Coronavirus: 12 deaths in US, 200+ cases confirmed by CDC

First electron microscopic images of the novel coronavirus in China [CDC.gov, public domain, 1/24/2020]

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control said Thursday that more than 200 people are infected with coronavirus in the country, and 12 people have died of the respiratory disease it causes, COVID-19.

Some 70 of those U.S. cases are in Washington state, which has become a hotspot in the global outbreak.

Vice President Mike Pence, whom president Trump named coronavirus czar, today said "we don't have enough test today" to meet imminent coronavirus screening needs.

"The U.S. Senate on Thursday passed and sent to President Donald Trump an $8.3 billion funding bill to help state and local governments combat the spreading coronavirus, as public health experts outlined efforts to rapidly accelerate testing for the disease," Reuters reports late this afternoon:

By a vote of 96-1, the Senate approved legislation that was overwhelmingly passed on Wednesday by the House of Representatives.

Republican Senator Rand Paul, who objected to spending the money without first reducing federal spending elsewhere, was the lone dissenter.

Trump is expected to sign the bill into law so that the billions of dollars can flow toward developing vaccines against the highly contagious coronavirus and aiding international efforts to control transmission. Trump initially requested $2.5 billion, with much of that coming from previously appropriated funds.