The US death toll from coronavirus infections rose to 11 as new cases emerged around New York City and Los Angeles, while Seattle-area health officials sought to allay anxiety and discourage social gatherings amid the nation's largest outbreak, Reuters reported.

The first California death from the virus was an elderly person in Placer County, near Sacramento, health officials said. The person had underlying health problems and likely had been exposed on a cruise ship voyage between San Francisco and Mexico last month.

It was the first coronavirus fatality in the United States outside of Washington state, where 10 people have died in a cluster of at least 39 infections that have emerged through community transmission of the virus in two Seattle-area counties.

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