Coronavirus live updates: US death toll rises to 9, mortality rate of COVID-19 rises

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• Global cases: At least 91,300, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
• Global deaths: At least 3,110, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
• US cases: At least 108, according to the CDC. 
• US deaths: At least 9, according to the CDC and state health officials.

Regeneron CEO Leonard Schleifer told CNBC the pharmaceutical company hopes to have its coronavirus treatment produced and ready for human testing possibly by August. “How quickly that can deployed will depend on some of the early data that we have, some animal data, what we will see in patients,” Schleifer said on “The Exchange.” “I think that we can get a lot done very quickly.” —Stankiewicz

The World Bank approved $12 billion in emergency financing to help poor nations with the health costs and economic impact of the outbreak, the organization said. “We are working to provide a fast, flexible response based on developing country needs in dealing with the spread of COVID-19,” World Bank Group President David Malpass said in a statement. The money is intended to help the poorest and most at-risk nations fight the virus, which has spread to at least 74 countries across the globe, and will be used to provide emergency financing, technical assistance and policy advice. The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank said on Monday they stood ready to help member countries deal with the coronavirus outbreak, including through emergency funding. —Kopecki

The Department of Homeland Security has closed its office in the Seattle area after an employee there began to exhibit symptoms of COVID-19. The employee previously visited the Kirkland Life Care Facility, which has become the source of an outbreak in the state. The federal facility is the first to close in the U.S. due to the virus, Senator Patty Murray said, and it will remain closed for 14 days. All employees have been instructed to self-quarantine for 14 days, DHS acting secretary Chad Wolf said in a statement. —Feuer

The mortality rate of COVID-19 is significantly higher than previous estimates, world health officials said. Globally, about 3.4% of confirmed patients have died, said Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization. In comparison, the seasonal flu generally kills far fewer than 1% of those infected. The WHO officials said last week that the mortality rate of COVID-19 can differ, ranging from 0.7% to up to 4%, depending on the quality of the health-care system where it’s treated. Early in the outbreak, scientists had concluded the death rate was around 2.3%. —Lovelace, Higgins-Dunn

President Donald Trump has donated his fourth quarter 2019 salary to the Department of Health and Human Services, where it will be used to “support the efforts being undertaken to confront, contain, and combat Coronavirus,” White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham said. This is not the first time Trump has donated his salary to an agency facing an urgent problem. Since taking office, Trump has directed his $400,000 annual salary to a different agency each quarter. —Wilkie

North Carolina health officials confirmed the state’s first COVID-19 case — a patient from Wake County who traveled to Washington state. Local health officials are working to find out who may have been in contact with the patient, Governor Roy Cooper said during a press briefing, adding the state expects more cases. “Our most important work is keeping people healthy and safe,” he said. —Lovelace

Washington state health officials identified three new coronavirus fatalities, including two patients who passed away on Feb. 26 that weren’t previously linked to COVID-19, bringing the total number of deaths in the U.S. to nine. “This is a very fluid, fast-moving situation as we aggressively respond to this outbreak,” Dr. Jeff Duchin, health officer for Seattle & King County public health, said in a statement. “People with suspected or confirmed exposure to COVID-19 should reach out to their healthcare provider. As public health professionals we really appreciate clinicians on the front lines of patient care and they are critical to this response.” —Feuer

Ford Motor is banning all non-essential international and domestic business travel for employees due to the coronavirus outbreak. The automaker said Tuesday the increased travel restrictions will be in effect until March 27. Ford, according to a company spokesman, will revisit the travel bans regarding the COVID-19 epidemic on a weekly basis. —Wayland

Stocks extended their losses after an emergency rate cut by the Federal Reserve failed to ease investor concerns over economic impacts from the coronavirus. The Dow Jones Industrial Average traded 950 points lower, or 3.6%, after rising more than 300 points earlier in the day. The 30-stock average gyrated between sharp gains and solid losses after the decision was announced. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite were both down at least 3.5%. —Imbert

The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank said they will use a virtual format for their Spring Meetings due to concern over the coronavirus. The major meetings were scheduled to take place in Washington D.C. from April 17-19. The meetings are typically among the most significant international monetary conferences in the world, drawing thousands of participants each year. —Wilkie

Salesforce, Intel, Cisco, Amazon and other tech companies have all pulled out of HIMSS, a giant health IT conference in Orlando that draws tens of thousands of attendees. Some of the companies have not announced their plans publicly, despite having made a decision not to attend. But HIMSS said it hasn’t instructed any exhibitors to withhold information from their partners and customers. —Farr

