The majority of people in the US are "doing the right thing" by staying home and following other mitigation measures to help fight the coronavirus pandemic, US Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams told ABC's "Good Morning America" on Tuesday.
"I'm seeing mitigation work," Adams said. "I know I've said it a couple times with Washington and with California. Their public health officials there should be applauded because they've given us the blueprint for how we deal with this and the rest of the country."
There are now at least 368,533 coronavirus cases, according to Johns Hopkins University's tally of cases in the US.
President Donald Trump warned Americans last week to prepare for a "painful" two weeks ahead as he extended nationwide distancing measures and acknowledged the severity of the virus.
Both Dr. Anthony Fauci, the country's leading health official and Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House coronavirus response coordinator, said Monday that with continued mitigation efforts, there is potential to lower the projected US death toll from 100,000.
"I don't think anyone has ever mitigated the way I've seen people mitigate right now. It's never happened in this country before. I am optimistic. Always cautiously optimistic," Fauci said.
Meanwhile, an influential University of Washington model now predicts fewer people will die and fewer hospital beds will be needed, compared to its estimates from last week.
But it assumes social distancing measures -- like closing schools and business -- will continue until August.
The model predicts the virus may kill more than 81,000 people in the United States over the next four months, with just under 141,000 hospital beds being needed. That's about 12,000 fewer deaths -- and 121,000 fewer hospital beds -- than the model estimated on Thursday, the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington School of Medicine says.
Recent developments
• Nearly 20% of the New York Police Department's uniformed workforce were out sick as of Monday. At least 12 members have died of a suspected coronavirus case, thedepartment says.
• Wisconsin is holding its primary election Tuesday despite the pandemic. The US Supreme Court allowed the vote, but a dissenting Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said the decision "boggles the mind."
• Adams, the surgeon general, told NBC's "Today" show Tuesday that Wisconsin voters should maintain distances of 6 feet from others and wear face coverings as they go to the polls.
• White House trade adviser Peter Navarro warned the White House in January of a "full-blown pandemic, imperiling the lives of millions of Americans" from the coronavirus, The New York Times reports.
• Michigan's largest health care system, Beaumont Health, has about 1,500 of its more than 38,000 employees staying home with symptoms consistent with Covid-19, spokesman Mark Geary said Tuesday.
• Another large Michigan health care system, Henry Ford Health System, says 734 staff members -- or 2.1% of its workforce -- has tested positive for Covid-19 since it started tracking their status on March 12.
New York governor says new deaths were flat for two days
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Monday the number of coronavirus deaths has been effectively flat for two days, adding that the "total number of hospitalizations are down, ICU admissions are down and the daily intubations are down. Those are all good signs and again would suggest a possible flattening of the curve," he said.
"But we get reckless," the governor warned, "we change, we're not compliant on social distancing, you will see those numbers go up again."
In Colorado, Gov. Jared Polis extended the state's stay-at-home order to April 26 and said the state was starting to "see progress" thanks to the measures.
"At the beginning of the crisis, the number of positive cases in Colorado was doubling every one and a half days. Today, the number of positive cases is about doubling every six to seven days," he said. "That means the spread of the virus is beginning to slow."
Los Angeles saw a 7% increase in cases Monday, marking the city's first single-digit daily increase since mid-March, Mayor Eric Garcetti said.
The mayor, while calling the smaller rate of increase "good news," cautioned that the percentage of increase is usually lower on Mondays than other days of the week.
Health officials say the state's early aggressive measures gave California time to prepare for its peak in cases, which Gov. Gavin Newsom has said will likely come in May.
"The governor brought together experts to really try to understand if we flatten our curve, if we do all of this social distancing and stay at home how should we be thinking about what to prepare for, " California Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis said Monday.
The growing number of cases, she said, are expected but come at a pace that has so far allowed the state to prepare.
"We have been expanding the capacity of our hospitals rapidly and so far we are able to handle the increase," she said. "But of course, for California and for all states around the country, it really is a race against time to have the equipment and supplies we need."
States helping each other with supplies
To help states like hard-hit New York, California announced it was sending 500 ventilators to the US Strategic National Stockpile, which Trump previously said is nearly depleted.
"We still have a long road ahead of us in the Golden State -- and we're aggressively preparing for a surge -- but we can't turn our back on Americans whose lives depend on having a ventilator now," Newsom said in a statement.
The 500 machines were scheduled to leave California on a military aircraft Monday to be shipped to FEMA, which will then redistribute to other states based on need, Brian Ferguson with the California Office of Emergency Services told CNN.
Newsom isn't alone -- Oregon Gov. Kate Brown and Washington Gov. Jay Inslee have also offered ventilators to support other states.
"These ventilators are going to New York and other states hardest hit by this virus," Inslee said in a statement Sunday. The governor released 400 ventilators to the national stockpile.
Virus hits African-American communities
Meanwhile, as states employ more tests to identify carriers of the virus, data has begun to show African Americans make up a large number of victims in the country.
In Chicago, 72% of the people who have died from coronavirus are black, though they make up 30% of the population, officials said.
In Louisiana, where nearly 33% of the population is African American, those residents account for 70% of the state's coronavirus deaths.
Dr. Celine Gounder, a CNN medical analyst and clinical assistant professor of infectious diseases, on Tuesday offered possible reasons for this, including:
• African Americans may be disproportionately likely to work in essential jobs that can't be done at home, such as grocery jobs.
• African Americans are disproportionately likely to have underlying health conditions that would make someone more likely to have severe Covid-19 illnesses.
Adams, the surgeon general, made similar arguments to "CBS This Morning" on Tuesday.
"When you look at being black in America, No. 1, people unfortunately are more likely to be of low socioeconomic status, which makes it harder to social distance. No. 2, we know that blacks are more likely to have diabetes, heart disease, lung disease," Adams told CBS.
"I and many black Americans are at higher risk for Covid. It's why we need everyone to do their part to slow the spread."
The Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law on Monday called for the federal government to release racial and ethnic data relating to the pandemic. The group says it wants to "ensure that communities of color receive equitable health care and treatment during this crisis."
"House" - Google News
April 07, 2020 at 10:12PM
https://ift.tt/2xWmXP8
While US exceeds 11000 deaths, officials express optimism about early effects of social distancing measures - CNN
"House" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2q5ay8k
Shoes Man Tutorial
Pos News Update
Meme Update
Korean Entertainment News
Japan News Update
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "While US exceeds 11000 deaths, officials express optimism about early effects of social distancing measures - CNN"
Post a Comment