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US coronavirus death toll reaches 17, confirmed cases pass 300

Saturday, 07 March 2020 7:28 AM [ Last Update: Saturday, 07 March 2020 11:52 AM ]

Customers line up outside a pop-up store that sells face masks, protective gloves, and hand sanitizers in Washington, DC, on March 6, 2020. (Getty Images)

US authorities reported 17 deaths from the coronavirus and 307 infections across the country as of Friday, with the state of Florida reporting the first death on the US East Coast.

The number of infections does not count the 21 people who have tested positive aboard a cruise ship off California. The cruise ship Grand Princess will be brought to an unspecified port where all 2,400 passengers and 1,100 crew will undergo another round of tests.

The confirmation of two deaths from coronavirus in Florida became the first fatalities outside of California and Washington state.

On Friday, eight states - South Carolina, Hawaii, Indiana, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Kentucky, Minnesota, Pennsylvania - reported their first cases, meaning over half of the 50 states in the US now have the virus.

Tensions over how to contain the fast-spreading coronavirus have escalated in the United States as the country’s death toll continues to climb and members of Congress have criticized the government’s ability to increase testing fast enough to deal with the crisis.

Two New Yorkers who attended AIPAC conference tested positive for coronavirus

The powerful pro-Israel lobby group in the US has said that two Americans who attended its conference this week have tested positive for the coronavirus.

US President Donald Trump signed a bill on Friday allocating $8.3 billion to fund measures to curb the coronavirus outbreak.

As in other countries, Americans this week faced a new reality in which they were often asked to stay home from work, schools were closed, large gatherings and sporting events canceled, and stores emptied of staples like toiletries and water.

The respiratory illness emerged in China in late 2019 and has spread to over 90 countries, killing more than 3,400 people and infecting over 100,000 across the globe.

But there is likely significant underreporting worldwide and the disease's true lethality will only be better understood over time.

On Wednesday, Trump disputed a report from the World Health Organization that 3.4 percent of people who contract the coronavirus die from it, citing only his "hunch."

Asked about the WHO's coronavirus fatality rate findings during an interview with Fox News, Trump said he thinks the true death rate is a "fraction of 1 percent."

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