To keep our community informed of the most urgent coronavirus news, The San Francisco Chronicle’s critical updates are free to read. Ongoing coverage is available to subscribers. Subscribe now for full access and to support our work.
Total coronavirus cases:
8,156 in California, including 2,350 in the Bay Area.
181,000 cases in the U.S., with 3,611 deaths, including 170 in California and 59 in the Bay Area. Five other states with the highest death tolls are: New York with 1,550, Washington state with 222, New Jersey with 267, Louisiana with 239 and Michigan with 185. Click here to see a U.S. map with state-by-state death tolls and coronavirus case counts.
More than 838,000 in the world with more than 41,200 deaths. More than 175,700 people have recovered.
For detailed maps, check out The Chronicle’s Coronavirus Tracker.
To get regular updates on our coverage, sign up for our coronavirus newsletter.
Breaking news developments today:
3:33 p.m. Violent crime drops 31% in SF during first week of shelter in place: Crime in the Bay Area’s largest cities fell sharply during the first week of the region’s shelter-in-place orders as streets emptied streets, shops shuttered and tens of thousands of people were forced to work from home. The trend is a rare piece of good news amid the global coronavirus pandemic, and criminologists think it could hold as long as social restrictions remain in place. Read the full story.
3:34 p.m. Napa County reports first COVID-19 death: County health officials reported that one person died Tuesday from COVID-19, marking the first death in the county related to the new virus. The person was an adult who was being treated at a hospital, officials said. The county also reported an additional confirmed case, bringing the county’s total to 15 cases. The new case is a person who lives in the unincorporated area near the City of Napa and is now isolated and quarantined.
3:32 p.m. California schools to stay closed through end of school year, superintendent says: California schools will be unable to reopen this year given current safety concerns and ongoing social distancing, the state superintendent told county officials Tuesday. Read the full story here.
3:31 p.m. California patients in hospital, ICU continues steady rise: After tripling over the weekend, the number of people in intensive care for COVID-19 across the state rose 10% on Tuesday, from 597 to 657 people, according to the California Department of Public Health. There are now 1,617 people hospitalized, a 13% increase from yesterday’s 1,432 people. Significantly, the department also reports there are an additional 3,439 people in the hospital who are suspected but not confirmed to be infected, and 602 of those are in the ICU.
3:18 p.m. Fauci: U.S. should be prepared for 100,000 deaths from COVID-19: U.S. government disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci was asked at a White House news conference if the country should be prepared for 100,000 deaths due to the coronavirus pandemic. “The answer is yes,” Fauci said. “As sobering a number as that is, we should be prepared for it. Is it going to be that much? I hope not. And I think the more we push on the mitigation, the less likelihood it would be that number. But being realistic, we need to prepare ourselves that that is a possibility.” Dr. Deborah Birx said a model from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at University of Washington used to project that number is based on data that includes high case and death tolls in the New York area. “If all the other states and all the other metro areas are able to hold that case number down, then it’s a very different picture,” Birx said. “But you have to predict on the data you have, which is heavily skewed.”
3:31 p.m. California’s move to stop releasing data on health care worker infections cases angers nurses: Saying it wants to “better focus public health resources on the changing needs of California communities,” the California Department of Public Health stopped has releasing data on the number of health care workers in the state who have tested positive for COVID-19. The last figure provided before the cutoff was 73 workers infected on Saturday, up from 48 on Friday. “That is bulls—-,” Christa Duran, a nurse at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center, told The Chronicle. “It’s so they don’t have to see the alarming results from not protecting us properly.”
3:07 p.m. Fauci: Mitigation is having an effect: Dr. Anthony Fauci, the U.S. government’s top infectious disease expert, said at a White House news conference that mitigation efforts like social distancing appear to be having an effect on slowing the spread of the coronavirus. “In the next several days to a week or so, we’re going to continue to see (cases) go up,” Fauci said. “We cannot be discouraged by that, because the mitigation is actually working and will work.” On Sunday, President Trump extended a nationwide stay-at-home order through April 30. Fauci and Dr. Deborah Birx, White House coronavirus task force adviser, presented studies Tuesday that influenced that decision. One showed the U.S. could record 1.5 million to 2.2 million deaths from COVID-19 with no mitigation in place. In a scenario of citizens practicing social distancing, Birx said, that number reduced to 100,000-to-200,000 deaths, “which is still way too much.” Fauci said quantifying results of mitigation so far is difficult but officials are confident that it is “clearly” having an effect. “The reason why we feel so strongly about the necessity of the additional 30 days is that now is the time, whenever you’re having an effect, not to take your foot off the accelerator and on the brake, but to just press it down on the accelerator,” Fauci said. “That’s what I hope and I know we can do over the next 30 days.”
