Search

Trump promises to control coronavirus spread as Florida cases surge over 5th straight day - Global News

seliranga.blogspot.com

Florida reported over 12,000 new cases of COVID-19 on Sunday, the fifth day in a row the state has announced over 10,000 new infections, even as President Donald Trump pledged that “it’s going to be under control.”

The virus has claimed over 140,000 U.S. lives since the pandemic started, and Florida, California, and other Southern and Western states shatter records every day.

Texas reported 7,300 new cases on Sunday after five straight days of new infections exceeding 10,000.

Read more: Florida teen met friends against family’s wishes. Now dad has COVID-19, fighting for his life

Despite record levels of new cases nationwide, the Trump administration is pushing for schools to reopen in a few weeks and resisting a federal mandate to wear masks in public.

Story continues below advertisement

Trump, who faces a tough battle for re-election in November, defended his handling of the coronavirus pandemic in an interview broadcast on Sunday. The United States, with 3.7 million total cases, has almost as many infections as the next three hardest-hit countries combined — Brazil, India and Russia.

“We have embers and we do have flames. Florida became more flame-like, but it’s — it’s going to be under control.”

Trump on “Fox News Sunday” repeated his assertion that the virus would eventually disappear.

“I’ll be right eventually,” he said. “It’s going to disappear and I’ll be right.”

COVID-19 surge overwhelms Florida hospitals
COVID-19 surge overwhelms Florida hospitals

Experts at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have warned that cases and deaths could rise this autumn and winter. Nearly all 20 forecasting models used by the CDC project rising deaths in the coming weeks.

Story continues below advertisement

Throughout the United States, every metric to measure the outbreak is going in the wrong direction — rising cases, deaths, hospitalizations and positivity rates of test results.

[ Sign up for our Health IQ newsletter for the latest coronavirus updates ]

At least 14 states have reported record coronavirus hospitalizations so far in July, including Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Florida, North Carolina, Nevada and Texas.

Read more: As Florida’s coronavirus cases surge, some — including ‘grim reaper’ — want masks mandated

Trump said he did not agree with CDC Director Robert Redfield that this fall and winter would be one of the most difficult times in American public health, as hospitals deal with the seasonal flu on top of COVID cases. “I don’t know and I don’t think he knows,” Trump said.

Trump also called Dr. Anthony Fauci, the government’s top infectious diseases expert, “a little bit of an alarmist.”

TESTING SHORTAGES, DELAYS

Fauci has warned that cases could soon top 100,000 a day if Americans do not come together to take steps necessary to halt the spread of the virus. The country is averaging 60,000 new cases a day and reported a record one-day increase of 77,299 on Thursday.

Testing shortages and delayed results in some states are hampering efforts to curb the outbreak, similar to situations that frustrated state officials and health experts at the start of the pandemic in March and April.

Story continues below advertisement

Remembering those lost during the coronavirus pandemic in Canada
Remembering those lost during the coronavirus pandemic in Canada

Dr. Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health, said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday that people were waiting up to a week to learn if they tested positive.

“That really undercuts the value of the testing,” Collins said.

Suburban Philadelphia resident Tamara Hala, 35, said she decided to get tested after attending a gathering where someone outside her group said COVID-19 was a “hoax.” But she has not yet received results from the July 8 test at a CVS store.

“I just can’t stop thinking about how many people potentially have it and don’t know,” she said.

Read more: Florida has so far seen more than 5,000 coronavirus deaths, nearly 350K cases

Story continues below advertisement

Instead of expanding testing, the Trump administration wants to block $25 billion for states to conduct testing and contact tracing, according to reports in the Washington Post and New York Times.

The White House declined on Sunday to comment to Reuters on those reports.

The number of COVID tests performed each day has doubled since late May but remains lower than recommended by some health experts. The United States set a record on Friday with over 850,000 tests performed, according to data from the COVID-Tracking Project.

© 2020 Reuters

Let's block ads! (Why?)



"control" - Google News
July 20, 2020 at 12:48AM
https://ift.tt/3fKnVPM

Trump promises to control coronavirus spread as Florida cases surge over 5th straight day - Global News
"control" - Google News
https://ift.tt/3bY2j0m
https://ift.tt/2KQD83I

Bagikan Berita Ini

0 Response to "Trump promises to control coronavirus spread as Florida cases surge over 5th straight day - Global News"

Post a Comment

Powered by Blogger.