Coronavirus cases exceeds 100k in US

Exactly two days ago, the reported COVID-19 cases in the United States had surpassed China and Italy, becoming the country with the most cases in the world. Being here in Nigeria, we may not know much about the statistics in the US as we are busy catching up with the news and updates in our country.

The latest information available reported that the death toll in the US has exceeded 1,700 as of yesterday (28 March), and according to Worldometers, the total of death cases have reached 2,227 as we are reporting right now. A total of 123,750 cases were confirmed as of today (29 March), as reported on Worldometers.

Seeing how the numbers of cases surge dramatically, the US Governors predicted that the country has not reached its peak. According to US News, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo estimated on Friday (27 March) that the epicentre in New York City — which has more than 46,000 confirmed cases — will not reach its peak for another three weeks.

On Friday, California Governor Gavin Newsom had welcomed a United States Navy Mercy hospital ship (USNS) at a port near Los Angeles, preparing the hospitals at that area to be overwhelmed. This move was part of California’s effort in preparing emergency support as the reported COVID-19 cases in California reached 4,000 yesterday morning.

The US Navy announced that a similar hospital ship, the USNS Comfort, will port from Virginia to New York City yesterday.

That same day, US President Donald Trump had signed an executive order allowing the Defense Department to activate some elements of the National Guard and Reserve forces to support its response to the virus outbreak. The order also allows some retirees from the field in high demand, like medicine or crisis management, to return to active service.

To cater to the massive spread of COVID-19, the Army Corps of Engineers in New York City almost completed a conversion of Javits Centre convention hall into an enormous field hospital to accommodate overworked and undersupplied facilities there. Local news in that city had also reported that due to a shortage of medical supplies, nurses at the Bronx Hospital were forced to reuse their N95 surgical masks for up to five days.

Local leaders in the US are urging their people to stay at home and self-isolate in order to save lives.

Stay indoors! Stay safe! Stay alive and stay tuned for more updates.