Fauci: US still in 'escalation phase' of outbreak

US government disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci said on Thursday that the United States was still in the "escalation phase" of the coronavirus outbreak. Fauci was speaking during a live-streamed interview with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

"How long it's going to take to turn around is going to be very much dependent upon how successfully we do containment and mitigation," Fauci said.

In the U.S., where deaths reached at least 178, and infections climbed past 11,000, Army officials announced plans to deploy two hospitals, probably to Seattle and New York City. Washington state had the highest death toll, 74. President Donald Trump said earlier this week that he would send a Navy hospital ship to the West Coast as well as one to New York City, which is rapidly becoming a U.S. epicenter, with more than 4,000 cases.

For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia.

The vast majority of people recover from the new virus. According to the World Health Organization, people with mild illness recover in about two weeks, while those with more severe illness may take three to six weeks to recover.