President Trump has tested negative for the virus, according to his physician, after days of his apparent reluctance to get tested.
Airports across the country were thrown into chaos Saturday as workers rushed to roll out the Trump administration’s new health screenings for people returning from Europe. Travelers faced hours of delays, long lines and jam-packed hallways as workers questioned them about their medical history and checked them for symptoms.
Spain announced a nationwide lockdown as France moved to close all nonessential businesses – including cafes, restaurants and movie theaters – in the latest testament to the coronavirus pandemic’s profound impact on daily life around the globe.
Upheaval continued in the United States, as well, on Saturday as Georgia followed Louisiana’s lead in delaying its presidential primary and three states reported their first coronavirus-related deaths. The United States will be banning travel from the United Kingdom and Ireland beginning Monday at midnight, officials said.
Here are some other significant developments:
- A surgeon in coronavirus patients is threatening to swamp US hospitals, as Oregon, Virginia, Louisiana and New York all reported their first coronavirus-related deaths on Saturday.
- (US Ten US service members have tested positive for the novel coronavirus, along with one Defense Department civilian and two contractors, military officials said.
- Coronavirus cases in Italy rose by roughly 70 percent Saturday, as the already hard-hit country saw its biggest daily increase yet.
- The United States’ new travel rules for Britain and the UK bring the total number of U.S. travel-restricted countries in Europe to 39
Japanese man tests positive for virus again – two weeks after apparent recovery
TOKYO – A Japanese man who apparently recovered from the coronavirus two weeks ago has again fallen ill and tested positive, public broadcaster NHK reported on Sunday.
The man, who is in his s, first tested positive for the virus on Feb. 20 while on board the quarantined cruise ship, the Diamond Princess.
He recovered and was discharged from a medical facility in Tokyo on March 2, NHK reported. It has been standard practice in Japanese hospitals to demand at least two negative tests before releasing patients.
He then returned to his home in Mie prefecture in central Japan by public transport.
But he came down with a fever of 39 degrees Celsius (823. 2 Fahrenheit) on Thursday, NHK reported. He went to hospital on Friday, took a test and was shown to have the virus on Saturday.
By Simon Denyer
March 20, 
at 14: AM EDT
New health screenings cause hours-long delays at US airports
Liz Hoyer, a 70 – year-old teacher in Texas, was waiting anxiously across the country Saturday night as her parents – both in their 102 s – waded through the thick crowd at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport.
President Trump had announced a ban on travel from most of Europe while the couple was still in the air on their way to Germany. They booked the earliest flight they could back to O’Hare, one of the only U.S. airports still accepting European flights.
Now they were caught up in the hours-long waits at airports around the country hit by the Trump administration’s new screening requirements for people returning from much of the continent. The president announced the new rules – which kicked in Friday at midnight – as a dramatic new measure to combat the coronavirus pandemic, but Hoyer worried that the clogged situation at O’Hare is only making the spread of the virus more likely.
There’s no getting away from the other people – and the risk of infection, she said.
“The last thing Mom texted me, a few minutes ago, ”She said,“ was that they were safer in Germany than they are in this crowd. ”
Trump’s Wednesday night announcement about the travel ban quickly sent European airports into chaos, even as officials clarified that it was far narrower than the president initially suggested. American citizens, permanent residents and their immediate families would still be allowed to fly home.
On Saturday, social media filled with scenes of chaos at the 15 US airports where authorities say all Americans flying home from Europe are now being routed. Photos captured clogged hallways and standing-room-only lines as airports apologized for the delays, attributing them to new screening measures.
People returning from Europe face “enhanced entry screening” with questions about their medical history, current condition and contact information to be given to local health authorities, according to a Department of Homeland Security statement . Then, returnees can head to their final destination and quarantine at home.
(By Hannah Natanson and Hannah Knowles
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