3:04 p.m. Santa Clara County reports 42 new cases, two more deaths: County health officials reported 42 new confirmed cases of COVID-19, bringing the total to 890 cases on Tuesday. Two new deaths were also reported, for a total of 30 deaths in the county.
2:54 p.m. BART ridership down 93%: Continuing a trend of plummeting ridership, BART reported that fewer than 30,000 people rode BART on Monday, representing a 93% decrease from an average Monday in February this year. The transit agency has reduced service as revenue dropped.
2:49 p.m.: Pelosi suggests lifting deduction cap on state and local taxes in next coronavirus bill: The next congressional legislation to respond to the coronavirus pandemic could include a restoration of the full state and local tax deduction that many Californians lost two years ago, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says. Read reporter Tal Kopan’s story.
2:45 p.m. Small businesses can apply for federal aid this week: Small businesses will be able to apply for federal loans through the $2 trillion stimulus measure beginning this Friday, President Trump said at a news conference Tuesday. Nearly $350 billion in loans will be available for small businesses to help meet expenses including paying workers for up to two months while the country is shut down amid the coronavirus pandemic. The loans will be forgiven if businesses continue to employ workers, Trump said.
2:43 p.m. California plans to expedite the release of up to 3,500 inmates: The move in the coming weeks is aimed at combating the spread of the coronavirus through the prison system. The state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation announced the move Tuesday in a court filing asking federal judges not to intervene and order further inmate releases from California’s overcrowded prisons.
2:41 p.m. Trump: U.S. has ventilators prepared for surge: President Trump said at a White House news conference that the U.S. has “almost 10,000 ventilators that we have ready to go” but that are not being distributed yet. “We have to hold them back because the surge is coming and it’s coming pretty strong, and we want to be able to immediately move it into place,” Trump said. The U.S. has sent “a large number” of ventilators to Michigan and is sending additional ventilators to Louisiana, New York and New Jersey, the president said.
2:35 p.m. Los Angeles County adds more than 500 new cases, total tops 3,000: Officials reported 537 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, a single-day increase of 21.7%, bringing the county’s total to 3,011. Los Angeles County also recorded ten new deaths, bringing the total to 54 deaths.
2:20 p.m. Sen. Dianne Feinstein urges feds to help SF’s Laguna Honda Hospital fight outbreak: As local officials brace for an onslaught of more cases in the coming days at the Laguna Honda nursing home, Feinstein said resources from Washington DC are “critical” to help the nursing home avoid a “catastrophic loss of life.” “We’ve already seen the devastation across the country that followed an outbreak in nursing facilities and senior homes,” she wrote in a letter to Alex Azar, the Secretary of Health and Human Services. Read the full story here.
2:17 p.m. Bay Area alcohol consumption reportedly up by 42% during shelter in place: San Francisco company BACtrack, which produces breathalyzer devices for at-home use, reports that the average blood alcohol concentration in six Bay Area counties rose dramatically during the first week of sheltering in place, as compared with the previous two weeks. The data incorporated about 500 breathalyzer tests, only from users who had opted to share their results. Read the story here.
2:05 p.m. Relief bill expands federal courts’ authority to hold remote hearings: The $2.2 trillion relief bill signed by President Trump on March 27 expressly allows sentencing hearings by telephone or video. The new law also expands federal courts’ authority to hold additional hearings remotely in criminal cases. The U.S. Judicial Conference, which oversees federal courts, said March 31 that it has authorized federal trial judges nationwide to accept guilty pleas and conduct sentencing hearings by audio and video, with public access, if the defendants consent. The order will remain in effect until 30 days after the end of the national declaration of emergency, unless the Judicial Conference decides an earlier termination would not disrupt the courts. The announcement did not mention, or approve, Attorney General William Barr’s proposal to allow some federal defendants to be held indefinitely without trial during the emergency. Read The Chronicle’s FAQ on how courts are dealing with the coronavirus pandemic here.
