would invoke the Defense Production Act, a move designed to help private businesses ramp up production and distribution of medical supplies and equipment needed to combat the virus also known as COVID-19.
“If we need to use it we’ll be using it,” the president said. “It’s full speed ahead.”
On a day that saw confirmed U.S. cases of the virus surpass 9,300 and deaths top 130, Trump also signed a second coronavirus relief bill that called for providing paid sick leave, unemployment aid and free testing to the public.

A nurse at a drive-up coronavirus testing station set up by the University of Washington Medical Center uses a swab to take a sample from the nose of a person in a car Friday, March 13, 2020, in Seattle. (Associated Press)

Trump and members of Congress also were considering providing as much as $300 billion to the airline industry and other distressed businesses.
Total projected government expenditures as high as $1 trillion – including proposed checks paid directly to the public -- seemed contrary to everything the Republican Party normally preaches about fiscal responsibility – but these were unusual circumstances, some party members  menoted.
“These are not ordinary times. This is not an ordinary situation,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., told reporters Tuesday, according to Politico. “So it requires extraordinary measures.”

“These are not ordinary times. This is not an ordinary situation. So it requires extraordinary measures.”
— Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.

Border clampdowns

And just a week after the president announced new restrictions on travel between the U.S. and Europe, Trump said the U.S. and Canada would temporarily close their shared border to non-essential traffic.
Officials from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said they would focus only on the most critical cases in a bid to avoid bringing the virus inside the agency’s detention centers for illegal immigrants.
In New York and California, two states among those hardest hit by the outbreak, were anticipating the arrival of hospital ships from the U.S. military in order to expand the number of available beds for people stricken with the virus.
The USNS Mercy hospital ship, based on the West Coast, was expected to be deployed "in days," military officials told the AP, while the USNS Comfort, undergoing maintenance in Norfolk, Va., was expected in New York City within two weeks.
In addition, the Defense Department made 1 million respiratory masks available to the Department of Health and Human Services and planned to provide 4 million more, Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Wednesday.
Other examples of military assistance included the deployment of 23,000 National Guard members in 23 states to assist at emergency operations centers, provide transportation to health care providers and collect and deliver test samples.

Members of the New York National Guard help to organize and distribute food to families on free or reduced school lunch programs in New Rochelle, N.Y., Thursday, March 12, 2020. (Associated Press)

If matters worsen, military personnel can provide a range of services from "mass casualty" medical treatment to postal delivery and water and sewer services, the Defense Department said.

'The right thing to do'

In Ohio, Republican Gov. Mike DeWine was drawing praise for his early actions to limit public gatherings and acting to postpone the state’s primary elections, which had been scheduled for Tuesday.
“Everybody has to make their call and what they think is the right thing to do,” DeWine said Monday, according to the Associated Press. “This is a time when every governor understands the gravity of what they are doing.”
On the local level, police in cities such as Fort Worth, Texas, and Denver stopped making arrests for low-level crimes, while courthouses throughout the country were delaying trials and canceling jury duty – all efforts to slow the spread of the virus.
In Philadelphia and Chicago, parking officials said they won’t issue tickets except on extreme cases, like when a vehicle blocks a fire hydrant, the AP reported.
“This pandemic requires us all to think differently,” Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner told the AP.

“This pandemic requires us all to think differently.”
— Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner

The various actions came amid some troubling new developments.
Wall Street had another bad day Wednesday, dropping some 1,300 points and thus losing all the gains it had made since Trump took office.

Jobless claims spike

States across the country also reported a spike in jobless claims as airlines, restaurants and other businesses laid off staff.
In Tennessee, for example, new unemployment claims tripled over the past week, according to the Associated Press. Michigan reported five times the normal number of claims and Minnesota reported receiving more than 2,000 claims per hour – far above the usual 40 or 50 per hour.
In Michigan, the three major automakers said they planned to lay off a total of about 150,000 workers.

United Auto Workers assembly workers assemble 2018 Ford F-150 trucks at the Ford Rouge assembly plant in Dearborn, Mich., Sept. 27, 2018. (Associated Press)

The United Auto Workers union had been pushing for plant closures out of concern that workers would come in contact with the coronavirus – and then infect their families.
“That’s the thing that I was scared the most about, being the one to bring it home to them,” autoworker Tommy Wolikow, a GM employee and union member, told the Associated Press.

