US: News Headlines

Ted Cruz, Paul Gosar to self-quarantine due to possible coronavirus exposure

Sen. Ted Cruz is one of the two members of Congress to announce Sunday night that he volunteers to undergo self-quarantine after he interacted briefly with a person who is tested positive for the novel coronavirus at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Maryland last month.

Cruz mentioned that the “interaction consisted of a brief conversation and a handshake” and that he is “not expecting any symptoms”.

“Nevertheless, out of an abundance of caution… I have decided to remain at home in Texas this week, until a full 14 days have passed since the CPAC interaction,” said Cruz in a statement shared on Twitter.

Coronavirus live update: Passengers to begin disembarking Grand Princess cruise ship in California

COVID-19 was first detected in Wuhan, China in December and has been spreading to every continent except Antarctica.

In the United States, at least 258 confirmed cases have been detected through the local public health system. There are an additional 70 Americans diagnosed with the virus who were either repatriated from the Diamond Princess cruise ship in Japan, were evacuated from Wuhan on a U.S. government-chartered plane or are currently onboard the Grand Princess cruise ship anchored off the coast of California. So far, at least 22 Americans have died from the virus.

Additionally, at least 21 people on board have tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

US: Business

Global stocks plunge as oil crashes and coronavirus spreads

Global markets are plunging after the implosion of an alliance between the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and Russia caused the worst one-day crash in crude prices in nearly 30 years, fueling panic triggered by the escalation of the coronavirus.

The oil prices suffered a historic collapse overnight after Saudi Arabia shocked the market by launching a price war against onetime ally Russia.

With that, the US oil prices crashed as much as 34% to a four year low of $27.34 a barrel as traders brace for Saudi Arabia to flood the market with crude in a bid to recapture market share.

US: Tech

NASA’s new Mars rover finally has a name

From having 28,000 on the list, NASA has finally narrowed it down one; Perseverance.

Perseverance, with an official nickname “Percy” is the next Mars rover. The space agency announced the winning name during a livestream event at the NASA Jet Propulsion Lab in California. Alexander Mather of Virginia, a middle-schooler, was behind the winning name.

ELON MUSK TWEETED THAT THE CORONAVIRUS PANIC IS “DUMB”

CEO of SpaceX, Elon Musk voice out his opinion on a subject matter that has been the peak of conversations; Coronavirus.

“The coronavirus panic is dumb” tweeted the man of technology about the ongoing health situation which has caused chaos among the citizens.

Reportedly, the panic pretty much refers to the panic-buying of essential items. For instance, the “Toilet Paper Fight” incident in Australia.

With that said, Tesla, an American electric vehicle and clean energy company owned by Elon Musk himself had faced some difficulties with their supply chain and the company blamed the coronavirus.