Coronavirus and kids: What Bay Area parents and pregnant women need to know

When the coronavirus hit the Bay Area, Novato mom Naomi Thorne pulled out all the hand sanitizer bottles she had. She’s avoiding indoor play areas and making sure to spray her 2-year-old Everett’s hands even at outdoor parks. At a recent work event with a buffet, she was so nervous to use the utensils that she went to the bathroom to wash her hands afterward. She and her wife, Katherine, both real estate agents, decided to not shake hands with prospective buyers at house tours.

Although she usually does so out of respect, she’s ready to explain herself: “I don’t really care what reactions I get, I have a small child,” she said.

Thorne doesn’t really know how worried she should be about the health risks. She’s been more immediately alarmed by the empty shelves at Trader Joe’s and the tumbling stock market.

Bay Area parents and pregnant women are consuming coronavirus news with emotions somewhere on the range from apocalyptic isolation to shoulder-shrugging determination to carry on as usual. Questions and daily quandaries abound: Is my kid susceptible to the coronavirus? If I’m pregnant, will my baby get it? Should I send my child to preschool? What about that trip to the play park?

“The primary message to parents is it’s appropriate to be cautious and alert to more information, but at this point, not alarmed,” Dr. Theodore Ruel, pediatric infectious disease specialist at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital, said.

Although data are limited on the still-new coronavirus that causes respiratory illness, preliminary analysis suggests that children seem less likely to be infected and die. The World Health Organization said anyone can get the coronavirus. The most vulnerable categories of people include those who are older and have medical conditions like asthma, diabetes and heart disease.

A Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention study in February of tens of thousands of patients found that most people infected were over the age of 30 and had mild symptoms, which commonly include fever, tiredness and coughing. Two percent of the cases were under the age of 19, with one death in that group and none under the age of 9. The death rate was highest (close to 15%) in those over the age of 80.

Ruel said it’s not surprising because older adults are more likely to have other conditions and be more vulnerable to other viral infections.

The situation is more unknown, and could be riskier, for pregnant women, since pregnancy can make women more vulnerable to infections. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it’s not known how susceptible pregnant women are, but experts compare it to other respiratory illnesses like SARS.

Like SARS, pregnant women might be at risk for more severe illness or even death than the general population. Miscarriages, stillbirths and certain birth defects because of high fevers during the first trimester of pregnancy happened in previous outbreaks. Some adverse outcomes like preterm birth have been reported among coronavirus-infected mothers, but it’s not clear it was related to the infection, according to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. A small sample study by Wuhan University found that nine pregnant patients infected with the coronavirus didn’t seem to pass it on to their babies.

Breastfeeeding moms are encouraged to keep doing so since limited evidence suggests the virus is not spread through breast milk, the CDC said.

So what should parents do? Whatever you would for flu season: aggressive handwashing, protecting from coughing, avoiding touching eyes and keeping very young infants away from potentially infected people.

“Be alert to how their children are doing; if it seems like a mild cold, it probably just is,” Ruel said. If you feel sick, stay home and avoid public places with treatments such as rest, fluids and pain medication. If it’s more severe and you have concerns about having trouble breathing or a high fever lasting more than a few days, call ahead to a hospital to let them know you’re coming in for treatment so they can isolate you if necessary.

A private school in Atherton has closed after a staffer’s relative tested positive for the virus, with the closure remaining in effect through the weekend. But across the Bay Area, many parents are carrying on as usual — just with extra precautions.

Lafayette expecting mom Norah Woodsey is more worried for her husband, who works in tech and has a lung condition, and her two kids aged 5 and 3, than about herself. They’ve cut back on family outings in large crowds and haven’t been eating out as much. On top of minor stocking up on supplies, they’ve been cleaning door knobs, keys and cell phones every night with wipes. Encouraging toddlers to wash their hands has met with “mixed results,” Woodsey added.

Oakland resident Max Montez said he hasn’t been too concerned since, as the father of two kids under the age of 3 , he washes his hands “like 700 times a day” for “every other reason” already.

“Maybe (we’re) just a little bit more aware of taking them out in public and making sure we clean up and wash everybody’s hands and use hand sanitizer, not particularly different than that,” he said. “There’s really not that much more we can do.”

He’s on an email list with other preschool parents that encourages them to practice more caution than usual and keep kids home if they feel sick — and even gave a recipe to make hand sanitizer.

“It definitely hasn’t reached panic level,” Montez said. “It just seems like people are concerned, some more than others.”

Local parents who work in health care said they try to rationalize their instinctive fears with scientific knowledge. Jamie Hillman, a Menlo Park mom who’s expecting her fifth child in April, worked as a nurse, has two master’s degrees and is getting her doctorate. After reading coronavirus statistics, she’s simply giving her kids the usual health advice — wash your hands and cough into your elbow.

“We haven’t changed anything,” she said. “We have talked to our kids about it, we know people are talking about it, we don’t want them to feel anxious about it.”

Catherine Au, a Berkeley pharmacist with a 3-year-old and 30 weeks pregnant with her second child, is trying to stay calm. Beyond basic precautions like hand washing and sanitizing, she’s doing “nothing completely extreme.”

“I’m trying to stay rational, I’m trying to stay my course. We’re not really doing anything,” she said.