“That’s the thing that I was scared the most about, being the one to bring it home to them.”
— Tommy Wolikow, GM autoworker

And the nation kept hearing heartbreaking tales of the outbreak’s effects on other ordinary American families.
In New Jersey, Grace Fusco, a 73-year-old mother of 11 and grandmother or 27, died of the virus Wednesday night -- just hours after losing a son and five days after losing a daughter to the outbreak, The New York Times reported.
Other members of the family remained quarantined in their homes, unable to gather in remembrance of their lost relatives.
“It’s so pitiful,” Paradiso Fodera, a spokeswoman for the family told The Times. “They can’t even mourn the way you would.”
The Associated Press contributed to this story.

Townhall Cartoons

Trump’s economic rescue package could approach $1 trillion

WASHINGTON (AP) — In a massive federal effort, President Donald Trump asked Congress to speed emergency checks to Americans, enlisted the military for MASH-like hospitals and implored ordinary people — particularly socially active millennials — to do their part by staying home to stop the spread of the coronavirus.

His proposed economic package alone could approach $1 trillion, a rescue initiative not seen since the Great Recession. Trump wants checks sent to the public within two weeks and is urging Congress to pass the eye-popping stimulus package in a matter of days.

As analysts warn the country is surely entering a recession, the government is grappling with an enormous political undertaking with echoes of the 2008 financial crisis.

At the Capitol on Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell vowed the Senate would not adjourn until the work was done.

“Obviously, we need to act,” McConnell said. “We’re not leaving town until we have constructed and passed another bill.”

But first, McConnell said, the Senate will vote on a House-passed package of sick pay, emergency food and free testing, putting it back on track for Trump’s signature — despite Republican objections. “Gag, and vote for it anyway,” he advised colleagues.

It was a signal of what the GOP leader called the “herculean” task ahead.

Senators gathered at an otherwise shut-down Capitol as Americans across the country were implored to heed advice and avoid crowds. Young adults, in particular, are being urged to quit going out because even seemingly healthy people can be spreading the virus that causes the COVID-19 illness.

Even so, presidential primary elections unfolded in Florida, Illinois and Arizona. Ohio’s was called off hours before the polls were set to open.

After a savage drop at the start of the week, the stock market rose as Trump and aides sketched out elements of the economic rescue package at a briefing. Economists doubted that would be enough to stop millions of jobs losses, even if in the short term.

Bigger than the $700 billion 2008 bank bailout or the nearly $800 billion 2009 recovery act, the White House proposal aims to provide a massive tax cut for wage-earners, $50 billion for the airline industry and $250 billion for small businesses. Two people familiar with he package described it to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly.

The amount that would be sent out in checks Americans is not yet disclosed. The White House said it liked GOP Sen. Mitt Romney’s idea for $1,000 checks, though not necessarily at that sum and not for wealthier people.

“This is a very unique situation,” said Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, exiting a private briefing of Senate Republicans. “We’ve put a proposal on that table that would attract a trillion dollars into the economy.”

One GOP leader, Sen. John Thune of South Dakota, told reporters afterward it “could be” up to $1 trillion.

Senate Democrats produced their own $750 billion proposal, which includes $400 billion to shore up hospitals and other emergency operations in response to the global pandemic and $350 billion to bolster the safety net with unemployment checks and other aid to Americans.

“The aid has to be workers first,” said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, not what happened in 2008, when the big banks took precedence. Schumer also said it’s time to call out the National Guard to provide security as communities reel from the crisis.

The slow-moving Congress is being asked to approve the far-reaching economic rescue as it tries to rise to the occasion of these fast times.

A roster of America’s big and small industries — airlines, hotels, retailers and even casinos — lined up for hoped-for aid.

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.

The vast majority of people recover from the new virus. According to the World Health Organization, people with mild illness recover in about two weeks, while those with more severe illness may take three to six weeks to recover.

Still, health officials are urging Americans to stay home to prevent an onslaught of cases that could overwhelm hospitals as happened in Italy, among the countries hardest hit.

As Congress considered aid, the Pentagon on Tuesday said it would provide 5 million respirator masks and 2,000 specialized ventilators to federal health authorities. And Medicare was immediately expanding coverage for telemedicine nationwide to help seniors with health problems stay home to avoid infection.

More than two dozen Senate Democrats urged Trump to invoke the Korean War-era Defense Production Act to increase production of masks, ventilators and respirators, as well as expand hospital capacity to combat the coronavirus. Federal officials said the administration is working with the Army Corps of Engineers to see about erecting temporary hospitals, as is done in the military, to handle an expected surge of cases.

