Coronavirus latest: Death toll tops 2,000 in the US, doubling in three days
- COVID-19 deaths in the US rose past 2,000 with cases topping 120,000
- US President Donald Trump walked ordering a quarantine of New York City, issuing a “strong travel advisory” instead
- Europe’s COVID-19 death toll shot past 20,000 Saturday, with Italy and Spain reporting more than 800 dead in one day
- Mexico has urged everyone in the country to stay home for a month in a bid to slow the spread of the virus
Updates in Universal Coordinated Time (UTC/GMT)
02:45 Here is the latest from New York, the COVID-19 epicenter in the US:
The US Center for Disease Control (CDC) issued a travel warning urging residents of New York, Connecticut and New Jersey to refrain from “non-essential domestic travel for 14 days effective immediately.” The CDC said the warning does not apply to “critical industries” like trucking or public health professionals.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo told a news conference data projections indicate the coronavirus outbreak in New York will peak in “14 to 21 days.”
Other states have expressed concern over people arriving from hard-hit New York, with the state of Rhode Island checking license plates and telling New Yorkers that they must self-quarantine for 14 days. Texas and Florida have also issued self-quarantine orders for people traveling from New York.
02:00 Mexico’s deputy health minister, Hugo Lopez-Gatell, called on the country’s residents to stay home for a month, saying it’s the only way to stop the spread of coronavirus. Mexico’s government has gone from downplaying the threat to stepping up calls for social distancing after COVID-19 cases doubled in a week. Mexico currently has over 700 cases.
01:30 German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz said Germany would not ease restrictions on public life prematurely for economic reasons. In an interview with the Bild am Sonntag newspaper, Scholz said he rejected the idea that “we have to accept people dying for the economy to run.”
Scholz said easing of restrictions like opening closed businesses and restaurants must be based solely on medical criteria, adding: “I strongly advise against associating a loosening of restrictions with economic issues.” In the US, President Trump was criticized last week for saying he wanted the nation “opened up and raring to go” by Easter.
00:55 An infant diagnosed with COVID-19 died Saturday in Chicago in the US state of Illinois. The state’s health department said that “there has never before been a death associated with COVID-19 in an infant.”
00:45 After facing backlash from state leaders, US President Donald Trump announced that he decided against imposing a sweeping lockdown on New York City and surrounding areas, instead opting for a “strong travel advisory.”
“A quarantine will not be necessary,” he wrote on Twitter. He added that more concrete guidelines will be issued shortly.
00:20 The coronavirus death toll shot past 20,000 in Europe on Saturday, with Italy and Spain each reporting more than 800 dead in one day. The global death toll of COVID-19 is currently at over 30,000, with more than half of those fatalities in Italy and Spain alone. Germany currently has over 57,000 COVID-19 cases and 400 fatalities, according to the Johns Hopkins University.
00:10 US President Donald Trump said he was considering an “enforceable quarantine” for New York City and areas in the neighboring states of New Jersey and Connecticut.
“We might not have to do it but there’s a possibility that sometime today we’ll do a quarantine, short term, two weeks, on New York. Probably New Jersey, certain parts of Connecticut,” Trump told reporters outside the White House on Saturday.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo told CNN he doesn’t know how a quarantine could be “legally enforceable,” saying it would amount to “a federal declaration of war.” He added that the president hadn’t yet raised the issue with him.
“I didn’t speak to him about any quarantine,” Cuomo said. “I don’t even know what that means.”
00:02 Coronavirus deaths in the United States have doubled since Wednesday, with the number of fatalities topping 2,000 on Saturday.
According to data compiled by the Johns Hopkins University, over 500 of the COVID-19 fatalities were in New York City, which has the most cases in the US at nearly 30,000. The US currently has 121,117 COIVD-19 cases according to Saturday’s numbers, adding more than 20,000 cases in 24 hours.
00:00 Catch up on yesterday’s news here: More than 10,000 dead from coronavirus in Italy
wmr/rs (AP, AFP, dpa, Reuters)
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