2020 Boston Marathon Mayor Marty Walsh announces that the 124th annual running of the Boston Marathon, originally scheduled for April 20, will take place on Monday, September 14 instead. (New York Times)
Australian Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton is diagnosed with COVID-19, after travelling to the United States earlier in the month. (Brisbane Times)
Bulgaria declares a state of emergency over the coronavirus. As part of the emergency measures, all schools and universities will be closed, all Bulgarian Football Union matches suspended and police will be given special powers for quarantine enforcement. (Reuters)
COVID-19 pandemic in Australia Australian Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton is diagnosed with COVID-19, after travelling to the United States earlier in the month. (Brisbane Times)
COVID-19 pandemic in Bulgaria Bulgaria declares a state of emergency over the coronavirus. As part of the emergency measures, all schools and universities will be closed, all Bulgarian Football Union matches suspended and police will be given special powers for quarantine enforcement. (Reuters)
COVID-19 pandemic in France The Louvre museum in Paris closes until further notice. (U.S. News & World Report)
COVID-19 pandemic in Kazakhstan Kazakhstan reports its first two confirmed cases of COVID-19; both are Kazakh nationals who recently returned from Germany. (U.S. News & World Report)
COVID-19 pandemic in Kenya Kenya confirms its first case of COVID-19, a 27-year-old Kenyan woman travelling from the United States through London. (Capital News)
COVID-19 pandemic in Morocco Morocco closes its border with Spain. (La Vanguardia)
COVID-19 pandemic in Oman Oman suspends tourist visas, sporting events, and non-class student activities to slow the spread of the coronavirus. (Gulf Business)
COVID-19 pandemic in Pakistan Pakistan closes all land borders, shuts down schools for three weeks, limits international flights, and discourages any large public gatherings in an attempt to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. (National Post)
COVID-19 pandemic in the Czech Republic The Czech Republic declares a state of emergency and announces the closure of its borders to all foreigners starting from midnight on March 16, while Czech citizens will no longer be allowed to leave the country for at least 30 days. (Prague Morning)
Florida, Arizona, Illinois, and Ohio will proceed having Democratic Party primaries despite the coronavirus outbreak. Ohio Democratic Party chairman David Pepper said that the Ohio primaries will go on as planned. (Straits Times) (The Hill)
Four hundred United States National Guard and Air National Guard personnel are activated in six states to help contain the coronavirus: Florida, Iowa, Louisiana, New York, Rhode Island and Washington. (The Hill)
Kazakhstan reports its first two confirmed cases of COVID-19; both are Kazakh nationals who recently returned from Germany. (U.S. News & World Report)
Kenya confirms its first case of COVID-19, a 27-year-old Kenyan woman travelling from the United States through London. (Capital News)
Mayor Marty Walsh announces that the 124th annual running of the Boston Marathon, originally scheduled for April 20, will take place on Monday, September 14 instead. (New York Times)
Morocco closes its border with Spain. (La Vanguardia)
Oman suspends tourist visas, sporting events, and non-class student activities to slow the spread of the coronavirus. (Gulf Business)
Pakistan closes all land borders, shuts down schools for three weeks, limits international flights, and discourages any large public gatherings in an attempt to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. (National Post)
The Czech Republic declares a state of emergency and announces the closure of its borders to all foreigners starting from midnight on March 16, while Czech citizens will no longer be allowed to leave the country for at least 30 days. (Prague Morning)
The Louvre museum in Paris closes until further notice. (U.S. News & World Report)
The USMCTA has passed the Canadian Senate after passing the third reading in the House of Commons earlier, Canadian Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland says. (Sputnik)
United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement The USMCTA has passed the Canadian Senate after passing the third reading in the House of Commons earlier, Canadian Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland says. (Sputnik)
2020 United States presidential caucuses in the Northern Mariana Islands, 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders wins the Northern Mariana Islands Democratic caucuses. (CNN)
A second rocket attack this week hits the Camp Taji base in Baghdad Governorate, Iraq, wounding three United States troops. (ABC News)
Camp Taji attacks A second rocket attack this week hits the Camp Taji base in Baghdad Governorate, Iraq, wounding three United States troops. (ABC News)
COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, 2019–20 NBA season Detroit Pistons power forward Christian Wood reportedly tests positive for COVID-19. (WEYI-TV)
2020 Spain coronavirus lockdown Spain officially places the entire country in a lockdown for two weeks after declaring a Status Alarm the day before. (Washington Post)
A total of 16 U.S. states have closed all of their schools as of this date. (USA Today)
American Airlines says it will suspend long haul international flights from March 16 until May 6. (Yahoo! News)
