The United States reported four deaths due to the deadly novel coronavirus outbreak on Monday, amid rising fears that the pandemic is spreading vigorously across the globe. All four fatalities were reported in Washington state, which has emerged as the epicenter of virus outbreak in the United States. As on Mar. 3, US has reported a total of six coronavirus fatalities-- all in Washington.
Washington reports four fatalities in a day
On Monday, Washington's King county reported three, while a lone fatality was reported in Snohomish county. A number of cases in Washington state can be traced to a nursing care facility in Kirkland, in Seattle, King county. This nursing facility reported the first two coronavirus fatalities.
With 14 confirmed cases and five fatalities, Washington's King county has declared a state of emergency. The virus first originated in central China's Hubei province and reported more than 80,000 cases and around 3,000 fatalities. While cases are declining in China, it's increasing rapidly in other parts of the world, including the US, that has reported 91 cases, till now. On Monday, cases were largely reported in California, Florida and Oregon.
Trump holds meeting with pharmaceutical companies
"I am meeting with the major pharmaceutical companies today at the White House about progress on a vaccine and cure. Progress being made!" he tweeted.
Until now the US President has largely downplayed the threat posed by the virus outbreak. On Monday, he also announced imposing travel restrictions on other countries, aimed at curbing the spread of disease. "We're doing that, we've already done it with three countries in addition to China", he told reporters.
On Monday, the Defense Secretary Mark Esper told reporters that the U.S. military's labs are working hard to come up with a vaccine. "We'll see how that develops over the next couple of months", he said, ABC News reported. Also, on Monday, the State Department announced $37 million aid to the World Health Organization (WHO), that'll help fight the disease in countries such as Afghanistan, Nepal, Nigeria and Thailand. US has pledged a total of $100 million for this cause.
