This is going to be a ery painful, a ery, ery painful two wee s” when the COVID-1 ’’s toll reaches its pea - Trump
New York: As the number of deaths from coronavirus passed the grim milestone of the toll of 9/11, the US stared at questions about its preparedness and the stark prospects of more than 100,000 people dying in the pandemic.
After the top doctors dealing with the crisis displayed their statistical model for the pandemic’’s trajectory, President Donald Trump said at his briefing on Tuesday, “This is going to be a very painful, a very, very painful two weeks” when the COVID-19’’S toll reaches its peak.
The number of fatalities due to COVID-19 infections in the US spiked to 4,055 with at least 188,578 confirmed cases on Wednesday. The count of deaths exceeded the 2,977 toll of the terrorist attack on the US, the worst mass death in the US and a post-world War II benchmark for tragedies.
New York City, the epicentre of the pandemic where 1,096 have died, gave a preview of how the situation could unfold: Outside some city hospitals that had run out of space in the morgue to store the bodies, freezer trucks were parked with bodies being brought out on forklifts. The New York Post quoted New York Funeral Directors Association official Mike Lanottes as saying that some cemeteries are finding it difficult to handle burials and a backlog could be developing.
The supply of personal protection equipment (PPE) for health professionals and first responders, sophisticated ventilators for patients and tests to determine who is affected dominates the response to the pandemic amid questions if there are enough in stock.
Trump and Vice President Mike Pence say there is adequate stock and more are on the way, but others question if the supply can meet the needs of the upcoming onslaught. Democratic Speaker Nancy Pelosi criticised Trump for not preparing for the crisis.
She said on a TV programme that PPES, ventilators and test kits are immediately needed. She accused Trump of not fully using his powers under the Defence Production Act to compel companies to manufacture them. “It will save lives,” she said.