Coronavirus outbreak spreads across the world

The Lake Washington Institute of Technology in Kirkland, Washington, will be closed through the end of the weekend after a faculty member tested positive for the coronavirus.

A message from President Dr. Amy Morrison, posted to the school’s website, says the faculty member has been self-quarantined, but the school felt it was necessary to empty the campus in order to spend the coming days doing a thorough cleaning of the premises.

Morrison added the closure would also “provide us time to get a clear sense of who could have been exposed."

A student also tested negative for coronavirus, the school said.

Facebook is closing one of its Seattle offices for the rest of the week after learning that a contractor who works there has the novel coronavirus.

The company told CNN that the infected worker was last at the Stadium East facility on February 21.

Due to guidance from the local health officials, Facebook is also encouraging all of its Seattle employees to work from home through the end of the month.

Australia will extend its travel restrictions to China, Iran, and South Korea, the government announced today, shortly after confirming a new death.

There will also be enhanced screening measures for travelers arriving from Italy, including temperature checks, mandatory health questioning at check-in counters, and further checks by Australian Border force and bio-security officers.

Australia's Department of Health announced 10 new cases of the coronavirus, bringing the national total to 52 cases. The department also confirmed the death of a resident in a nursing home, bringing the country's death toll to two. 

New York's Mount Vernon school district is closing all of its schools and offices until March 9, according to a news release from the school district. 

This comes after two of their students and their families were placed under quarantine, the release says.

School officials are working to clean all of their schools and offices during this time.

Mount Vernon is only a few miles from New Rochelle -- where two families have tested positive for the coronavirus.

Global cases are nearing 95,000: The number of people who have died from the coronavirus has risen to 3,283 as of Thursday, with 3,012 in mainland China. Outside of China, the most deaths have been reported in Italy, Iran and South Korea. Close to 95,000 cases of the virus have been confirmed worldwide, again with the vast majority in mainland China.

Italy is shutting schools: Outside of China, one of the worst outbreaks has been in Italy, where more than 3,000 cases of the virus have been confirmed, and 107 deaths. The country announced Wednesday that it was closing all schools and universities until March 15, and a "red zone" has been declared in the north of the country.

Fears of a global pandemic are growing: While the World Health Organization (WHO) has yet to declare the coronavirus a pandemic, as there is limited evidence of sustained transmission among people who have not recently traveled to China or had close contact with someone who recently traveled to China, other authorities have been less circumspect. Speaking Wednesday, German Health Minister Jens Spahn said "the coronavirus outbreak in China has become a global pandemic."

There may be another cruise ship outbreak: The Diamond Princess cruise liner quarantined in Japan dominated headlines for weeks, and now another ship has been halted -- this time off the coast of California -- after passengers and crew demonstrated symptoms. Governor Gavin Newsom, who earlier declared a state of emergency over an outbreak in the state, said the Grand Princess had been delayed to allow US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) staff time to inspect it.

Trump used the virus to go after Obama: The US President falsely claimed Wednesday that policies adopted by the Obama administration had slowed down diagnostic testing. Both a Republican senator's office and a lab association said this is not correct.

German Health Minister Jens Spahn said today that "the coronavirus outbreak in China has become a global pandemic," while speaking to lawmakers at the German National Parliament

In Germany, the number of confirmed coronavirus cases has risen to 158.

What is an epidemic? An epidemic is more than a normal number cases of an illness, specific health-related behavior, or other health-related events in a community or region.

What is a pandemic? A pandemic is defined as the "worldwide spread" of a new disease.

But Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said earlier this month that there is no definitive scientific definition of what constitutes a pandemic.

He added that there could be arguments on either side as to whether the coronavirus outbreak could be described as a pandemic.

Chinese authorities reported 31 more deaths and 139 new cases of the novel coronavirus yesterday, and said a total of 52,045 patients have recovered and been discharged from hospital.

Here are the breakdown of the numbers:

Cases:

Deaths:

Outside China, deaths have been reported in:

United Airlines warned employees earlier today it will be cutting back on more flights due to the impact of the coronavirus on worldwide travel.

Flights slashed: In an companywide email, provided to CNN by United, the airline's executives say they are cutting United’s international schedule by 20% in April, while domestic flights across the US and Canada will be cut by 10%.

The airline will try to minimize the effect of the changes to its workers, but a hiring freeze for non-critical jobs is now in place until at least the end of June, the email said.

Employees are also being told they can volunteer for an unpaid leave of absence or reduced schedule. Planned salary increases for management and administrators are being pushed back by three months.

South Korea reported three new deaths and 438 additional cases of the coronavirus on Wednesday, according to the South Korean Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC). 

This brings the national total to 5,766 cases and 35 deaths.

Among the 438 new cases, 320 are from the southern city of Daegu, which has been at the heart of the national outbreak.

In total, 4,326 cases have been from Daegu, with many of them linked to the Shincheonji religious group.

Another 87 of the new cases are from North Gyeongsang province, which surrounds Daegu.

Around 90% of the nation's cases are from Daegu and North Gyeongsang province.