2 p.m. Walmart to start temperature tests for employees: Walmart, the largest retail employer in the nation, said on Tuesday it will begin taking temperatures of employees and providing them with masks. Walmart’s executive vice president of corporate affairs, Dan Bartlett, said the company will ship infrared thermometers and masks to all its warehouses within the next two weeks and turn away workers who record a temperature of 100 degrees or more. As further supply becomes available, Bartlett said, those supplies will be shipped to stores.
1:54 p.m. Marin County sheriff threatens penalty for public-space and open-business violations: Deputies in Marin County will soon start fining or arresting people who refuse to stop congregating or traveling to county parks, and will cite non-essential businesses that don’t close, authorities said. The county sheriff’s office said its educational, communication approach thus far has not worked on everyone. Authorities have received dozens of calls a day reporting violators, but no citations have been issued — yet. “While we do not take this enforcement stance lightly, the COVID-19 pandemic is a serious health threat, and the Public Health Order and Park Closure Order are enforceable,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement.
1:47 p.m. Elon Musk offers hospitals free ventilators: Tech titan and Tesla CEO Elon Musk is offering free ventilators to hospitals that need them immediately, extending the offer on Twitter, stating, “We have extra FDA-approved ventilators. Will ship to hospitals worldwide within Tesla delivery regions. Device & shipping cost are free. Only requirement is that the vents are needed immediately for patients, not stored in a warehouse. Please me or @Tesla know.
1:34 Solano County extends shelter-at-home order through April: Solano County is extending its shelter-at-home order until April 30. The order announced Monday night on social media replaces the one issued on March 18, restricting travel, business activity and gatherings. It is enforceable by the county sheriff’s deputies and local police departments. Solano County’s extension comes as Bay Area counties jointly announce extention of their shelter-in-place orders through May 3.
1:30 p.m. Exploratorium announces layoffs, furloughs and salary cuts: In an exclusive interview with The Chronicle, museum officials said the Exploratorium is making significant staff changes and reductions that would affect about 85% of its staff starting April 8. Annie Vainshtein reports.
1:13 p.m. 26 new cases announced in Contra Costa County: Health officials in Contra Costa County announced 26 new confirmed COVID-19 cases, increasing the total in the county to 212.
1:09 p.m. Outschool hiring 5,000: Demand for video tutoring has risen, and San Francisco home-schooling startup Outschool says it needs 5,000 teachers. See our list of businesses that are hiring as the coronavirus pandemic reshapes the economy.
1:08 p.m. U.S. postal worker in Santa Rosa tests positive: An employee at the U.S. Postal Service annex on McBride Lane in Santa Rosa tested positive for COVID-19, according to Augustine Ruiz, an agency spokesman. The employee is quarantined at home and will return to work when medically cleared, Ruiz said. Risk of exposure to other employees at the facility is low, Ruiz said, but the facility has increased cleaning protocols and provided sanitizers, gloves and masks for employees. The CDC and WHO have said there is no evidence that COVID-19 is being spread through the mail.
1:00 p.m. Stocks stumble as brutal quarter draws to an end: Trading was subdued Tuesday as Wall Street wrapped up its worst performing quarter since the 2008 financial crisis. The Dow Jones industrial average lost nearly 2%, closing down 410 points at 21,917.
12:59 p.m. Essential business list expanded: As the Bay Area extends its shelter-in-place directives to May 3, officials noted in their new order that essential services — those allowed to remain open during the pandemic restrictions — are expanded to include “service providers that enable residential transactions (notaries, title companies, Realtors, etc.); funeral homes and cemeteries; moving companies, rental car companies and rideshare services that specifically enable essential activities.” The order added, “Essential businesses that continue to operate facilities must scale down operations to their essential component only.” See our detailed FAQ on what’s still open and what must close in the Bay Area.
12:52 p.m. Santa Clara County might be seeing positive turn: Santa Clara’s health director says officials may be spotting some positive effects of social distancing. Dr. Sara Cody, at a news briefing Tuesday, urged people continue to practice social distancing — with six feet as a minimum separation — and limit interactions with others as health officials track “early” positive changes of the initiative aimed at stopping the coronavirus spread. “It’s really, really early,” Cody said after noting indications that the precautionary measure may be working. “We just need to keep at it. … It’s giving our hospitals more time.”
