Coronavirus Watch: New York enacts 'containment' area

The governor of New York has announced plans to enforce a "containment area" around a hot zone of coronavirus cases in the state, forcing schools, temples, churches and other large gathering places in the area to close for two weeks.

It's Tuesday, and this is the Coronavirus Watch from the Paste BN Network, where we update you on everything to know about COVID-19.

Here's the latest, as of 2 p.m. ET:

• New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the containment area will encompass a 1-mile radius around the center of the cluster, which includes much of the city of New Rochelle and stretches into the town of Eastchester, both of which are in Westchester County. Of the state's 174 confirmed cases, 108 are in Westchester.
• New Jersey has reported its first death of a coronavirus patient, bringing the national death toll to at least 28.
• More than 790 people in the U.S. have been infected with the virus. Here's a map of confirmed coronavirus cases.
• The global death toll has now topped 4,000, and the number of confirmed cases is more than 116,000.
• Severe lockdown protocols in Italy have been expanded to the entire nation of 60 million people. Italians have been told to avoid all unnecessary travel and to stay at home, except for essential work and to buy groceries.
• More than 2,000 passengers and crew were still waiting to disembark from the Grand Princess cruise ship in Oakland, California. The first group to exit the ship Monday included more than 20 sick passengers and scores of Canadians bound for a flight home.
• Veterans Affairs medical facilities, where several patients have tested positive for the virus, are "going into an emergency situation," according to VA Secretary Robert Wilkie. Visitors won't be allowed in the agency's 135 nursing homes, which house more than 8,000 veterans. 

Be cautious, but don't panic. Here's some perspective on the virus:

• About 93% of worldwide cases are confined to four countries, according to the World Health Organization.
• In mainland China, more than 60,000 of the 80,000 people infected with the virus have recovered.
• About 80% of people recover from the disease without needing special treatment, according to the WHO.
• So far this flu season in the U.S., there have been at least 34 million flu illnesses, 350,000 hospitalizations and 20,000 deaths from flu.

Please keep reaching out to us with your questions! We've put together an explainer that answers many of them. What else would you like to know?

Richard from Northport, New York, asks: What percentage of people over 65 years of age who have contracted the coronavirus have died from it?

A WHO study of more than 55,000 cases in China found that the highest morality rate was among people over 80 years of age (21.9%), but the study doesn't specify the mortality rate for people over 65.

We know that, in the U.S., at least 19 deaths have been associated with a care home in Kirkland, Washington. Two people who died in Florida were in their 70s and had traveled overseas. One person who died in California was a woman in her 60s; the other person was described as "an elderly adult" with underlying health conditions who had been aboard a cruise ship. One person who died in New Jersey was a 69-year-old man with several underlying health complications. 

Have you or someone you know been diagnosed with the virus? What has your experience been like? We want to hear your story. Email me at ghauck@usatoday.com if you're interested in sharing.

Finally, thank you all for subscribing. We appreciate you trusting the Paste BN Network with this important information. Know someone who would benefit from this newsletter? Please forward this email so they can sign up here.

Here are today's coronavirus need-to-knows.

— Grace Hauck, Breaking News Reporter, @grace_hauck