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Mar 3, 2020 10:30 PM -

Tensions rise as U.S. death toll from coronavirus reaches 9

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A worker at the Life Care Center in Kirkland, Wash., near Seattle, wears a mask as she leaves the building, Monday, March 2, 2020. Several of the people who have died in Washington state from the COVID-19 coronavirus were tied to the long-term care facility, where dozens of residents were sick. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

The death toll from the coronavirus in the U.S. has climbed to nine, with tensions rising over how to contain the outbreak.

Lawmakers on Capitol Hill are expressing doubts about the government's ability to ramp up testing fast enough to deal with the crisis.

Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve has announced the biggest interest-rate cut in over a decade to try to fend off damage to the economy.

And health officials are trying to ease shortages of face masks by giving the OK to medical workers to use industrial-grade ones.

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