US death toll spirals amid rush to build field hospitals, find supplies
01 April, 2020
The US government raced on Tuesday to build hundreds of makeshift hospitals near major cities as healthcare systems were pushed to capacity, and sometimes beyond, by the coronavirus pandemic.
Even as millions of Americans hunkered down within their homes under strict "stay-at-home" orders, the death toll, as tallied by Reuters, raised by a lot more than 850 on Tuesday, the most for a single day.
Nearly half of the brand new fatalities were in NY state, the epicenter of the pandemic despite closed businesses and deserted streets. NEW YORK Mayor Bill de Blasio pleaded for immediate reinforcements in the country's biggest city from the Trump administration.
"This can be the point of which we must be ready for next week, whenever we expect a huge upsurge in the amount of cases. What I asked very clearly, the other day, was for military medical personnel to be deployed here," de Blasio said at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Queens, in which a field hospital was being hastily built.
The sports complex houses the united states Open Tennis Championship, set to start on Aug. 24. It remains on the calendar despite reports that Wimbledon, the sport's most prestigious event, is unlikely to move forward as scheduled in June. THE UNITED STATES Open and Wimbledon are two of the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments.
De Blasio, a Democrat who this past year sought his party's presidential nomination, said he previously asked the White House for an additional 1,000 nurses, 300 respiratory therapists and 150 doctors by Sunday.
‘Debilitating and exhausting’
Nearly 3,900 people have previously died from COVID-19, the condition caused by the coronavirus, in the United States, more than the two 2,977 who died in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. The total confirmed US cases rose to 187,000.
White House medical authorities say 100,000 to 240,000 people could eventually perish from the respiratory disease in america, despite unprecedented orders by state and local governments largely confining Americans with their homes.
As well as the rules issued by at least 30 states, President Donald Trump, reversing course, said this week that most businesses and schools should remain shut at least through the finish of April. Trump, speaking at the White House on Tuesday, said another two weeks will be "very, very painful" for the united states.
"We wish Americans to be prepared for the hard days that lie ahead. We're going to through a very tough two weeks and, hopefully, as the professionals are predicting ... you're going to be seeing some real light at the end of the tunnel," the president said.
THE UNITED STATES Army Corps of Engineers sought hotels, dormitories, convention centers and large open spaces to build as much as 341 non permanent hospitals, Lieutenant General Todd Semonite told the ABC News "HELLO America" program. The corps has recently converted NY City's Jacob Javits Convention Center right into a 1,000-bed hospital.
In LA, the city's massive convention center was being converted to a federal medical station by the National Guard, Mayor Gil Garcetti said on Twitter. In California, the most populous US state, the quantity of coronavirus patients has surged in the last few days, with an increase of than 7,600 cases confirmed as of Tuesday and 150 deaths.
Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont said on Tuesday the united states Strategic National Stockpile of medical supplies was now empty and the state was "alone" trying to obtain medical equipment to fight the pandemic.
A Dutch cruise liner with confirmed cases of the virus and four fatalities up to speed sought permission to dock in Florida, even while Governor Ron DeSantis said the state cannot afford to defend myself against any additional patients.
The pandemic has taken a toll on doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers, who are overworked and lack the medical devices and protective gear needed.
"The duration itself is debilitating and exhausting and depressing," New York Governor Andrew Cuomo told a news conference.
The governor said his brother, 49-year-old CNN anchor Chris Cuomo, had tested positive for the coronavirus on Tuesday and would host his nightly show from his basement to avoid infecting members of the family or others.
US coronavirus-related deaths still trail those of Italy and Spain, that have more than 11,000 and 8,000 reported fatalities, respectively. China, where in fact the outbreak is believed to have originated, has reported 3,305.
Worldwide, nowadays there are a lot more than 800,000 cases of the highly contagious illness caused by the virus and more than 40,000 deaths reported.
An intensive-care-unit nurse at a major hospital in Manhattan said he previously been shocked by the deteriorating condition of young patients with little or no underlying health issues.
"A 28-year-old, healthy fellow ICU nurse happens to be so sick that he has difficulty walking up an individual flight of stairs without gasping for breath," said the nurse, requesting anonymity because he had not been authorized to talk with the media.
Source: www.thejakartapost.com
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