US mourns 20,000+ Covid-19 fatalities overtaking Italy for most coronavirus-related deaths worldwide

WITH more than 20,000+ Covid-19 fatalities, the US has become the country with the most coronavirus-related deaths worldwide. On Saturday, the US death toll climbed to 20,283, surpassing that of Italy (19,468), according to Johns Hopkins data.

Around 2,074 deaths were reported in the US on Friday, the largest increase in coronavirus fatalities the country has seen since the beginning of the outbreak. Approximately,  522,286 people have now tested positive for Covid-19.

Of the deaths reported on Friday, 783 occurred in New York, bringing the statewide death toll to 8,627, confirmed Governor Andrew Cuomo on Saturday. There were 777 deaths registered on Thursday, and 799 deaths the day before.  “These are just incredible numbers depicting incredible loss and pain,” said Cuomo, however he believed that the state’s curve “is continuing to flatten.”

“The number of hospitalisations appears to have hit an apex, and the apex appears to be a plateau. The hospitalisation rate is also down, as are the number of intensive-care admissions,” he added. However, “still people getting infected, still people going into the hospital, but again, a lower rate of increase.”

According to the coronavirus model by the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, the US has reached “the peak day for new deaths.” According to its latest update, released on Saturday afternoon, the number now peaks at a projected 1,983 – down from about 2,200 in an earlier version.

As for overall projected deaths, the model now projects about 61,500 fatalities in the US by August, compared to about 60,000 estimated earlier this week, that’s assuming full social distancing measures in place through the end of May. Despite the positive signs, Cuomo warned that it’s “still too early to relax social distancing measures.”  Both the federal government projections and health experts also warn of a spike in coronavirus infections if stay-at-home orders are lifted too soon.

US President Donald Trump said he would “listen to the advice of medical experts before acting. We hope we’re going to be able to fulfil a certain date. But we’re not doing anything until we know that this country is going to be healthy,” he stated. “We don’t want to go back and start doing it over again.”