U.S. coronavirus deaths top 1,100 for a third day in a row
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[July 24, 2020]
By Lisa Shumaker and Katanga Johnson
(Reuters) - The United States on Thursday
recorded more than 1,100 deaths from COVID-19, marking the third
straight day the nation passed that grim milestone as the pandemic
escalates in southern and western U.S. states.
Fatalities nationwide were recorded at 1,118 on Thursday. Deaths were
1,135 on Wednesday and 1,141 on Tuesday.
Even though deaths are rising in the United States for a second week in
a row, they remain well below levels seen in April, when 2,000 people a
day on average died from the virus.
The United States on Thursday also passed a total of more than 4 million
coronavirus infections since the first U.S. case was documented in
January, according to a Reuters tally, reflecting a nationwide
escalation of the pandemic.
The United States took 98 days to reach one million confirmed cases of
COVID-19 but just 16 days to increase from 3 million to 4 million, the
tally showed. The total suggests at least one in 82 Americans have been
infected at some point in the pandemic.
The average number of new cases is now rising by more than 2,600 per
hour nationwide, the highest rate in the world.
As the epicenter of the U.S. outbreak has spread from New York to the
South and West, federal, state and local officials have clashed over how
to ease lockdowns imposed on Americans and businesses.
Requirements that residents wear masks in public have become the subject
of a fierce political divide, as many conservatives argue that such
orders violate the U.S. Constitution.
U.S. President Donald Trump, a Republican who has rejected a nationwide
mask rule and been reluctant to wear one himself, this week reversed
course and encouraged Americans to do so.
'WEAR A MASK, AVOID CROWDS'
"We have to do our mitigation steps: Wear a mask, avoid the crowds. We
won't see hospitalizations and deaths go down for a couple of weeks
because (they are) lagging indicators, but we are turning that tide,"
U.S. Assistant Secretary for Health Brett Giroir told the Fox News
Network in an interview.
Trump told a White House briefing on Thursday that hot spot states may
need to delay re-opening schools by a few weeks but pushed for most
students to be able to return to classrooms in the fall.
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Emergency Medical Technicians (EMT) arrive with a correctional
patient at North Shore Medical Center where the coronavirus disease
(COVID-19) patients are treated, in Miami, Florida, U.S. July 14,
2020. REUTERS/Maria Alejandra Cardona
Schools have become another point of contention. In Florida, the
state teachers' union has sued to stop in-class instruction. Florida
reported a record one-day increase in COVID-19 deaths on Thursday at
173.
Florida's health commissioner said earlier this month that schools
must reopen, but Governor Ron DeSantis, a Republican, has since said
that parents should have the option to keep their children home.
Trump administration officials have said a quicker reopening is
essential to get the staggered economy moving again, a central plank
of the president's re-election campaign.
Trump also said he would no longer hold part of the Republican
Party's nominating convention in Florida in August because of a
spike in coronavirus cases in the state.
"The timing for this event is not right," Trump told the White House
briefing. "It's just not right with what’s happened recently, the
flare-up in Florida. To have a big convention it’s not the right
time."Trump has been holding his first coronavirus briefings in
months without the experts on his task force, including Dr. Anthony
Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious
Diseases.
Fauci, who became a household name in the early days of the
pandemic, will throw out the ceremonial first pitch on Thursday on
Opening Day of the truncated Major League Baseball season at
Nationals Park in Washington, D.C.
Trump's rival for the presidency, Democrat Joe Biden, blasted his
handling of the pandemic in a campaign video aired on Thursday.
(Reporting by Lisa Shumaker in Chicago, Doina Chiacu and Katanga
Johnson in Washington, Joseph Ax, Peter Szekely and Maria Caspani in
New York and Rich McKay in Atlanta; Writing by Sonya Hepinstall and
Dan Whitcomb; Editing by Cynthia Osterman, Aurora Ellis, Bill
Tarrant and Gerry Doyle)
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