KIRKLAND — As three more deaths in the Washington state were linked to the coronavirus Tuesday, bringing the total to nine, the World Health Organization said the mortality rate for the virus has increased to 3.4% as it continues its global spread.

Public health officials confirmed a nursing home patient in Washington state was admitted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle on Feb. 24 and died two days later. The patient, a 54-year-old man who had underlying medical conditions, was transported from Life Care Center of Kirkland and died days before several other patients at the nursing home were linked to the coronavirus, hospital spokeswoman Susan Gregg said.

The Seattle and King County Public Health Department on Tuesday reported two additional deaths from the COVID-19 disease, bringing the King County total to eight. The other person who died was from Snohomish County, health officials said.

A North Carolina resident who visited the Kirkland facility has since tested positive for the virus, becoming that state’s first case of COVID-19, Gov. Roy Cooper announced Tuesday. Health department officials in North Carolina are working to identify anyone else who may have come in contact with the individual.

“I know that people are worried about this virus and I want to assure North Carolinians our state is prepared,” Cooper said in a statement, noting that the person represents an isolated case.

The increased global mortality rate — which includes more than 3,000 deaths —is more than double the mortality rate of the flu, which is less than 1%. WHO Director Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that’s because COVID-19 is a new disease and no one has built up an immunity to it.

In announcing the increase, Tedros reiterated the WHO’s belief that containment of the illness is still possible.

“We don’t even talk about containment for seasonal flu,” Tedros said. “It’s just not possible, but it’s possible for COVID-19.”

Officials say they’ve learned the coronavirus is less transmissible than the flu, which is often spread by infected people without symptoms. That doesn’t seem to be the case for COVID-19, he said.

“There are not yet any vaccines or therapeutics, which is why we must do everything we can to contain it.”

Mike Ryan, who runs the agency’s emergencies program, pushed back against officials who want to “wave the white flag” and surrender to the disease’s hold. China took drastic steps to fight the virus, he said, and case numbers are now on the decline there.

Countries like China and South Korea “implemented very, very strong measures that have affected their own economies and their own societies,” Ryan said. “It’s really a duty of others to use the time that has been bought.

“That is not a reverse you can achieve with influenza. If that is a failure, we’ll have slowed down the virus.”

There can be a big benefit in slowing the virus’ arrival in a country for a few months, Ryan said. Many countries, including the U.S, are in the middle of flu season, so large numbers of coronavirus cases would overwhelm the health system.

In Italy, COVID-19 patients and flu patients are already stretching hospitals and health care facilities, he said.

Tedros said he’s concerned by shortages of masks, gowns and other equipment needed by health care workers to stop the spread of disease “caused by rising demands and hoarding and misuse.”

“We can’t stop COVID-19 without protecting our health workers,” said Tedros, noting that prices of surgical masks have increased sixfold.

Current information suggests that most COVID-19 cases are mild, said Dr. Nancy Messonnier, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases. According to a report out of China, the most serious illnesses occur in 16% of cases, she said, and older people and those with underlying health conditions are twice as likely to develop serious outcomes.

Speaking during a media briefing Tuesday, Messonnier said cases similar to those reported abroad are now appearing in the United States.

The CDC is relying on local health clinicians to determine testing needs. In addition to CDC test kits, commercial manufacturers overseen by the Food and Drug Administration are providing tests directly to states. These types of tests are typically what are on the front lines in the United States, Messonnier said.

As of Monday evening, 60 cases of coronavirus had been diagnosed in the U.S. plus an additional 45 people who were passengers aboard the Diamond Princess cruise ship in Japan and were repatriated to America. That puts the total at around 105 cases, according to the CDC.

The West Coast continues to bear the brunt of the illnesses in the U.S., with the focus on Northern California and Washington.

At least five Northern California counties reported new cases of COVID-19 on Monday, bringing the total in California to nearly 50.

Though the flurry of positive test results in recent days does signal that the virus is circulating within the U.S., experts advised the public to avoid reading too much into those numbers.

Until late last week, federal officials were not allowing widespread testing for the virus, so many people who were already sick are only now being diagnosed, said Harvard epidemiology professor Marc Lipsitch.

“Some of the numbers are changing because new things are happening, but a lot of the numbers are changing because we’re discovering things that have already happened,” Lipsitch said in a forum Monday hosted by Harvard’s public health school. “It’s really important to distinguish ‘Oh, goodness, there’s a new cluster’ from ‘Oh, goodness, we just discovered that there’s a cluster that’s been there for some time.’ “

Conferences in the state and elsewhere are being canceled or scaled back amid fears of the virus, but the WHO’s Ryan said decisions to cancel mass gatherings, including sporting events, should be determined by a country’s leadership, based on how severe the outbreak is in their region.

Officials recently had a call with the International Olympic Committee to discuss the Summer Olympics scheduled in Tokyo and decided to continue monitoring the situation, with three months given before a decision must be made.

“I have confidence in Japan that there will be hopefully progress,” Tedros said. “Deciding now could be too early.”

President Donald Trump said Tuesday during a speech to the National Association of Counties’ legislative conference in Washington that he expects Congress will pass a special funding bill providing $8.5 billion —far more than he requested — to fight the spread of the illness in the United States.

“It just shows you what can happen —six weeks ago, eight weeks ago, you never heard of this. All of a sudden, it’s got the world aflutter,” Trump said, noting later while leaving the White House to visit the National Institutes of Health that he is looking at further international travel restrictions involving Italy, Japan and South Korea but will not limit domestic travel.