State Department warns against cruise travel; Ted Cruz shook hands with CPAC patient

Stanford University canceled in-person classes for the final two weeks of the quarter, switching to online instruction amid rising concern about the coronavirus outbreak.

As the coronavirus first reported in China spreads in the United States, several schools have taken this step as a precaution, hoping to avoid further infections on campus.

The University of Washington, which has more than 55,000 students on three campuses, announced Friday that it would switch to virtual classes, and some smaller schools in and near the hard-hit Seattle area, such as Pacific Lutheran University, announced similar plans.

Three states now have more than 100 coronavirus patients each as the number of cases in the United States tops 500.

Washington state continued to lead the country in confirmed patients, with public health authorities reporting 136 cases. Two newly announced deaths at a nursing home there pushed the state’s death toll to 18 on Sunday.

California on Sunday announced 114 positive tests, including 14 cases where the infection was transmitted in the community. More than 10,000 people in the state are self-monitoring after returning to the United States through San Francisco International Airport or Los Angeles International Airport, officials said.

Stock futures sank deep into the red Sunday, with the Dow Jones industrial average expected to open as much as 1,200 points down Monday morning, as a new oil war sparked by the coronavirus outbreak sent prices plummeting.

The price of West Texas Intermediate crude, largely used in the United States, fell from about $41 to $32 a barrel Sunday night, a low not seen in four years. Although the tumble should lower prices at the pump for consumers, it is terrible news for stock markets, as well as oil companies and their massive workforces, which could face hard times ahead.

Puerto Rico has announced it first presumptive case of covid-19 after an Italian tourist aboard a cruise ship from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., arrived in San Juan and began feeling ill.

Gov. Wanda Vázquez Garced said the 68-year-old woman, who is from northern Italy, showed signs of respiratory distress similar to the virus’s symptoms while aboard the Costa Luminosa vessel. She was treated on board and transported early Sunday from the ship to the emergency room at Ashford Presbyterian Community Hospital in San Juan. The woman and her husband, who is not showing symptoms, were isolated at the hospital.

China on Sunday announced 40 new cases of coronavirus and 22 additional deaths — a sign that the epidemic was continuing to slow in the country where it began.

Daily new infections in China had dropped into double digits Friday for the first time since figures began coming out in January.

As usual, the toll in China was concentrated in Hubei province, the outbreak’s epicenter. Twenty-one of the reported deaths were in Hubei, and 36 of the new cases were in its capital city, Wuhan. But even in Wuhan, Chinese officials have been signaling optimism. The Communist Party boss there said Friday he would begin a citywide “thankfulness education” campaign to encourage people to show their appreciation for leaders helping the country combat coronavirus.

HOUSTON — Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) and Rep. Paul A. Gosar (R-Ariz.) said Sunday that they interacted with an attendee at last month’s Conservative Political Action Conference who has tested positive for covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.

Cruz said that he shared a brief conversation and handshake with the attendee 10 days ago and that he is not experiencing any symptoms.

“I feel fine and healthy,” he said.

According to his statement, Cruz was not required to self-quarantine but will stay at his Texas home “until a full 14 days have passed since the CPAC interaction.”

A story of a D.C. woman who had traveled through the Seoul airport and was unable to access a coronavirus test made the rounds on social media over the weekend, highlighting the confusion many Americans feel about the spread of the virus and who should be tested.

Maggie McDow, 46, of the Forest Hills section of the District, said that, to her alarm, the D.C. Department of Health overruled an emergency room doctor treating her Friday at George Washington University Hospital, preventing her from being tested for the virus. She wrote about the experience in a Facebook post shared widely on Saturday.

Iowa officials on Sunday evening announced the state’s first three cases of covid-19.

The patients live in Johnson County and were passengers aboard a cruise ship in Egypt, Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) told reporters at a news conference. One is between the ages of 41 and 60, while the others are between 61 and 80, officials said. Two had underlying health conditions.

The governor’s office said in a news release that none of the three required hospitalization and that all are recovering at home.

“While these are the first cases, it may not be the last and it’s why Iowans must continue to practice safe habits like hand washing and staying home from work when sick,” Reynolds said in the release.