COVID-19 Update: Wednesday, March 18, 2020

A day-by-day news snapshot, as it was reported on March 18, 2020.

• "We had the data. We had time." Devi Sridhar, professor of global public health at the University of Edinburgh, tweeted that public-health experts had been warning about health-system strain since January.
• A congressman tests positive. Rep. Ben McAdams (D-Utah) announced he had tested positive for coronavirus. He first felt symptoms Saturday after returning from Washington, was tested Tuesday, and received the positive result Wednesday — the second U.S. House member diagnosed that week.
• Maryland's first death. Gov. Larry Hogan announced the state's first death from the novel coronavirus.
• Washington state converts a soccer field. King County began taking over a public soccer field to use as a hospital for coronavirus patients.
• All 50 states now have confirmed cases. West Virginia reported its first case on March 17, completing the map.
• Favipiravir shows "encouraging" early results. Zhang Xinmin, an official at China's science and technology ministry, said the drug favipiravir (developed by a Fujifilm subsidiary) had produced encouraging outcomes in clinical trials in Wuhan and Shenzhen involving 340 patients.
• California's homeless at risk. A study estimated that 60,000 homeless Californians could contract the virus in the next eight weeks.
• New Zealand: do not travel. Foreign Minister Winston Peters raised New Zealand's travel advice to its highest level ever: do not travel overseas — the first time the government had advised against travel anywhere in the world.
• Bill Ackman warns of economic collapse. Billionaire investor Bill Ackman said on CNBC that "America will end as we know it" unless the country shut down entirely for 30 days, rather than a gradual rollout "scaring people and bankrupting the economy."
• New Jersey family tragedy. A second member of the Fusco family of Freehold, New Jersey, died after a coronavirus diagnosis, with four other family members in critical condition.
• Warning to millennials. The Trump administration warned against large gatherings, citing "very concerning" data from Italy showing rising infections among children and young people.

Originally published March 2020; figures and claims reflect reporting at the time.