Stocks fell in volatile trading even after the Fed slashed interest rates by half a percentage point in an emergency effort to stem slower economic growth from the coronavirus outbreak. It’s the first such emergency rate cut in between scheduled meetings since the financial crisis. The Dow Jones Industrial Average traded 500 points lower, or 1.9%, after rising more than 300 points earlier in the day. The 30-stock average gyrated between sharp gains and solid losses after the decision was announced. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite were both down at least 1.5%. —Imbert, Pound, Huang

The CDC said the number of cases in the U.S. rose to at least 108 as of Monday at 4 p.m. ET and that the agency has stopped reporting “persons under investigation” or PUIs, or people it’s tracking for possible infection. It also said it won’t provide case tallies over the weekends and warned that it won’t necessarily have the most up to date data on the outbreak in the U.S. “Now that states are testing and reporting their own results, CDC’s numbers are not representative all of testing being done nationwide,” the CDC said.  —Kopecki

(Correction: The CDC is updating its case count on a daily basis Monday through Friday. It won’t update its case tally over the weekends.)

The largest flight attendants union in the U.S. is seeking a series of measures to help combat the spread of the coronavirus and ensure cabin crews have pay and benefits protections if they become sick. “Airlines and the industry, not all consistently, have implemented some of these recommendations,” said the Association of Flight Attendants, which represents some 50,000 flight attendants including those at United Airlines, Alaska Airlines and Spirit Airlines. “In general, the industry has far exceeded government instruction, but a coordinated, thorough response from our government is what is needed.”

Comcast CEO Brian Roberts said he’s optimistic that the Tokyo Olympics are going to happen and he’s looking forward to being there. “The Olympics are obviously on everybody’s mind,” Roberts said at Morgan Stanley’s 2020 Technology, Media & Telecom Conference. “What I know is that it’s full steam ahead. We’re getting ready. We’re excited.” He said the company has insurance, so there would be no losses should there not be an Olympics. —Miller

The first federal facility in the U.S. was closed due to the coronavirus, Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) said at a Senate hearing on the outbreak. “Since we have been in this room, in this hearing since this started, we have now learned of the first full closure of a federal facility due to this virus,” she said. “It’s a DHS center in Tukwila, Washington in my home state.”

Health and Human Services official Dr. Robert Kadlec estimates the country would need roughly 3.5 billion of medical-grade N95 masks, which filter out about 95% of all liquid or airborne particles. “We have about 35 million,” Kadlec, assistant secretary for preparedness and response, said before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions on Tuesday. “Ten percent, and we’re actively working on that.” 

The Army’s top civilian leader, Secretary Ryan McCarthy, said Tuesday during a House Armed Services Committee hearing that the Pentagon is working on a vaccine in concert with NIH and CDC. It is currently being tested on animals.
His remarks came a day after the nation’s top military officer downplayed concerns this week that the coronavirus poses a significant risk to U.S. service members and the Pentagon’s global supply chain. “Right now the overall broad impact to the uniformed U.S. military is very, very minimal. It’s not to say that it’s zero, but it’s very minimal, very few cases diagnosed, etc.,” U.S. Army Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Monday during a Pentagon news briefing. (

New Hope Network announced the annual Natural Products Expo West trade show in Anaheim, California will be postponed due to fears about the current coronavirus outbreak, ​Food Dive reported. The five-day trade show was expected to begin Tuesday. The group plans to announce a new date for the show by mid-April and has set up a rebate fund of $5 million to help the entrepreneurs and small businesses impacted by the change.

World Health Organization officials said it’s too early to decide whether the Tokyo Olympics should be postponed, saying they’ve recently spoken with Thomas Back, president of the International Olympic Committee, and have agreed to monitor the rapidly developing outbreak. “If there’s a need for any actions, we can discuss with the Japanese government. But I think deciding now could be too early so it would be good to monitor the situation,” Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters at a press conference. —Higgins-Dunn

World Health Organization officials called on medical supply manufacturers to “urgently increase production” to meet the global demand that is needed to respond to the COVID-19 outbreak rapidly spreading across the world. WHO estimates that each month 89 million medical masks will be required for the COVID-19 response, 76 million examination gloves and 1.6 million goggles,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of WHO, said at a press conference at the organization’s Geneva headquarters.

Following an emergency interest rate cut, central bank chair Jerome Powell said the Federal Reserve saw a “risk to the outlook for the economy and chose to act.” The Fed slashed rates by 50 basis points on Tuesday. Powell said “over the course of the last couple of weeks we’ve seen a broader spread of the virus,” which the Fed worried would have a material impact on the economy. “The magnitude and persistence of the overall effect on the U.S. economy remain highly uncertain and the situation remains a fluid one,” Powell added.

