Washington – During the past two weeks – what the government described as the harshest of this stage of the crisis – in the United States, more than 30,000 people have died from the coronavirus.
Of nearly 9,000 known deaths on the morning of April 5, fatalities today exceed 41,379, according to data provided by John Hopkins University.
On April 5, United States Surgeon General Jerome Adams warned that Americans were headed for the worst two weeks of their lives, in terms of fatalities.
“This will be our Pearl Harbor moment, our September 11 (2001) moment, only it won’t be in a specific area. It’s going to happen across the country,” Adams said at the time.
In the past two weeks, confirmed cases of coronavirus have increased from 325,000 to more than 755,000.
Last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) listed probable cases as fatalities, taking into account patients who had symptoms of COVID-19 but were not tested for the virus.
Despite the extraordinary increase in deaths and corroborated cases of the novel virus, New York State, as the epicenter of the emergency, has continued with a reduction in deaths and confirmed daily cases.
According to New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, there were 504 fatalities in his state Saturday, the lowest number since at least April 2. In the previous two days, deaths were 630 on Thursday and 540 on Friday.
“We have been able to control the beast, but the beast is still alive. We have seen that when a shutdown is made (with orders to stay home), we can slow down the infection rate, but this is only the average time. We have to make sure we can control the beast, “said Cuomo.
The federal government last week released new federal guidelines recommending to local governments to ease restrictions on business operations or public activities only if 14 consecutive days of reduction in new coronavirus cases have elapsed.
They also suggest as a condition that it can be taken for granted that hospitals have the capacity to treat patients without crisis, and put in place a robust screening test system for workers whose health is at risk.
As part of stage number “1” towards the reopening of the economy, the guidelines suggest many of the current regulations, such as avoiding meetings of 10 or more people and minimizing non-essential travel. When reopening businesses, the White House recommends “special accommodations” for the most vulnerable population.
Under these proposals, in this first stage, schools and bars would continue to be closed and the centers for the elderly should maintain a ban on visits. However, it is planned to reopen cinemas, the dining rooms of restaurants, churches and gyms, under measures of social distancing.
The New York governor announced that his state will launch an aggressive antibody testing system to calculate how many people may have been infected and may have immunity to the so-called COVID-19.
As part of the deal being negotiated between the congressional leadership and the Donald Trump government, the federal government may invest about $ 25 billion in virus testing.
The agreement, however, would for the time being leave out a new assignment to local governments.
“Mr. President, are you going to save New York City or are you telling him to die?” New York Mayor Bill de Blasio questioned today, criticizing that allocations to local governments could be left out of the Congress transaction. to deal with the fiscal crisis caused by the emergence of the coronavirus.
De Blasio recalled with that comment the 1975 headline of the New York Daily News, at a time when then-President Gerald Ford was refusing to approve a bailout for New York City, which was in the midst of a severe fiscal crisis.
As part of the federal economic stimulus law, Congress approved $ 150 billion to stabilize the finances of state governments and cities of more than 500,000 residents. But, that money only allows the use of funds for local governments to prepare for the emergency, not to solve other fiscal problems.
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