Contagion Live News Network: Coronavirus Updates for March 10, 2020

Welcome to the Contagion Live News Network. I’m Grant Gallagher and this is the COVID-19 update for Tuesday, March 10th, 2020.

More than 40 US colleges have cancelled in-person classes or extended their spring breaks due to the coronavirus. Colleges include Princeton, Columbia, the University of Southern California, and some community colleges in Washington state.

New York has surpassed Washington state and now has the largest number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the country, according to a press conference by Governor Cuomo. Cuomo announced more than 160 cases in the state. New York will implement a policy wherein if a person at any school tests positive, that school will be closed for at least 24 hours to decide how to move forward.

The total number of cases in the United States has reached more than 755.

Abroad, Italy has expanded its quarantine policy to cover the entire nation. Visitation was suspended at Italian prisons as a preventative measure, leading to riots at 27 prisons across the country.

Iran announced nearly 900 new cases this morning, with the health ministry confirming 8042 total cases and 291 deaths. Iran, Italy, and South Korea are among the most significant hotspots of the virus outside of China.

South Korea is particularly notable, as it appears to be slowing the infection rate in recent days without citywide lockdowns, opting for free mass testing, improved public health communication, and voluntary participation in social distancing.

For more information on COVID-19, visit ContagionLive.com. To track the spread of coronavirus in the United States and abroad, be sure to use the Contagion Outbreak Monitor.

For the Contagion Live News Network, I’m Grant Gallagher. Thanks for watching.