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This is a live blog. Please check back for updates.
- Global cases: At least 207,855, according to the latest figures from the World Health Organization
- Global deaths: At least 8,648, according to the latest figures from the WHO
All times below are in Beijing time.
8:21 am: Many of Mexico’s top bankers quarantined after convention attendee tests positive
Many of Mexico’s top banking and finance people have been put in quarantine or told to work from home, after attending a convention attended by hundreds where at least one later tested positive, according to a Reuters report.
Those who attended included Mexico’s president, finance minister and hundreds of senior bankers, the report said.
Banks whose employees attended the conference and were told to work from home after included Citigroup’s Mexican operations Citibanamex and HSBC, according to the report. Cases in Mexico leaped by 27% in the past day to 118. — Weizhen Tan
8:00 am: China reports 39 new cases
China’s National Health Commission reported 39 new confirmed cases and three additional deaths as of Mar. 19. China said all of the new cases were imported, meaning people who traveled from overseas. The NHC said that brings China’s total number of imported cases to 228.
China also said that there were no new cases in Hubei, the epicenter of the country’s outbreak. The country has reported a total of 80,967 confirmed cases and 3,248 deaths, while 71,150 people have been discharged. — Weizhen Tan
Staff members check the information of passengers entering China at the Pudong International Airport in Shanghai on March 18, 2020.
Ding Ting | Xinhua News Agency | Getty Images
All times below are in Eastern time.
7:05 pm: California estimates more than half of the state will get the virus
California estimates that more than half of the state — 25.5 million people — will get the new coronavirus over the next eight weeks, according to a letter sent by Gov. Gavin Newsom to U.S. President Donald Trump.
“In the last 24 hours, we had 126 new COVID-19 cases, a 21 percent increase. In some parts of our state, our case rate is doubling every four days,” Newsom wrote in a letter dated Wednesday. Newsom asked Trump to dispatch the USNS Mercy Hospital Ship to the Port of Los Angeles through Sept. 1 to help with the influx of expected cases.
The state reported nearly 699 confirmed cases as of 9 p.m. ET Wednesday night, according to the California health department. Newsom said the virus is spreading in the community in 23 counties across the state. It is the third hardest-hit state in the U.S., behind Washington state which has 1,376 cases as of 6 p.m. EDT Thursday and New York which has at least 5,000 cases.—Dawn Kopecki
6:55 pm: Trump cancels in-person G-7 meeting set for June at Camp David
3:15 pm: Apple limits bulk online purchases of iPhones amid supply constraints
Apple is limiting bulk purchases of iPhones and other products as it faces supply constraints.
Apple‘s online store began limiting U.S. customers to two units of each iPhone model per person this week. Customers can still buy more than two iPhones in one order, but they would have to be different models — for instance, two iPhone 11s and two iPhone 11 Pros.
The restriction applies to the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, iPhone XR, iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, and iPhone 11 Max.
Other products, including iPad Pro models announced on Wednesday, also have purchase limits. —Kif Leswing
Read CNBC’s coverage from the U.S. overnight: US now has more than 13,000 cases, California governor estimates 25.5 million residents will get virus