Only one US state remains coronavirus free

The US now has 50 coronavirus deaths, and cases in all but one state.

California's sixth death from the disease, reported south of San Francisco, put the nation at 50 deaths overall. Santa Clara County officials reported Friday that a woman in her 80s died from COVID-19.

Most deaths have occurred in Washington state, which reported six more on Friday, bringing its total to 37. Florida, New Jersey, South Dakota, Georgia, Kansas and Colorado also have reported deaths.

Also Friday, Alabama, Idaho and Montana reported their first coronavirus cases. That leaves West Virginia as the only state with no cases confirmed.

Montana's governor declared a state of emergency ahead of his announcement that the state had four cases.

In Seattle, the largest city in Washington state, Mayor Jenny Durkan said she would issue an emergency order for a temporary moratorium on residential evictions in the city because of COVID-19.

___

Jack Ma, founder of the Chinese tech giant Alibaba, announced says his foundation will donate 500,000 COVID-19 testing kits and 1 million masks to the US. 

"Drawing from my own country's experience, speedy and accurate testing and adequate personal protective equipment for medical professionals are most effective in prevent the spread of the virus," Ma said in a statement Friday on Twitter. "At this moment, we can't beat this virus unless we eliminate boundaries to resources and share our know-how and hard-earned lessons."

Ma said the Jack Ma Foundation and Alibaba Foundation have already donated items to Japan, South Korea, Italy Iran and Spain, and he hopes the latest donation will help Americans fight against the pandemic.

___

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has asked all 3,000 staff members at UN headquarters in New York to work from home for three weeks starting Monday unless they are needed to carry out essential services.

UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric, who made the announcement late Friday, said meetings of the Security Council, General Assembly and other key bodies and committees can still take place.

Dujarric said Guterres made the decision to drastically reduce the number of staff at UN headquarters in order to reduce social contact to a minimum in light of the new coronavirus.

Dujarric said Friday that no UN staff member has been reported testing positive for COVID-19, but a diplomat from the Philippines assigned to their UN mission did test positive.

___

A national memorial in New Zealand to commemorate the 51 people who were killed when a gunman attacked two mosques one year ago has been canceled due to concern over the new coronavirus.

Thousands of people were expected to attend the Sunday service in Christchurch to mark the anniversary of the March 15 shooting.

New Zealand has had just six confirmed cases of COVID-19. All of those cases have been connected to people returning from abroad and so far there haven't been signs of a local outbreak. The most recent case, involving a man in his 60s who recently returned from the US, was announced by health officials Saturday.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern the decision to cancel the service, also announced Saturday, was pragmatic and precautionary.

___

A cruise ship that docked in Oakland, California, on Monday after being struck with the coronavirus has disembarked 2,450 passengers and transported them to appropriate quarantine sites.

Princess Cruises said only 14 international passengers remained on board while waiting to be repatriated to their home countries.

California officials said after they get off, the ship will be anchored somewhere in San Francisco Bay while crew members wait for chartered flights to their destination.

___

The State Department on Friday summoned China's ambassador to the US to complain about recent comments from a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman suggesting that the US Army may have introduced the coronavirus to Wuhan.

The department said it had protested the comments from deputy ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian and noted that China's storyline about the COVID-19 virus "has been shifting away from the Wuhan Huanan market since mid-January indicating that China is trying avoid responsibility for the outbreak."

"The US is not interested in assigning blame, but asks the Chinese government to offse full access and transparency in order to prevent further loss of lives inside and outside the PRC," the department said.

___

President Donald Trump is tweeting that four major cruise ship companies have agreed to suspend trips from the US for 30 days, effective at midnight.

Trump says that Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Norwegian and MSC Cruises all agreed to the suspensions.