More fatalities point to growing risks for US

NEW YORK－The number of US deaths from the novel coronavirus rose to six on Monday, all in the state of Washington, officials said, signaling the contagion has taken root in the Pacific Northwest.

Five of the six fatalities are from King county, the most populous in Washington state and home to Seattle, a city of more than 700,000 people. The sixth victim was from neighboring Snohomish county, officials said.

"The risk for all of us of becoming infected is increasing," said Jeff Duchin, a health officer in King County.

"Although most of the cases will be mild or moderate, the infection can cause serious illness and there's a potential for many people to become ill at the same time."

The state reported four new cases, three from the same nursing home, taking the total number of US cases to more than 90－about half of which were people repatriated from either China or a virus-stricken cruise ship off Japan.

Vice-President Mike Pence, the administration's pointman for the crisis, said the government was moving to screen 100 percent of passengers flying in from Italy and South Korea, two serious virus hot zones.

Pence also told reporters at the White House that treatments "could literally be available by this summer, or early fall".

He was likely referring to the drug Remdesivir, an antiviral drug developed by the pharmaceutical firm Gilead that has already been used to treat one US patient and was moving toward two final-stage expansive clinical trials in Asia.

Pence added that US pharmaceutical companies had formed a consortium to work together and share information to develop these drugs.

New travel protocols "will ensure that anyone traveling on a direct flight to the United States of America receives multiple screenings at all airports in Italy and South Korea," he said.

The US is also drastically expanding its diagnostic efforts after coming under fire for not testing enough.

"The estimates that we're getting from industry right now is that by the end of this week close to a million tests will be able to be performed," said Food and Drug Administration chief Stephen Hahn.

Ai Heping in New York and Agencies contributed to this story.