Health Officials Report 9 Dead in US from Coronavirus

The CDC on Tuesday warned that the situation in the U.S. could be the start of more intense outbreaks happening abroad.



“What is happening now in the United States may be the beginning of what is happening abroad,” Nancy Messonnier, director of the CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, told reporters on Tuesday. (Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

Washington health officials reported a total of nine deaths from the coronavirus on Tuesday.

The newly reported deaths – an increase from six on Monday – come from King County. They include an earlier death in the state that has now been linked to the coronavirus.

A resident of the nursing home in King County linked to other COVID-19 deaths died last week, and officials now say it was a case of coronavirus.

A spokeswoman for the Seattle hospital where the patient died told The New York Times it is possible that "some staff may have been exposed while working in an intensive care unit where the patient had been treated."

Meanwhile, officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Tuesday painted an ominous future for the coronavirus outbreak in the U.S.

"What is happening now in the United States may be the beginning of what is happening abroad," Nancy Messonnier, director of the CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, told reporters on Tuesday.

Messonnier said she could not say what the outbreak will look like for the U.S.

"I wish I could give you that answer," she said. "Unfortunately, I cannot."

The CDC reported 108 confirmed and presumptive positive cases of the coronavirus in the U.S. before news broke of the additional deaths. Twelve states have reported cases: Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington and Wisconsin.
Of the 60 cases that are not repatriated citizens, 22 cases are linked to travel, 11 are person-to-person contact and 27 are under investigation to see how they were infected, according to CDC.

Messonnier said that anyone feeling sick should stay home and away from other people. They should call a doctor instead of going into a clinic.

She added that the CDC will be sending 75,000 testing kits to public health labs by the end of the week.

The World Health Organization said that globally about 3.4% of reported COVID-19 cases have died. Health officials said they believe containment is still possible, and therefore are not yet declaring the virus a pandemic.

Globally, there are more than 90,000 cases of the virus, which has caused over 3,000 deaths.

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