But as a fifth-generation Chinese-American, Au’s biggest concern is xenophobia and misperceptions that the public will think she came from China, where the coronavirus originated.

“I think we’re fortunate to be in the Bay Area, but my fear is like, it’s probably an irrational fear, it’s maybe the pregnancy hormones, I’m afraid of being attacked,” she said. She’s concerned about someone causing harm to her husband, who’s also Chinese-American, can cough because of his asthma, and commutes by bus every day. But she’s not worried as much for her kid in daycare who she feels would bear less of the brunt of possible racism.

When it comes to health risks, most experts’ advice is to keep calm and carry on.

“What we really need to do is reduce alarm,” Ruel said, “and use that caution to help us do good general precautions that will help prevent our kids from getting sick with a lot of viruses.”

Mallory Moench is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mallory.moench@sfchronicle.com Twitter:@mallorymoench

Article source: https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/Coronavirus-and-kids-What-Bay-Area-parents-and-15103000.php

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Moms 4 Housing-inspired policy could shake up Oakland real estate market

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OAKLAND — Galvanized by the Moms 4 Housing standoff that drew national attention to the region’s affordability crisis, Oakland officials may soon overhaul the way homes are bought and sold — and other Bay Area cities are considering similar measures.

The policies would give tenants or affordable housing nonprofits first dibs to buy certain residential properties for market value. The move is intended to beef up the local supply of low-income units, while curbing the influence of real estate speculators on the overheated housing market that is pricing out many long-term residents.

Oakland’s push for a “right of first refusal” policy is a novel approach, but not without precedent. San Francisco recently adopted a right of first refusal policy — it went into effect in September — and Berkeley and East Palo Alto are considering similar rules. Washington, D.C., has had such a policy on the books for more than a decade.

Bay Area activists say they’ve been working behind the scenes on these measures for years, but they’ve only recently picked up the momentum needed to potentially propel them into law.

“The housing crisis has gotten so much worse that people are ready to embrace the policies that will actually address it,” said Leah Simon-Weisberg of the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment, which has been working with Oakland officials on the new policy.

Oakland Councilwoman Nikki Fortunato Bas recently introduced the ordinance, dubbed the Moms 4 Housing Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act, which would give tenants a chance to make an offer if their landlord decides to sell.

The ordinance is named for the Moms 4 Housing activists — a group of homeless women who spent two months squatting in an empty, investor-owned house in West Oakland. The authors hope to add language that also would allow the city or a qualified nonprofit the first bite when a vacant property goes up for sale. And while the language has not been finalized, Mayor Libby Schaaf previously expressed interest in targeting corporate landlords, rather than mom-and-pop owners.

Such an ordinance could have a big impact — there are 5,898 vacant homes in Oakland, according to census data released in December.

Fortunato Bas’ act would mark a big shift in Oakland’s real estate market, and the prospect has property rights lawyers and landlord groups on edge. Part of what makes it so galling, they say, is that it seems to reward Moms 4 Housing’s illegal actions.

Several of those activists were evicted last month from the Magnolia Street house owned by real estate company Wedgewood and arrested. But shortly after, under pressure from the mayor and Gov. Gavin Newsom, Wedgewood agreed to sell the house to the Oakland Community Land Trust and let the activists move back in. Wedgewood also agreed to let the city or a local affordable housing nonprofit make offers on the dozens of other properties it owns in Oakland.

“It’s extremely frightening for people who respect private property and believe in private property,” said San Francisco-based property rights attorney Andrew Zacks.

Still, experts say a right of first refusal policy likely would be legally sound.

“It has some significant precedent, and it hasn’t been successfully challenged in court,” said Oakland-based real estate attorney Rob Selna. “And many other cities are pursuing it.”

On the other side of the bay, San Francisco’s Community Opportunity to Purchase Act requires all owners of multi-family buildings, or vacant lots where a multi-family building could be built, to notify a list of six qualified affordable housing nonprofits when they intend to sell.

If one of the nonprofits makes an offer, the owner is free to reject it. But if the owner gets a better offer on the open market, the owner must give the nonprofit a chance to match it — a policy known as the “right of first refusal.” If the nonprofit matches the better offer, the owner is required to sell to the nonprofit.

So far, nonprofits have bought just two buildings using the new program, according to Max Barnes, spokesman for Mayor London Breed’s Office of Housing and Community Development. Both purchases — a seven-unit building on Mission Street and a six-unit building on 24th Street — were made by Mission Economic Development Agency. The agency plans to close on its third purchase, an 11-unit building on 23rd Street, later this month, said spokesman Christopher Gil.

Part of the reason for the low number of purchases may be a lack of funds. The city loans money to nonprofits for these types of purchases through its Small Sites program. Even so, the San Francisco Community Land Trust — one of the six certified nonprofits — has been notified of several hundred buildings going up for sale but hasn’t yet had the cash to buy one.

“We’ve been close,” said Keith Cooley, director of asset management for the land trust, which already owns 13 buildings around San Francisco. “We’ve looked at several buildings very closely, but we just don’t have the capacity at the moment.”

The intent of the San Francisco policy was to help nonprofits compete with fast-moving real estate speculators and their all-cash offers, said Cooley, who helped draft the act. For example, he said, the land trust was putting together an offer in 2018 to buy a six-unit building in the city’s Western Addition district occupied entirely by seniors. Some of the tenants had been there for as long as 40 years.

