'The coronavirus panic is dumb', tweets Elon Musk as toll surges worldwide

SpaceX founder Elon Musk dismissed the concerns over coronavirus. Taking the Twitter on Sunday, Musk tweeted "The coronavirus panic is dumb".

Over 3,800 people have lost their lives worldwide due to the novel virus outbreak while more than 110,000 people are infected.

The tweet immediately went viral on the micro-blogging site as soon as Musk tweeted.

By Monday afternoon, the tweet was received 1.6 million likes while over 333 million retweeted.

The tweet received a mixed reaction as some criticised him downplaying the alarming situation. However, some agreed with him.

In the United States, the number of confirmed case soared to nearly 550. Twenty-two have been killed so far.

More than half of the 50 US states have reported infections, including the first cases in Virginia, Connecticut and Iowa, as well as the US island territory of Puerto Rico, documented on Sunday.

The coronavirus originated in China last year and causes the sometimes deadly respiratory illness COVID-19. The outbreak has killed more than 3,600 globally.

As the outbreak spreads, daily life has been increasingly disrupted, with concerts and conferences cancelled and universities telling students to stay home and take classes online.

To contain the outbreak in China, the government quarantined millions of people for weeks. Italy has announced similar measures, locking down 16 million people in the north of the country.

As recently as Saturday, President Donald Trump said he would continue to hold political rallies, which sometimes draw up to 20,000 people. The Democrats competing to challenge him in the Nov. 3 presidential election, Senator Bernie Sanders and former Vice President Joe Biden, have not cancelled any campaign events so far.

Germany, which has nearly 1,000 cases, on Sunday urged the cancellation of all events with more than 1,000 people.

(With inputs from agencies)