Italy Closes Most Stores; U.S. Eyes Europe Ban: Virus Update

(Bloomberg) -- The World Health Organization declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic. President Donald Trump is said to be weighing whether to restrict non-essential travel from Europe to the U.S. He will address the nation later Wednesday.

Local and state officials across the U.S. took several steps to discourage or ban large gatherings, and Seattle became the first major American city to close its public schools. Italy closed all businesses except pharmacies and grocery stores.

The U.S. government’s top infectious-disease specialist told lawmakers the pathogen is 10 times more deadly than the seasonal flu. U.K. cases jumped 22% to 456, while Italy, the center of the outbreak in Europe, saw a 31% increase in fatalities, to 827.

Key Developments:

• Confirmed cases top 123,000 globally; 4,578 dead
• Germany’s Merkel says 60%-70% of population potentially at risk
• Airbnb refuses guest refunds
• Virus at Bear Stearns moment and may get worse, Summers says
• Month-long U.S. college basketball tournament to be played without fans

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CBS News Closes Two N.Y. Offices After Staffers Test Positive (6 p.m. NY)

CBS News closed offices in midtown Manhattan Wednesday after two employees tested positive for coronavirus. Employees at 524 and 555 West 57th St. were told to work from home and not return to the buildings until Monday. Individuals who were in contact with the employees were told to self quarantine for 14 days.

CBS, a division of ViacomCBS Inc., said its regular news broadcasts would continue from alternative studios.

U.S. Weighs Restricting Non-Essential Travel From Europe (5:15 p.m. NY)

President Donald Trump is weighing whether to restrict non-essential travel from Europe to the U.S. as the outbreak of coronavirus continues to spread on both continents, according to two people familiar with the matter.

The restrictions would include some business travel, according to one of the people, but it’s unclear how far ranging the limits would be.

Basketball Tournament to Be Played Without Fans (4:46 p.m. NY)

The NCAA will conduct upcoming championship events, including Division I men’s and women’s basketball tournaments, with only “essential staff and limited family attendance,” NCAA President Mark Emmert said.

U.S. Capital Declares Emergency (4:43 p.m. NY)

Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser declares state of emergency for the district amid coronavirus outbreak, NBC reports in tweet.

Seattle Closing Public Schools (3:47 p.m. NY)

Seattle will close its public schools starting Thursday for at least two weeks. With more than 53,000 students, it would be the first major public school district in the U.S. to shut its doors in an effort to contain the spread of the coronavirus. Several other schools in the area, including the University of Washington, have already suspended in-person classes.

Officials have been reluctant to close public schools, in part because of the impact on the health system. Doctors and nurses may be forced to skip work if they have to stay home to watch their kids.

Multiple People at Princeton Party Test Positive (3:35 p.m. NY)

Multiple people have tested positive for coronavirus after attending a party in Princeton, New Jersey, on Feb. 29, the town’s health department said. Of the 47 people at the party, 14 were from Princeton, all of whom have been contacted; nine are complaining of one or more symptoms and are being evaluated.

N.Y. to Contract Directly With Private Labs (3:16 p.m. NY)

New York will start contracting directly with private labs to increase testing for the new coronavirus, Governor Andrew Cuomo said at a press briefing.

The state’s health department works with about 28 labs that are expert in this type of work, Cuomo said.

U.K. Govt to Draft Emergency Laws (3:15 p.m. NY)

U.K. Health Secretary Matt Hancock offered to work with his Labour opponents on writing emergency laws to tackle the virus outbreak. Labour welcomed the move and said it would join talks, expected to start on Thursday. Emergency laws are likely to allow teachers to teach larger classes, hauliers to work longer shifts.

Hancock said Parliament will remain open, despite the WHO declaring a pandemic, and a health minister becoming infected.

Ohio Becomes Latest State to Ban Gatherings (3:13 p.m. NY)

Ohio will issue an order shortly restricting mass gatherings that would ban spectators at indoor sporting events, including professional games and upcoming college basketball tournament contests. The order will also limit visitors at nursing homes and assisted-living facilities to one per day per resident with screenings, Governor Mike DeWine said.

“We are doing the things we are doing because we have the potential to become like Italy,” DeWine said on Twitter.

More Big Meetings Banned Across U.S. (2:50 p.m. NY)

Local and state officials across the U.S. took several steps to discourage or ban large gatherings in an effort to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Washington recommended that meetings of more than 1,000 people in the nation’s capital be canceled or postponed through at least March 31.

San Francisco public health officials banned events of 1,000 people or more, including games for the National Basketball Assocation’s Golden State Warriors, which will play without fans during its game Thursday night against the Brooklyn Nets. The order lasts for two weeks but can be extended as needed.

In Washington state, Governor Jay Inslee said that he was prohibiting events of more than 250 people in its three most-populous counties -- King, Pierce and Snohomish -- which include Seattle, Tacoma and Everett. The order affects a wide range of functions, including sporting events, concerts, festivals, conventions and fund-raisers, as well as family gatherings like weddings.

“These are not easy decisions,” Inslee said Wednesday in Seattle. “The decisions that we’re making today and the decisions that we probably will be making in the upcoming days are going to be profoundly disturbing to a lot of the ways that we live our lives today. But I believe they are the right ones. They are the necessary ones.”

“We do not want to see an avalanche of people coming into our hospitals,” Inslee said.

Warriors to Play Games With No Fans After Ban (2:28 p.m. NY)

San Francisco officials banned public events with more than 1,000 people, including games for the NBA’s Golden State Warriors. Mayor London Breed said she had spoken with the team’s management, and that they support the decision. The team -- which won three championships in the last decade before struggling this season -- recently moved from Oakland into San Francisco’s new Chase Center arena. The order lasts for two weeks but can be extended as needed.

Kuwait Shuts Down Country (2:21 p.m. NY)

The government declared the period of March 12-26 an official holiday in an effort to limit exposure to the coronavirus outbreak, state-run Kuwait News Agency reported on Wednesday. Employers will continue to pay salaries. All commercial flights will be suspended.

Trump Aides Back Raising Europe Warning (2:01 p.m. NY)

President Donald Trump’s advisers are recommending that the U.S. raise its travel alert to Level 3 for the entire European Union, a move that would mean Americans should avoid everything but essential travel to the 27-nation bloc and should self-quarantine for two weeks upon returning home, according to three people familiar with the matter.

While no final decision has been made, the move is among many measures the administration is considering as it seeks to control the growing spread of the coronavirus, according to the people. Trump would make the final decision on any change in the travel alert.

A Level 3 advisory from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention means those countries are witnessing “widespread, ongoing transmission” of the virus. The people said that the recommendation would likely exclude the U.K.

Capital One Asks Employees to Work From Home (1:20 p.m. NY)

Capital One Financial Corp. requested that its employees work from home if they can, joining other companies in trying to stem the spread of the deadly coronavirus.

Chief Executive Officer Richard Fairbank told staff that they should begin working from home on Thursday. For branch workers or those in other roles that can’t be performed remotely, the firm will begin spacing out employees to “reduce density” in workplaces.

WHO Declares Pandemic (12:37 p.m. NY)

The outbreak of coronavirus is now a pandemic, the World Health Organization’s top official said Wednesday in a press briefing. The long-awaited pronouncement came as worldwide cases topped 120,000 while the number of deaths exceed 4,300.

“All countries can still change the course of this pandemic,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in the briefing. “If countries detect, test, treat, isolate, trace and mobilize their people in the response, those with a handful of cases can prevent those cases becoming clusters and those clusters becoming community transmission.”

The new coronavirus is the cause of the first pandemic since 2009, when a novel influenza strain swept around the world, infecting millions of people.

Washington Urges Large Gatherings be Canceled (12:11 p.m. NY)

Washington recommended that gatherings of more than 1,000 people be canceled or postponed through at least March 31 in the nation’s capital.

