US death linked to West Coast cruise

Californian had been aboard ship now quarantined

A 71-year-old California man who died on Wednesday is believed to have been exposed to COVID-19 while traveling last month on a Princess cruise ship that departed from San Francisco and visited Mexico.

The vessel, the Grand Princess, which is reportedly carrying around 3,500 people, had later sailed on to Hawaii and was ordered to return to San Francisco, according to the BBC.

California Governor Gavin Newsom said the ship was being quarantined off the coast so public health officials could screen everyone on board, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Officials are also trying to locate hundreds of other Californians who disembarked from the Grand Princess in San Francisco last month after a trip to Mexico to determine whether they also might have contracted the virus, according to the LA Times.

The ship is operated by Carnival, whose Diamond Princess cruise liner was quarantined last month after dozens of passengers tested positive for COVID-19 while it docked in Yokohama, Japan.

Following the states of Washington and Florida, California has declared an emergency in the state, Governor Newsom said on Wednesday. California has 53 confirmed cases, the largest number in the United States.

The US has reported at least 150 patients with COVID-19 in 16 states, and the number was expected to rise this week as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention broadened guidelines on Wednesday for coronavirus testing. The guidelines now allow doctors to order a test for any patient who has symptoms such as fever, cough or difficulty breathing. But laboratory capacity to process the tests remained limited.

Ten of the 11 US deaths were in Washington state, but the outbreak has also flared up in Texas and Nebraska.

The US House of Representatives approved $8.3 billion in emergency funding on Wednesday to combat the coronavirus.

Also on Wednesday, the International Monetary Fund made available $50 billion in emergency funding to help countries combat the coronavirus.

Kristalina Georgieva, the managing director of the 189-member global lender, said at a joint news conference with World Bank President David Malpass that the IMF is predicting global economic growth to be below last year's level of 2.9 percent.

Georgieva said the IMF has about $1 trillion in overall lending capacity, including up to $10 billion in rapid-disbursal emergency financing for low-income countries－these funds can be accessed without a fullfledged IMF program－and about $40 billion for emerging markets that could seek support.

Georgieva said the IMF was encouraged by the restart of some production in China, which is now at around 60 percent and is expected to be increased to 90 percent in the coming weeks.

Confirmed cases of the coronavirus have been reported in 81 countries, with Italy, Iran and South Korea continuing to be the hot spots outside China, according to the BBC.

Italy, where 107 people have died from novel coronavirus pneumonia, has confirmed it will shut all schools for 10 days beginning on Thursday, and all professional sports, including Serie A soccer matches, will be played behind closed doors, without fans present, for a month.

Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said the country's health services risked being overwhelmed.

An official in Brussels has tested positive for the coronavirus. The man, a member of the staff at the European Defence Agency, had recently returned from a trip to Italy, media network Euractiv reported. As a result, all meetings at the EU headquarters in Brussels have been canceled until March 13.

Governments across Europe are taking steps to ensure adequate supplies of protective medical gear, such as masks and gloves, to make sure that health workers have enough to deal with the outbreak.

In a statement, the Interior Ministry of Germany, which has reported 240 cases, said it had published a decree in the Federal Gazette outlawing "the export abroad of medical protective gear (masks, gloves, protective suits, etc.)".

Meanwhile, the number of deaths in Iran rose to 107, while the total number of cases in the country passed 3,500, Iranian Health Ministry spokesman Kianush Jahanpur announced on state TV on Thursday, Reuters reported.

Saudi Arabia has suspended the lesser Muslim pilgrimage, known as Umra, for Saudi citizens and residents of the Gulf kingdom.

Iraq, which has announced two deaths from the coronavirus, will suspend all trade with Iran and Kuwait for a week.

The Republic of Korea's Blue House said on Thursday that Democratic People's Republic of Korea leader Kim Jong-un has sent a personal letter to ROK President Moon Jae-in to console South Koreans fighting the coronavirus outbreak, according to the Yonhap News Agency.

In the letter, delivered to Moon on Wednesday, Kim voiced his belief that the ROK will overcome the situation and wished for the good health of South Koreans.

In return, Moon sent a letter to his DPRK counterpart, expressing his gratitude, Yonhap said.

The ROK's number of coronavirus cases rose above 6,000 on Thursday, and 41 people there have died from the virus, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Jonathan Powell in London and Cai Hong in Beijing contributed to this story.