- Welcome to "The 700 Club."
The coronavirus now has over 100,000 cases
around the world, andit continues to infect
the financial markets.
- Here in the United States,
Maryland is the latest state
to confirm cases inside it's borders,
and many other states are bracing
to combat the virus as well.
Mark Martin has the story.
- Local, state, and federalgovernment officials
are working to contain the coronavirus,
as new cases are appearingfrom coast to coast.
Off the coast of San Francisco,
the Coastguard dropped off testing kits
to the Grand Princess Cruise Ship
to screen potentiallyinfected passengers and crew.
3,500 people are onboard.
Once the results come inofficials will determine
where the ship can berth.
- If we've been exposed,
we've been exposed,
and there's not much we can do about it.
- [Mark] In Washington,the state hardest hit,
with at least 70 people infected
and 11 confirmed dead,
some schools are sanitizingclassrooms daily,
or closing to prevent the spread.
And in New York at least 1,000 people
are under self quarantine
as more cases are beingdiscovered through testing.
- I'm perturbed that people get anxious
every time the number goes up.
The number has to go up
if you continue to test.
- [Mark] At the White House,
the president is expected to sign
an $8.3 billion bill passed but Congress
to tackle the outbreak.
Vice President Mike Pence
giving the governor ofWashington an elbow bump,
and visiting a medical mask
production facility in Minnesota,
promises the full resourcesof the federal government
are being brought tobare to control the virus
but admits vulnerabilities.
- We don't have enough tests today
to meet what we anticipate willbe the demand going forward.
- [Mark] And without enough testing kits
local communities areweighing how to respond.
In Central Virginia health officials
are developing criteria fortesting for the disease.
- There may be people in our community
who have mild symptoms,
who don't meet those criteria,
who weren't not gonna test,
but may actually have the virus.
- [Mark] The virus also continues
to infect the financial markets.
The DOW plunged nearly1,000 points Thursday
and could go lower again today,
responding to concerns ofa global economic slowdown
as the virus continuesto spread world wide.
In Saudi Arabia the GrandMosque is closed for cleaning.
And in Bethlehem, theChurch of the Nativity,
considered by many to be thebirth place of Jesus is closed.
CBN Chris Mitchell explaining why.
- Here in Israel, 17Israelis have been diagnosed
with the coronavirus.
As a safeguard the government
has quarantined 70,000 people,
and the Palestinian authority
has shut down the Church
of the Nativity in Bethlehem
after an infectedtourist visited the site.
- There is some good news,
the number of cases in SouthKorea and china is dropping,
raising hopes that thevirus can be contained.
Mark Martin, CBN News.
- Well our CBN HealthReporter Lorie Johnson
is with us now,
and Lorie, we're still learningabout the mortality rate,
but now we're hearing reports out
of China that the virushas already mutated.
How many mutations shouldwe look forward to?
How deadly is this disease?
- Great questions, Gordon,
and it just goes toshow how this situation
is constantly changing.
And you're right, scientists in China
have identified twostrains now of COVID-19.
One is called strain L,
and the other one is called strain S.
Strain L is much more virulent.
It is much more deadly.
And they say that thiswas what was so rampant
right away in Wuhan whereso many people died.
And we know now that the death rate there
in China, particularlyin the Hubei Providence
has really dropped off.
And scientists are wondering
is that because the Lstrain is a little bit less
and the S strain is now more prevalent.
This all points to the fact
that scientists need tostudy this even further,
and those studies aregoing on as we speak.
- Well as the scientists are studying,
people are getting infected,
so what are some stepsthat people can take?
I found myself yesterday suddenly
getting really hungry for Kimchi,
(laughing)
what should people be doing
in order to protect their health?
- I love it.
You're eating Kimchi, that's right.
Well first of all weknow that the best thing
we can do is not get thevirus in the first place.
And the ways to prevent doing that,
the CDC says the best way to do that
is to keep your hands clean
and don't touch your face.
We know that this isspread through droplets
when people cough and sneeze.
So we need to try to cough
and sneeze into our arm
or into a tissue.
And sometimes those droplets
can fall on hard surfaces
that we touch,
and then those,
we have to make sure to sanitize things
we touch all the time,
like our phones and our doorknobs
and so many things.
The World Health Organization, Gordon,
says that sometimes these droplets
can stay on hard surfaces for hours,
up to many days,
depending on the temperature
and the humidity.
But they say don't worry too much
about packages that are being sent
from places where there are outbreaks
like China because when certain objects
are being moved around
and exposed to different temperatures
and humidifies the virus is not
very likely to survive that transit.
If you do happen to get sick,
of course, please stay home.
Don't infect others.
And get well.
If your symptoms require it,
the symptoms we know are high fever,
shortness of breath, andbody aches and a cough.
Because this is arespiratory virus after all.
- Well it sounds a lotlike a cold or the flu,
and with flu season I hear people saying
when the summer comes thisvirus is going to disappear,
is that the case?
Is the higher airtemperature going to kill it?
Or is this something that will be with us
through the summer?
Is it going to reoccur next fall?
