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(Adds latest number of cases from U.S. health officials, U.S.
military on vaccine development, share move)
By Steve Holland and Michael Erman
March 2 (Reuters) - Authorities across the United States on
Monday prepared for more cases of illness caused by the new
coronavirus after a second fatality over the weekend, with the
emphasis on ratcheting up the number of available test kits.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, whose state has one
confirmed case, welcomed the U.S. Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention (CDC) allowing New York to test for the virus
that has killed more than 3,000 people worldwide since it
emerged in China in December.
"I would like to have a goal of 1,000 tests per day capacity
within one week because again the more testing the better,"
Cuomo said at a briefing on Monday.
Federal health officials have said the number of test kits
for coronavirus would be radically expanded in coming weeks. The
United States appeared poised for a spike in cases, partly
because there would be more testing to confirm infections.
The number of cases in the United States as of March 1 had
risen to 91, including two reported deaths in Washington state,
where a cluster of cases is centered on a nursing home near
Seattle, the CDC said on Monday.
There has been a jump in presumed cases reported by the
states to 27 from seven. The CDC will confirm the tests sent by
states with their own diagnostics. So far, 10 states including
California and New York have confirmed or presumed coronavirus
cases.
Protective gear and test kits were being distributed to U.S.
military facilities with a priority on distribution to the
Korean Peninsula, U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
Mark Milley said at a briefing.
South Korea is one of the hardest hit countries with 4,335
cases and 26 deaths.
U.S. government military laboratories were working to
develop a vaccine, Milley said.
President Donald Trump said his administration has asked
pharmaceutical companies to accelerate work on the development
of a coronavirus vaccine, but provided no details.
Top U.S. health officials have said any vaccine is up to 18
months away and there is no treatment for the respiratory
disease, although patients can receive supportive care.
Trump and his task force on the outbreak will meet with drug
company executives on Monday afternoon. Executives from
GlaxoSmithKline Kline Plc, Sanofi SA, Johnson
& Johnson and Pfizer Inc will attend the
meeting, according to representatives for the companies.
The White House is also expected to meet this week with top
executives from U.S. airlines and the cruise industry over the
impact of the virus to their businesses, two people briefed on
the matter said.
There have been more than 87,000 cases worldwide and nearly
3,000 deaths in 60 countries, the World Health Organization
said. 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.
The U.S. Congress is expected to take up a spending measure
in coming days that could allocate billions more dollars for the
virus response.
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 were up around 3%.
(Reporting by Steve Holland, David Shepardson, Susan Heavey,
Lisa Lambert, Makini Brice, David Morgan, Idrees Ali and Phil
Stewart in Washington, Michael Erman and Caroline Humer in New
York and Manas Mishra in Bengaluru; Writing by Grant McCool;
Editing by Bill Berkrot)
