Number of U.S. COVID-19 patients exceeds 550 as capital city reports 1st case

The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the United States topped 550 as of midnight Sunday, adding more than 200 cases over the weekend, according to the Johns Hopkins Center for Systems Science and Engineering.

Meanwhile, 21 fatalities occurred in three states, including 18 in Seattle area of Washington state, two in Florida and one in California.

Washington D.C. reported its first confirmed case on Saturday.

Mayor Muriel Bowser said the patient is a local resident in his 50s who showed symptoms in late February and was admitted into a hospital on March 5.

The man had no international travel history, nor was he known to have contacted any confirmed case, said the mayor.

Also, a U.S. Marine assigned to Fort Belvoir of Virginia, near Washington D.C., tested positive on Saturday for COVID-19, said Jonathan Hoffman, assistant to the U.S. Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs, in a statement.

“The Marine recently returned from overseas where he was on official business,” tweeted Hoffman on Saturday, adding that Secretary of Defense Mark Esper and the White House have been briefed.

One day after New York governor declared a state of emergency, the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the Empire State surged to 105 on Sunday, 16 more than the day before, according to Governor Andrew Cuomo.

Cuomo called on the U.S. federal government to expedite their approval of private labs and automated and manual testing to expand New York State’s testing capacity, according to an announcement from the governor’s press office.