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Disney has temporarily closed theme park in California because of the coronavirus outbreak. The move to shutter its parks comes as the novel coronavirus outbreak continues to rapidly spread across the country. Over the past week it has officially become a pandemic, with cases increasing in the U.S., Asia and across Europe.

Its only the fourth time in history that Disneyland in Anaheim, Calif., has fully suspended operations. The other instances were Sept. 11 attacks, the morning after JFK’s assassination and the Northridge earthquake.

It’s unclear if Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla., will remain open.

Disney said in a statement, “While there have been no reported cases of COVID-19 at Disneyland Resort, after carefully reviewing the guidelines of the Governor of California’s executive order and in the best interest of our guests and employees, we are proceeding with the closure of Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure, beginning the morning of March 14 through the end of the month. The Hotels of Disneyland Resort will remain open until Monday, March 16 to give guests the ability to make necessary travel arrangements; Downtown Disney will remain open. We will monitor the ongoing situation and follow the advice and guidance of federal and state officials and health agencies. Disney will continue to pay cast members during this time.”

Closures seemed inevitable after Los Angeles Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday called for gatherings with more than 250 people to be canceled or delayed in an effort to halt the transmission of the virus. Officials are also encouraging “social distancing” of six feet per person.

Disney closed its parks in Shanghai and Hong Kong in January, and has also temporarily closed its parks in Japan as well. The Shanghai Disney Resort will reopen some shopping, dining and entertainment options on Monday, but the main theme park will remain shuttered. Disney reported that it could lose $280 million in revenues due to closures in Shanghai and Hong Kong alone.

Disney was slow to close doors to its theme parks, despite cancellations of major entertainment industry events like South by Southwest and Coachella. The NBA suspended its season Wednesday night after a player tested positive for coronavirus.

(VATICAN CITY) — The Vatican confirmed the walled city-state’s first case of the new coronavirus Friday and closed some offices as a precaution while Pope Francis continued recovering from a cold.

A health clinic inside Vatican City was closed for sanitizing following the positive test result received Thursday, Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said. Vatican employees and their families are eligible for health care at the clinic.

One Vatican official was put into a protective quarantine after a priest from France’s Catholic church in Rome tested positive for the virus. The official isn’t showing symptoms of COVID-19 disease but lives in the same church as the infected priest.

The Vatican Apostolic Library said it would keep its doors shut all next week as a precaution. The library welcomes scholars from around the world to consult the Vatican’s manuscripts and archives.

Francis came down with a cold over a week ago, and the Vatican has said that he has no other pathologies. The 83-year-old pope, who lost part of one lung to a respiratory illness when he was a young man, canceled his participation at a week-long spiritual retreat in the Roman countryside as a result.

The pope was seen coughing during his traditional Sunday blessing from a window above St. Peter’s Square, and during Ash Wednesday Mass last week, he was seen coughing and blowing his nose.

Bruni said this week that the pope’s recovery from the cold was proceeding well, and that he continued to celebrate daily Mass, receive visitors privately and perform other spiritual exercises.

Francis however canceled several official engagements in the last two weeks, as coronavirus spread from northern Italy to other parts of the country, including Rome, albeit in much smaller numbers.

It remains unclear how upcoming activities for Holy Week leading up to Easter Sunday on April 12 might be affected. Francis would normally preside over the Way of the Cross procession at the Colosseum on Good Friday and deliver a tradition ‘’Urbi et Orbi’’ (‘’to the city and to the world’’) Easter Day message in St. Peter’s Square.

Church doors have been closed for Mass in the northern Veneto and Lombardy regions, as part of measures to prevent further contagion, and on Thursday the Italian bishops conference recommended weekday Masses be canceled nationwide.

The Italian government has ordered all sporting events to take place without spectators and has urged the cancellation of all mass gatherings. As a result, it is likely that the pope’s general audiences will be canceled. In addition, given Francis’ age and health condition, under government measures advising the elderly to avoid going out, the pope should stay home and limit visitors.

Health officials are “confident” the first case of novel coronavirus has been found in B.C.

Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said Tuesday a man in his 40s who regularly travels to China for work tested positive for the virus late Monday. The man lives in the Vancouver Coastal Health region and is recovering at home in isolation, Henry said.

The case is officially considered “presumptive” until Winnipeg’s National Microbiology Lab confirms the results from the B.C. Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC). That process can take up to 48 hours, but Henry said officials on the West Coast are certain about the case.

“We are confident that this is truly a case of this novel coronavirus,” Henry said during a news conference Tuesday morning.

A joint statement from the ministry of health and the BCCDC said the risk of spread of the illness “remains low at this time.

“All necessary precautions are being taken to prevent the spread of infection,” it read.

The health officer said the man was in the city of Wuhan on his most recent trip to China and arrived back in Vancouver last week. His symptoms did not begin until more than 24 hours after his return.

“He did not go out because he was concerned,” Henry said. “When he had his onset of symptoms, he called ahead and went to a clinic for assessment.

“He was very conscious about this,” she added.

The statement said the man contacted health-care officials on Sunday, and the BCCDC ran its own recently developed diagnostic test for the virus — named 2019nCoV. The test came back positive late Monday night.

Henry said health-care officials are following up with the man “multiple times a day” to ensure he stays in isolation. She said his small circle of family contacts has not had symptoms.

Coronavirus, a flu-like virus, broke out in the central Chinese city of Wuhan last month. It has killed 106 people and infected more than 4,500 others. Canada’s first case was confirmed in Ontario this week.

Henry said the BCCDC and other health officials in B.C. had been preparing for a positive test result for some time.

“This first case is not unexpected to us,” she told reporters Tuesday. “I would have been surprised if we did not have at least one or two cases.”

The majority of coronavirus cases worldwide have been linked to people who have been in the city of Wuhan. Residents of B.C. who may have been exposed to coronavirus — or who are experiencing symptoms associated with the disease, such as a fever and cough — are asked to call their doctor, local health office or 811.

US citizens were preparing to escape from Wuhan on Tuesday night on the first evacuation flight to leave the centre of China’s coronavirus outbreak. But thousands of foreigners from other countries remain trapped in the stricken city.

They include football coaches, airline pilots, teachers and students who had found a home in the central Chinese city as its economy boomed.

Divyank Parekh, a 20-year-old student, said he was one of about 50 Indian students who remained in the dormitories at Wuhan University School of Medicine. 
继续阅读‘People are getting ill all around us’: the foreigners trapped in Wuhan