“Before we could complete our offer, a speculator was able to buy the building for all cash,” Cooley said.

Now, the new owner is planning to evict the tenants, he said.

Berkeley’s efforts to draft a similar measure got a boost this week with a $220,000 grant from a group of businesses, nonprofits and other groups called the Partnership for the Bay’s Future. The grant gives Berkeley and the East Bay Community Law Center, which has been working with the city on a tenant opportunity to purchase act, extra resources to get the measure off the ground.

As far as landlord attorney Daniel Bornstein is concerned, these types of policies add extra confusion and hurdles to the sale process.

He said the San Francisco ordinance sent shock waves through the industry last year. It’s not fair to allow a handful of nonprofits to jump the line and snatch a property away from another potential buyer — a young couple looking to buy a first home, for example, Bornstein said. Furthermore, it’s not an effective replacement for building new affordable housing.

“It’s now ‘sexy’ public policy because the hard public policy decisions are not being made,” he said. “It’s a feel-good measure, but it isn’t going to accomplish the overall goal.”

 


This story has been updated to correct the location of the seven-unit building purchased by the Mission Economic Development Agency. The building is located on Mission Street.


Article source: https://www.mercurynews.com/new-policies-could-shake-up-some-bay-area-housing-markets

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Dunavant Distribution Expands Bay Area Business Park Footprint by 137K SF

Dunavant Distribution Group LLC leased a 137,280-square-foot industrial building at Bay Area Business Park in Pasadena, TX. The logistics and supply chain company’s most recent deal brings its occupancy in the business park at 1619 Red Bluff Rd. to just under one million square feet.

John Nicholson, SIOR, with Colliers International represented the tenant. The landlord, Principal Real Estate Investors, was advised by Stream Realty Partners’ Justin Robinson and Jeff Pate.  Stream Realty Partners also developed and manages the business park.

Dunavant, headquartered in Memphis, TN, leased its second chemical warehousing facility in the park in late 2019, a 212,000-square-foot facility at 9431 Bay Area Blvd. During 2016, the logistics tenant pre-leased 365,000 square feet in the park’s first phase.

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Article source: https://www.connect.media/dunavant-distribution-expands-bay-area-business-park-footprint-by-137k-sf/

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U.S. Real Estate Market Shows Symptoms of Coronavirus Effect: What You Need to Know


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The deadly outbreak of the coronavirus from China, which has sickened thousands around the world and terrified millions more, is taking a toll on global financial markets as well—and the effects are likely to extend to the U.S. luxury real estate market.

While there are only 11 confirmed cases of the virus on American soil, the U.S. housing market is already feeling the effects of what could soon be declared a pandemic. Mortgage interest rates have dipped, and the already sluggish luxury real estate market has depended in recent years on an injection of Chinese buyers.

“China has been the most important source of foreign demand for real estate,” says Lawrence Yun, chief economist at the National Association of Realtors®. Wealthy Chinese buyers often purchase luxury properties, such as high-rise condos, in California and New York. “The upper-end market can expect to be softer as a result.”


Buyers from China spent about $13.4 billion on U.S. homes from April 2018 through May 2019, according to the NAR’s most recent data on foreign buyers. While that may sound impressive, it actually represents a 56% drop from the previous 12-month period. Chinese buyers have been spending less on U.S. real estate as their government has tightened rules on how much money can leave the country, U.S. immigration rules have tightened, and trade talks between the two nations have heated up.

But with the temporary ban on any foreigners who have been in China in the past two weeks, and cancellations of many flights from China to the U.S., a lot of would-be Chinese buyers can’t get into America, putting any home-purchase plans they may have on ice.

“You have less incentive to buy real estate if it’s unclear if and when you’ll get to visit the property,” says Chief Economist Danielle Hale of realtor.com®. “In the short term, the virus could dampen [luxury] sales further.”

Why is the coronavirus pushing down mortgage interest rates?

It may seem perplexing that a virus that originated in China (and where most of its nearly 500 fatalities occurred) could result in lower mortgage interest rates an ocean away. Thank globalization. China is the world’s second-largest economy, with a worldwide supply chain. So what happens there affects businesses around the world, which then affects global financial markets. Amid market turmoil, investors tend to pull money out of the stock market and park it in safer, more stable U.S. Treasury bonds. And when bonds are strong, mortgage rates fall.


Rates dipped 9 basis points to 3.51% for 30-year fixed-rate loans as of Jan. 30, according to Freddie Mac. The panic surrounding the disease could keep them low, or even push them lower. The only thing in recent memory to compare it with is the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, in late 2002 and early 2003. During the resulting panic, mortgage interest rates also dipped.

“SARS was barely a blip in the U.S. real estate market,” says Yun. But there weren’t nearly as many Chinese buyers shopping for homes in the U.S. back then. “We don’t know what’s going to happen.”

There could also be a downside to lower rates—while they will likely spur more buyers to get into the market at a time when buyer activity is already ramping up, sellers may respond by boosting their list prices.

