March 9 coronavirus news

An American citizen in Saudi Arabia tested positive for coronavirus today, said the country's Health Ministry in a statement.

The man was travelling from the Philippines and Italy before arriving to Saudi Arabia, the ministry added.

He is currently receiving treatment in a hospital in the capital Riyadh. The ministry did not provide the man’s name or information on his home state. 

Three others in Al Qateef province, including two Bahraini citizens, were also found to have been infected, according to the ministry.

All travel in and out of the province was suspended yesterday, affecting more than half a million residents, after most of the country's cases were confirmed there.

Saudi Arabia now has a total of 15 positive coronavirus cases.

The disembarkation of the Grand Princess cruise ship, quarantined off California's coast, will be a "multiple day process," said cruise operator Princess Cruises.

The ship is expected to dock in Oakland at some point later today, though the official timing has yet to be determined, said a news release from Princess Cruises.

"Disembarkation will commence in order of priority, as defined and directed by both state and local authorities. It is expected to be a multiple day process," said the release.

"Once disembarkation of the guests is completed, the crew will remain onboard and Grand Princess will depart from San Francisco bay. Plans for a crew quarantine are still being determined."

The release also detailed some of the measures taken, including delivering hundreds of prescription refills to guests on board and providing complimentary internet and telephone. 

A university in Germany's Rhineland-Palatinate state has closed due to coronavirus fears, marking the first such instance in the country.

The WHU-Otto Beisheim School of Management, one of Europe's top business schools, issued a statement announcing its Vallendar campus would be closed this week.

"By order of the Mayen Koblenz Health authority, our campus must close until March 13, 2020. The closure of the campus is a precautionary measure that will help the Mayen Koblenz Health Department to identify possible infection chains,’’ the statement said.

The statement added that no lectures, conferences or other events on the Vallendar campus will take place during the next week.

Schools on high alert: In parts of Asia, schools have been suspended for weeks now, with students taking classes online using digital learning tools.

Even in other places, schools and universities are wary of the virus -- Columbia University in New York announced today that it would suspend classes today and tomorrow, to allow the university "to prepare to shift to remote classes for the remainder of the week."

Bangladesh has confirmed its first three cases of the coronavirus, the country's Ministry of Health and Family Welfare announced Monday.

The patients are one woman and two men, who have been quarantined and are being treated at a hospital in the capital Dhaka, said Mayedul Islam, a spokesperson for the ministry.

The two men had recently returned from Italy, and the women contracted the virus after coming in contact with one of them after their return.  

The father and sister of a coronavirus patient in the US state of Missouri disregarded a quarantine and went to a school function on Saturday.

The patient, who is in her 20s, reported feeling sick after returning from Italy on March 2. Health officials who advised her to get tested, and she was confirmed as Missouri's first presumptive positive case on Saturday.

The patient's family had been advised to self-quarantine at their home in Ladue as they awaited test results, said St. Louis County Executive Sam Page.

That night the patient's father defied these instructions and went to a school function with another daughter, Page said.

Page lauded the patient, saying she has "conducted herself responsibly and maturely " and she has been "complying with the health departments instructions."

Health and county officials learned about the father's actions Sunday and told him that he needs to stay in isolation. If he does not comply with orders, health officials will seek a court order and "issue a formal quarantine that will require him and the rest of his family to stay in their home by the force of law," Page warned.

Princess Cruises is offering thousands of stranded passengers on the Grand Princess cruise ship a full refund, according to a letter sent to guests by the cruise line on Sunday. 

The Grand Princess, docked off the California coast, has been in limbo since Wednesday, when officials learned a California man who traveled on the same ship last month later died of coronavirus. 

In the letter obtained by CNN, the cruise line told travelers that all monies paid to Princess Cruises as well as air fare accommodations will be reimbursed. Each guest will also receive a future cruise credit equal to 100% of the cruise fare paid for the current voyage, according to the letter.

Ship under quarantine: There are currently 21 people confirmed with coronavirus aboard the ship, which is expected to dock sometime today in Oakland, California.

Among the infected on the ship are 19 crew members and two passengers, though the number of onboard infections could rise, as not all of the approximately 3,500 people on board -- including passengers and crew -- have been tested.

About 1,000 California residents from the ship will go into mandatory quarantine at Travis Air Force Base and Miramar Naval Air Station, the US Department of Health and Human Services said Sunday.

Saudi Arabia has suspended the serving of shisha in cafes and restaurants across the kingdom to prevent the spread of coronavirus, said the Ministry of Municipal Affairs today.

Shisha is tobacco smoked on a water pipe popular in cafes around the Middle East.

A total of 11 cases have been confirmed in Saudi Arabia as of yesterday, according to state media.

The kingdom has also taken other measures to battle coronavirus including suspending the Mecca pilgrimage, temporarily prohibiting travel to and from Al Qateef province, and halting flights from several countries. 

Australia has confirmed six new novel coronavirus cases, bringing the nationwide tally to 80 as of Monday morning local time, according to a statement from the country's of Department of Health.

Four of those cases were recorded Sunday in the state of New South Wales. They include:

One patient was confirmed in Victoria, health authorities there said. She is a woman in her fifties who flew from Jakarta to Perth on February 27 and developed symptoms on February 29. 

Another new case was confirmed in Queensland, involving a 38-year-old woman who recently traveled from London through Dubai, according to a statement from Queensland Health.

The total count: Of the now 80 patients in Australia who have contracted the virus, 22 have recovered. Three people have died.

A coronavirus patient in Grant County, Washington, has died, according the Grant County Health District.

No other details were provided regarding this patient's case. In a press release, Health District Administrator Theresa Adkinson extended her condolences to the patient's family and friends.

That brings Washington state's death toll to 19, and the national death toll to 22.

The other 3 deaths outside Washington happened in California and Florida.