CoronaVirus in US - Updates & Discussion

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Newest updates: "522,754" total cases along with "20,095" death toll

 

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New York mass graves operations ramp up amid virus
Operations in Hart Island, which has been used to hold mass graves for 150 years, has ramped up.

New York state now has more coronavirus cases than any single country, according to latest figures.


https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-u...ork-mass-graves-operations-ramp-up-amid-virus

 

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Figures circulating in the media about the number of deaths of Pakistani Americans in the US from the coronavirus are only "guesstimates" and have not been authenticated by official sources, the Pakistan Embassy in Washington, DC said in a statement on Saturday.

The clarification comes after media reports quoting officials said more than one hundred Pakistanis were among the 8,000 people who have died of the virus in the New York region.

"There are no formally confirmed figures available from any official source in the US. These are guesstimates being informally quoted by community sources and some funeral homes. Such figures cannot, therefore, be authenticated," the embassy said.

It added that it has received no reports, "even informal ones", of the deaths of Pakistani Americans from the consulates in Chicago, Los Angeles, and Houston.

The statement noted, however, that the situation from the pandemic in the US is evolving rapidly. "The embassy and the consulate generals are in touch with our community members and will be ready to extend every assistance and support wherever needed," it said.

Pakistan’s Consul General Ayesha Ali had told Dawn that information collected from hospitals, funeral homes and families indicated that "more than 100 Pakistanis have died of this virus in the New York-New Jersey region."

“Some Pakistanis have also died in other states,” Pakistan Embassy spokesperson Zoobia Masood had earlier said. “We are still collecting information about how this disease has affected the Pakistani-American community.”

Statistics released in New York show that the disease has had a devastating impact on ethnic minorities. The highest number of deaths — 34 per cent — happened in the Hispanic community, followed by African-Americans, at 28 pc. The Whites are third on the list with 27 pc deaths while 7 pc of the fatalities happened in the Asian-American community, which also includes Indians and Pakistanis.

 

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[grey boy 2]

Newest updates: "532855" total cases along with "20,611" death toll

 

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US death toll overtakes Italy as world's highest

There are now more than 520,000 cases of Covid-19 across the country

The United States now has now overtaken Italy to have the highest death toll from coronavirus in the world.

The latest data, compiled by Johns Hopkins University, shows more than 20,000 people in the US have now died.

The grim milestone comes shortly after the US became the first nation to record more than 2,000 virus deaths in a single day.

The governor of New York Andrew Cuomo said on Saturday the state's death toll appeared to be stabilising.

Announcing a 24-hour figure of 783 new deaths, he noted the last several days had seen around the same number.

"That is not an all-time high, and you can see that the number is somewhat stabilising but it is stabilising at a horrific rate," Mr Cuomo said. "These are just incredible numbers depicting incredible loss and pain."

New York state has become the epicentre of the outbreak in the US, recording more than 180,000 of the country's estimated 520,000 cases.
As of Saturday, every single US state has declared a disaster in response to the outbreak.

Media captionDrone footage shows mass burials in New York.

More than 100,000 have now died with the virus around the world since the pandemic broke out in China in December.


What is the latest across the US?

As of Saturday afternoon Italy had reported 19,468 coronavirus deaths while the US had 20,506, according to the Johns Hopkins tally.

There are now at least 527,111 recorded cases of Covid-19 across the US.

Dr Anthony Fauci, US infectious diseases chief, has said the country is "starting to see the levelling off and coming down" of cases and deaths but says mitigation efforts such as social distancing should not be pulled back yet.

Federal social distancing recommendations, issued by President Donald Trump, are currently in place until 30 April.

The president is facing twin pressures from the outbreak: with at least 16 million jobs lost in recent weeks as virus restrictions cripple the country's economy.

Media captionOne food bank in Los Angeles had a car queue that stretched one mile long (1.6km)
He said on Friday that a new council, made up of business and medical figures, would be announced next week to help him with the "biggest decision I've ever had to make" on when to relax measures.

It comes as Congress continues to spar over the next stage of Covid-19 financial relief.

Democrats want a new proposed $250bn (£200bn) bill to help small businesses to also allow for additional funding for hospitals and local governments.

But on Saturday the two top Republicans in Congress, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, rejected the demand.

In a statement they described the move as a "reckless threat" which blocked "job-saving funding".

 

[F-22Raptor]

New cases declined today. Deaths also declined by 200 today.

 

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New York: 24 hours on the frontline

In deserted Times Square, a Muslim woman prays

Image captionNursing home worker Kathleen (L), doctor Jennifer (C), delivery driver Sarujen (R)

Coronavirus has forced carers like Faith Willett to go against all their natural instincts

People queue at a food distribution centre in Harlem

At the Wyckoff Heights Medical Center, a hospital worker takes a moment to pause

Messages in support of medical staff have appeared outside Mount Sinai West Medical Center


Tuesday.

