Over 10,000 confirmed coronavirus cases were reported in asingle day in the US, raising the number of COVID-19 patients to 43,734, asPresident Donald Trump signed an executive order to prevent hoarding of vitalmedical supplies and personal protective equipment.
The US also for the first time registered over 130 deaths ina day due to coronavirus, taking the total number of fatalities to 550 byMonday night.
Till Monday, 43,734 confirmed cases of coronavirus werereported in the United States. Of these, over 10,000 were added in one day,according to Worldometer, a website which compiles COVID-19 cases.
On Monday, Trump signed the executive order aimed atpreventing hoarding of critical medical supplies amid the coronavirus outbreak.
He warned that his government would take action againsthoarding and excessive pricing of vital medical and personal protectiveequipment as well as supplies such as hand sanitisers and face masks.
“Very simply, we will not allow anyone to exploit thesuffering of American citizens for their own profit,” he asserted, warningthat the Justice Department will aggressively prosecute fraudulent schemesrelated to the pandemic that has killed more than 15,000 people worldwide.
New York State, in particular New York City, emerged as thehotspot of one of the worst public health crisis in the US in recent memory.Nearly one in every two Americans infected by novel coronavirus are from NewYork City which reported 5,085 news cases on Monday taking the total to 20,875.
As many as 157 residents of New York, a city which has oneof the highest concentration of people in the country, have died of coronavirusso far. Of the total deaths in the city so far, 43 were reported on Monday.
Health officials warned that COVID-19-related casualtyfigures in New York are expected to jump significantly in the coming days.
White House Coronavirus Task Force Coordinator Deborah LBirx told reporters that New York City, the New York Metro area of New Jerseyand parts of Long Island have an attack rate close to one in 1,000. This isfive times of what the other areas are seeing.
“Through high throughput lab investigations we arefinding that 28 per cent of the submitted specimens are from that area, whereasit is less than 8 per cent in the rest of the country,” she said.
“So to all of my friends and colleagues in New York,this is the group that needs to absolutely social distance and self-isolate atthis time. Clearly, the virus has been circulating there for a number of weeksto have this level of penetrance into the general community,” Birx said.
President Trump told reporters at a White House newsconference that New York along with other hotspots such as Washington State andCalifornia is the top priority for his administration.
“Essential medical supplies and emergency equipment arebeing rushed to New York.” he said, adding the Federal EmergencyManagement Agency is distributing eight million N-95 respirator masks and 13.3million surgical masks across the country right now.
“Focusing on the areas with the greatest need, we haveshipped 73 pallets of personal protective equipment to New York City and 36pallets to the State of Washington. In the past 96 hours, FEMA has alsoreceived donations of approximately 6.5 million masks. We are focused on someof the hotspots,” Trump said.
He also announced that clinical trials for existing drugsthat may prove effective against the virus will begin in New York.
“The federal government is working to help obtain largequantities of chloroquine. It will be a big game-changer. So, we will seedistribution starting tomorrow (Tuesday) early morning in New York. I think alot of people are going to be hopefully very happy with the results. We allwill be watching it closely,” Trump told reporters.