At least six people were killed after tornadoes tore through parts of Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana Wednesday evening into Thursday, splintering homes and overturning a semi-truck on an interstate. The National Weather Service's (NWS) Storm Prediction Center (SPC) said there were preliminary reports of 26 tornadoes throughout the day Wednesday across the Southern Plains, with the number likely to go up as the severe weather moves across Mississippi on Thursday. "We had over two dozen reports of tornadoes, one of them proving fatal in Oklahoma last night," Fox News senior meteorologist Janice Dean said on "Fox & Friends." In Texas, at least three people were killed when an apparent tornado touched down about 6 p.m. Wednesday near Onalaska, about 75 miles north of Houston, the Polk County Emergency Management System said in a statement.

A traffic commander who “was revered” by his colleagues has become one of the latest members of New York City’s Police Department to have fallen victim to the coronavirus. Mohammed Chowdhury, 54, was honored Wednesday with a prayer service and carryout ceremony that had some of the trappings of a typical police funeral mixed with safety measures that have become commonplace in the wake of the disease’s outbreak. At his ceremony, pallbearers donned protective face masks along with their police department dress blues. A man praying near the casket was swaddled in a white Tyvek suit. Others in the sparse crowd outside the funeral home tried to maintain some semblance of social distancing. Chowdhury died Sunday of complications from the disease, the police department said. He is among 31 members of the #NYPD who have perished as a result of the virus. #RIP

A major Chinese city has adopted draconian quarantine measures against the novel coronavirus after a new outbreak was detected there. More than 70 people have been infected and over 4,000 are being tested in Harbin after the virus was believed to be 'imported' into the city by a student who had returned from New York, according to media reports. Officials have banned gatherings and ordered communities to closely monitor non-local visitors and vehicles in the city of around 10 million. Checkpoints have been installed at the airport and train stations, to screen those coming from elsewhere. The news comes as China today announced that there were only two critically ill patients left in Wuhan, the former centre of the pandemic. The government yesterday released a directive to instruct further restrictions on its residents, visitors and inbound traffic.