Coronavirus live updates: Trump halts most traffic on U.S. border with Mexico

The Los Angeles Times will provide around-the-clock updates on COVID-19 from across Southern California and around the world.

Drive-through coronavirus testing site to open at stadium in Lake Elsinore

A drive-through facility for coronavirus testing will open at a baseball stadium in Lake Elsinore this weekend.

Testing at the Lake Elsinore Diamond stadium will take place from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday in parking lot C, Riverside County health officials announced in a news release. Those who want to be tested must have symptoms or a risk of exposure and must make an appointment by calling (800) 945-6171.

“This is going to take extreme measures, and it is our turn to step in and offer our support to ensure a coordinated and collaborative approach to best serve and protect all of Riverside County,” Lake Elsinore Mayor Brian Tisdale said in a statement. Lake Elsinore’s city manager declared a public emergency Tuesday.

Canada says half a million filed for employment insurance amid the outbreak

TORONTO — Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says his government has received 500,000 applications for employment insurance compared to just 27,000 for the same week last year.

Trudeau says they are receiving a historic number of calls from concerned Canadians amid the pandemic.

Those laid off are able to access employment insurance. The criteria for those eligible was expanded earlier this week.

Despite coronavirus, GDC held a virtual conference, and had lessons on getting into games

With so many of us being asked to work from home — and remain at home during nonwork hours — video games have become a source of entertainment and a way to connect. But it’s worth remembering that the way games play to a developer, to an avid player and to a newcomer are often extremely different. This was one lesson from the Game Developers Conference, which was expected to draw close to 30,000 people before the pandemic hit hard but instead had to live online only.

In conversations and game showcases that would have been presented in San Francisco this week , an underlying themed emerged: Games must be better at speaking to the unconverted.

It was somewhat of an accidental theme.

Department of Education will not enforce standardized testing requirements, Trump says

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump says the Department of Education will not enforce standardized testing requirements for students in elementary through high school for the current year.

Trump said students have already been through a lot with schools opening and closings.

He says his administration also has temporarily waived all interest on federally held student loans and he says he’s directed Education Secretary Besty DeVos to tell federal lenders to allow borrowers to suspend their student loans and loan payments, without penalty for at least the next 60 days.

Trump halts most traffic on U.S. border with Mexico

By Eli Stokols, Kate Linthicum, Molly Hennessy-Fiske

WASHINGTON — The United States and Mexico have agreed to restrict all nonessential travel across their shared border in an effort to slow the spread of the coronavirus, President Trump said Friday, adding that he was invoking the Defense Production Act to increase output of badly needed medical supplies.

The tax filing deadline has been extended from April 15 to July 15, Trump added at the news conference, noting that people who have refunds due can still file early.

The border restrictions with Mexico, along with those with Canada that were announced Wednesday, “will protect the health of all three nations and reduce the incentive for a mass global migration that would vastly deplete the resources that are all needed,” Trump said.

More Information 

https://www.latimes.com/