Covid-19 pandemic prompts shelter-in-place order

In the most sweeping U.S. public health measure yet, six counties in the San Francisco Bay Area are directing all residents to shelter in place for the next three weeks, making California's the most stringent among orders around the country to close restaurants, limit meetings, and otherwise stay out of circulation. 

More of the latest developments:

• In a late afternoon press conference, President Trump urged the public to avoid “discretionary” travel, going to restaurants or bars, attending school in person, and gathering in groups of 10 or more.
• A team of infectious disease experts calculates that the fatality rate in people who have symptoms of Covid-19 is about 1.4% — an estimate that provides a glimmer of hope.
• Data scientists have built a model that predicts U.S. hospitals could exceed capacity within weeks but it’s not a certainty — yet. Social distancing measures could avert that reality. 
• To spur new AI tools to fight coronavirus, tech leaders have launched an open database of scientific articles. The dataset is machine-readable, meaning it can be easily processed by a computer.
• Drug makers are grounding sales reps, the people who market and sell their products to physicians and hospitals.