New York governor begs for help amid 'staggering' death toll
New York's governor issued an urgent appeal for medical volunteers Monday amid a "staggering" number of deaths from the coronavirus, as he and health officials warned that the crisis unfolding in NEW YORK is just a preview of how many other communities over the U.S. could soon face.
"Please come help us in NY now," Gov. Andrew Cuomo said as the state's death toll climbed by more than 250 within a day to a total of more than 1,200 victims, the majority of them in the town. He said yet another 1 million healthcare workers are had a need to tackle the crisis.
"We've lost over 1,000 New Yorkers," Cuomo said. "To me, we're beyond staggering already. We've reached staggering."
Even prior to the governor's appeal, near to 80,000 former nurses, doctors and other professionals in NY were upgrading to volunteer, and a Navy hospital ship, also delivered to metropolis after 9/11, had arrived with 1,000 beds to relieve pressure on overwhelmed hospitals.
"Whatever it is that they want, I'm willing to do," said Jerry Kops, a musician and former nurse whose tour with the show Blue Man Group was abruptly halted by the outbreak.
He returned to his Long Island home, where he volunteered to be a nurse again. While waiting to be reinstated, Kops has been helping at an assisted-living home near his house in Shirley, N.Y.
The spike in deaths in New York was another sign of the long fight ahead against the global pandemic, that was filling Spain's intensive care beds and shutting an incredible number of Americans inside even as the crisis in China, where in fact the outbreak started out in December, kept easing.
A lot more than 235 million persons - about two of each three Americans - reside in the 33 states where governors have declared statewide orders or advice to stay home.
In California, officials put out a similar demand medical volunteers as coronavirus hospitalizations doubled during the last four days and the amount of patients in intensive care tripled.
"Challenging times are ahead for the next 30 days, which is a very essential thirty days," President Donald Trump told reporters. "The more we dedicate ourselves today, the quicker we will emerge on the far side of the crisis."
In Europe, meanwhile, hard-hit Italy and Spain saw their death tolls climb by a lot more than 800 each, however the World Health Organization's emergency chief said cases there have been "potentially stabilizing." As well, he warned against letting up on tough containment measures.
"We must now push the virus down, and that will not happen alone," Dr. Michael Ryan said.
Over three-quarters of a million persons worldwide have become infected and over 37,000 have died, according to a count by Johns Hopkins University.
The U.S. reported a lot more than 160,000 infections and over 3,000 deaths, with New York City the nation's worst hot spot, and New Orleans, Detroit and other cities also seeing alarming clusters.
"Anyone who says this example is a fresh York City-only situation is in circumstances of denial," Cuomo said. "You see this virus move over the state. You see this virus move across the nation. There is absolutely no American who's immune to the virus."
Some hospitals are actually parking refrigerated trailers outside their doors to gather the dead. At two Brooklyn hospitals, videos posted by bystanders and a medical employee showed workers in masks and gowns loading bodies onto trailers from gurneys on the sidewalk.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the U.S. government's top infectious-disease expert, similarly warned that smaller cities tend going to see cases "take off" just how they have in New York City.
"What we've learned from painful experience with this outbreak is that it goes along almost on a straight line, a little acceleration, acceleration, then it goes way up," he said on ABC's "HELLO America."
In other developments around the world:
- Bells tolled in Madrid's deserted central square and flags were lowered in a day of mourning as Spain raced to build field hospitals to take care of an onslaught of patients. The death toll topped 7,300.
- In Japan, officials announced a fresh date for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics - summer of 2021 - as a spike in reported infections fueled suspicions that the government have been understating the extent of the country's outbreak in recent weeks although it was still hoping to salvage the Summer Games.
- Moscow locked down its 12 million persons as Russia braced for sweeping nationwide restrictions.
- Israel said 70-year-old Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is quarantining himself after an aide tested positive for the virus. And in Britain, Prince Charles, the heir to the throne who tested positive for the virus, ended his period of isolation and is in good health, his office said.
Italy's death toll climbed to almost 11,600. But in somewhat of positive news, newly released numbers showed a continued slowdown in the rate of new confirmed cases and a record number of individuals recovered.
"We are saving lives by staying at home, by maintaining social distance, by traveling less and by closing schools," said Dr. Luca Richeldi, a lung specialist.
At least six of Spain's 17 regions were at their limit of intensive care unit beds, and three more were near it, authorities said. Crews of staff were frantically building more field hospitals.
Nearly 15% of most those infected in Spain, almost 13,000 people, are health care workers, hurting hospitals' efforts to greatly help the tsunami of individuals gasping for breath.
In an indicator of the mounting economical toll exacted by the virus in the usa, Macy's said it could stop paying tens of thousands of employees trashed of work when the chain closed its a lot more than 500 shops earlier this month.
Nearly all its 130,000 personnel will still collect health benefits, however the company said it really is switching to the "absolute minimum workforce" had a need to maintain basic operations.
For many people, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. But also for others, especially older adults and persons with existing health problems, the virus could cause severe symptoms like pneumonia. More than 160,000 people have recovered, according to Johns Hopkins.
The crisis in China, where in fact the outbreak commenced in late December, continued to help ease. China on Monday reported 31 new COVID-19 cases, included in this just one domestic infection, and the city at the center of the disaster, Wuhan, started out reopening for business as authorities lifted more of the controls that locked down tens of millions of folks for two months.
"I want to revenge-shop," one excited customer declared.
Japanese automaker Toyota halted production at its auto plants in Europe, but most of its factories in China resumed work Monday.
