Coronavirus latest: US suffers highest daily death toll
- Over 850,000 COVID-19 cases have been reported worldwide, with more than 42,000 deaths
- US recorded 865 deaths in the 24 hours until Tuesday evening, taking its total death toll to 3,873
- President Trump warned US citizens of a “very, very painful two weeks”
- German health authorities warn the pandemic will “carry on for weeks and months”
- France, Spain and the UK reported their highest daily death tallies on Tuesday
Updates in Universal Coordinated Time (UTC/GMT)
02:28 Austria has mobilized 3,500 additional civil service conscripts to help with the anti-coronavirus effort.
The EU country provides a civilian alternative for people unwilling to do the national military service. Out of the 3,500 civilian servicemen, 2,000 are volunteers who previously completed their mandatory stints, and 1,500 are active servicemen who decided to stay in the system for longer due to the pandemic.
The men would mostly focus on supporting caregivers with transport, organization and logistics, said Agriculture, Regions and Tourism Minister Elisabeth Köstinger.
“Currently, this is peace before the storm,” said Köstinger, whose ministry is also in charge of the civilian service. “Our care-providing system will very quickly be put under extreme strain, so we need all the support we can get.”
02:11 German Chancellor Angela Merkel and premiers of Germany’s 16 states are set to hold a telephone conference on Wednesday to discuss the battle against the ongoing pandemic. The leaders would discuss prolonging lockdown measures introduced on Monday last week. Another issue on the agenda should be the possibility of using a tracking app to monitor people infected with the coronavirus. Additionally, the politicians will consider further expanding intensive care capacity in German hospitals.
01:57 With NBA games canceled due to the pandemic, NBA players will now play video games against each other for charity, the basketball league said.
The televised tournament will feature 16 athletes from different teams playing NBA 2K — a video game which features likenesses and names of real-life NBA teams and players — starting this Friday. The final match is scheduled for Saturday next week.
The winner is set to receive $100,000 (€90,771) to donate to a charity of his choice supporting COVID-19 relief.
01:15 Amazon faced heavy criticism after firing a worker who staged a strike, asking for the company to provide better protection from the coronavirus. The retail giant claims the employee, previously working in a warehouse on New York’s Staten Island, was fired because he violated quarantine rules and endangered his colleagues.
On Tuesday, New York’s Attorney General slammed the sacking as “immoral and inhumane.”
“It is disgraceful that Amazon would terminate an employee who bravely stood up to protect himself and his colleagues,” she said in a statement, adding that her office was “considering all legal options.” Separately, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said he had ordered the city’s human rights officer to look into the incident.
01:02 In the US, 865 people died of the coronavirus in the previous 24 hours, a record day-to-day increase based on the tally provided by the Johns Hopkins University. The country has so far lost 3,873 lives to the disease. With a total of 188,172 infections, the US has more coronavirus patients than any other country in the world.
Read more: Coronavirus: What are the lockdown measures across Europe?
00:44 The US aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt is hit with an outbreak of COVID-19 and its commanding officer called for “decisive action” to stop the spread among the 5,000-sailor crew.
“We are not at war. Sailors do not need to die,” Captain Brett Crozier wrote in a letter to the navy dated on Monday. Crozier asked for over 4,000 people on board to be removed and isolated, warning that most of the current accommodation on board was not suitable for quarantine.
Keeping them on board “is an unnecessary risk and breaks faith with those sailors entrusted to our care,” he wrote. US officials cited by the Reuters news agency said that nearly 80 people aboard the nuclear-powered warship had tested positive for the virus.
On Tuesday, US Defense Secretary Mark Esper said he had not read the letter in detail, but added it was not the time to evacuate the ship. “I don’t think we’re at that point,” he told CNN.
00:30 US President Trump hinted at expanding travel restrictions on Tuesday, saying that he was “absolutely” considering a ban on Brazil and several other countries.
In February and March, the US administration introduced bans on travelers from China and virtually all western European countries in a bid to curb the spread COVID-19. Brazil the worst affected country in Latin America, with 5,717 confirmed infections and over 200 deaths.
Read more: Coronavirus: China’s Wuhan prepares for the uncertain end of COVID-19
00:25 Over 100 police officers are currently quarantined in the US territory of Puerto Rico, with the authorities shuttering the third police station this week on Tuesday.
The island with some 3.2 million inhabitants has so far confirmed over 230 cases of the coronavirus and eight deaths. Dozens of police officers are awaiting their test results.
Vice president of a local police union, Gregorio Matias, demanded more protective equipment and accused the government of “dragging its feet.” “What do they want? To be left without police officers?” he was quoted as saying by the AP news agency.
00:20 Here’s a recap of the global figures:
857,487 confirmed cases
42,107 deaths
178,034 recovered worldwide
00:00 Catch up on yesterday’s news here: Coronavirus latest: France, Spain, UK record deadliest day
dj/sri (AP, AFP, dpa, Reuters)
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