Nation A dire phase of the coronavirus outbreak? ‘Boom’ of US cases ‘should be expected’ as global death toll tops 3,000 March 1, 2020March 1, 2020 John Bacon, USA TODAY Comments Off on A dire phase of the coronavirus outbreak? ‘Boom’ of US cases ‘should be expected’ as global death toll tops 3,000 A Seattle scientist estimates that a "few hundred" residents of Washington state alone may already have been infected with the deadly new coronavirus.