Rand Paul Becomes the First Senator to Test Positive for the Coronavirus

Paul was the only senator to vote agains a bipartisan $8.3 billion bill intended to help fight the outbreak

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Italy shuts factories as daily toll nears 800

Italy on Saturday shut all non-essential factories after recording another record coronavirus toll that brought its fatalities to 4,825 -- over a third of the world's total and a grim reminder that the pandemic remains out of control. "The decision taken by the government is to close down all productive activity throughout the territory that is not strictly necessary, crucial, indispensable, to guarantee us essential goods and services," Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said in a dramatic late-night TV address. "We will slow down the country's productive engine, but we will not stop it," Conte said.

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Iran's coronavirus deaths rise to 1,556, infections exceed 20,000: health ministry

Iran's death toll from the coronavirus outbreak rose by more than 100 to 1,556 on Saturday and the total number of people infected now exceeds 20,000, a health ministry official said. Iran, one of the countries most affected by the pandemic outside China, had on Friday reported a death toll of 1,433 and a total number of confirmed infections of 19,644. The total number of people diagnosed with the disease stood at 20,610 on Saturday, health ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour said on state TV.

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Coronavirus Has Opened the Corporate Email Floodgates

By BY AIMEE ORTIZ from NYT Business https://ift.tt/3afiSEi

‘Brace Yourself’: How Doctors in Italy Responded to Coronavirus

By BY BARBARA MARCOLINI AND ROBIN STEIN from NYT World https://ift.tt/2QBpMfh

Africa lockdowns begin as coronavirus cases above 1,000

Lockdowns have begun in Africa as coronavirus cases rise above 1,000, while Nigeria on Saturday announced it is closing airports to all incoming international flights for one month in the continent's most populous country. Rwanda said all unnecessary movements outside the home are banned for two weeks as of midnight except for essential services such as health care and shopping. The East African nation, which has 17 cases, told all public and private employees to work from home.

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Russian army sends coronavirus help to Italy after Putin phone call

The Russian military will start sending medical help to Italy on Sunday to help it battle the coronavirus after receiving an order from President Vladimir Putin, Russia's Defense Ministry said in a statement.

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Iran Releases French Scholar in Prisoner-Exchange Agreement

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Iran Leader Refuses U.S. Help to Fight COVID-19, Citing Conspiracy Theory

He also alleged without offering any evidence that the virus “is specifically built for Iran"

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Iran president foresees virus relief, even as death toll tops 1,500

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Saturday said authorities' efforts to combat the COVID-19 epidemic would produce significant results within 15 days, as the country's official death toll from the virus surpassed 1,500. There were 123 more fatalities -- taking the country's death toll to 1,556 -- and 966 more cases of the novel coronavirus reported in Iran over the past 24 hours, health ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour announced in a televised address. Despite the increasing toll, Rouhani said the government's response to the virus is producing "a lot of impact", indicating "the situation will change automatically within 10 to 15 days" if "everyone observes the directives", according to a statement by the presidency.

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First coronavirus cases confirmed in the Palestinian Gaza Strip

The first two cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in the densely-populated Gaza Strip, Palestinian health officials said on Sunday. Two Palestinians who had traveled from Pakistan and entered Gaza through Egypt had tested positive for the virus late on Saturday and have been in quarantine in Rafah, a town near the Egyptian border, since their arrival on Thursday, the Gaza health ministry said. Schools, public markets and event halls have all been shut in Gaza over the past two weeks to minimize the risk of coronavirus transmission.

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President Trump says his own hotels are among those hurting amid coronavirus pandemic

Hotels worldwide are hurting due to the coronavirus pandemic, including those owned by President Donald Trump.

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Republicans: It's time to ban the Chinese government from Twitter for its 'whitewash' of coronavirus history

Twitter is officially blocked in China. But that isn't stopping Chinese government officials from spreading disinformation online.

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Democrats are divided over how Joe Biden should react to Trump amid pandemic

It's clear the coronavirus pandemic is now overshadowing the 2020 election, and that's left former Vice President Joe Biden, the favorite for the Democratic nomination, in a tough place. Democrats are split on how he should get out of it, Politico reports.Jeff Hauser, the head of executive branch appointee watchdog Revolving Door Project, thinks Biden needs to make himself more visible and go after the Trump administration. "Biden is only in limbo if he keeps himself there," Hauser told Politico. "He's only in a predicament to the degree he chooses to view himself in one." In other words, Hauser is saying the vice president can either complain about a lack of media coverage or go out there and seize the coverage himself. "He needs to offer an alternative and offer a running play-by-play critique of the failings of this administration," he said.Joe Lockhart, the former White House spokesman for the Clinton administration, isn't so sure that's the best path, however. "It's very tricky," he said. "When you're in a crisis, there can only be one president. Just attacking him every day is a bad strategy." Read more at Politico.More stories from theweek.com How bad will the coronavirus crash get? 5 uplifting cartoons about coronavirus heroes Rand Paul is the first senator to test positive for coronavirus

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Millions ordered into lockdown in India over virus fears

Hundreds of millions of Indians were ordered into lockdowns Sunday in the world's second-most populous nation, which stepped up measures to halt the spread of the deadly novel coronavirus. The raft of state shutdowns in the nation of 1.3 billion people came during a 14-hour voluntary curfew that Prime Minister Narendra Modi said would test India's ability to fight the pandemic. "This is the start of a long fight," Modi tweeted as the curfew came to an end.

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Pope calls for world prayer to stop coronavirus, will deliver special blessing

Pope Francis said on Sunday he will this week deliver an extraordinary "Urbi et Orbi" (to the city and the world) blessing - normally given only at Christmas and Easter - and called for worldwide prayer to respond to the coronavirus crisis. Francis made the surprise announcement in his weekly Angelus message, which he has been delivering from inside the Vatican over the internet and television instead of before crowds in St. Peter's Square. The square, which is part of the Vatican, has been closed as part of a lockdown in Italy to try to contain the spread of the virus.

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Coronavirus pandemic: Trump can't even play a president on TV. America, we're on our own.

The best we could hope for was that Trump would stay out of the way. Instead he's center stage spreading hunches, distortions and faulty assumptions.

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Gingerly, U.S. police departments take up enforcing restrictions.

By BY SHAILA DEWAN, VANESSA SWALES AND PATRICK J. LYONS from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/3bmcF9J

Coronavirus: lecciones para el mundo desde Italia, el nuevo epicentro de la pandemia

By BY JASON HOROWITZ, EMMA BUBOLA AND ELISABETTA POVOLEDO from NYT en Español https://ift.tt/2UriyM0

How Trump Is Worsening the Virus Now

By BY DAVID LEONHARDT from NYT Opinion https://ift.tt/2Wwl71U

Trump Bets Business Will Answer Call to Fight Virus, but Strategy Bewilders Firms

By BY DAVID E. SANGER, ANA SWANSON AND MAGGIE HABERMAN from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/3ab5nVT

Is it safe for kids to spend time with their grandparents?

By BY HALLIE LEVINE from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/2Uc6Ypa

Police Tread Lightly as Pandemic Spreads

By BY SHAILA DEWAN, VANESSA SWALES AND NEIL VIGDOR from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/33BeOM0