Schumer compared the government response needed to a wartime mobilization.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who marshaled the earlier package through a bipartisan vote last week, fielded a call from Mnuchin on Tuesday morning and another from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell in the afternoon, encouraged by the Fed chairman’s perspective that Congress could think big with interest rates at nearly zero.

In the call with Mnuchin, she and Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., chairman of the House Transportation committee, “emphasized that protecting workers’ paychecks and benefits was their top priority, and that immediate action was needed,” said Pelosi spokesman Drew Hammill on Twitter.

The debate is sure to revive the sharp divisions over the costly bank bailout and economic recovery of the Obama and Bush eras.

Much about the proposed checks is not known, such as whether the amount would vary by the income of the recipient or whether everyone would get the same sum. Mnuchin said “it’s clear we don’t need to send people who make $1 million a year checks, OK?”

Economists from both parties endorsed mailing checks of at least $1,000 to all American households as the quickest way to offset the sharp slowdown in economic activity.

“We need to pay people to stay at home,” said Heidi Shierholz, a senior policy analyst at the Economic Policy Institute, a liberal think-tank. The group predicted that without a huge stimulus package, the U.S. economy could lose three million jobs by this summer.

Still, some GOP senators were skeptical about the massive aid on the table. “I’m going to be very leery of doing something like in 2008,” said Indiana Republican Sen. Mike Braun.

“Right now, the plan around here is basically to just to start shoveling money out of a helicopter,” said Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb. “This is a bad idea. … We don’t need a policy where Washington, D.C., handpicks winners and losers.”

Despite federal guidelines against so many people gathering, senators had no choice but to convene. Legislating cannot be done from home.

But late Tuesday, another lawmaker, Sen. Cory Gardner, R-Colo., announced he would self-quarantine after contact with a constituent who later tested positive for coronavirus.

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Associated Press writers Andrew Taylor, Matthew Daly, Martin Crutsinger, Colleen Long, Chris Rugaber, Mary Clare Jalonick and Kevin Freking in Washington contributed to this report.

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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.

Jussie Smollett prosecutor Kim Foxx wins Dem primary in hotly contested race

Cook County, Illinois State’s Attorney Kim Foxx prevailed in Tuesday’s Democratic primary, where she faced several challengers who had focused on the controversy surrounding her handling of the Jussie Smollett case.
Foxx drew national attention over Smollett's case, which began with a hate crime investigation, turned into charges against Smollett for an alleged hoax, and ended with Foxx dismissing the case altogether, drawing the ire of local police.
“This win is about all of us. I’ve spent the last four years working to reform a system that is not representative of the communities it serves - I’m ready to continue this work,” Foxx said.
The three Democrats who challenged Foxx made her handling of the Jussie Smollett case -- which is now before a special prosecutor-- central to the campaign.
Foxx abruptly dropped charges last year against the “Empire” actor, who was accused of staging a racist, anti-gay attack. Questions loom about whether she acted improperly for speaking to a Smollett relative and aide to former first lady Michelle Obama before the charges were dismissed.
Foxx had said that she had recused herself from the case due to those contacts, but her office continued to handle it instead of turning it over to a special prosecutor. A spokesperson later explained that Foxx only meant that she was recusing herself in the “colloquial” sense, and that she herself would not be involved.
Text messages later revealed that Foxx still gave her opinion on the matter to a deputy – saying Smollett was overcharged -- in the weeks before Smollett’s charges were dropped.
A special prosecutor reinstated the charges, which Foxx called political.
Foxx fended off challenges from Bill Conway, Donna More, and Bob Fioretti, with Conway placing a distant second despite his family pouring millions into his campaign.
About $10.5 million of the roughly $11.5 million he’s raised, comes from his father William Conway, co-founder of Carlyle Group, a Washington, D.C.-based investment firm. By comparison, Foxx has raised nearly $3.5 million.
Cook County is heavily Democratic, so Tuesday’s nominee is likely the winner in November. In the GOP primary, Patrick O’Brien, a former assistant state’s attorney, defeated Christopher Pfannkuche, a prosecutor who has worked for several different agencies including the state’s attorney office.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.

