Trump gives an update on Americans diagnosed with coronavirus. Vice President Mike Pence will lead coronavirus team

From CNN’s Maegan Vazquez. February 26, 2020

President Trump said the Americans who have been diagnosed with the novel coronavirus are doing “very well.”

Trump said he had just been briefed by members of his administration.

“Of the 15 people … eight of them have returned to their homes, to stay at their homes until they’re fully recovered. One is in the hospital. And five have fully recovered. And one we think is in pretty good shape,” Trump said at the White House.

“In almost all cases, they’re getting better,” Trump said.

He added that there are also patients who were brought back to the US from Japan.

“We took in some from Japan … because they’re American citizens. They’re in quarantine and they’re getting better, too,” Trump said, adding that they were repatriated because “we felt that we had an obligation to do that.”

“We could have left them and that would have been very bad, very bad,” he said.

President Trump said Vice President Mike Pence will lead the team that’s working on the US’s coronavirus efforts.

“I’m going to be putting our Vice President Mike Pence in charge, and Mike will be working with the professionals, doctors and everybody else that’s working,” Trump said, adding that Pence will report directly to him.

Pence spoke briefly after the announcement.“We have no higher priority than the safety, security, health and wellbeing of the American people,” he said.