A day after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warned Americans of coronavirus outbreak in the United States, Health and Human Services Secretary Alexander Azar said on Wednesday (local time) that the officials are taking the issue "incredibly serious".
"We are taking this incredibly serious here in the United States. We are doing the most aggressive containment efforts in modern history to prevent further spread of coronavirus in the United States. We are going to continue taking those measures," Azar said.
Earlier, President Donald Trump announced that Vice President Vice Pence will be in charge of his government's task force to combat the spread of coronavirus.
His remarks came during a press conference with officials from the CDC and others to discuss the spread of the virus.
Recently, the Trump administration had also requested the Congress to allocate at least USD 2.5 billion to fight the coronavirus. That funding will go toward public health preparedness, laboratory testing, quarantine costs, the development of vaccines and other healthcare priorities.
As per The Washington Post, the US reported another case of coronavirus on Wednesday, bringing the total number of cases to 60.
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Accusing the media of stoking fear among people, Trump said, "The risk to the American people remains very low."
According to the latest official data, over 81,200 confirmed cases of COVID-19 have been reported worldwide, leading to the deaths of over 2,700 people.
More than 30,000 people have been cured of the disease, with over 2,600 of those having been cleared in the last 24 hours.