Vice-President Mike Pence, who is reviewing and responding to the outbreak, said at a news conference that 19 crew members and two passengers out of 46 people have been tested so far on the Grand Princess ocean liner had the virus. He further added, 3,400 passengers and crew members onboard cruise would be taken to a non-commercial port where they will be tested.
And with this, the infected cases across the world has crossed 100,000, as the novel coronavirus reached more than 90 countries and has intensified the damage, tumbled stock markets.
On Friday, US President Donald Trump signed a bill to provide a $8.3 billion to strengthen the capacity to test for coronavirus and fund other measures in the United States.
So far, in half of the 50 US states cases have now been reported and fifteen people have lost their lives in the country, out of more than 250 cases.
In many affected countries, people were being asked to avoid work, schools were closed, large gatherings and sports and music events were canceled. stores were cleared of staples like toiletries and water, and face masks became a common sight.
The outbreak has killed more than 3,400 people and spread across more than 90 nations, with seven countries reporting their first cases on Friday.
Mainland China, epicentre of the outbreak, has seen more than 3,000 deaths, but the epidemic is now spreading faster elsewhere.
The World Health Organization (WHO) said every country should make containing the epidemic its top priority, pointing to Iran's national action plan to combat one of the worst outbreaks after a slow start.
Iran's death toll from the virus jumped to 124, as more than 1,000 new cases were diagnosed over 24 hours.
The Vatican reported its first case, a patient in its health services, worsening the prospects of the virus having already spread further in the Italian capital, since most employees in the walled city-state live in Rome, and those who live in the Vatican frequently go in and out to the city that surrounds it.
Italy is the worst-hit European country, with a death toll as of Friday of 197.
About 3.4 per cent of confirmed cases of COVID-19 have died, far above seasonal flu's fatality rate of under 1%, the WHO said this week.