12:45 p.m. Cruise ship coronavirus outbreaks prompt reform plan: Bay Area Democratic Rep. Jackie Speier wants to crack down on the cruise ship industry to prevent operators from receiving any federal assistance without new regulatory strings attached, including stricter environmental rules and refund guarantees for customers. Read Dustin Gardiner’s story.
12:40 p.m. Santa Clara County’s top prosecutor pleads with non-essential businesses to close: Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen says too many non-essential businesses in the county remain open. They need to close, he said Tuesday at a news briefing. “Please close your doors,” Rosen said. “Please join the rest of our community.” Rosen said a “small” number of businesses are refusing to shutter despite earlier directives.
12:38 p.m. Newsom announces eldercare initiative: Gov. Gavin Newsom said Tuesday that California is launching a new initiative with AARP to promote and ensure that people maintain social distance. “Check in on your neighbors, make those phone calls,” Newsom said. The state has launched a hotline and website to provide eldercare assistance: 833-544-2374. Newsom said people can also call 211 for assistance.
12:32 p.m.: Record number of Californians seek unemployment insurance: More than 150,000 Californians filed for unemployment on Monday, Gov. Gavin Newsom said at a news conference Tuesday, a single-day record for the state. More than 1.6 million people have applied during the coronavirus outbreak.
12:27 p.m. Stricter measures in Bay Area shelter-in-place extension to May 3: Bay Area officials confirmed Tuesday that the shelter-in-place order has been extended to May 3 and with stricter guidelines to curb the coronavirus pandemic. “Please remember every unnecessary contact with another person increases the chances that the virus may spread from one person to another,” said Dr. Sara Cody, public health officer in Santa Clara County, the Bay Area’s hardest hit county. Going forward, use is prohibited at playgrounds, dog parks, public picnic areas, and “similar recreational areas;” and public recreational facilities such as golf courses, tennis and basketball courts, pools and rock walls must be closed. “Sports requiring people to share a ball or other equipment must be limited to people in the same household,” the new guidelines state. Among other restrictions, funerals must be limited to no more than 10 people. Most commercial and residential construction is banned. Essential businesses must implement a distancing protocol.
12:10 p.m. California considering mask advisory: Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a virtual news conference Tuesday that the state might end up telling residents to wear masks to prevent the spread of coronavirus, but there are risks in such a mandate because people could end up adjusting the masks and touching their face more often, which health experts have advised against.
12:08 p.m. AC Transit modifies schedule as ridership declines: AC Transit officials said as of Tuesday most bus lines will operate on modified schedules similar to the agency’s Sunday service because of “dramatic declines in ridership and fare revenue.” Officials said they temporarily suspended the following bus routes: 39, 46L, 47, 83, 94, 215, 239, 314, 356, 448, 475 and Broadway shuttle. Updated bus schedules can be found here.
11:56 a.m. Trump took Putin up on offer of medical equipment, Russia says: The state news agency Tass reported Tuesday that Russia will send medical equipment and protective gear to the United States to aid in the fight against COVID-19. Russian President Vladimir Putin offered the assistance and Trump accepted in their phone call on Monday, the news agency said, quoting a Putin press secretary. A plane carrying the equipment could be sent to the U.S. as early as Tuesday evening, according to the report. The White House disclosed Trump spoke with Putin on Monday and the two agreed to work together against the pandemic.
11:49 p.m. 11 a.m. Frameline postponed due to coronavirus concerns: Frameline, the longest-running and largest LGBTQ film festival in the country, which usually takes over San Francisco movie houses for nearly two weeks in June, will be hosted in the fall this year. New dates have not yet been announced.
11:44p.m. San Francisco startup Thumbtack lays off 250: The online services marketplace Thumbtack is conducting layoffs after seeing demand plunge 61% in San Francisco and a drop in overall revenue by more than 40% due to th ecoronavirus. Layoffs occurred in both San Francisco and Salt Lake City.
