A member of the Brooklyn Hospital Center COVID-19 testing team calls in the next patient in line, Thursday, March 26, 2020, in the Brooklyn borough of New York. The new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms for most people, but for some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness or death.
Mary Altaffer / AP Photo
Mary Altaffer / AP Photo
A member of the Brooklyn Hospital Center COVID-19 testing team calls in the next patient in line, Thursday, March 26, 2020, in the Brooklyn borough of New York. The new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms for most people, but for some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness or death.
What you should knowWith our coronavirus coverage, our goal is to equip you with the information you need. Rather than chase every update, we’ll try to keep things in context and focus on helping you make decisions. See all of our stories here.
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(Washington) — The United States remains the epicenter the coronavirus pandemic, with confirmed cases now more than 300,000 and deaths climbing toward 9,000.
In Europe, another global hot spot, Spain has surpassed Italy for the leading number of cases, with Germany and France not too far behind. Worldwide, there are over 1.2 million cases and nearly 66,000 deaths.
At a White House briefing on Saturday, President Trump warned the coming week will be the toughest yet. “There’s going to be a lot of death, unfortunately,” he said.
John Minchillo / AP Photo
Bodies are wrapped in protective plastic in a holding facility at Daniel J. Schaefer Funeral Home, Thursday, April 2, 2020, in the Brooklyn borough of New York. The company is equipped to handle 40-60 cases at a time. But amid the coronavirus pandemic, it was taking care of 185 Thursday morning.
The death toll in the country is already surging, overwhelming not just hospitals but funeral homes too. In places like New York, which accounts for about a third of the nation’s cases and has already seen thousands of deaths, funeral directors say they’re working at maximum capacity and crematoriums in the state have extended their hours to nearly ’round the clock.
Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House coronavirus response coordinator, said the main hot spots in the U.S. continue to be New York, Louisiana and Detroit. However, she noted that new hot spots are emerging across the country, in places like Colorado, Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C.
In an effort to keep those places from becoming like New York, Birx urged everyone to continue to take mitigation measures like social distancing and staying at homeseriously.
“Now is the time to do everything you can,” she said.
There is some hope that a few of the countries hardest hit earlier are starting to emerge from the worst toll of the virus. In Italy, for example, the number of new cases each day appears to be leveling off, in what experts call “flattening the curve.” And in China, where thousands of cases a day were reported in February, the number of new cases reported daily is down to one or two and restrictive social distancing measures are slowly being lifted.
Sometimes, your mornings are just too busy to catch the news beyond a headline or two. Don’t worry. The Morning Agenda has got your back. Each weekday morning, host Tim Lambert will keep you informed, amused, enlightened and up-to-date on what’s happening in central Pennsylvania and the rest of this great commonwealth.
