March 17 Coronavirus Latest Updates: Greece Records Fifth Death; 7,000 Deaths Worldwide

As Greece has suspended all church services, overruling the Orthodox hierarchy, and  announced new measures to combat the spread of the coronavirus, including the closure of shops as of Wednesday, Johns Hopkins University announced that the number of global infections stands at 182,406.

There have been 7,154 deaths worldwide, and 79,433 recoveries.

Updates on Tuesday, March 17

21:50: Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades urged the public to ”stay at home – save lives.” Cyprus currently has 49 diagnosed cases.

21:41: European Union leaders agreed on Tuesday to close the Union’s external borders to all non-EU citizens. This comes after a Monday’s proposal from EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. The ban is not expected to include UK citizens.

Press conference following the EU leaders' video conference on #COVID19 with President @vonderleyen and @eucopresident Michel ↓https://t.co/FvOzEZxDRl

— European Commission (@EU_Commission) March 17, 2020

21:40: New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said that the city should prepare for possible “shelter in place order.”

21:30: The death toll in Italy rose by 345 individuals, to 2,503.

21:00: We might have forgotten it, but today is Saint Patrick’s day, and Greece lit Athens’ Arch of Hadrian green. Lá Fhéile Pádraig sona daoibh a chairde!

20:55: Medical and student debt owed to the state of New York will be temporarily suspended it was announced on Tuesday.

Effective immediately, I'm temporarily halting the collection of state medical & student debt owed to NYS that was referred to my office.

In this time of crisis, I won't add undue stress or saddle NYers with unnecessary financial burden, this is the time to support residents.

— NY AG James (@NewYorkStateAG) March 17, 2020

18:55: “We are looking at saving the maximum number of lives. Everything else will come back — lives do not come back,” US President Donald Trump declared on Tuesday.

18:52: UK death toll rises to 69, as 14 more people died in England in the last 24 hours.

18:47: The Greek Foreign Ministry urges Greek nationals to avoid going to countries with many recorded coronavirus cases. Additionally, there is a travel ban to Italy, Spain, North Macedonia and Albania in place.

Κορωνοϊός-Ανακοίνωση ΥΠΕΞ σχετικά με μετακινήσεις Ελλήνων πολιτών στο εξωτερικό
https://t.co/owFEVycruG

Πληροφορίες για μέτρα σε επιμέρους χώρες &ενημέρωση από ελληνικές Αρχές Εξωτερικού – τηλ έκτακτου ανάγκης Αρχών ανά χώραhttps://t.co/ksWgXDnNXt

— Υπουργείο Εξωτερικών (@GreeceMFA) March 17, 2020

18:40: Deborah Birx, the coronavirus response coordinator of the White House task force tackling the outbreak in America, said on Tuesday that ”if you’re older, stay home, if you’re young, stay out of the bars.” Tuesday is St. Patrick’s Day, when bars traditionally stay open all day and night and are packed with revelers.

18:05: Greece’s coronavirus cases rise to 387.

18:02: Greece records its fifth death from the Coronavirus pandemic. Full story here.

18:00:  According to Turkey’s interior ministry, the Turkish authorities detained 19 people recently over “unfounded and provocative” social media posts about the way the government is handling the pandemic.

17:40: Greek PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis addressed the nation, saying that Greece ”is at war with an invisible but not invincible enemy.”

Είμαστε σε πόλεμο. Ο εχθρός είναι αόρατος αλλά όχι ανίκητος. Αν περιορίσουμε τη διασπορά της μετάδοσης, θα δώσουμε χρόνο στο σύστημα υγείας να αντιμετωπίσει τα επείγοντα περιστατικά. Η πρώτη μας προτεραιότητα είναι αδιαπραγμάτευτη: να σώσουμε ζωές. https://t.co/CdizFY4lKm

— Prime Minister GR (@PrimeministerGR) March 17, 2020

16:25: In Great Britain, the Archbishop of Canterbury announced on Tuesday that all public worship is now “suspended until further notice.”

Archbishops call for Church of England to become radically different as public worship put on hold to help stem spread of coronavirus.

Read more: https://t.co/MtN90ryzJ3

— The Church of England (@churchofengland) March 17, 2020

15:35: British citizens are the latest to be advised by their government to avoid all but necessary trips abroad.

BREAKING: British nationals are advised against all non-essential travel anywhere in the world, says U.K. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raabhttps://t.co/lF4G63MhwA pic.twitter.com/SVBLmyRRwp

— Bloomberg Brexit (@Brexit) March 17, 2020

13:45:  France officially entered lockdown at midday Tuesday local time as part of a number of measures announced by President Emmanuel Macron. All non-essential outings are now outlawed and can draw a fine of up to €135 ($148). Italy and Spain are also under lockdown.

