According to the figures from Johns Hopkins University, the U.S. has now become the first country in the world to record more than 2,000 coronavirus-related deaths in just 24-hours. There were 2,108 people who died in one day and there are more than half a million confirmed infections.
However, experts on the White House COVID-19 task force said that the outbreak is starting to level off across the U.S.. Dr. Deborah Birx, one of the experts in the team, said that there were good signs that the outbreak was becoming stable but she cautioned that as encouraging as they are, America still hasn't reached the peak.
President Donald Trump also stated that he expects America to see a lower death toll than the initial predictions of 100,000 fatalities, and he added that they are seeing clear signs that their aggressive strategy is saving countless lives.
US has the most virus-related death in the world
The U.S. has now at least 20,580 deaths and 533,115 confirmed cases, and about half of the deaths were recorded in the New York area. Italy, on the other hand, reported 19,468 deaths and globally there are 109,275 recorded deaths due to COVID-19.
Researchers had predicted that America's death toll would hit its peak on Friday and then gradually start to decline, falling to around 970 people a day by next month. President Trump stated that they want to open the economy as soon as possible.
However, no action would be taken until the government knew that the county will be healthy and that they do not want to go back and start doing the protocols all over again.
A city upended
New York is the epicenter of the coronavirus in America. There are grim scenes recorded by the media, with ambulances constantly blaring down eerily deserted streets, body bags being forklifted into refrigerated trucks outside hospitals and now new trenches being dug on Hart's Island for possible mass burials.
The funeral directors talked about the scary and depressing number of deaths that they have to deal with every day. Families had to wait a week or more to bury and cremate their loved ones due to the protocols.
People are now wondering, when will all of this be over? Dr. Anthony Fauci, U.S. Infectious Disease Chief, stated that the US was starting to see the leveling off and coming down of cases and deaths. But despite the important advance, mitigation efforts such as social distancing should not be stopped just yet.
According to the projection shared by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington, they are eyeing 60,000 deaths by August 4, assuming that the restrictions are still being followed. In March 2020, Dr. Fauci estimated at least 100,000 deaths.
Dr. Birx also noted that the rate of increase appeared to be stabilizing in New York, New Jersey, and Chicago. She also added that the U.S. mortality rate was less than many other countries, but she emphasized that America had yet to see the peak of the outbreak.
Related Article: Sweden Refuses to Go on Lockdown, Draws Criticisms
