Coronavirus US: Quarantine across America is 'inevitable' top doctor warns as stocks take record plunge
New York patients tested for virus as Mike Pence defends administration's response amid market concerns
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Your support makes all the difference.As more cases of the flu-like respiratory illness are reported across the US, Mike Pence - recently appointed by Donald Trump to lead the administration's response - has insisted the government is in control of the virus despite thousands of people under medical monitoring and officials' scepticism of the vice president's abilities to handle the outbreak.
Market analysts predict record lows for the Dow Jones, seeing one of its worst weeks since the financial crisis, amid fears of a global pandemic, as the president downplays the threat and his allies claim that criticism of the response has been "weaponised" to attack Trump.
After falling by more than 1,100 points on Thursday, the Dow Jones lost 1,000 points moments after the US market opened, marking one of the worst-ever weeks on Wall Street not seen since the financial crisis in 2008.
The S&P 500 also lost another 3 per cent after seeing an all-time high just last week as market analysts predict a market correction.
Meanwhile, health officials in New York City confirmed a patient is being medically investigated for the virus, as other residents in the state are moved into quarantine.
The latest warnings arrive as officials begin to untangle the US response to the virus, including the evacuation of Americans from Wuhan and a whistle-blower report claiming that health officials didn't train workers nor equip with with protection.
California Congressman John Garamendi has blamed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for "failing to take immediate, aggressive action" after a California resident was likely the first confirmed patient to be infected with coronavirus through "community spread" and not direct contact with an infected person who had travelled back into the US.
Pence told Sean Hannity on Fox News late Thursday that the virus risk "remains low" thanks to the president's "decisive action" to combat it.
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Here's how airlines are preparing for the coronavirus threat — plus some advice to travellers:
US quarantines are likely, doctor says
Dr David Agus told CBS News during an interview that it is a question of "not if but when and where" there will be American quarantines as a result of the coronavirus outbreak.
Dr Agus noted that the virus is perhaps unlikely to kill a large number of people — "the death rate is very low with this virus. Most people will survive this virus" — but nevertheless said that people should prepare for the worst case scenario.
"Get a week of food, dry food in your house. And be ready for this. There's no reason to panic. We're all going to do fine," he said. "But there's going to be a new way of life, and we have to prepare for that way of life."
In a column for The Independent, Eugene Gu writes how the Trump administration dismantled vital research for ideological reasons and made it nearly impossible for doctors to develop new vaccines:
"Throughout history, fetal tissue has been indispensable for developing lifesaving vaccines. Jonas Salk in the 1950s used human fetal kidney cells to incubate the polio virus and develop the polio vaccine, saving countless children from iron lungs. Vaccines for measles, mumps, rubella, and chickenpox all come human fetal cell lines. Even our understanding of how HIV causes AIDS comes from studying mice with transplanted human fetal bone marrow, liver, thymus, and lymph nodes to simulate the human immune system.
"Unfortunately, Republicans have gone to war against fetal tissue research and women's reproductive freedoms to such an extent that our ability to conduct lifesaving medical research has been severely crippled. I found this out the hard way when two armed US Marshals banged on the door of my studio apartment in Nashville to serve me a Congressional subpoena."
The FTSE 100 suffered its worst one-week fall since the 2008 financial crisis as fears grew about the rapid spread of coronavirus.
In London, the blue-chip index of leading shares fell 3.2 per cent on Friday and was down 13 per cent this week at 6,580.6.
It was also the second-biggest points fall in a single week in the index's 36-year history.
The stock price of streaming giant Netflix bumped up .8 per cent this week, as market analysts suggest that the ongoing coronavirus outbreak may give a boost to the company, glimpsing possible short-term benefits to streaming companies anticipating in-home quarantines.
Reminder: The CDC recommends washing your hands with soap for at least 20 seconds after touching your nose, eyes or mouth.
If you missed Mike Huckabee's appearance on Fox News, The Independent's Clark Mindock has more:
AOC reminds you to wash your hands
As members of Congress filed out of a meeting with the federal coronavirus task force, New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez reminded people to "stay as diligent as possible with symptoms" and to "stay calm" as the outbreak continues.
She said: "A mask will not protect you if you do not wash your hands and you continue to touch your face."
Pence press secretary and Stephen Miller's wife heading coronavirus communications
Katie Miller, press secretary for Mike Pence, is leading all communications over coronavirus after the vice president was appointed to head up the administration's response to the outbreak.
Ms Miller recently married White House advisor Stephen Miller, the architect of Donald Trump's anti-immigration efforts.
White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney announced the shakeup after deputy director of communications Jessica Ditto was initially in charge.
California congressman: 'CDC made a gross mistake'
California Congressman John Garamendi has blamed the CDC for "failing to take immediate, aggressive action" after a California resident was likely the first confirmed patient to be infected with coronavirus through "community spread" and not direct contact with an infected person who had travelled back into the US.
He told MSNBC that the CDC made a "gross mistake".
He said: "They let this thing go. They didn't move quickly [knowing that] there was absolute fact that this illness was going to spread beyond China ... Now we have community spread, and it's going to be other communities around the nation."
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