11:33 a.m. Navy working in “methodical way” to move sailors off coronavirus-plagued aircraft carrier: The U.S. Navy’s top official responded Tuesday to an aircraft carrier captain’s letter pleading for resources to remove more than 4,000 sailors from the ship docked in Guam, where more than 100 aboard have tested positive for the coronavirus. The response came after The Chronicle reported Tuesday on the letter from Capt. Brett Crozier, a Santa Rosa native helming the U.S.S. Theodore Roosevelt who said swift action is needed to prevent potential deaths. Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly told CNN Tuesday that the Navy’s “command organization has been aware of this for about 24 hours and we have been working actually the last seven days to move those sailors off the ship and get them into accommodations in Guam. The problem is that Guam doesn’t have enough beds right now.” Modly added, “We’re very engaged in this, we’re very concerned about it and we’re taking all the appropriate steps.” Read The Chronicle’s exclusive by Matthis Gafni and Joe Garofoli here.
11:19 a.m. J.C. Penney latest to furlough workers in pandemic-related move: J.C. Penney said Tuesday it will furlough a “majority” of hourly and salaried sales associates in its stores, starting Thursday; and beginning Sunday, “a significant portion of associates in the company’s Home Office, Salt Lake City, and Soho design offices will be furloughed, along with its store salaried associates.” The company’s statement added, “Many of the Company’s associates in supply chain and logistics centers were previously furloughed on March 20, and those furloughs will continue.” Furloughed employees enrolled in the retailer’s benefits programs will continue to receive the benefits.
11:04 a.m. IRS issues some details on $1,200 payments: The Internal Revenue Service has clarified that to get an “economic impact” payment this year, income-eligible taxpayers must file a tax return, even if they don’t owe tax. For people who have already filed 2019 tax returns, the IRS will use this information to calculate the payment. Otherwise, it will use their 2018 returns. The payment will be deposited directly into the same bank account on the return filed. Otherwise, the IRS will mail a check. “In the coming weeks, Treasury plans to develop a web-based portal for individuals to provide their banking information to the IRS online, so that individuals can receive payments immediately as opposed to checks in the mail,” the IRS said in guidance issued Monday. “People who typically do not file a tax return will need to file a simple tax return to receive an economic impact payment. Low-income taxpayers, senior citizens, Social Security recipients, some veterans and individuals with disabilities who are otherwise not required to file a tax return will not owe tax. The payments from the virus-related stimulus package will be available throughout 2020. For more details and income limits, see IRS.gov/coronavirus.
10:55 a.m. Now 12 confirmed cases at S.F.’s Laguna Honda: Coronavirus cases continue to climb at San Francisco’s 780-bed hospital for the sick and elderly. Ten staff members and two residents have tested positive, and it is unclear how many tests are still pending. City officials acknowledged Monday that San Francisco is not equipped to handle the outbreak on its own, and said they have requested extra resources and staff from the state and federal government. Experts are growing increasingly worried that Laguna Honda could follow the pattern of Life Care in Kirkland, Wash., where the coronavirus raced through the facility in a matter of weeks, ultimately killing more than 30 people.
10:30 a.m. L.A. County to refrain from closing gun stores, as Trump administration dubs them essential: Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva said he will no longer order gun shops to close as other businesses are shuttered during the corona virus pandemic, following the Department of Homeland Security’s March 28 updated guidelines deeming the gun stores “essential critical infrastructure.” DHS said essential workers during the pandemic include those “supporting the operation of firearm or ammunition product manufacturers, retailers, importers, distributors, and shooting ranges.” In a statement, Villanueva called the federal guidelines “explicitly advisory in nature” but “persuasive.”
In the Bay Area, the Alameda County sheriff has ordered a Castro Valley gun shop to close. The gun shop, Solar Tactical, said in Facebook posts it had contacted county officials for an update, without reply. “Please reach out to Alameda county for an update,” store officials wrote in an oline etreaty to customers. Alameda County sheriff’s officials did not immediately return a call for comment Tuesday. The federal guidelines on firearms establishements followed a National Rifle Association announcement that several gun organizations were suing Gov. Gavin Newsom and Villanueva for alleged constitutional violations.
9:45 a.m. More things you should know about the $2 trillion CARES Act: You may have heard about the stimulus checks, but there are many other aspects of the coronavirus economic relief package Congress passed last week. Kathleen Pender digs into the details, from student loan help to tampon tax breaks.
9:22 a.m. Four new deaths in San Mateo County; child cases disclosed: Health officials in San Mateo County said Tuesday four more people had died of COVID-19, increasing the total number of people who have died of the virus to 10. Additionally, health officials released an infographic that indicates some of the county’s 309 cases include teens and children younger than 10.