Shoppers are racing to online retailers to order face masks, hand sanitizer, hazmat suits and other items to protect against the coronavirus. The surge in demand has created an opening for third-party sellers on various e-commerce sites like Amazon and eBay to offer products that are otherwise sold out at traditional retailers. But in doing so, some merchants have flooded online marketplaces with overpriced goods and items that make dubious medical marketing claims. Amazon, eBay, Walmart and Etsy have all struggled to curb price gouging and products that make unverified claims about the coronavirus.

The National Basketball Association sent a memo to teams on March 1 regarding the coronavirus outbreak, encouraging players to avoid “high-fiving and offer fist bumps” to fans when interacting. It also advised not taking items from fans such as pens, marker, and other items from fans. The memo had some other good tips that anyone would be wise to heed, including washing hands for at least 20 seconds, using hand sanitizer as another option. Meanwhile, four league officials told CNBC the NBA has not offered any plans for league games or event cancellations as of yet.

Target has seen “aggressive shopping” as people across the U.S. respond to rising cases of the coronavirus, CEO Brian Cornell said in a Tuesday earnings call. The Minneapolis-based retailer said it’s increasing inventory to keep up with heightened demand for household essentials and food and beverage. He said the “surge in store traffic” has underscored the importance of brick-and-mortar locations, even as more of its customers shop online.

Late Monday, Instacart said its growth rate over the past 72 hours surged 10 times its normal pace. In California, Washington, Oregon and New York, the growth is even faster, 20 times the normal volume. Searches for hand sanitizer are up 23% week over week, Instacart said. Vitamins are the second most searched item and those searches have risen 12% week over week. Rounding out the top five most searched items are powdered milk, face masks and canned goods. —Reagan

The World Health Organization will likely deem the COVID-19 coronavirus a global pandemic once sustained person-to-person spread takes hold outside China, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention official said. The current outbreak already meets two of the three main criteria under the technical designation of a pandemic, Dr. Anne Schuchat, principal deputy director of the CDC, said in prepared remarks to be presented before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. “It is a new virus, and it is capable of person-to-person spread,” she said. “If sustained person-to-person spread in the community takes hold outside China, this will increase the likelihood that the WHO will deem it a global pandemic.” —Lovelace

The Federal Reserve cut interest rates by half a percentage point, immediately reversing a more than 300-point drop in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The Dow swung to a 371-point gain in intraday trading. Markets had priced in a 0.5% rate cut for the central bank’s meeting next month. The move comes after the G-7 said in a statement earlier on Tuesday they will use policy tools to curb an economic slowdown. However, the statement contained no specific actions. —Kopecki, Imbert

Qorvo, a radio frequency chip supplier for Apple’s iPhones, lowered its fourth-quarter revenue expectations to $770 million. The company predicted revenue of $800 million to $840 million on Jan. 29. “The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has impacted the smartphone supply chain and customer demand more than anticipated,” Qorvo said. “The full impact of COVID-19 remains difficult to forecast given the uncertainty of the magnitude, duration and geographic reach of the outbreak,” according to a press release. — Bursztynsky

World Health Organization officials are holding a press conference at 10:30 a.m. ET to update the public on the coronavirus outbreak, which has infected more that 91,300 people and killed at least 3,110 across the world. WHO official announced Monday that number of new coronavrius cases outside China was almost 9 times higher than that inside the country over the last 24 hours. They also increased the risk assessment of the coronavirus Friday to “very high” at the global level, its highest warning. In January, it declared the virus a global health emergency, while urging the public against over-reacting to the virus. Watch the live press conference here. —Higgins-Dunn

A man north of New York City is hospitalized with the COVID-19 virus, the second confirmed case in the state, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said.  Cuomo told Long Island radio station 103.9 that the unidentified man from Westchester County commuted to work in Manhattan and lives in a home with school-age children.
Cuomo said the man apparently had an underlying respiratory illness and no known travel history to China or other countries on the virus watch list.  The governor said more cases are expected as the outbreak spreads and testing ramps up. “You cannot contain the spread. You can slow it, you can limit it, but you cannot contain the spread,” Cuomo told reporters at a press conference. “It is inevitable that it will continue to spread.”  –Associated Press

