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Coronavirus live updates for March 18: Meghan Markle, Taylor Swift, Vanessa Hudgens and more

Find out how COVID-19 is impacting celebrities and royals, including Meghan Markle, Camila Cabello, Demi Lovato and Dascha Polanco


UPDATED MARCH 18, 2020 6:02 PM EDT

As the country and the world grapples with coronavirus, we’re here to keep you updated in how Covid-19 is impacting the world of entertainment. Keep checking back for regular updates...

  • Pain-relief brand Medzone is releasing high-quality, hypo-allergenic sanitizers by the end of the week. In an effort to help fight the spread of the coronavirus, the company will donate $0.10 for every hand sanitizer sold to the World Health Organization and donate actual product to local healthcare professionals.
  •  U2 frontman Bono releases a song inspired by the viral videos of quarantined Italians singing on balconies. On Tuesday, the singer performed the single live on social media with the following caption: “For the Italians who inspired it… for the Irish… for ANYONE who this St. Patrick’s day is in a tight spot and still singing. For the doctors, nurses, carers on the front line, it's you we’re singing to.”
  • King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia will postpone their state visit to the U.S. According to the White House, the Spanish Royals were set to visit on April 21, 2020 but due to the coronavirus the visit will be pushed to a later date.
  • With 3,785 Zara stores shut worldwide, Inditex, the parent company, will now manufacture masks and hospital gowns for patients and medical workers. The fashion group has already donated 10,000 face masks and are expected to deliver 300,000 more by the end of this week.
  • As coronavirus continues to spread, more schools are implementing closures as a precautionary measure.  Prince George and Princess Charlotte will move to “remote learning”  and continue their studies online. 
  • Thanks to coronavirus,   Princess Beatrice’s royal wedding won’t be going ahead exactly as she’d planned. 
  • Dascha Polanco   has declared war on Covid-19 -  and has an ultra-disinfected house to prove it  .
  •  Meghan Markle and Prince Harry have broken their silence on these “uncertain times.”
  • Camila Cabello has shared her method to deal with anxiety  and we are definitely going to have to try it out.
  • Queen Elizabeth is hunkering down, just like us except she’s doing it in one of her castles .
  • Demi Lovato has moved in with her parents  after someone in her apartment building tested positive for the virus.
  •  Vanessa Hudgens has apologized after an Instagram live during which she said that it is “inevitable” that people would die from Covid-19. The High School Musical star had mused, “Even if everybody gets it, like, yeah, people are gonna die, which is terrible but, like, inevitable?".
  • Tom Hanks has given an update on himself and Rita Wilson on social media a week after their positive diagnosis. The pair continue in self-isolation, he noted, saying, “The symptoms are much the same. No fever but the blahs. Folding the laundry and doing the dishes leads to a nap on the couch. Bad news: my wife has won 6 straight hands of Gin Rummy and now leads by 201 points.”
  • It looks more and more likely that your retail therapy will have to be online. Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein have just shuttered their stores, joining a growing list of retailers, including Urban Outfitters, Anthropologie, Nike and Adidas who are closing their brick-and-mortar shops until further notice. Coach, Kate Spade and Stuart Weitzman are closed in North America and Europe and H&M announced they would close in the US and Canada until April 2 with all of their employees receiving full pay.
  • Supermodel Gisele Bundchen, whose husband Tom Brady has just quit the New England Patriots, encouraged followers to think about the elderly and stay inside. “We need community thinking. Think about it - it could be your father, mother, grandmother or someone you know that is most at risk. It is important that we act in solidarity and that we act in the best interest of our common society.”
  • After Idris Elba tested positive for coronavirus, the actor has now revealed that his wife Sabrina Dhowre Elba,is feeling ‘nervous and worried.’ "Sabrina is doing good, she finally today managed to get a test," he said on Twitter of his spouse, who famously was at his side in the video where he announced he had the virus. "Generally she's fine. Nervous, of course. Worried."
  • Latina royal Queen Maxima of the Netherlands is social isolating  along with her husband King Willem-Alexander and their three daughters.
  • Getting your cooking on while staying home?  Jennifer Lopez’s chef has shared some recipes to try 
  • Feeling powerless and looking to help?  Here are some coronavirus relief charities to support 
  •  Cardi B has an unexpected hit on her hands after raging on Instagram about coronavirus. DJ iMarkkeyz sampled the rant for a song that went viral and is now topping the iTunes charts - something that hasn’t gone unnoticed by the Money star.
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  • Coronavirus is hitting entertainment worldwide. The 2020 Glastonbury music festival, headlined by Taylor Swift, has been called off for 2020. The famously muddy pop fest was set to kick off on June 24 in Somerset, England.
  • Penguins take over empty aquarium – and go viral! After Shedd Aquarium in Chicago had to close (to humans!) due to coronavirus, adorable penguins Edward and Annie were allowed to have the run of the place in a clip that has been watched by millions
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