Contra Costa County bans gatherings over 100 people, effective March 15. This is more than twice as strict as Governor Gavin Newsom's ban of crowds of 250 or more people earlier in the week. (San Jose Mercury News)
COVID-19 pandemic in California Contra Costa County bans gatherings over 100 people, effective March 15. This is more than twice as strict as Governor Gavin Newsom's ban of crowds of 250 or more people earlier in the week. (San Jose Mercury News)
COVID-19 pandemic in Georgia (U.S. state) After 66 cases of COVID-19 are confirmed in Georgia, Governor Brian Kemp declares a public health emergency. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
COVID-19 pandemic in New York (state) New York Governor Andrew Cuomo reports his state has confirmed 613 cases of COVID-19, with two deaths today. (WPIX) (WNBC)
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo reports his state has confirmed 613 cases of COVID-19, with two deaths today. (WPIX) (WNBC)
Spain officially places the entire country in a lockdown for two weeks after declaring a Status Alarm the day before. (Washington Post)
Walmart says all of its stores will reduce their hours to 6:00 a.m. until 11:00 p.m. local time until further notice in response to the pandemic. Several other chains have already done so. (CNN)
2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries, 2020 Democratic Party presidential debates The first one-on-one debate of the 2020 Democratic presidential primaries takes place between former Vice President Joe Biden and Senator Bernie Sanders in Washington, D.C., instead of Arizona as originally scheduled and without an audience as a result of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. (Reuters)
COVID-19 pandemic in Argentina President Alberto Fernández reinforces security at the borders and bans all travelers from hard-hit countries that spent at least 14 days there. In addition, he says he is considering a national quarantine and suspension of school classes. (Buenos Aires Times)
COVID-19 pandemic in Liechtenstein The government announces a tightening of the measures: all the events with more than five people are banned, including religious services, entertainment and leisure businesses are suspended, in particular museums, libraries, sport facilities, casinos and the mountain railways. Restaurants, bars, discos and nightclubs are also closed, although take-away service will be allowed. (Government of Liechtenstein)
COVID-19 pandemic in Spain, 2020 Spain coronavirus lockdown Spain's Ministry of Health reports 2,000 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 105 more deaths, as the country enters a nationwide lockdown. (Business Recorder) Pere Aragonès, Vice President of Catalonia, confirms via Twitter he tested positive for the virus. (Europa Press)
Pere Aragonès, Vice President of Catalonia, confirms via Twitter he tested positive for the virus. (Europa Press)
President Alberto Fernández reinforces security at the borders and bans all travelers from hard-hit countries that spent at least 14 days there. In addition, he says he is considering a national quarantine and suspension of school classes. (Buenos Aires Times)
The first one-on-one debate of the 2020 Democratic presidential primaries takes place between former Vice President Joe Biden and Senator Bernie Sanders in Washington, D.C., instead of Arizona as originally scheduled and without an audience as a result of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. (Reuters)
The government announces a tightening of the measures: all the events with more than five people are banned, including religious services, entertainment and leisure businesses are suspended, in particular museums, libraries, sport facilities, casinos and the mountain railways. Restaurants, bars, discos and nightclubs are also closed, although take-away service will be allowed. (Government of Liechtenstein)
Canada's public health agency posts an advert for nurses, citing "an urgent need". Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he does not rule out the possibility of closing the borders. (Reuters)
COVID-19 pandemic in Canada Canada's public health agency posts an advert for nurses, citing "an urgent need". Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he does not rule out the possibility of closing the borders. (Reuters)
COVID-19 pandemic in Germany Germany closes its borders with France, Switzerland, Austria, Denmark and Luxembourg. (BBC News)
COVID-19 pandemic in Israel, COVID-19 pandemic in Palestine The Jerusalem Islamic Waqf announces the closure of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and Dome of the Rock to upend contamination of the holy sites from COVID-19. (Al Jazeera) The corruption trial of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, originally slated to open on March 17, has been delayed to May 24 due to restrictions on public gatherings enacted to stop coronavirus spread. (New York Post)
COVID-19 pandemic in New York (state) New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio orders the city's public schools close until April 20. (New York Daily News)
COVID-19 pandemic in the United States In an emergency move, less than two weeks after the previous unscheduled intervention, the Fed drops its benchmark rate a full percentage point. It announces a $700 billion quantitative easing program, sets reserve requirements for thousands of banks to zero and lowers other lending rates. The set of measures appears as its biggest ever in a single day. (CNBC)
