US coronavirus deaths surpass 140,000 as outbreak worsens in Florida

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US deaths from the novel coronavirus topped 140,000 on Saturday as cases continued to rise in 42 out of 50 states over the past two weeks, according to a Reuters tally.

Since late June, the US has seen a resurgence in new cases and now, six weeks later, deaths have also begun rising, according to a weekly Reuters analysis of state and county data.

America is losing about 5,000 people to the virus every week. By contrast, neighboring Canada has reported total deaths of 8,800 since the pandemic started.

In just one week, the US records about as many deaths as the 5,600 lives Sweden has lost since the pandemic began earlier this year. 

The virus has claimed over 140,000 US lives total since the pandemic started, and Florida, California, Texas and other southern and western states shatter records every day.  

Florida, which is becoming one of the hardest-hit states, reported over 12,000 new cases of COVID-19 on Sunday, the fifth day in a row the state has announced over 10,000 new infections, even as President Donald Trump pledged that the virus was coming under control. 

In the hardest-hit US counties, officials are running out of places to store bodies as their morgues fill up.

Arizona’s Maricopa County, home to the state’s largest city, Phoenix, is bringing in 14 coolers to hold up to 280 bodies and more than double morgue capacity ahead of an expected surge in coronavirus fatalities, officials said on Thursday.

In Texas, the city of San Antonio and Bexar County have acquired five refrigerated trailers to store up to 180 bodies.

The appearance of such mobile morgues has fed the sense in some Southern states that the pandemic appears to be spinning out of control.

Despite record levels of new cases nationwide, the Trump administration is pushing for school to reopen in a few weeks and resisting a federal mandate to wear masks in public.

Trump defended his handling of the coronavirus pandemic in an interview broadcast on Sunday, including his statement that there were only embers of the virus popping up around the country.

‘We have embers and we do have flames. Florida became more flame-like, but it’s going to be under control.’

Trump on Fox News Sunday repeated his assertion that the virus will eventually disappear.

‘I’ll be right eventually,’ he said. ‘It’s going to disappear and I’ll be right.’

Experts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have warned cases and deaths could rise this autumn and winter. 

Nearly all 20 forecasting models used by the CDC project rising deaths in the coming weeks.

Throughout the US, every metric to measure the outbreak is going in the wrong direction – rising cases, deaths, hospitalizations and positivity rates of test results.

At least 14 states have reported record coronavirus hospitalizations so far in July, including Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Florida, North Carolina, Nevada and Texas.

Trump said he did not agree with CDC Director Robert Redfield that this fall and winter will be one of the most difficult times in American public health, as hospitals deal with the seasonal flu on top of COVID cases. 

‘I don’t know and I don’t think he knows,’ Trump said.

Trump also called Dr Anthony Fauci, the government’s top infectious diseases expert, ‘a little bit of an alarmist’.

Fauci has warned that cases could soon top 100,000 a day if Americans do not come together to take steps necessary to halt the spread of the virus. 

The country is averaging 60,000 new cases a day and reported a record one-day increase of 77,299 on Thursday.

Coronavirus pandemic finds fresh legs around the world as confirmed deaths pass 600,000 

From the US to South Africa, numerous countries are struggling to contain a surge of new infections. Hong Kong issued tougher new rules on wearing face masks, Spain closed overcrowded beaches and Germany reported another outbreak at a slaughterhouse.

Confirmed global virus deaths rose to nearly 603,000, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins. The US tops the list with over 140,000, followed by more than 78,000 in Brazil. Europe as a continent has seen about 200,000 deaths.

The number of confirmed infections worldwide has passed 14.2 million, with 3.7 million in the US and more than 2 million in Brazil. 

Experts believe the pandemic’s true toll around the world is much higher because of testing shortages and data collection issues.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said that 259,848 new infections were reported Saturday, its highest one-day tally yet.

While the US leads global infections, South Africa now ranks as the fifth worst-hit country in the pandemic with more than 350,000 cases, or around half of all those confirmed on the continent. 

Its struggles are a sign of trouble to come for nations with even fewer health care resources.

India, which has now confirmed more than 1 million infections, on Sunday reported a 24-hour record of 38,902 new cases.

In Europe, where infections are far below their peak but local outbreaks are causing concern, leaders of the 27-nation European Union haggled for a third day in Brussels over a proposed $2.1 trillion EU budget and coronavirus recovery fund.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said there is ‘a lot of good will, but there are also a lot of positions’ in the talks, which have have laid bare divisions about how the countries hit hardest by the pandemic, such as Italy and Spain, should be helped. 

She said the talks, which were initially scheduled to end on Saturday, could still end without a deal.

As scientists around the world race to find a vaccine to halt the pandemic, Russia’s ambassador to Britain on Sunday rejected allegations by the US, Britain and China that his country’s intelligence services have sought to steal information about vaccine efforts.

‘I don’t believe in this story at all, there is no sense in it,’ Ambassador Andrei Kelin said when asked in a BBC interview about the allegations. ‘I learned about their (the hackers’) existence from British media. In this world, to attribute any kind of computer hackers to any country, it is impossible.’

Infections have been soaring in US states such as Florida, Texas, Arizona, with many blaming a haphazard, partisan approach to lifting lockdowns as well as the resistance of some Americans to wearing masks. 

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said Sunday that the situation was so dire in his California city that authorities were considering a new stay-at-home order.

Even where the situation has been largely brought under control, new outbreaks are prompting the return of restrictions.

Following a recent surge in cases, Hong Kong made the wearing of masks mandatory in all public places and told non-essential civil servants to work from home. 

Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam said the situation in the Asian financial hub is ‘really critical’ and that she sees ‘no sign’ that it’s under control.

Police in Barcelona have limited access to some of the city’s beloved beaches because sunbathers were ignoring social distancing regulations amid a resurgence of coronavirus infections. 

Authorities in Amsterdam urged people not to visit the city’s famous red light district and have closed off some of the historic district’s narrow streets because they are too busy.

Slaughterhouses have also been the subjects of outbreaks in the US, Germany and elsewhere. Authorities in northwestern Germany’s Vechta county said 66 workers at a chicken slaughterhouse tested positive, though most appeared to have been infected in their free time. 

An earlier outbreak at a slaughterhouse in western Germany infected over 1,400 and prompted a partial lockdown.

Cases in the Australian state of Victoria rose again Sunday, prompting a move to make masks mandatory in metropolitan Melbourne and the nearby district of Mitchell for people who leave their homes for exercise or to purchase essential goods.

Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews said those who fail to wear a mask will be fined $140.

‘There’s no vaccine to this wildly infectious virus and it’s a simple thing, but it’s about changing habits, it’s about becoming a simple part of your routine,’ Andrews said.

Speaking on Sunday from his window overlooking St Peter’s Square, Pope Francis said ‘the pandemic is showing no sign of stopping’ and urged compassion for those whose suffering during the outbreak has been worsened by conflicts.

The pope also renewed his appeal for an immediate worldwide cease-fire that he said ‘will permit the peace and security indispensable to supplying the necessary humanitarian assistance’.