The US is well on the way to having a coronavirus outbreak worse than China, or even Italy

REUTERS/Caitlin Ochs

• The World Health Organization has warned that the US could become the next center of the global coronavirus outbreak. 
• Data shows that in China and Italy, the countries most severely affected by the outbreak, strict quarantining measures seemed to work — they cut the speed at which the disease spreads.
• That same data shows new infections in the US are growing so fast that the total is about to surpass both China and Italy.
• And yet, the federal government and the states have taken only a patchwork approach to curbing the virus.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

The World Health Organization on Wednesday warned that the US could become the new epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic — a prediction that every day looks closer to coming true. The US is only 6,219 infections behind China's total number of infections. China had 81,285 infections; the US has 75,066.

The WHO's warning was at odds with messages from the Trump administration. President Donald Trump at a White House press briefing on Monday floated plans to relax quarantines and "restart" the US economy by Easter.

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