The United States reported more than 1,000 deaths from the novel coronavirus in a 24-hour period, moving its total death count to more than 5,000 as of Thursday morning, according to a Johns Hopkins University database.
The rapid increase in deaths comes as President TrumpDonald John TrumpBiden campaign: Trump and former vice president will have phone call about coronavirus Esper: Military personnel could help treat coronavirus patients ‘if push comes to shove’ Schumer calls for military official to act as medical equipment czar MORE and administration health officials warn of a “very painful” two-week period in which confirmed cases and deaths are expected to continue to climb. The White House on Tuesday warned that between 100,000 and 240,000 people could die from COVID-19 in the U.S. even if social-distancing requirements remained intact.
The New York City metropolitan area, which has become the epicenter of the U.S. outbreak, has reported more than 1,374 deaths from the disease. Gov. Andrew CuomoAndrew CuomoOvernight Health Care: Trump resists pressure for nationwide stay-at-home order | Trump open to speaking to Biden about virus response | Fauci gets security detail | Outbreak creates emergency in nursing homes The Hill’s Campaign Report: Biden offers to talk coronavirus response with Trump De Blasio: NYC needs 400 ventilators, 3.3 million N95 masks by Sunday MORE (D) said at a Wednesday press conference that the state’s total had reached 1,941 deaths.
Cuomo also reported that the New York tri-state area had confirmed more than 100,000 confirmed cases of the virus and that a Gates Foundation-funded IHME model predicted 16,000 New Yorker would die from it. He emphasized, however, that the projection predicted 93,000 Americans would die, meaning that this outbreak would soon hit many other states in the same the way it is impacting his.
“If you believe these numbers, 16,000 deaths in New York, that means you’re going to have tens of thousands of deaths outside of New York,” he said. “[The projections say] it’s a New York problem today. Tomorrow, it’s a Kansas problem and a Texas problem and a New Mexico problem.”
Dozens of states have announced stay-at-home or shelter-in-place orders in an effort to help slow the disease’s spread. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantisRonald Dion DeSantisOvernight Health Care: Trump resists pressure for nationwide stay-at-home order | Trump open to speaking to Biden about virus response | Fauci gets security detail | Outbreak creates emergency in nursing homes 16 things to know today about coronavirus outbreak Several states have yet to issue stay-at-home orders MORE (R) became the latest governor to implement a measure on Wednesday after initially showing reluctance. Florida had reported more than 7,000 cases of COVID-19 as of Wednesday.
The novel coronavirus, which first appeared in China in December, has infected more than 940,000 people worldwide and caused roughly 47,500 deaths. Italy has reported the most deaths of any country, with its tally reaching 13,155 on Thursday.
