Confirmed cases surge past one million
• The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the United States topped one million on Tuesday — representing a third of the global total — even as some states eased restrictions in the face of an economy battered by the pandemic.
With President Donald Trump’s economic adviser forecasting an unemployment rate of more than 16 per cent for April and many Americans chafing under stay- at- home orders, about a dozen states were moving to restart their economies despite a lack of large- scale virus testing.
Public health experts have warned that a premature rollback of social-distancing policies could cause a surge in new infections.
More than 56,500 Americans have died of COVID-19, the respiratory illness caused by the virus, with an average of about 2,000 a day this month, according to a Reuters tally.
The number of confirmed U. S. coronavirus infections passed one million and has doubled in 18 days. The actual number of U.S. infections is believed to be higher than the confirmed number of cases, with state public health officials cautioning that shortages of trained workers and materials have limited testing capacity, leaving many infections unrecorded.
About 30 per cent of the American cases have occurred in New York state, the epicentre of the U. S. outbreak, followed by New Jersey, Massachusetts, California and Pennsylvania. The earliest- known U. S. deaths were in February.
Georgia, at the vanguard of states reopening businesses, on Monday permitted restaurant dining for the first time in a month. Texas Governor Greg Abbott said he’d let the state’s stay- at- home order expire and would start reopening businesses in phases beginning on Friday.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said he’d make an announcement on Wednesday about how to relax restrictions in his state.
The governors of other states, including New York, have put off easing restrictions out of concern they might fuel a second wave of infections.
“Everyone is talking about reopening. I get it,” said New York Governor Andrew Cuomo.
“We want to reopen, but we want to do it without infecting more people or overwhelming the hospital system,” Cuomo told his daily briefing, adding that his state’s death toll had grown by 335 in the last day.
The University of Washington’s model, often cited by White House officials and state public health authorities, upwardly revised its projected U. S. coronavirus death toll to more than 74,000 people by Aug. 4, compared with its previous forecast of 67,000.
The university said the number of U. S. deaths caused by the virus was not abating as quickly as previously projected after hitting a daily peak on April 15 with about 2,700.