The number of novel coronavirus cases in the United States continued to mount on Saturday, bringing the nationwide total to at least 400. At least 19 people have died.
At least 5,861 coronavirus tests have been completed by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and public health laboratories, said Dr. Stephen Hahn, US Food and Drug Administration commissioner, in a briefing at the White House Saturday.
However, that does not mean 5,861 people have been tested. Currently, each person tested typically has two swabs taken — one from the nose and one from the throat. This number does not include tests performed at private or commercial labs.
Health officials at the White House Saturday could not say exactly how many people have been tested.
Positive tests are coming from all over the country, including Washington, DC, which confirmed its first presumptive positive case on Saturday, according to the office of Mayor Muriel Bowser.
But most of the cases were in communities in Washington state, New York and California. Authorities were working to contain the spread of the virus on a cruise ship off California's coast. CNN
