COVID-19: UpdateU.S. Braces for Tough COVID-19 Week; Deaths Drop in Parts of Europe

Published 6 April 2020

Top U.S. health officials yesterday warned that the nation is in for a tough week ahead with more COVID-19 cases and deaths, as activity in some European countries—including some of world’s main hot spots—showed more signs of slowing. As of Sunday afternoon, the U.S. total is at 331,151 cases, including about 9,500 deaths. Globally, the total passed 1,270,000 from 183 countries, including 69,082 deaths.

Top U.S. health officials yesterday warned that the nation is in for a tough week ahead with more COVID-19 cases and deaths, as activity in some European countries—including some of world’s main hot spots—showed more signs of slowing.

As of Sunday afternoon, the U.S. total is at 331,151 cases, including about 9,500 deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins online dashboard. Globally, the total passed 1,270,000 from 183 countries, including 69,082 deaths. The World Health Organization (WHO) said yesterday in its latest daily situation report that the Falkland Islands, home to about 3,400 people, reported its first cases.

U.S. Faces Tough Week; CDC Launches Surveillance Report
On CBS’s Face the Nation yesterday, Tony Fauci, MD, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), said the country is struggling to get COVID-19 activity under control and warned that the next week would be bad, because the outbreak is not at its peak yet.

He said he hoped to see some flattening of the curve in a week to 9 days. At a White House briefing yesterday, President Donald Trump also warned of a tough week ahead, as did Surgeon General Jerome Adams, MD, in an interview with Fox News Sunday.

So far, eight states haven’t implemented stay-at-home orders: Utah, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Arkansas, Nebraska, and South Carolina.

Meanwhile, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently launched a new weekly COVID-19 surveillance report called COVIDview, similar to its weekly FluView report. The first week shows that outpatient and emergency department visits for COVID-like symptoms are elevated compared to levels normally seen for this time of year, though there is little flu virus circulation.

CIDRAP notes that hospitalization rates are similar to what the CDC sees at the start of an annual flu season. The percentage of deaths from pneumonia and flu is 8.2 percent, above the epidemic threshold of 7.2 percent. Pneumonia deaths have increased sharply since the end of February, as flu deaths declined last week, which could reflect COVID-19 activity.

In another CDC development, its scientists have started serology studies to gauge the number of Americans who have had COVID-19, Stat reported yesterday. The efforts will start with current hot spots, then expand nationally this summer, with another part geared toward examining healthcare workers infections.