Planet Ice in Milton Keynes, where work has begun to turn the ice rink into a temporary mortuary capable of holding hundreds of bodies on Wednesday April 1. Joe Giddens/PA Wire via AP
An ice rink in the British town of Milton Keynes will be converted into a makeshift mortuary.
The local Milton Keynes council said Planet Ice will be prepped "as a precaution should it be needed to support local operations."
"As part of sensible planning we are considering what additional temporary mortuary facilities may be needed in Milton Keynes if funeral directors are unable to cope with a rise in deaths from Covid-19," the council told CNN.
The Milton Keynes council did not say when the makeshift mortuary would go into operation or when they expected regular mortuary facilities in the city to reach capacity.
10:52 a.m. ET, April 2, 2020
Russia extends "non-working" period until the end of the month
From CNN’s Mary Ilyushina in Moscow
Alexei Druzhinin/AFP/Getty Images
Russian President Vladimir Putin extended the paid “non-working” period in Russia until April 30 in an effort to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
"The threat is still there, the specialists suggest that the pandemic has not peaked yet worldwide, including in our country,” Putin said in a televised address. “Therefore I've decided to extend this non-working period until April 30."
According to Putin, this time frame will be revised in case the epidemiological station in the country changes.
“Of course the situation can unfold differently across the country as we have a very big country with varying population density. There are places where the coronavirus already poses a serious threat to its residents, like in Moscow, where, despite the regional and federal efforts, we so far have not succeeded in turning the tide,” Putin said.
So far, the country has not proclaimed the state of emergency or called a nationwide quarantine, instead imposing "a paid holiday" week, which was due to end on Friday. However, the majority of regions independently have imposed self-isolation regimes and ramped up measures to urge Russians to stay home.
10:49 a.m. ET, April 2, 2020
Conditional approval reached for cruise ships to dock in Florida
From CNN’s Denise Royal, Sara Weisfeldt and Rosa Flores
Holland America's cruise ship Zaandam, left, and the Rotterdam cruise ship are seen in Panama City bay on March 28. Ivan Pisarenko/AFP/Getty Images
Conditional approval has been reached to allow the Zaandam and Rotterdam ships to dock in Port Everglades in Florida.
The agreement includes a plan for passengers to go home. Final approval of the plan is expected to happen this morning, according to Broward County Commissioner Dr. Barbara Sharief.
The ships are in sight of Port Everglades and the passengers are due to disembark at 1 p.m. ET, per Sharief.
According to the five-page conditional agreement, passengers who are healthy will be allowed to go home and passengers who are sick will remain on the ship to continue treatment. At this time, no one on board is in need of a hospital bed, Sharief said — but if a passenger needs a hospital bed, Broward Health has indicated capacity will not be an issue.
The healthy people will be transported by a private bus from Port Everglades to airports, which could include the Fort Lauderdale and Miami airports. They will go directly to their chartered flights, and they will not linger at the airport to avoid possible community spread.
Sharief says that after passengers began exhibiting flu-like symptoms, the ship received 200 rapid blood test kits to test for Covid-19. Eleven guests were tested and nine people tested positive for the coronavirus. Four men over the age of 70 — two of whom who had been diagnosed with coronavirus — died. One had a heart attack and the other had a pre-existing illness.
About the passengers: There are 311 US citizen passengers on board, representing 46 states, including 52 Floridians. The 26 Broward County residents on board have been in isolation for 14 days, and they have agreed to isolate for another 14 days at home.
The passengers on the ships are from the US, Canada, UK, Australia, France, Germany, Sweden, Mexico, Ireland, Switzerland, among others.
10:39 a.m. ET, April 2, 2020
Michigan suspends face-to-face learning for the rest of the school year
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has closed K-12 schools for the remainder of the school year with an executive order suspending face-to-face learning.
According to a release from the governor, “district facilities may be used by public school employees and contractors for the purposes of facilitating learning at a distance while also practicing social distancing.”
The order says the buildings will be closed "unless restrictions are lifted."
