iStock/oonal(NEW YORK) — Following Tuesday’s grim new that the Trump administration is predicting between 100,000 to 240,000 deaths after the COVID-19 pandemic is over, the U.S. surpassed 200,000 confirmed cases on Wednesday.
Cases in the U.S. topped 215,000 and, by far, has the most amount of confirmed cases globally. Of those cases, 8,878 have recovered.
The death toll has risen to 5,110 — a number that includes the youngest COVID-19 victim in the world, a six week old infant who died in Connecticut.
“This is absolutely heartbreaking. We believe this is one of the youngest lives lost anywhere due to complications relating to COVID-19,” Tweeted CT Governor Ned Lamont.
Lamont reiterated language used by Dr. Anthony Fauci and NY Governor Andrew Cuomo that the virus does not discriminate and that the best way to prevent further spread is to to stay home and limit exposure to others.
Following increased recommendations to cease all non essential outings, 44 states have since enacted closures of all non-essential businesses.
The only states to not have such an order as of Wednesday are Arkansas, Missouri, Nevada, North Dakota and South Dakota.
In addition, 15 states have now postponed their primaries: Alaska, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, West Virginia, Wyoming and Puerto Rico.
The hardest-hit state in the nation continues to be New York, with New York City remaining the epicenter of the U.S. outbreak with 45,707 confirmed cases and 1,374 deaths.
Mayor Bill de Blasio cautioned the city will need 15,000 ventilators to meet demand soon, as well as 65,000 medical beds and 20,000 ICU beds — saying those numbers will need to be met by the end of April.
New York state reports 1,941 deaths and 83,000 cases.
The global death toll is creeping closer to 50,000 and, as for confirmed cases, nearly a million. As of Wednesday, there are 935,960 COVID-19 cases worldwide. Of those cases, over 194,000 have recovered.
Italy continues to be the country with the most fatalities, with 13,155 deaths reported as of Thursday morning.
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