Short-term effects: The luxury market could slow on the coasts

Recently, the luxury market hasn’t been in the best of health—and some folks fear the coronavirus scare could cause a relapse. The market was just beginning to pick back up, as buyers enticed by low mortgage rates were beginning to pick up pricey properties again. Then the virus hit.

(Realtor.com defines luxury as $1 million-plus homes in most of the country, although that threshold can be higher in the most expensive cities like New York and San Francisco.)

Real estate broker Amy Kong is seeing fewer folks attending open houses marketed toward Asian buyers. Kong is a real estate broker at Realty World Advance Group in San Bruno, CA, and the president-elect of the Asian Real Estate Association of America.

“People would rather not go out and mingle,” says Kong, who has heard some closings had to be postponed. “The buyers can’t be here physically to sign. They have to make other arrangements.”

That won’t be too catastrophic, though, as many of these affluent foreign buyers have representatives in the U.S. who can act on their behalf and usher through the paperwork.

Some wealthy non-Asian buyers, on the other hand, are worried about their prospective neighbors.

“Clients looking at new condos are asking us what is the percentage of Chinese living in those buildings,” says luxury real estate broker Dolly Lenz, who is based in New York but sells properties around the country. Three unrelated clients asked her this question, which she was legally unable to answer due to fair housing laws. “That was shocking to me.”

But Patrick Carlisle, chief market analyst for the San Francisco Bay Area at Compass, believes concern about the coronavirus affecting real estate sales is overblown.

“I don’t think it will have any impact unless it turns into a worldwide disaster,” he says. “People locally, I can’t see them changing their plans one way or another unless it gets much worse.”

Long-term effects: The U.S. luxury market could see a boost

While the outbreak may make it more difficult for Chinese buyers to pick up U.S. properties for now, it could be a boon for the luxury market in the long term.

“[Chinese] people who are wealthy may feel tired of the perception of China as being a third-world country,” says NAR’s Yun. “They want to park their money in a first-class world economy, which is Australia, Canada, and the U.S. Hence, we may see greater demand from Chinese, wealthy households.”

For example, more buyers from Hong Kong came to the U.S. looking for real estate after anti-government protests began last year in the territory. Since the coronavirus outbreak, luxury broker Lenz is seeing them become even more motivated to acquire a U.S. property. These affluent buyers are worried about medical care, strikes, and more unrest back home, and are looking to the U.S. as a safer option.

Chinese buyers may flock to the U.S. again for the same reasons. But once the virus is under control, the real estate market will likely go back to normal, more or less.

“I look at this as something that will last as long as the virus does,” says New York City–based real estate appraiser Jonathan Miller. “We’re uncertain about everything, and this is just another item to fret about.”

The post U.S. Real Estate Market Shows Symptoms of Coronavirus Effect: What You Need to Know appeared first on Real Estate News Insights | realtor.com®.

Article source: https://www.sfgate.com/realestate/article/U-S-Real-Estate-Market-Shows-Symptoms-of-15034533.php

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Coronavirus live updates: New case reported in Santa Clara County

Breaking news developments on March 1, 2020:

9 a.m. Global infections surpass 87,400: According to figures compiled by Johns Hopkins University, the number of people infected by the new coronavirus reached 87,470 on Sunday. The total number of fatalities rose to 2,990, with more than 2,700 in China where the outbreak originated.

Updates from Feb. 29:

6:36 p.m. UC Davis student tests negative: A UC Davis student quarantined with symptoms similar to coronavirus tested negative. Two other students who were roommates with the student were also released from isolation.

3:58 p.m. Fourth coronavirus case in Santa Clara County: A woman who is described as being a “household contact of the third Santa Clara County” coronavirus case was announced as the county’s fourth coronavirus case. She is not hospitalized or ill and is currently being isolated at home, according to the County of Santa Clara Public Health Department.

1:50 p.m. Additional cases in Washington State: Local health officials said there are three active coronavirus cases in King County, which includes Seattle, in addition to the man who died. There are two cases in adjacent Snohomish County.

11:50 a.m. President announces new travel restrictions, advisories: President Trump said Saturday that travelers to the U.S. from Iran would be banned. The administration also advised Americans not to travel to areas in Italy and South Korea most impacted by the coronavirus outbreak.

10:50 a.m. First person to die in U.S. from coronavirus was Washington state man: President Trump and health authorities on Saturday described the first person to die in the U.S. from the global virus outbreak as a “medically high risk” man in his 50s in Washington state.

10:10 a.m. First U.S. death from coronavirus reported in Washington state: A person in Washington state has died of COVID-19, the first such death in the United States, according to officials at the Washington State Department of Health.

Updates from Feb.28:

9:40 p.m. Two Palo Alto Unified School District students sent home after potential coronavirus exposure: One student from Palo Alto High School and one student from JLS Middle School were sent home Friday after school district officials received a report that a parent may have been exposed to the coronavirus, according to school district officials. Don Austin, the superintendent of schools told The Chronicle that a parent “was exposed to a confirmed case,” but said the school district has zero reported cases of the coronavirus and that parents, staff and students have not reported any symptoms.

8:39 p.m. Fourth U.S. case of unknown origin is in Washington state: The CDC said it has two more cases of coronavirus in the U.S. — both in Washington state. One is in a person likely picked it up while traveling to a foreign country. The other person had an infection of unknown origin.

