Trump urges pharmaceutical firms to speed up coronavirus vaccine finding

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday his administration has urged pharmaceutical companies to speed up work on the development of a coronavirus vaccine, but provided no details, Reuters reported.

Top U.S. health officials have earlier said that a vaccine for the flu-like virus, which has killed over 3,000 people worldwide, is up to 18 months away, according to Reuters.

Health authorities in Washington confirmed on Sunday a second death in the U.S. from the new coronavirus. The patient was a man in his 70s who was hospitalised at EvergreenHealth in Washington.

The first coronavirus death in the U.S. was announced on Saturday, also from King County in Washington. In addition, New York State and city officials reported on Sunday the first coronavirus case in Manhattan. The infected is woman who recently traveled to Iran and is – is in her late 30s and currently isolated in her home, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said.