U.S. coronavirus hot spots grow
Italy passes 10,000 deaths
DETROIT — The coronavirus continued its unrelenting spread across the United States, with fatalities doubling in two days and authorities saying Saturday that an infant who tested positive had died. It pummeled big cities such as New York, Detroit, New Orleans and Chicago and made its way, too, into rural America as hot spots erupted in small Midwestern towns and Rocky Mountain ski havens.
Elsewhere, Russia announced a full border closure, while in parts of Africa, pandemic prevention measures took a violent turn, with Kenyan police firing tear gas and officers elsewhere seen on video hitting people with batons.
Worldwide infections surpassed the 660,000 mark with more than 30,000 deaths as new cases also stacked up quickly in Europe, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University. The U.S. leads the world in reported cases with more than 120,000. Confirmed deaths surpassed 2,000 on Saturday, twice the number just two days before, highlighting how quickly infections are escalating.
Still, five countries have higher death tolls: Italy, Spain, China, Iran and France. Italy alone now has more than 10,000 deaths, the most of any country.
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Saturday that an infant with COVID-19 died in Chicago, and the cause of death is under investigation. Officials didn’t release other information, including whether the child had other health issues.
“If you haven’t been paying attention, maybe this is your wake-up call,” said Illinois Department of Public Health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike.
New York remained the worst-hit U.S. city. Gov.
Andrew Cuomo said defeating the virus will take “weeks and weeks and weeks.” The U.N. donated 250,000 face masks to the city, and Mr. Cuomo delayed the state’s presidential primary from April 28 to June 23.
Some states without known widespread infections began to try to limit exposure from visitors from their stricken neighbors.
Rhode Island National Guardsmen were instructed to go door to door to find New Yorkers and advise them about a mandatory 14day quarantine for people from the state.
Louisiana has surpassed 3,300 infections with 137 dead from COVID-19, according to the health department. Gov. John Bel Edwards said the region was on track to run out of ventilators by the first week of April.
Cases also have been rising rapidly in Detroit, where poverty and poor health have been problems for years. The number of infections surged to 1,381, with 31 deaths, as of noon Saturday. The city’s homeless population is especially vulnerable, officials said.
“At this time, the trajectory of Detroit is unfortunately even more steep than that of New York,” said Dr. Teena Chopra, the medical director of infection prevention and hospital epidemiology at the Detroit Medical Center. “This is off the charts.”
Mr. Trump approved a major disaster declaration for Michigan, providing money for the outbreak. He has done the same for New York, Louisiana and Illinois.
The virus continues to strain health systems in Italy, Spain and France.
Germany has fewer deaths than some neighboring countries but has closed nonessential shops and banned public gatherings of more than two people until April 20. It still had its share of grim news: 12 residents of a nursing home in the northern town of Wolfsburg have died since Monday after being infected, the news agency dpa reported.
In Spain, where stay-athome restrictions have been in place for nearly two weeks, the death toll rose to 5,812.
Italian Premier Giuseppe Conte announced he had signed a decree freeing up 400 million euros ($440 million) for coupons and packages of food aid.
“People are suffering psychologically . ... But they are also suffering economically,” Mr. Conte said. Italy has almost completed a three-week lockdown, with no end in sight.