Coronavirus pandemic
US' coronavirus deaths exceed its losses in Vietnam War
Number of known infections in the country has doubled in past 18 days to over 1 million
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A mariachi band performing during a tribute to healthcare workers at Mount Sinai West Hospital in New York on Tuesday. New York state is still the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak in the United States, but according to a University of Washington research model, other states may be reaching the crest of the pandemic only now or in the coming weeks.
PHOTO: EPA-EFE
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WASHINGTON • The US coronavirus death toll has climbed above 58,000, surpassing the loss of American lives from the Vietnam War, as Florida's governor met President Donald Trump to discuss an easing of economic restraints.
As of Tuesday, 58,605 had died of Covid-19 in the United States, according to a Reuters tally, eclipsing in a few months the total number of Americans killed during 16 years of US military involvement in Vietnam.
An estimated 58,220 American soldiers died in the Vietnam War, which ended in 1975.
The number of known US coronavirus infections has doubled over the past 18 days to more than one million.
The actual count is believed to be higher, with state public health officials cautioning that shortages of trained workers and materials have limited testing capacity, leaving many infections unrecorded.
As further evidence that caution may still be in order, an influential University of Washington research model often cited by White House and public health officials revised its projected US coronavirus death toll upwards on Tuesday to more than 74,000 by Aug 4, against its previous forecast of 67,000.
The model showed that while most states appeared to have reached the crest of the pandemic, seven others, including Mississippi, Texas, Utah and Hawaii, may be just peaking now or in the coming weeks.
About 30 per cent of American cases have occurred in New York state, the epicentre of the US outbreak, followed by New Jersey, Massachusetts, Illinois, California, Pennsylvania and Michigan.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, among the latest to lock down his state against the pandemic, has been weighing whether to join other states in a relaxation of workplace restrictions and stay-at-home orders that have been credited with slowing the contagion, but which have battered the economy.
Mr DeSantis' meeting at the White House came as Florida reported its highest single-day death toll from the coronavirus, and two days before Florida's stay-at-home order was due to expire.
Speaking to reporters with Mr Trump in the Oval Office, Mr DeSantis said he would announce a plan for a "phase one" loosening of restrictions on economic activity.
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THE FIGURES
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58,605
Number of Americans who have died of Covid-19 as of Tuesday.
58,220
Estimated number of American soldiers who died in the Vietnam War.
He called the plan a "small step", adding that "we're going to approach it in a very measured, thoughtful and data-driven way".
Florida, which waited until early this month to lock down its economy, would become the most populous of about a dozen states forging ahead with economic reopenings, despite a lack of wide-scale virus testing and the means to trace close contacts of newly infected individuals, as recommended in White House guidelines on April 16.
Florida reported a record 83 new deaths and more than 700 new infections from the 24 hours leading up to Tuesday.
The state has so far tallied 32,846 cases of Covid-19, including 1,171 deaths.
Mr DeSantis, a Republican, has drawn sharp criticism for his handling of the health crisis from Democrats in Florida, a key electoral swing state in Mr Trump's Nov 3 re-election bid.
"Apparently, Mr Trump and Mr DeSantis find it appropriate to slap each other on the back while Floridians struggle to stay safe during this pandemic and navigate a broken unemployment system," Florida Democratic Party chairman Terrie Rizzo said.
Economic fallout from the unprecedented clampdown on social interactions and business has been devastating.
The number of Americans seeking jobless benefits over the past five weeks has soared to 26.5 million - nearly one in six US workers - and the Trump administration has forecast an April unemployment rate exceeding 16 per cent.
White House senior economic adviser Kevin Hassett said the nation faces "the biggest shock since the Great Depression", but also predicted a strong rebound in the fourth quarter as the coronavirus fades.
On the foreign policy front, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said yesterday that the US remains worried about laboratories in China, and the world needs to get to the bottom of how Covid-19 began there.
"I can tell you there were real concerns about the labs inside of China," Mr Pompeo said in an interview with Fox News. "I'm still concerned that the Chinese Communist Party is not telling us about all of what's taking place in all of the labs."
Mr Pompeo also said that the Chinese authorities are continuing to withhold information about the virus and will not allow US experts access.
"In spite of our best efforts to get experts on the ground, they continue to try and hide and obfuscate. That's wrong, it continues to pose a threat to the world and we all need to get to the bottom of what actually happened here," he told Fox.
Most scientists say that the coronavirus that causes Covid-19 originated in wildlife, with bats and pangolins identified as possible host species.
REUTERS
