Coronavirus: Toll at 3,899 passes grim 9/11 mark as US prepares for worst

As the number of deaths from coronavirus passed the grimmilestone of the toll of 9/11, the US stared at questions about itspreparedness and the stark prospects of more than 100,000 people dying in thepandemic.

After the top doctors dealing with the crisis displayedtheir statistical model for the pandemic’s trajectory, President Donald Trumpsaid at his briefing on Tuesday, “This is going to be a very painful, avery, very painful two weeks” when the coronavirus toll reaches its peak.

   

The number of deaths reached 3,899 on Tuesday night,exceeding the 2,977 toll of the terrorist attack at World Trade Centre, theworst mass death in the US and a post-World War II benchmark for tragedies.

The number of confirmed cases in the US was 188,547.

New York City, the epicentre of the pandemic where 1,096have died, gave a preview of how the situation could unfold: Outside some cityhospitals that had run out of space in the morgue to store the bodies, freezertrucks were parked with bodies being brought out on forklifts. The New YorkPost quoted New York Funeral Directors Association official Mike Lanottes assaying that some cemeteries are finding it difficult to handle burials and abacklog could be developing.

The supply of personal protection equipment (PPE) for healthprofessionals and first responders, sophisticated ventilators for patients andtests to determine who is affected dominates the response to the pandemic amidquestions if there are enough in stock.

Trump and Vice President Mike Pence say there is adequatestock and more are on the way, but others question if the supply can meet theneeds of the upcoming onslaught.

Democratic Speaker Nancy Pelosi criticised Trump for notpreparing for the crisis. She said on a TV programme that PPEs, ventilators andtest kits are immediately needed.

She accused Trump of not fully using his powers under theDefence Production Act to compel companies to manufacture them. “It willsave lives,” she said.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said that the state needed30,000 ventilators in the coming weeks but was receiving only 4,000 from thefederal government.

He accused the Trump administration of setting up a competitionamong states and itself in bidding for equipment, raising the prices, insteadof having a centralised purchase system.

Because of the de-industrialisation of the US under theprevious administration, the US is ironically dependent for a lot of the equipmentand supplies on China, which is the source of the pandemic and is getting hugeprofits from it.

The US is now making auto manufacturers like Ford andGeneral Motors to make the ventilators that cost about $25,000 each.

Trump said that some governors were exaggerating theirneeds. Federal agencies and the military have been deploying hospital ships andrapidly setting up field hospitals around the country.

Anthony Fauci and Deborah Brix, the medical experts on theCoronavirus Task Force (CTF), said that the worst phase was two weeks ahead anddisplayed the models that showed the possibility of 100,000 to 240,000 peopledying before the pandemic’s end months away. And that number was if the USfollowed the best procedures for controlling its spread.

If it did not follow the guidelines for social distancing,the projections show that the death toll could be as high as one million,according to the projections they presented.

With a choice between the economy and health, Trump hasextended till April the guidelines for combating Covid-19 with socialdistancing that has led to the closing of businesses and Stay-at-Home orders atits core. He called the extension “a matter of life and death,frankly.”

The guidelines have to be enforced by state and local governmentsand not all of whom are doing it. With 33 only states imposing semi-lockdownorders, one in three people in the US is covered by the Stay-at-Home rules thatallow only essential services and shops to operate and limit the movement ofindividuals.

Trump said, “I want every American to be prepared forthe hard days that lie ahead. We’re going through a very tough few weeks.”

Brix said that controlling the pandemic has “no magictherapy or vaccine,” but depends on “behaviour” like stayingindoors and following social distancing.

Trump has claimed that there are enough ventilators and moreon the way

Fauci and Birx said that the Stay-at-Home orders and socialdistancing were showing effectiveness in slowing the spread of COVID-19.

The statistical models showed that Washington State, whereCOVID-19 first surfaced, and California, had shown less steep increasescompared to New York, having imposed strict restrictions early.

Trump, who has been accused of downplaying the magnitude ofthe pandemic and not acting soon enough, was sombre on Tuesday delivering thewarning about the oncoming tragedy.

Calling himself a “cheerleader for the country,”he defended his earlier optimistic stance saying, “I want to be positive.I don’t want to be negative. I’m a positive person.”

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