LOS ANGELES, March 4, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – The US death toll from the novel
coronavirus rose to nine on Tuesday, all in the state of Washington and many
of them residents of the same nursing home, officials said.
Eight of the deaths have been in King County, which encompasses Seattle,
and one was in neighboring Snohomish County.
Nationwide, there are more than 100 confirmed cases, on both coasts and in
the Midwest.
The Life Care Center, a nursing home and rehabilitation facility in the
Seattle suburbs, is at the center of the Washington outbreak so far. The
center has banned visits from family members until further notice, and
suspended new admissions.
Susan Gregg, a spokeswoman for Seattle’s Harborview Medical Center, where
one patient died, said public health officials were identifying care workers
who had come in contact with the victim.
“In coordination with Public Health, we have determined that some staff
may have been exposed while working in an intensive care unit where the
patient had been treated,” Gregg said.
Health officials around the world have been scrambling to contain the
spread of the virus, which first erupted in China late last year and has so
far killed more than 3,100 people worldwide.
US President Donald Trump visited the National Institutes of Health
outside the US capital for an update on efforts to develop a vaccine.
He said that for now, the government was not looking at any domestic
travel restrictions, describing Washington state as the “one hot spot” for
now.
US experts “have been just ahead of it,” Trump said.
The Republican president said he was not looking at banning mass
gatherings for the time being, including the upcoming annual “March Madness”
college basketball championship.