WHO: Virus cases surging in the Americas
The emergencies chief of the World Health Organization said Central and South America are witnessing the most intense transmission of the coronavirus worldwide, but it’s difficult to predict when the epidemic might peak there.
In the last 24 hours, Dr. Michael Ryan said, five of the 10 countries reporting the highest number of cases are in the Americas: the U.S., Brazil, Peru, Chile and Mexico. He said that while the growth of COVID-19 was not exponential in all those countries, officials were seeing a progressive increase in cases and that hospitals were starting to strain under the pressure.
“We’re particularly concerned about places like Haiti because of the inherent weaknesses in the system,” Ryan said Monday. “I think we now absolutely need to focus on supporting particularly Central and South America.” While officials previously had serious concerns about COVID-19 in South Asia and Africa, outbreaks in those regions were now stable.
“I don’t believe we’ve reached the peak” in the Americas, Ryan said, noting that several factors in the region, including the number of urban poor and fragile health systems, made outbreaks in those countries particularly dangerous.
As of Monday afternoon, the virus had killed more than 104,000 in the U.S. and more than 373,000 worldwide. There are more than 6.2 million confirmed cases across the globe and nearly 1.8 million in the U.S.
South Korea case spike sparks alarm
South Korea has reported 238 cases over the past five days, causing some worry as the country has eased social distancing rules, including opening schools. Most of the cases are centered in the Seoul metropolitan area, and hundreds of infections have been linked to nightspots, restaurants and a massive e-commerce warehouse near Seoul.
According to the Yonhap News Agency, Monday’s 35 new cases is a slight tick down after Thursday saw a two-month high of 75 cases. The news agency reported that some worries have been raised as nearly two dozen cases were traced to 13 small churches in Incheon, west of Seoul, and Gyeonggi Province surrounding the capital.
Family of cruise passenger files suit
The family of a California cruise ship passenger who died of the coronavirus has sued Princess Cruises and its parent company in federal court. Ronald Wong, 64, and his wife, Eva, were on the Grand Princess when the ship set sail from San Francisco on Feb. 21. He died in a California hospital a month later. Eva Wong tested positive and recovered.
According to the complaint, filed last week in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, Princess and its parent, Carnival Corp., should have known that a passenger on the ship’s prior voyage had the virus. Sixty-two passengers and 1,000 crew members who sailed on the Grand Princess to Mexico stayed on board for the next sailing to Hawaii, according to the complaint.
NY bill supports families of front-line workers
Gov. Andrew Cuomo has signed a bill into law that creates a death benefit for families of state and local government workers who have been on the front lines of the coronavirus response. Those workers “gave their lives for us,” Cuomo said.
New York has been the state hardest hit by the coronavirus.