13:35:

From elbow greetings to hand-washing songs, celebs like Arnold Schwarzenegger and Naomi Campbell are offering their own versions of virus advicehttps://t.co/gCO9l7Cvaq pic.twitter.com/u0mB4EAzbh

— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) March 17, 2020

13:30: The annual Posidonia exhibition, Greece’s foremost showcase for the shipping industry, is being postponed until the fall, organizers said on Tuesday.

13:20:  Thousands of Athenians have left the Greek capital, raising concerns that the coronavirus would be transferred to isolated areas that have had, until now, no known cases of the disease. Full story here.

13:15: On March 17, Spain confirmed nearly 2,000 new cases of coronavirus, sending the total spiraling past 11,000, with 491 deaths from the disease, the Health Ministry said.

13:10: Greek PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis will deliver a televised address to the nation at 17:00 on Tuesday regarding developments related to the serious problem of the novel coronavirus, the PM’s press office announced.

12:40: “The next days and weeks are crucial and everyone should show personal and collective responsibility. We must take care of ourselves, our families and especially protect the more vulnerable groups, helping those people that are at risk in this public health crisis,” Greece’s Health Minister Vassilis Kikilias said on Tuesday.

12:00: Technology giants Microsoft and Bing have created an interactive map, where you can select areas and see active, recovered and fatal cases of infections. You can also see results by country as well as useful information on the disease. View it here.

11:35: Athens says it has secured agreement by EU finance ministers that there will be no primary surplus target of 3.5 percent of GDP for Greece this year due to the coronavirus pandemic. Full story here.

10:35: An Iranian judiciary spokesman says the country has temporarily freed about 85,000 prisoners, including political prisoners, in an attempt to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

10:25: Aerial footage from Clearwater Beach, Florida, packed with visitors, shows that thousands appear to have not heeded warnings to socially distance themselves as part of efforts to help slow the spread of the coronavirus outbreak.

There are at least 4,475 cases of the novel coronavirus in the United States, according to state and local health agencies and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The death toll there is at 87.

10:00: Greece’s government spokesman Stelios Petsas said that it is likely Greeks will not be able to celebrate Easter in the churches all up and down the country. Petsas, who is in self isolation after his wife tested positive for the coronavirus, said that although it is too early to specify what the situation would be like in three to four weeks from now, “it is likely that churches will be shut at Easter.”

09:45: Quarantined Italians record messages for “themselves from 10 days ago” during Coronavirus pandemic. The video, which has gone viral, asks people from all around Italy to record a message to the people that they were ten days ago.

09:30: The Athens Stock Exchange (ATHEX) continues its downward spiral on Tuesday. The  general index ended at 484.40 point on Monday, a new 49-month low, shedding 12.24 percent from Friday’s 551.97 points.

09:05: Tom Hanks and his wife, Rita Wilson, have been released from an Australian hospital, five days after they were diagnosed with the new coronavirus.

Hi all! Added some new songs to my Quarantunes @spotify playlist. I keep getting great suggestions from you all. https://t.co/Jo0zSpRhiE

— Rita Wilson (@RitaWilson) March 17, 2020

09:00: The White House has advised people not to gather in groups of more than 10, as the number of cases in the country have jumped to 4,661.

08:45: The first human trial to evaluate a possible vaccine against the new coronavirus has begun in Seattle, US health officials said Monday, raising hopes in the global fight against the disease. Full story here.

08:30: French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday ordered stringent restrictions on people’s movement amid a rapidly worsening coronavirus outbreak, saying the Army will be drafted in to help move the sick to hospitals.

The President ordered people to stay at home unless they need to buy groceries, travel to work, exercise or seek medical care. The death toll from the coronavirus outbreak in France rose to 148 on Monday, with 6,633 confirmed cases.

08:15: 

Travelers in #Turkey, returned from a pilgrimage trip in #SaudiArabia & placed in a 2-week quarantine, tried to break out from the holding center in the Turkish province of #Konya, as the police scrambled to thwart their escape. #Corona pic.twitter.com/BuvxDw7BBM

— Abdullah Bozkurt (@abdbozkurt) March 17, 2020

08:00: According to Johns Hopkins University on Tuesday morning, the number of global infections stand at 182,406. There have been 7,154 deaths, and 79,433 recoveries. The ten countries with the highest number of confirmed infections so far are:

China: 81,050

Italy: 27,980

Iran: 14,991

Spain: 9,942

South Korea: 8,320

Germany: 7,272

France: 6,650

US: 4,661

Switzerland: 2,330

United Kingdom: 1,553

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