In this March 5, 2020 file photo, a woman wearing a face mask stands in a subway train in Milan, Italy. (ANTONIO CALANNI / AP)

The number of deaths from the coronavirus outside China edged toward 500, pushing governments and airlines to curtail travel to and from heavily affected areas.

In a hastily convened news conference, Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte unveiled measures to restrict movement for a quarter of the nation’s population in the region around Milan. Social media videos showed people rushing to get on the last train out. 

Italy’s death toll rose to 233, the most after China.

US President Donald Trump said he intends to continue holding large campaign rallies regardless of the threat posed by the outbreak. Cruise-line operators will work with the Trump administration to try to prevent ships becoming incubators for the disease.

A hotel in Fujian province in China that was being used to quarantine people from heavily affected regions collapsed, trapping dozens of people, the local government said.

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In the US, Washington, D.C. and Virginia reported their first cases, including a US Marine at Fort Belvoir. New York’s total infections rose to 89.

Italy unveils emergency measures

Italian Premier Giuseppe Conte tried to ward off alarm from spreading throughout Europe’s fourth-biggest economy after he personally unveiled measures in the middle of the night to contain the spread of the virus by restricting movement and activity in the region around Milan. Schools have already been shut as tourism has ground to a halt and businesses take a hit in a country already on the brink of recession.

Conte’s announcement came after a leaked draft of the restrictions sparked confusion, with images on social media of Italians crowding trains from Milan and the north to head south before the new rules came into force. The regulations are set to take effect “within hours,” Conte said. They will last until April 3, according to the draft seen by Bloomberg.

Cases in Italy surged to 5,883, including Nicola Zingaretti, the leader of one of the two major government parties. The number of deaths in the country rose to 233.

US CDC overruled by White House

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was overruled by the White House when it recommended that elderly and frail Americans shouldn’t take commercial flights because of the virus, the Associated Press reported, citing a person familiar with the matter.

The CDC updated its website on March 6 to advise older adults and people with severe medical conditions to “stay home as much as possible” and avoid crowds.

However, Vice President Mike Pence, after meeting with the cruise-line industry, said elderly individuals with serious underlying health issues should avoid certain activities such as taking a cruise.

“If you have a family member or are yourself, a senior citizen with a serious underlying health condition, this would be a good time to practice common sense and to avoid activities, including traveling on a cruise line,” Pence said in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser said tests by the city’s lab and the Department of Forensic Sciences confirmed the first coronavirus. 

A US Marine at Fort Belvoir has tested positive for the coronavirus, becoming the first case in the state of Virginia. 

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Meanwhile, Washington state confirmed the number of coronavirus cases jumped to 102 on Saturday, and deaths reached 16. King County, home to Seattle and its suburbs, added 13 cases and four more deaths to its tally.

Public health officials in King County, which includes Seattle, said the new fatalities included a man in his 70s and three women, two in their 80s and one in her 70s. All lived at the Life Care nursing home, which has the most deaths in the nation. Seattle accounts for 15 of the 19 US deaths.

US tests fewer than 6,000 virus samples

The US has tested fewer than 6,000 samples of suspected coronavirus cases, the top drug regulator acknowledged, as health officials struggled to explain the government’s difficulty creating a diagnostic tool to contain the disease.

Food and Drug Commissioner Stephen Hahn said the government doesn’t know how many people have been tested. The number is less than the 5,861 specimens checked, because each patient needs from two and 20 tests to confirm a diagnosis, he told reporters at the White House on Saturday.

Argentina reports first virus death

A man in his 60s became the first fatality from coronavirus in Argentina and in Latin America, La Nacion reported.

The man had traveled to France before returning to Argentina, the newspaper said, adding that he died Saturday morning at the Cosme Argerich Hospital. His diagnosis was confirmed by health authorities, the newspaper said.