'The reality is reassuring': Cuomo compares coronavirus to flu

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo says the mortality rate of the coronavirus is 1.4 percent and "the normal flu mortality rate is about 0.6 percent." Cuomo also said he hopes to have 1,000 tests per day for New Yorkers within one week.

Gov.

Cuomo, whose state has one confirmed case, welcomed the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) allowing New York to test for the virus that has killed more than 3,000 people worldwide since it emerged in China in December.

"I would like to have a goal of 1,000 tests per day capacity within one week because, again, the more testing the better," Cuomo said at a briefing on Monday (March 2).

Federal government health officials have said the number of test kits for coronavirus would be radically expanded in the coming weeks.

The United States appeared poised for a spike in cases, partly because there would be more testing to confirm infections.