President Donald Trump preached calm on Saturday after the first U.S. death from coronavirus was confirmed in Washington state and the government ratcheted up travel warnings for several countries where the virus is spreading.
The president, flanked by his top health officials, said that Americans should not be alarmed by the latest news. “If you are healthy, you will probably go through a process and you’ll be fine,” he said. Fifteen people have recovered from the virus, he added.
Trump also asked that media and politicians “not do anything to incite the panic, because there is no reason to panic at all. This is something that is being handled professionals.”
Asked if he regrets referring to a coronavirus “hoax” this week, the president said it was a “hoax referring to the action [political rivals] take trying to pin this to someone. The hoax is on them.”
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Vice President Mike Pence announced that the administration raised its travel warnings for certain areas of South Korea and Italy to the highest level and was expanding travel restrictions to include any foreign national who has visited Iran within the last 14 days. Trump also boasted that the government had stockpiled 43 million masks for health professionals.
There are now 22 cases of coronavirus in the U.S., CDC Director Robert Redfield said at the briefing.
Trump said the person who died was a woman in her 50s, although Washington state Gov. Jay Inslee identified the death as a man when he expressed condolences to the family.
“It is a sad day in our state as we learn that a Washingtonian has died from COVID-19. Our hearts go out to his family and friends,” Gov. Jay Inslee said. “We will continue to work toward a day where no one dies from this virus.”
The death is neither one of the cases that the state confirmed late Friday night, a county spokesperson said.
There are at least four other people on the west coast who have contracted the virus, dubbed Covid-19, without a clear connection to recent travel or someone else with the infection. Washington said late Friday that besides the woman in her 50s, who had recently traveled to South Korea, a teenager north of Seattle had also tested positive.
