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What's Happening: Pandemic declared, virus survival studied

Associated Press

Tags: Health, Angela Merkel
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Staff and shoppers wear face masks inside a supermarket in Madrid, Spain, Wednesday, March 11, 2020. Spain's health minister on Monday announced a sharp spike in coronavirus cases in and around the national capital, Madrid, and said all schools in the region, including kindergartens and universities, will close for two weeks from Wednesday. For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
A closed school in Rivas Vaciamadrid, Spain, Wednesday, March 11, 2020. Spain's health minister on Monday announced a sharp spike in coronavirus cases in and around the national capital, Madrid, and said all schools in the region, including kindergartens and universities, will close for two weeks from Wednesday. For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
A closed school in Rivas Vaciamadrid, Spain, Wednesday, March 11, 2020. Spain's health minister on Monday announced a sharp spike in coronavirus cases in and around the national capital, Madrid, and said all schools in the region, including kindergartens and universities, will close for two weeks from Wednesday. For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
A Fiaker coach passes in front of a poster is written " closed today" the Burgtheater in Vienna, Austria, Wednesday, March 11, 2020. The culture activities in Austria will be closed at least until the end of March. For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia. (AP Photo/Ronald Zak)
From left: German Health Minister Jens Spahn, Chancellor Angela Merkel and the President of the Robert Koch Institute, German federal government agency and research institute responsible for disease control and prevention, Lothar H. Wieler leave a news conference about the coronavirus outbreak in Germany, in Berlin, Germany, Wednesday, March 11, 2020. For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
People wear face masks as a precaution against the COVID-19 illness as they walk inside a subway station during rush hour in Hong Kong, Wednesday, March 11, 2020. For most, the coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. But for a few, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illnesses, including pneumonia. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
People stand in front of a screen where is written " We are very sorry, but due to the corna virus the tours have be cancelld until 31 March" of the the Austrian State Opera in Vienna, Austria,Wednesday, March 11, 2020. The culture activities in Austria will be closed at least until the end of March. For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia. (AP Photo/Ronald Zak)
Th Austrian State Opera who canceled all performances until March 31. in Vienna, Austria, Wednesday, March 11, 2020. The culture activities in Austria will be closed at least until the end of March. For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia. (AP Photo/Ronald Zak)
An official sprays disinfectant in a kindergarten to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus in Miercurea Ciuc, or Csikszereda in Hungarian, central Romania, Wednesday, March 11, 2020. The Romanian National Emergency Committee has ordered the nationwide closure of every pre-school and educational institution between 11 and 22 March to allow ample time for the thorough disinfection of such facilities during this period. (Nandor Veres/MTI via AP)
In this Tuesday, March, 10, 2020 photo, paramedics test samples taken from patients suspected of being infected with the new coronavirus, at a laboratory in the southwestern city of Ahvaz, Iran. For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia. (Amin Nazari/ISNA via AP)
A teacher walks along a hallway of an empty public school in small Spanish Basque village of Labastida, around 45 kms (24,85 miles) from Vitoria, northern Spain, Wednesday, March 11, 2020. Spain's health minister on Monday announced a sharp spike in coronavirus cases in and around the national capital, and said all schools in the region, including kindergartens and universities, and the same in the Spanish Basque city of Vitoria, will close for two weeks.For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia. (AP Photo/Alvaro Barrientos)
German Chancellor Angela Merkel attends a news conference about the coronavirus outbreak in Germany, in Berlin, Germany, Wednesday, March 11, 2020. For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
In this Sunday, March 8, 2020, photo released by Xinhua News Agency, workers in protective suits clean up a makeshift hospital which converted from a sports venue after it officially closed in Wuhan in central China's Hubei province. The province at the center of China's virus outbreak is allowing factories and some other businesses to reopen in a new sign Beijing believes the disease that devastated its economy is being brought under control. (Xiao Yijiu/Xinhua via AP)
In this Tuesday, March 10, 2020, photo released by Xinhua News Agency, people recovered from coronavirus prepare to leave the rehabilitation center after a 14-day quarantine for medical observation in Wuhan in central China's Hubei province. The province at the center of China's virus outbreak is allowing factories and some other businesses to reopen in a new sign Beijing believes the disease that devastated its economy is being brought under control. (Xiong Qi/Xinhua via AP)
A man wears a face mask as he talks on his mobile phone near a banner promoting awareness of the coronavirus outbreak in Medan, North Sumatra, Indonesia, Wednesday, March 11, 2020. The vast majority of people recover from the new virus. According to the World Health Organization, people with mild illness recover in about two weeks, while those with more severe illness may take three to six weeks to recover. In mainland China, where the virus first exploded, more than 80,000 people have been diagnosed and more than 58,000 have so far recovered. (AP Photo/Binsar Bakkara)

Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Staff and shoppers wear face masks inside a supermarket in Madrid, Spain, Wednesday, March 11, 2020. Spain's health minister on Monday announced a sharp spike in coronavirus cases in and around the national capital, Madrid, and said all schools in the region, including kindergartens and universities, will close for two weeks from Wednesday. For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

New clusters of the novel coronavirus are expanding in the United States and Europe as Italy replaces China as the current epicenter of a worldwide outbreak.

For most people, the virus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia.

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These are some of the latest developments on Wednesday:

WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION DECLARES PANDEMIC

The World Health Organization declared the outbreak a pandemic but said it’s not too late for countries to act. By using the word it had previously shied away from, the U.N. health agency appeared to want to shock lethargic countries into pulling out all the stops as cases mount globally. “We have called every day for countries to take urgent and aggressive action. We have rung the alarm bell loud and clear,” said WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

VIRUS SURVIVAL TIME

A study by U.S. scientists found the new coronavirus could be detected in the air up to three hours after being sprayed. It could live up to 24 hours on cardboard and up to three days on plastic and stainless steel. To determine their findings published Wednesday, researchers used a nebulizer device to put samples of the new virus into the air, simulating what might happen if an infected person coughed or made the virus airborne some other way.

BEIJING QUARANTINES FOREIGN TRAVELERS

Beijing's city government ordered all passengers arriving in the city from overseas, regardless of their points of departure, to undergo a 14-day quarantine. The move was part of stepped-up measures to prevent the new virus first detected in China from re-entering the country following its spread across the world. The outbreak in China has been easing, with just 24 new confirmed cases reported Wednesday. Five of those arrived from Italy and one from the United States.

SCHOOL CLOSURES EXPANDED, DEBATED

As schools around the world close or move classes online, experts are debating whether such measures help protect students or surrounding communities. The downsides include the hypothetical risk of children infecting grandparents or other caretakers and the potential harm to children’s education and nutritional needs. Still, Poland and Ukraine have joined the countries deciding to close schools. The two eastern European nations have small numbers of confirmed cases. More U.S. colleges and universities are also extending spring breaks and moving classes online, as cases in the country pushed past 1,000.

NEW CLUSTER IN SOUTH KOREA

While cases have been waning in South Korea, a new cluster in Seoul raised alarms. The cluster was connected to a call center in one of the busiest areas of the capital. So far, 93 people have tested positive among the center’s employees and their families, but the number could grow as hundreds more undergo testing. South Korea’s caseload of more than 7,700 infections is the fourth highest in the world after China, Italy and Iran.

GRETA THUNBERG SAYS KEEP PROTESTING, BUT DIGITALLY

Climate activist Greta Thunberg is urging people to protest online instead of in person because of the virus outbreak. The Swedish teenager told followers on Twitter to “keep your numbers low but your spirits high." She said the challenge was to find new ways to create public awareness and advocate for change that don’t involve big crowds. Ahead of upcoming climate change rallies, Thunberg said people could post photos of themselves with their signs and listed some hashtags they could use.

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The Associated Press receives support for health and science coverage from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

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Follow AP coverage of the virus outbreak at https://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak

Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

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