The Obama administration's Ebola czar has issued a stark warning that coronavirus cases are set to 'explode' in the U.S., as A...
The Obama administration's Ebola czar has issued a stark warning that coronavirus cases are set to 'explode' in the U.S., as America now reports more new daily cases of the virus as China did at the apparent peak of the outbreak there.
On Thursday, 4,940 new cases were reported across the U.S., according to a DailyMail.com analysis of publicly available health data. That is the second highest number of new cases that has been reported in one day anywhere in the world to date. Italy reported 5,322 new cases yesterday.
China's reported number of daily new cases peaked at 3,892 new cases on February 5, after which the rate of spread appeared to decline. By Thursday, China reported no new locally transmitted cases for the second day in a row, although several dozen new cases were tracked from people entering the country from abroad.
After the worst of the outbreak in China was over, Beijing changed the way it classified coronavirus cases and announced an additional 19,000 diagnoses from the preceding month. It means the real number of new cases per day in China may have been much higher than its peak of 3,892.
However, the sharp increase in new cases in the U.S. is even more worrying relative to population. With a population of 1.4 billion, China has roughly four times the 330 million population of America.
To some extent, reported numbers of new cases may also reflect local decisions on whom and when to test, and numbers in the U.S. are rising sharply partly because testing is being more widespread. But the trend is extremely worrying, and indicates that the outbreak may now be worse in the U.S. than it ever was in China, which took draconian measures to lock down the population and bring the virus to heel.
This chart shows the number of daily new cases in China (red) and the US (blue), starting from the dates on which each country crossed the threshold of 30 new cases. On Thursday, the US number of daily new cases surpassed China's peak
A medical staff member in protective gear administers a test for COVID-19 at a drive-through testing center in Paramus, New Jersey on Friday. To some extent, reported numbers of new cases may reflect local decisions on whom and when to test
Meanwhile, Ron Klain, who served as President Barack Obama's 'Ebola czar,' warned that Americans need to prepare for a massive spike in coronavirus cases and deaths over the next few weeks.
'We're really at the inflection point here, where this disease is really going to explode in the U.S.,' Klain told Yahoo News' Skullduggery podcast on Thursday.
In addition to serving as point-man on the Ebola outbreak, Klain was then-Vice President Joe Biden's chief of staff, and currently works for Biden's presidential campaign.
In recent days, the number of new confirmed cases in the U.S. has doubled roughly every two days, an exponential rate of increase that profoundly worries public health experts.
Klain said that he expects new cases to 'accelerate further as we finally start to put some testing on the line and we start to really understand how big a problem we have — and I think it's a very big problem.'
He said that the US healthcare system is already near capacity, and that if new critical patients continue to flood into hospitals, the situation could quickly turn disastrous.
'Particularly right now, at the end of flu season, things like ventilators, respirators, emergency room beds, care for respiratory patients — it's already straining the system, and then you add hundreds of thousands of intensely ill patients to that and we're going to see dire consequences in our hospitals,' Klain said. 'We're going to see that in terms of hospitals running out of beds to treat patients.'
Ron Klain (above), who served as President Barack Obama's 'Ebola czar,' warned that Americans need to prepare for a massive spike in coronavirus cases and deaths over the next few weeks
Klain also warned that the U.S. healthcare system could quickly come other further strain as medical workers are sidelined by the virus.
'There's a hospital in Philadelphia that this week shut down its labor and delivery ward because all the labor and delivery nurses had coronavirus,' Klain said. 'We're going to see this as health care workers get sick, as hospitals get filled — it's going to have an impact on all aspects of our health care delivery in the United States.'
In a separate interview with CNBC on Friday, Klain warned that drastic containment measures, which have rocked the economy and cost countless jobs in the shuttered restaurant and travel industries, would have to continue for weeks.
'This is the status quo for the foreseeable future,' Klain said. 'People who show up to a hospital today probably caught this 14 days ago.'
'The things we're doing today are probably not going to move the needle for two weeks,' he said of the containment measures, which in recent days have increased to dramatic levels in California and New York especially.
California ordered nearly 40 million people to stay home and New York state on Friday told all non-essential workers to do the same while pleading for more medical personnel and supplies to treat coronavirus cases that could overwhelm hospitals.
The pandemic has upended life in much of the United States, shuttering schools and businesses, prompting millions to work from home, forcing many out of jobs and sharply curtailing travel.
'This is the most drastic action we can take,' New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said at a news conference announcing he would issue an executive order to mandate that 100% of the non-essential workforce stay home and all non-essential businesses close.
The order would be enforced with civil fines and mandatory closures for any businesses not in compliance, he said. Cuomo said it was not a 'shelter in place' order and neither was California's.
New York has 7,102 positive cases, 2,950 of which are new. The hospitalization rate is 18%. Of the state's cases, 4,408 are in New York City, the most populous U.S. city with about 8.5 million people.
Cuomo pleaded for the manufacturing of ventilators and protective masks for an expected surge in cases.
'The ventilators are to this war what missiles were to World War Two,' Cuomo said. He said the state would 'pay a premium' to companies that could provide more personal protective equipment, gloves and masks, and he asked companies that might be capable of making these products to 'get creative.'
The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration said it had temporarily closed the air traffic control tower at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York because a technician had tested positive and controllers would work at an alternate location on airport property.
Part of the Indianapolis Air Route Traffic Control Center was closed for cleaning after new cases of COVID-19 were reported.
California Governor Gavin Newsom's order late on Thursday took immediate effect.
More than 200 people have died in the United States and more than 12,000 cases have been confirmed as of early Friday, an increase of 3,000 cases over the previous day.
More than 1,000 cases have been confirmed in California, where 19 people have died.
Newsom left open the duration of the order, suggesting it could last eight weeks, while expressing confidence that people will abide by orders to stay home except to visit supermarkets, doctors, pharmacies and laundromats. Essential workers will also be allowed to report to work.
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti called the statewide measure 'the moment everything changed.'
'This history is clear and this disease is clear. We have to take steps early. None of us have the adequate infrastructure,' Garcetti said on ABC News on Friday, adding that, 'These are acts of love.'
Psychologists and psychiatrists are beginning to report signs of distress among patients worried about the consequences.
Six clinicians interviewed by Reuters say the coronavirus has been the prime focus of virtually all recent therapy sessions.
Chicagoan Mike Wisler was prescribed a sedative to help him sleep when the financial and emotional impact of the pandemic hit the 50-year-old bartender. 'My mind won't shut off,' Wisler said. 'As soon as I wake up, it's like, 'How am I going to get by this month?''
No comments