Pandemic rages; Trump says ‘there will be a lot of death’
While New York suffers, Washington DC, Colorado emerge as the new worries
nWASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump has warned Americans of a “lot of death” as he sought to urge them to prepare for the “toughest week” yet in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic that has been claiming more than 1,000 lives daily in the country over the past few days.
“This will be probably the toughest week, between this week and the next week,” Trump told reporters on Saturday. “And there will be a lot of death, unfortunately.”
Global deaths soared past 68,100, with more than 1.25 million confirmed cases now.
More than 9,000 Americans have died - up by at least 1,000 over the previous day - and the number of cases has climbed to at least 327,000.
New York, New Jersey, Michigan and Louisiana remain the hardest hit states, with NYC clearly the worst-affected city.
Washington DC, Colorado and Pennsylvania are the emerging worries. Washington state, which reported the first death in February, and California, which was the first state to issue stay-athome orders, have so far managed to keep the numbers low.
The next week will be tough as US officials have been warning for a while. They fear there could be 100,000 to 240,000 fatalities despite the restrictions in place. In anticipation of a peak in deaths and cases, they stepped up preventive measures, including wearing masks in public, and have ramped up the procurement of protective gear for medics.
“The next two weeks are extraordinarily important,” said Deborah Birx, coordinator of the White House coronavirus task force.
New York state reported 3,565 fatalities till Sunday morning, with 2,624 in New York City alone. While the situation remains dire in New York, governor Andrew Cuomo said that over the last few days, “the number of deaths has been dropping for the first time”. But he hastened to add it was too early to know what to make of it.
The struggle for resources continued, despite the Trump administration’s claims to the contrary. New York, for instance, was still short of ventilators.