According to
Worldometer, a website which compiles new cases of COVID-19, till Sunday
evening at least 33,546 Americans, including Republican Senator from Kentucky
Rand Paul, were confirmed infected with coronavirus while the death toll
increased to 419.
A sign on Interstate 5 advises people to stay
home and limit travel as light early evening traffic heads north, Sunday, March
22, 2020, in Lakewood, Washington, near Tacoma. Officials are urging people to
stay home except for essential trips out in hopes of slowing the outbreak of
the new coronavirus.
The U.S. has seen a
significant spike in coronavirus cases with the total confirmed infections
jumping to nearly 34,000 while over 400 fatalities were recorded, even as one
in every three Americans has been told to stay home.
According to Worldometer, a website which
compiles new cases of COVID-19, till Sunday evening at least 33,546
Americans, including Republican Senator from Kentucky Rand Paul,
were confirmed infected with coronavirus while the death toll increased to 419.
Mr. Paul was the first Senator to have tested
positive for coronavirus and he has gone into
quarantine.
Meanwhile, at a news conference in the White House, President Donald
Trump identified New York, California and Washington as the three
major coronavirus hot spots.
New York tops the list with more than 15,000 confirmed coronavirus cases, with
5,418 new cases added in the 24 hours alone. As many as 114 people in New York
have died of which 58 were reported in a day.
Painting a grim picture, Mayor Bill de Blasio
said New York is headed towards a major shortage of essential medical supply in
next 10 days.
“We’re about 10 days away from seeing
widespread shortages. If we don’t get more ventilators people will die,” he
said.
In White House, Vice President Mike
Pence told reporters that so far, more than 2,50,000 Americans have
been tested for coronavirus.
Mr. Trump said that he was
rushing all necessary supplies to New York. He has issued Major Disaster
Declarations for New York, California and Washington.
“We have large quantities of medical
equipment and supplies on the way to those states... Respirators, surgical
masks and gowns, face shields, coveralls and gloves in large quantities are
already being delivered to Washington and New York,” he said.
Mr. Trump also said that he has directed the
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to supply four large federal medical
stations with 1,000 beds for New York, eight large federal medical stations
with 2,000 beds for California and three large federal medical stations and
four small federal medical stations with 1,000 beds for the State of
Washington.
The U.S. President also approved deployment
of National Guards in New York.
The supplies en route to California and New
York will be delivered within the 48 hours, Trump announced. The president has
been holding daily White House news conference for about 10 days now, with each
lasting for more than an hour.
Mr. Trump said two naval hospital
ships were being deployed in New York and Los Angeles, while thousands
of surgical masks have been delivered to all these states.
A process is on to massively increase the
availability of testing kits, which are fast and quick, he said.
Terming this a challenging time for all
Americans, Mr. Trump said, “We’re enduring a great national trial, and we will
prove that we can meet the moment.” Assured the people that he was doing
everything possible to confront and ultimately defeat this “horrible invisible
enemy“.
“We’re at war. In a true sense, we’re at war
and we’re fighting an invisible enemy. For those worried and afraid, please
know as long as I am your president, you can feel confident that you have a
leader who will always fight for you. I will not stop until we win,” Mr. Trump
said.
“This will be a great victory. And it’s going
to be a victory that, in my opinion, will happen much sooner than originally
expected,” he added.