9:12 a.m. Confirmed cases tally in San Francisco nears 400: The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in San Francisco increased to 397 Tuesday from 374 the day before. No new deaths were announced Tuesday. Health officials earlier have recorded six coronavirus-related deaths.
9:05 a.m. CNN anchor Chris Cuomo diagnosed with coronavirus: CNN anchor Chris Cuomo tested positive for the coronavirus but plans to continue to doing his nightly show. “Sooooo in these difficult times that seem to get more difficult and complicated by the day, I just found out that I am positive for coronavirus,” Cuomo said in a message he posted on Twitter. “I have been exposed to people in recent days who have subsequently tested positive and I had fever, chills and shortness of breath.” He says he is quarantining in his basement. His brother New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said during a news conference Thursday morning: “He is gonna be fine. He is young in good shape, strong.”
9 a.m. Restaurants feed hospital workers during coronavirus: Multiple Bay Area organizations have sprung up to orchestrate massive meal deliveries to hospitals funded by donations. The efforts are much appreciated by nurses and doctors on the front lines, but they also help struggling restaurants keep staff on payroll when they can’t open their dining rooms. Read the story from Janelle Bitker here.
8:50 a.m. California halts public transparency on infected health care workers: As of Saturday, the California Department of Public Health is no longer releasing the number of health care workers who test positive for COVID-19 in its daily press releases The last figure was 73 on Saturday, an increase from 48 on Friday, but now the number of health care workers sickened by the disease is unknown. The department said in an email Monday the numbers are now included in the overall case totals. “In order to better focus public health resources on the changing needs of California communities, the state is no longer collecting information about how individuals contracted COVID-19,” an emailed statement said.
8:22 a.m. Obama likens fuel efficiency rollback to virus denial: Former President Barack Obama on Tuesday compared President Trump’s sweeping rollboack of fuel efficiency standards for vehicles to early coronavirus response. In a tweet, Obama did not mention his successor by name, but wrote: “We’ve seen all too terribly the consequences of those who denied warnings of a pandemic. We can’t afford any more consequences of climate denial.” Trump initially dowplayed the seriousness of the coronavirus, blamed the media for inflating it, emphasized the early-on few reported cases in the U.S. despite health officials’ warnings of a coming wave, and repeatedly pointed out that the seasonal flu kills thousands.
7:55 a.m. COVID-19 claims more in U.S. than a very different horror — the 9/11 attack: The United States recorded 3,173 coronavirus-related deaths as of early Tuesday, surpassing the fatality count of the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in New York on Sept. 11, 2001. Nearly 3,000 people died in the jet-borne attack that felled the World Trade Center while numerous others — including first responders who excavated rubbish and debris searching for survivors — suffered medical complications for years after. Coronavirus deaths in the U.S. are expected to climb as high as 200,000, federal officials have said.
7:40 a.m. Teleconference hackers spreading porn, hate, feds warn: Federal authorities are receiving reports of hackers disrupting video teleconferences, which people are using for school and business meetings as the coronavirus shuts down in-person gatherings. The hijackers are injecting pornographic and hate images as well as threatening language into the conferences, the FBI says. FBI officials disclosed details of two recent incidents reported to the agency’s Boston office: A Massachusetts high school reported an unknown person entered a class being held through Zoom, yelled a profanity and shouted the teacher’s home address. Another school’s virtual gathering was interrupted by someone displaying swastika tattoos. Authorities say people should not make their meetings or classrooms public, and should share links directly with guests. “The FBI recommends exercising due diligence and caution in your cybersecurity efforts,” the agency said in a written statement.
7:36 a.m. 12-year-old dies in Belgium, youngest victim in Europe: A 12-year-old girl died of the coronavirus in Belgium, where the virus has infected more than 10,000, according to several news reports. The Associated Press reported few details about the girl were released. A spokesman for a national coronavirus crisis center. Emmanuel Andre, said it was “an emotionally difficult moment, because it involves a child, and it has also upset the medical and scientific community.”