DHS considering plan to turn away asylum-seekers, people who crossed southern border illegally

Fox News has learned that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is considering a plan that would turn away asylum seekers and anyone who has crossed the southern border illegally, in light of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.
The idea is currently being developed by DHS staff, but there is still more work to do to be done, before it's presented to President Trump for a final decision.
A DHS spokesperson told Fox News that the president has the authority to do whatever is necessary to protect the American public from this potentially deadly disease.
“President Trump is 100 percent committed to protecting the American people from coronavirus and all options are in the table," the official said.
Trump has long been a strong proponent of stronger border security and has favored a targeted approach to limiting illegal immigration.
The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) falls under DHS and would be subject to carry out the directive if it were approved.
This news comes after the European Union (EU) chose to close the bloc's borders to most foreigners, on Tuesday.
The ban is expected to last for at least 30 days, with citizens of the United Kingdom, Norway, Liechtenstein, and Switzerland likely being exempt.

Biden crushes Sanders in primary sweep of Florida, Illinois, Arizona

Joe Biden swept another round of delegate-rich contests Tuesday – winning in Florida, Illinois and Arizona – further cementing the former vice president as the dominant front-runner in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination over Bernie Sanders as the coronavirus threat scrambles the primary calendar for the foreseeable future.
Florida and Illinois will award a hefty 219 and 155 pledged delegates, respectively, while Arizona is worth 67 delegates. Together, the contests are likely to only add to the pressure on Sanders to reconsider his presence in the race.
Last week, Sanders vowed to press on after a string of defeats, signaling he wants to continue to pressure Biden to embrace more progressive policies.

Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden speaks about the coronavirus Thursday, March 12, 2020, in Wilmington, Del. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

"Our campaign has had a very good night," Biden told supporters in Wilmington, Delaware, before the Arizona race was called. "We've moved closer to securing the Democratic Party's nomination for president. And we're doing it by building a broad coalition that we need to win in November, with strong support from the African-American community, the Latino community, high school-aged people, educated people ... labor, teachers, suburban women, veterans, firefighters and so many more."
Once again, he extended an olive branch to Sanders in a nudge to convince him to step aside, though as recently as their debate on Sunday, Sanders showed little inclination to accept.
"Senator Sanders and I may disagree on tactics, but we share a common vision for the need to provide affordable health care for all Americans, reducing income inequality hat has risen so drastically, to tackling the existential threat of our time, climate change," he said. "Senator Sanders and his supporters have brought a remarkable passion and tenacity to all of these issues. ... Together, they have shifted the fundamental conversation in this country. So let me say, especially to the young voters who have been inspired by Senator Sanders. I hear you."
Earlier in the evening, Sanders gave an online address as well focused on the pandemic, providing a detailed list of proposals to address the medical and economic issues caused by the novel coronavirus.
Sanders said his proposals would cost "at least $2 trillion" and would include monthly $2,000 checks to American households.

Chicago residents line up for early voting at the Roden Library Monday, March 16, 2020, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

In Florida, a key swing state in the general election, Sanders was walloped.
Biden was ahead in the state by a massive margin of 61.5 percent to 22.7 percent, with 82 percent of precincts reporting. The rout was somewhat expected, with the state's sizable Cuban- and Venezuelan-American population largely resistant to Sanders' democratic socialist politics and many voters angered after he defended former Cuban dictator Fidel Castro's literacy programs.
Twenty percent of Democratic primary voters in the Florida primary were Hispanic -– a group that typically has been a strength for Sanders. Six-in-ten voted for Biden, who received approximately two-thirds of the vote among Puerto Ricans and almost six-in-ten among Cubans, according to the Fox News Voter Analysis.
Despite ongoing concerns about the coronavirus, seniors made up more than one-third of the electorate in Florida – the highest portion in any primary surveyed this year, the Fox News Voter Analysis showed. Biden easily won voters over the age of 65, with almost eight-in-ten supporting him.
Electability continued to play a factor in Biden's favor.

Evanston residents line up for voting at Trinity Lutheran Church in Evanston, Ill., Tuesday, March 17, 2020. Some polling places in Evanston have been moved in an effort to reduce exposure of senior citizens to the COVID-19 coronavirus.(AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

