Coronavirus crisis, NFL free agency, SpaceX launch: 5 things to know Wednesday - USA TODAY

Editors USA TODAY

Published 4:00 AM EDT Mar 18, 2020

Coronavirus pandemic: Canada rolls out travel restrictions

All international flights to Canada starting Wednesday will be restricted to four airports — Toronto, Montreal, Calgary and Vancouver — as part of sweeping new steps to tackle the coronavirus. Flights from U.S. cities will not be restricted. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Monday that the country would be closing its borders to non-Canadian citizens or permanent residents to slow the spread of the virus, but U.S. citizens would still be permitted to cross into Canada. Canada has at least 596 confirmed cases of coronavirus and eight deaths in all 10 provinces, and the United States has at least 6,496 cases and 114 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins data.

• Close to home: Trudeau's wife tests positive for coronavirus
• Southwest Airlines is ending drink service on flights during COVID-19 outbreak.

SpaceX set for Starlink satellite launch

Commercial space flight firm SpaceX plans to launch 60 Starlink satellites on a Falcon 9 rocket Wednesday morning from Florida's Kennedy Space Center. It's the sixth Starlink mission, which aims to deliver internet connectivity from space. If the launch succeeds, the new batch of satellites will push the constellation's size to nearly 400 out of a planned 12,000. The Falcon 9 booster will be making its fifth flight, the most for any SpaceX first stage to date. After liftoff, it will automatically target a drone ship for landing in the Atlantic before being transported to Port Canaveral for refurbishment.

NFL free agency: Tom Brady stuns the sports world

Adding to the surrealness of all that is going on in the sports world was the stunning news Tuesday that Tom Brady will not return to the New England Patriots in 2020. Instead, Brady will join the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in one of the more stunning free-agency moves in NFL history. The Brady-to-Buccaneers deal can become official Wednesday at 4 p.m. ET when the new league year commences. Brady isn't the only big-name quarterback on the move. Philip Rivers, the long-time Chargers signal-caller, will be joining the Indianapolis Colts. And, adding the list of familiar names in strange places, Dallas Cowboys mainstay Jason Witten will be joining the Las Vegas Raiders. 

• Who will replace Tom Brady as Patriots' QB?: Evaluating all options, from Andy Dalton to Cam Newton
• Opinion: In ultimate Patriot move, Tom Brady exited New England before it was too late

One sport not affected by coronavirus? The Iditarod in Alaska.

Coronavirus has put most of the sports world on ice, but there's one event still going strong: The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in Alaska is expected to finish Wednesday. Government cautions about avoiding crowds don't pose much an issue for the race, which features roughly 60 mushers spread over a nearly 1,000-mile stretch from Anchorage to Nome. (The Iditarod did postpone the "Meet the Musher" event and awards banquet in response to COVID-19.) Leader Thomas Waerner, from Norway, and his 12 dogs were  in the lead at the Elim checkpoint late Monday. The distance from Elim to Nome is more than 90 miles.

Target, Whole Foods dedicating time for elderly and vulnerable shoppers

More retailers are setting aside time for their most vulnerable customers to shop because of the coronavirus pandemic. Target's more than 1,800 stores nationwide will "reserve the first hour of shopping each Wednesday" for "vulnerable guests" and close no later than 9 p.m., the company said. The elderly and those with underlying health concerns are the most vulnerable to the coronavirus. Also starting Wednesday, all Whole Foods Market stores in the U.S. and Canada will let customers who are 60 and older shop one hour before opening to the public. Because of panic shopping, which has left store shelves empty, at-risk groups including seniors have had difficulty getting supplies. Retailers across the nation have been trimming store hours while others are closing stores temporarily.

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• Coronavirus store closures, changes: See which retailers are closed 
• Stores designate shopping time for seniors, vulnerable amid coronavirus

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2020-03-18 08:04:00Z
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