Pandemic epicentre moves to NYC
SPOTLIGHT ON U.S. New York City now accounts for a staggering 5% of global coronavirus cases and a third of all 35,000+ infections in the country
WASHINGTON: As the death toll from the coronavirus crossed 450 and New York City emerged as the new epicentre of the pandemic, President Donald Trump ramped up assistance to the three worst-hit US states: New York, California and Washington.
The pandemic has already infected more than 350,000 people worldwide while the global death toll has shot past 15,400. The epicentre of the deadly outbreak has clearly travelled westwards, moving from China’s Hubei province - the place of origin - to Italy’s Lombardy region, and eventually to New York state.
Amid the deepening crisis, the US Congress failed to agree on a $1.8 trillion federal relief and stimulus package on Sunday. Negotiations, however, continue as Republicans and Democrats are keen to find common ground.
Across the US, more than 35,000 people have been infected by the deadly virus, and Republican senator Rand Paul - a close ally of Trump - tested positive, becoming the third American lawmaker to get the virus.
Calling Paul a “great friend”, Trump said at the daily White House briefing that the virus is “getting quite close to home and it’s a terrible thing that’s going on”.
New York City, which had been the American president’s home for many decades until recently and continues to host the headquarters of his business operations, now accounts for a staggering 5% of the cases worldwide.
Mayor Bill de Blasio is calling the city the “epicentre” of the pandemic, with a third of all US cases and two-thirds of all New York state cases.
NYC is a ghost town compared to the bustling city most residents and visitors have known it for long. All non-essential workers are staying home on orders from local authorities, observing a shutdown.
New York state, California and Washington have been declared as disaster areas enabling greater federal assistance and Trump said on Sunday that extra supplies of masks, gowns and respirators are being rushed there.
De Blasio put NYC at the centre of the global health crisis last Friday when he urged the government for help citing depleting local resources. “I hate to say this, but it’s true: We are now the epicentre of this crisis,” he had said then, with only 5,000 confirmed cases at that time. There are more than 16,800 cases now.
Also on Sunday, the US justice department said it cracked down on a website that was fraudulently offering to sell vaccines for warding off the coronavirus. The department said the case marked its first action to fight fraud related to the coronavirus outbreak.
The website claimed to offer access to World Health Organization (WHO) vaccine kits for a shipping charge of $4.95.
“In fact, there are currently no legitimate Covid-19 vaccines and the WHO is not distributing any such vaccine,” the justice department said in a statement.
At the department’s request, US district judge Robert Pitman issued a temporary restraining order requiring that public access to the website be blocked, the department said.