A novel coronavirus is spreading across the United States.

A novel coronavirus is spreading across the United States.

As cases of a new coronavirus are confirmed in the United States, a second death from COVID-19 has been reported in Washington.

Both U.S. deaths have been men with underlying health conditions. The first was a man in his 50s and the second was a man in his 70s, according to officials in King County, Washington.

Washington state now has 12 confirmed cases. State and local authorities stepped up testing for the illness as the number of new cases grew nationwide, with new infections announced in California, Illinois, Rhode Island and New York.

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The two cases in Florida are considered presumptive, according to the Florida Department of Health. They are waiting on confirmation from the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

As the number of cases soar in Iran, South Korea and Italy, China reports its lowest number of new virus infections in six weeks and hundreds of patients in the stricken city that is the outbreak's epicenter are being released from hospitals, according to the Associated Press.

While no cases of the new coronavirus have been reported in Georgia, health officials continue to monitor people and about 200 people have been self-quarantined at home since last month.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta said home quarantine is in line with best practices for infection control. He spoke to GPB News Sunday from New York.

"I think for a lot of people, it's going to sound alarming," he said. "You're telling me to do what? You're telling me that I should stay in my house? Do I have enough supplies in my house? But that's part of these tried and true methods towards curbing an outbreak."

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Gov. Brian Kemp said last week at a press conference announcing his Coronavirus Task Force that Georgia is prepared. Task force members are working directly with communities at the county level to prepare because that is where the response will directly come from, in response to an outbreak, Kemp said.

President Donald Trump is set to visit the CDC on Friday as he tries to calm growing fears about the coronavirus outbreak, a senior White House official told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Schools in the metro Atlanta area, including Cherokee County, plan to use digital learning if closing schools becomes part of the containment plan. Emory University canceled its study abroad program planned for Italy this summer.

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