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VOA NEWS

March 4, 2020

This is VOA news. I'm David Byrd.

Argentina is reporting its first case of coronavirus while Spain has announced its first death as global health experts grapple with how to control a virus about which little is still known.

Argentina's health minister says that country's first coronavirus victim is a 43-year-old man who spent two weeks in northern Italy, the center of Europe's outbreak.

Earlier Tuesday, World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus urged people around the world to stop hoarding masks and other protective gears, saying that health care workers need them.

"Shortages are leaving doctors, nurses and other frontline health workers dangerously ill-equipped [for] to care for COVID-19 patients."

Experts say that surgical masks are no guarantee to protect you against the virus but they are essential equipment for doctors and nurses.

Hand sanitizer is also in short supply. Drug store and supermarket store shelves where the products are usually stocked are bare in many areas of the United States. AP's Ed Donahue reports.

Market research shows a big jump in the sale of hand sanitizers, wipes and liquid soap. Without their use, buses and subway trains are breeding ground for germs.

In New York, MTA Bus Patrick Foye says cleaning crews are ready.

"Trains, cars and buses will be cleaned daily with the MTA's full fleet being disinfected every 72 hours."

Turnstiles, elevators and escalators will be cleaned daily.

"This is a substantial investment of time and resources and a substantial increase in both the frequency and intensity of this infecting."

The CDC recommendation is washing hands with warm or cold water and then lathering soap for 20 seconds. As for coughing and sneezing, block with the elbow, not your hands.

I'm Ed Donahue.

This is VOA news.

The polls have closed in two of the 14 so-called Super Tuesday states where voters cast ballots for their pick to be the Democratic presidential nominee.

Polls in Virginia and Vermont closed at zero hours UTC while polls in North Carolina will close in 30 minutes.

More than1,300 delegates are at stake in the 14 states and one territory. Nineteen hundred ninety-one delegates are needed to capture the nomination on the first ballot of this year's Democratic convention.

A judge in Tennessee has ruled that the polls there should stay open an extra hour after devastating tornadoes swept through the state early Tuesday.

As AP's Rita Foley reports, the death toll from the deadly storms has reached 25.

The twisters killed people, shredded buildings, snapped power lines and knocked down trees.

Meteorologist Mark Rose lives in Nashville.

Nashville's mayor calls it a reminder of how fragile life is.

Governor Bill Lee is asking the public. "... pray for the families across our state that are facing tragedy right now ...."

The tornadoes span off of a line of storms that stretched from Alabama and Pennsylvania.

I'm Rita Foley.

The United States representative to the Syrian region says that his country is willing to give [NATO Turkey] NATO ally Turkey, that is, ammunition alongside humanitarian assistance in northwestern Syria. Reuters' Lucy Fielder has more.

U.S. special representative to the region James Jeffrey, visiting the no-man's land between Turkey and Syria, said Washington would ensure U.S.-made equipment is on hand for Ankara.

"Turkey has asked for help from NATO, they have asked for help from us. First of all humanitarian help that Ambassador Craft talked about. Secondly as NATO allies, we share information. Turkey is a major purchaser of American weapon systems. As the president said recently we will provide supplies and other things to Turkey. We're also looking at other requests that Turkey has made either to us or to NATO as this conflict goes on."

Turkey shot down a Syrian government warplane on Tuesday - the third since Sunday while Russian military police are helping Syrian troops hold on to the strategic crossroads town of Saraqeb, which controls access to Idlib city and Aleppo.

That's Lucy Fielder of Reuters.

The U.S. Federal Reserve cut its benchmark interest rate by one half of a percentage point Tuesday in an effort to minimize the damage the coronavirus is inflicting on the global economy.

However, the Fed's action couldn't keep Wall Street from falling again. The Dow lost 2.94 percent, the S&P dropped by 2.81 percent and the NASDAQ lost 2.99 percent.

For more, visit voanews.com. I'm David Byrd, VOA news.