WCBI News at Ten - March 16, 2020

WCBI News at Ten - March 16, 2020

Show open take vo in monitor thank you for joining us tonight..

As the coronavirus continues to spread across the country... president trump took to television to lay out what's being done... and some possible future steps.

Cbs's ben tracy has more from washington this is an invisible enemy a more somber president trump said the coronavirus could last through july or august and cause a recession we've made the decision to further toughen the guidelines and blunt the infection now.

We'd much rather be ahead of the curve than behind it.

The new cdc guidelines say for the next 15 days: all americans should stay home from work and school, avoid social gatherings of more than 10 people, and eating and drinking at bars, restaurants and food courts.

But these are recommendations... not requirements.

Are you telling governors in those states then to close all their restaurants and bars?

A: well we haven't said that yet q: why not?

4:10:39 pm we're recommending, we're recommending things.

We haven't gone to that step yet.

That could happen but we haven't gone there yet.

New york governor andrew cuomo says the white house needs to be more clear.

This is a national problem and we need federal leadership.

On a call with the nation's governors today president trump told them to find critical supplies of respirators and masks on their own because federal help may be too slow.

Tag: the president has that he takes no responsibility for the slow roll out of testing kits around the country.

When asked today to rate his handling of the crisis he gave himself a 10.

Ben tracy cbs news, the white house.

Take vo off top governor tate reeves is asking the public not to panic but also don't áunderá react to the coronavirus.

As of now, the state health officer is not yet recommending restaurants and bars shut down.

But some cities and individual restaurants are making that call.

The big question is still testing..

Governor reeves says, "avoid large gatherings, 10 or more and wash your hands.

Practice good hygiene.

I will tell you that we have all the test that we need at this time.

But across the country we still have to prioritize.

Testing priority must go to healthcare workers, first responders and to those that are vulnerable to the virus with symptoms."

Dr. thomas dobbs, ms state health officer says, "the only people who need testing or sick people.

There's no benefit, there's no identified benefit of just screening people asymptomatic.

If you screen somebody who is asymptomatic, they may be symptomatic tomorrow even if their negative today.

So it could be very misleading."

The governor is also activating the national guard.

The hope is that some fast track testing locations may soon become available here in the state.

The national guard would be used to help at those locations.

There is currently no mobile testing option..

Take breaking news stinger wipe to vo mayor jason shelton declares a state of emergency in tupelo as the region reports its case of the coronavirus.

City leaders approved the mayor's emergency declaration during a meeting this afternoon at city hall.

That declaration ensures department heads in the city have resources to respond in an emergency.... and it also allows the city to be reimbursed by mema or fema in the future... shelton says the response to the pandemic is changing quickly as more information is gathered.

"i saw a wise person post, be a barrier, not a carrier, be part of the solution.

What we're looking at is a situation where we don't want our healthcare system to be overloaded, covid 19 will come to tupelo, no doubt, in my mind we will have a confirmed case here, will have confirmed cases in state of mississippi, we have to make sure what we do is not overload our healthcare workers."

The mayor encourages people to follow most recent cdc guidelines... including limiting gatherings to no more than ten people... staying home if you can... and washing hands frequently.

Vo in monitor schools in lee county... like most in the area... are closed for the week, and that has some parents concerned about feeding their children meals they normally would get at school.

As our allie martin reports... school administrators and staff have asked the community to help make sure no child goes hungry while schools are closed.

As students began another week off from school, staff at plantersville middle school were working hard, sorting bags of food.

Nats the "blessing bags" are provided by east main church of christ and the shannon betanon beta club.

The bags are normally given to students whose families may not have enough food at home on weekends and holidays, and now, during unexpected school shutdowns.

"that's what people in north mississippi do, when there's a need, everyone reaches out, teams up and they take care of the needs, it's not one district versus another district, one church versus another church , one community versus another community, everybody is in this together."

Standup bridge of course it is important to feed each student and make sure they have enough food during this time, but it's just as crucial to make sure young people are studying, so each blessing bag will also have a library book "if parents, friends and fellow educators that are around or near students, this is an opportunity to educate students about what's going on, about government, different viruses that can come into our cities, communities and a lesson we can start there and stimulating their minds, getting them to think about things, you never know what something like this could trigger in a child's mind to want to study" teachers and staff plan on delivering more blessing bags, and books later this week.

In plantersville allie martin, wcbi news vo in monitor aberdeen is the latest district to add lunch options for students.

Beginning tomorrow... they'll be serving bagged lunches at aberdeen high school.

From 10:30 am until noon.... you can go up to the awning at the entrance by the gym... and kitchen personnel will bring the food to your car.

Take vo off top with class not in session, the columbus municipal school district is taking a unique approach in keeping their students busy during this time off.

