AN OPENING THAT MIKE BLOOMBERG WILL SEEK TO EXPLOIT AS WE HEAD
INTO SUPER TUESDAY.
>> THANK YOU SO MUCH, JOSH.
>>> ALL RIGHT.
WE HAVE DISTRESSING NEWS TO
SHARE.
SHARE. IT IS BREAKING NEWS REGARDING
THE CORONAVIRUS.
THE CORONAVIRUS. WE’LL GO TO NBC CORRESPONDENT
SCOTT COHN.
SCOTT COHN. HE’S NORTH OF ME IN SACRAMENTO.
YOU HAVE THIS NEWS, WHAT IS IT?
>> Reporter: THE NEWS, ALEX, IS
THAT IN WASHINGTON STATE, THEY
ARE CONFIRMING NOW THE FIRST
U.S. DEATH FROM COVID 19.
WE DO NOT KNOW WHO THE PATIENT
IS.
IS. THIS IS STILL RAPIDLY UNFOLDING.
REMEMBER THERE WAS A CASE
REPORTED YESTERDAY OF A HIGH
SCHOOL STUDENT WHO HAD NO TRAVEL
LINKS TO THE DISEASE, AND THEN
THERE WAS ALSO A 50-YEAR-OLD
WOMAN WHO HAD RETURNED FROM
ASIA.
ASIA. WE DO NOT KNOW YET AGAIN WHO
THIS IS.
THIS IS. BUT THE DISEASE NOW DEADLY IN
THE U.S.
THE U.S. THIS AS THE FDA TRIES TO LOOSEN
SOME OF THE RESTRICTIONS ON
TESTING, WHICH WAS ONE OF THE
BIGGEST ISSUES OUT HERE,
INCLUDING THE WOMAN WHO IS
HOSPITALIZED BEHIND ME AT THE UC
DAVIS MEDICAL CENTER IN
SACRAMENTO, WHO WENT SEVERAL
DAYS WITHOUT BEING TESTED.
THE FDA LOOSENING RESTRICTIONS
ALLOWING SOME INDEPENDENT LABS
TO DEVELOP TESTS AND IMPLEMENT
THEM WITHOUT FDA REVIEW.
ONLY A RELATIVE HANDFUL OF
PEOPLE IN THE U.S. HAVE BEEN
TESTED THUS FAR.
AS COMPARED TO THOUSANDS IN
OTHER COUNTRIES WHERE THIS
DISEASE HAS BROKEN OUT.
AGAIN, THE LATEST NEWS, THIS
EPIDEMIC OR PANDEMIC IS NOW