Congress was poised to approve $8.3 billion dollars in supplemental spending Thursday to help bolster defenses against an increasingly pervasive and deadly outbreak of the new coronavirus.

Eleven people have died of the COVID-19 disease in the United States – all but one in Washington state. California declared a state of emergency after the first death was confirmed there Wednesday. A cruise ship that the victim had traveled on was being held offshore in San Francisco, while all passengers are tested for the virus.

Globally, the epidemic has spread to 81 countries, infecting at least 95,000 people and killing more than 3,200. But more than 50,000 coronavirus patients have recovered and been released from isolation, and experts continue to debate the lethality of the disease.

Officials say the only way to understand it is to test a lot more people, and the U.S. government is working to catch up with other …continued .
[Source: CBS News]