Global COVID-19 Cases Top 700,000; Trump Extends Plan to Slow Virus
Michigan’s hot spot is the Detroit area, where hospitals are overrun and at least 39 police officers have been sickened, 2 of them fatally, the Detroit Free Press reported yesterday. Trump yesterday approved a disaster declaration for the state.
In Illinois, of 4,596 cases, most are from Chicago and Cook County. Chicago’s McCormick Place is being converted into a 3,000-bed COVID-19 treatment center, the Chicago Tribune reported. The Cook County Sheriff’s Office has so far reported 89 infections in inmates and 12 in staff.
In other developments, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) yesterday and yesterday issued three emergency use authorizations (EAUs) related to personal protective equipment. One is for the Battelle Decontamination System, which uses concentrated vapor phase hydrogen peroxide for decontaminating N95 or N95-equivalent respirators. It also reissued EUAs for different kinds of respirators.
Also, to prevent food shortages, the FDA temporarily relaxed certain nutrition labeling rules to give groups such as food manufacturers and restaurants more flexibility to sell packaged food to consumers or businesses.
Europe’s Hot Spot Totals Climb
Spain again reported its highest number of deaths (838), but the number of daily new cases declined from 8,189 to 6,549, the country’s El Mundo newspaper reported yesterday. Overall, Spain has reported 78,797 cases, 6,528 of them fatal—the second-highest fatality count in the world, after Italy’s.
Madrid is one of the hardest-hit areas, accounting for a little less than half of the deaths in Spain. A health official said six communities are at their intensive care unit capacity and three others are almost at their limits.
Elsewhere, Italy yesterday reported 5,217 more cases, lifting its overall total to 97,689. Also, with 756 more deaths yesterday, the nation now has 10,779 fatalities.
Several other countries in Europe continue to report thousands of new cases each day, including Germany, France, and the United Kingdom. Activity is accelerating in other parts of the continent, such as Russia, where Moscow’s mayor yesterday issued a stay-at-home order starting tomorrow affecting 12.7 million people, Bloomberg News reported. The city has recorded 1,014 cases, two thirds of the country’s total.
Developments in Iran, Asia
Elsewhere, Iran, still the Middle East most affected nation, is now reporting 38,309 cases, with 123 more deaths that lift the country’s fatality count to 2,640, Al Jazeera reported.
In Asia, South Korea yesterday reported 105 new cases yesterday, down from 146 new infections yesterday, for a total of 9,583 cases. Due to a continuing rise in imported cases, the country yesterday announced that travelers from Europe and the United States must self-quarantine for 14 days.
Hong Kong yesterday reported 59 more cases, 43 of them with a travel history, for a total of 642 cases. Singapore reported 42, 24 of them imported, for a total of 844. And China yesterday reported 45 more cases, 44 imported and 1 local case in Henan province.
