Coronavirus USA
Coronavirus USAiStock

Donald Trump addressed the spread of the coronavirus disease in the United States tonight, saying that regular seasonal flu is more deadly, but does not disrupt civilian life. "It averages between 27,000 and 70,000 per year. Nothing is shut down,” the President tweeted.

Trump added that coronavirus is less deadly: "At this moment there are 546 confirmed cases of CoronaVirus, with 22 deaths. Think about that!", he wrote.

According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States data, 34 million people suffer from influenza each year in the country. 350,000 are hospitalized and over 20,000 die from the disease. In 2018-2019 an estimated 34,000 died. In 2017-2018, 61/000 died, although it is estimated that many flu-caused deaths are unreported in contrast to the public interest in coronavirus. So far, there have been 617 people with coronavirus in the U.S. and 22 of them have died, marking a 3.5% mortality percentage, similar to the total deaths from coronavirus worldwide.

Israel's Health Ministry announced Monday that eight additional Israelis had tested positive for coronavirus, bringing the total number of Israeli citizens who have contracted the disease to 50.

Italian health authorities today announced that 97 people have died in the country in the past day as a result of the COVID-19 cronavirus disease.

So far 463 people have died in Italy. Yesterday, Italy imposed a closure on northern provinces following the spread of the coronavirus. 16 million residents, a quarter of the country's population, are in a closure that will last until April 3.

Earlier, the World Health Organization finally declared the coronavirus a "global pandemic." The number of deaths in Europe has crossed the 500 threshold.