COVID-19: UpdateU.S. COVID-19 Death Toll Nears 3,000, Cases Exceed 160,000

Yesterday, as the “15 days to slow the spread” campaign ends across America but citizens continue to practice physical distancing for at least another month, COVID-19 cases surged top almost 160,000 and pandemic-related deaths neared 3,000.

Yesterday on Meet the Press, White House coronavirus response coordinator Deborah Birx, MD, warned that other cities in the United States could soon look like New York. “No state or metro area will be spared,” said Birx.

On CNN yesterday, Anthony Fauci, MD, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said the outbreaks in New York City and New Orleans are very dangerous.

According to a nationwide map from the New York Times, 29 states, 79 counties, and 14 cities have enacted shelter-in-place or stay-at-home orders. These orders involve 248 million Americans, most of whom have been deemed non-essential workers, encouraged to shutter businesses temporarily or work from home. Yesterday Virginia and Maryland became the most recent states to issue statewide stay-at-home orders.

For the past 5 days, the United States has reported more than 15,000 new cases each day. Yesterday the case count rose by more than 20,000 cases, to 160,020 confirmed cases, with 2,953 deaths, according to the USA Today online tracker.

USNS Comfort Docks in Hard-Hit New York
A total of 1,218 fatalities have occurred in New York, the hardest-hit state, with 66,497 cases. New York City has 37,453 cases. NYC Health said that 42% of confirmed cases have been in adults ages 18 to 44, and only 17% have been in adults over the age of 65.

“We have been playing catch-up from day 1; you never win playing catch up,” said Governor Andrew Cuomo yesterday at a press conference. “If you wait to prepare for the storm to hit, it is too late, my friends.” Cuomo warned that New York has not seen its apex off cases yet, and likely will not for another 2 weeks, at least.

Cuomo also asked medical personnel from other states to consider coming to New York to practice during the outbreak, and promised them that New Yorkers would return the favor when their communities were facing an influx.

Yesterday the USS Comfort, a naval ship hospital, docked in Manhattan, and the Javits Convention Center opened as a field hospital. Both developments add 2,000 hospital beds to New York City.

Local media in the city warned that 900 city police officers would likely be infected with the virus by yesterday, and 13% of the city’s uniformed workforce was out sick.

Ford Plans to Start Making Ventilators
CIDRAP reports that yesterday Ford CEO Jim Hackett announced the automaker will produce 50,000 ventilators in 100 days in a partnership with GE Healthcare. After the first 100 days, Ford said it will be able to produce 30,000 ventilators per month for as long as is needed.

“The Ford and GE Healthcare teams, working creatively and tirelessly, have found a way to produce this vitally needed ventilator quickly and in meaningful numbers,” said Hacket. The ventilators will be made at a plant in Ypsilanti, Michigan, which is expected to start production Apr 20.

HHS Accepts Antimalarial Donations
Following an Emergency Use Authorization by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) yesterday announced it accepted 30 million doses of hydroxychloroquine sulfate donated by Sandoz, the Novartis generics and biosimilars division, and 1 million doses of chloroquine phosphate donated by Bayer Pharmaceuticals, to use as treatments on hospitalized COVID-19 patients or in clinical trials

In a press release, HHS Secretary Alex Azar said, “Scientists in America and around the world have identified multiple potential therapeutics for COVID-19, including chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine. The President’s bold leadership and the hard work of FDA and HHS’s Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response have succeeded in securing this large donation of medicine.”

Chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine are antimalarials with some anti-inflammatory benefits that may be useful in treating COVID-19, but large trials have not been completed on COVID-19 patients.

In vaccine news yesterday, Johnson & Johnson said it selected a leading COVID-19 vaccine candidate, and company leaders hope to start human trails no later than September. The company said its goal was to create 1 billion doses of the vaccine, a scale-up made possible by a partnership with the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA).