BEAUMONT, Texas —
Latest local & Texas updates:
Here are the latest updates from around Southeast Texas, Texas, Louisiana and some from the world (all times are local Central Daylight Time):
MORE: More Monday nation, world coronavirus updates
Key coronavirus updates for Monday, March 30:
- The US Navy ship Comfort has arrived in New York City to help treat non-coronavirus patients and relieve area hospitals.
- The Port Arthur Public Health Department reports Monday morning that Nederland resident has tested positive for the coronavirus.
- New York City records first death of a child to COVID-19.
- The Tokyo Olympics will open next year in the same time slot scheduled for this year's games.
- Japan is urging the head of WHO to help speed development of coronavirus vaccines
- President Donald Trump on Sunday announced that federal social distancing guidelines would be extended to April 30. Trump also braced the U.S. for a death toll that may exceed 100,000.
- There are now more than 143,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases in the U.S. and more than 2,500 deaths.
- The FDA has issued an emergency use authorization for two anti-malarial drugs, although neither is yet formally approved to treat COVID-19.
- There has been a notable uptick in the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Japan since the announcement that the Olympics would be postponed to next year.
- Nearly 1,300 U.S. counties have no confirmed cases of COVID-19.
School Impacts | Business Impacts, Closures | Map of SE Texas cases | Coronavirus symptoms & prevention | Coronavirus questions answered
MARCH 30, 8:23 p.m. — The Port Arthur Health Dept. says the rehab center employee is a Beaumont resident. The results were received Monday, March 30. Other employees who were in contact with the patient have been sent home to self-quarantine. The patient is currently in quarantine and is cooperating with health officials.
MARCH 30, 7:20 p.m. — Michelle Lair with the Senior Rehabilitation and Skilled Nursing Center in Port Arthur confirms to 12News one of the facility's employees tested positive for COVID-19. Lair said the facility is continuing to monitor and screen employees and residents. No residents have COVID-19 at this time, Lair said.
MARCH 30, 5:48 p.m. — Newton County has its first confirmed case in the Wiergate area. Starting on March 30, the hotline set up for patient screening is going to be available 24 hours.
MARCH 30 4:30 p.m. — The Southeast Texas Regional Emergency Operations Center report that they are experiencing a very high volume of calls to the health hotline with people requesting testing for the coronavirus.
Currently the call center operates weekdays from 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. and has 10 lines available according to a news release from operations center. The number is (409) 550-2536.
Once those lines are busy calls will roll into a queue allowing the center to handle up to 30 calls simultaneously the release said. If there are more than 30 calls at a given time you will have problems getting through and the operations center asks that caller remain patient continue to try to get through if they are experiencing symptoms and feel they should be tested.
Officials are working to get the call center running 24 hours a day as soon as they are able.
If you have not called for pre-screening and received a number and appointment you will be turned away from the testing site.
MARCH 30 12:50 p.m. — A 61-year-old Hillister woman has become Tyler County’s first confirmed case of the coronavirus according to a Facebook post from the Tyler County Emergency Management office.
MARCH 30 10:19 a.m. — Motiva confirms that an employee at Port Arthur Chemicals tested positive for COVID-19. The employee is in self-quarantine. When Motiva was notified of 'potential for exposure,' workspace cleaning was done with 'CDC-approved sanitizing solutions. Each employee and contractor is having his or her temperature checked when arriving at any gate.
Only those with temperatures less than 100 will be allowed in.
MARCH 30 9 a.m. — The Port Arthur Public Health Department reports Monday morning that Nederland resident between the ages of 40 and 50-years-old has tested positive for the coronavirus. The total number of cases in Southeast Texas is now 40.
MARCH 30 7:05 a.m. — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will go into quarantine after an aide tested positive for coronavirus, his office says. Netanyahu has undergone a test and is awaiting the results.
MARCH 30 7 a.m. — The Tokyo Olympics will open next year in the same time slot scheduled for this year's games. Read more here.
MARCH 30 3 a.m. — The Food and Drug Administration has issued an emergency use authorizations (EUA) for two anti-malarial drugs on coronavirus patients which President Donald Trump has touted as potential game-changers. The drugs have yet to be approved by the FDA as treatments for COVID-19 and are undergoing clinical trials. Scroll down to read more.
Scroll down for more updated National & World headlines
There are 143,055 confirmed cases of COVID-19 as of 4:30 a.m. EDT Monday morning, according to Johns Hopkins University. More than 2,500 people in the U.S. have died and 4,865 have recovered.