6:48 p.m. Third U.S. case of unknown origin is a school employee in Oregon: Oregon health officials said they used a CDC test kit to confirm that a school employee in the state tested positive for COVID-19. Students and staff at the Clackamas County school may have been exposed, state officials said. The school will be closed.

5:40 p.m. California now has eight public health labs that can process coronavirus lab tests: The labs, the California Department of Public Health said, are in Richmond and the counties of Alameda, Santa Clara, Tulare, Ventura, Los Angeles, Orange and San Diego. This increased testing capacity is going to have a significant impact on our ability to quickly identify and contain those individuals with the disease,” said Dr. Charity Dean, the agency’s assistant director.

5:02 p.m. Feds back off Costa Mesa site: State health officials said they were informed the federal government no longer needs to use the Fairview Developmental Center site in Costa Mesa to isolate Diamond Princess cruise passengers. Costa Mesa officials — and residents — had sharply resisted use of the former residential facility on 114 acres for quarantine use.

4:36 p.m. New coronavirus case confirmed in Solano County, cruise passenger: Health officials announced that a Solano County resident who had been aboard the Diamond Princess cruise ship and quarantined tested positive for the coronavirus. The person is in “mandatory home isolation.”

4:35 p.m. Major SF video game conference postponed: The Game Developers Conference, which had been slated to take place next month at San Francisco’s Moscone Center, has been postponed as fears of the virus grow. “We’re genuinely upset and disappointed not to be able to host you at this time,” conference organizers said on their website. Major companies including Amazon Web Services, Electronic Arts and Facebook had already pulled out.

3:02 p.m. Second U.S. case of unknown origin in in Santa Clara County: A Santa Clara County official confirmed a Washington Post report that a patient in the county is the second case in the U.S. with no known origin of infection. The patient had no recent travel history or contact with a known coronavirus patient. The first case was in Solano County.

2:28 p.m. New case reported in Santa Clara County: Officials confirmed the South Bay county’s third case of COVID-19.

2:18 p.m. Self-quarantine upends lives in California: Some 8,700 people in the state are in home quarantine after traveling abroad. A warehouse worker who returned from China shares her story — which includes tuning into Dodgers spring training out of sheer boredom.

2:09 p.m. People canceling reservations at Bay Area restaurants: Bay Area restaurants are losing business because of the lack of tourism from China as well as mounting domestic fears about the coronavirus.

1:50 p.m. Facebook pledges $25,000 to help SF Chinatown’s small businesses: Facebook announced it is donating $20,000 to the Chinese Newcomers Services Center to promote businesses in San Francisco’s Chinatown. The tech giant will also give the non-profit $5,000 worth of Facebook credit ads to help drive business back to the historic neighborhood. Customers have vanished from local businesses in Chinatown following the outbreak of the coronavirus in Wuhan, China. There have been no reported cases in San Francisco. Mayor London Breed, Supervisor Aaron Peskin and California State Senator Scott Wiener joined Facebook officials to announce the donation during a press conference Friday afternoon. “San Francisco is open for business,” Breed said. “We are prepared to receive people and we want them to support Chinatown.”

1:41 p.m. Markets down for week: Coronavirus fears continued to weigh heavily on stocks. Despite a late rally that erased some of Friday’s losses, the Dow Jones industrial average ended the week down 12.4%, its worst one-week performance since 2008.

12:55 p.m. Healthcare workers union urges preparedness: The National Union of Healthcare Workers urged the operators of facilities where its members work to offer training on detecting and avoiding infection with the new coronavirus. “We can’t assume that every clinic, nursing home and hospital is prepared,” Sal Rosselli, union president, said in a statement. The union represents more than 15,000 health workers in California.

12:14 p.m. Google employee in Zurich office tests positive: Google confirmed Friday that an employee in its Zurich office was diagnosed with the coronavirus. “They were in the Zurich office for a limited time, before they had any symptoms,” a Google representative said by email. “We have taken – and will continue to take – all necessary precautionary measures, following the advice of public health officials, as we prioritize everyone’s health and safety,” the company added.

12:08 p.m. Conference cancellation in Santa Clara: The research and analysis firm IDC has canceled its conference, called Directions, that had been scheduled to take place in Santa Clara on March 4. “We have made this choice out of an abundance of caution and believe it is the correct decision given the evolving public health concerns in the Bay Area,” the company wrote on the conference website.

11:20 a.m. More Californians self-quarantine over risk of coronavirus: 8,700 people in California are now in self-quarantine after returning from travel in China, the California Department of Public Health said Friday. That number is up from 8,400 from earlier this week.

10:48 a.m. Amazon Web Service’s Game Tech team pulls out of next month’s Game Developer Conference in San Francisco over coronavirus concerns: Amazon Web Service “has made the difficult decision to withdraw from the 2020 Game Developers Conference in San Francisco due to continued concerns over COVID-19,” the company wrote in a blog post. Microsoft pulled out of the conference on Thursday. Amazon Web Service said it would host an online event to showcase what it has been working on in the run up to conference.

