U.S. records deadliest day yet in coronavirus crisis
New York recorded its single greatest one-day jump in deaths from COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the coronavirus, but the state’s governor pointed to other signs that the state may be reaching a plateau in its wrenching efforts to limit the damage caused by the pandemic.
The death count for April 6 of 731 marked an increase from the previous day’s 599 new deaths, Gov. Andrew Cuomo told a daily briefing on the coronavirus. The overall total of casualties in the state is now 5,489 people.
But Cuomo stressed that deaths were often a lagging indicator of patients who have been battling the illness for days or weeks. While new hospitalizations in the state crept up from the previous day’s total, at 654, there were just 89 new admissions to intensive care attributable to the coronavirus.
The ICU figure was the state’s lowest total in two weeks and a sign for optimism as beleaguered hospitals, particularly in New York City and surrounding areas, have confronted escalating demands for scarce ventilators for patients and personal protective equipment for medical staff.
According to the resource centre at Johns Hopkins University in Maryland, over 11,000 people have died in the United States, a total that has skyrocketed since late March. There are 368,000 confirmed cases, though experts consider the number understated due to a lack of testing capacity in many states.
The resource centre has recorded 3,485 deaths in New York City alone.
Two senior U.S. health officials from the federal government said Tuesday that they believe mitigation efforts are working nationwide, and that they now believe the coronavirus outbreak may kill fewer Americans than some recent projections.
U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams on Tuesday said he concurred with the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that some research models have projected death totals that may prove too high, though neither would offer an alternate estimate.
The White House coronavirus task force projected a death toll of 100,000 to 240,000 a week ago, saying containing deaths to that range was possible if strict physical distancing measures were respected, implying it could go even higher.
Adams on Tuesday told ABC’s Good Morning America that he was encouraged by recent data showing a possible «flattening» of the outbreak in some areas, referring to the shape of the curve when deaths are shown on a graph.
‘I feel a lot more optimistic’
Asked if he believed the death toll would come in below the dire White House task force projection, Adams said, «That’s absolutely my expectation.»
«I feel a lot more optimistic, again, because I’m seeing mitigation work,» he said, adding that he agreed with CDC director Robert Redfield that deaths could fall short of totals that some computer models showed.
Redfield on Monday told KVOI radio in Tucson, Ariz., that physical distancing of the type ordered by nearly all state governors was effective.
«I think you’re going to see the numbers are, in fact, going to be much less than what would have been predicted by the models,» he said.
A research model from the University of Washington — one of several cited by leading health authorities — forecasts 81,766 U.S. coronavirus fatalities by Aug. 4, down about 12,000 from a weekend projection.
The W.H.O. really blew it. For some reason, funded largely by the United States, yet very China centric. We will be giving that a good look. Fortunately I rejected their advice on keeping our borders open to China early on. Why did they give us such a faulty recommendation?
—@realDonaldTrump
President Donald Trump, who previously said the coronavirus would miraculously disappear, had responded to the recent White House projection by saying any death toll less than 100,000 would be considered a success.
Trump, who has promoted the use of hydroxychloroquine in treating COVID-19, the respiratory illness caused by the coronavirus, even though medical experts have yet to reach a consensus on the drug’s efficacy, lashed out at China and the World Health Organization in a tweet on Tuesday.
Racial disparities ‘take your breath away’
The governors of New Jersey and Louisiana pointed to tentative signs on Monday that the coronavirus outbreak may be starting to plateau but warned against complacency.
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said efforts to reduce the spread «are starting to pay off.» Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards likewise expressed cautious optimism, noting that new hospital admissions were trending down.
But American hospitals have been overwhelmed with sufferers of COVID-19, reporting shortages of personnel. protective garments and other supplies while patients agonize alone, prohibited from receiving guests.
As well, early data from U.S. states shows African Americans are more likely to die from COVID-19, highlighting longstanding disparities in health and inequalities in access to medical care, experts said.
Data from Chicago officials on Monday showed that black residents make up 52 per cent of coronavirus infections and 72 per cent of deaths from COVID-19.
«Those numbers take your breath away. This is a call to action moment for all of us,» Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said.
Adams, who is black, told the CBS program, This Morning: «We know that blacks are more likely to have diabetes, heart disease, lung disease. And I have shared myself, personally, that I have high blood pressure.»
Gov. Edwards said on Monday more than 70 per cent of those who have died from the illness in his state are African Americans.
About 90 per cent of Americans live in jurisdictions that have some kind of stay-at-home order in place. That includes Wisconsin, but the state’s primary vote was taking place on Tuesday with fewer polling stations and mitigation efforts in place after court challenges to postpone the event failed.