Across all states voting on Tuesday, voters said they believed Biden was better positioned to win in November. Roughly 83 percent of voters in Arizona, Florida, and Illinois felt Biden could beat President Trump, while only about 62 percent of voters in those states had the same confidence in Sanders, according to Fox News Voter Analysis.
Meanwhile, Trump easily clinched the Republican presidential nomination with wins in the Illinois and Florida Republican primaries, officially dashing the hopes of any of the extreme long-shot candidates who challenged him in that primary.
A total of 441 delegates was at stake in the Democratic primary on Tuesday, and the big question was whether the coronavirus would affect turnout at the polls. Some early indications were that turnout in Florida actually may have been higher than 2016 figures.
Biden is moving closer to securing the Democratic presidential nomination but had faced the possibility of a setback if the older voters who tend to support him didn't show up. Sanders, meanwhile, couldn't afford to lose support from young voters who have been his most loyal supporters. In the end, Biden did not appear to suffer any measurable loss of support.
Problems related to the virus scare still reportedly popped up across the country, including in Florida, the biggest delegate prize of the evening.
In Okaloosa County on the Panhandle, two dozen poll workers dropped out, leaving supervisors scrambling to find replacements.
Millions of voters have already participated in some form of early voting. But there were some signs on Tuesday that voters — and poll workers — were staying home.
In Burbank, a small community southwest of Chicago, most of the voting stations stood empty at 8 a.m., the Associated Press reported. Only 17 people had voted, a pace that officials said was unusually slow.
In Palm Beach County, Florida, 800 volunteer poll workers backed out on Monday and just 100 new volunteers offered to take their place.
In Illinois, there was a push to relocate about 50 Chicago-area polling places after locations canceled at the last minute and said they would not be available for use on Tuesday.

Harold Goodman waits in line to vote in the presidential primary election at the Supervisor of Elections office, Tuesday, March 17, 2020, in Delray Beach, Fla. This polling station was made available after some precincts in Palm Beach County were unable to open after poll workers did not report to work. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

This may be the last batch of primaries for weeks -- at least of primaries featuring in-person voting -- should states holding upcoming contests continue to push them off.
Leaders in Ohio called off their primary just hours before polls were set to open as the federal government urged Americans not to gather in groups of 10 or more and asked older people to stay home. The state's Democratic Party said it was weighing options for challenging that move, which was pushed by the Republican governor.
Georgia has delayed its primary from March 24 to May 19, and Louisiana from April 4 to June 20. Additionally, Maryland has moved its April 28 primary to June 2, and Kentucky has pushed its primary from May 19 to June 23.
The Democratic National Committee (DNC) has reportedly warned that states that delay their primaries past June 9 could face a hefty delegate penalty -- angering some commentators who call the ultimatum reckless given the threat posed by coronavirus.
“The right to vote is the foundation of our democracy, and we must do everything we can to protect and expand that right instead of bringing our democratic process to a halt,” DNC chairman Tom Perez said in a statement. He is urging states to expand options like voting by mail in upcoming contests.

Sylka Edmondson talks with a senior citizen at the Lakefront Community Center, an Ohio polling center, Tuesday, March 17, 2020, in Euclid, Ohio. Ohio called off its presidential primary just hours before polls were set to open there and in three other states, an 11th-hour decision the governor said was necessary to prevent further fueling the coronavirus pandemic that has paralyzed the nation. Edmondson was handing out food to senior citizens. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak)

The tumult surrounding the virus has left the primary campaign in a state of suspended animation, but Sanders currently faces an increasingly tough path to the nomination. The coronavirus outbreak and its impact on the primary calendar could only amplify calls for Sanders to drop out of the race.
About half of the delegates in the Democratic primary have already been awarded and, with Biden looking at another big night Tuesday, he will pad an already large and perhaps insurmountable lead.
Biden's quest for his party's nomination now seems within reach. He needs less than half of the remaining delegates to become the nominee.
Fox News' Victoria Balara, Kimberly Anderson, Paul Steinhauser, and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

March 2020 Townhall Cartoons

With borders and businesses closing, world hunkers down

BANGKOK (AP) — With borders slamming shut, schools and businesses closing and increasingly drastic restrictions on movement in place, tens of millions of people were hunkered down Tuesday, heeding government calls to isolate themselves and slow the spread of the new coronavirus.

From Southeast Asia to Europe to the Americas, people found their lives upended by lockdowns and social distancing.

Shoppers in Malaysia stood in long lines to stock up at picked-over supermarkets. Commuters in the Philippines waited in huge traffic jams at checkpoints set up to take their temperatures before entering the capital city. Officials in seven San Francisco Bay Area counties issued a sweeping shelter-in-place mandate, ordering millions of residents to stay at home and go outside only for food, medicine and outings that are absolutely essential.

The cancellations of treasured holidays and community events continued to build, with Thailand saying it was calling off its water festival in April and the organizers of the so-called “most exciting two minutes in sports”— the Kentucky Derby — reportedly prepared to announce the delay the horse race for the first time since World War II.

Fresh moves to contain the virus came even as Wuhan, the central Chinese city where the virus was first detected late last year and which has been under lockdown for weeks, reported just one new case on Tuesday.

