U.S. deaths due to the coronavirus have surpassed the reported number of deaths in China, where the rapidly spreading virus first emerged, according to a Tuesday news report.
The number of Americans who have died from the COVID-19 coronavirus has reached 3,393, according to a report by Reuters. The reported tally for virus deaths in China thus far is 3,305. Though the reported numbers have overtaken that of China, The New York Times reports that Chinese figures have been scrutinized, as European countries including France and Italy have also exceeded 3,000 deaths.
Coronavirus cases jumped past 163,000 on Tuesday. Americans were told they may soon get a look at the statistical disease models that public officials have been using to urge more than 250 million people to stay at home, according to U.S. News & World Report.
Death toll rises, NYC calls for more help
A Navy hospital ship docked in New York City on Monday as the number of coronavirus-related deaths in the state soared to a “beyond staggering” 1,218.
The 1,000-bed USNS Comfort will be used as a “relief valve,” treating non-coronavirus patients while the city’s increasingly stressed hospitals handle people with COVID-19, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said.
Shortly after the ship arrived at a Manhattan pier, the governor announced that the statewide death toll had risen by 253 in a day.
“That’s a lot of loss, that’s a lot of pain, that’s a lot of tears,
grief that people all across this state are feeling,” Cuomo said.
Most of the state’s fatalities have occurred in the last 10 days. Cuomo said the ultimate number of COVID-19-related deaths will be staggering, then added: “To me, we’re beyond staggering already.”
The Comfort, which was also sent to New York after the 9/11 terror attacks, has 12 operating rooms that could be up and running within 24 hours, officials said.
The ship is docked just north of a temporary hospital constructed inside the cavernous Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. State and city officials are trying to increase hospital capacity by up to 87,000 beds to handle the outbreak.
During the weekend, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Anthony Fauci said U.S. coronavirus deaths could reach as high as 200,000. The stark warning ignited a debate about how soon to reopen parts of the U.S. economy.
“Looking at what we’re seeing now, we’re looking at 100,000 to 200,000” deaths, Fauci said on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday.
“But I don’t just think that we need to make a projection when it’s such a moving target, that you could so easily be wrong,” he said.
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