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Reuters
The United States has recorded more coronavirus cases and deaths than any other country
The death toll from coronavirus in the US has exceeded 200,000, according to data from Johns Hopkins University (JHU).
More than 6.8 million people are known to have been infected in the US, more than in any other country.
The milestone comes amid an increase in cases in several states, including North Dakota and Utah.
In March, President Donald Trump said that if the deaths were between 100,000 and 200,000, the country would have done a “very good job.”
The previous month, when 15 cases had been reported in the country, he predicted that in a couple of days the figure would be “close to zero.”
JHU reported the new death toll of 200,005 on Tuesday. The university has been collecting coronavirus data from the US and the world since the outbreak began late last year in China. The first case in the United States was confirmed in January.
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President Trump’s administration has been repeatedly criticized for its handling of the outbreak.
“Due to the lies and incompetence of Donald Trump in the last six months, [we] we have seen one of the greatest loss of American life in history, “Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden said Monday.
“With this crisis, a real crisis, a crisis that required serious presidential leadership, he just wasn’t up to the task. He was paralyzed. He didn’t act. He panicked. And America has paid the worst price of any nation in the world. “
But on the same day, Trump said he and his administration had done “a phenomenal job” and gave himself an “A +” for his handling of the pandemic.
He said the United States was “turning the corner of the pandemic, with or without a vaccine.”
What is the current situation in the United States?
North Dakota has seen a sharp increase in coronavirus cases in recent weeks. Authorities say there were more than 3,200 active cases in the state as of Monday, while 87 people are hospitalized.
The state ranks first in the country for the number of cases per capita in the past two weeks, according to data cited by the Associated Press news agency.
Cases are also increasing in states like Utah, Wisconsin, Texas, and South Dakota.
And there is growing concern that infections will continue to increase during the winter months.
American infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci warned earlier this month that Americans should “take refuge” for fall and winter.
On Monday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) removed the guidelines on airborne transmission of the coronavirus that had been updated on Friday.
In the now-deleted tip, the CDC said the virus could spread through airborne particles that travel more than 6 feet (1.8 m). He also advised on the use of indoor air purifiers.
The CDC said it was a “preliminary version of the proposed changes” and that it had been “published in error.”
The Centers for Disease Control is a respected agency that provides public health guidance to the US Many other countries also seek advice from the CDC. So when you updated your coronavirus guidance last week to say that the coronavirus is airborne, meaning it spreads through tiny droplets that linger in the air, there was a surprise.
The World Health Organization (WHO) said it knew of no new evidence to suggest that this is how the virus is spreading. The CDC later retracted that guide saying that “a preliminary version” was published in error.
The WHO says that the evidence for aerosol transmission is not strong and that the main route is person-to-person spread via larger respiratory droplets by coughing and sneezing. But it recognizes that in confined, crowded spaces with inadequate ventilation, aerosol transmission could occur.
How has Trump responded to the outbreak?
The United States announced its first confirmed case of coronavirus on January 21. A day later, Trump said the situation was “totally under control” and assured the public that “everything will be fine.”
But cases began to rise rapidly, and in April, the US was at the global epicenter of the pandemic, surpassing the number of cases in China, where the virus began, and Italy, the worst-hit European country at the time.
New York was the hardest hit area in the early days of the outbreak, at one point reporting more confirmed cases of coronavirus than any other country outside of the US This put unprecedented pressure on emergency workers and emergency personnel. first line.
While cases subsequently declined in New York, they increased in other parts of the country.
Trump told voters earlier this month that his action at the beginning of the outbreak was “very strong.”
He cited a ban on foreign travelers who were recently in China that took effect in early February, and a ban on travelers from European countries the following month as proof of his efforts.
“We would have lost thousands more people if the ban hadn’t been in place. We saved a lot of lives when we did that,” he said.
But Trump has been accused of being slow to implement measures to reduce the virus.
In a statement last week, the US magazine Scientific American said that despite the warnings in January and February, the US president “did not develop a national strategy to provide protective equipment, coronavirus tests or clear health guidelines.”
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Trump has given mixed messages about his own handling of the pandemic.
He told reporter Bob Woodward in February that the virus was “a deadly thing,” but said the following month that he had downplayed its severity to avoid panic. “I always wanted to downplay it. I still like to downplay it, because I don’t want to create panic,” he told the journalist in a recorded interview.
Speaking to voters this month, he denied doing that, saying he had actually “exaggerated” it.
Trump has also given conflicting guidance on face masks, on the one hand, disparaging them as unhealthy and, on the other, calling on Americans to “show patriotism” by wearing them.
He has given messages about vaccines that are in disagreement with the CDC. He recently said that Americans could access a vaccine next month, while CDC Director Robert Redfield has said that a vaccine is unlikely to be widely available before mid-2021.
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