Coronavirus live updates: US tops 20,000 deaths; all 50 states under disaster declaration; crackdowns on Easter gatherings

 

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Why has the virus hit African Americans so hard?

By Aleem Maqbool
BBC News, Washington

• 11 April 2020

• 
• 
  
• Pallbearers exit a funeral in Brooklyn

To a lot of Americans, the racial disparities shown in the number of people dying of coronavirus-related causes have sadly been unsurprising.

The cities of Chicago, New Orleans, Las Vegas and states of Maryland and South Carolina are among those now starting to report data based on race, and show an over-representation of victims who are black.

While some of this could be due to the long-standing inequality issues in the US that we have become familiar with, other reasons are perhaps more unexpected and could potentially have been dealt with.

Here are the experiences of three people affected by the crisis in different ways - their stories explore why black Americans appear to be more at risk.

'It's ravaging my community'

"My sister Rhoda was the matriarch of our family. She was the first in our family to go to college, got a degree and became a public school teacher," says Reverend Marshall Hatch of Chicago.

"She was just a very warm and friendly person. Very, very genuine. Pure in her personality and very generous."

Reverend Marshall Hatch with his sister Rhoda
Reverend Hatch had been extremely close to his elder sister who had often played the organ in his church. But 73-year-old Rhoda Hatch passed away on 4 April after spending eight days on a ventilator.

Two days earlier Reverend Hatch's best friend, Larry Harris, also died. He was 62. Both had contracted Covid-19.

In fact, four people close to him have now died from it and he talks of it utterly ravaging the mainly African American neighbourhood of West Garfield Park in which he lives.

"We have been trying to find a grave for my sister for a Saturday burial, but it has been harder than ever," says the Reverend.

"But it's almost like we could have predicted that when a plague like this came along, that it would disproportionately affect people who are already under siege of economic violence."

According to census data, West Garfield Park already had a life expectancy a full 16 years lower than a predominantly white neighbourhood of Chicago just three miles away.

Reuters
African Americans hit hard by coronavirus

• 33%of those hospitalised are African Americans
  
  
• 13%of the US population is African American
  
  
• 68%of coronavirus deaths in Chicago were African American
  

Source: CDC, Chicago Department of Public Health
The data released so far shows 68% of the coronavirus deaths in the city have been of African Americans, when they make up around 30% of the population.

People in Reverend Hatch's area are less likely to have health insurance and more likely to live in overcrowded accommodation as compared to the general population.

Young black men have also posted on social media that they have been harassed by security guards in shops or even told to leave if they use a cloth covering for their mouth and nose.

'If I get sick, I'm still working'

"The customers who are coming up in there, you never know who's got something."

Twenty-four-year-old Clarionta Jones from New Orleans is scared of catching the virus, but feels she has few options. She works in a shop and as such is considered essential.

"I've got the only income that's coming into our house and even with everybody getting laid off, they have still told us we have to come up with April's rent," Clarionta tells me.

"And honestly, if I'm sick I'm just going take something for it and go to work. I don't want to miss my check, I have two kids. This is not a choice."

Clarionta tells me her managers have even told staff they cannot wear gloves and masks when interacting with customers. She did not feel she could argue for fear of losing her job.

In countries around the world we are seeing essential and service workers, often with low incomes, in the line of Covid-19's fire. In the US, "low income" disproportionately means "black" or "brown".

But then Clarionta said something surprising.

"First I heard black people weren't affected by the coronavirus. I mean there aren't really black people in China and when it started here it was a lot of other races affected."

This was not just misinformation in New Orleans but was widespread in communities across the country.

In mid-March, Atlanta rapper Waka Flocka appeared on a radio show and said: "Minorities can't catch coronavirus. Name one. It doesn't touch them soul food folks."

In retrospect, some health experts feel more could have been done to fill a vacuum in knowledge about the virus much earlier.

'Structural racism is to blame'

As health commissioner in a city where nearly 40% of the residents are black, this misinformation was something Dr Jeanette Kowalik dealt with on a daily basis in her work in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

But just as her department was forming strategies to counter the narrative that the virus was something associated with foreign travel, Covid-19 struck her city.

CITY OF MILWAUKEE
"In the first week, there were maybe 80 cases in the city, and 70% of them were black," Dr Kowalik tells me.

She lays bare what she thinks is the major reason why African Americans are at a disadvantage when it comes to Covid-19.

"African-Americans have more of the underlying health conditions associated with fatality (among those with coronavirus); the heart disease, diabetes, asthma, obesity," says Dr Kowalik.

