SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Extraordinary restrictions on everyday activities expanded to more areas of California on Wednesday as many parents around the state struggled to fathom the prospect put forth by Gov. Gavin Newsom of schools staying closed until summer to head off spread of the coronavirus. Newsom, meantime, announced he would spend $150 million […]

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon’s role in responding to the coronavirus outbreak in the United States began to rapidly expand Wednesday as officials announced that two Navy hospital ships and two Army field hospitals were preparing to deploy to help overburdened regions. The latest moves are aimed at taking the pressure off local hospitals so […]

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — In Ohio, more than 48,000 people applied for jobless benefits during the first two days of this week. The tally during the same period the prior week: just 1,825. In neighboring Pennsylvania, about 70,000 people sought unemployment aid in a single day — six times the total for the entire […]

BEIJING (AP) – Scientists in China are reporting disappointing results from the first study completed on a potential COVID-19 treatment. A combination of two antiviral drugs that are used now to treat HIV — lopinavir and ritonavir — did not resolve symptoms quicker than usual care did. The study involving 199 hospitalized, severely ill patients […]

JERUSALEM (JNS) — Actress Rosanna Arquette alleged in a now-deleted tweet that Israel “has been working on a [coronavirus] vaccine for a year already” and has put “lives at risk for profit.” “So Israel has been working on a coronavirus vaccine for a year already? (so they knew it) Vaccines take a long time to […]

NEW ROCHELLE (JTA) — The attorney at the center of the coronavirus outbreak in New Rochelle, New York, has emerged from his coma. Lawrence Garbuz “is awake and alert and seems to be on the road to full recovery,” his wife, Adina, said in a post on Facebook. She has not seen him in person, […]

UNITED KINGDOM (JTA) — British Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis ordered the closure of all synagogues affiliated with United Synagogue, the largest network of Orthodox synagogues in the country. “These extraordinary times call upon us to take extraordinary measures,” Mirvis said in a letter issued Tuesday. “(O)ur Torah obligation to protect the sanctity of life transcends […]

WASHINGTON (AP) – Vice President Mike Pence has called on hospitals to delay all elective procedures across the country to help ensure medical capacity is focused on stemming the spread of the coronavirus. Hospital systems in hard-hit areas, including New York and Washington state, have already begun postponing elective surgeries as they anticipate a need […]

TEHRAN (AP) — Iran reported its single biggest jump in deaths from the new coronavirus on Wednesday as another 147 people died, raising the country’s overall death toll to 1,135. The nearly 15% spike in deaths — amid a total of 17,361 confirmed cases in Iran — marks the biggest 24-hour rise in fatalities since […]