European migrant crisis Malta's Navy rescues 112 migrants from a sinking boat in the Mediterranean Sea. (New York Times)
Germany closes its borders with France, Switzerland, Austria, Denmark and Luxembourg. (BBC News)
Malta's Navy rescues 112 migrants from a sinking boat in the Mediterranean Sea. (New York Times)
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio orders the city's public schools close until April 20. (New York Daily News)
The American Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issues a recommendation to suspend gatherings of 50 or more people for the next two months. (NPR)
The corruption trial of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, originally slated to open on March 17, has been delayed to May 24 due to restrictions on public gatherings enacted to stop coronavirus spread. (New York Post)
The governors of five states: California, Ohio, Illinois, Washington and Massachusetts, order bars and restaurants to close in response to the pandemic. (USA Today)
COVID-19 pandemic in Spain, 2020 Spain coronavirus lockdown Regional presidents of the Community of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, and Catalonia, Quim Torra, test positive for COVID-19, as both regions are the most affected by the pandemic in the country. (RTVE) The Spanish government takes control of all private hospitals to help the country's healthcare system cope with the virus pandemic. (Business Insider) Basque and Galician elections, both scheduled for 5 April are postponed until the crisis is overcome. (El País) The Ministry of the Interior closes all borders. (El País)
2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries Joe Biden is declared winner of the Washington Democratic primary. (Politico)
All K–12 schools are closed in 37 U.S. states as of today, affecting a total of 37.4 million students in 72,000 schools. (Education Week)
Armenia declares a state of emergency lasting until April 14 to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. The emergency measures include the closure of all educational institutions, closing the borders with Georgia and Iran, banning gatherings with over 20 people, and postponing the 2020 Armenian constitutional referendum. (Reuters)
COVID-19 pandemic in Armenia Armenia declares a state of emergency lasting until April 14 to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. The emergency measures include the closure of all educational institutions, closing the borders with Georgia and Iran, banning gatherings with over 20 people, and postponing the 2020 Armenian constitutional referendum. (Reuters)
COVID-19 pandemic in Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announces that Canada will close its borders to all foreign travelers due to the pandemic, effective on Wednesday. Exceptions will be made for air crews, diplomats, immediate family members and U.S. citizens. Only four airports will continue to receive international flights: Toronto Pearson, Vancouver, Montréal–Trudeau, and Calgary. Domestic flights and flights from the United States, Mexico, and the Caribbean, as well as foreign commerce and trade, will not be affected. (Global News)
COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, 2020 stock market crash Asian markets fall substantially and European markets open with huge losses. S&P futures fall 5%, triggering a trading halt in response to the Federal Reserve's emergency measures. (ABC News) The Dow closes 2,997 points or 12.9% lower - its largest daily points movement. (AP via Mercury News)
COVID-19 vaccine Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute in Seattle begins testing a possible COVID-19 vaccine on 45 people. (KOMO-TV)
Joe Biden is declared winner of the Washington Democratic primary. (Politico)
Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute in Seattle begins testing a possible COVID-19 vaccine on 45 people. (KOMO-TV)
Mass shootings in the United States A man shoots six people, killing four and himself, at a gas station in Springfield, Missouri. (The Hill)
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announces that Canada will close its borders to all foreign travelers due to the pandemic, effective on Wednesday. Exceptions will be made for air crews, diplomats, immediate family members and U.S. citizens. Only four airports will continue to receive international flights: Toronto Pearson, Vancouver, Montréal–Trudeau, and Calgary. Domestic flights and flights from the United States, Mexico, and the Caribbean, as well as foreign commerce and trade, will not be affected. (Global News)
Renault announces that it is halting all production at its industrial sites in France until further notice because of the coronavirus pandemic. (Reuters)
The governors of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Michigan, Louisiana, Ohio, Illinois, Massachusetts, and Washington, and mayors of cities in other states, order the closure of all bars and restaurants and ban gatherings of 50 or more people in their states or cities in response to the pandemic. (CNBC) (WJBK) (Business Insider)
The Ministry of the Interior closes all borders. (El País)
WrestleMania 36 WWE announces that this year's edition of its flagship event, WrestleMania, will be moved from Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida, to the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida, without a live crowd. (Wrestling Observer)