10:23 a.m. CDC says it didn’t know of Solano case until Saturday: CDC officials disputed UC Davis Medical Center’s contention that they declined for four days to test the Solano County patient who may be the first case with an unknown source in the U.S. UC Davis officials said they asked for a test on Feb. 19 and that CDC officials said the patient did not meet testing criteria. Four days later, the patient was given a test. Dr. Nancy Messonnier of the CDC said the agency’s records all indicate the agency was first notified of the case on Feb. 23. Test results came back positive two days later and were confirmed on Wednesday, she said in a news briefing Friday.

9:56 a.m. Additional test kits on the way: Dr. Nancy Messonnier of the CDC said that additional coronavirus test kits are on the way to California. Gov. Gavin Newsom said Thursday that the state has a few hundred kits and the number was “inadequate.”

9:50 a.m. CDC officials say U.S. efforts have kept numbers low: Dr. Nancy Messonnier, of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said U.S. cases remain low because of early preventative efforts. “We have to remember that the case count in the U.S. is very low due to the efforts of the U.S. government. It could spread. But the hope is that if is spread, the spread will be limited,” she said.

9:46 a.m. Conronavirus patient in SF released: Rick Wright, the last confirmed coronavirus patient in San Francisco, was released Wednesday to home quarantine in Redwood City. He was quarantined after being aboard the Diamond Princess cruise ship, but is now in “in good health,” the city’s public health department said. San Mateo County officials did not confirm whether he was the same patient transferred by CDC who had come from another country.

9:29 a.m. More positive tests linked to Diamond Princess cruise ship: CDC officials said during a morning briefing that the total number of U.S. citizens who were infected on the Diamond Princess off of Japan is now 44 after two recent positive tests.

8:43 a.m. San Mateo patient came from outside U.S.: San Mateo County health officials said the patient the CDC transferred to an undisclosed location in the county had traveled outside of the country, returned to the U.S. and tested positive. No further information was released.

6:35 a.m. Markets plunge again: On the final day of one of the worst weeks for stocks in recent history, both the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the SP 500 were down 2.5% in early trading, as the dramatic impacts of the virus — and the efforts to contain it — became clearer. The drop comes a day after the Dow recorded its worst single-day point loss in history.

6:15 a.m. Listen to Chronicle reporters discuss the latest: The case of a Solano County woman who faced a significant delay before being tested for coronavirus — and ultimately tested positive — highlighted the need for more tests in California. On Thursday, Gov. Gavin Newsom described the number of test kits in the state as “remarkably inadequate,” even as federal officials broadened their criteria for who was eligible to be tested. Chronicle reporters Erin Allday and Catherine Ho discuss the latest on this Fifth Mission podcast.

6:10 a.m. United Airlines cuts back on flights through April: United Airlines is reducing flights to Tokyo-Narita, Osaka, Singapore and Seoul and extending the suspension of flights between U.S. hubs including SFO and Beijing, Chengdu, Shanghai and Hong Kong through April 30

6:05 a.m. Patient who tested positive taken to San Mateo county: CDC officials transferred a person who tested positive for the virus to San Mateo County, health officials said, adding they did not plan to release any more information. It remained unclear where the person was transported from or how they got the virus.

Updates from Feb. 27:

4:38 p.m. Health workers to be quarantined in Solano County: Solano county public health officer Bela Matyas said at a news conference that the patient with no known source of infection visited a health center before being diagnosed with coronavirus and health workers were exposed. Some of the workers are under isolation and some will be quarantined. Officials said the number is in the dozens — but under 100 people.

3:41 p.m. UC Davis dormitory student being tested for coronavirus: UC Davis announced that a student who lives at Kearney Hall is being tested after she was potentially exposed to a known coronavirus patient and developed mild symptoms. The student is in isolation off campus and two roommates, who are showing no symptoms, are also in isolation, the university said.

3:21 p.m. Dow posts biggest one-day point drop: Widening virus fears sent the Dow Jones industrial average plummeting 1,191 points, or 4.4%, on Thursday. That was its biggest one-day point decline ever, surpassing Monday’s 1,031-point drop. The Dow, SP 500 and Nasdaq are all are down more than 10% from their previous peak. For the SP 500, which peaked Feb. 19, it was the fastest correction in history.

1:19 p.m. Solano County declares emergency: Officials in Solano County declared a local emergency after a resident tested positive for the new coronavirus without any clues as to how she could have been infected. The declaration will help the county rally resources to start identifying and screening individuals who may have come into contact with the patient, officials said. “We are taking this situation seriously and are taking steps necessary to protect the health and safety of Solano County residents,” Dr. Bela Matyas, Solano County’s health officer, said in a statement. The county will be holding a press conference at 4:30 p.m. in Fairfield.

12:48 p.m. United extends travel waivers to northern Italy: The airline made it easier for customers to cancel or change and get refunded for flights, as more than 400 coronavirus cases have locked down swathes of that country. According to United’s website, the airline flies from its hub at San Francisco International Airport to two affected cities: Milan and Venice.

12:37 p.m. Are you concerned about the state’s response to the coronavirus outbreak? A lot of new information was released during Gov. Gavin Newsom’s press conference with health officials Thursday. The Chronicle wants to hear from readers on how they feel about the outbreak.

12:30 p.m. Travis AFB patient transferred to Marin County hospital: A passenger from the Diamond Princess cruise ship who had been quarantined at Travis Air Force Base was transferred to a Marin County hospital Wednesday night after testing positive for coronavirus, officials said. The person has no symptoms of illness at this time.

