US marks grim milestone: 100,000 deaths
The U.S., the only country to record anywhere near 1 million cases of the coronavirus, reached another somber milestone Wednesday when it became the first to go over 100,000 deaths from COVID-19, according to NBC and the New York Times.
The path toward 100,000 – more than twice as many fatalities as the next nation on the list, the United Kingdom with more than 37,000, according to Johns Hopkins University data – has been grim and swift. As of the end of March, the U.S. had registered about 4,000 deaths. But the figure took a drastic upward turn in April, when the disease killed nearly 60,000 Americans, and has continued at a slower but still devastating pace. Some models estimate the death toll could approach 200,000 in early August.
Moreover, epidemiology experts generally agree the actual total of fatalities is larger, considering there’s no certainty about when the first U.S. victim of COVID-19 died. In addition, deaths outside a hospital setting might not have been recorded as being due to the coronavirus, especially in the early stages of the outbreak.
Public health officials are keeping a close eye on the case and death counts in hopes of suppressing any major flare-ups stemming from the loosening of social distancing measures throughout the country in May. After Democratic leaders requested that flags at public buildings be flown at half-staff the day the 100,000th death from COVID-19 was recorded, President Donald Trump ordered them flown in that fashion over the Memorial Day weekend to commemorate those killed by the disease. – Jorge Ortiz
Fauci: Masks could help avert second wave
Americans should wear masks in public to protect each other and to help avert a second wave of coronavirus infections, Dr. Anthony Fauci said Wednesday. Fauci said that, with adequate safeguards, an uptick in confirmed cases generally expected as states ease stay-at-home restrictions might be avoided. President Donald Trump, however, has declined to wear a mask in public and this week mocked a reporter wearing one for being “politically correct.”
Look for grocery prices to rise
We’re all about to pay more at the grocery store, at least for the next few weeks or months. Blame the coronavirus. Unprecedented demand, the shutdown of some food manufacturing facilities and a shift to more workers having to assemble orders for pickup and delivery are adding costs into the grocery business, and some of those costs will eventually make their way to the checkout lane, industry-watchers say.
“You will start to see inflation creep into the food supply at the grocery market,” said Rick Shea, president of Shea Food Consultants, a Minneapolis grocery and consumer packaged goods consulting firm. “It’s not going to revert back to (how it was in) January,” before the outbreak. – Joe Taschler
Brazil death toll expected to rise sharply
Brazil’s reported death toll, now at about 25,000, could exceed 125,000 by early August and continue to increase after that, according to forecasts from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington. IHME Director Dr. Christopher Murray said Brazil must follow the lead of other countries by enforcing measures to reduce transmission of the virus and gain control of the fastgrowing pandemic.