Worldwide, 724,201 have been infected with more than 34,000 deaths and more than 152,000 recovered.
'Staggering': New York virus death toll rises above 1,200
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the number of reported coronavirus deaths in New York shot up by 253 in a single day to just over 1,200.
A Navy hospital ship has arrived in New York City to help relieve the coronavirus crisis gripping New York City's hospitals. The USNS Comfort has 1,000 beds and 12 operating rooms that could be up and running within 24 hours of its arrival Monday morning. It's expected to bolster a besieged health care system by treating non-coronavirus patients while hospitals treat people with COVID-19.
Mayor Bill de Blasio and others are criticizing President Donald Trump for suggesting with no clear evidence that thousands of medical masks are disappearing from New York City hospitals.
NYC reports its first death of a child to COVID-19
New York City officials announced Monday morning that a child was one of 14 new COVID-19 fatalities from overnight in the city.
The age of the minor wasn't immediately released, but records show they had an "underlying condition."
As of Monday morning, 790 people have died in New York City from COVID-19.
Hospital ship arrives in NYC
A Navy hospital ship has arrived in New York City to help relieve the coronavirus crisis gripping New York City's hospitals.
The USNS Comfort has 1,000 beds and 12 operating rooms that could be up and running within 24 hours. It's expected to bolster a besieged health care system by treating non-coronavirus patients while hospitals treat people with COVID-19.
New York City, the epicenter of the U.S. outbreak, reported Sunday that its toll had risen to 776.
Japan urges head of WHO to help speed vaccines
Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe urged the head of the World Health Organization to help accelerate development of medicine and vaccines for the coronavirus by promoting information sharing and cooperation among countries.
Abe told Director-General Tedros Adhanom in a phone call that Japan is pursuing clinical research on flu drug Favipiravir with several other countries.
Japan’s Foreign Ministry says Tedros pledged WHO’s leadership in the development of medicine, vaccines and diagnostics.
Abe asked Tedros to make use of Japan’s $46 million contribution to the WHO to effectively provide technical assistance for health workers in developing countries where COVID-19 cases are sharply on the rise.
Carnival Cruise Line extends suspension of cruises through May 11
Carnival Cruise Line has announced it will extend its pause in operation through May 11. Cruises were originally suspended through April 9.
President Trump had announced earlier this month that Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Norwegian and MSC had all agreed to temporarily suspend service.
Tokyo Olympics gets new dates
The Tokyo Olympics will open next year in the same time slot scheduled for this year's games.
Tokyo organizers say the opening ceremony will take place on July 23, 2021. That is almost exactly one year after the games were due to start this year. The IOC and Japanese organizers last week postponed the Olympics until 2021 because of the coronavirus pandemic.
This year's games were scheduled to open on July 24 and close on Aug. 9. But the near exact one-year delay will see the rescheduled closing ceremony on Aug. 8.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will self-quarantine
Israel announced that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will enter self-quarantine after an aide tested positive for the virus. His office says he has undergone a test and will remain in quarantine until he receives results or is cleared by the Health Ministry and his personal doctor. His close advisors are also isolating.
More than 4,300 Israelis have been infected with the new virus and 15 have died
Navy hospital ship USNS Comfort set to arrive in NYC harbor
.A Navy hospital ship is set to arrive in New York Harbor Monday to help relieve the coronavirus crisis gripping New York City's hospitals.
The USNS Comfort has 1,000 beds and 12 operating rooms that could be up and running within 24 hours of its arrival on Monday morning. It's expected to bolster a besieged health care system by treating non-coronavirus patients while hospitals treat people with COVID-19.
The ship’s arrival comes as New York state's death toll from the coronavirus outbreak climbed Sunday above 1,000, less than a month after the first known infection in the state. Most of those deaths have occurred in just the past few days.
FDA authorizes emergency use of anti-malarial drugs
The Food and Drug Administration has issued an emergency use authorizations (EUA) for two anti-malarial drugs on coronavirus patients which President Donald Trump has touted as potential game-changers. The drugs have yet to be approved by the FDA as treatments for COVID-19 and are undergoing clinical trials.
The EUA allows hydroxychloroquine sulfate and chloroquine phosphate donated to the Strategic National Stockpile to be given to hospitalized teen and adult patients if a clinical trial is not available to them, according to the Department of Health and Human Services. Patients will be given the option whether to take the drugs.
