News Has the coronavirus outbreak entered a dire phase? ‘Boom’ of US cases ‘should be expected’ March 1, 2020March 1, 2020John Bacon, USA TODAYComments Off on Has the coronavirus outbreak entered a dire phase? ‘Boom’ of US cases ‘should be expected’ A Seattle scientist estimates that a "few hundred" residents of Washington state alone may already have been infected with the deadly new coronavirus.