11:49 a.m. Solano County coronavirus patient treated at VacaValley Hospital: A woman who tested positive for coronavirus on Wednesday — the source of infection is not known — was treated at NorthBay VacaValley Hospital in Vacaville for several days before being transferred to Sacramento, officials said. The patient represents the first case of possible community transmission of the virus.

The patient was at the Vacaville hospital for three days before being moved to UC Davis Medical Center, when her condition worsened. VacaValley Hospital staff members who interacted with the patient and may have been exposed to the virus have been told to stay home and monitor themselves for symptoms.

11:26 a.m. No connection between Solano County patient and Travis Air Force Base: Dr. Sonia Y. Angell, director of California Department of Public Health, said there is no evidence between the Travis Air Force Base quarantine and the patient from Solano County.

11:16 a.m. Governor calls initial testing of coronavirus “inadequate”: Gov. Gavin Newsom said the “testing protocol have been a point of frustration,” and the state only had a few hundred kits. “That is simply inadequate to do justice to the kind of testing we need,” he said. He later said, “I am not going to politicize this moment and I am not going to point fingers.” The governor added that state and federal officials have had a “strong” partnership.

11:11 a.m. New details released on Solano County patient: Mark Ghaly, secretary of the California Health and Human Services, said the woman who mysteriously contracted coronavirus in Solano County was in her community for “a number of days” before accessing care. “Her condition evolved and she was then tested,” he said. Officials are now trying to determine the community’s exposure. The CDC is sending 10 officials to assist in helping to track down people who came in contact with the patient. Dr. Sonia Y. Angell, director of the California Department of Public Health, said officials begin a search by speaking with affected individuals and then interviewing each person around them, tracing who that person may have communicated with and where they might have been, including everyone at the hospital where the patient was treated.

11:02 a.m. Risk to general public remains low, officials say: Health officials are still investigating how a Solano County woman contracted the coronavirus, said Dr. Sonia Y. Angell, director of the California Department of Public Health. “This is a fluid situation,” she said. “The risk to gen public remains low.” However, the Solano County case “marks a turning point,” she said. Officials are increasing lab capacity and planning for increased demand in medical care. The public is advised to take simple steps: wash hands with soap and water, avoid touching the face and mouth with unwashed hands, and stay at home if symptoms develop. “It’s natural to be concerned in times like these,” Angell said.

10:58 a.m. Health officials offer breakdown on total CA cases: In total, 33 people in the state have tested positive for the coronavirus, said Dr. Sonia Y. Angell, director of the California Department of Public Health. Of this total, five have been moved out of state; twenty-four were on flights from affected regions; another seven were travel-related; one person came into contact with someone who was infected; and one case in Solano County, a woman, came from an unknown origin.

10:45 a.m. Patient in Solano County activated state protocols: Gov. Gavin Newsom said news of the nation’s first person to contract coronavirus from an unknown origin prompted state health officials to start tracing down who had been in contact with this individual and begin working with front-line hospital workers. These officials are “deep” in a partnership with CDC in testing, Newsom said, and state officials were assured hours ago that CDC testing protocols will be “urgently” advanced. Newsom said there is “no better resourced state in America to address this issue head-on.”

10:42 a.m. Gov. Gavin Newsom updates on status of coronavirus outbreak: California’s governor said in a news conference that 28 people in the state of California have tested positive for the virus, and five were moved out of the state.

10:18 a.m. Facebook cancels F8 developer conference in May in San Jose: “Given the growing concerns around COVID-19, we’ve made the difficult decision to cancel the in-person component of F8 2020,” Konstantinos Papamiltiadis, Facebook’s director of platform partnerships, wrote in a blog post. Papamiltiadis said it “didn’t feel right” to have the conference without international developers in attendance, a nod to travel restrictions and concerns worldwide as the coronavirus inches toward pandemic status.

9:46 a.m. Dozen hospital workers in Solano County monitored for exposure, report says: The Washington Post reported that the person who had tested positive for coronavirus despite no recent travel history is a Solano County woman. The newspaper also reported that a dozen hospital workers who treated the woman are being monitored for exposure to the virus. CDC officials could not immediately confirm the report.

9:35 a.m. Congress gets closer to funding coronavirus response: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco, said Thursday that Congress is close to a bipartisan agreement on funding to combat the coronavirus. She said Democratic leaders agree the funds must be restricted to response efforts, so President Trump cannot divert them. Pelosi said she spoke Thursday morning with Vice President Mike Pence, who’s leading the federal coronavirus response, about the escalating crisis. She said she “expressed to him the concern that I had” with the vice president overseeing such efforts given he slashed public health funding as the governor of Indiana, which coincided with an HIV outbreak, the worst in the state’s history. “In any event, we look forward to working together in a bipartisan way,” Pelosi said, adding that the response must show “respect for science and evidence-based decision making.”

9:30 a.m. Solano County virus case spreads concern to local schools: Following the announcement of the first case in Solano County, school officials at the Fairfield-Suisun Unified School District said school staff plans to wipe down commonly shared surfaces every day with disinfectants as fears and concerns mount.

