Coronavirus cases over 111,000: Live updates on COVID-19

A newly identified coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 is spreading across the globe. Here's what you need to know about the virus and the disease it causes, called COVID-19.

Update on Monday, March 9 (ET):

—There are about 564 confirmed coronavirus cases in the U.S., with 136 of those in Washington state and 124 in California.

—There are now 22 coronavirus deaths in the U.S. (19 in Washington and 2 in Florida).

—There are 3,892 deaths linked to the virus worldwide. Deaths worldwide exceed those from SARS. And 62,375 individuals have recovered from COVID-19.

—There are 111,354 confirmed coronavirus cases worldwide, with more cases popping up outside China than inside.

—Additional cases have been confirmed in New York, bringing the state's total to 106.

How does the new coronavirus compare with the flu?

The new coronavirus outbreak has made headlines in recent weeks, but there's another viral epidemic hitting countries around the world: flu season. But how do these viruses compare, and which one is really more worrisome?

So far, the new coronavirus has led to more than 100,000 illnesses and more than 3,000 deaths worldwide. But that's nothing compared with the flu, also called influenza. In the U.S. alone, the flu has caused an estimated 34 million illnesses, 350,000 hospitalizations and 20,000 deaths this season, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

That said, scientists have studied seasonal flu for decades. So, despite the danger of it, we know a lot about flu viruses and what to expect each season. In contrast, very little is known about the new coronavirus and the disease it causes, dubbed COVID-19, because it's so new. This means COVID-19 is something of a wild card in terms of how far it will spread and how many deaths it will cause.

"Despite the morbidity and mortality with influenza, there's a certainty … of seasonal flu," Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said in a White House press conference on Jan. 31. "I can tell you all, guaranteed, that as we get into March and April, the flu cases are going to go down. You could predict pretty accurately what the range of the mortality is and the hospitalizations [will be]," Fauci said. "The issue now with [COVID-19] is that there's a lot of unknowns."

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