The school district has developed an academic contingency plan to assist students during school closures.

Online courses for students will be available... in addition to academic packets.

Those academic packets will be available to students starting tomorrow during feeding times at each school location.

Superintendent doctor cherie labat, says this approach is a good way of making sure every student continues to learn during this time off.

"we're preparing packets for those students that don't have internet access.

We are working on some infrastructure at the building level expanding some wiring so that if the parents need to pull up i hate to say it like a drive- through to get wi- fi in order to get to some of these online resources that we prepared that will be available.

Labat also says all staff members labat also says all staff members have been notified to sanitize at all times to avoid any spread of the virus at the schools.

First look stinger first look summary: temperatures will be moderating over the next few days but rain chances are going to remain low.

The best chance for widespread, heavy rain and perhaps some storms is looking to be friday.

Cooler air settles back in for the upcoming weekend.

Monday night: partly to mostly cloudy.

A 20% chance of a few showers.

Lows in the 50s with light and variable wind.

Tuesday: variably cloudy.

A few showers are possible but the chance of rain is just 20%.

Look for highs in the low to mid 70s by the afternoon hours.

Light winds from the ne between 2 and 6 mph.

One of the coronavirus's one of the coronavirus's biggest victims could be the nation's economy.

The dow jones plummeted 13 percent today, as fears deepen that the epidemic will throw the global economy into recession.

It was the market's worst drop in three decades.

Cbs's wendy gillette has more..

Closing bell the dow jones plunged further monday - closing down almost 3- thousand points as the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic continues to mount.

President trump says the economy may be heading toward a recession.

"once this goes away, once this goes through, we're done with it, i think you're going to see a tremendous surge."

Opening bell stocks tanked quickly after the opening bell, triggering another circuit breaker -- the third trading halt over the last six days.

The sell-off came despite the federal reserve's announcement sunday it was slashing interest rates by a full percentage point to near zero.

They did it with a good motive// but the other narrative to that story is that, oh, my god, if we're lowering it, if we're shooting every bullet out of the chamber, leaving us at zero, is there, is there worse economic news on the horizon than we think?"

One of the hardest hit sectors is travel.

An airline trade group warns cancellations are so bad, without government assistance - major u.s. carriers could run out of money by the end of june.

The white house says it's looking to do something for the airlines.

We are going to back the airlines 100% it s not their fault restaurants are also feeling the pain as more communities ban dine-in customers, to slow the spread of the virus.

The new york stock exchange is not immune to the new reality.

Health care workers checked traders' temperatures before they were allowed on the floor monday.

Wendy gillette, cbs news, new york.

President trump held a video tele- conference with g- 7 leaders this morning to discuss ways to work together to respond to the health crisis... and the economic impact.

The white house says leaders agreed to co- operate on research and use all monetary measures to restore economic growth.

Centred up two large events in monroe county are postponed due to the coronavirus.

The amory railroad festival announced today that it will postpone the event.

Postponement dates are being discussed but future plans are not set in stone.

Organizers are exploring options.

Meanwhile, the aberdeen pilgrimage has postponed its events.

It was scheduled for april third through fifth.

The boy scout breakfast will continue, as a carry out event only.

Stinger wx open summary: temperatures will be moderating over the next few days but rain chances are going to remain low.

The best chance for widespread, heavy rain and perhaps some storms is looking to be friday.

Cooler air settles back in for the upcoming weekend.

Monday night: partly to mostly cloudy.

A 20% chance of a few showers.

Lows in the 50s with light and variable wind.

Tuesday: variably cloudy.

A few showers are possible but the chance of rain is just 20%.

Look for highs in the low to mid 70s by the afternoon hours.

Light winds from the ne between 2 and 6 mph.

Tuesday night: mostly cloudy.

Lows in the upper 50s.

Wednesday & thursday: partly to mostly cloudy and warmer.

Highs ranging from the upper 70s to lower 80s.

Overnight lows in the 60s.

Showers and a few isolated storms are possible but we're keeping the odds down into the 30-40% range so most spots will probably not have any issues.

Friday: staying mild with highs in the 70s.

A cold front moving through the region will produce a good chance for showers and storms. a few strong storms can't be totally ruled out but it doesn't appear to be a major severe weather producer at this point.

We'll keep watching.

Weekend: cooler air returns with highs around 60 and lows in the 40s.

Some showers are possible both saturday and sunday.

Follow @wcbiweather on facebook, twitter, instagram, and on the wcbi news app weather wrap stinger we look at some of the medical facts behind the coronavirus when we come take scott's reentry coronavirus isn't just áiná the news..

It áisá the news .

In tonight's health talk with baptist we find out more about the facts behind the disease.

No script available stinger the future of high school sports in the spring now becomes uncertain the latest on another day full of postponements, next in sports... spx