Coronavirus Watch: National death toll rises

Washington, the state hardest hit during the coronavirus crisis, has reported three more deaths. Meanwhile, health officials in Florida reported two deaths linked to the virus, the first outside the West Coast. The cases are pending confirmation by the CDC.

It's Saturday, and this is the Coronavirus Watch from the Paste BN Network, where we update you on everything to know about COVID-19.

If you missed our earlier editions, here's how this newsletter works: Up top, we'll provide you with the crucial stuff you need to know. Scroll down for the day's 10 most important articles that will give you the best picture of what's going on.

Here's the latest, as of 4 p.m. ET:

• Florida officials say two residents in their 70s who had traveled overseas have died from the virus. At least one case was a presumptive positive, meaning it hasn't been confirmed by the CDC.
• That would bring the nation's death toll to 19: 16 in Washington, two in Florida and one in California.
• At least 401 people across more than 20 states have been infected in the U.S. Here's a map of confirmed cases.
• Twenty-one people aboard the Grand Princess have tested positive for coronavirus, leaving more than 3,500 people in limbo Saturday as they awaited information on when and where the cruise ship will dock. Vice President Mike Pence, who held a meeting with cruise line industry leaders in Florida on Saturday, said they were looking to dock the ship at a noncommercial port.
• Stanford University is the latest school to cancel all in-person classes and move them online because of the concern over the coronavirus.
• A hotel in southeastern China that was used for medical observation of people who had contact with coronavirus patients collapsed on Saturday, trapping some 70 people, state media reported. There were no immediate reports of deaths.
• The South by Southwest music, film and technology conference was canceled Friday, the most high-profile event yet to be canceled over outbreak concerns. See a list of canceled events in the U.S. here.

Please keep reaching out to us with your questions! We've put together an explainer that answers many of them. What else would you like to know?

Joanne from Charles City, Iowa, asks: If you have a "mild case" of COVID-19, how long can you expect to be infectious and how long are symptoms likely to last?

Symptoms may appear anywhere between two and 14 days after exposure, with the average patient seeing onset at around five days, according to the CDC. Some people who become infected don’t develop any symptoms at all, the World Health Organization says. About 80% of people recover from the disease without needing special treatment. 

Information about how long symptoms last is still evolving. But a February WHO study of more than 55,000 cases in China may give us some preliminary clues:

• The median time from symptom onset to recovery is about two weeks for mild cases
• For patients with severe or critical disease, the median recovery time is three to six weeks
• Among patients who have died, the time from symptom onset to death ranges from two to eight weeks

You are infectious as long as long as you're "actively sick," but how long someone is actively sick can vary on a case-by-case basis, according to the CDC.

And Brian from Ocala, Florida, wonders: Once you have COVID-19, can you still contract it again and again? Scientists aren't sure yet, Brian, but we dig into that question here.

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Here are today's coronavirus need-to-knows.

— Grace Hauck, Breaking News Reporter, @grace_hauck