MADRID — Faced with a sharp rise in coronavirus cases, Spain on Saturday became the second country in Europe to impose sweeping restrictions on the public, telling everyone to stay indoors, with limited exceptions. The government said people could leave their homes to buy food, to go to work if they cannot work remotely, to seek health care, or to assist the elderly and others in need. The government also ordered all schools, restaurants, bars and non-essential stores to close, extending measures that various regional authorities, including in Madrid and in Catalonia, had taken in recent days. Long-distance trains and buses across the country will have less frequent service. “Spain…

AT&T, Comcast and dozens of other telecommunications firms have committed to not disconnecting service to residential and small business customers who can’t pay their bills because of the coronavirus outbreak, the Federal Communications Commission said on Friday. The pledge the companies plan to implement also calls for them to open public Wi-Fi hot spots and waive late fees for 60 days. “I don’t want any American consumers experiencing hardships because of the pandemic to lose connectivity,” the commission’s chairman, Ajit Pai, said on Friday. As cases of the coronavirus spread across the country, companies have encouraged employees to work more from home. Schools and students are relying on the internet…

United States On March 11 the United States barred the entry of all foreign nationals who had visited China, Iran and a group of European countries during the previous 14 days. The ban applies to countries in the Schengen Area, which are Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. Effective March 16, the ban will apply to foreign nationals departing from the United Kingdom and Ireland. As of March 13, all American citizens and legal permanent residents who have been in high-risk areas and return to the United States…

The Federal Reserve cuts rates. The pandemic dominates the Democratic debate. And Germany imposes border restrictions. Source link

The risk levels of various jobs were calculated using O*NET, a database maintained by the Department of Labor that describes various physical aspects of different occupations. The database assigns dozens of scores to each occupation for things like how often a telephone is used to how often a job requires you to bend your body. (Housekeepers rank highest in this metric.) As virus cases have grown, many businesses have begun closing offices and stores, and sending workers home to help slow the spread. While many companies have emergency leave policies in place to help protect their employees, there are large portions of the population that have few protections. On Saturday,…

Ms. Zolkos reassures students awaiting notifications, “We will enroll, as planned, a typical class of 473 incoming first-year students,” and the admissions staff encourages prospective students to visit the college website, take a virtual tour, and learn more about student life by reading the student blogs linked there. At the Ohio State University, although all undergraduate admissions visits and on-campus recruitment events scheduled through April 20 were canceled, Beth A. Wiser, executive director of undergraduate admissions, said Friday that a skeleton crew was still in the office to greet walk-in prospective students. Virtual webinars with admitted students were in the works, she said, and the admissions staff planned to add…

Some workers said they were not clear if veterans would be prioritized over civilians in an emergency at their medical centers, and there were mixed messages in the department as to whether it would be called on at all. “There is not a unified plan of action,” said Bob Fetzer, the president of the Fourth District of the American Federal of Government Employees National Veterans Affairs Council, which represents thousands of workers from the department. He said he had received complaints from members who said they were not receiving communications from Washington. Robert L. Wilkie, the secretary of veterans affairs, was added belatedly to the White House coronavirus task force…

The number of coronavirus cases in the United States is ticking steadily upward, and with it are Americans’ collective anxiety levels. But stockpiling massive caches of toilet paper and bottled water for insular forts will only lead to more shortages and more stress. Instead, the best way for us all to prepare is by looking out for one another. In collaboration with Wirecutter, a product recommendation site owned by the New York Times, here are some ways that you can help your community make it through the chaos — and the virus too, if it does hit closer to home. Donate to your local food bank As the virus spreads,…

MADRID — The scene is becoming all too familiar, and now it has gripped Spain: Streets are empty, shops are shuttered, families are cloistered at home and the numbers of those infected with the coronavirus, and those who have died, are growing. Spain — like Italy and France to varying degrees — is now on lockdown, struggling to contain a virus that already seems out of control, with about 8,000 people infected and almost 300 dead. In the center of Madrid, police patrolled the streets, with few cars passing along its main artery, the Castellana. In Barcelona, the Gothic Quarter was empty, and private security kept anyone from entering the…

Representative Devin Nunes, a California Republican, on Sunday encouraged healthy people to dine out at restaurants, contradicting public health advisories that strongly encouraged social distancing and discouraged Americans from attending mass gatherings. In an appearance on Fox News, Mr. Nunes said Americans should stop fighting over groceries and toilet paper. “There’s a lot of concerns with the economy here because people are scared to go out,” he said. “But I will just say, one of the things you can do is, if you’re healthy, you and your family, it’s a great time to just go out, go to a local restaurant. Likely you can get in easily. Let’s not hurt…