North America

NEW YORK (AP) — With refrigerated morgue trucks parked on New York City’s streets to collect the surging number of dead, public health officials projected Tuesday that the coronavirus could ultimately kill more than 100,000 people across the U.S. Some states that have become hot spots warn they’re running low on ventilators, while two cruise ships pleaded for Florida to allow them to dock to carry off the sick and dead.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump warned Americans to brace for a “hell of a bad two weeks” ahead as the White House projected there could be 100,000 to 240,000 deaths in the U.S. from the coronavirus pandemic even if current social distancing guidelines are maintained.

Public health officials stressed Wednesday that the number could be less if people across the country bear down on keeping their distance from one another.

NEW YORK, Mar 30 (APP): An emergency field hospital is being set up in New York City’s Central Park to treat a growing number of coronavirus patients in one of United States’ epicenters of the Covid-19 outbreak.
Samaritan’s Purse, a religious humanitarian aid organization, is building the hospital, and it is expected to open on Tuesday. The field hospital, which is made up of tents, will have at least 68 beds, according to a press release.

UNITED NATIONS, Mar 31 (APP): The United Nations special envoy for Syria has told the UN Security Council that the war-ravaged country was at “high risk” of being unable to contain stem the progress of the deadly pandemic.

Montreal, Mar 31 (AFP/PTI) Air Canada announced Monday it would temporarily lay off nearly half of its employees and reduce activity by up to 90 percent in the second quarter due to the coronavirus.

The measures would affect 15,200 employees and about 1,300 managers from April 3, the airline said in a press release.

Washington, Mar 31 (PTI) The US is coordinating with the Indian government to evacuate stranded American citizens from the country who have expressed interest to return home after India announced a 21-day lockdown to combat the coronavirus pandemic, according to a senior official.

Washington, Mar 31 (PTI) US President Donald Trump has said that the next 30 days are very vital for America in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic, as the confirmed cases of those infected by the deadly disease soured to 164,000 and fatalities crossed 3,100 in the country.

His remarks came a day after he extended the "social distancing" guidelines until April 30, expecting the peak death rate from COVID-19 to hit the country in two weeks.

PANAMA CITY, March 31 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The government of Panama announced strict quarantine measures that separate citizens by gender in an effort to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus.

From Wednesday, men and women will only be able to leave their homes for two hours at a time, and on different days.

Until now, quarantine regulations were not based on gender.

Men will be able to go to the supermarket or the pharmacy on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, and women will be allowed out on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

31 March 2020; AFP: A federal judge in New York on Monday granted the release from prison on humanitarian grounds of an 87-year-old former senior Brazilian football official tarnished by the FIFA corruption scandal.

Judge Pamela Chen authorized the release of Jose Maria Marin, a former Brazilian Football Confederation president, who was serving a four-year prison sentence for accepting millions of dollars in bribes as part of the global FIFA corruption scandal.

TIJUANA/CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico (Reuters) - The world’s busiest land border has fallen quiet as restrictions to contain the coronavirus prevent millions of Mexicans from making daily trips north, including many who work in U.S. businesses.

At least 4 million Mexicans residing in cities along the 1,954-mile (3,144-km) border have been hit hard by the restrictions on non-essential travel. The measures effectively invalidate visas allowing short crossings into U.S. cities to visit family, get medical care or shop.