Monday morning news - March 9, 2020

Cruise ship hit by coronavirus to dock in Oakland » A cruise ship stranded off the coast of California because of the coronavirus is expected to dock in Oakland today. Though the captain told passengers they may have to stay on board for at least another day.

The Grand Princess is carrying more than 3,500 people from 54 countries—including Carrie Kolstoe. She told Fox News she has cancer and needs to get back to shore. 

KOLSTOE: I need to get back for treatment. We had a little gap to go for a cruise that got planned years ago, and the doctor said I could. Obviously in hindsight it didn’t work out so well, but we thought we were safe. 

The captain said the disembarkment process will take several days.

California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services said passengers who need medical treatment will go to health care facilities in California. Those who don’t require acute medical care will go to federal facilities for testing.  

The office said the crew would be quarantined and treated on the ship. 

Coronavirus continues to spread in U.S. » And the coronavirus continues to spread within the United States, as officials confirmed the first case in Washington, D.C. On the other side of the country, Oregon Governor Kate Brown made a Sunday announcement: 

BROWN: Nine days ago, I announced that we had Oregon’s first case of COVID-19 coronavirus. Late yesterday evening, we learned of seven new cases in Oregon, bringing the total number of cases in our state to 14. 

Brown has declared a state of emergency to free up resources to fight the virus. 

The coronavirus now has a foothold in at least 30 states, and at least 19 people in the United States have died from the virus. 

Dr. Anthony Fauci with the National Institutes for Health said Sunday…

FAUCI: If we continue to see cases like this, particularly at the community level, there will be what we call mitigation, where you’ll have to do, essentially, social distancing; keep people out of crowded places, take a look at seriousness, do you really need to travel? 

Italy locks down roughly 16 million to curb virus spread » Meantime, in Italy, government officials took a page from China’s playbook on Sunday, locking down around 16 million people—more than a quarter of its population—for nearly a month. It is a drastic effort to halt the march of the virus across Europe.

Confusion reigned as residents and tourists tried to figure out when and how the new measures were coming into effect. Travelers crammed aboard standing-room only trains, tucking their faces into scarves and sharing sanitizing gel.

After Italy saw its biggest one-day jump in infections, Italian Premier Giuseppe Conte signed a quarantine decree overnight for the country’s north. Areas under lockdown include Milan, Italy’s financial hub and the main city in Lombardy, and Venice. The extraordinary measures will be in place until April 3.

The fate of foreign visitors stuck in Italy’s new quarantine zones is still unclear.

Biden, Sanders take new endorsements to campaign trail » Former Vice President Joe Biden and Senator Bernie Sanders are hitting a reshaped presidential campaign trail this week. The Super Tuesday results effectively turned the fight for the Democratic nomination into a two-man race. And former candidates for that nomination are now campaigning for others. 

California Senator Kamala Harris is the latest to throw her support behind former Vice President Joe Biden. 

HARRIS: I believe in Joe. I really believe in him, and I have known him for a long time. One of the things that we need right now is we need a leader who really does care about the people and who can therefore unify the people. And I believe Joe can do that.

Most former candidates have lined up behind Biden, but Sanders did pick up one of those endorsements yesterday—just not from this year’s field. Democratic civil rights activist Jesse Jackson, who twice ran for president in the 1980s, stumped for Sanders in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Sunday. 

JACKSON: I stand with Bernie Sanders today because he stood with me. [SIC] He’s never lost his taste for justice of the people. 

Biden has secured 664 delegates thus far, 91 more than Sanders. Voters in six more states will head to the polls tomorrow. 

Nashville church worships amid rubble after deadly tornado » A Nashville church worshiped Sunday in the rubble from last week’s deadly tornado. 79-year-old Bobbie Harris lost her rental home, her job, and her church when a twister struck her community in North Nashville. 

But on Sunday she said—quote—“Through it all, God is good.”

Harris joined other members of Mount Bethel Missionary Baptist Church on Sunday to worship just outside the ruins of the church. The roofs of their two church buildings are gone, ripped away by strong winds early Tuesday.

The church pitched a tent in the parking lot and the congregants gathered to sing, pray and hold hands in what the church called “worship in the rubble.” 

Pastor Jacques Boyd led the congregation in prayer on the sunny, windy morning. He said “We must trust in the Savior who does not deliver us from storms, but through storms,” he told the clapping congregation.

At least six tornadoes hit Tennessee during last week’s storms that killed 24 people and caused massive damage in parts of Middle Tennessee.

(AP Photo/Noah Berger) Carrying multiple people who have tested positive for COVID-19, the Grand Princess passes the Farallon Islands while holding off the coast of San Francisco, Sunday, March 8, 2020. 

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