March 28 coronavirus news

By James Griffiths, Brett McKeehan, Veronica Rocha, Amy Woodyatt and Amir Vera, CNN

Updated 3:33 p.m. ET, March 29, 2020

71 Posts

Sort by

2:39 p.m. ET, March 29, 2020

12% of coronavirus patients hospitalized in Canada are under 40

From CNN's Paula Newton

A hospital worker stands outside Lions Gate Hospital in British Columbia, on Thursday, March 19. Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press/AP

Canadian health officials on Sunday corrected erroneous data reported during a press conference held Saturday, saying that younger generations account for 12% of hospitalizations, not 30% as previously stated.

In a tweet, Canada’s Chief Public Health Officer, Dr. Theresa Tam apologized for the error and said: “I misspoke on the percentage of hospitalized cases.”

“There was an error made. Based on a subset of case reports with age and hospitalization data, 12% (not 30%) of those hospitalized were under 40 years of age,” Health Canada wrote in an email sent to CNN.

“The case report forms lag behind the real time data, while they provide more in depth information for epidemiological analysis,” the statement said.

Other notable observations from the Public Health Agency of Canada analysis on Saturday showed that people over 60 were more likely to be hospitalized with 56% going to hospital for treatment. Of those, more than half were admitted to intensive care.

The information showed that most of the new cases in Canada were from community transmission and not from travel.

"We have now completed tests for over 184,000 people in Canada which is more than 84,000 additional people tested since Monday. In terms of the severity of Covid 19 in Canada, the percentage of cases that require hospitalization is approximately 7%. About 3% are critically ill and 1% of cases have been fatal," Tam said on Saturday.

UPDATE: This post was updated to reflect the latest data from Canadian officials.

5:12 p.m. ET, March 28, 2020

Italian schools will remain closed beyond April 3

From CNN's Livia Borghese and Lauren Kent

Italian schools will remain closed beyond the initial April 3 deadline, Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte announced from Rome on Saturday.

It is clear that the suspension of school activities will continue," Conte said. "There is no prospect of returning to ordinary activities at school and university."

The decision on suspending nonessential production activities will be taken next week, Conte said.

"We know this measure has a great impact, it's very costly, but our priority is the health of citizens," Conte said.

5:11 p.m. ET, March 28, 2020

Italy allocates $4.8 billion to provide food and medicine for victims of economic crisis

From CNN's Livia Borghese

Italy allocated $4.8 billion (€4.3 billion) to provide food and medicine for victims of the economic crisis triggered by the coronavirus lockdown, Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte announced from Rome Saturday.

"In this emergency, some people are unable to feed their children, we also have hundreds of requests for help every day," said Antonio Di Caro, mayor of Bari and president of the Italian Cities Association. "This intervention will involve zero bureaucracy and will allow an immediate response from social services (for those in need)."

Next week, that funding and an additional $446 million (€400 million) from the Italian Civil Protection Agency will be given to mayors to "distribute bonuses to families or food packages," Conte said.

5:15 p.m. ET, March 28, 2020

France reports 4,611 new confirmed coronavirus cases in one day

From Fanny Bobille in Paris

Health workers Cyril Lamriben, left, and Noemie Biamba take care of a 51-year-old woman suspected of having coronavirus in Paris, France, on Saturday, March 28. Michel Euler/AP

France's confirmed number of coronavirus cases jumped by 4,611 cases in one day, pushing the total number of cases to 37,575, according to the French government report on Saturday.

The latest government figures report 2,314 Covid-19 deaths in France, an increase of 319 deaths from yesterday.

France has 4,273 coronavirus patients in intensive care units.

5:13 p.m. ET, March 28, 2020

First death of infant in connection with coronavirus reported in the US

From CNN’s Hollie Silverman

A Chicago baby is the first infant death in the US associated with coronavirus, Illinois Department of Public Health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike said Saturday.

"There has never before been a death associated with COVID-19 in an infant. A full investigation is underway to determine the cause of death," Ezike said. "We must do everything we can to prevent the spread of this deadly virus. If not to protect ourselves, but to protect those around us."

An investigation into the cause of death is underway, Ezike said.

The death of a child younger than one year with coronavirus has previously been reported in China. That child had a pre-existing condition.

5:07 p.m. ET, March 28, 2020

Ontario to receive 5 million N95 respirators and will implement penalties for retailer price-gouging

From CNN’s Artemis Moshtaghian

James Black/Icon Sportswire/Getty Images

The Canadian province of Ontario has ordered 5 million N95 respirators that will distributed throughout the province on a rolling basis, said Doug Ford, the province's premier.

Canada’s four major automobile companies are utilizing their engineering and manufacturing departments to manufacture and procure the province with a request for 10,000 ventilators to be delivered over the next four weeks, Ford said in a press conference Saturday.

Ford issued an emergency order where price gougers could face jail time and potential penalties for exploiting essentials items needed by the general public to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

"If you’re selling facemasks, protective gloves, cold medicine, hand sanitizer and disinfecting wipes and you’re hiking the price, 5 times, 10 times what it should be, you’re done, you’re gone because we’re coming after you," Ford said.

4:27 p.m. ET, March 28, 2020

WHO's Africa Region confirms 2,650 coronavirus cases and 49 deaths

From CNN's Lauren Kent

The 47 nations in the World Health Organization's Africa Region have confirmed 2,650 coronavirus cases and 49 deaths, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a series of tweets Saturday.

In the tweets, Tedros explained how WHO is helping African countries during this pandemic.

Below is the full thread:

4:03 p.m. ET, March 28, 2020

Italy has received $68 million in donations to purchase more masks and ventilators

From CNN's Valentina DiDonato in Rome

A doctor at San Matteo Hospital in Pavia, Italy, treats coronavirus patients on Thursday, March 26. Claudio Furlan/LaPresse/AP

The Italian Civil Protection Department has received donations totaling more than $68 million (61 million euros) which will be spent on more surgical masks and ventilators, according to Head of Italian Civil Protection Angelo Borelli in a press conference on Saturday.

The donations came from private donors and companies, including the fashion house Armani and the owner of the soccer team Juventus.

Italy's only producer of ventilators will now increase their production, Borelli said during the presser.

Borelli also said 11,636 people have volunteered to help the Italian Civil Protection with the coronavirus crisis, and the government received more than 7,714 responses from former nurses who intend to return to medical practice.

"It shows constant solidarity among our citizens," Borelli added.

3:53 p.m. ET, March 28, 2020

There are at least 111,980 coronavirus cases in the US

From CNN's Shawn Nottingham

A doctor from SOMOS Community Care prepares to test a patient at a drive-through testing center at Lehman College in New York City on March 28. John Moore/Getty Images

There are at least 111,980 cases of the novel coronavirus in the United States, according to CNN Health’s tally of US cases that are detected and tested in the country through its public health systems,

Rhode Island reported its first deaths, only three states remain that haven’t recorded a coronavirus death, Hawaii, West Virginia and Wyoming.

So far, 1,858 people have died in total in the US from coronavirus.

The total includes cases from all 50 states, the District of Columbia and other U.S. territories, as well as all repatriated cases.

For the most up-to-date US numbers compiled by CNN, please check this map which automatically refreshes every 10 minutes.