AFP
African American health

• 50%more likely to have heart disease than white people
  
  
• 40%more likely to die at an early age from any cause
  
  
• 19%could not afford to see a doctor
  

Source: Centers for Disease Control

She also talks of more subtle ways in which the health of African Americans may be compromised, pointing to studies that suggest that prolonged raising of stress hormone levels like cortisol lead to premature aging of the body, and that some of that "weathering" has been tied to encountering racism.

 

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It is the first time in US history that a major disaster has been declared for the entire country, as the number of confirmed cases in the ongoing deadly coronavirus pandemic tops 530,000 in the US, taking more than 20,000 lives.

US President Donald Trump issued a major disaster declaration for Wyoming on Saturday, meaning that now the declaration applies to every state in the country due to the novel coronavirus pandemic. It is the first time in history, according to Deputy Press Secretary Judd Deere.

The Wyoming declaration, in similar fashion to every other US state, will make federal funding and services for crucial assistance available for local governments and non-profit organizations, according to the White House.

This move comes after the governor of Wyoming formally requested the declaration for his state in a letter to Trump on Thursday.

“Though Wyoming has not reached the dire situations of some states, this declaration will help us to prepare and mobilize resources when we need them,” the governor said in a statement. “I look forward to a swift response to our request from the federal government.”

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the US has surpassed 530,000 with more than 20,000 fatalities. The most affected region is New York City with a current death toll of over 6,300, according to the most recent Johns Hopkins University Resource Centre data.

 

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NEW YORK, NY: EXHAUSTED FUNERAL HOME EMPLOYEE CREMATED BY MISTAKE WHILE TAKING A NAP

Apr 11, 2020

An employee of a New York, Funeral & Cremation Service died yesterday, after being accidentally cremated by one of his coworkers.


According to the Police, 48-year old Michael Jones decided to take a nap one a stretcher after working for sixteen hours straight to the recent influx of dead bodies.

While he was sleeping, another employee mistook him for the corpse of a 52-year old person who died from respiratory issues and moved him to the crematory.

Before anyone could notice the mistake, he had already been exposed to temperatures ranging between 1400 to 1800 degrees Fahrenheit and reduced to ashes.

Jenna Anderson, one of Mr Jones’s coworkers, says she heard him scream for about 15 seconds after the crematory was activated.

“At first, we didn’t understand where the sound was coming from. When we realized what was happening, it was too late. We shut down the heating system, but he was already dead.”

Ms. Anderson claims that the young coworker who caused the accident was a new employee, and had forgotten to check for the toe tag to make sure he had the right body.

Jenna Anderson says she heard the victim scream in agony as the crematory was reducing him to ashes.

The police has opened an investigation to determine the exact circumstances surrounding Mr Jone’s death.

Investigators have not ruled out the possibility of filing criminal charges against the employee who caused his death.

The young man could possibly be accused of criminal negligence causing death.

 

[Pakistani Fighter]

NEW YORK, NY: EXHAUSTED FUNERAL HOME EMPLOYEE CREMATED BY MISTAKE WHILE TAKING A NAP

Apr 11, 2020

An employee of a New York, Funeral & Cremation Service died yesterday, after being accidentally cremated by one of his coworkers.


According to the Police, 48-year old Michael Jones decided to take a nap one a stretcher after working for sixteen hours straight to the recent influx of dead bodies.

While he was sleeping, another employee mistook him for the corpse of a 52-year old person who died from respiratory issues and moved him to the crematory.

Before anyone could notice the mistake, he had already been exposed to temperatures ranging between 1400 to 1800 degrees Fahrenheit and reduced to ashes.

Jenna Anderson, one of Mr Jones’s coworkers, says she heard him scream for about 15 seconds after the crematory was activated.

“At first, we didn’t understand where the sound was coming from. When we realized what was happening, it was too late. We shut down the heating system, but he was already dead.”

Ms. Anderson claims that the young coworker who caused the accident was a new employee, and had forgotten to check for the toe tag to make sure he had the right body.

Jenna Anderson says she heard the victim scream in agony as the crematory was reducing him to ashes.

The police has opened an investigation to determine the exact circumstances surrounding Mr Jone’s death.

Investigators have not ruled out the possibility of filing criminal charges against the employee who caused his death.

The young man could possibly be accused of criminal negligence causing death.

 

[ghazi52]

Coronavirus found in air samples up to 13 feet from patients

Agencies

APRIL 12, 2020

A new study examining air samples from hospital wards with COVID-19 patients has found the virus can travel up to 13 feet (four meters) — twice the distance current guidelines say people should leave between themselves in public.


The preliminary results of the investigation by Chinese researchers were published Friday in Emerging Infectious Diseases, a journal of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).


They add to a growing debate on how the disease is transmitted, with the scientists themselves cautioning that the small quantities of virus they found at this distance are not necessarily infectious.

