The US now has surpassed Italy to become the country with the highest number of coronavirus fatalities in the world. The data compiled by John Hopkins University shows that more than 20,000 deaths have been recorded in the US as of Saturday.
It comes a day after the United States recorded 2,000 daily coronavirus deaths, highest daily fatalities in the world. Governor Andrew Cuomo said that the death rate in New York is leveling off gradually. He announced that the daily death figure now stands at 749 for the past few days.
Cuomo added, “That is not an all-time high, and you can see that the number is somewhat stabilizing, but it is stabilizing at a horrific rate”.
The New York state has become the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak and accounts for almost half of the deaths in the US. It has recorded more than 180,000 cases of the country’s total 520,000 confirmed cases.
Meanwhile, on Saturday, the UK also recorded a daily death toll of 947 deaths, bringing the total to 9,875. Queen of England also released messages urging the residents to obey government orders.
More:
- President Trump Directly Attacks the World Health Organization
- Coronavirus: New York Has More COVID-19 Cases Than Any Country
The Spanish health ministry also reported a decline in the daily deaths; it recorded 510 further deaths on Saturday, which is the lowest in the last three weeks. France and Italy, however, reported an increase in the deaths, but the number of patients in the Intensive Care Unit is falling significantly.
Globally, more than 100,000 people have died from coronavirus, and more than 1.6 million confirmed cases since the virus broke out in China last year.
United States death toll: Latest
According to John Hopkins University’s latest figure, Italy now has a total of 19,386 deaths, while the US has more than 20,506 coronavirus deaths. As of Friday, the US has reported 527,111 confirmed cases of COVID-19.
Trump administration has taken a series of steps to help curb the father spread of coronavirus in the country. It imposed social distancing restrictions, which are expected to be in place until April 30. Officials have floated that May 1 as the day to reopen the economy.
The United States Infectious disease chief, Anthony Fauci, said that the fatality and infection rate is leveling off gradually. But he said the mitigation efforts must continue; otherwise, it will be a disaster for the American people.
The WHO chief Tedrous also warned on Friday against easing social distancing and movement restrictions imposed to curb the spread.
It also recorded the highest unemployment rate, with at least 16 million people unemployed because of the pandemic outbreak forcing the businesses to shut down. Donald Trump announced on Friday to form another task force to advise him in reopening the economy.
Meanwhile, the Democratic lawmakers have proposed a $250 billion bill to fund the small-medium enterprises. And allow for additional funding to the hospitals fighting the pandemic. But Republicans have rejected the demand.
