COVID DEATHS IN US TOP 100,000
NY businesses to be told to deny entry to those without masks
The US surpassed a jarring milestone on Wednesday in the coronavirus pandemic: 100,000 deaths. The outbreak has exacted an especially vicious toll on President Trump’s hometown of New York City and its surrounding suburbs, killing more than 21,000. With over 1.7 million cases, US is also the worst-hit country.
WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump broke his silence to acknowledge that the death toll in the US from Covid-19 has surpassed 100,000, calling it a “sad milestone”.
He promptly proceeded to blame it on China, saying on Thursday that the coronavirus behind the fatalities was a “very bad gift from China”.
Trump had been quiet on the toll for a while even as he tweeted and retweeted about an upcoming executive order on social media, about his political rivals, a legal case involving former national security adviser Michael Flynn, and his predecessor president Barack Obama.
“We have just reached a very sad milestone with the coronavirus pandemic deaths reaching 100,000,” Trump tweeted, hours after the Johns Hopkins University tracker marked the milestone. Minutes later, he posted, “All over the World the Corona Virus, a very bad ‘gift’ from China, marches on. Not good!”
Trump and his Republican allies have sought to shift the blame for the pandemic on China, including the devastation caused in the US by the administration’s delayed response. Approval ratings of Trump’s handling of the crisis have been declining.
The death toll had risen to 100,467 by Thursday morning and much earlier according to some other prominent trackers - with 1,505 deaths in the previous 24 hours, a return to fourdigit toll after days. Infections rose by 18,263 to cross 1.7 million.
The deadly outbreak has continued to take a heavy toll on the American economy, with 2.1 million more people filing for unemployment benefits. The total number of jobs lost has gone up to 41 million.
Meanwhile, New York governor Andrew Cuomo said he would sign an executive order on Thursday authorising businesses to deny entry to anyone who does not wear a mask or face covering, stressing masks were critical to preventing the spread of the coronavirus.