The researchers, led by a team at the Academy of Military Medical Sciences in Beijing, tested surface and air samples from an intensive care unit and a general COVID-19 ward at Huoshenshan Hospital in Wuhan. They housed a total of 24 patients between February 19 and March 2. They found that the virus was most heavily concentrated on the floors of the wards, “perhaps because of gravity and air flow causing most virus droplets to float to the ground.” High levels were also found on frequently touched surfaces like computer mice, trashcans, bed rails and door knobs. “Furthermore, half of the samples from the soles of the ICU medical staff shoes tested positive,” the team wrote. “Therefore, the soles of medical staff shoes might function as carriers.”


Airborne threat?

The team also looked at so-called aerosol transmission — when the droplets of the virus are so fine they become suspended and remain airborne for several hours, unlike cough or sneeze droplets that fall to the ground within seconds.


They found that virus-laden aerosols were mainly concentrated near and downstream from patients at up to 13 feet — though smaller quantities were found upstream, up to eight feet. Encouragingly, no members of the hospital staff were infected, “indicating that appropriate precautions could effectively prevent infection,” the authors wrote.

 

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[ghazi52]

Fauci says US 'could have saved lives' with earlier action

The US has now overtaken Italy to have the highest death toll from coronavirus in the world

The US "could have saved lives" if it had introduced measures to stop Covid-19 earlier, a top health official says.

"If we had, right from the beginning, shut everything down, it may have been a little bit different," Dr Anthony Fauci told CNN. But he said making that decision was complicated.

The US has over 530,000 virus cases and 21,418 deaths, many in New York.

Dr Fauci also suggested parts of the US could begin returning to normal as early as May.

On 16 March, the Trump administration issued social distancing guidance, which has since been extended through April.

What did Fauci say?

When asked about a New York Times report that Dr Fauci and other officials had suggested aggressive mitigation towards the end of February, Dr Fauci said health officials can only make recommendations from a "pure health standpoint".

"Often, the recommendation is taken. Sometimes, it's not. But it is what it is, we are where we are right now."

Dr Fauci, who is leading the US response to coronavirus, added that "no one is going to deny" that logically, earlier mitigation could have saved lives.

But he said "what goes into those kinds of decisions is complicated".

"There was a lot of pushback about shutting things down back then."



State of the Union

✔@CNNSotu

"We make a recommendation," said Dr. Anthony Fauci, when asked by @JakeTapper about reports that he and other top officials called for social distancing in February. "Often the recommendation is taken. Sometimes it's not. But it is what it is. We are where we are right now."




572
9:35 AM - Apr 12, 2020
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@CNNSotu

The top doctor also acknowledged that multiple factors were involved with the current situation in the US, such as the nation's size and heterogeneity, not just a later start on mitigation.

But he also said parts of the nation might be able to begin a slow return to normalcy "at least in some ways, maybe next month".

"You don't want to do something precipitously," Dr Fauci emphasised, noting that ending virus containment efforts too hastily could lead to a rebound.

"It's going to be depending on where you are in the country, the nature of the outbreak you already experienced and the threat of an outbreak you may not have experienced."

Dr Fauci is leading the US response to coronavirus
Dr Fauci was also hopeful that the US presidential election, slated for 3 November, would still take place - if the nation takes a measured approach to lessening restrictions.


What's the situation in New York?

During a briefing later on Sunday, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said he wants his state, which has been the epicentre of the outbreak in the US, to open "as soon as possible".

But the governor was cautious, saying there had to be a co-ordinated approach between neighbouring states, more testing availability and additional federal funding.

Mr Cuomo was also sceptical of any forecasting, saying: "Every informed projection by experts, by the way, has not turned out correct."

That was good news, he noted, as it meant policies and social compliance had made a difference in the last few weeks.

"I've said from day one - all these predictions, we're gonna open businesses in May, do this in May, do this in June - I think that's all premature. I don't think anybody can make an informed decision right now."

Will US restrictions be loosened?

The White House remains keen to ease social distancing guidelines, and 1 May is a target date, according to food and drug agency commissioner Dr Stephen Hahn.

Dr Hahn told ABC News on Sunday, "we see light at the end of the tunnel".

He added that the decision to change restrictions would be ultimately driven by safety and welfare considerations.

Experts, including Dr Hahn, say increasing testing will be key to reopening the country, though Mr Trump has minimised the need for widespread testing.

New York's Mr Cuomo and New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy have both called for more tests to stay ahead of the virus.

On Sunday, Mr Cuomo announced an executive order calling for more antibody testing in order to determine who might have Covid-19 immunity and could return to work.

The questions over when the US might relax its containment efforts come as the states continue to grapple with the virus' spread.

White House Deputy Press Secretary Judd Deere announced President Donald Trump had issued a major disaster declaration for Wyoming on Saturday, meaning all 50 states have those declarations in effect for the first time in history.