A Hong Kong flower shop on Valentine's Day. There are 56 confirmed cases of coronavirus in Hong Kong as of Feb. 14. Photo: Miguel Candela/Echoes Wire/Barcroft Media via Getty Images
Across China and other countries with some of the highest confirmed cases of the coronavirus, people celebrated Valentine's Day as they would any other year: buying flowers and other gifts, attending weddings and spending time with loved ones.
Where it stands: COVID-19 has now killed at least 1,527 people and in mainland China infected nearly 66,497 people, a number the CDC believes is underreported. There are more than 500 cases in 27 other countries and territories.
A woman in Beijing waits for the subway on Valentine's Day. Photo: Kevin Frayer/Getty ImagesA vendor holds flower bouquets decorated with face masks in a Manila, Philippines flower market on Feb. 14. Photo: Ted Aljibe/AFP via Getty ImagesA mass wedding in Santa Rosa, Laguna — south of Manila, Philippines — on Feb. 14. Photo: Jes Aznar/Getty ImagesA shopping mall in Bangkok, Thailand on Feb. 11. Photo: Mladen Antonov/AFP via Getty ImagesA Hongkonger buys flowers on Feb. 14. Photo: Philip Fong/AFP via Getty ImagesElderly couples celebrate their 50th wedding anniversaries on Valentine's Day in China. Photo: Nora Tam/South China Morning Post via Getty ImagesA newly wedded couple hold their wedding ceremony on Valentine's Day at Cotton Tree Drive in Admiralty, Hong Kong. Photo: Nora Tam/South China Morning Post via Getty ImagesA man decorates flowers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on Feb. 13. Photo: Mohd Rasfan/AFP via Getty ImagesA couple walks in the Orchard Road shopping district in Singapore on Valentine's Day. Photo: Maverick Asio/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
As an advertiser boycott of Facebook over its tolerance of hate speech continues to snowball, the company has begun making small, incremental changes to mollify activists while it tries to buy time to evolve its content policies.
Driving the news: Sources tell Axios that the product and policy changes sought by the #StopHateForProfit campaign were long under discussion both inside Facebook and with some external groups. Meanwhile, CEO Mark Zuckerberg has reportedly told employees that the boycotting advertisers will be back before long.
Nursing homes have been the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak, prompting more urgent discussions about alternative housing situations for elderly Americans.
Why it matters: Deaths in nursing homes and residential care facilities account for 45% of COVID-19 related deaths, per the Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity — but there are few other viable housing options for seniors.