March 1 coronavirus news

The United States' top doctor has one simple request: Stop buying face masks.

US Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams' message, posted to Twitter on Saturday, was a response to face mask shortages as people stock up due to coronavirus concerns.

Washing your hands, staying home when sick and other "everyday preventive actions" are the best protections, Adams said. He urged people to get a flu shot, as fewer flu patients means more resources to fight the coronavirus.

The tweet comes during what has become a mask boom. With more coronavirus cases popping up in the United States, some have started buying face masks as a form of protection -- despite the likes of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Vice President Mike Pence saying they're unnecessary.

And, like Adams points out, if these masks run out, they won't be available to the medical professionals who are at the highest risk for disease transmission.

A University of California Davis student who was under investigation for coronavirus tested negative and has been released from quarantine, according to Yolo County Health and Human Services.

The student had had "potential exposure" to the virus. The student's two roommates, also UC Davis students, were quarantined and have since been released.

Kuwait has a total of 45 confirmed coronavirus cases, the country's Ministry of Health announced today.

The patients are “all in good health, and receiving good medical care," the ministry said.

Kuwait only reported its first case last Monday. Authorities are scrambling to stem the spread of the virus, evacuating citizens from Iran and Italy, which have also seen surges in cases.  

A 35-year-old man has become Thailand's first death due to the novel coronavirus, the country's Ministry of Public Health said today.

The Thai national had suffered dengue fever before contracting the virus, spokesman Dr. Suwannachai Wattanayingcharoenchai said, and had "multiple organ failures."

There are 42 confirmed cases in Thailand.

Vice President Mike Pence said Saturday that while most Americans face a low risk from coronavirus, more US deaths could be imminent following the nation's first confirmed fatality.

"We know there will be more cases," Pence told CNN's Jake Tapper, echoing President Donald Trump's earlier comments that additional cases in America were "likely."

When asked whether more Americans could die from the disease, Pence -- who Trump has put in charge of coronavirus response and messaging -- replied: "It is possible."

Pence said that the situation explained to him by Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and others is "most people that contract the coronavirus, they will recover. They will deal with a respiratory illness, we'll get them treatment."

Satellite images released by NASA and the European Space Agency reveal the impact of China's coronavirus shutdown on pollution levels across the country.

Production in many factories was halted and transportation restricted to prevent the virus from spreading in the country.

Images taken from January 1-20 show higher levels of nitrogen dioxide in the air. But from February 10-25, traces of the gas are hardly visible.

For 18-year-old Huang Yiyang, school starts when she opens up her laptop.

Over the past two weeks, there have been no school bells, bustling corridors, busy canteens or uniforms. Instead of physically traveling to her public school in Shanghai, Huang sits at her laptop from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. -- often in her pajamas -- watching livestreamed class after livestreamed class.

For physical education class, her teacher performs exercises for students to follow. For English, she sits silently through lectures to virtual classrooms of 20 to 30 students.

She puts stickers or tissues over her webcam, so her classmates can't see her if a teacher calls on her to answer a question. "We're at home, so we don't look so good," she says.

Huang barely leaves the house, and she hasn't seen her friends for a month. But while she is isolated, she's also part of what may be the world's largest remote learning experiment.

In a bid to stop the spread of the disease, schools across China are closed, leaving about 180 million school-aged children stuck at home.

And mainland China is just the start. Millions of students in Hong Kong, Macao, Vietnam, Mongolia, Japan, Iran, Pakistan, Iraq and Italy have been affected by school closures. For some, that means missing class altogether, while others are trialing online learning. Authorities in the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom have indicated that, if the outbreak gets worse, they could shut schools, too.

But while online learning is allowing children to keep up their education in the time of the coronavirus, it's also come with a raft of other problems. For some students, the issues are minor -- shaky internet connections or trouble staying motivated. For others, the remote learning experiment could come at a cost of their mental health -- or even their academic future.

Read more about the world's largest remote learning experiment here.

Australia reported its first novel coronavirus death today -- a 78-year-old man repatriated from the cruise ship Diamond Princess.

Western Australia state’s Chief Health Officer Andrew Robertson told reporters at a press briefing that the man's wife was also infected, and remained in a stable condition. 

The Department of Health confirmed to CNN that there were two new coronavirus cases in Australia on Sunday, taking the national tally to 27.

American Airlines is suspending flights from Miami International Airport and New York’s JFK Airport to Milan, Italy, the airline said on Saturday night.

The suspensions are effective as of March 1, and flights will resume on April 25.

The carrier typically operates one flight to and from each city per day.

Customers who have had their flights canceled and do not want to book again can request a full refund through the American Airlines website.