The United States now leads with the highest number of confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), surpassing China and Italy.
The country has 101,657 cases of infection and over 1,500 fatalities and as of Friday, March 27, according to a tracker run by Johns Hopkins University.
The top five states with confirmed incidences are New York (44,876), New Jersey (8,825), California (4,657), Michigan (3,634) and Washington (3,477).
Meanwhile, Italy trails behind with 86,498 cases and China with 81,897.
U.S. President Donald Trump, in response, said: “It’s a tribute to the amount of testing that we’re doing.”
“We’re doing tremendous testing, and I’m sure you’re not able to tell what China is testing or not testing. I think that’s a little hard,” he added.
Last week, 3.3 million people in the U.S. filed for unemployment — the biggest single-week jump in history, as stated by The Guardian.
“It’s nobody’s fault. Certainly not in this country. Nobody’s fault. We got very lucky when we made a decision not to allow people in from China on a very early date. I say that because some people don’t want to accept it, but this was a great decision made by our country, or the numbers that you’re talking about — we’re a big country — they’d be far greater, far bigger,” Trump said.
“I heard it could be six million, could be seven million. It’s 3.3 or 3.2, but it’s a lot of jobs, but I think we’ll come back very strong. The sooner we get back to work — you know, every day we stay out it gets harder to bring it back very quickly, and our people don’t want to stay out…I think you’ll see a very fast turnaround once we have a victory over the hidden enemy,” he added.
Trump has received flak for downplaying the virus outbreak, failing to act fast enough, and blaming others.
Former Vice President Joe Biden, the frontrunner in the Democratic presidential nomination, noted: “The president is not responsible for the coronavirus, but he bears full responsibility for the slow and uncoordinated response that has exacerbated both the public health and economic impact on our country.”
“The harsh reality is that at least 3 million people now don’t have jobs because our president didn’t do his job when it mattered,” he added.
LA County numbers
In Los Angeles County, 257 new cases were reported on Friday, as the number of cases has increased to 1,465 in all areas.
Five new deaths — four men and one woman all over the age of 60 — were reported, bringing the total to 26 deaths since the outbreak reached the county. On Thursday, nine deaths were announced by the county, including eight individuals over 60 and one in their 40s with underlying medical conditions.
“These numbers that I report every day represent the lives of real people, and they are people that are mourned by their families and their friends,” said Barbara Ferrer, director of the LA County Department of Public Health.
The mortality rate in the county, Ferrer said, is at 1.8%, higher than that of New York City and the overall country.
The county also said it continues to improve access to testing and drive-thru testing centers are being set up. Ferrer also reminded the public that those showing severe symptoms should check with their medical provider about getting approval to be tested.
PH cases reach 800-mark
Meanwhile, the Philippines has now more than 800 confirmed cases of COVID-19.
The Department of Health reported Friday, March 27, 96 new cases, nine deaths, and three recoveries, bringing the official tallies to 803 cases, 54 fatalities, and 31 recoveries.
Of the number of fatalities, seven are Filipinos with no recent travel history overseas. They are as follows:
• a 63-year-old Filipino from Muntinlupa City who had bronchial asthma, hypertension, atherosclerosis, and coronary artery disease;
• a 75-year-old Filipino from Quezon City who suffered from hypertension, diabetes mellitus, tongue cancer, cardiovascular disease, and benign prostatic hypertrophy;
• a 74-year-old Filipino from Manila who had hypertension;
• a 71-year-old Filipina from Quezon City who had hypertension and diabetes mellitus
• an 83-year-old Filipina from Cavite who suffered from chronic kidney disease;
• a 57-year-old Filipino from Manila had hypertensive cardiovascular disease;
• And a 62-year-old Filipino from Manila who had hypertensive cardiovascular disease, coronary artery disease, and diabetes mellitus.
(With reports from Christina M. Oriel and Ritchel Mendiola / AJPress)