- That's the big question.
And we don't, scientists don't really know
about COVID-19, but they can look
at some of its kinfolk,
its relatives, other coronaviruses,
and we know that four other coronaviruses
are associated with the common cold,
which is seasonal.
So scientists are hoping that maybe this,
like the common cold, is seasonal,
which means we may see it again next fall,
but by that time, hopefullywe'll have a vaccine.
And scientists are also hopeful
that within, by the end of this summer,
if this thing sticksaround we will probably
have therapeutic drugs
to help people get better from this,
like antiviral medications,
which are being tested rightnow on COVID-19 patients.
- All right, Lorie, thankyou for being with us.
And if you like me have more questions
about the coronavirus,
we have a fact sheet for you.
We're going to be updatingyou with the latest news,
and you can get your free copy,
all you have to do is call us,
we will send it to youas an email attachment.
If you don't have email,
we'll even mail it to you.
1-800-700-7000.
And if you're worriedabout your gut health,
and your gut is actually one
of the prime defenses againstany kind of infection,
we'll have a bookletfor you as well on that,
where you can protect your gut,
you can Build a Better Gut.
Again, it's absolutely free.
We want you to be healthy,
and so all you have to dois call us, 1-800-700-7000.
We'll send it to you right away.
In other news, the unofficial vote count
is over in Israel.
The question is can Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu form a new government?
Efrem Graham has that story
from the CBN News Room.
Efrem.
- Gordon, Netanyahu's likudparty won't the most votes,
but his conservativecoalition is three seats short
of a Knesset majority.
And that has inspired newattempts to oust him from office.
Chris Mitchell explainsnow from Jerusalem.
- [Chris] Although Likudsupporters came out on top,
the celebrations in the wee hours
of Tuesday morning seemlike a long time ago.
- As much as thiselections look right now,
it's clear that Gantz and his block lost,
but it is not clear that Netanyahu
has a clear victory.
- What we know after the third election
is that Benjamin Netanyahu has
the best chance to form a government.
What isn't known iswhether Israel's president,
the courts, or the next Knesset
will block Netanyahu's push
to build a coalition.
Since the election Netanyahu'srivals are looking for ways
to stop him from keeping his office.
- [Translator] The electionresults are slowly tallying up
and it is evident that Netanyahu
does not have 61 seatsto form a government.
We will examine our options.
- [Chris] Blue andWhite leader Benny Gantz
wants the next Knesset to pass a law
barring an indicted prime minister
from forming a government.
Israel Beiteinu leader Avigdor Lieberman
says he backs such a law.
That means a majority of the Knesset,
62 members, support that law.
That could effectivelydisqualify Netanyahu
from forming the next government.
Interior ministry Aryeh Deri
pointed out that the right
won a half a millionmore votes than the left.
And he added "We will notallow election results
"to be changed by legislation."
In addition to this legislation,
there are several potentialscenarios unfolding
on Israel's political landscape.
One would be Netanyahu having members
of the Blue and White, or Labor party,
join a right-wing coalition.
- The labor party, of all people,
even though they lean left,
they would like to have some say
in an Israeli government,
and especially if they're given a ministry
that's important to themlike the finance ministry,
they might consider it.
- [Chris] Another wouldbe a left-wing coalition
with the support of someArab members of the Knesset.
Finally, Israelis could go to the polls
for a fourth election in 2020.
The next few days and weeks will determine
which one of thesescenarios comes to pass.
Chris Mitchell, CBN News, Jerusalem.
- Turning now to electionnews in the United States,
Elizabeth Warren is out of theDemocratic presidential race,
but when she dropped out Thursday
she did not endorseher fellow progressive,
socialist Senator, Bernie Sanders.
Joe Biden quickly received endorsements
from Pete Buttigieg, Amy Klobuchar
and Mike Bloomberg after they dropped out.
Warren didn't rule out endorsing Sanders,
and he could use it as Bidenhas moved into a clear lead
over him in the polls.
President Donald Trump visits
disaster areas in Tennessee today,
just days after powerful tornadoes
whipped across the state,
leaving a trail of devastation,
and killing 24 people.
The first tornado beganearly Tuesday morning,
and created a 50 milewide trail of destruction,
well after midnight.
In a preliminary survey,
the National Weather Service says
four tornadoes hit the state.
CBN's Operation Blessing is on the scene
clearing debris and helping those in need.
Gordon.
- Operation Blessing is on the ground,
and if you wanna be a part
of the relief effort for tornadoes
stuck around Nashville, thedevastation is truly horrible.
And if you wanna be a part
of the relief effort we have a special
Operation Blessing Disaster Relief Fund.
You can write us, CBN Center,Virginia Beach, Virginia,
2343, or you can go to thephone right now, 1-800-700-7000.
Or you can go to cbn.com.
Either way, do it now.
Be part of this relief effort.
And if you're near Nashville
and you want to volunteer
and be a part of the Operation Blessing
cleanup crews, we have aspecial information line
for volunteers, 1-800-730-2537,
or you can go to OB.ORG
if you want to volunteerto help those in need.
