New York’s virus deaths continue to skyrocket, ‘fight against time’

Two of America’s major coronavirus hotspots-New York and Louisiana-still reported the largest surge in COVID-19 on Friday.

The surge of deaths in New York City and New Orleans has caused a wave of deadly coronavirus infections, which is expected to overwhelm hospitals, to begin to collapse in the United States, even in relatively wealthy urban areas with large healthcare systems It was shown that.

Governors, mayors and physicians have been alerting for weeks, as first responders and frontline healthcare professionals, as well as personal protective equipment for respirators and other medical supplies, are in short supply. Was.

The near depletion of the federal government’s national strategic stockpile of such equipment has essentially forced nations to compete with each other in open markets for critical resources.

Cities across the country have also fought to expand hospital capacity and recruit medical professionals from retirement to address the immediate shortage of beds and staff.

New York City, the center of the U.S. pandemic, has only a few days to prepare for the worst, said Mayor Bill de Brasio, saying that more than four minutes of more than 7,000 coronavirus deaths nationwide so far. More than one has died.

New York is in an “extraordinary competition for time,” De Brassio told a news briefing on Friday and called on the federal government to mobilize US troops.

“We’re dealing with enemies killing thousands of Americans, and many people who don’t need to die are dead,” he said. “I can’t say every state by myself and every city by myself. It’s not the United States.”

Americans are commanded to stay almost at home except for important outings such as grocery shopping and doctor consultations, but recently conflicting guidance on the need to wear face masks to the public is given. I’m listening.

At the White House on Friday, President Donald Trump seemed to have further muddy water when he announced that federal health officials are now recommending individuals wear cloth covers to prevent the spread of the virus. Was. However, he emphasized that the recommendations were purely voluntary and he himself would not mind the recommendations.

“With a mask it will be really spontaneous. You can do it, you don’t have to do it. I chose not to do it,” he says Was.

Physicians and nurses are already facing an onslaught of COVID-19, a respiratory illness caused by a highly contagious coronavirus, due to lack of adequate medical grade face masks and other protective clothing. Was.

A physician at a New York City hospital recalled that she had arrived at work on Friday, and learned that three COVID-19 patients had died that morning. A few hours later, he was intubated by the other two.

“I’ve never seen anything like this. I’ve never heard of this in developed countries,” he told Reuters on condition of anonymity. He had no authority to talk to the media.

Another hotspot, Louisiana, reported a sudden increase in deaths on Friday, rising 20% ​​to 370, while fatal cases are increasing daily in Gulf Coast.

Louisiana Governor John Bell Edwards has allowed residents to comply with his order to stay at home because the state-wide infection has exceeded 10,000.

“For those who do not take the crisis seriously, I ask you to do a better job,” he said at a press conference.

New Orleans, Louisiana’s largest city, which is believed to have spread the virus before the Mardi Gras celebration in late February was imposed a social distance order, is the focus of the crisis.

The outbreak here has proven to be much more fatal than in other parts of the United States, with a per capita mortality rate that is twice that of New York City. Physicians, public health officials, and available data suggest that high levels of Big Easy obesity and related illnesses may be part of the problem.

In New York State, comparable to the number of deaths from attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001, the number of infections and victims hit by the coronavirus more than 2,900 in total.

“Personally, it’s difficult to experience this all day, and it’s hard to get up all night watching those numbers come in,” said Governor Andrew Cuomo.

Only New York City accounted for more than a quarter of the 7,077 US coronavirus deaths Johns Hopkins University counted on Friday. Nearly 275,000 known U.S. infections, accounting for approximately 25% of over 1 million cases reported worldwide.

“Pain, loneliness and death”

Many of the most seriously ill patients died alone, fearing the spread of the infection, that medical staff forbid their relatives to stay with them for the last few hours.

Dr. Craig Spencer, Head of Global Health for Emergency Medicine at Columbia University Medical Center in New York, described the scene inside a tent located outside the hospital to prevent an increasing influx of patients.

“In the same tent, I saw too much pain, loneliness, and death. He wrote on Twitter Thursday night.

In New Jersey, Governor Philmurphy ordered that all flags be reduced by half as long as the emergency continued, stating that his state had taken such action first.

Fresh data on Friday reveals the economic impact of the public health crisis and confirms that hundreds of thousands of Americans have lost their jobs due to pandemics. Economists said that the actual unemployment rate would be much higher, but employment statistics were not yet reflected in the economy, as most of the economy had just stopped last month.