(Adds details from Seattle area coronavirus cases, stock
markets pare gains after increase in U.S. fatalities)
By Steve Gorman
March 2 (Reuters) - Six people in the Seattle area have died
of illness caused by the new coronavirus, health officials said
on Monday, as authorities across the United States scrambled to
prepare for more infections, with the emphasis on ratcheting up
the number of available test kits.
Dr. Jeff Duchin, chief health officer for the Seattle and
King County Public Health agency, announced the increase in
fatalities from the previous two in Washington state.
Eight of the 14 total cases in his jurisdiction are linked
to a nursing facility, including four deaths, Duchin said at a
news conference. At least four of the six people who have died
were elderly and/or had underlying health conditions, Duchin
said.
The total number of cases in Washington state was now 18, he
said.
"We expect the number of cases will continue to increase in
the coming days and weeks, and we are taking this situation
extremely seriously," Ducin said. However, he also said the vast
majority of diagnosed patients have mild to moderate disease and
do not need hospitalization.
Duchin said his county was not recommending school closures
or cancellation of any events at this point.
As of Sunday, the number of cases in the United States had
risen to 91, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC) said earlier 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.
U.S. stocks pared gains following the announcement of an
increase in fatalities and the number of cases. World stock
markets, after a weeklong slide on coronavirus fears, on Monday
regained a measure of calm amid hope of a possible stimulus.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, whose state has one
confirmed case, welcomed a CDC decision 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.
Protective gear and test kits were being distributed to U.S.
military facilities with a priority on distribution to the
Korean Peninsula, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff,
Army General 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 American 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.
(Reporting by Steve Gorman in Los Angeles; additional 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 and Jonathan Oatis)