March 5 coronavirus news

Almost 300 million students in thirteen countries have had their education disrupted by school closures over coronavirus, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization said. 

UNESCO said the children impacted normally attend “pre-primary to upper-secondary classes,” calling the number “without precedent.” The 290.5 million number only includes the countries with nationwide shutdowns. An additional nine countries have implemented localized school closings.

According to the agency, school closures are problematic for the students’ learning achievement and also for parents struggling to balance work with childcare.

UNESCO will convene an emergency meeting of education ministers on 10 March to “share responses and strategies to maintain the continuity of learning and assure inclusion and equity.”

Austin officials plan to move forward with South by Southwest, the annual tech, film and music conference, even after a number of high-profile attendees dropped out over coronavirus concerns.

The conference, which is scheduled to take place from March 13 to March 22, has come under public pressure in recent days to cancel the event. Calls to cancel the conference have continued to grow, with a petition on Change.org urging SXSW to do so getting more than 43,000 signatures.

Here are some of the big names dropping out of the event:

Despite the cancellations, SXSW organizers announced new keynote speakers this week, including Hillary Clinton and Andrew Yang.

Lufthansa has canceled 7,100 European flights for March because of the spread of coronavirus and the impact it's having on demand for flights.

The German airline says most of these canceled flights will be internal German flights and trips to Italy, accounting for around 25% of its total capacity. Lufthansa is also canceling all flights to Israel because of new entry regulations. It says the rules will lead to a considerable drop in demand for flights to Tel Aviv and Eilat.

Earlier this week Lufthansa said it would ground 150 aircraft because of coronavirus, out of a total fleet of 770 aircraft.

CNN is hosting a town hall event tonight where experts will answer questions about novel coronavirus.

Carnival Corporation was down about 5% in pre-market trading as one of its cruises, the Grand Princess ship, was being held off the California coast so health officials could test passengers for the coronavirus.

The move follows the death of a passenger who died less than two weeks after coming home from a trip on the Grand Princess. Some of the ship’s current passengers were on an earlier trip with the victim.

Two other Carnival cruises, one in Italy and another in Japan, were previously quarantined because of the coronavirus. The company said on Feb. 12 that it had canceled operations from ports in China and other parts of Asia as it deals with the outbreak. Carnival said the disease’s impact on bookings and cancelations would have a material impact on its results.

Cruise stocks have sunk during the coronavirus outbreak. Carnival has fallen around 28% over the past month, while Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings has dropped 39% and Royal Caribbean almost 35%.

News about the coronavirus moves so quickly, key definitions or phrases can sometimes pass you by.

The coronavirus is actually not one type of virus; it is a large family of viruses that also includes SARS and other minor to major respiratory illnesses.

COVID-19 is the specific strain of coronavirus responsible for the current epidemic. The acronym, provided by the World Health Organization, stands for "coronavirus disease 2019," referring to the year the virus was first detected.

The virus responsible for the current epidemic is often called the novel coronavirus. Simply meaning "new," a novel coronavirus is a strain that hasn't been detected in humans before.

Brushing up on these and other terms will make the avalanche of information easier to understand. And with a crisis as widespread and complex as this, a little clarity can be a big help.

Read the full article here.

Airline executives asked President Trump and other White House officials not to take steps that would lead to a slowdown in air travel, a person familiar with the Wednesday meeting said. 

The executives asked the administration not to publicly discourage Americans from taking flights, saying their businesses were at risk if the government begins warning against commercial air travel.

The person confirmed that some of the CEOs spoke to acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney in his office after the Cabinet Room meeting ended to discuss the matter further. 

Already, airlines have begun canceling planned routes due to a decline in demand.

At his briefing on Wednesday, Pence told reporters: “It's safe to fly in America and it's safe to fly internationally apart from the travel advisories that are available to the public.”

Watch below: Coronavirus is hitting the travel industry hard

There are 161 cases of the novel coronavirus in the United States, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as well as state and local governments. 

According to the CDC there are 49 cases from repatriated citizens. According to CNN Health’s tally of US cases that are detected and tested in the United States through US public health systems, there are 112 cases in 15 states. Bringing the total of coronavirus cases to 161.

This includes presumptive positive cases that tested positive in a public health lab and are pending confirmation from the CDC, and confirmed cases have received positive results from the CDC.

Here's a state-by-state breakdown:

Remember: These numbers are constantly being updated as the situation is fluid. 

German pharmacies have been given permission by the country's health ministry to mix disinfectant solutions themselves because of shortages due to coronavirus.

On its official Twitter account, the ministry said: "In light of the shortages caused by the coronavirus pharmacies are allowed to make disinfectant themselves. This exceptional regulation was made public yesterday by the Federal Agency for Workplace Protection and Workplace Health."