HHS said it has accepted 30 million doses of hydroxychloroquine sulfate from Sandoz and 1 million doses of chloroquine phosphate from Bayer to add to the Strategic National Stockpile.
Alan Merrill, co-writer of 'I Love Rock and Roll,' dies
Alan Merrill — who co-wrote the song “I Love Rock and Roll" that became a signature hit for fellow rocker Joan Jett — died Sunday in New York of complications from the coronavirus, according to his daughter. He was 69.
Merrill wrote the song for his band The Arrows and recorded it in 1975, but it became the signature hit for Joan Jett in 1982.
Japan coronavirus cases spike after Olympics postponement
Before the Olympics were postponed, Japan looked like it had coronavirus infections contained, even as they spread in neighboring countries. Now that the games have been pushed to next year, Tokyo’s cases are spiking, and the city's governor is requesting that people stay home, even hinting at a possible lockdown.
The sudden rise in the number of virus cases in Tokyo and the government's strong actions immediately after the Olympic postponement have raised questions in parliament and among citizens about whether Japan understated the extent of the outbreak and delayed enforcement of social distancing measures while clinging to hopes that the games would start on July 24 as scheduled.
Japan and the International Olympic Committee announced on March 24 that the Games would be postponed. In the five-day span between March 24-28, there have been 673 new confirmed cases of COVID 19 in Japan, according to Johns Hopkins University. That's one more than the number of confirmed cases reported between March 9-23 -- a span that was three times as long.
That number is also more than one-third of the total cases in Japan.
Trump approves major disaster declaration for Oregon
President Donald Trump has approved a major disaster declaration for Oregon due to the coronavirus outbreak, the White House announced Sunday.
The declaration orders federal assistance to aid state, tribal and local recovery efforts. The order is back-dated to Jan. 20 and brings to 18 the number of states with disaster declarations due to the coronavirus.
Gov. Kate Brown declared a state of emergency on March 8. On March 23, she issued an executive order directing residents to stay home to the maximum extent possible and ordered the closure of retail businesses where close personal contact is difficult to avoid, such as hair salons, gyms and theaters.
Nearly 1,300 US counties have no cases
As the coronavirus rages through Europe, and major American cities like New York and Los Angeles, more than a third of counties across the U.S. still have not reported a positive test result for infection across what are predominantly rural areas.
A data analysis by The Associated Press shows that 1,297 counties have no confirmed cases of COVID-19 out of 3,142 counties nationwide. Counties with zero positive tests for COVID-19 tend to have older, rural populations with lower incomes where rural health networks might be overwhelmed.
The demographics hold major implications as the Trump administration develops guidelines to rate counties by risk of virus spread, empowering local officials to revise social distancing orders.
Coronavirus symptoms
The symptoms of coronavirus can be similar to the flu or a bad cold. Symptoms include a fever, cough and shortness of breath, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Some patients also have nausea, body aches, headaches and stomach issues. Losing your sense of taste and/or smell can also be an early warning sign.
Most healthy people will have mild symptoms. A study of more than 72,000 patients by the Centers for Disease Control in China showed 80 percent of the cases there were mild.
But infections can cause pneumonia, severe acute respiratory syndrome, kidney failure and even death, according to the World Health Organization. Older people with underlying health conditions are most at risk for becoming seriously ill. However, U.S. experts are seeing a significant number of younger people being hospitalized, including some in ICU.
The CDC believes symptoms may appear anywhere from two to 14 days after being exposed.
Human coronaviruses are usually spread through...
- The air by coughing or sneezing
- Close personal contact, such as touching or shaking hands
- Touching an object or surface with the virus on it, then touching your mouth, nose or eyes before washing your hands.
Help stop the spread of coronavirus
- Stay home when you are sick.
- Eat and sleep separately from your family members
- Use different utensils and dishes
- Cover your cough or sneeze with your arm, not your hand.
- If you use a tissue, throw it in the trash.
- Follow social distancing
Lower your risk
- Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. If soap and water are not available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer.
- Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands.
- Avoid close contact with people who are sick.
- Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces.
- If you are 60 or over and have an underlying health condition such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes or respiratory illnesses like asthma or COPD, the World Health Organization advises you to try to avoid crowds or places where you might interact with people who are sick.
Get complete coverage of the coronavirus by texting 'FACTS' to 409-838-1212