COVID-19: UpdateU.S. COVID-19 Cases Surge Past 82,000, Highest Total in World

Published 27 March 2020

Confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, reached 82,404 yesterday in the United States, giving it the most cases in the world. And yesterday was the most active day so far in the country, with 14,042 new cases reported, and the national death toll reaching 1,069 fatalities. The numbers came on day 10 of the White House’s “15 days to slow the spread campaign,” a nationwide effort at social distancing measures that has been implemented in a patchwork fashion across the 50 states.

Confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, reached 82,404 yesterday in the United States, giving it the most cases in the world.

And yesterday was the most active day so far in the country, with 14,042 new cases reported, and the national death toll reaching 1,069 fatalities.

The numbers came on day 10 of the White House’s “15 days to slow the spread campaign,” a nationwide effort at social distancing measures that has been implemented in a patchwork fashion across the 50 states. As of yesterday, 21 states had shelter-in-place or stay-at-home mandates that asked the non-essential workforce to remain at home for 14 to 30 days in an effort to slow the spread of the pandemic.

The United States late this afternoon passed both Italy and China to have the most COVID-19 cases in the world, according to the Johns Hopkins online tracker and other similar trackers.

Hot Spots Report Faster Doubling Time
Certain hot spots are appearing to produce a hospitalization rate that was doubling every 2 to 3 days, namely in New York City and in parts of California.

According to the Los Angeles Times, if that rate holds, California hospitals could see a surge in patients in 1 to 2 weeks, according to Mark Ghaly, MD, the state’s secretary of Health and Human Services.

We originally thought that it would be doubling every six to seven days; we see cases doubling every three to four days,” Ghaly said during a press conference. “[We’re] watching that trend very, very closely.” To date there have been 3,318 cases reported in California, which was the first state to confirm community spread of the virus, in Santa Clara County, according to the San Francisco Chronicle’s state case tracker.

CIDRAP reports that  elsewhere, Detroit, New Orleans, and Atlanta all reported quickly filling intensive care units (ICUs) and a dearth of ventilators as those cities see more than 1,000 cases.

Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards said yesterday in a press conference he expects his state to be out of ventilators by the first week of April. Bel Edwards said his state needs an additional 600 machines. Over the past 24 hours, Louisiana recorded 510 more cases, raising the state’s total to 2,305 cases, and 83 deaths. Most of the cases are in New Orleans. According to the CNN, the Louisiana Department of Health reports 676 patients are in hospitals, and 239 are on ventilators.