On Friday, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar declared the novel coronavirus a public health emergency in the United States. From left, in Washington D.C., are Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun, Acting Transportation Undersecretary Joel Szabat, Azar, and National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Anthony Fauci. Evan Vucci/AP hide caption
Travelers wearing face masks walk along a concourse at Beijing Capital International Airport on Thursday. American schools are advising students to avoid travel to China, and some are working to evacuate students already there. China reported nearly 11,800 confirmed coronavirus cases on Friday. Mark Schiefelbein/AP hide caption
A chartered jet carrying U.S. citizens being evacuated from Wuhan, China, landed at March Air Reserve Base in Riverside County, Calif., on Wednesday. The passengers are now under a quarantine, the CDC announced Friday. Ringo H.W. Chiu/AP hide caption
Glenn Hurst gives Jeannette Massen a checkup at the Northcrest Living Center in Council Bluffs, Iowa. As they prepare to caucus, voters weigh which candidate to support and what health care should look like in the future. Walker Pickering for NPR hide caption
There are now nearly 10,000 cases of coronavirus — far more than the reported number of SARS cases worldwide during a 2003 outbreak. Mark Lennihan/AP hide caption
Shellfish for sale in the Tai Po market in Hong Kong on January 29. Many customers come to this market to buy live seafood. Jason Beaubien/NPR hide caption
Under the law, Medicare is mandated each year to punish the 25% of general care hospitals that have the highest rates of patient safety issues. The assessment is based on rates of infections, blood clots, sepsis cases, bedsores, hip fractures and other complications that occur in hospitals and might have been prevented. Morsa Images/Getty Images hide caption
Passengers in a subway station in Hong Kong on Wednesday wear masks amid the coronavirus outbreak. Kin Cheung/AP hide caption
Seema Verma, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, announced a new way states can operate their Medicaid programs. Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, speaks at a news conference Tuesday at the Department of Health and Human Services. Samuel Corum/Getty Images hide caption