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(Adds GSK attending White House meeting, Pence comments, White
House briefing, U.S. market open, New York Governor on testing)
By Susan Heavey
WASHINGTON, March 2 (Reuters) - Authorities across the
United States prepared for more cases of the new coronavirus
after a second fatality over the weekend as U.S. President
Donald Trump and his task force on the outbreak will meet with
drug company executives on Monday.
Executives from GlaxoSmith Kline Plc, Sanofi SA
, Johnson & Johnson and Pfizer Inc will
attend the meeting, according to representatives for the
companies.
Trump said on Twitter that the would discuss "progress on a
vaccine and cure." Top U.S. health officials have said any
vaccine is up to 18 months away and there is no treatment,
although patients can receive supportive care.
The Republican president gave no other details, and the
White House did not respond to a request for comment. The
meeting is scheduled for 3 p.m. (2000 GMT) and Vice President
Mike Pence will have a public briefing on the virus response at
5 p.m. (2200 GMT).
The number of coronavirus cases in the United States has
ticked up in recent days, with more than 75 confirmed cases
including two reported deaths, both in Washington state where a
cluster of cases is centered on a nursing home near Seattle. New
York and Florida, among other U.S. states, have also confirmed
cases.
There have been more than 87,000 cases globally and nearly
3,000 deaths in 60 countries, according to the World Health
Organization. The global death toll was up to 3,044, according
to a Reuters tally.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the head of the infectious diseases unit
at the U.S. National Institutes of Health, said he was concerned
the number of U.S. cases could jump in coming weeks.
"When you have a number of cases that you've identified and
they've been in the community for a while, you're going to wind
up seeing a lot more cases than you would have predicted," he
told CNN in an interview on Monday.
Public health officials have urged common sense steps to
prevent contracting and spreading the virus, such as frequent
hand-washing and staying home when sick.
TESTING
"We are prepared. We can’t allow fear to outpace reason,"
tweeted New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, whose state has one
confirmed case in Manhattan in New York City, a woman who caught
the virus on a trip to Iran and was in home quarantine.
"The whole challenge is about containment of the number of
people who become exposed and who become infected," Cuomo said.
He welcomed the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC) allowing New York to test. "I would like to
have a goal of 1,000 tests per day capacity within one week
because again the more testing the better."
Trump administration officials over the weekend sought to
soothe nerves and calm fears that a global recession was
looming, arguing that the public and media were over-reacting
and saying that stocks would bounce back because the American
economy was fundamentally strong.
World stock markets, after a week-long slide, on Monday
regained a measure of calm amid hope of a possible stimulus,
while U.S. stocks also opened higher.
Pence, who is leading the federal government's coronavirus
response, called the U.S. deaths "heartbeaking" but said the
risk remained low even though "there’ll be more cases,
"We continue to remain hopeful that ... we’ll be able to
mitigate the spread," he told Fox Business News in an interview
taped on Sunday that aired Monday morning. Officials were "in
the process of resolving the issues about testing kits," Pence
said.
Pence added that the administration was "surging resources"
and would work with Congress, which is expected to take up a
spending measure in coming days that could allocate billions
more dollars for the virus response.
Democrats have criticized his administration for playing
down the crisis and not preparing for the disease's arrival.
They said they would support more spending on preparation
efforts.
Trump took to Twitter after the second U.S. fatality was
announced to defend his move to restrict travelers from China
and criticize Democrats.
"They didn’t have a clue! Now they are fear mongering. Be
calm & vigilant!" Trump wrote.
(Reporting by Susan Heavey, additional reporting by Michael
Erman in New York and David Morgan in Washington, editing by
Grant McCool)
