On the strength of new data from the surging caseload, theWhite House Coronavirus Task Force cautioned Americans that “nobody isimmune to the virus” and the contagion level from the pandemic was highfor every age group.
“We continue to see signs that individuals under 20years may have severe disease, but majority have recovered to date,”Deborah Birx, co-ordinator of the Task Force, said on Friday.
“Another concerning trend that the mortality amongmales seems to be twice that of every age group of females,” she said.
The warnings came on a day when California, New York andIllinois announced drastic new rules sharply limiting outdoor movement in thewake of the rising death toll from the coronavirus.
More than 200 have died in the US. New York has the biggestcluster of cases – more than 7,800 at last count.
Birx urged Americans not to interpret mild or moderatedisease as lack of contagion. “You just happen to have a better immunesystem and the ability to fight the virus in a way that maybe older people orpeople with existing medical conditions can’t,” she said.
At the same briefing, Anthony Fauci, Director of theNational Institute For Allergy and Infectious Diseases, rebutted PresidentDonald Trump’s claim that anti malarial drug hydroxychloroquine could be a”gamechanger”.
With Trump towering over him, Fauci said there is only”anecdotal” evidence to support the claim and that only testing woulddeliver the right answers.
Fauci underlined America’s two pillar strategy to battle theoutbreak: The country’s ability to flatten the curve by taking tough decisionson how society operates and stopping infections from coming into the countryfrom the outside.
Border closures to non-essential travelers from Canada andMexico go into effect midnight on Saturday. Influx into the US from China andEurope have already been stemmed.
The State Department has implemented a Level 4 traveladvisory warning Americans against travelling abroad.
Fauci applauded the “tough decisions” individualstates are taking to stop the spread.
On Friday, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo told the state’sresidents to stay indoors and ordered 100 per cent of non-essential businessesto keep workers home.
On the same day, California ordered all of its 40 millionresidents to stay in their houses as much as possible.
The Trump administration on Friday announced that allstandardised school tests, which are typically scheduled during the final burstof the school year, will be cancelled.
The tax filing date has been extended from April 15 to July15.
Trump this week invoked emergency wartime authority to helpspeed up production of equipment to battle capacity shortages in America’shospitals.