At least two New York area high schools closed after a suspected case of the COVID-19 coronavirus in the local community. SAR Academy and SAR High School said in a statement that it was a precautionary measure, following guidelines from the New York City Department of Health. The school is located in the Bronx neighborhood of Riverdale, according to its website. It’s a modern orthodox Jewish High School, according to its Facebook page. Another Jewish school outside New York City, Westchester Day School, also announced it would be closed Tuesday due to the potential case at SAR. Westchester Torah Academy was also reportedly closing.  —Lovelace, Higgins-Dunn

A public service announcement on proper hand hygiene in Vietnam has become an internet sensation after a video was posted on TikTok of two dancers enacting the lyrics of the song. “The song’s incredible,” comedian John Oliver said on Monday night’s episode of “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver,” adding that “Sesame Street” character Ernie’s “Rubber Duckie” song on bath hygiene pales by comparison. The lyrics to the song for the Vietnam coronavirus dance challenge are: “Wash our hands, rub, rub, rub, rub evenly. Do not touch eyes, nose, mouth. And limit visits to crowded places. Push back the virus Corona, Corona,” according to the show’s translation of the song. —Kopecki

Japan’s Olympics minister says the country’s contract to hold the Tokyo Games only specifies the event has to be held during 2020. Seiko Hashimoto’s response to a question in the upper house of parliament implies the Olympics could be held later in the year and would not have to start on July 24 as planned. —Associated Press

Visa warned that its second-quarter revenue growth would be slower than its previous forecast, becoming the latest payments services provider to be affected by the coronavirus outbreak. The company said it expects current-quarter revenue growth to be 2.5 to 3.5 percentage points lower than its previous forecast of low double-digit growth when compared with the first quarter. —Reuters

Officials of most of the world’s largest economies pledged on Tuesday a united front in the battle against the novel coronavirus scare but offered no specific actions. “Given the potential impacts of COVID-19 on global growth, we reaffirm our commitment to use all appropriate policy tools to achieve strong, sustainable growth and safeguard against downside risks,” the G-7 statement said. —Cox

The head of Iran’s emergency medical services, Pirhossein Kolivand, has been infected with coronavirus, the ILNA news agency reported. Kolivand’s “health is good and there is no need for concern,” the office said in a statement, according to ILNA. Seventy-seven people in Iran have died from coronavirus and 2,336 have been infected, Iran’s Health Ministry announced Tuesday. —Reuters

The Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention broadened the types of masks health-care workers can use to include “industrial” masks amid reports of a nationwide shortage and price gouging. The FDA granted the CDC’s request for an emergency use authorization to allow health providers use masks that previously were only approved for industrial settings. The move broadens the category of masks that doctors and nurses are approved to use in a health-care setting. “The FDA and CDC’s action to allow a wider range of respirators to be used in health-care settings will help those on the front lines of this outbreak and their patients, which will keep all Americans safe,” HHS Secretary Alex Azar said. “We will continue pursuing every possible avenue to secure the protective gear needed for responding to the COVID-19 outbreak.” —Feuer

Britain’s government unveiled its plans to tackle the spread of the virus, warning that up to a fifth of the workforce could be off sick during a peak period. “Given that the data are still emerging, we are uncertain of the impact of an outbreak on business. In a stretching scenario, it is possible that up to one fifth of employees may be absent from work during peak weeks. This may vary for individual businesses,” the government said. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that in the worst possible scenario, the army is ready to step in. Johnson warned on Monday that there could be a “very significant expansion” of the outbreak among the population. Currently, there are 39 cases of the virus in the U.K. —Ellyatt

The number of confirmed cases rose in Germany to 188, up from 157 on Monday afternoon, according to the country’s RKI health institute. Germany’s Health Minister Jens Spahn warned last week of a potential epidemic in the country. —Ellyatt

Two of China’s largest cities and the province of Guangdong that borders Hong Kong and Macau announced that visitors from countries severely hit by the new coronavirus must quarantine themselves for 14 days upon arrival. These countries include South Korea, Italy and Japan. The requirement applies to Chinese and non-Chinese residents. Previously, travelers who had not been in mainland China prior to arrival in Beijing did not have to self-quarantine. —Cheng

Disclosure: CNBC parent NBCUniversal owns NBC Sports and NBC Olympics. NBC Olympics is the U.S. broadcast rights holder to all Summer and Winter Games through the year 2032.

Read CNBC’s coverage from the Asia-Pacific overnight: UK warns fifth of workforce could be off sick; army prepared

— CNBC’s Mike Wayland, Christina Wilkie, Christina Farr, Jesse Pound, Eustance Huang, Courtney Reagan, Jessica Bursztynsky, Jeff Cox, Holly Ellyatt, Weizhen Tan and Yen Nee Lee contributed to this report.