It’s Thursday, March 12th – and NBC 6 has the top stories you need to know for the day.
No. 1 - The Florida Department of Health announced three new positive cases of coronavirus overnight, including ones in Broward County.
Department of Health officials said the two cases in South Florida include a 65-year-old man in isolation and a 61-year-old man whose case is associated with Port Everglades. During an interview with NBC 6 on Thursday, Miami Gardens Mayor Oliver Gilbert announced he signed a state of emergency for the city that includes postponing the annual Jazz in The Gardens music festival scheduled for this weekend at Hard Rock Stadium
No. 2 - Officials say a passenger who arrived on a flight at Palm Beach International Airport has tested positive for the coronavirus.
The passenger landed Wednesday night just before 9 p.m. on a JetBlue flight from New York City’s JFK Airport. Passengers were forced to remain on the plane for nearly two hours before departing just before 11 p.m.
No. 3 - Three cases of the coronavirus have been confirmed in the island nation of Cuba – the latest country to claim a case of the virus that has become a global pandemic.
State TV reported that a total of four tourists who came from Italy were tested after visiting the colonial town of Trinidad, located around 185 miles southeast of Havana. Three of the tourists tested positive and have been quarantined at a medical institute in Havana.
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No. 4 - The NBA has suspended its season "until further notice" after a Utah Jazz player tested positive Wednesday for the coronavirus, a move that came only hours after the majority of the league's owners were leaning toward playing games without fans in arenas.
At the same time, the NCAA announced that all games for the remainder of the spring semester – including the upcoming men’s and women’s basketball tournaments – would not have fans at them.
No. 5 - Taking drastic action Wednesday, President Donald Trump announced he is cutting off travel from Europe to the U.S. and moving to ease the economic cost of a viral pandemic that is roiling global financial markets and disrupting the daily lives of Americans.
Trump made the announcement that he is partly suspending travel from Europe, except the United Kingdom, to the U.S. for 30 days beginning at midnight on Friday during a rare Oval Office address to the nation. After days of playing down the threat, he blamed the European Union for not acting quickly enough to address the novel coronavirus and claimed that U.S. clusters were “seeded” by European travelers.
No. 6 – Weatherwise, spotty showers remain in the forecast Thursday ahead of what looks to be a warm weekend across the area. Keep your NBC 6 app handy for push alerts on any severe weather as well as First Alert Doppler 6000.
