US coronavirus cases soar past 300,000 – up 32,000 in just a day – as deaths top 8,400 – The Sun
THE number of US coronavirus cases soared past the 300,000 mark Saturday, as infections exploded by 32,000 overnight.
Nearly 8,400 Americans have died from the illness as of April 4 with hard-hit NYC accounting for more than a quarter of the country's COVID-19 related deaths.
Governor Cuomo confirmed New York state officials recorded 630 deaths in 24 hours – the biggest surge in fatalities there, upping the total to over 3,565 Saturday.
Cuomo compared the infection rate of the killer bug to a fire spreading during a press briefing today.
"The fire, it doesn't max out in one place, but it consumes where it is and it's moving out," he said – hours before President Donald Trump confirmed the US was entering a "very deadly period."
But it's not just the Empire State that has been rocked by the global pandemic which first emerged in Wuhan, China.
Michigan has now surpassed California with over 14,000 cases and at least 540 deaths, according to John Hopkins data, versus CA's 13,600-plus cases and over 300 fatalities.
Detroit is set to replace NYC as the new urban epicenter with infections topping 6,700 in Wayne County.
Trump confirmed there would be a lot of loss in the next fortnight during Saturday's press briefing.
NYC hospitals have been battered by the vicious virus, which has left many facilities unable to cope with surging cases and the rising death roll.
Crematories have upped their hours as the bodies pile up and healthcare officials scramble to convert refrigerated trucks into makeshift morgues.
Cuomo – who has repeatedly asked the Feds for more than 30,000 ventilators – confirmed 1,000 ventilators donated by the Chinese government would arrive in JFK today.
Oregon also sent 140 of the critical respiratory machines to add to NY's ever dwindling stockpile.
The Trump administration sent around 1,000 military medical personnel to man the 2,500-bed Jacob Javits Center in NYC, where the healthcare system has been battered by surging cases and a lack of critical supplies.
But rural areas and small towns have also seen a rise in COVID cases, with scientists from the University of Chicago identifying significant clusters in parts of Georgia, Arkansas and Mississippi, among other areas.
Researchers believe they could be disproportionately hit by Covid-19 given their ageing population and poor healthcare facilities, Scientific American reports.
Trump today insinuated Cuomo left his "cupboards bare" with regard to ventilators as he praised Washington state – where the first US case emerged – and California Governor Gavin Newsom for their efforts.
The US has rapidly eclipsed ravaged areas of Europe and China to become the global coronavirus epicenter.
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