Trump: Chinese coronavirus 'totally under control'
President Donald Trump said today the U.S. has a deadly Chinese coronavirus “totally under control” and there are no worries of a pandemic.
The virus, which sickened more than 400 people and killed at least 17 since December, has spread to four countries including the U.S., where the first case was reported in Washington state on Tuesday. Much is unknown about the contagion, but U.S. officials confirmed Tuesday it can be spread from human-to-human contact.
“We have it totally under control. It's one person coming in from China,” Trump said on CNBC's "Squawk Box." “It’s going to be just fine.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention anticipate more cases of the virus both in the U.S. and globally, Nancy Messonnier, director of CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, told reporters Tuesday. Still, she said U.S. officials believe the risk to the American public at large is low.
The World Health Organization is convening an expert panel today to discuss whether the Wuhan virus should be designated "public health emergency of international concern," a rare step aimed at getting more money and resources from global donors to fight an outbreak.
The emergency designation has been used just five times: against polio, the swine flu, the Zika virus and two recent Ebola virus outbreaks in Africa.
European regulators today bumped the risk of importing the virus to the region up from “low” to “moderate” after experts confirmed it can be spread from person to person.
CORRECTION: This story has been updated to correct the number of people killed by the coronavirus.
