CLOSE

Coronavirus updates: With US death toll at 69, health officials set to ramp up testing; CDC offers new guidance; Fed cuts rate to zero

Travel restrictions from COVID-19 outbreak caused major delays at the Dallas/Fort Worth and Chicago-O'Hare International Airports. USA TODAY

The race to get home was inside stocked swing Sunday for Americans overseas while millions of students at home were facing a Monday wanting school as the coronavirus crisis continued its dangerous spiral around the world.

The U.S. death toll rose to 69 across 12 states on Sunday, with the total number of confirmed cases surging to 3,774. The worldwide death toll topped 6,500.

Anxiety and action were on the rise. Thousands of schools for kindergartners to doctoral candidates determination be closed nationwide, and no one knows for certain when they determination reopen. Stores and supermarkets were curbing hours or shutting down altogether. Cities and states were recommending or requiring mass closure, even mass self-isolation.

The CDC on Sunday issued further guidance, encouraging communal distancing and recommending against gatherings of 50 or more people for the "next eight weeks."

At a Sunday evening depress briefing at the White House with members of the Coronavirus Task Force, condition officials said they are that it is not clear whether the spread of the virus has been blunted.

Asked if he would prefer something like a 14-day national shutdown, Fauci told NBC: “You know, I would prefer when much when we possibly could. I think we should really be overly aggressive and get criticized for overreacting."

Fauci, creation the Sunday talk show rounds, told ABC's