“My number one priority right now is protecting Michigan families from the spread of COVID-19. For the sake of our students, their families, and the more than 100,000 teachers and staff in our state, I have made the difficult decision to close our school facilities for the remainder of the school year,” Whitmer said in a statement.
10:32 a.m. ET, April 2, 2020
Florida congresswoman: It's "immoral" to turn away people on cruises
From CNN's Adrienne Vogt
Florida Democratic Rep. Donna Shalala in Washington on December 17, 2019. Jacquelyn Martin/Pool/Getty Images
As two cruise ships are set to arrive off the Florida coast today, Florida Democratic Rep. Donna Shalala said it’s “immoral not to let them come.”
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said the state is going to accept Florida residents on board the ships, but expressed concerns about taking in others given the state's limited hospital beds.
"We Americans don’t turn people away," Shalala said. "I don’t care whether they’re Florida residents or whether they’re not — they’re human beings.”
More than 200 guests and crew have flu-like symptoms on the ships, including eight passengers who tested positive for Covid-19. It's not clear whether passengers will be allowed to disembark.
Four people on one of the ships, the Zaandam, have died since it disembarked from Argentina on March 7.
“He’s fine-tuned the decision in a way in which people are still going to be exposed,” she said.
Watch more:
10:05 a.m. ET, April 2, 2020
FEMA requests 100,000 body bags
From CNN's Barbara Starr
The Department of Defense is working to fulfill a request from the Federal Emergency Management Agency for 100,000 body bags.
Department of Defense spokesman, Lt Col Mike Andrews, said this in a statement:
"The Department of Defense and the Defense Logistics Agency have a longstanding arrangement with FEMA to procure key commodities from DLA's industrial partners during crisis response operations. DLA is currently responding to FEMA's prudent planning efforts for 100,000 pouches to address mortuary contingencies on behalf of state health agencies."
2:10 p.m. ET, April 2, 2020
Nearly 91% of Americans have been ordered to stay at home
From CNN's Shawn Nottingham
Nearly 91% of the US population is under a stay at home or shelter in place order that is in effect or scheduled to go into effect, according to a CNN count. That percentage translates to at least 298,589,452 people in the US.
The new count adds US territories; Puerto Rico and US Virgin Islands
The 12 states that do not have statewide stay at home orders include:
Alabama, Arkansas, Iowa, Missouri, North Dakota, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah and Wyoming.
The count of nearly 91% includes, states, local city and county orders as well. The numbers were tallied using US census data.
CORRECTION: This post has been updated to reflect that nearly 91% of Americans are under stay-at-home orders as of 12:37 p.m. ET.
9:43 a.m. ET, April 2, 2020
Markets edge higher even after record unemployment claims
From CNN’s Matt Egan
US markets edged higher Thursday morning in choppy trading even after a new report showed initial unemployment claims spiked to record highs.
The Dow rose 65 points, or 0.3%.
The S&P 500 gained 0.6%.
And the Nasdaq advanced 0.6%.
Stocks were on track for a larger rally earlier in the day, with major markets up around 2% at session highs.
A photograph taken in Saudi Arabia on March 5, 2020, shows the white-tiled area surrounding the Kaaba, inside Mecca's Grand Mosque. Abdel Ghani Bashir/AFP/Getty Images
Saudi Arabia imposed an indefinite 24-hour curfew on the cities of Mecca and Medina to curb the spread of coronavirus, the Saudi Ministry of Interior said in a statement.
Last month the Saudi government started imposing curfews on cities, but gradually applied tougher restrictions after an increase in the number of coronavirus cases.
On Tuesday, Mecca and Medina collectively recorded 133 new cases — more than any other city in the kingdom, according to the Saudi Health Ministry.
The number of cases in Saudi Arabia now stand at 1,720 with 16 deaths and 264 recoveries, the Health Ministry said.
What this means: The measures mean that residents are not allowed to leave their homes throughout the 24-hour curfew, except in emergencies or to buy supplies from their neighborhoods.
Travel in and out of the cities has also been stopped while shops are to close, except for pharmacies, banks and supply stores.
The two cities, considered the holiest sites of Islam, attract millions of Muslim visitors for pilgrimage every year.
