NEW YORK/WASHINGTON (REUTERS) - The death toll from coronavirus in the United States rose to 12 on Thursday (March 5) with the latest fatality recorded in King County, Washington, and 53 new cases broke out across the country, striking for the first time in Colorado, Tennessee, Texas, Maryland and San Francisco.
Twenty new cases of the virus were confirmed in King County, Washington, local health officials said, bringing the total in the county to 51 with 11 deaths. One death has been recorded in California.
"This is a critical moment in the growing outbreak of Covid-19 in King County," the county said in a written statement, referring to the respiratory disease caused by the virus.
"All King County residents should follow public health recommendations. Together, we may potentially impact the spread of the disease in our community," it said.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said the number of cases in his state had doubled to 22 after the federal government approved its use of additional laboratories, boosting capacity for testing.
He said more testing would inevitably identify more cases. "Those numbers are going to keep going up," Cuomo told a news conference. Texas confirmed its first three coronavirus cases and Tennessee reported one, bringing the number of affected
states to 15.
Maryland's public health laboratory has confirmed three coronavirus cases, Governor Larry Hogan said in a statement on Thursday (March 5).
The patients contracted the disease while travelling overseas and are in good condition, Hogan said. He provided no additional details.
The US Senate on Thursday passed an US$8.3 billion (S$11.5 billion) bill to combat the outbreak 96-1, a day after the House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved it. The bill will now go to President Donald Trump for his signature.
More than US$3 billion of the approved funds would be devoted to research and development of coronavirus vaccines, test kits and treatments. There are currently no approved vaccines or treatments for the illness that began in China and has infected more than 95,000 people in some 80 countries and territories.
Many of the cases in Washington have been linked to an outbreak at a nursing facility in the Seattle suburb of Kirkland, including six deaths. Of the new cases in New York, eight are connected to a Manhattan lawyer who lives in Westchester County and was previously diagnosed with the virus, two are in New York City and one in nearby Nassau County.
CONCERN LEVEL 'IS RISING'
Mayor Bill de Blasio told a news conference the new cases in New York City - a man in his 40s and a woman in her 80s - were critically ill and being treated in hospitals.
Both had "substantial" pre-existing health conditions, he said. Neither person had recently visited any other affected countries or had any connection to other confirmed cases, suggesting the city is confronting local person-to-person spread. "Our level of concern is rising for sure," de Blasio said.
California, which has declared a statewide emergency in response to the outbreak, reported six new cases, including two in San Francisco also deemed likely to be a result of "community transmission," local health officials said.
Alphabet Inc's Google on Thursday joined Amazon.com Inc, Facebook Inc and Microsoft Corp in recommending employees in the Seattle area work from home, after some were infected with the coronavirus. The companies' work-from-home recommendation will affect more than 100,000 people in the area.
More than 3,200 worldwide have died from the respiratory illness that can lead to pneumonia. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) early on Thursday reported 149 confirmed and presumed U.S. cases. Those numbers are presumed not to include any of the new cases reported on Thursday.
US health officials say they expect to be able to get enough privately manufactured
coronavirus tests - around 1 million - to public laboratories this week with the capacity to test about 400,000 people.
CDC official Anne Schuchat said her agency would also supply testing kits by the end of the week that could test around 75,000 people.
"Right now, it is a challenge if you are a doctor wanting to get somebody tested," US Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar told reporters following a briefing with lawmakers.
MARKETS TUMBLE
US Vice-President Mike Pence, who is leading the US response, visited mask-manufacturer 3M. He urged Americans not to purchase masks if they are healthy to free up supply for health-care workers and people who are sick.
"Unless you are ill, you have no need to buy a mask," Pence said at the Minnesota company, which has ramped up production to help respond to the coronavirus.
"The risk to the average healthy American from contracting coronavirus remains low," Pence said, adding that "there will be more cases," especially among more vulnerable populations such as seniors and those with chronic health conditions.
Pence was scheduled to visit Washington Governor Jay Inslee later on Thursday.
Global equity markets continue to tumble as the number of coronavirus cases outside China mounted, fuelling warnings that world growth is likely to reach its weakest level since the global financial crisis.
By mid-afternoon, the main US stock indexes were down more than 3 per cent.
Corporations have begun issuing profit warnings and curbing activities.
Alphabet's Google on Thursday joined Amazon.com, Facebook and Microsoft in recommending employees in the Seattle area work from home, after some were infected with the coronavirus.
The companies' work-from-home recommendation will affect more than 100,000 people in the area, as both Microsoft and Amazon employ over 50,000 each. Facebook employs more than 5,000 in the area and Google about 4,500, according to media reports.
California Governor Gavin Newsom declared a statewide emergency in response to the outbreak after state health authorities confirmed 53 cases, the most of any US state.