The fronts in the battle have clearly shifted outside China, with its caseload now outnumbered by those outside its borders. And Spain is now the fourth-most infected country, surpassing South Korea, where new cases have been subsiding.

With the number of cases worldwide topping 181,000, a surge of patients in Madrid’s hospitals fueled worries across Europe of what lies ahead. Pleas went out to funnel masks and ventilators to places struggling with soaring caseloads.

“There is no easy or quick way out of this extremely difficult situation,” Mark Rutte, the prime minister of the Netherlands, said in the first televised speech by a Dutch premier since 1973.

The virus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough, for most people, but severe illness is more likely in the elderly and people with existing health problems. More than 79,000 people have recovered from the illness.

Nevertheless a growing sense of crisis has roiled financial markets. Shares reversed early losses in Asia on Tuesday after the U.S. stock market plunged to its worst day in more than three decades and huge swaths of many economies came to a standstill as businesses and travel shut down due to the outbreak.

Only China, Italy and Iran have more infections than Spain, where the number increased by roughly 20%, to 9,191 and fatalities rose to 309, according to the Spanish Health Ministry. It switched to a new reporting system, so the actual number may be higher.

A somber Rutte told viewers “a large part” of the Netherlands’ 17 million people are likely to contract the virus. So far, 1,413 people have tested positive and 24 have died. The government closed schools, restaurants and bars and banned gatherings of more than 100 people.

Countries from Canada to Switzerland, Russia and Malaysia announced sharp new restrictions on the movement of people across their borders.

“We have a window of time at the moment to slow the spread of the virus,” said Ulrike Demmer, a spokeswoman for Germany’s government, which reversed its earlier insistence that border controls would not work. It imposed new limits on crossings with France, Austria, Switzerland, Denmark and Luxembourg, after German infections increased by more than 1,000 over 24 hours.

Malaysia banned foreign travel and is allowing only essential services to stay open. France allowed people to leave home only to buy food, go to work, or do other essential tasks, restrictions President Emmanuel Macron said were heightened because people hadn’t complied with earlier guidelines and “we are at war.”

India shut down the Taj Mahal to visitors. Most schools and entertainment facilities were already closed across India, the world’s second-most populous country with 1.3 billion people.

The first confirmed cases of COVID-19 were reported in Somalia, which has one of Africa’s weakest health systems after nearly three decades of conflict.

As the pandemic expanded its reach, China and South Korea were trying to hold their hard-fought gains. China is quarantining new arrivals, who in recent days have accounted for an increasing number of cases, and South Korea starting Thursday will increase screenings of all overseas arrivals.

Infections have continued to slow in South Korea’s worst-hit city of Daegu. But there’s concern over a steady rise of infections in the Seoul metropolitan area, where new clusters have emerged.

Italy reported another jump in infections, up more than 3,000 to 27,980. With 2,158 deaths — including 349 more in just the last 24 hours — Italy now accounts for well over a quarter of the global death toll. Cases, however, slowed in Lombardy, the hardest-hit region.

In the United States, officials urged older Americans and those with chronic health conditions to stay home, and recommended all group gatherings be capped at 50 people. Americans returning from abroad encountered chaotic airport health screenings that clearly broke all virus-fighting rules against having packed crowds close together.

School closings in 56 countries kept more than 516 million students home, the United Nations said. New York City joined those ranks Monday, closing a school system with 1.1 million students.

Still, some countries have resisted more stringent measures to contain the virus.

In Britain, bars and restaurants remained open and there was no ban on large events. The prime minister’s spokesman said closing schools hadn’t been ruled out, but “the scientific and medical advice is that that’s not a step which we should be taking at this point in time.”

A senior official from South Korea’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Kwon Jun-wook, urged people to take the virus seriously and follow recommended precautions.

“In a similar way to how the Sept. 11 attacks completely changed people’s perception about security, quarantine authorities like us believe the daily lives of all the people around the world will be changed because of COVID-19,” Kwon told a briefing Tuesday. “From now on, if you are sick, you should voluntarily rest to prevent a spread to others.”

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Associated Press journalists Aritz Parra in Madrid, Adam Geller in New York, Mike Corder in Amsterdam, Jovana Gec in Belgrade, Frank Jordans in Berlin, Jill Lawless in London, Colleen Barry in Milan, Italy, Ken Moritsugu in Beijing, Kim Tong-hyung and Hyung-jin Kim in Seoul, South Korea, Eileen Ng in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and Sheikh Saaliq in New Delhi contributed to this report.

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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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Follow AP coverage of the virus outbreak at https://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak