The COVID-19 death toll in the US has crossed 50,000 people. A total of 870,468 cases have been reported in the United States with the death toll reaching 50,031 as of 11 a.m. Friday (1500 GMT), according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University.
The state of New York suffered the most, with 263,460 cases and 20,982 deaths. In other hardest-hit states, New Jersey reported 5,426 fatalities, Michigan reported 2,977 deaths and Massachusetts recorded 2,360 deaths, the data showed. With the largest number of known cases in the world, the United States is seeing disputes heating up over loosening social distancing restrictions and reopening the economy. Several states are moving toward restarting their economies after the federal government issued new guidelines to reopen the country in phases. Many others remain hesitant to take such steps without more robust testing capacity.
US President Donald Trump, who has encouraged states to open back up for business, on Friday tweeted that he never gave Georgia”s governor an “OK” to reopen businesses outside of federal coronavirus guidelines, saying that instead he told the governor to “do what is right” for the people of Georgia.
A CBS News poll published Thursday said that 70 per cent of respondents believed the country”s top priority should be trying to “slow the spread of coronavirus by keeping people home and social distancing, even if the economy is hurt in the short term.”
Only 30 per cent thought the top national priority should instead be trying to “get the economy going by sending people back to work, even if it means more people might be exposed to coronavirus,” according to the survey. States like New York, California, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts have already extended stay-at-home orders. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said that even though daily COVID-19 admissions at city hospitals have plunged – from 850 in late March to 176 on Thursday – New Yorkers have to be cautious.
IANS
