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This is VOA news. Reporting via remote, I'm David Byrd.
U.S. President Donald Trump said Saturday that he was considering a type of enforceable quarantine to prevent people in New York and parts of New Jersey and Connecticut from traveling. Trump told reporters at the White House that it would be for a short period of time if it were done at all. "We might not have to do it but there's a possibility that sometime today we'll do a quarantine - short-term, two weeks for New York, probably New Jersey, certain parts of Connecticut." Under the country's constitutional system, states have the power and responsibility for maintaining public order and safety. Meanwhile, the president sent off a Navy hospital ship from Norfolk, Virginia, to New York Saturday to help ease the burden on the city's healthcare system that has been overwhelmed by the coronavirus pandemic. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez announced on Saturday that all non-essential workers must stay home for at least two weeks - the latest government measure in the fight against the coronavirus. As Emer McCarthy of Reuters reports, the announcement comes as Spain continues to battle the deadly virus. Hospitals remain overcrowded in the capital Madrid, with nursing homes across the country also overwhelmed by patients. According to Spanish media, the Madrid City of Justice - an empty building which was designed amid the failed "City of Justice" project in 2005 - is set to be turned into a second makeshift morgue for coronavirus victims. After an ice skating rink, normally a popular venue for children's birthday parties, was converted earlier this week. Spain extended its lockdown on Thursday and said it was fighting a "real war" over medical supplies to contain the death toll. The country is turning to China for critical products. This is VOA news. North Korea has conducted another apparent missile test, sending a fresh signal it will not stop developing weapons even amid a coronavirus pandemic. The North launched at least one projectile toward the sea off its east coast early Sunday, according to South Korea's military. The weapon, a suspected ballistic missile, did not enter Japan's territory or exclusive economic zone, according to the Japanese Ministry of Defense. North Korea has conducted three other rounds of short-range missile tests this month even while fighting off a potentially disastrous coronavirus outbreak. U.N. Security Council resolutions bar Pyongyang from testing ballistic missiles and the country has been heavily sanctioned over its missile and nuclear weapons programs. Abbott Laboratory said on Friday it won U.S. marketing approval for a diagnostic test for the coronavirus that can deliver results to patients within minutes and can be used in doctors' offices and urgent care clinics, as well as hospitals. Reuters' Gavino Garay has details. Gavin Cloherty, head of Infectious Disease Research, Diagnostics at Abbott, says the ID Now testing device is the size of a small kitchen appliance and is portable enough to even be used in a mobile unit. "... and that enables the healthcare provider to see a patient, diagnose a patient, and take the necessary interventions in a very short amount of time and can help prevent further transmissions to other people." Abbott on Friday said it won U.S. marketing approval under the Food and Drug Administration's Emergency Use Authorization for the diagnostic test that can be used in physicians' offices and urgent care clinics, as well as hospitals. Abbott plans to begin distributing the test next week and will ramp up manufacturing to 50,000 tests per day. The dean of civil rights veterans, the Reverend Joseph E. Lowery, has died. AP correspondent Ben Thomas has details. Into his 90s, the Reverend Joseph Lowery remained a charismatic and fiery preacher. "We go back home to ???" Lowery helped the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. found the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and led the organization for two decades. He retired in 1997 but continued to fight issues such as war, poverty and racism while urging black Americans to exercise their hard-won rights by registering to vote. "We've got to register every registered voter and then we've got to go to the polls and vote." Lowery's family says he died at his home in Atlanta from natural causes unrelated to the coronavirus outbreak. The Reverend Joseph Lowery was 98. I'm Ben Thomas. For more on these stories and the rest of the day's news, visit voanews.com. Reporting via remote, I'm David Byrd, VOA news. |