Health officials expect USA coronavirus outbreak: "It’s More of a Question of When"

Off NRO -

U.S. officials admitted Tuesday that the United States is likely to suffer a coronavirus outbreak, one day after the Trump administration requested $2.5 billion to help slow the spread of the virus. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention revealed that it now expects a large increase in U.S. cases, and urged Americans to prepare for “the expectation that this might be bad.”

Nancy Messonnier, the director of the Center DC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, said that “it’s not so much of a question of if this will happen in this country any more but a question of when this will happen.” She also warned that “the disruption of daily life might be severe.”

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Among concerns for health officials include the lack of resources needed to diagnose and contain an outbreak, with the CDC still trying to roll out a testing kit for state and local health departments. As of Tuesday, a total of 426 people in the U.S. have been tested for the virus, with 12 states and localities now conducting their own tests.