Four in 10 Americans struck down are under 55
Trump calls on US citizens abroad to come home as video footage of beach parties triggers concern
ALMOST 40 per cent of people admitted to hospital in the US with coronavirus are aged under 55, a report has found, as Donald Trump called on Americans overseas to return home.
Analysis by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC] found that while the elderly are most likely to die from the virus – like other countries – scores of young people are falling ill.
The finding has led to renewed calls for millennials to take the US government guidance seriously amid images of some continuing to party by the beach for spring break.
Last night, the US state department updated its international travel guidance from level 3 to 4, its most serious category, which was summarised by the words “do not travel”.
“US citizens who live in the United States should arrange for immediate return to the United States, unless they are prepared to remain abroad for an indefinite period,” read one line.
The advice also urges all Americans not to travel internationally. It follows Mr Trump’s decision to close the US borders to European travellers to help tackle the outbreak.
Mr Trump yesterday suggested the military could be used to return Americans home who are stuck abroad and cannot find any commercial flights.
Particularly high numbers have reportedly been stranded in Morocco, Peru, Honduras and Tunisia, with Mr Trump saying he was looking at what could be done to help.
There are now more than 11,000 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in America and 157 deaths.
The CDC research has caused alarm because elsewhere in the world the number of younger people contracting the virus has appeared comparatively small.
The report looked at 508 US patients known to have been hospitalised. Some 38 per cent were aged between 20 and 54. Nearly half of those in intensive care were adults under 65.
The findings come as news footage of youngsters packing on to beaches and continuing to party for spring break – a US Easter staple – have gone viral online.
In one CBS News clip sunburnt youngsters in Miami played down the significance of the outbreak and insisted it was still safe enough to enjoy their holiday.
One man, shirtless and wearing a backwards baseball cap, told the camera: “If I get corona, I get corona. At the end of the day, it’s not going to stop me from partying.
“You know, I’ve been waiting, we’ve been waiting for Miami spring break for a while, about two months we’ve had this trip planned… Whatever happens, happens.”
A young woman said: “It’s really messing with my spring break. What is there to do here other than go to the bars or the beach? And they’re closing all of it. I think they’re blowing it way out of proportion.” Senior US health officials yesterday renewed calls for young Americans to heed the government advice to not gather in groups of more than 10.
Jerome Adams, the US surgeon general, urged celebrities like Kylie Jenner and NBA stars to get the message out to youngsters via their vast social media followings.
He also urged “millennials” and “Generation Z” – people who fall into younger age groups – to consider donating blood, saying they could save lives by doing so.
Andrew Cuomo, the New York governor, hit out at the irresponsibility of younger Americans who were failing to follow the nationwide guidance.
He said: “These pictures of young people on beaches and videos of them saying, ‘This is my spring break, I’m out to party, this is my time to party’ ... This is so unintelligent and reckless. I can’t even begin to express it. I had a conversation with my daughter about this.”
Mr Cuomo then asked his daughter Michaela, 22, who was alongside him for the press conference, to recite the childhood advice she and her two siblings had received.
Mr Trump used his daily press conference to once again ramp up his rhetoric against China, suggesting the country’s leaders must shoulder some blame for the outbreak.
He repeatedly said if some people had acted quicker to alert other countries then the spread of the virus
‘If I get corona, I get corona. At the end of the day, it’s not going to stop me from partying’
would have been limited. “Certainly, the world is paying a big price for what they did,” Mr Trump said at one point, in a remark that singled out China.
The comments come amid growing tensions between the world’s two biggest economies over the outbreak.
One Chinese official suggested the US army may have brought coronavirus into the country, triggering its emergence.
Mr Trump has mentioned that when challenged on his “Chinese virus” nickname, he suggested he was using the term to counter disinformation.
Mr Trump has adopted a more even tone with reporters in his briefings during the crisis but clashed a number of times with them yesterday.
At one point, he joked that 80 per cent of reporters present would not be invited to his next briefing because of social distancing, adding only a few he liked would be allowed in.
Negotiations were ongoing between the US Treasury and senators over a potential $1 trillion stimulus package to help save the US economy on Thursday.
Among the proposals is a remarkable $500billion for direct payments to needy Americans, which could come in the form of two $1,000 cheques, one in April and one in May.
Kevin Hassett, the man who was Mr Trump’s top economic adviser until last June, predicted yesterday there would be two million US jobs lost in April alone.
“You’re going to see the worst job numbers you ever saw, a virtual certainty,” he said in a CNN interview.