US coronavirus cases top 2,800, at least 58 people have died

As the number of US coronavirus cases passed 2,800 on Saturday, authorities in Teaneck, New Jersey, concerned with a rapid increase of cases, are urging all residents of the township to self-quarantine.

“We don’t know how it happened,” Teaneck Deputy Mayor Elie Katz told media. “Teaneck has been at the forefront from the beginning. We were one of the first to close our municipal buildings and close our schools.”

According to CNN, the number of presumptive positive cases in Teaneck more than doubled overnight, Katz said, and officials are now considering “very strict” guidelines.

Teaneck is in Bergen County, which is currently reporting 25 cases, according to the New Jersey Department of Health. The township has more than 41,000 residents and is a New York suburb roughly six miles west of upper Manhattan.

As of Saturday, West Virginia remained the only state without any confirmed cases. At least 31 individuals have been tested and 26 have come back negative, according to the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources. Five tests remain pending.

The lack of confirmed cases did not stop state Gov. Jim Justice from closing schools in response to the “emerging health threat posed” by the virus.

“There are currently no confirmed cases of COVID-19 in West Virginia,” the governor’s office said Friday, referring to the World Health Organization’s name for disease caused by the coronavirus. “However, it’s anticipated that the disease will come to West Virginia soon.”

Elsewhere in the US, Americans were grappling with life under the coronavirus and everything that came with it: school closures, travel restrictions, empty grocery store shelves, canceled worship services and a near-halt of recreational and entertainment events.

A ban restricting travel from a large swath of Europe to the US went into effect Friday night, and will be extended to include the UK and Ireland, officials said at a White House briefing Saturday.

The new restrictions are set to go into effect at midnight on Monday, Vice President Mike Pence said.

There are at least 2,816 cases across America. At least 58 people have died, with most of the deaths in Washington state.

“We have not yet reached our peak” of coronavirus cases in the United States, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, said Saturday. There will be more cases and more deaths, he said, primarily among vulnerable older individuals.

The virus has been felt at the top levels of American government.

President Donald Trump took a coronavirus test Friday night, he told reporters Saturday, after facing questions about whether he had been tested at a news conference the day before. The White House later said the test was negative.

Trump had his temperature taken before Saturday’s briefing, and it was normal, he said.

On Capitol Hill, nine US lawmakers are taking steps to self-quarantine after encountering an infected person. And courts across the US are delaying trials due to coronavirus concerns.

Empty grocery aisles

As Americans try to prepare for what’s next, across the country, more and more are faced with empty store shelves.

Several grocery store chains announced they would reduce their hours to help keep their employees safe and allow more time for cleaning and restocking.

Publix stores and pharmacies will close two hours early, at 8 p.m. The Giant Company, which has nearly 200 stores across the mid-Atlantic, will begin closing its 24-hour locations at midnight and reopening at 6 a.m. And Harris Teeter, a large chain in the Southeast, will close its stores at 9 p.m. beginning Sunday.

The hope is these changes will help stores cope with the demand seen in recent days.

One Massachusetts resident told media, it took nearly half an hour to check out at the local grocery store, and staff members were reassuring shoppers over the intercom the store would be open all weekend.

@ CNN