While responding to a question in a TV interview on Thursday about whether the outbreak was a risk to the US economy, Ross said: "I don't want to talk about a victory lap over a very unfortunate, very malignant disease."
"The fact is, it does give business yet another thing to consider when they go through their review of their supply chain... So I think it will help to accelerate the return of jobs to North America," the BBC quoted Ross as saying in the interview.
Later theCommerce Department echoed the Secretary's comments, saying : "As Secretary Ross made clear the first step is to bring the virus under control and help the victims of this disease.
"It is also important to consider the ramifications of doing business with a country that has a long history of covering up real risks to its own people and the rest of the world."
The remarks have been heavily criticised, with Democrat congressman Don Beyer taking to Twitter to question finding business advantages during the deadly outbreak, which has prompted the World Health Organization to declare it as a global health emergency.
As of Friday, China's National Health Commission has confirmed 213 death, with 9,692 infected people in the country's 31 provincial-level regions.
A total of 98 confirmed cases have been reported from 18 countries so far.
Outside of China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, other countries with confirmed cases include the US, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, Cambodia, South Korea, India, Japan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Canada, United Arab Emirates, Finland, Australia, France and Germany.
There have been no deaths recorded outside of China.
( With inputs from IANS )