As the world scrambles to monitor and contain the COVID-19 outbreak, drug companies are racing to develop or repurpose treatments to combat the potential pandemic. The death toll continues to climb. The first U.S. death associated with the SARS-CoV-2 virus was reported in Washington state February 29. As of March 2, according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University, 3,048 people in 11 countries had died worldwide, nearly all of them (96% or 2,914) in China.
CSSE also reported 89,198 confirmed cases in 67 countries, including 80,026 (90%) in China and 86 in the U.S. Of those confirmed cases, just over half (45,175) have recovered.
Image: Coronavirus from SARS isolated in FRhK-4 cells. Thin section electron micrograph and negative stained virus particles Source: Department of Microbiology, The University of Hong Kong and the Government Virus Unit, Department of Health, Hong Kong SAR China
