U.S. cases of COVID-19 surpass 1,000

State and local governments around the country are limiting large gatherings in an effort to slow the spread of the new coronavirus. The disease has killed at least 30 people in the country and infected more than 1,000 others across more than 30 states.

What do prevention efforts look like? Washington Gov. Jay Inslee is banning large gatherings of people in most of the Seattle area. Santa Clara County, Calif., banned gatherings of more than 1,000 people starting Wednesday, and organizers postponed the Coachella music festival in Palm Springs, originally scheduled for April. Gov. Andrew Cuomo said he would send National Guard troops to the New York City suburb of New Rochelle to help respond to a cluster of cases there. Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker declared a state of emergency after cases in the state jumped from 51 to 92. Many schools and universities, including Harvard, Stanford, UCLA, and Yale, encouraged students to stay home and announced plans to hold classes online.

Dig deeper: Read Maryrose Delahunty’s report in Muse about how the fear of large gatherings has hurt the entertainment industry.