7:29 a.m. Anti-COVID-19 blood tests are new frontier: Bay Area researchers are racing to develop new blood tests that can not only help diagnose the new coronavirus, but could help determine whether people become immune after catching it and lay the groundwork for a vaccine. Scientists at UCSF and the San Francisco Vitalant Research Institute are among several across the country developing tests, The Chronicle’s Mallory Moench reports. UCSF hopes to start using its test as early as this week, although it won’t be widely available to the public.
6:57 a.m. Nuclear carrier captain begs Navy for coronavirus help: The captain of a nuclear aircraft carrier with more than 100 sailors infected with the coronavirus pleaded Monday with U.S. Navy officials for resources to allow isolation of his entire crew and avoid possible deaths in a deteriorating situation, The Chronicle’s Matthias Gafni and Joe Garofoli report. Capt. Brett Crozier, a Santa Rosa native, made his plea in a letter obtained exclusively by The Chronicle and confirmed by a senior officer on the carrier Theodore Roosevelt, which has been docked in Guam following a COVID-19 outbreak among the crew of more than 4,000 less than a week ago.
6:50 a.m. Dow set to record worst first quarter ever: After weeks of volatile trading, the markets appeared to have settled down, with the Dow Jones industrial average down less than 1% in early trading Tuesday. But with March coming to a close, the index is set to record its worst-ever performance for the first three months of the year, CNBC reported.
6:41 a.m. Spain reports record virus deaths in single day: Spain, one of the world’s hardest hit countries by the pandemic, recorded 849 new coronavirus deaths on Tuesday, a record single-day jump that increased the country’s death toll to 8,189, according to the Associated Press.
6:30 a.m. China’s manufacturing rebounding: Manufacturing in China rebounded in March as authorities relaxed anti-disease controls and allowed factories to reopen, an official survey showed Tuesday, according to the Associated Press. But an industry group warned the economy has yet to fully recover. The ruling Communist Party is trying to revive the world’s second-largest economy after declaring victory over the coronavirus even as the United States and other governments shut down businesses. The purchasing managers’ index issued by the Chinese statistics bureau and the official China Federation of Logistics & Purchasing rose to 52 from February’s record low of 35.7 on a 100-point scale on which numbers above 50 show activity increasing, AP reported.
6:15 am. Newsom says California received no usable ventilators from feds: Gov. Gavin Newsom, in an interview with “The Daily Show” host Trevor Noah, said the state had received no workable ventilators during the coronavirus pandemic. He said Los Angeles received 170 that did not work. “Rather than complaining about it … I brought them into Silicon Valley,” Newsom said. “Literally within 72 hours all of them were fixed and they’ve already been sent back down to Los Angeles.” He added, “We need more support but at the end of the day we have to be resourceful in our mindset and our approach and use all the tools in our toolkit.”
5:51 a.m. Global cases top 800,000: Confirmed cases of coronavirus have surpassed 800,000 worldwide, according to the tally kept by Johns Hopkins University. More than 38,700 people have died of the infection, and more than 172,600 people have recovered. In the United States, 164,610 cases of COVID-10 have been recorded, with 3,170 deaths. California officials report 149 deaths, including 55 in the Bay Area
5:43 a.m. Virus efforts used to quell dissent: Serbia’s president warns that Belgrade’s graveyards won’t be big enough to bury the dead if residents ignore his lockdown orders during an open-ended state of emergency featuring some of Europe’s strictest measures to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, the Associated Press reports. In Eastern Europe and elsewhere, populist leaders are introducing harsh measures — including uncontrolled cellphone surveillance of their citizens and lengthy jail sentences for those who flout lockdown decrees. The human rights chief of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe said while she understands the need to act swiftly to protect populations from the pandemic, the newly declared states of emergency must include a time limit and parliamentary oversight.
5:38 a.m. Teamsters pressure Apple and Tesla to pay shuttle bus drivers during pandemic: A union representing 1,000 shuttle bus drivers is calling on Apple and Tesla to guarantee these contracted employees get paychecks and health care during the coronavirus pandemic, when Silicon Valley companies have shut their doors. Facebook, Genentech, Electronic Arts, Twitter, Salesforce and LinkedIn have all pledged to maintain these protections for drivers. “Both Apple and Tesla seem to pride themselves on being good corporate citizens, and both benefit greatly (from) the services these drivers provide,” Rome Aloise, president of Teamsters Joint Council 7 said in a statement. “I am hoping that this is simply an oversight by both companies, and that they will step up and do the same as the other tech companies.”