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The death toll from coronavirus in the United States exceeded that of Italy on Saturday, with more than 19,681 Americans dying from the virus.
Italy has recorded 18,849 deaths as of this afternoon.
The United States also recorded yesterday the deadliest day of the coronavirus pandemic that any country has yet seen, as it becomes the first to mark 2,000 deaths in 24 hours.
In the country’s epicenter, New York, Governor Andrew Cuomo confirmed yesterday that 783 more people died from the virus, bringing the state’s death toll to 8,627.
Although the death toll was “stabilizing,” it was “stabilizing at a horrible rate,” Cuomo said.
According to the latest figures, 508,791 Americans have now tested positive for COVID-19.
As of Saturday noon, there were more than 2,700 new cases compared to the previous day.
Italy has continued to show signs that its coronavirus blockade is working as the number of new deaths and infections decreased today.
The number of deaths recorded on Friday was 570, down from 610 the day before, while the number of new cases decreased to 3,951 from 4,204 the day before.
The latest counts amply confirm what experts describe as a plateau of new cases and deaths, which are no longer accelerating but are not yet falling sharply.
The total death toll since the outbreak came to light on February 21 rose to 18,849, said the Civil Protection Agency, which before Saturday was the highest in the world.
The number of officially confirmed cases rose to 147,577, the third highest world count behind those of the United States and Spain.
With the New York metropolitan inundated with cases, fear grew over the spread of the virus in the nation’s heart.
Twenty-four residents of an Indiana nursing home affected by COVID-19 have died.
Chicago’s Cook County has established a temporary morgue that can carry more than 2,000 bodies.
And Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot has been hanging around telling groups of people to ‘break the issue.’
As the coronavirus tightens its control across the country, it is opening a particularly devastating strip through an already vulnerable population – black Americans.
Democratic lawmakers and community leaders in pandemic-affected cities have been sounding the alarm about what they see as a disruptive trend in the virus that kills African Americans at a higher rate, along with a lack of general information about race. of the victims. the number of fatalities in the nation increases.
Among the cities where black residents have been hit hard: New York, Detroit, New Orleans, Chicago, and Milwaukee.
A history of systemic racism and inequity in access to health care and economic opportunities has made many African Americans much more vulnerable to the virus.
Black adults experience higher rates of obesity, diabetes, and asthma, making them more susceptible and also more likely to be uninsured.
They also often report that medical professionals take their ailments less seriously when seeking treatment.
“The rate at which blacks die compared to whites is really amazing,” said Courtney Cogburn, associate professor at Columbia University School of Social Work.
“There are patterns at this intersection of race and socioeconomic status that make it very clear that this is not a story about poverty.”
The pandemic’s center of gravity shifted from China to Europe and the United States, which now has the highest number of confirmed cases, with more than half a million.
About half of the deaths in the United States occurred in the New York metropolitan area, where hospitalizations slowed down and other indicators suggested that social distancing is ‘flattening the curve’ for infections.
But with authorities warning that the crisis in New York is far from over, the city announced that its school system of 1.1 million students will remain closed for the rest of the academic year.
At the end of a week, officials had warned it would be this generation’s Pearl Harbor, White House officials on Friday signaled hopeful signs that the spread of the coronavirus might be slowing, even as President Donald Trump insisted that it not be would move to reopen the country until it is safe.
At the same time, Trump said he would announce the launch of what he called the ‘Open Our Country’ task force next Tuesday to work toward that goal.
“I want to open it as soon as possible,” he said at a briefing on Good Friday, adding:
“The facts will determine what I do.”
With the economy reeling and job losses on the rise, Trump has been eager to reopen the country, drawing the attention of health experts who warn that doing it too quickly could spark a deadly resurgence that could undermine current distancing efforts. .
But Trump, who once set Easter Sunday as the date he expected people in certain parts of the country to begin to return to work and pack church benches, said he would continue to listen to health experts like Drs. . Anthony Fauci and Deborah Birx, while considering what he described as the “most important decision I’ve ever had to make.”
While “there are two sides to every argument,” he said, “we will do nothing until we know that this country will be healthy.” We don’t want to go back and start doing it again. ”
So far, more than 40 percent of deaths in the US USA They occurred in New York State, which reported 777 new deaths on Friday.
But there were also signs of hope.
State authorities reported that the number of people in intensive care decreased for the first time since mid-March.
Hospitalizations are also declining, with 290 new patients admitted in a single day versus daily increases of more than 1,000 last week.
While lamenting the death toll as “so horrible,” Trump said “tremendous progress is being made.”
“In the midst of grief and pain, we are seeing clear signs that our aggressive strategy is saving countless lives,” he said, pointing to models that now predict far fewer deaths in the US. USA Than originally planned.
However, health experts warned that if the country repeals the restrictions too quickly, case levels could start to rise again, especially without widespread testing to determine who might be carrying the virus.
While the new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms for most people, for some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more serious illness or death.
And research has shown that people can be highly infectious even if they don’t show symptoms.
Fauci, the nation’s leading infectious disease expert, told CNN that the timeline for the country’s reopening would be informed by a team that has been reviewing the data day by day and presenting that information to the president.
“The virus decides whether it is appropriate to open it or not,” he said.
“The only thing you don’t want to do is not go out early and then back off.”
Still, he warned that there will surely be cases when that day comes.
“When we decide, at the right time, when we are going to relax some of the restrictions, there is no doubt that they will see cases,” he said.
“The question is how do you respond to them.”