U.S. to Allow Tax Extensions Without Penalty (12 p.m. NY)

Individuals can ask for tax extensions without penalty or interest, Treasury Sec. Steven Mnuchin told reporters.

Case at Mining Conference Sparks Race to Limit Spread (11:58 a.m. NY)

The race is on to limit the spread of the coronavirus after news of an infection at an international mining conference in Toronto attended by more than 23,100 people, including Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

TSA to Allow Higher Volume of Sanitizer at Checkpoints (11:54 a.m. NY)

TSA will allow passengers to carry a higher volume of hand sanitizer liquid through airport checkpoints likely beginning today or Thursday.

The agency implemented a new policy Tuesday to change the swab that checks hands for traces of explosives for every passenger, citing concern about spreading the virus.

Coronavirus Seen Far More Lethal, Fauci Says (11:53 a.m. NY)

Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told U.S. lawmakers the new coronavirus is 10 times more deadly than the seasonal flu.

“The flu has a mortality of 0.1%. This is ten times that. That’s the reason I want to emphasize we have to stay ahead of the game.”

N.Y. to Recommend Swing Shifts, More Telework: Cuomo (9:41 a.m. NY)

The State of New York will ask businesses to consider having employees work two shifts and allowing telework, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said in a CNN interview.

“This is about reducing the density,” Cuomo said. “The spread is not going to stop on its own.”

New York has 20 new cases of virus, Cuomo said, mostly in the New Rochelle area.

Hungary Declares State of Emergency, Shuts Universities (9:24 a.m. NY)

Hungary’s government declared a state of emergency, closing university campuses and banning large gatherings.

The government described the measures as unprecedented in the three decades since the fall of communism. Hungary has registered 13 cases of the coronavirus.

Cases Jump in the Netherlands, Sweden (9:20 a.m.)

In the Netherlands, a fifth death was reported, while the number of confirmed cases rose by 121 to 503, according to the daily update from the Dutch RIVM National Institute for Public Health and the Environment. The province of North-Brabant remains the hardest hit region.

To combat the spread of the virus in Brabant, professional soccer matches in the two highest leagues in the country as well as other sports in the province, will be canceled this weekend.

Cases in Sweden rose to 461 from 326.

U.K. Unveils Stimulus (8:54 a.m. NY)

U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak says announced a total fiscal stimulus package valued at 30 billion pounds ($39 billion) to support jobs and businesses. That came hours after the Bank of England cut interest rates.

The government will fund statutory sick pay for employees of small and medium-sized companies who are off work because of coronavirus, Sunak said.

Toronto Mining Conference Attendee Tests Positive (8:47 a.m. NY)

A man in his 50s who attended a mining conference in Toronto, one of the industry’s biggest, has tested positive for Covid-19. The man went to the hospital in Sudbury, Ontario, on March 7. He was discharged home and remains in self-isolation.

More than 23,100 people attended the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada conference in Toronto March 1 to 4, including Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Ontario Premier Doug Ford. The man attended the conference March 2 and 3.

--With assistance from Adveith Nair, Robert Hutton, Sophie Alexander, Jason Scott, Ryan Beene, Justin Sink, Greg Sullivan, Anurag Kotoky, Joyce Cutler, Dina Bass, Golnar Motevalli, Viktoria Dendrinou, Siddharth Philip, Charlotte Ryan, Lisa Du, Jan Dahinten, John Tozzi, Jenny Surane, Nick Wadhams, Jennifer Jacobs, Kara Wetzel, Noah Buhayar, Matt Day, David R. Baker and Christopher Palmeri.

To contact Bloomberg News staff for this story: Adveith Nair in London at anair29@bloomberg.net;Jeff Sutherland in Tokyo at jsutherlan13@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Stuart Wallace at swallace6@bloomberg.net, ;Drew Armstrong at darmstrong17@bloomberg.net, Andrés R. Martinez, Mark Schoifet

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With assistance from Bloomberg