<![CDATA[Coronavirus: US reports six total deaths, all in Washington state]>
The United States reported four more deaths from the novel coronavirus in Washington state on Monday, bringing the total death toll in the US to six and making the west coast state the epicentre of the country's outbreak concerns.
Health officials of Washington state's King county, which reported three more deaths, and Snohomish county, with one fatality, said in a briefing on Monday the elderly and patients with underlying conditions were more likely to develop into serious conditions, while stating most of the cases had mild symptoms.
Several of the cases in the state can be traced back to a Washington state nursing care facility in Kirkland, a city in King county where the first two deaths were reported.
In total, US has confirmed close to 100 cases of the coronavirus, which originated in Wuhan, China in December.
The new deaths announced by the King county and Snohomish county health officials followed the abrupt cancellation of a scheduled press briefing at noon by the top federal health official Nancy Messonnier.
The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) also removed information on its website that showed the cumulative number of people who have been tested for the virus. The figure was displayed on Sunday.
Vice-President Mike Pence and Ambassador Deborah Birx, a top official coordinating the government's coronavirus response, are expected to brief reporters at 5pm local time on coronavirus updates.
Pence was appointed by President Donald Trump to lead the administration's coronavirus efforts.
On Sunday, in a rare acknowledgement during his interview with CNN's Jake Tapper on the show State of the Union, Pence said the US has lagged behind other countries in the manufacturing and distribution of coronavirus testing kits.
Pence initially claimed there were 15,000 testing kits released over the weekend with plans to send out an additional 50,000 during the week. He said the mass release of testing kits for the novel coronavirus over the weekend would be enough to test thousands of patients.
The CDC previously said each diagnostic kit can test 700 to 800 patient samples.
But Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said on Sunday that the administration will have the ability to test about 75,000 people.
Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar. Photo: Getty Images North America via AFP alt=Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar. Photo: Getty Images North America via AFP
President Trump has tried to play down the risk of the spread of the virus, which has claimed more than 3,000 deaths and infected more than 90,000 people worldwide, mostly in China's Wuhan of Hubei province, where the virus was believed to be originated from the city's seafood and meat market.
The president is expected to meet with pharmaceutical executives Monday afternoon and will visit the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland on Tuesday.
On Friday, Trump will visit the CDC headquarters in Atlanta. Trump, speaking in the Oval Office on Monday morning, said he will discuss efforts to develop a coronavirus vaccine at his meeting with pharmaceutical executives.
"We're talking about a vaccine, maybe even a cure," he said.
Health experts said any vaccine would not be widely available for at least 18 months.
Additional reporting by Bhavan Jaipragas.
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This article originally appeared on the South China Morning Post (SCMP).
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