9:05 a.m. Unity Technologies, Microsoft pull out of SF gaming conference: The CEO of San Francisco-based software and gaming company Unity Technologies said in a blog post the company is discouraging employees from traveling to San Francisco for the Game Developers Conference in mid-March and will not have a booth at the event, instead showcasing its content online. Microsoft also announced it would have a “digital” presence for the event.

8:30 a.m. Gov. Newsom, health officials to discuss coronavirus at news conference: Gov. Gavin Newsom and health officials announced at 10:30 am. public briefing on the state’s response to the coronavirus in the wake of the first case of unknown origin in California. The press conference can be live-streamed on the governor’s official Twitter page.

7:10 a.m. Bay Area colleges curb study abroad programs, report says: Stanford University suspended its program in Italy and San Jose State University will not be sending a group of students to South Korea, according to NBC Bay Area. Saint Mary’s College reportedly altered some programs as well.

6:40 a.m. Markets fall again over coronavirus fears: The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.6% in early trading Thursday and the SP was down 1.8%, suggesting the spreading virus continues to worry investors and could have a huge impact on the economy.

6:20 a.m. Solano County health officials issue statement on coronavirus patient: “At this time, there is one confirmed case of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in a Solano County resident. This may be the first possible community transmission of the virus. Solano Public Health is working with local, state and federal partners to identify, notify and monitor individuals who may have been exposed to the virus. While this is considered a serious public health threat, the risk to Solano County residents and the general public is low at this time.”

10:53 p.m.: UC Davis releases statement on patient and CDC delay in testing: “Sunday (Feb. 23), the CDC ordered COVID-19 testing of the patient, and the patient was put on airborne precautions and strict contact precautions, because of our concerns about the patient’s condition. Today the CDC confirmed the patient’s test was positive,” officials said.

5:50 p.m. State officials say patient is from Solano County: The first case in the U.S. of unknown origin is a patient from Solano County who is being treated at a Sacramento County hospital, officials said.

5:15 p.m. CDC confirms first case of unknown origin: The CDC said a person with a confirmed case of coronavirus is in Northern California — and that the person did not recently travel to a foreign country or have contact with a person known to have the virus. Officials are not saying where in Northern California the person is.

3:56 p.m. Washington Post reports first U.S. coronavirus case of unknown origin: The Post said that “a person briefed on the case” said the CDC has been informed that a patient in Northern California is infected with the coronavirus and the source of the infection is unknown. The patient did not travel to a foreign country or have contact with a confirmed case.

3:55 p.m. President Trump addresses coronavirus in White House news conference: Trump announced Vice President Mike Pence will be spearheading the White House’s coronavirus task force, which is comprised of officials with the CDC and various federal health and security organizations. Pence, who said he was the governor of Indiana when the first case of MERS in the United States was discovered in 2014, credited Trump for taking “aggressive” and “unprecedented steps” to control spread of the coronavirus in the United States. Alex Azar, the secretary for the Health and Human Services said the United States’ “containment strategy has been working,” but said the “degree of risk has the potential to change quickly,” warning that the country can expect to see more cases of the coronavirus.

12:20 p.m. San Francisco’s only coronavirus patient speaks: Rick Wright, a Redwood City resident who tested positive for coronavirus following his cruise ship vacation, is now being treated at a UCSF hospital. He spoke with The Chronicle about his experience.

11:16 a.m. Two more cruise ship passengers test positive: The CDC said Wednesday that two more passengers from the Diamond Princess cruise ship who were under quarantine at Travis Air Force Base have tested positive for the coronavirus. Both people have been moved to hospitals in the area. In all, 42 cruise ship passengers have been infected; 17 are being monitored in Northern California hospitals.

11:10 a.m. Air travelers rethink plans, even outside virus hot spots: The coronavirus, with its ever-changing patchwork of travel restrictions, is causing people to cancel flights. That spells trouble for SFO and United, its biggest carrier.

8:44 a.m. Fifth Mission podcast on San Francisco’s “State of Emergency: With the city declaring a state of emergency over the coronavirus and federal officials warning the U.S. to prepare for an outbreak, the epidemic suddenly seems much closer to home. Chronicle health reporters Erin Allday and Catherine Ho join editor in chief Audrey Cooper to discuss the latest events on the Fifth Mission podcast.

6:20 a.m. President to address coronavirus with health officials: President Trump will hold a press conference at 3 p.m. with federal health officials to discuss the coronavirus in the U.S.

6:15 a.m. First clinical trial in the U.S. for a coronavirus treatment drug starts: The trial for antiviral drug remdesivir, which was made by Foster City’s Gilead Sciences, has begun at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, according to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. The first trial participant is an American volunteer who was aboard the Diamond Princess cruise ship.

6:00 a.m. One case in Sonoma County: A person with the coronavirus is being treated in Sonoma County, health officials said. The individual was transported to a hospital Monday night from the Travis Air Force Base in Fairfield, where passengers from the disease-stricken cruise ship Diamond Princess in Japan have been staying. Although the person tested positive, they have not shown any symptoms.

6:00 a.m. Third case in Contra Costa: A third patient from from Travis Air Force Base in a Contra Costa County hospital tested positive for the virus, health officials said. The person was transferred to the local hospital last week.

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Article source: https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/Coronavirus-live-updates-Trump-to-hold-news-15085591.php

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