Global cases: More than 242,000
Global deaths: At least 9,800
US cases: At least 13,000
US deaths: At least 176
All data above is provided by Johns Hopkins University.
All times below are in Eastern time.
7:14 pm: Blue Cross Blue Shield offering free telehealth for members
Blue Cross Blue Shield said they are expanding coverage for telehealth services, which includes waiving cost-sharing for all telehealth services for fully-insured members.
Scott Serota, president and CEO of the association noted in an emailed statement that the decision was made in the midst of the coronavirus epidemic: “The safety and security of our members – and of all Americans – remains our paramount priority during these unprecedented times.” All 36 of the BCBS health plans and the BCBS Federal Employee Program are included in the announcement. —Christina Farr
7:05 pm: California estimates 25.5 million residents — 56% of the state — will get virus in next 8 weeks
California estimates that more than half of the state — 25.5 million people — will get the new coronavirus over the next eight weeks, according to a letter sent by Gov. Gavin Newsom to U.S. President Donald Trump.
“In the last 24 hours, we had 126 new COVID-19 cases, a 21 percent increase. In some parts of our state, our case rate is doubling every four days,” Newsom wrote in a letter dated Wednesday. Newsom asked Trump to dispatch the USNS Mercy Hospital Ship to the Port of Los Angeles through Sept. 1 to help with the influx of expected cases.
The state reported nearly 699 confirmed cases as of 9 p.m. ET Wednesday night, according to the California health department. Newsom said the virus is spreading in the community in 23 counties across the state. It is the third hardest-hit state in the U.S., behind Washington state which has 1,376 cases as of 6 p.m. EDT Thursday and New York which has at least 5,000 cases.—Dawn Kopecki
6:55 pm: Trump cancels in-person G-7 meeting set for June at Camp David
President Donald Trump has canceled June’s in-person meeting of leaders from the Group of Seven nations, which was set to take place at Camp David, as the world fights the spread of the coronavirus.
Instead, the summit will be conducted by video conference. Trump and the other G-7 chiefs held a video conference earlier this week, as well, as the coronavirus continues to spread in the United States and abroad. —Mike Calia, Dan Mangan
6:49 pm: Updated map of US coronavirus cases, which total 13,159
Original article: https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/19/coronavirus-live-updates.html
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